Slavisa - you've been sussed

[MikeW]

Tippy tap, tippy tap, always go backwards, Whoops lost the ball, give the game to the opposition. Oh, we can't take corners either.

It was all here to see tonight.

Players like Huddleston - who we should have been targeting to get us out of this League - up against our lot with no confidence and instead of playing a smart game just playing ourselves into trouble.

Odoi had a shocker.  The whole team was way off the pace and the number of passes that went astray was horrendous.

I've never thought motivation was Slavisa's strong point but tonight when we should have been up for it after all the brilliant work to get there we looked shot.

Prove me wrong on Monday please.

[ron]

We simply regressed to the bad old days before Christmas...perhaps because of tiredness, loss of confidence after experiencing the loss at Birmingham, or worst of all, loss of interest having failed automatic promotion.

The first two can be fixed over a long weekend.....but......

[The Rock]

Unless this was done on purpose. I think we are better than Derby. I may be wrong.

[Milo]

We dominated second half and with the ball falling to Mitro a bit kinder at times... we wouldve got the goal we deserved.

Yes Derby let us come on and didn't appear to ever be truly on the ropes... but you can't say we didn't turn up. I think Derby just defended very well and we didn't get the rub of the green at times.

Odoi was such a lucky boy he didn't lose the entire tie for us by himself tonight.

[bahay18]

Back in November lot of people said the same that we had been rumbled , no plan b , slav should go etc . What has followed has been nothing short of remarkable . If we had just played at home , mustered 3 shots and not been able to get out of own half for 45 mins i would be thinking we had got away with one and be thinking we won't get away with that twice . I certainly wouldn't be thinking the second match was going to be easy. I think he has to think very carefully about playing odoi . The only time we were in trouble in this game was from our own errors and sadly he is responsible for most of them . We are taking too many unnecessary risks . On monday ,derby will park the bus and try to capitalise on these errors. Kalas showed against millwall he is very capable of bringing the ball out . Ayite isn't match fit , AK surely has a part to play after his sunderland cameo .

[filham]

Very interesting to see what Jocanovic comes up with on Monday, we have the more skillful players and play pretty football and finished the league programme 16 points ahead of them but Derby's more physical players coupled with strong defensive tactics made them the superior team on Friday.

[Lighthouse]

Yes I was one of those who said the same thing back before Christmas. But was proved wrong. However one bad display against Birmingham seems to have made some of us feel the end is nigh. Frankly the Derby game wasn't bad and we had better chances and more opportunity than they did. We are always going to be susceptible to crosses. A better display, quicker passes at home and hopefully they don't score first and we are in with a very good chance.

Teams are playing to stop us playing. That isn't sustainable over a season but works in one off games. Be interested to see how the team and the Coach reacts. Four matches in the playoff without a Fulham win under Joka would make me doubt he has the coaching and tactical ideas.

[bahay18]

Joka isn't that kind of manager , he will play to win and its all the more entertaining for it . I think its hard to question someones coaching ability that has just gone half a season unbeaten , scored more goals , best goal difference and lost fewest number of games than all but the champions . Some mangers will park the bus and hope the other team doesn't score ala friday night and some will trust in their style and hope for the best. Joka is in the latter camp. Lets hope on monday our style prevails .

[MikeW]

Almost 24 hours on from my post I respect and embrace the comments of those who responded.

Still though, I feel our passing game in games like these is very one dimensional and negative.  Always the players seem to think it's better to go backwards.  As others have commented, our corners are ... well hopeless really. We really must address the weak link in the back four - maybe two as we have such competent cover with Christie.  Neeskens needs to play up front and the whole team needs firing up. Give the armband to KMac and impress on Tom it's not a slight we simply want him to play the game of his life unencumbered by the captaincy.

I am 100% behind the team and club in this (always have been) but we are proven to be not good in these situations (Juventus aside) so the spirit of Zolten and Clint needs reviving - particularly Zolten the mighty galloper!

COYW

[Milo]

Almost 24 hours on from my post I respect and embrace the comments of those who responded.

