Millwall v AFC Bournemouth - 4 To Go!

Brentford are unbeaten in 8, albeit that they’ve only won 2 of those. Saturday is certainly an intriguing game, given the fairly high chance that we will meet again in the play-offs.
 
SlowDownDerek said:
This is a point that is lost on some of those proclaiming we had 'the best squad in the league' before a ball was kicked this season. We all knew that we had some decent individual players but they were almost all inconsistent and mentally fragile. This is as relevant to the quality of a squad as anything else. The challenge for JT was to turn this around and initially he did but ultimately he failed.

Agree 100% with your final paragraph. Probably a combination of all of them.
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As one of the people that make that point it was never lost on me. Having the most talented squad doesn’t automatically result in the best team. We weren’t the best squad in the year we ran away with this league, neither were Leicester when they won the PL. I’ve made this point many times. You need the correct manager to pull this all together.

My issue was with the fact the club should have had a few replacements for Eddie in their mind not bumble two appointments. They certainly shouldn’t have given it to JT, if they’d spoke to the senior pros who were against the move (maybe they did as JT moved a lot of them out of the picture) they would have not made what could still be the costliest error in our history.

Woodgate is not a managerial genius, what he has done is stop the ridiculous over rotation to match other inferior teams styles, stopped the five at the back, played three forwards and asked them not to over play at the back and be more direct. Set up right the team started winning and with that all the other things we were worried about clicked into place. The squad is that talented that’s all it needed.
 
Neil Dawson said:
As one of the people that make that point it was never lost on me. Having the most talented squad doesn’t automatically result in the best team. We weren’t the best squad in the year we ran away with this league, neither were Leicester when they won the PL. I’ve made this point many times. You need the correct manager to pull this all together.

My issue was with the fact the club should have had a few replacements for Eddie in their mind not bumble two appointments. They certainly shouldn’t have given it to JT, if they’d spoke to the senior pros who were against the move (maybe they did as JT moved a lot of them out of the picture) they would have not made what could still be the costliest error in our history.

Woodgate is not a managerial genius, what he has done is stop the ridiculous over rotation to match other inferior teams styles, stopped the five at the back, played three forwards and asked them not to over play at the back and be more direct. Set up right the team started winning and with that all the other things we were worried about clicked into place. The squad is that talented that’s all it needed.
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Perhaps it's semantics but "best squad in the league" doesn't half gloss over the fact that their confidence has been on it's **************** for 18 months and, frankly, a great many of these players had been rubbish for ages and there were clearly issues with factions in the squad who wanted away. That was our squad at the start if the season and we'd also lost key players moreso than the other equally talented squads that came down with us.

Brentford among others had proven they had greater team cohesion than us at this level yet apparently this doesn't count in your narrow definition of squad quality.

If JT was really our worst manager ever they wouldn't have turned around the poor form of the previous 18 months and started the season well and you wouldn't have had to go into hibernation until he eventually failed.

To suggest that all Woodgate had to do was turn up tinker with the formation and this current run of form was inevitable is ludicrous and quite disrespectful to him and the people he's brought in.
 
Monmouthred said:
Makes total sense, but it is the old adage of taking each game as it comes.

I know there are only two options on tossing a coin, but it is highly unlikely you will spin 10 heads or tails in a row. However it is stil 50/50 that the next one will continue the streak. The odds dont change.

So just because we have won 7, 8 ,9 etc, its only our knowledge and belief that winning runs will end at some point, that put in that concern.

I think Brentford themselves won 8 on the bounce last year, starting at exactly the same time as us. They then lost the last two at Stoke I think, and then at home to Barnsley, which cost them automatic.

They then spluttered in the play offs. Thats our fear, but there is no reason it should happen, just because it happened to them.

To be fair in the play offs, you can even afford to lose one game, (as Brentford actually did) in the semis, as long as you win on aggregate.

Nevertheless we wouldnt be a fan, without worrying about all the permutations!
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"I know there are only two options on tossing a coin, but it is highly unlikely you will spin 10 heads or tails in a row. However it is stil 50/50 that the next one will continue the streak. The odds dont change."

The odds do change if one side of the coin is heavier weighted.
The same in roulette, if their are more red than black.
City win most of their games because they have better players.

Scoring an average of 3 goals per game really does put the odds in your favour.
 
"Woodgate is not a managerial genius, what he has done is stop the ridiculous over rotation to match other inferior teams styles, stopped the five at the back, played three forwards and asked them not to over play at the back and be more direct. Set up right the team started winning and with that all the other things we were worried about clicked into place. The squad is that talented that’s all it needed."

The art of successful management is often simply to identify the key things which need to be addressed and deal with them. I have no idea if Woodgate is a managerial genius, but he is proving to be a successful one.
 
With our playoff place all but sealed. Do we rest some players and keep them injury free or stick with the 11 and keep the momentum going?

Wilshere for Billing?
Surridge for Solanke
Stanislas for Danjuma?
Mepham for Cook?
 
I would think that the players will want to play, but tjose who have had recent injuries need to be protected as last night one of those not long back picked up another one (Kelly)....but it will be the same for all the other teams I guess?

Think that we need to look after Smithy, Stanislas, Kelly, Solanke and Brooks especially who have had their fair share of absences in recent times.

