Reasons to be Disappointed ..part5

I realise that I may be alone but I was alarmed by the game against Swindon in the Trophy whose name I cannot remember.

Don’t get me wrong I don’t rate the tournament at all but the way that our guys just capitulated suggested that something is wrong. Regardless of what the competition is , the players are being employed to train hard and play to their best ability. They are not being paid to decide which games are worthy of their time and which ones they will put in an effort on

I accept that it was mainly fringe players but just a few short weeks ago I thought that these guys were going to be part of a central squad that would show well in League 1 but on that showing they are well off the mark and none of them made any sort of claim to be playing in the next first team game.

They clearly had the ability to overcome their hosts but they didn’t have the hunger or the desire and it came across exactly s the manager suggested that it felt as if it was below their dignity to be fighting hard in a game they didn’t rate on a horrible rainy day. That shows a lack of professionalism and pride in their performance.

Even after the break when we so called improved ,  we had players taking  speculative and wayward long distance shots totally ignoring the better placed guys around them some of whom were making runs.

It is all very well just blaming the players but the Management team have questions to answer.

Why do we consistently play the kids all together with no clear leader pulling the strings.  Gone are the days when Glenn Whelan would play amongst the kids and coaching them as the game wore on. Elliott Anderson would hold position when instructed to do so because he respected  Glenn and looked up to him. Sadly the midfield on Tuesday looked lost and all they could do was try and run through and shoot at a distance. There seemed to be no togetherness amongst our midfield.

If we have signed some bad eggs then when the time is right then they should go. A lot has been said about the importance of statistical analysis in choosing players but it is telling that in one of his first interviews as Barnsley Manager Darrell Clarke said that statistics are great but the personality of the player is so important in that you need to learn how a players will fit in and how they will deal with adversity.

I was taught long ago that inconsistency in any business is a clear sign of poor leadership and it is true.

I cant help wondering whether our upturn in form in the League is because we have experienced players imposing themselves and making things work rather than having a way of playing that the players have brought into. It is all very well telling the kids that they didn’t run or play hard enough but do they understand what is expected of them?

All in all it was a poor night regardless of what type of game that was !

All opinions are my own- who else would want them   . #UTG