The day after.. How are we feeling now?

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

3 minutes ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

 

We'll see. I'm confident because of how poor this league is compared to the PL and while in some individual games we may get done for effort I think over the piece we have too much quality to not be top 6. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather support a team who lack quality but give 100% every game like we had in the Lambert years, but we have the squad we have, it is what it is and we'll have to make do. But even so I'm confident that they are good enough for a promotion charge as we won't actually have to work as hard as the opposition in most games when the confidence comes back and we get in our rhythm. 

We created nothing in the Huddersfield game 2 years ago, we got easily done by Luton in the cup game before that and then in the second game of the season we were very poor when we played Preston but we ended up winning the league at a canter with the best team we've had since Webber took over. So on past evidence I'm not worried at all yet.  

But we managed to beat Huddersfield. We never looked like scoring yesterday.

Of course it isn't the end of the world but disappointment starts the brain imaging the worst. I dety anyone on here that hasn't given it some thought after yesterday. We knew DF would turn it around because our football itself was a winning formula. I cannot say that about Smith. We didn't look and play any different to Cardiff yesterday.

[Indy 3,283]

I feel a lot better having just watched a well organised team, play, battle and believe in each other, being coached by someone who planted belief, confidence and a never give in attitude to a very united group of players! Shame Smith can’t take a lesson from Wiegman!

[Kingston Yellow 220]

10 hours ago, Canary dwarf said:

Rashica and sargent shouldn't be in this side  forget their price tags , we have too look at other options whether that's Argos , sinani , Sara, Hayden , when fit or whoever I don't know, we have to bite the bullet and cut our losses on the werder Bremen 2.otbc

100% this.

[Mullet 293]

10 hours ago, BroadstairsR said:

It all seems so much of a shambles that one could be forgiven for thinking that it's all been done on purpose.

The club has gradually and consistently gone downhill  since the day  Daniel Farke was sacked.

It is difficult to take one single positive from Dean Smith's tenure so far. In his defence, though, we have to take into account that he has not been able to field one single player of his own (signing) since he took over.

Amazingly, that's over nearly two complete transfer windows. We have to hope that these three new players live up to expectations, and quickly. The Hayden situation is a blow irrespective of the fact that it has become difficult to have any faith at all in Stuart Webber's transfer dealings.

I don't think we should be using DS as the scapegoat either. The players at his disposal bought by SW for the PL aren't even good championship players. That's not Smiths fault but we seemed to have forgiven Webber now. He and his useless signings have brought the club to its knees. Everyone wants a scapegoat so target the source of the problem not the poor bloke trying to cut metal with wood saw.

[chicken 2,604]

12 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Given we have now had a night to rest and sleep on yesterday's result and therefore a lot of the immediate anger has presumably subsided how are we feeling now we have had time to reflect?

 

I have gotten into trouble with folks on here before for saying the same thing, but honestly I am embarrassed by some of our own fans. Silly comments like "same as before" when it isn't. "Shouldn't have sacked Farke" when many that say it were calling for his head.

All after the last pre season weekend and then after yesterday. Just ridiculous to be fair.

[kick it off 1,948]

Think we will be better with the new additions. Also think that no matter how good the players are, they won't succeed under smith. No identity and no connection between club and fans at the moment. Get rid of him.

[hogesar 9,609]

19 minutes ago, kick it off said:

Think we will be better with the new additions. Also think that no matter how good the players are, they won't succeed under smith. No identity and no connection between club and fans at the moment. Get rid of him.

I do think this no identity thing under Smith is harsh but I totally understand it.

When you have Farke who has such a strong, persistent and almost arrogance to the way he wants to play, anyone coming in afterwards would struggle to show the same level. Especially when Smith is clearly trying to create and build a system where we are a passing team but with the ability to mix it up - when you don't win or play well its easy to feel that way.

I just remember Farkes last championship season and posters on here saying his style is boring again. Predictable, doesn't create chances etc. We then won the league comfortably.

With Smith,  if we can get on a little run even without playing particularly well but winning 3 in a row or something similar I think you'll see the identity stuff disappear. Especially once we have some midfielders in who are capable of Smiths pressing game - I noticed McLean the sole presser until Gibbs came on.

[chicken 2,604]

5 minutes ago, hogesar said:

I do think this no identity thing under Smith is harsh but I totally understand it.

