About a quarter of an hour into today’s top of the table clash with Lincoln City, I thought it was going to be a long, long afternoon for us. Despite changing from their usual four at the back to a three centrebacks formation, Lincoln were comfortably keeping us at arm’s length and were causing us problems with their method of play which is almost a complete opposite of ours.
Now, it should be said here that I am very much the pessimist when watching us play (I’ve always believed that the vast majority of people who watch their teams while sober are, but maybe I’m wrong there?). Very often down the years, I’ve started fearing the worst early in a match only for City to prove me wrong as they won quite easily mind, but today, I was right – Lincoln were worthy winners and, in the end, it was quite comfortable for them.
I must say Lincoln impressed me, they were very hard to play against and, for me were a much better team than they looked when they beat us at Sincil Bank just before Christmas. Although I thought the Imps just about edged it that day, there was very little between the teams and luck was against us with the own goal Alex Robertson scored to put them 1-0 up – on another day, we definitely could have got something from that match.
Today though it looked like a bunch of individuals against a proper team. Many of City’s individuals are gifted at this level and it was significant that, a frantic minute in the first half apart, the little bits of eye catching skill by the likes of the Colwill brothers and Omari Kellyman which drew eager applause from the home crowd, came to nothing as City never built up a head of steam to get the big crowd really involved.
It helped Lincoln that whenever they attacked in open play, it was far less congested in the final third than it was when we did, but they were organized in a way that we weren’t and let’s be frank, we’ve been pretty open when we played at home all season.
Lincoln have the lowest percentage possession figures in the division, while we have the highest and the gap between the two of us only grew on an afternoon when it was 77/23 in our favour, but Lincoln were happy to let us have the play as they are so well drilled out of possession.
I’m sure Yousef Salech would have started today if he was fit because, while they had prospered without an attacking focal point in his absence, this was a day when City really needed one – for the first time since his injury six weeks ago against Stockport.
In straightforward terms, City needed some more height in their team against such tall opponents and, in terms of the aerial challenge, it also didn’t help that Perry Ng cried off this morning with an illness to be replaced by Ronan Kpakio – although, to be fair to the teenager, I thought he was maybe our best player on the day.
Other changes saw Will Fish replace Dylan Lawlor and Kellyman returning instead of Cian Ashford, while Lincoln’s Jack Moylan, widely regarded as their best player, was only on the bench after being an injury doubt through much of the preceding week.
Lincoln’s switch of formation may have been viewed as something of a risk, but it didn’t work out that way as City spent much of the first half an hour trying to come to terms with it – in fact, i can’t remember a single goal attempt from us during this time.
That all changed around the thirty five minute mark when Ollie Tanner, struggling to make the same impact as he does on the right as Kellyman was being used on that side of the pitch, came infield to hit a right footed effort from twenty yards that drew a fine save out of George Wickens as he pushed the ball over for a corner.
Seconds later, Wickens was less impressive as he shovelled away a Rubin Colwill effort as his brother closed in and when the ball was half cleared to Rubin his shot was this time deflected not far wide for another set piece.
City had a few more corners as they finished the half on top, but they’d had their best period of the match and the second half was to prove a disappointment as they finished second to a team who must be favourites to be Champions after they snuffed out any momentum City had.
By starting with Osho and Fish, City were arguably using the pair of centrebacks best equipped to deal with the physical challenge Lincoln posed and they both did well enough in the first half, but it proved to be different on fifty five minutes when the vicitors scored what was always going to be a vital first goal.
Osho got first contact on a long ball forward as he challenged with Rob Street, but it turned into an assist as Ben House got away from Fish and played in Street who shot home from eight yards.
Rather surprisingly, City took longer than normal to bring on substitutes as Callum Robinson and Chris Willock replaced Kellyman and Joel Colwill. The changes soon brought a second goal, but not in the right net when Tanner, now on his favoured right side, carelessly conceded possession to give Lincoln the chance to show their speed on the break. In no time at all, sub Dom Jefferies was running at Fish and he had few problems cutting in and firing in low from twelve yards.
Dylan Lawlor came on for Osho and Ashford for Tanner and maybe there could have still been something for City from the match if Rubin’s shot had found the corner rather than flying a foot or two wide.
There was also a well struck effort from Robinson which was saved, but the closing minutes were generally comfortable for a good Lincoln side which presented City with problems they just couldn’t solve.