We technically have a potential six games left to get through :)
 
Druss_the_Legend said:
Lerma being the furthest forward to close down their defender resulted in Dans goal. Without the closing down that goal wouldnt have happened.
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This was one of the things that was severely lacking in other games under Woodgate, which was why I was reserving judgment.

We were sitting too deep and we didn’t press until the opposition was 10 yards inside our half, even then it wasn't pressing in pairs etc, it wasn’t hounding the opposition and making them play quicker and forcing mistakes, it was half hearted.

It might sound odd to many after seven consecutive victories, but this was the bit that left me excited. It’s this work rate over a longer period that will bring success.

Of course there will be times when we should sit off a little and allow the opposition to dick about with it in their own half, I get that. Brentford could well be one of those games, but against many teams in this league we should be dictating the play with and without the ball.
 
DJ said:
This was one of the things that was severely lacking in other games under Woodgate, which was why I was reserving judgment.

We were sitting too deep and we didn’t press until the opposition was 10 yards inside our half, even then it wasn't pressing in pairs etc, it wasn’t hounding the opposition and making them play quicker and forcing mistakes, it was half hearted.

It might sound odd to many after seven consecutive victories, but this was the bit that left me excited. It’s this work rate over a longer period that will bring success.

Of course there will be times when we should sit off a little and allow the opposition to dick about with it in their own half, I get that. Brentford could well be one of those games, but against many teams in this league we should be dictating the play with and without the ball.
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The 2 key components to success in most things are ability/talent and workrate/workethic.
 
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DJ said:
This was one of the things that was severely lacking in other games under Woodgate, which was why I was reserving judgment.

We were sitting too deep and we didn’t press until the opposition was 10 yards inside our half, even then it wasn't pressing in pairs etc, it wasn’t hounding the opposition and making them play quicker and forcing mistakes, it was half hearted.

It might sound odd to many after seven consecutive victories, but this was the bit that left me excited. It’s this work rate over a longer period that will bring success.

Of course there will be times when we should sit off a little and allow the opposition to dick about with it in their own half, I get that. Brentford could well be one of those games, but against many teams in this league we should be dictating the play with and without the ball.
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This.

I was really impressed last night that we were still harrying Millwall players for the ball at 4-1 up with ten minutes to go
 
SlowDownDerek said:
Perhaps it's semantics but "best squad in the league" doesn't half gloss over the fact that their confidence has been on it's **************** for 18 months and, frankly, a great many of these players had been rubbish for ages and there were clearly issues with factions in the squad who wanted away. That was our squad at the start if the season and we'd also lost key players moreso than the other equally talented squads that came down with us.

Brentford among others had proven they had greater team cohesion than us at this level yet apparently this doesn't count in your narrow definition of squad quality.

If JT was really our worst manager ever they wouldn't have turned around the poor form of the previous 18 months and started the season well and you wouldn't have had to go into hibernation until he eventually failed.

To suggest that all Woodgate had to do was turn up tinker with the formation and this current run of form was inevitable is ludicrous and quite disrespectful to him and the people he's brought in.
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I didn’t disappear until he failed. I came back when he had gone so it didn’t look like I was gloating. He failed well before that. Damned if you do damned if you don’t!

My definition of squad quality is narrow, hence why I’ve always said it’s not enough on its own. It’s purely the quality of individuals available, never pretended it’s anything else and always said that doesn’t make a football team. However, it gives you a better chance than anyone if you have the right manager.

I really like Woodgate, who wouldn’t? I’m not belittling what he did, those three things i mentionned he did would have taken significant work in training. What I was saying is the quality of player he had means it didn’t take any form of management genius like Eddie had to do to get things moving.
 
Neil Dawson said:
I didn’t disappear until he failed. I came back when he had gone so it didn’t look like I was gloating. He failed well before that. Damned if you do damned if you don’t!

My definition of squad quality is narrow, hence why I’ve always said it’s not enough on its own. It’s purely the quality of individuals available, never pretended it’s anything else and always said that doesn’t make a football team. However, it gives you a better chance than anyone if you have the right manager.

I really like Woodgate, who wouldn’t? I’m not belittling what he did, those three things i mentionned he did would have taken significant work in training. What I was saying is the quality of player he had means it didn’t take any form of management genius like Eddie had to do to get things moving.
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I was referring to when you disappeared not when you came back. He succeeded initially in motivating the players, finding a formation that worked and giving them enough confidence to start the season well and bounce back from defeat. Obviously using your logic this was purely down to squad quality and happened despite our worst manager in history.

As I say, this is probably semantics but your definition of quality is so specific it's effectively meaningless. If you defined player quality using the same logic then Lee Tomlin would be a better player than Dan Gosling because he's better technically even though he lacks fitness, desire and drive.

A squad that has weak confidence and disruptive players is obviously not as good as one that is settled and resilient. The manager can obviously influence this (and JW seems to be a miracle worker with their confidence) but this is as much a characteristic of a squad as their level of football ability. At some point this squad will have their confidence knocked again, let's hope JW really has helped them out of old habits and credit to him.

Of course it's not all JW, dare say that JTs final act in shipping Josh King out and bringing Ben Pearson helped them turn the corner, or Joe Jordan, or Gary O'Neil....
 
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