When you have Farke who has such a strong, persistent and almost arrogance to the way he wants to play, anyone coming in afterwards would struggle to show the same level. Especially when Smith is clearly trying to create and build a system where we are a passing team but with the ability to mix it up - when you don't win or play well its easy to feel that way.

I just remember Farkes last championship season and posters on here saying his style is boring again. Predictable, doesn't create chances etc. We then won the league comfortably.

With Smith,  if we can get on a little run even without playing particularly well but winning 3 in a row or something similar I think you'll see the identity stuff disappear. Especially once we have some midfielders in who are capable of Smiths pressing game - I noticed McLean the sole presser until Gibbs came on.

Add in "no plan B", "never makes subs until it's too late" etc etc etc. 

[Google Bot 3,255]

How I feel?

Just looking forward to the Wigan match personally, not the biggest fan of Smith but he's a whole deal better than what we're seeing currently - the guy needs time and we need fit players in key positions before being able to judge him.

Saturday was really disappointing and echoed everything we'd seen in the final pre-season matches, while I lack having belief in him to succeed, and would happily **** the bed this early like many others - I'm letting logic dictate.   I just can't believe he's this bad/bland, he wouldn't be where he is otherwise.

But then I think about his Villa team with and without Grealish and that's when serious doubt starts to rush in.  At this stage it's just not worth over-thinking it really, and just see how things pan out on the field.

[TheGunnShow 5,908]

Another thing to point out was that after a season where we conceded goals for fun, albeit in a higher division, I don't blame any manager for looking to be more solid in defence. Let's face it, Cardiff - despite a litany of new signings that were proven at this level like Ojo, O'Dowda, Sawyers etc. - played like a team trying to find its feet, didn't create anything and it needed a deflected long-ranger to go in. We looked much more solid and organised defensively against this sort of opposition. Unfortunately, apart from a promising last 15 of the first half and Kenny hitting the bar from a second-half corner, we didn't look like cracking them either.

Will be tougher against Wigan without Hanley. Tomlinson, it's over to you. 

But I don't mind a manager trying to reorganise from the defensive base. It does mean there could be some really stodgy stuff served up over the next few weeks as DS looks to just get any form of win to get confidence growing, and the halo effect from Farke's reign will come increasingly into focus.

Edited August 1, 2022 by TheGunnShow

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Well I guess it must be the water.

You can't blame Delia or the board, you can't blame Deano, you can't blame Webber and you can't blame the players.

We lost a football match against a poor side amd we never looked like scoring. So its just one match. SO what else is there to go by? The rest i conjecture. Once we get this or once we get that. Give them time etc.

The fact is the evidence from Saturday is that we are poor at the moment.

[Google Bot 3,255]

31 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

played like a team trying to find its feet, didn't create anything and it needed a deflected long-ranger to go in.

I didn't notice any deflection, who did you think it came off?

[king canary 7,560]

16 hours ago, Mullet said:

I don't think we should be using DS as the scapegoat either. The players at his disposal bought by SW for the PL aren't even good championship players. That's not Smiths fault but we seemed to have forgiven Webber now. He and his useless signings have brought the club to its knees. Everyone wants a scapegoat so target the source of the problem not the poor bloke trying to cut metal with wood saw.

Yeah, very early to say but things don't paint a fantastic picture of Webber right now.

From the last seasons signings

• Tzolis- out of loan to a midtable Dutch team
• Rashica- looked poor in his first game in the Championship
• Sargent- ditto
• Gunn- remains behind Krul in the pecking order
• PLM- sold, got our money back

Add in...

• Sorenson- looked bang average in his favoured position at this level
• McCallum- didn't look great when he came on.
• Placheta- loaned out, looks rubbish.

 

[TheGunnShow 5,908]

18 minutes ago, Google Bot said:

I didn't notice any deflection, who did you think it came off?

Hanley was with their striker and it looked like it clipped one of those two.

[chicken 2,604]

28 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Hanley was with their striker and it looked like it clipped one of those two.

Omobamidele unfortunately. It was him running across Krul with their attacking player. The consensus seems to be it wasn't really a shot either. 

[king canary 7,560]

8 minutes ago, chicken said:

Omobamidele unfortunately. It was him running across Krul with their attacking player. The consensus seems to be it wasn't really a shot either. 

I think I read they finished the game with an xG of 0.01, so we were basically hugely unlucky such a low % shot found it's way in.

[hogesar 9,609]

1 minute ago, king canary said:

I think I read they finished the game with an xG of 0.01, so we were basically hugely unlucky such a low % shot found it's way in.