As I type this, the 3 o clock kick offs are coming to an end and it looks like Bolton are not taking advantage of our slip as they trail 2-0 (they ended up scoring three times after the eighty eighth minute to win 3-2, an outcome which will give them great momentum) at home to in form Wycombe who suddenly look real Play Off contenders (or maybe they don’t!). Bradford are edging to a 2-1 home win over Leyton Orient and with Stockport not playing, Huddersfield beat Rotherham this lunchtime, while Reading are winning at under achievers Luton, as are Stevenage at Burton.
There was an amazing game involving our under 18s at Watford this lunchtime where Paul Moreno and Harry Watts both scored twice and Axel Donczew and Jack Sykes weighed in with one each in a 6-4 win.
Locally, Treherbert Boys and Girls Club were hammered 7-1 at home by Pontardawe in the Ardal League South West.
I am amazed by your report Paul. Not by your accuracy and judgements which are spot on as usual but by the fact that you were able to write it by the time the 3.00 pm games were finishing. Please tell me how you managed that.
You are so right about Salech. We have managed incredibly well without him most of the time. Although their goals did not come from corners and long throws I was nervous at our inability to deal with them throughout. With hindsight we probably needed a back up central striker big enough to help our defence in games where we were likely to be outmuscled. I thought Trott was very weak today as was Osho.
You are also right about the pessimism. Does it come from valley’s upbringing I wonder as I am that way too. Are our city friends less pessimistic perhaps? More often than not my pessimism has proved to be unfounded this year but I was very nervous before this game and the recent one at Plymouth. I don’t know much about Barnsley but if I discover they are a big side I will be on Tuesday!
Thanks Mike. I’ve always tried to get at least an outline for my match pieces done as soon after the game as possible while the memory of it is fresh in my mind This has led to me often writing them out of order so to speak, also on trains and, occasionally, in my car before I drove home.
As for Nathan Trott, he is very good with the ball at his feet, although I agree with Dai about his long kicking having gone backwards from earlier in the season, and a fine shot stopper, but he’s never fully convinced me when it comes to high balls delivered into our penalty area.
I lived the first sixty two years of my life in Cardiff, so my pessimism (it’s only during games in my case) is not born of a valleys upbringing – I suspect it’s got something to do with me not allowing myself to get into a position where our eventual failure will bring on a massive “down’ in my case. It allows me to tell myself “well, I wasn’t expecting much anyway”. Yesterday was a bit different though, I was pretty open minded about what was going to happen beforehand, but within ten to fifteen minutes, I just thought the “tone” of the game was against us with us not being able to do enough to escape from the grip Lincoln had taken on proceedings and, apart from that one minute in the first half, it stayed much the same throughout the game.
The game against Lincoln :
POSSESSION : Cardiff 78% Lincoln 22%
GOALS : Cardiff 0 Lincoln 2
A lesson to be learned by Manager, training staff, and players.
I think we all feared we were going to become the latest notch on Imps’ belting form. I have to agree, Bob, they were the better team and well deserved their victory. We thought we were the best team in the league but we aren’t. The reason is so obvious now. Defensive fragility. All great teams are built from the back. Lincoln’s defence was cast iron. Their penalty area might as well have been surrounded by a castle wall. We played great football as far as the castle door but could never unpick the lock. Their defenders were yeomen to a man. When they broke, however, they broke with menace. Our attacking play, brilliant as it is, covers a soft underbelly. We know we leave space behind but rely on opposing forwards, at this level, to cock up the chances they get. This afternoon, as at Plymouth, they didn’t; they were far better than that. Of course, most teams in the Championship, should we go up, will be far better than that, too. It’s a valuable lesson, one which I’m sure our manager knows well enough already. For now, he is making the best use of the resources at his disposal. We have young talent, the like of which we haven’t seen in generations, mostly in forward areas, so we focus on that, play football we all love watching and get away with it at the back where Lawlor, Bagan and Ng are our only real strengths.
I have enjoyed this season immensely. I love so much about this team. The spirit above all, the passion, the unspoilt enthusiasm that makes me feel young again. However – and this is specific to the here and now, not the ingrained pessimism of being a lifetime City supporter – the greater the love the greater the pain is all I see in my crystal ball. Vincent Tan is just dying to get his money back. Who can blame him? He’s received so much abuse, some of it racist, he stays in Thailand now. If that’s just at the hands of a minority, all I can say is that the majority has displayed its usual cowardly silence.
