This group of players................

[bill taylors apprentice]

Are not strong enough to get us out of this mess !

And I don't just mean physically strong enough at dead ball situations, to last for 90+ mins or in one on one challenges etc.

But not mentally strong enough to eliminate school boy errors, support and encourage their team mates, understand what's needed during a game to limit the opposition when we are under pressure etc.

I see players who have the ability to move the ball sweetly around the attacking third without delivering the final pass or shot, or even recognising the opportunity they have, that then puts us at a disadvantage when we inevitably lose the ball.

More importantly I see a team of individuals trying to plug gaps when defending rather than a unit comfortable with their roles and those about them.

Errors happen in every team but that's when the drilling done on the training ground should kick in, you need strength of character and mental strength to be able to concentrate over 90+ minutes and this we don't have.

I have seen some poor teams visit the Cottage the last two seasons but with one or two exceptions they all possess what we don't have team work and a strong desire to get the best out of themselves and the team each game.

I don't blame the manager for this as he's been dealt a poor hand, with a couple of exceptions this group are weak minded and not tough enough to fight there way out of this shambles.

We are going down !

[bill taylors apprentice]

Just to add to my thoughts above.

I don't think the players lack of steel or inability to putting a shift in is due in any part to the atmosphere created at the cottage by the fans.

To be honest I don't understand why very average pro's in other teams can play a very controlled game within a system and seem to enjoy the process while our lot have the attention span of the mayfly and look like they have never played together before.

Anyone have the answer or even disagree ?

[gang]

I'm afraid I have always thought strength of mind is something  lacking. It seems to start from schooling when children are not allowed to lose or come last and be told that it was because they weren't good enough to win. It does not apply in other countries where winning is deemed to be important to playing the game.

[bill taylors apprentice]

I'm afraid I have always thought strength of mind is something  lacking. It seems to start from schooling when children are not allowed to lose or come last and be told that it was because they weren't good enough to win. It does not apply in other countries where winning is deemed to be important to playing the game.

Good point, but why do other teams with average players (IMO) manage to at least be focused on keeping their shape and supporting each other when defending and our lot don't?

There's been so many different players, coaches, managers and yet the team is stuck in the same rut!

Have too many players been brought in based on analytics's rather than good old fashioned character and the ability to read a game and get the basics right? 

Has the lack of strong leadership at board room level created a lackadaisical culture further down the line among the players?

I'm clutching at straws here because by now I would have thought someone would be saying to the players, its back to basics, my way or your out?
But maybe they have?

[love4ffc]

Great post can't argue with it all.  Still hope that we stay up but it's looking harder and harder.   Especially when the team look beaten before the game starts.   

[Mince n Tatties]

Gutless..No Heart..No Passion.
Do some of them really care enough about
the club?

[nose]

I agree with the op but think the players are far less capable than they or some posters seem to think
The squad remains very unblanced and we have an owner that may be a good bloke but shows no leadership
Of all games he should have been there yesterday
I hope we dont get another pr vid of the man at motspur park... we need him at the cottage on matchdays

[bill taylors apprentice]

Gutless..No Heart..No Passion.
Do some of them really care enough about
the club?

Your so right!
But do you know what?  IMO the biggest problem is the players seem to think they ARE giving their all!

I do see players upset at another loss etc but they are crocodile tears and selfishness, there's very little sign its more than just concern with their own well being, regardless of others.

I don't want to get into individual players but Madl is the only one who appears to play with some thought but that will soon be knocked out of him in this set up.

[Jims Dentist]

Could it be they don't buy into the style of play.

All this possession stuff to the extent that we pass it all over the pitch without creating an opening, then inevitably lose the ball and get caught on the break.

[RaySmith]

We don't look like a team, but some of our players  are quite new to the squad, plus all the changes in manager/coach over a short space of time. And our current manager hasn't been here  for five minutes.

Sometimes we look great, though we always seem vulnerable at the back. And the losses , some of them  when we've looked the better team, and now the real threat of relegation, breed  lack of confidence and anxiety in the play.

So we look good, come out of the  blocks all guns blazing, but a set -back, the other team  forcing their way into he game, and we seem to collectively lose it - and look very fragile defensively.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

I'm afraid I have always thought strength of mind is something  lacking. It seems to start from schooling when children are not allowed to lose or come last and be told that it was because they weren't good enough to win. It does not apply in other countries where winning is deemed to be important to playing the game.

We weren't playing Bayern Munich. We were playing Bristol City. What do 'other countries' have to do with it.

Too much reading of the Daily Mail withers your brain.

[alfie]

I agree with the op but think the players are far less capable than they or some posters seem to think
The squad remains very unblanced and we have an owner that may be a good bloke but shows no leadership
Of all games he should have been there yesterday
I hope we dont get another pr vid of the man at motspur park... we need him at the cottage on matchdays

I just don't get what would be achieved if he was here on matchdays, do you really think that will make our players better?, as far as i am concerned the only incentive they should need is relagation, if you really cannot get your game together to avoid that then the owner is not going to make one bit of difference.

[ron]

The squad has been infected with failure. The despair silently moves from one player to another until losing becomes a habit.

[Southdowns White]

I genuinely believe all the players on saturday think everyone else was to blame but not themselves regardless of what is said to them. As a team I think that there is too much focus on McCormack to create goal scoring opportunities for others when we should really be playing as a team. How many times is the ball passed to him when a better option is available, this proves that our players don't trust each other or they have been told always pass it to McCormack. On saturday we started well but after the goal we slowed everything down to walking pace which invites the opposition to attack you, again we came out in the second half after undergoing our matchday halftime sleep therapy. I think our manager and coaches should sit up in the stand and get a better idea of our movement on and off the ball, you don't get that from watching a recording of the game. Are the players really fit? This is their job but half of them don't break sweat even our warm ups are almost at walking pace. If we do go down our youth will never survive if they are brought into the team, you can't go from non contact academy football to division 3 so a new set of players will be needed because this lot will all be off out the door quicker than you can say "religation".