Still though, I feel our passing game in games like these is very one dimensional and negative.  Always the players seem to think it's better to go backwards.  As others have commented, our corners are ... well hopeless really. We really must address the weak link in the back four - maybe two as we have such competent cover with Christie.  Neeskens needs to play up front and the whole team needs firing up. Give the armband to KMac and impress on Tom it's not a slight we simply want him to play the game of his life unencumbered by the captaincy.

I am 100% behind the team and club in this (always have been) but we are proven to be not good in these situations (Juventus aside) so the spirit of Zolten and Clint needs reviving - particularly Zolten the mighty galloper!

COYW

Can't see how changing captain in the last game of the season will help anyone really. Rest sounds good to me though!

[MikeW]

Milo: just a thought really to see if KMac concentrates more on captaincy.  Sometimes TC seems miles away.

But then again, so are we all from what goes on behind the gates at Motspur Park!

COYW all the same

[Facts Not Fiction]

Tippy tap, tippy tap, always go backwards, Whoops lost the ball, give the game to the opposition. Oh, we can't take corners either.

It was all here to see tonight.

Players like Huddleston - who we should have been targeting to get us out of this League - up against our lot with no confidence and instead of playing a smart game just playing ourselves into trouble.

Odoi had a shocker.  The whole team was way off the pace and the number of passes that went astray was horrendous.

I've never thought motivation was Slavisa's strong point but tonight when we should have been up for it after all the brilliant work to get there we looked shot.

Prove me wrong on Monday please.

In what way did Odoi have a shocker?

[Buffalo76]

A case of Deja vu from Reading last yr in play offs. SJ got tactically outclassed by Stam(nothing classy about the way he got his team 2 play though).

Sometimes having the majority of possession isn't the be all and end all. As much as I enjoy our football, maybe at times let's be less attractive and more direct. Plenty of football fans saying how we deserve to go up but we have no divine right purely on playing the way we do, however good it may be.

[bahay18]

As we sang at the europa semi final when a goal down ' Stand up if you still believe ' .

[Jimpav]

I would rather us. play decent football and have a record breaking run than watch a team hoof and foul their way to the premiership.

Playing the "biggest" clubs in England is not the be all and end all.

We've had two legitimate attempts at promotion under Slava and I think we would get a third next year if it comes to it.

Allardyce might be free next season and if that doesn't work out then I'm confident that Colin will be available by Christmas.

Be careful what you wish for.

[ron]

About that corner thing.... It seems like we conquered the problem of old of not clearing the first defender from long corners, and made the long corner an effective tool for pressurising defenders. That obviously seemed to be too easy, so now  we have reverted to the short corner which fizzles out and leaves us open to breaks on the counter.

Let's hope that we get that ball into the area a lot more from well taken corner kicks on Monday and also to stop the intricate passing in the "d" (which Derby clearly found easy to smother and clear the ball out to breakaway attacks).

COYW. We're already halfway to repeating the scores in last season's playoffs. We need to break that sequence with a storming win.

[HectorWeso]

Tippy tap, tippy tap, always go backwards, Whoops lost the ball, give the game to the opposition. Oh, we can't take corners either.

It was all here to see tonight.

Players like Huddleston - who we should have been targeting to get us out of this League - up against our lot with no confidence and instead of playing a smart game just playing ourselves into trouble.

Odoi had a shocker.  The whole team was way off the pace and the number of passes that went astray was horrendous.

I've never thought motivation was Slavisa's strong point but tonight when we should have been up for it after all the brilliant work to get there we looked shot.

Prove me wrong on Monday please.

In what way did Odoi have a shocker?

Yeah Id like to know too. Its actually probably just a throw away line to sound outraged.

[VancouverWhite]

Stop being such fickle fans.

COYW!!!

[Barrett487]

Ok, so we play keep-ball and we are good at keeping possession, but we make runs and pull defenders to create chances. I prefer that to bus-parking. If opponents are getting better at playing us, we should be better at playing the way we do. Recently that doesn't seem to have have happened. That doesn't make us a bad team, but our predictability is worrying.

Many 'experts' have described us as playing the best football in the championship and i'm pleased to say the least.

[colinwhite]

Sorry Mike dont agree with alot of your post. Odoi had a stinker ?We were way off the pace ?Do me a favour ...