It’s all so regrettable. Our young boys are our boys, raised from seed. We love them. But they will be encouraged to leave, as John Toshack was long ago, for a decent whack, but nothing like what their value will be in years to come, and we loyal supporters will just have to bear the pain as our beloved team, once again, never fulfils.
For me, nothing could make up for the sale of ‘our boys’. I’m just sentimental like that. Many wouldn’t mind if, like Sunderland, we were able to spend some of the money on even better players, from wherever, and prosper, but who has any such faith in our transfer committee?
Hi Paul, due to some major lifestyle changes last summer (mostly positive I’m pleased to say), my time has been focussed elsewhere, and although I try to keep up to date with your reports and comments from your regular followers, I mostly haven’t felt the need to reply until now.
A couple of things have triggered this:
Firstly whereas I mainly agree with most of your match reports, I can’t agree with your analysis of the Lincoln game.
Whereas I agree that Lincoln did a very effective job on us, and they were obviously well-drilled and coached (I was in awe that their back 5 managed to run back in a perfectly straight line when one of their rare attacks in the first-half broke down), I can’t admire a team who do the following:
1. Time waste from the first minute, which not only their keeper was guilty of, but they wasted time consistently at most set plays. Why the ref waited until the 95th minute until finally giving the keeper a yellow card for it, meant it was too late to have any effect on the game. I was told a stat after the game, that in Lincoln’s games this season, the ball is only in play for 55 mins on average, which means the other 35 mins are for stoppages and time-wasting.
2. Not only were Lincoln guilty of time-wasting, they committed twice the number of fouls as us, some pretty cynical, and yet only received 3 yellow cards (to our zero). And only one of those was for an actual foul, the other being for an almost laughable simulation in our penalty area, which meant that the ref, seemingly reluctantly, was forced to get his card out of his pocket.
3. Play a very low block, with it either being 4-4-2, or mostly in the second half 5-4-1. As we’ve seen with Wales games against lowly opposition whose only chance of restricting goals conceded is to play a low block, it’s difficult to score when only one of the teams wants to play football. Your own stat Paul, that Lincoln have the lowest possession rate of any team in the division, just proves that their main aim is have minimal possession themselves and spend the vast majority of time trying to spoil the opposition from doing anything positive with it.
4. One of their two main attacking ploys was a long. throw-in. While I agree it’s a useful weapon to have in your attacking arsenal, for Lincoln it was their only one, apart from their ability to counter attack from defence.
All this may sound a bit like sour grapes, but as I said at the start, I acknowledge that Lincoln are extremely well coached at what they do, and did a very effective smash and grab job on us.
Yesterdays game reminded me in many ways of our defeat to Blackpool at Bloomfield Rd earlier this season, when we were by far the better team in the first half, but Blackpool defended well, with their keeper making some excellent saves, and our players not being clinical enough in front of goal. The second half continued the same way, but then Blackpool scored a goal on the break with a clinical finish, and then scored two more in almost identical fashion.
I’m not too down overall, because we didn’t play badly, although our attacks on the whole weren’t quick enough and allowed the well-organised Lincoln team to re-group defensively. I also thought one or two of our players were below par – Ollie Tanner in particular, was some way short of the high standards he’s been achieving since his return (apart from his first-half shot).
One other thing that recently caught my attention and caused me to write was your reference in a recent report, to the Cardiff City Phone In show, which as you say is no longer a phone-in, but an online discussion show. The reason being is that I was the regular host of the previous Cardiff City Phone-In just up until it changed format. Regular guests at the time included former City players Derek Brazil and Gary Bell, although my favourite guest was the late Phil Dwyer (a story for another time). The reason for the change in format in 2020 was due to the Covid restrictions, which meant we could no longer use the Atrium in Cardiff, where the show was broadcast from, and so it became the obvious solution to move it online, and that’s how it’s continued. Also, as a result, I don’t think it’s broadcast any longer by the several local Community Radio stations that used to do so.
However, out of the blue, I’ve been invited to take part in this Mondays ‘Phone-In’ show from 7pm, so I wonder if I will have modified any of my views on Lincoln City by then?
