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Matchday Thread PNE v Stoke City - 9/03/24 - KO:3PM - Championship

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Matchday Thread PNE v Stoke City - 9/03/24 - KO:3PM - Championship

Seamustasmania said:
Oh dear that bloody kick off .. just what is that about ? Week in week out. Center circle , passed back then hefted up to a wing .. throw in …. Like goal kicks .. keeper places ball all the players shift to one side of the pitch kick it into said sad bunch … throw in .. you don’t need a badge to know that’s crap and ineffective
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Paul McKenna used to do the exact same kick of for y
Years.

Kick off, pass it back to Paul. Launch it to the other side of the pitch. Throw in.
 
rem said:
The only plus for me was our goal. Lovely cross by Mads and nicely put away by Milly. Should give him more confidence now.
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Osmajic has now scored 5 goals despite a very stop/start season with many appearances limited to a few second half substitute appearances.
Difficult to drop Keane or Riis but are we under- utilising his talent?
A shame he didn’t quite contact with that excellent low cross from Browne in extra time.
 
rem said:
Osmajic has now scored 5 goals despite a very stop/start season with many appearances limited to a few second half substitute appearances.
Difficult to drop Keane or Riis but are we under- utilising his talent?
A shame he didn’t quite contact with that excellent low cross from Browne in extra time.
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Keane had a poor day yesterday . Ball was bouncing off him. Could have made the change at half time in hindsight or give him a rest this week
 
There are no easy matches and our opponents yesterday we have to admit played quite well. Our weakness was an inability to get possession, keep it and the play constructive forward passes - on the few occasions we did we looked dangerous but we just did not do so frequently enough. The return of Potts could be crucial because it will allow Browne to move back in-field where he is more effective and can give us some extra energy and inventiveness.
The fundamental weakness in the squad is a lack of strength-in-depth in midfield - we just had no-one we could bring on who would have added something different there. Brady really added nothing when he came on yesterday - he lacks the pace to get past a defender on the outside and yet RL played him wide on the left. The imaginative thing would have been to have put Brady wide on the right with instructions to cut in and play diagonal balls into the middle - that might just have opened up things a bit more. So might sticking Holmes out there - either option could have allowed us to move Browne in-field.
The play-off chance has not gone but we need two or three wins in quick succession to get us back in the mix. As I indicated the return of Potts and maybe giving a Riis-Osmajic partnership a go upfront might provide the spur to a better performance in the next match.
 
We've needed a right back for 4-5 years now. You could wheel fucking Steve Wonder up to Preston and even he would be able to work that out.

Sick of seeing players out of position. Browne is not a wing backs cousin. It's no wonder he gets pissed off.
 
ernest said:
There are no easy matches and our opponents yesterday we have to admit played quite well. Our weakness was an inability to get possession, keep it and the play constructive forward passes - on the few occasions we did we looked dangerous but we just did not do so frequently enough. The return of Potts could be crucial because it will allow Browne to move back in-field where he is more effective and can give us some extra energy and inventiveness.
The fundamental weakness in the squad is a lack of strength-in-depth in midfield - we just had no-one we could bring on who would have added something different there. Brady really added nothing when he came on yesterday - he lacks the pace to get past a defender on the outside and yet RL played him wide on the left. The imaginative thing would have been to have put Brady wide on the right with instructions to cut in and play diagonal balls into the middle - that might just have opened up things a bit more. So might sticking Holmes out there - either option could have allowed us to move Browne in-field.
The play-off chance has not gone but we need two or three wins in quick succession to get us back in the mix. As I indicated the return of Potts and maybe giving a Riis-Osmajic partnership a go upfront might provide the spur to a better performance in the next match.
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What exactly does Potts bring to the side?
 
Had we won yesterday, we would still be 9th, 1 point of Coventry instead of 4 but still in the mix.
Stoke are in a false position TBH and the quality in that squad shoul not be in a relegation scrap, same goes for Rovers and the teams near the bottom are going to be very difficult opponents for everyone for the rest of the season as it's very, very tight with everyone from Watford down in a battle apart from Rotherham who are more or less relegated already. Sheff Weds are showing promotion form, as are QPR with Huddersfield, Stoke & Millwall all picking up points recently.
With 8 from 15 we still are stacking up well against our play off rivals, with only Coventry (1) & Norwich (2) scoring more in the last 5. Cardiff are the team to watch with 13 from 15.
I would much rather be in our position than where Blackburn Rovers are.
All to play for Plymouth & Rotherham next 2 COYW! Funnily enough Norwich have Stoke and Plymouth for their next 2 games as well.
 
paolo poggi said:
What exactly does Potts bring to the side?
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Like him or not, he's the best we have down that right hand side, he might be limited in the role but he does give us the best balance, and he wouldn't have been rinsed as often as Browney was by Gooch yesterday. A.B. was literally just bouncing off him.
So to answer the question, he brings the best option we have, for that position, to the side.
Whether that's good enough and whether we should have a better or even another proper option are of course open to debate.
 
paolo poggi said:
What exactly does Potts bring to the side?
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Defensive application and some running and physicality in attack. I agree he lacks invention but if you look at what I said a crucial thing about the return of Potts is that it would allow Browne to revert to a more central role where his energy and ability to play an accurate pass would be better employed than when is out wide. The trouble yesterday was that otherwise only Frokjaer brought any creativity to the central midfield and he still tends to do so rather episodically - he can go missing for extended periods before suddenly supplying a moment of sublime quality. Having Browne there as well provides for some more consistency in that area.
 
On reflection, although yesterday was hugely disappointing, I'm not giving up. It's still in our own hands to finish above Norwich (5 points behind them with a game in hand, and still to play them at home), and I think anyone who finishes above them will end up in the top six.
In my opinion, we'll know by the end of Easter Monday whether we're still in the hunt or not. A win next week would very much keep us in the mix. Coventry thought they were done when we beat them, but they're very much in the race again, and I genuinely don't think Hull are good enough as they're no better than us.
 
Yeah I agree a win next week and presumably a win against Rotherham ..and we’re still in the mix.However I think with WBA winning today it’s 6th place that’s really up for grabs.I watched the Huddersfield -WBA game today and WBA didn’t have a shot first half were awful as bad as PNE first half yesterday.But their manager changed tactics and personnel at halftime and they then scored 4 and played really well.That was my beef with yesterday disappointing but not just team the manager as well-should have changed tactics and one or two players earlier.But I felt Lowe was as flat as the players(maybe because playing a very good friend in trouble) .. but still in it but we have to be more positive
 
ernest said:
Defensive application and some running and physicality in attack. I agree he lacks invention but if you look at what I said a crucial thing about the return of Potts is that it would allow Browne to revert to a more central role where his energy and ability to play an accurate pass would be better employed than when is out wide. The trouble yesterday was that otherwise only Frokjaer brought any creativity to the central midfield and he still tends to do so rather episodically - he can go missing for extended periods before suddenly supplying a moment of sublime quality. Having Browne there as well provides for some more consistency in that area.
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Frokjaer was repeatedly in space screaming for the ball yesterday but was not given it, particularly in the first half when it was obvious we needed fast passing but we laboured the ball between defenders and wide men. Awful stuff. Who is coaching them to do that repeatedly, I wonder?
 
I see the ref's body has apologised for us not being awarded a penalty for the pull back on Keane by Greaves v Hull last week.
I'd suggest we were denied 2 yesterday. The pull back on Riis and the push on Browne. For me they're both clear, deliberate contact in both cases, both instances the defender moved towards the attacker and in both cases they gained an advantage.
 
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