BFTG Millwall

[Gobsheik]

Is it any wonder that Dutch football is in decline with tactics like Stam's, (DeBoer at Palace was given the boot quickly). The football served up is all pretty and neat but is not what is needed in the Championship. We have no passion for the game. Where is the SPIRIT, TENACITY, FLAIR?

[CountryRoyal]

Is it any wonder that Dutch football is in decline with tactics like Stam's, (DeBoer at Palace was given the boot quickly). The football served up is all pretty and neat but is not what is needed in the Championship. We have no passion for the game. Where is the SPIRIT, TENACITY, FLAIR?

Is it pretty and neat though? Throughout a game there might be one or two really intricate passages of play (that envariably end up on the edge of the box before turning back and then losing it), but by and large the play is ponderous and slow, indecisive, inaccurate and wholly frustrating.

[Hound]

I think Stam did such a good job last year he has earned the right to sort this mess out. But it is a mess, largely of his own making

i think we can all see the issues so no point repeating them all, but he needs to accept he has been wrong and change things around

We can still be a good side. The players are all good players. The tactics, in game managemenT and prep have been rubbish.

[Sutekh]

That was fun, NOT - still at least we know there is a plan B, wait until we score then bring on a striker - that worked well

PS How does Joey get in the team ahead of Bacuna - he was dire this evening.

Would just like to say in Stam's defence here that Bacuna picked up a minor knee injury last week which is why he was not involved v Hull and only on the bench last night. Expecting him to return to the team on Saturday (unless he's crocked again).

Which is the other thing - why do Reading players continually get injuries. i know you get knocks in games, that's to be expected, but it just seems there are an inordinate amount that get picked up in training or from seemingly very minor things on the pitch. Perhaps the club need to review their training and physio practices.

[Sutekh]

Is it any wonder that Dutch football is in decline with tactics like Stam's, (DeBoer at Palace was given the boot quickly). The football served up is all pretty and neat but is not what is needed in the Championship. We have no passion for the game. Where is the SPIRIT, TENACITY, FLAIR?

Still with Pards. Sack Stam and bring Alan back. Or Mark McGhee......

[Sutekh]

Performance sounded better than the hideous cr@p served up v Hull but still couldn't hold on to a result against yet another indifferent team.

But then Stam seems to be making a rod for his own back currently - and then there's that hideous away league record Reading have for midweek games since August 2012 (P27, W2, D8, L17) so think they were always going to be lucky to get anything.

[Crotts]

Performance sounded better than the hideous cr@p served up v Hull but still couldn't hold on to a result against yet another indifferent team.

But then Stam seems to be making a rod for his own back currently - and then there's that hideous away league record Reading have for midweek games since August 2012 (P27, W2, D8, L17) so think they were always going to be lucky to get anything.

That is an unbelievably shocking stat - 2 wins out of 27 !!!

[Stranded]

Well that was more than a little disappointing. First off we weren't great going forward, again. However, there seemed to be a plan to keep very tight, frustrate the home team and slowly ramp up the speed of play, pressure as the game went on. We were playing with more purpose in the 2nd half and moving the ball quicker but without any real threat.

However, we took the lead via the sort of goal Edwards was bought in to score and with 15mins to go and 1-0 up that should have been that (and last season would have been) but for some reason, we defended a fairly straightforward corner poorly and Millwall were back in the game. When the winner came, it wasn't through any real cranking up of pressure just sloppy defensive play....again.

1-0 up away with that little time to go, there should only have been 1 result.

Am still a fan of Stam and he deserves the chance to correct this but you get the feeling the window is closing. Norwich is now a must win as you look at October and think ouch. We need the confidence of a decent win to take into Leeds and Sheff Utd (A). You would have to say we are not far away from any chance of promotion already going.

Stam wants to play his way and it can be effective, however, 8 of the players who started that game yesterday were his signings as were 4 on the bench (and Kelly came through under Stam) so if this team cannot play this way effectively then it goes without saying that you either have to start questioning the tactics or if we have recruited the right players since Stam arrived.

[NewCorkSeth]

So. Not good. I know a lot of people toss Stam out about on here because it's funny or their trying to get a rise but for the people who actually mean it, it's getting hard to defend against.

Team shape was negative. Why 3 CBs against a shite team? It wasn't necessary. Why, again, a deep lying forward SO deep lying he spent the majority of our attacking phases trying to get back up front? JVDB again? Whats the loyalty for Stam? He slows down our attacks by dawdling on the ball and mostly passes to opposition players..

Floating front 3 doesn't work if your front 3 can't shoot.. Millwall defended well against us but tbh a team of unfit nobbers could probably defend against us atm. We were predictable and ponderous.

No Swift, no Kelly, no Kermorgant, no Bacuna, no Barrow, no Obita and no Evans is the only reason I am remaining positive about this season.

