Clitheroe defeat

My thought is...what happens when we finally play a team that's actually decent?

Shows how short of quality we are when one injury and a substitution can cause a compitulation like that. Apart from Trevor Sinclair it was like watching the Youth team. Having said that, there was only one winner after about half an hour but we have to get the defence sorted quickly. Where's Hardiker ? Thought Taylor put in a shift today tho.

https://youtu.be/27iU9a6nn9E

https://youtu.be/ol8ug0BBMZY


Too lightweight, failed to take our chances when on top, going to be a struggle against the better teams

Since February/March time we have lost several players, for whatever reasons.

Jackson and Connerton have been replaced by Woods and Taylor.
Steel has been replaced by Davis.
Elderton at left back has been replaced by Clark.
Henry at right back has been replaced by Hudson.
Additionally Hunter is not currently playing.

Without wishing to be too critical, I would suggest that none of the replacements are as good as the players who have gone out. And of course, the previous team wasn't even good enough to reach the play-offs last season, so it's not saying much for our chances this time around.

This is why I voted for WORRIED in the recent poll.

LFC-LCFC wrote:My thought is...what happens when we finally play a team that's actually decent?

Apart from having beaten Farsley 3-0 opening fixture?

Triumph, Disaster, Two Imposters etc.

We always seem to play poorly against Clitheroe, 5th April 2010 was the last time we won a league game against them.

Obviously the game changed with the Bailey injury. We were 1-0 up at that point and doing enough, Bailey comes off, Crossley on, and Clitheroe make inroads down that side of the pitch and its quickly 2-1. The side as a whole and the defence never really recovered. It is the perils of a young/thin squad.

It was slightly alarming that the 41 year old assistant manager looked so good in comparison though.

Danny Wilkins, one of our old reserves, takes a decent penalty.

sparrows left peg wrote:Thought Taylor put in a shift today tho.

Taylor worked hard but he isn't nearly sharp enough.  Two examples from the game stand out.  Once in the first half when he got the ball very close to goal but allowed it to bounce off him and then decided to fall over (lucky not to be booked).  And in the second half when Sinclair's shot hit the bar and the rebound came to Taylor - a decent striker would have had the ball in the net in a flash, but Taylor was so laboured he allowed the defender time to get in the way.  His goal was very lucky - a very poor shot but an even poorer response from the keeper.

In addition our midfield is weak without Hunter, and the game also showed how much we miss Ryan Elderton.  Does anybody know why he has chosen to play at a lower level?

Of course we looked better when Sinclair came on, and maybe with a bit of luck we could have escaped with a point, but we can't rely on him playing very often.  We need new experienced players: a centre half, a left back, a central midfielder, a winger, a striker, .........

Very disappointing result after a decent first half hour. Thought we would stroll it after the opening goal but have to agree that losing Bailey to injury turned the game in their favour. Once they got their first penalty they grew visibly in confidence after a shaky start and frankly we fell apart at the back. Can't really agree about left back as all their goals came from attacks on the left flank, reinforcing the loss of Bailey. Conceding eight goals in the last three games is worrying. We definitely need reinforcements in defence. When will Hardiker be available to play?

Tobycarvery wrote:Can't really agree about left back as all their goals came from attacks on the left flank

Yes, that's correct, but I was thinking about Ryan as an attacking force - he used to create many of our best chances.

The fact that we regard the loss of Davis and Bailey as big blows just shows how thinly we are spread in defence. And with some extra defenders available we could play Bailey in midfield, which looks as though it could be his best position.

Tobycarvery wrote:Very disappointing result after a decent first half hour. Thought we would stroll it after the opening goal but have to agree that losing Bailey to injury turned the game in their favour. Once they got their first penalty they grew visibly in confidence after a shaky start and frankly we fell apart at the back. Can't really agree about left back as all their goals came from attacks on the left flank, reinforcing the loss of Bailey. Conceding eight goals in the last three games is worrying. We definitely need reinforcements in defence. When will Hardiker be available to play?

If you had bothered to come to the Q & A session with DP on Friday, you would have heard him say that Hardiker is presently living in Scotland.