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cardiff+city+phone+in
As Mike (Herbert) says, bravo Paul for getting your despatches back from the war ‘Front’ with such alacrity yesterday… and moreover making it a true ‘AA’… viz… ‘alacrity’ plus ‘accuracy’.
There was not much for us two to differ on… apart from your praise for Kpakio’s contribution, which I found a tad mystifying. Truth was to me that no City player stood out in a display of impotence that could be used in future advertising campaigns by the Numan Clinic.
Where to begin…
Well, after the events of yesterday, it would not surprise me if bookies have now stopped taking bets on who will win the title of Division One manager of the season. And needless to say it will not be our man.
But before I add to my thinking there, let me say that I have just looked at the league table and I see my original 3 picks for promotion (before a ball was kicked) are currently in 3rd, 4th and 5th places… and along with most folk, I too reckon that it is almost an unconscionable thought to think that either us or Lincoln could implode Dave Jones style in the 11 games remaining, but stranger things have happened.
And were we to end up in a final 4 including 2 of those three plus maybe Huddersfield or Reading, methinks our crushing disappointment might be too much for our team to overcome, and thus we might find raising our morale to take on our playoff opponents, as something beyond us.
So let us not get cocky and assume that Oakwell will be an easy three points on Tuesday. It won’t.
No, perhaps they will not ‘Warnockball’ us off the park so outstandingly as Lincoln did yesterday, but rivals will now finally late in the day be starting to realise that BBM has only a Plan A… and the only way to guarantee pricking the Bluebirds’ balloon is to refuse to play us at open expansive football, but have a hard-tackling approach and commit no more than two team members to attacking…apart from on set-pieces… (especially those moments when you can exploit having a great exponent of long throws… as Lincoln certainly had yesterday, and we alas need ‘desideratum’).
And so, when opposition teams twig that the way to thwart us is to play Warnock way, our ‘do not shoot, but instead walk the ball into the net’ philosophy will come a cropper.
Yesterday, not one player was worthy of a six out of ten… and there were at least several fours.
Like you say Paul, what has happened to Trott’s distribution? Not that I ever bought the hyperbole in the first place.
I was suspicious of the way he would prance up to the actual contact with the ball in the actual kick. It is straight out of the Nijinsky playbook… and I do not mean the racehorse or the late Colin Bell…!!
And to my way of thinking, his kicking was always a case of ‘style over substance’… and was never the equal of Alnwick’s.
And yesterday’s was our worst single performance of ‘goalie distribution’ I can recall in many years.
Bring Jak back to give him lessons in that department… though there is nowt he could teach Trott about shot stopping, a department where he is usually outstanding… though yesterday his positioning for the second goal was questionable. (Oh, and Paul, tell me about the scorer’s time as a young Bluebird, please?)
And what a tizzy Trott got into when the long throws came in, eh?
Poor Tanner will not have slept methinks realising his two careless errors led to the two goals (though Osho assisted him in culpability for the first); Kpakio was not at the races; Rubin demonstrated his trademark Houdini quick turn to bamboozle his close marker… but demonstrated little else; and the late introduction of Robinson and Willock just convinced me that should we make the Championship next season we cannot rely on either.
I was disappointed that the top red tier of what I don’t call his ‘folly’ but instead term as Vincent’s Vision, was empty yesterday… but still at over 27,000, we were the biggest attendance in the lower two EFL divisions… some 3,824 more than MKD impressively – and bizarrely – attracted for the appearance of the pyramid’s 92nd team… (23,456… against our 27,280).
And to think that when the original Wimbledon club were moved to MK against the will of their South London fans, there were many who said that there would not be the possible first-class football fanbase there as within a short drive from MK were Northampton,Luton and Watford… who all already had hardcore fans in the town.
Well, all I can say re MK’s attendance figure yesterday is this: with a stat like that, they are not doubting the town’s passion for the game anymore.
And a final word re stats: not for the first time in the MAYA comment section, one man today shows us all the way. Graham invariably captures the truth in a way that we others can only envy.
Please BBM, read his pithy contribution above, and play attacking football – and not pass square and backwards and be shot shy – like we appeared yesterday.
Oh there is a thought that occurs before signing off: watching that amazing game at the Racecourse last night, I was struck by the commentator’s words re the O’Brien miss.
