Luton Town Home Tuesday 12/3

The lack of pace throughout the team kills us, it makes defending against so much easier when you know a team has no one who can run in behind or run at a fullback or centre back. In the circumstances of this season we played alright last night but our limitations were cruelly exposed last night. Plenty of possession second half but never looking like scoring. Its one of the reasons that this team never recovers when the opposition goes in front, they can shut any goal threat down very easily. Fans clamouring for Payne yesterday, well we tried that one with Clarke and Butterfield at Walsall and look how that ended up. I like Payne as a player but the last two games we've looked a balanced outfit, unfortunately we can't play woeful teams like Peterborough every week.

 

Need to go 4 -3 -1 -2 against Oxford drop Anderson bring Payne in behind Ball and Doyle with a free role. Back 4 the same Akpan centre mid with OB left and Butterfield right of him. Oxford couldn't contain Payne earlier in the season when he played that role we need that formation again.

 

I like the football and tactics that Bowyer has deployed in his two games in charge, certainly making us look a better and more balanced outfit.
However, as Rogered Tart alludes to above, the lack of pace throughout the team is definitely a major hindrance .

Another good performance from Akpan last night, and he has certainly stepped up a few gears since been handed the captain's armband. Butterfield was mainly kept in check last night, which was a shame, another decent performance from O'Connor too, fair play to him, he has answered the critism and abuse most of us give him after Pompey, with 2 of his best performances of the season.

Well done to Bowyer so far, he is certainly getting a better tune out of the squad he has inherited. That said, I felt Luton were in cruise control for most of last night, and we barely looked like scoring. Not too disheartened after last night, I was expectinga heavier defeat, and I didnt think we would come out of the last 2 games with us narrowing the gap to 20th by 2 points after the Pompey debacle

 

O’Donnell copping for it on twitter. Laughable.

 

Made a few saves last night but should have stopped the goal.

 

Wimbledon have some momentum building they also know where the net is
13 shots 5 on target compared to our 5 shots 1 on target last night shows the difference
Yes our defence is week but if the attack could hold the ball in the opposition half they have little chance of scoring the lack of a striking partner for Doyle is the key to our appalling season
Wimbledon will finish above us

 

Posted at half time Payne should have been brought on and Anderson taken off.
I think bringing Patrick on was the last throw of the dice for Bowyer, what I didn't understand was Luton won a corner and Bowyer had every City player back defending, why Patrick defending is as much use as a chocolate firegard, icf Bowyer tells him to sit on the halfway line it would occupy two Luton defenders, we had nothing to lose, the only thing Patrick possess is pace and for what ever reason we did not try to utilise that if we had delt with the corner and found an out in Patrick.

 

We'll have some pace when Sean "two weeks" Scannell is back in April

 

In two weeks !!!!!

 

Unclassy behaviour from an unclassy team, located in the unclassiest place on earth. Sums you up to a tee...deserve to go up based on results, but you don’t deserve to be champions.

 

Not as I saw it but could be wrong if I saw it again, seemed a good striker and back across goal into the corner.

 

Lack of pace and movement up top has always been a problem... hence the constant sideways. Their goal was disappointing, we were just not switched on at the back (Anderson the primary offender). Some other frustrating performances, such as Chicksen and his refusal to run with the ball and insistence on hospital balls into Butterfield. Ball should have done better with the one on one and had a very poor game all-round I thought. I would be tempted to swap for Miller against Oxford. Ultra galling to lose to a team with a well known fascist and his mob in the away end... any decent fanbase would have booted them out long ago. In general I was expecting a bit more from Luton, that team will get hammered week in week out in the championship.

 

He did not say what two weeks. its in the two week window when Reeves is back too

 

I think it’s harsh to blame him when the forward gets a free shot from 10 yards. They played their way though and the 10 outfield had no answer before O’Donnell is involved.

 

I didn't just single out chicksen. I also said NKP goes wondering which means chicksen finds himself covering him too, which doesn't help. Therebseems to be no undersganding between the 2 at all. Also KP with his aimless passing and chicksen with this awful Need to always pass to the midfielder who is marked is very frustrating.

Also just watch the difference between the 2 full backs. Caddis ability to read things and intercept. To know when to let a ball run out of play or not. The ability to stop a cross (one of chicksen biggest weaknesses right there).

But, I bow down to your superior knowledge of the game!

 

fair play to him. At least he didn't go down like a sack of sh*t, unlike his teammate laid in the penalty area

 

I get what your saying with regards hoofing. ( not a lot of point with those giants in Lutons defence) but I disagree Luton pushed up and didnt allow us to play it out from the back, and when we did Luton conceded space allowing us to take the ball to the half way line.
We had very little movement off the ball and so we played it across the park and ultimatly back to O'Donnell who then wacked it up the park, only for the big Luton defeders to win 95% of the headers.

 

It's clear Bowyer is trying to get us to play football and to go from the aimless hoof to that in the space of 7 days is not an easy task and when you come up against a side like Luton, it was good to compete and not capitulate like we would under Hopkin after the early goal.

Games are running out sadly and we must win on Saturday.

I felt they did a job on Butterfield last night and unless he was tired after 2 games in 3 days then we need to use Payne against Oxford at the weekend to free up Butterfield.

Oxford are not in great form but don't seem to concede many goals. We need to be on it on Saturday

 

O'Donnell watches that back and he'll admit he should have stopped it if he's truthful with himself. The keeper stops that more times than not.

 

I sit right in line with it and if he gets his arms out it would have blocked it. My first reaction was he could have done better regardless of what the rest of the defence had not done.