Luton Town Home Tuesday 12/3

Spot on - as soon as Anderson lost his man and failed to try and retrieve the ball they cut through us like a knife through butter. There guy on the right will have thought he had been given the freedom of Bradford in the first half. I do not know if it was an Instruction by Bowyer but the left side kept very narrow for some reason. Anderson with a few more games under his belt looks like he could be useful - he looked a little leggy yesterday playing his second full game in 4 days though.

 

Whilst I agree we don’t carry a significant enough goal threat, last night Wimbledon were playing a team in poor form who had already conceded over 50+ goals whereas we were playing the league leaders who have the 2nd best defensive record - not sure it’s a direct comparison?

 

Spot on it is a pity I know football Rahic could not see that when recruiting.

 

So you are suggesting the way they went about their job last night is an insight to the way they have been unbeaten for 6 months and the way they have played all season, I watched the game at Luton on Ifollow and that night they took us apart so they can play football when required.
You quote Barnsley and I agree they played football on both occasions against us, but Sunderland played the ugly game at Valley Parade and the same up at the Stadium of Light on New Years Day, and although Pompey well and truly kicked our arses at Fratton Park there football at Valley Parade was anything but flowing, sometimes as a club you have to dig in Luton did their work in the first half where we rarely got a kick, then eased off second half and to a point allowed us back into the game.

So out of the frying pan into the fire ?. .

 

A point made, but hardly proven.
Had Payne entered play last night, rather than Clarke ............. Both Butterfield and Payne would have been present. But we'll never know any outcome, as the event never took place.
IMO, both can be played in the same team .............. But deployment and formation would determine the degree of success (or failure).

 

Had it not been for Robinsons situation and Scannells injury .................... We would have had those very two players, or at least something like. Not to mention young Gibson failing to step up.

 

Not meant to be a comparison
Just an observation
We have been shot shy all season
and needs addressing before life in L2

 

lt looked obvious what we were missing last night, as the players came onto the pitch

Height and mass!

Luton were a hugh and bulky outfit compared to us, and it was a major advantage for them

We just looked so small and puny!

No wonder we are losing every header from balls lobbed forward and muscled out of every slightest contact.

We need a bigger, dirtier f**k off back four, a couple of fast wingers and a quality striker of Hanson/Wyke stature, to knock incoming balls to players like Doyle, Ball, Payne or whoever.

 

I know.
If only Woods could stay fit, Akpan could've played like he has lately but all season, Payne could get a game and keep scoring and Doyle could win a header - we'd definitely have been about 17/18th by now.

 

We have shown enough in the last two games that if we keep that form up we have a fighting chance of staving off relegation. Any dip from that form though and we are down.

i think you are spot on we are lightweight which leaves us at a disadvantage at both ends of the field and set pieces

 

Definitely we’ll coached. Their assistant or whatever he was with the headset on had everything sorted. Unlike Harford, he looked like they’d dug him up. He just wandered about uttering the odd ffs!

 

SPOT AND INDEED ON !!!!!!

 

We were badly set up last night or the front three were lazy or both. Our 4-3-1-2 was mostly 4-3-3 in the first half, which is suicidal against top of the table. Butterfield was up high at the top of the diamond and tended to linger there. When Luton attacked against our remaining three man midfield, they had a man over down the flanks constantly and it created extra space for their runners. It made the rest of the team look like they could not defend. Did Bowyer tell our front three to all sit up there? When Luton scored they eased off a bit so we managed to scrape through to half time. It was different after. It looked like Bowyer gave the top three a stuffing at the break. All three ran harder, closed down more and dropped deeper, and Butterfield dropped back down the left wing when we defended. The acres of space Luton had down the flanks in H1 disappeared and we looked much better. But why did we not chase in H1?

It's a shame the officials were blind when NKP nearly had a free header from about 8 yards but for their defender swing him around and down to the ground by his arm. It was a penalty and possibly a red card last-man offence. It was a clear very-likely goal-scoring opportunity denied by a cynical foul. Anybody seen video? We should do more of this stuff ourselves if officials are going to be so bad.

 

I'm sure thats the only reason he played Anderson for 90 mins. A bit of bulk in midfield

 

Not needed as much in midfield though, especially if we are lofting from the back

 

It is a poor league, outside Barnsley and Luton are much cop. Portsmouth, Charlton and Doncaster have there moments but are very inconsistent and Sunderland mainly get by on reputation and a strong fan base

 

Any deviation from a win at Oxford on Saturday nigh on sends us down ! 4 points adrift of them now (effectively 5 on goals difference); that would make it 8 adrift and mathematical possibility will not count much for our survival hopes ?. The Damson Park Stadium Solihull is worth getting familiar with !. Two years ago we were legitimately checking out Villa Park; Elland Road and Hillsborough !. We walked out of Wembley resolving to return and put things right as Millwall had done. Now we see a National League team two rungs below us at that time ! and nowhere near our size of club come to Valley Parade and add more credence to their march automatic to the Championship !. Its a disgrace it really is.

 

That penalty decision gets worse everytime I see it. How on earth could four officials miss it?

 

Luton are a good example of what a well organised team can do. Their whole approach to the game made sure they were never in danger of losing once the first goal went in. Knew our weaknesses, let us have the ball knowing they had the better of us in defence. Luton keep it simple and play to their strengths.

 

Yes our one piece of bad defending by the team as a whole was costly because apart from that our defending was very good against a free scoring team