I have been a fan of O’Brien since his fabulous days at the McAlpine. Indeed Paul, you will recall me in your pages begging City to sign him before he briefly went to Swansea.
So what a pity it was last night to see him (as the commentator said) aim that crucial attempt to just inside the goalpost… only for the shot to fly a yard wide.
I do wish footballers would stop doing this: they should allow a ‘margin for error’ and aim the ball between the post and keeper… and then, if it ends up being an easy save, so be it. But aiming for the top bins just plays into BBM’s view that too many shots end up in the stands… and thus we saw only one decent shot from us in our entire game… that one from Tanner in the first half.
TTFN,
Dai.
PS Just noted since starting this piece, two more long posts have arrived. A great lyrical piece from RWC… with wonderful its praise for Vincent and rightly denouncing racist attitudes toward him. And also a welcome re-appearance by BB.
Oh… and very important: I was so suspicious of that MKD attendance figure that I just asked AI… and got this explanation…
‘…
The attendance at MK Dons’ game yesterday was notably high, with over 23,000 fans present, largely due to the club’s Community Day, which offered free tickets to supporters. This initiative aimed to encourage both regular fans and newcomers to experience a football match at Stadium MK
…’
Ah, that explains things. God bless Artificial Intelligence… not for the first time they have (sorry, ‘it’ has) explained to me what had previously appeared inexplicable.
DW
Hi Paul and thanks.
Lots of thoughts from regulars on yesterday’s disappointing performance, and good to see a range of views.
My fears beforehand of playing below par before a large and expectant hope crowd were justified. This feeling not helped by being caught up behind a march of about 100 or so City supporters confidently striding down from Canton an hour before kick off to the beating of a drum and chants of “we are top of the league” . All felt a bit premature to me, but maybe I also share Paul’s Valleys anxiety for all things Cardiff City!
For me, it was like watching new City v the old ( Warnock) version of ourselves. When well-organised teams play that way and have the added armoury of threat from set pieces and being quick on the break then we consistently seem to struggle.
Definitely missed a target man – Salech – up front, as felt we could still be playing tippy tappy around the box for another 90 minutes and not score!
The swapping round of Tanner and playing Kellyman wide right didn’t work for either player, with Colwill trying hard to little avail in the more central role.
For me Trott has loads of credit in the bank, so allowed an off-day, although it does seem that he is a much better shot stopper than he is at coping with physical pressure in crowded penalty areas.
Not a disaster, just feeling of a great missed opportunity and hopefully we can put things right on Tuesday, get back on track and keep focussed for the weeks ahead. Nobody said this would be easy and yesterday was a timely reminder of that.
Thank-you Paul, for your considered report of the Lincoln (h) game. There’s so much to pick over after Saturday’s disappointing encounter, a result that was made worse by Bolton’s remarkable three goals after 88 mins.
Lincoln City:
Sadly at the outset, I must say that I do disagree with you in that you felt that Lincoln impressed you. They didn’t me. Rather I simply thought that they did well what they do. Incessant timewasting of 30+ secs for each throw, corner kick, free kick and goal kick massively reduced the time the ball was in play. As Blue Bayou showed, virtually 40% of Lincoln games this season have been used up by waiting for them to put the ball back into play. That Mr Reeves delayed until the fourth of 9 added minutes at the close of the game to censure this, was scandalous. Add to that a couple of elbows into Osho’s face and outrageous diving and it all left a bit of a taste in the mouth at the end of the game.
True, they broke from defence with purpose but it was a re-run of the Warnockball era as throws and corners were slung into the box. Our team did not have enough physicality or height to combat it.
Of their team, Jack Moylan apart who was injured, only Tendayi Darikwa (rwb) truly impressed me. He would be a utility player par excellence for us next season being able to play in attacking and defensive positions on the right and also in central midfield. What a player!
In the, “The Sound of Music,” there is a song called, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” “Young Maria, full of life and curiosity, wanted to become a nun, but it remained to be seen whether her destiny lay in the solemn, quiet life of the sisterhood. When they saw Maria running past them, late for evening prayers, Mother Abbess and the sisters question whether the young postulant was fit for the reserved life of a nun.” * Simply, she was out of place. Her flighty lifestyle was obviously at odds with the peaceful requirements of the contemplative life of the nunnery. Cardiff City had their very own footballing equivalent of Maria on display on Saturday. But more of that later.