Mannone - I have to re-watch the highlights but he was caught out of position I think for both goals. Poor guy.
Gunter - not a great game.. can't be too harsh or the 'Gunter is great' brigade will come out swinging but he was pretty ineffectual.
McShane - as the captain he should have done better. We were in dire need of someone to give us a boot up the are.
Moore - few unnecessary fouls and quite tame efforts at times.
Ilori - much better in than JVDB was last match.
Blackett - it feels like we attack up the left hand side most and I don't know why when it's Blackett and Beerens...
Edwards - don't let the goal fool you. He was shite.
JVDB - don't let the effort fool you. He is shite.
McCleary - needs to pull the finger out.
Beerens - a luxury player. Plays best when we are 2 goals up. Plays poorly when we need to score.
Aluko - thus far the complete waste of money people said he would be. Exactly as frustrating as Fulham fans warned he would be. Heavy touches and can't shoot.

Subs were so late it's pointless rating them. Although you could argue the starters were so poor it's not worth rating them either.

[Crotts]

I was at the game. Even if we had won tonight I was going to come on here and have a good moan. Tonight's game typified everything that is wrong with our team at the moment. We don't look like a proper football team. The possession is pointless. Whenever we get into attacking areas there is no one in the box. There is no one to play it to. We don't know how to attack teams. And to lose the game from a winning position with just 10 minutes left. We are toothless, we are pointless, we are timid, we are soft, we are just pathetic at the moment.

I don't think Stam is helping either. He creates inconsistency by changing the team so often.
When we stumble across a formula for playing football that looked really good against Villa and Birmingham why not try and continue with that. Why change it up so often? One minute we look like world beaters. The next, we're useless. I think we could have done with Kelly on the pitch tonight.

Topflight you are spot on. Most successful teams have a settled side whereas Stam very rarely plays the same 11 from one game to the next. Rather than keeping everyone jeed up, this is very unsettling for a squad because players cannot feel confident of playing 2 games in a row even if they were man of the match in the first game. He has had over 60 games with the squad plus training so he should know his starting eleven. As one example surely he can see that following lengthy injury spells GMac has lost the turn of pace necessary to play the pacey winger role let alone be a natural centre forward.

[NewCorkSeth]

On a side note from my main post did anyone watch stams interview after the match?

Seems to think we are playing well... annoyingly the penalty shout at the end distracts from the result. I almost would have preferred we lost 3-0 So it would highlight our frailties to him.

[Hound]

On a side note from my main post did anyone watch stams interview after the match?

Seems to think we are playing well... annoyingly the penalty shout at the end distracts from the result. I almost would have preferred we lost 3-0 So it would highlight our frailties to him.

read it - it does at least seem a notch down from the arrogance from Saturday - accepting things need to improve

I do think bringing in Bacuna, Barrow, Obita and Yann/Bod would make a huge difference, and thats without Kelly, Swift and Evans - 3 cornerstones of last years success. Whether Stam will do so is a different matter.

I feel Stam needs to get to this international break and completely re-assess. Beerens and McCleary are not who you pick if you are playing a false 9 - they are old fashioned wing types, who will do a good job in a 442/433 with a target man to aim for. Why buy Aluko if he is allowed to wander round the pitch - he should be sat down and shown how Barrow has played this year and told to emulate or sit on the bench. TBH, I'd drop all 3 and bring in Popa, Clement/Barrow and Bod on Saturday.

The lack of concentration at the back is a major issue. Again all good players, but teams are scoring with barely trying - Hull scored with their first shot on Sat, think Bristol City was similar, Millwall scored 2 in 6 shots. If we are going to play sh1t, we at least need to be able to keep a clean sheet.

[PieEater]

I thought the game had 0-0 all over it although we dominated the game we produced zero threat on their goal, and similarly Manone had nothing to do. Then we somehow score from a corner and I'm sure everyone thought we'd see the game out to a tight 0-1 win.

I really didn't see them getting anything never mind stealing the win, but that's seems to be our luck at the moment.

We set up with 5 at the back although Gunts and Blackett did get forward a lot more than Saturday. I'm still wondering when Stam's going to start a striker and put Kelly back in. I can't see how Edwards deserves his place above Evans.

There was a pretty decent turn out and a decent atmosphere in the odd occasions we had something to cheer about.

Not particularly looking forward to the being the late live game on Saturday, we never seem to play well when on Sky.

[Snowflake Royal]

So. Not good. I know a lot of people toss Stam out about on here because it's funny or their trying to get a rise but for the people who actually mean it, it's getting hard to defend against.

Team shape was negative. Why 3 CBs against a shite team? It wasn't necessary. Why, again, a deep lying forward SO deep lying he spent the majority of our attacking phases trying to get back up front? JVDB again? Whats the loyalty for Stam? He slows down our attacks by dawdling on the ball and mostly passes to opposition players..

