I still don't think we have a bad side

I think we're absolutely bereft of confidence. Most of our players are young lads who painfully missed out on promotion in May, and then watched the club get raided in the summer, which is going to knock confidence from the off. Then a bad start to the season, the pressure gets lumped on, and the booing starts. It's understandable to a degree but it can't help them. I've been guilty of it myself after particularly abject displays so no judgement from me.

I can see what the manager is trying to do. We were scoring nothing and conceding buckets, so as the first port of call he's trying to deal with the conceding buckets aspect of our demise. And we kept a clean sheet yesterday against a recently relegated Premier League side, with our manager from last season who is known for goals.

We offered absolutely nothing up front, but I don't think that was the priority. I know that sounds stupid in our position - we need wins to stand the slightest chance - but I think it was equally important yesterday to not lose 0-3. Even if we go down, which is a real possibility - if not a probability now - we need to go down showing something.

I think if you're looking for it, it's easy to tell when a player lacks quality vs when a player lacks confidence.

Most of our first touches are good enough. The pace is there, the strength is there. Not world beating, but good enough for this league. But there are so many signs our confidence is at absolute rock bottom:

1. Hesitance to take a risk or pass forwards: When a risk or a forward pass goes awry, the crowd groans. No blame, that just is how it is. When you're low on confidence to the point you might even be feeling complete imposter syndrome, this is going to put you off taking that risk.
   
   
2. Rushed decisions in the final third: I noticed this most in Brittain yesterday. He got himself in a few good positions, only to rush the final decision and end up giving possession back to WBA in a hugely frustrating manner. You could pinpoint the moment he needed to release the ball or do something else, and he would wait because he didn't back himself to get it right. I also saw him smack himself and shout at the ground, so frustration is definitely playing a part.
   
   
3. Positioning: We've been crap and we've conceded a metric shít-tonne of goals. That's painful and embarrassing for the players, so it'll be playing on their minds. I saw so many opportunities yesterday for a good run, or a high risk/high reward potential position, but our players wanted to play it safe with their positioning at every opportunity. Taking a risk with a bit of movement could have let WBA in, and the complete lack of confidence settled the priorities in that sense.
   
   
4. Dejection: There has been less fight over marginal decisions, a frustrated acceptance when things have gone wrong, and seemingly a feeling of déjà vu when we've conceded recently. I don't think this is because the players don't care; I think it's because they think they're not good enough, when actually I believe they are. It's all confidence.

I just hope this manager can do something about it.

 

Asbaghi exudes confidence. He's a thinker. I think we'll stay up. We're over worst of it.

A good coach will be telling them West Brom couldn't beat you what you f cuking worried about. It's a piece of **** this lads.

I reckon Asbaghi's that sort of guy.

 

Confidence comes with wins. Look at how Val got them to come back at Bournemouth, that was due to knowing they could win games. Playing defensively, looking for the draws allows those last minute lapses in concentration which is then the kicker of losing a game you thought you had something from. I was worried just before half time, kitchen looked done in but luckily recovered well for the 2nd half.
We weren't getting battered under Schopp, think Anderson coming back and re establishing himself has helped us. Good move to make him captain in the absence of Woodrow imo

 

Would you leave Woodrow out because without him I thought we had more energy.

 

Thing is we were simply lucky not to concede tonight, yes there was some good defending but we totally switched off on that free kick they hit the post with the free header in the 6 yard box and they also had another guilt edged chance in the first half that Brittain got in the way of but the fact Is they should have been 2 up at half time.

 

Val inherited a side that was well organised defensively already, just couldn’t score. He then had the good fortune of a penalty and red card in his first game. A soft pen also got us back into the game at Birmingham, otherwise he’d have been looking at three straight defeats. It helps to be a lucky manager.

Asbaghi has inherited a mess. Zero organisation after Schopp was criminally allowed to continue for at least 4 matches too many. I don’t think he’s had much choice in how to approach the job. We were losing every single game before he took over

 

I do get that point. I think if we'd decided to get rid of Schopp we should have done it sooner.But defensively we have the same personnel as we had under Val so it can't be that much of a task that 4 games in I still can't see where the goals are coming from.

One thing very noticeable was the way one of the WBA players was waving his hands at the crowd to get them going when they'd won a corner. What did we have to get the crowd going, there was virtually nothing down our end, might be why we clapped Mowatt with his corners at least it was something to do!

 

Yep val was just lucky

I’ve heard it all now!

 

Jury is still out big time on Poya. Whether we stay up not, he will still be in charge next season. Would be nice if he set us up to try and win hone games and then he can do what he wants on the road.

 

I didn’t mean that he was just lucky, I thought and still do think that he was an excellent coach. But you do need a bit of luck as well.

 

I wish I liked cider.

 

*Ahem*
When Val took over we had managed just 1 clean sheet in 8 championship games and had scored 6 in the last 4 games.

Also wasn't Birmingham his 8th game here?

I think you just have been watching Burnley last season by accident

 

In the limited amount of time I have seen them play this season, we don't have a bad side, but we have a poor midfield. They seem lightweight, easily shrugged off the ball, easy to play through and wasteful in possession. They rarely create chances for the attackers.

 

14 points from 23 games. I think we have a terrible team.

 

I'd agree with that, sadly it's a team game though.
As you say Poya may simply not have the time to turn this around. We are a long way behind.

 

he used those exact words in the unedited post match interview with Sky

 

Totally agree. A bit of composure on the ball & someone who can pick a pass. Exactly what we lost when Mowatt left.

 

Well being a glass half full type of chap I still think its L1 next year. Got away with a point last night in spite of marginal improvement and cohesion with Asbhagi. I know it was West Brom but there should still have been more in the locker and there wasn't.

 

Schopp should have gone when players were complaining about the shoddy training sessions .
I’m not saying give in to player power by any means but the evidence of what they were saying was playing out on the pitch .
Super fit players from last season blowing out of their arses after 40 mins .
I think they left it too late for any manager to save us , player confidence is well below and as last week at Preston after a couple of good draws they give a winner away in infant school fashion .
Maybe a few clean sheets has given our defence a give a **** attitude but the woeful creativity and finishing will knock it out of them imo.