Cardiff City:
Not for the first time this season a team changed to a back 3 to play us. Why? If ever there was a case to play with two strikers this was the game, but we didn’t even have one. Against a poorer side than Lincoln Kellyman and Colwill (R) have worked to an extent but shorn of Salech we have no robust focal point of attack to be able to bring others into play.
Against a physical side it simply does not work. Yes Kellyman scored two goals at Plymouth but in our last two defeats against physical sides we have conceded 7 goals.
The longer the game played out, the sight of the older Colwill dropping so deep in the second half (he could have held hands with Wintle) was bonkers. The more he got the ball it appeared the less he did with it. His 79 touches resulted in little. Oh that he had a striker in front of him and a functioning Ashford or Tanner to his left.
Lincoln’s three centre backs could not have had an easier game all season. Then when Ashford came on he was seeking to overlap the winger by the corner flag. In his defence he needed to be central some 20-25 yds from the penalty spot. Sadly for the player he rarely was.
Kellyman didn’t seem fit to me and Tanner had his worst game since returning from injury. Only when Ashford came on did we look like creating anything but it was too late by then. I just hope that Tan’s refusal to sanction a second striker will not cost us in the run in. A Salech / AN Other alongside Robinson would have posed a very different scenario for the visitors. As it was we almost played at walking pace seeking to winkle a pearl from its oyster. It was never going to work. We fiddled too much and, I’m sure, Lincoln could not believe the ease with which they picked up the 3 points.
The Referee:
Our defeat was not due to Mr Reeves (from Warwickshire). That was firmly inflicted by the home club themselves, but his handling of the game did leave much to be desired. In addition to the items mentioned above, also a clear shout for a penalty, when Tanner was pulled back in the box, was waved away. The, ‘push.’ on Wintle in the penalty area was less clear cut for me.
If we needed any further proof of Mr Reeves, he was also referee for the Port Vale (a) game last August. That was a game which, in the first minute, saw Salech getting a knee full in the face. Mr Reeves chose not to caution the Port Vale defender.
The visitors were virtually left to do what they wanted with impunity.
Rubin Colwill:
To borrow the title of the song from, “The Sound of Music,” I guess we could say, “How do you Solve a Problem like Rubin Colwill?” Gifted he is but a centre forward he ain’t. If he’s not playing as a #10, and even here Kellyman has played well, then I can’t see a role for him. But, as a striker Colwill, like Maria, was out of place. He has played his best when at #10 with a winger outside him and a striker in front of him. Readers may think I am being overly critical of the player. I am not trying to be. Surely he can only play in his best position.
In the musical, the character of Maria was based on the life of Maria Augusta von Trapp. “She wrote in her autobiography that she was very angry on her wedding day, both at God and at her new husband, because she really wanted to be a nun.” **
I really hope our very own, Rubin Colwill, does not get sidetracked and he gets to play in his favoured position. This weekend he put so much effort into his 90 mins, dashing here, there and everywhere trying to make things happen. But it wasn’t to be. It’s not just the effort expended but where it’s expended that counts.
* [ https://rodgersandhammerstein.com/song/the-sound-of-music/maria/ ]
** [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_von_Trapp ]
Some great replies received in the last twenty four hours and I’d be here until this time tomorrow if I tried to give all of the points raised the consideration that, ideally, I would do. Therefore, I’ll reply in more general terms this time regarding a game which, if anything, I’m more disappointed with now than I was on Saturday. That’s unusual for me, I normally get over defeats pretty quickly – I reckon it’s probably because we just didn’t show up on the big occasion did we.
I will use one of your messages as a kind of base for my remarks. Graham put things in simple terms and, this time, I find it impossible to argue against what he says You’d expect a team that wins 2-0 on the ground of the league leaders while only having twenty three per cent of the ball, to have spent the ninety minutes under the cosh as they warded off pretty incessant pressure, but it was never like that on Saturday – in fact, I daresay Lincoln have had to dig in an awful lot more to get a result away from home than they had to at Cardiff.
To go back to that strange feeling I had about ten minutes in which was more than the sort of pessimism I may have if we’ve not blown a team away in.the opening minutes. This was a feeling of hopelessness almost – I just thought “well, that’s it, we’ve not got the armoury to hurt Lincoln today” and I’d say that we spent the next eighty odd minutes proving that to be the case.
