Failure to sign striker cost us


I think we have had a brilliant season and we are way ahead of where we expected to be. All the if's and but's about sign this player or that are just pessimistic speculation. No one knows what would have happened had we signed another striker. We could have finished outsied the play offs.
 
Please watch the game again.
Our defence were constantly under pressure when we had the ball.
It was constantly intercepted in midfield because we had no option to bypass their press and had to try and play through them every time.
We definitely would have benefitted from a more physical striker last night. I also think we needed an extra man in central midfield -a 4 3 3 - but the facts are we lost from not having defenders winning headers twice.
 
Again, we were among the highest scoring teams in the division. Scoring goals wasn't our problem.

The goals we conceded all came from set plays and given we were missing our two first choice centre backs and the other one Alese was only coming back from injury is possibly the main reason we suffered.

We have a young and relatively inexperienced squad who are learning, stop f***ing whinging
No one's whinging, I consider myself a happy clapper to a large degree but do think that the manager, players and fans were let down in the January window, even Mowbray publicly requested a striker, do you not think the players would want a striker and at the very least an out ball and presence up top to help them get out and hold the ball up.

The point that we scored plenty of goals and therefore didn't need a striker is way, way off the mark imo....the recent loss of centre backs was the final straw and just compounded the situation.

Everyone thinks differently though and no-one is spitting their dummy either way....just voicing an opinion.
 
The press was not the issue - we had 62% of posession, we just couldn't get behind them or break them down. They defended very well and our creative players were missing that extra 1%. Such is life.
 
Why could we not escape their high press.
Since January, unlike you who said we should be happy with mid table I have said this team had the potential to go up with a bit of support and investment from above.
The fans , team and manager have been badly let down
You’re making shit up now
 
Well done to our players and Tony Mowbray for working miracles with the players at his disposal.
Lot of nonsense posted about tactics or players bottling it.
The cold facts are we were unable to counter their high press because we had no option to play long.
The reason for this is the abject failure to sign a decent physical striker in January.
Those responsible have let down the players who have performed amazing the manager and the supporters.
You need the tools to do the job.
Here he is. :lol:

Glad you are ok mate. Been quiet for a while ye absolute tatey.
 
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We still scored a lot of goals ( more than 1990 team ) but the lack of a striker as a release / hold the ball high up the pitch meant the defence was under more pressure than it should have been


So we evolved into a team with a better away record

Need to work out how to improve home form, more forward / striker options next year should help massively
 
It wasnt about spending millions when Stewart got injured. It was about not relying on Simms who we knew we could lose, having a young back up forward coming through, having a plan B from the bench.
Having height to help us defend corners.

If people think finishing 6th and losing a 2 legged play off to Luton is a great season with the talent in that side, It explains why they think we didnt need to sign a forward.
 
Instead of bleeting on about your January striker , which you have months , why dont you say who would you have liked to sign.....as Ive told you mnay times before there was no one available. Yes you could have splashed out £5 million on Johnson Clarke Harris or gone for a free like Chris Martin , Watmore , Waghorn but thankfully we didnt because we are not going down that root of wasting money again.

We did try and get Archer but he went to Boro.....Simms would have come back but Everton sacked Lampard and they didnt sign a striker on deadline day..... Stewart got injured in January which ruined the Joffy/Stewart partnership......Im glad we didnt sign somebody which now we would have been lumbered with. Now we can go for the targets that have
probably been planned for months.....

Clarke Johnson is the top scorer in league 1.
Boro obviously paid more for Archer.

We have not signed a striker since Ross Stewart ( almost 2 years now)
And you believe we have striker targets for months.
An extremely optimistic take.
 
I agree with you our football has been a joy to watch .
But you must recognise that a well drilled team with physical players always had the potential to do us like Luton did last night.
If you watch the game our defenders were constantly under pressure and struggled to get out because we had no option to by pass their press.
You can still play lovely football and have a physical presence up front. You neec that option.
Mowbray wasnt given it.
I disagree, if you have an easy option at that level you take it. We have won a lot of games by being brave. Luton have beaten a lot of good sides this year and the majority of them will have been playing with a striker
 
It wasnt about spending millions when Stewart got injured. It was about not relying on Simms who we knew we could lose, having a young back up forward coming through, having a plan B from the bench.
Having height to help us defend corners.

If people think finishing 6th and losing a 2 legged play off to Luton is a great season with the talent in that side, It explains why they think we didnt need to sign a forward.
Exactly we had a very very talented squad who just needed a bit of help.
 
The press was not the issue - we had 62% of posession, we just couldn't get behind them or break them down. They defended very well and our creative players were missing that extra 1%. Such is life.
This. We didn't go out last night because we didn't have a striker. It was a number of things, in the main too many players, particularly the ones who have been getting us plenty of goals just didn't turn up. We had our 2 first choice centre backs out in a game tailor made for the way they play. And we played a team that finished 3rd who did turn up on the night. It happens.
 
I disagree, if you have an easy option at that level you take it. We have won a lot of games by being brave. Luton have beaten a lot of good sides this year and the majority of them will have been playing with a striker

Did we struggle to get past their press?
Were our defenders constantly under pressure in possession.
Did we often have to go backwards in possession.
Why do you think that was.
 
Think it's funny because if we have Batth and Ballard playing those two play off matches we go through.
Absolutely. In hindsight we needed to sign 4 additional defenders in January. Having no fit defenders is what ultimately cost us. If we’d played last night with a back four of Hume, Ballard, Batth and Alese, then we’d have cruised through (in my opinion).
 
This. We didn't go out last night because we didn't have a striker. It was a number of things, in the main too many players, particularly the ones who have been getting us plenty of goals just didn't turn up. We had our 2 first choice centre backs out in a game tailor made for the way they play. And we played a team that finished 3rd who did turn up on the night. It happens.

Not having a focal point dictated their whole strategy. They pressed us very high up the pitch , knowing we could not play over the top.
 
I don't think it has. I believe if we had Alese, Ballard and Batth playing in the last 2 games we'd be booking hotels and train tickets this morning.
 
Not having a focal point dictated their whole strategy. They pressed us very high up the pitch , knowing we could not play over the top.
I get what you're saying in a lot of points you're making, but you're talking about one game in which it's really cost us. You haven't brought these points up for ages. It hasn't effected us in the majority of games we've played since January. Just unfortunate it was last night, and we didn't turn up as a whole. It happens.
 
Clubs don't usually willingly let strikers go in January unless for big money (see Will Grigg)

The recruitment has been excellent up to now, but one glaring fact is that we haven't signed a permanent striker since Stewart in January 2021.

When Wyke left nobody was bothered as we had Stewart waiting in the wings who had looked good up to then and played a few games.

This is something we have been massively lacking and could bite us in the arse this summer if Stewart were to leave.

I think if the model is going to be successful then succession planning is key, as when we sell our best players there needs to be an able replacement to slot straight in.
 

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