Minority Report 2019-20 v Brentford

Between Schmidt and Knassmuller and whatever weird stuff happened with the supposed deal for that Miranda bloke I'm wondering if we've got some sort of money laundering scheme going on with Admira Wacker or summat.

You just get the sense he's going to make fewer than 5 starts and then get binned off to the continent.

 

I often agree with quite a lot of what you say red rain, I felt you too harsh on Mowatt the other week, though that was one of few exceptions.

But to say that Brad Collins was faultless and our man of the match?

He booted the ball out of play under no pressure on a few occasions, he woefully misjudged the cross for the second goal (it was headed in from inside the six yard box between the posts from a floaty cross - there is no way any goalkeeper in the football league, any division, should allow that to happen), he should have done better with the third, (he could have got to the through ball for a start, and a stronger hand saves the header) - and he went walkabout out to the touchline at one point for no apparent sensible reason.

I like Brad Collins. But he didn’t play well today.

As a point of interest I wouldn’t call our formation 4-4-2 either.

 

Cavare was at fault for all three goals in my mind. Didn't track Watkins who was a yard away for the first, he just jogged behind making no effort to do anything remotely defensive, having played them onside. The second he jogs feebly back, allows Watkins to just run away from him and to the back post for a free header. And on the third he's again unwilling to get back and stop Watkins at the back stick.
Williams had a mare and was culpable clearly, but Cavare could have made an effort to stop all three but chose against doing so.

 

Perhaps not, but please watch the goals back and watch Cavare for all three.

 

I’ve seen them all back. Cavare and Anderson don’t cover the back post too well. I’ve never suggested any different.

However, every goal comes from a cross from our left back channel with the lad playing left back not even in the same post code.

Jordan Williams was by a country mile the worst player on the park today. I wasn’t trying to call out Brad Collins, I was just responding to the assertion that he was faultless and our man of the match. He certainly wasn’t the former and to be honest I struggle to give anyone enough praise to award a latter. Woodrow probably.

 

Collins didn't cover himself in glory. That second goal especially. And Williams was abysmal bless him. Cavare was the biggest culprit for me because of his complete unwillingness to try.

 

I was really struggling to find a MotM, which is why I nominated the woodwork earlier in my piece. I did not see any player who was without fault, including Cauley Woodrow, who I believe drops out of games for long periods. Any MotM could have been faulted, because there wasn't one.

Before the season began, I wrote a long piece about our prospects for the season. Even at that stage, I was worried about the press, because there were times last season even, when it did not work. When we play better teams, those with better players, they have extra time to think, and play their way out of trouble, and their extra pace to hurts us when they have. I have mentioned the press in almost every Minority Report since the start of the season. As an example, against Leeds, it tired us out and made us vulnerable late in the game. It is the message that I wanted to emphasise above all others in my piece yesterday. However, I decided that there is no point just being critical. One has to offer alternatives or these things just become a diatribe. So I thought about a deep 4-4-2, where everyone stays goal side of the ball, and of course a gap develops between the back 8 and the front 2, and that gap is unbridgeable. Then I thought about 4-3-3, but of course there is no player at the club currently who is capable of successfully playing as a central striker on their own. There is no doubt that I began my report with the aim of heaping all the blame on Stendel, but by the time it ended, I had no scapegoat.

You see, I am not happy that the owners are the scapegoat either. It has to be admitted that they did not get the players that we needed to stay in this division during the summer transfer window. Of that there is no doubt. Nevertheless, they are trying to run a business without plunging the club in huge debt, and frankly, that is what would be required if we are to compete in this league, a league that is dominated by clubs carrying huge debts in their Balance Sheets. I do not want that at my club. I do not want us to have the threat of extinction hanging over us again. Now, I have to accept that that probably makes us a yo-yo club until something happens in the Championship, and one of the big names goes under. What the Championship needs is a dose of sanity, because things just cannot go on as they are. Currently, the Championship is deluding itself. They think that by spending the cash, they are guaranteed a place in the Premier League. But once there, what then? The established teams are way ahead of any promoted team, and the promoted team is doomed to failure. Every club in the league, just about, has spent more than we can afford if we are to stay in the black. Every club in the league has huge debt to their owners (because the banks will no longer risk their money without a guarantee from the owner). Now I know that it is painful to watch, but do you really want our club to risk extinction again.

Quite soon, I will be publishing my analysis of the latest financial statements for all Championship clubs. I would suggest that although it is very long (even for me) is is a very worthwhile read. It has certainly changed my view on our current outlook.