The first thing to say in trying to ascertain why that was the case is that while I didn’t see anyone in blue having an absolute stinker, I didn’t see anyone putting in a better than seven out of ten performance (and there were only one or two of them) either. Dai disagrees with me about Kpakio being one one of our best players, but I struggle to come up with many names when I ask myself who was better than him? Ashford did pretty well when he came on, Robertson perhaps, Wintle maybe, but while there’s been three or four genuine candidates for City man of the match in games this season, there weren’t any obvious ones on Saturday.
Now, although some of you disagree, I think you have to give Lincoln credit for that. As someone who has seen mnre than enough attritional, boring and basic football from my team in the last fifteen years or so, I don’t need to say that I would find watching them week in, week out hard going at times and I would be having the odd whinge about how they play. However, if I were a 70 year old Imps fan who is on the brink of seeing them play at the highest level they’ve managed during my football supporting life, then I think I could cope with their style, or lack of it – in fact, I’d be thrilled and would be absolutely delighted with how they responded to what was the biggest match of their season so far.
Isn’t the truth that Lincoln didn’t need to be particularly eye catching or spectacular to win on Saturday? All they needed was a tactical tweak and to maintain their normal standards and they had the beating of us – quite comfortably as well, as things turned out.
To be fair to City, the injury to Salech, and to a lesser extent Isaak Davies who would maybe have added some zest to out pedestrian passing, meant their hands were tied somewhat in terms of selection. I say that while acknowledging that our “false number nine” system had been a definite success in terms of goalscoring, but you have to acknowledge that Barnsley, Burton, Luton, Wimbledon, Plymouth and Doncaster are unlikely to finish in the top six this season even if one or two of them will still feel they can do so with a very strong finish to their campaigns. No, Lincoln represented a big step up in the quality of opponent we have faced since Salech’s injury against Stockport.
You can disagree with the team selection if you want – for me, Kellyman should have been the false nine given his limited impact when he plays out wide, Rubin Colwill could have been the number ten type, Tanner should have stayed where he has been playing in his most productive spell since he joined the club and, although it would have been very harsh on Joel Colwill, I’d have left him out and tried to find a place for Ashford from the start. However, I doubt if any of those changes would have altered the outcome to any great extent – I’ve used the term changing the deckchairs on the Titanic on a couple of messageboard discussions on the game because it just seems so very appropriate to me.
Similarly, I can’t say that a fit Yousef Salech would have brought about a different outcome because I don’t believe that to be the case, but at least having him in the team would have given Lincoln something different to think about. It would also have given us the opportunity to mix things up a bit, because we didn’t have that on Saturday. To return to Graham’s point, I would still say that the “BBM way” has been a success this season, but, maybe Saturday showed that this was more down to the lack of quality in most teams we face than any great quality we possess. Nevertheless, we have been successful using a possession based game because most of the time we’ve been able to pass the ball forward more against lesser teams.
However, what we saw on Saturday was what happens when a possession based team not set up to play any other way comes up against a side that are so well organised that the opportunities to play those telling forward balls declines. What you have then is possession figures going up if anything because the passing team is forced into playing in a “safe” way involving more easy passes being played in front of opponents that are happy to let you have the ball as long as it’s not in their defensive third.
What was disappointing was that any change of formation creates spaces elsewhere on the pitch which can be exploited. Lincoln’s switch to a back three with wing backs meant that, given that Lincoln played with Hackett and House played quite well forward supporting Street, there should have been more gaps in central midfield to be exploited. Maybe I’ve over simplified things somewhat there, but the point stands that playing the extra central defender meant that there would be gaps elsewhere – I assume BBM and his coaching staff spotted them, but they were completely unable to get their team to exploit them. Furthermore, the eighteen players we had to pick from on Saturday are not built physically for us to vary our approach too much – we would have got nowhere with that group of players trying to take Lincoln in, say, more of a Neil Warnock style contest and we didn’t exactly have blistering attacking pace to trouble Lincoln with did we.
In saying that, it is disappointing that BBM and his coaches proved to be wholly incapable of changing the way the game panned out – from minute one to ninety, we performed in the way Lincoln hoped and expected us to play – we clearly didn’t have the means to change things in our match day squad and it seems we didn’t have them among the non playing staff in the dug out either.