Yes, the game was wholly uninspiring in many ways but we didn't deserve to lose it, by any stretch.

[chicken 2,604]

Just now, king canary said:

I think I read they finished the game with an xG of 0.01, so we were basically hugely unlucky such a low % shot found it's way in.

Yup, it's like one of those free-kicks that everyone misses and the keeper is blindsided by but creeps in at the far post. The player will claim it, but no way was it intentional. That said, you'll often here it said that you put it back stick and on target and who knows what might happen. 

Like you say, it sucks that such an undeserving side scored and that was enough to win. 

[king canary 7,560]

11 minutes ago, chicken said:

Yup, it's like one of those free-kicks that everyone misses and the keeper is blindsided by but creeps in at the far post. The player will claim it, but no way was it intentional. That said, you'll often here it said that you put it back stick and on target and who knows what might happen. 

Like you say, it sucks that such an undeserving side scored and that was enough to win. 

Yeah, the goal was unlucky, our inability to create chances is not though. 

[sgncfc 1,221]

On 31/07/2022 at 11:12, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

I'd have Josh Martin on the wing ahead of Sargent...

I have to agree that letting Martin go while retaining Sargent does seem a little bizarre.

[chicken 2,604]

1 minute ago, king canary said:

Yeah, the goal was unlucky, our inability to create chances is not though. 

Well, we had at least two solid ones more than they did. Cantwell forced a very good save, McLean hit the bar. They put in a number of blocks etc from our efforts. Hanley swung a stump at it at one point and missed it... 😅

I think a draw was a fair result. If anyone should have shaved it on performance alone it should have been us or the ref. Cardiff barely turned up to play at all, and I don't think that's disrespectful. 

[Google Bot 3,255]

Wigan keeper got in team of the week.  Hey ho! 🙂

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

2 hours ago, sgncfc said:

I have to agree that letting Martin go while retaining Sargent does seem a little bizarre.

I also think it’s odd letting Mumba go and not Byram given the injury history of the latter 

[Inch High aka Inchy.. 405]

i'd like to thank Dean Smith for backing up my point so well at the weekend, he didn't have to do that but he kindly offered no argument.

[canarybubbles 1,914]

2 hours ago, sgncfc said:

I have to agree that letting Martin go while retaining Sargent does seem a little bizarre.

Yes, but look at what Sargent can do that Martin can't. Run and run and run and run. And he's almost five inches taller! What can Martin do that Sargent can't? Trap, control, dribble and pass a football. Who needs that in a football team?

[NorthCarolinaYellow 197]

Feeling ... frustrated. But not despondent. Yet.

I "think" Smith is trying to set us up so that we're quite solid at the back ... efficient short passing through the two 2 CMs ... through balls in the middle or balls into the channels ... wingers, AM, and CF all moving quickly and getting a variety of scoring opportunities ... press hard when losing the ball ... repeat. It's not Farke-ball for sure but it's also not totally agricultural. More defensive and more direct than what we'd been playing.

The problem is that we aren't good enough. The CMs lack quality (for now), the Ws run about but don't produce much, Cantwell/Dowell are actually good, and then Pukki/Hugill/Idah don't know what to do. It's disjointed. We kept our 4-2-3-1well, defended well, gave good energy, etc. But the end product was very much lacking. I'd bench Rashica and Sargent right away. Hernandez showed more in ~10 minutes than those two did combined in 160 minutes in my opinion.

 

Some other thoughts:

1. The defense was good overall. That was a soft goal that I think was deflected + hidden from Krul's view. Cardiff got lucky.

2. Stupid stupid stupid from Hanley.

3. Omobamidele is going to be a star.

4. We've overpaid for Giannoulis.

5. Sorensen + McLean were fine. Just fine. I do like Sorensen but I don't think he has a natural position at this level and above.

6. Cantwell was great! I'll admit I'm wrong for slagging him off over the summer if he's able to stay focused and put in a good season.

7. Rashica + Sargent ... oh dear. Such a waste of money.

8. Pukki was crap. I love him but he doesn't look well used or very happy.

[NorthCarolinaYellow 197]

38 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

I also think it’s odd letting Mumba go and not Byram given the injury history of the latter 

 

Yes! Or ... not giving Mumba go farther up the pitch as a winger/AM! He had a cameo in such a position in 2020-2021 and looked FANTASTIC. Not been given a chance there since. Baffling to me.