Floating front 3 doesn't work if your front 3 can't shoot.. Millwall defended well against us but tbh a team of unfit nobbers could probably defend against us atm. We were predictable and ponderous.

No Swift, no Kelly, no Kermorgant, no Bacuna, no Barrow, no Obita and no Evans is the only reason I am remaining positive about this season.

Mannone - I have to re-watch the highlights but he was caught out of position I think for both goals. Poor guy.
Gunter - not a great game.. can't be too harsh or the 'Gunter is great' brigade will come out swinging but he was pretty ineffectual.
McShane - as the captain he should have done better. We were in dire need of someone to give us a boot up the are.
Moore - few unnecessary fouls and quite tame efforts at times.
Ilori - much better in than JVDB was last match.
Blackett - it feels like we attack up the left hand side most and I don't know why when it's Blackett and Beerens...
Edwards - don't let the goal fool you. He was shite.
JVDB - don't let the effort fool you. He is shite.
McCleary - needs to pull the finger out.
Beerens - a luxury player. Plays best when we are 2 goals up. Plays poorly when we need to score.
Aluko - thus far the complete waste of money people said he would be. Exactly as frustrating as Fulham fans warned he would be. Heavy touches and can't shoot.

Subs were so late it's pointless rating them. Although you could argue the starters were so poor it's not worth rating them either.

We attack down the left more because Gunter's a negative gutless shite who never takes anyone on and whose first touch is almost always back and inside ready for the pass back to McShane. Useless canute.

[Ivanhoe]

Edwards scores then gets outjumped for the equaliser and turned for the winner, both by an ex team mate !
No improvement here.

[NewCorkSeth]

So. Not good. I know a lot of people toss Stam out about on here because it's funny or their trying to get a rise but for the people who actually mean it, it's getting hard to defend against.

Team shape was negative. Why 3 CBs against a shite team? It wasn't necessary. Why, again, a deep lying forward SO deep lying he spent the majority of our attacking phases trying to get back up front? JVDB again? Whats the loyalty for Stam? He slows down our attacks by dawdling on the ball and mostly passes to opposition players..

Floating front 3 doesn't work if your front 3 can't shoot.. Millwall defended well against us but tbh a team of unfit nobbers could probably defend against us atm. We were predictable and ponderous.

No Swift, no Kelly, no Kermorgant, no Bacuna, no Barrow, no Obita and no Evans is the only reason I am remaining positive about this season.

Mannone - I have to re-watch the highlights but he was caught out of position I think for both goals. Poor guy.
Gunter - not a great game.. can't be too harsh or the 'Gunter is great' brigade will come out swinging but he was pretty ineffectual.
McShane - as the captain he should have done better. We were in dire need of someone to give us a boot up the are.
Moore - few unnecessary fouls and quite tame efforts at times.
Ilori - much better in than JVDB was last match.
Blackett - it feels like we attack up the left hand side most and I don't know why when it's Blackett and Beerens...
Edwards - don't let the goal fool you. He was shite.
JVDB - don't let the effort fool you. He is shite.
McCleary - needs to pull the finger out.
Beerens - a luxury player. Plays best when we are 2 goals up. Plays poorly when we need to score.
Aluko - thus far the complete waste of money people said he would be. Exactly as frustrating as Fulham fans warned he would be. Heavy touches and can't shoot.

Subs were so late it's pointless rating them. Although you could argue the starters were so poor it's not worth rating them either.

We attack down the left more because Gunter's a negative gutless shite who never takes anyone on and whose first touch is almost always back and inside ready for the pass back to McShane. Useless canute.

We should really be playing Kelly and Evans as our CMs and Swift ahead of them. Play it through the middle all game and see if that changes anything because clearly our wing play leaves much to be desired. I'd feel awful if I was Bodvarson. Or even worse.. Mendes...

[genome]

I think it speaks volumes that Millwall fans are saying we're the worst side to play them, including League One last season.

[paultheroyal]

When you look at some of the goals last night - particularly Cardiff, we should be set up to do exactly that.

I get this passing at the back, its impressive, its improved. But please, please, when we are in the final third I want to see us drive it forward, quick one two passing and shoot!! Not this pass pass,, no way through, go back. Rather us attack and have a go, if we lose the ball set up and go again. Something has to change, its so damn frustrating.

[Henley Royal 1]

Five at the back, a holding midfielder,three forwards who cant score was it going to be anything else also missing kermie at defending corners.Still no Evans, J VDB rubbish please Jaap give it a go get rid of wing backs come to mention it get rid of full backs .

[Warfield ED Stand]

Entire way we play was summed up when we broke in the 1st half with Beerens only having the right back to beat and he was away. He stopped, and passed it backwards. Playing 2 games running with no recognized striker is just clueless garbage. Time is running out.