If it's any consolation we're just as bad, win your game in hand and you'll go above us. Sunderland and Wigan are looking odds on favourites so far, everyone else is slipping on banana skins. It's still early days though. If you're there or there abouts come the new year do you think Chansiri will splash out on players in January?
I didn't expect that result, your first goal was a bit of a gift though. Was Bannan out through suspension or was it tactical?
He might be your Wayne Rooney? when Rooney played midfield for England in his later years people used to point to his involvement and time on the ball and argue that he was the best/hardest working player on the pitch but I always thought his presence was detrimental to the rest of the team.
Was he crossing the ball recklessly to no one? Was he ignoring wide open teammates and forcing the ball into players who were double covered? Was he taking shit free kicks?
"... crossing the ball recklessly ..." I love that! reck·less /ˈrekləs/ adjective (of a person or their actions) without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action. A damning indictment!
He did play long diagonal balls to wingers but that's in part due to my main gripe about him which is that he was always dropping really deep to the halfway line (which is what enabled him to launch long diagonal balls). He would take the ball off defenders as if they can't pass forward themselves and he'd do pointless one-two's with them, sometimes he'd drop deep, a defender would pass it forward to him and he'd just pass it straight back and then run forward like he'd accomplished something, he'd also play simple sideways passes at the half way line a lot but not so many forward balls aside from long diagonals to the wing that commentators would wet themselves about. So of course, at the end of the match his number of touches, number of passes were the highest and passing success rate >90% (because he played so many baby passes) and everyone would say he was MOTM. Nearly everything went through him because the defenders always looked to pass to him but the trouble is he would just slow every attack down. Don't get me wrong he was decent at free kicks and did play some good passes, score some good goals but I guess my point is it's possible for a player to be your best player on paper but at the same time hurt your team as a whole. I'd rather have a midfielder that stays further forward and plays riskier balls where if successful the reward is much greater rather than padding his own stats at the half way line. That's Rooney though, I haven't really watched Bannan just thought it might be a similar situation where the stuff he's doing makes him look good individually but isn't necessarily helping the team as a whole.
Well, one of the big complaints about Bannan, particularly last year, was that he was dropping too deep, and became susceptible to the very things you've mentioned. That said, I don't think anyone was saying Bannon's the best player at Wednesday because of his stats. They've typically said it because he's the only player at who's actually good on the ball. He has a decent first touch, dribbles well, is good in tight spaces, has good vision, and moves the ball on quite well with a bit of range. It absolutely has to be said that he's nowhere near consistent in the application of his skills - which can be more frustrating than simply not having them. But when he's on, he's miles better than anyone else on Wednesday's roster. When Wednesday played Man City in the Cup a couple years back - a hard fought 0-1 loss at Hillsborough - Pep Guardiola himself was banging on post-match about how good Bannon was. I've seen games where you think it's mystifying how he's not playing in the Prem ... but then a week later he is (and the rest of 'em are) nowhere. If one contends that so much of it goes through Bannon that when he's off, it's hurting the team, one could. But then, there's not much to suggest that anything good is happening when it doesn't go through Bannon, either. The win - sans Bannon - last week v Wigan got the critics going, but both of Wednesday's goals came courtesy of Wigan gaffs (with full credit to Paterson's finish), and not from sustained Wednesday attacks. Maybe one could contend that playing everything through Bannon denies the chance of developing better attacking options. I suppose there could be something to that. But that better options currently exist? I don't see them/it.
Kamberi with the winner in the 93rd minute. Wing off the mark, as well, which is nice. Mansfield 1-2 Wednesday. Owls march on in the prestigious EFL Trophy.
Yeah, they're definitely finding goals hard to come by, this Wednesday squad. I know nothing of Mansfield's squad, so can't speak to how strong a selection they put out (though it cannot by definition be any better than Mansfield's best), but Wednesday's was certainly a weakened one from what we've seen in the League. And I didn't see the game, so have nothing to contribute in terms of how effective they were in attack. But yeah, finding the net seems a bigger challenge than what you'd wanna see.
1-0 to the Wednesday. Gregory in the second half. Around 70', maybe? I can't be arsed to look. But a clean sheet and all 3 points. Nice one, Wednesday. Edit: 66'. OK, I looked.
The moaning after beating an in form Bolton is off the charts. I'm regularly on OO, but have had a look at OT as well ... and it seems to be, perhaps not consensus, but very widespread sentiment that this is horribly bad - some saying as bad as it's ever been. Which is laughable for anyone who can remember as far back as a year. Between Moore's post-match interview and the impotence in attack, folks seem to have found the two worst fates to befall a football club since ... well, pretty much ever. Football fans, though. Between the two sets of supporters with whom I'm most familiar - Spurs and Wednesday - I'm really not impressed.
Yeah comments were/are pretty rough. I'm pleasantly surprised that we won but we are shit though. I'm curious as to why Bailey Peacock-Farrell wasn't in goal. Is he getting a break? Hurt? Out of favor?
I'd guess out of favor, as he's been shite. His errors cost Wednesday points thrice over a 4 or 5 game stretch*. But it's broadly assumed there is an 'appearances' provision in his loan deal, and that he'll be back in the lineup soon enough, whether Wildsmith does better or not. *assuming you're one of those who thinks getting beat at one's near post is automatically a keeper error. Actually, in the Oxford case - I've just gone back and had a look - I'd say it does.