An Investigation into Goal Scoring Patterns in Association F

No reason to be harsh, I agree.   We are in a much better position than we were three seasons ago,never mind the dark days when we were on the brink of liquidation, so we need to maintain some perspective here.   Others may disagree but I think our playing staff is as good as it has ever been since RW took over.   It is certainly no worse.

The one genuine area of concern I have is with the style of play.   We create very few chances.   Even if we had star forwards, they would struggle to score enough goals from the meagre opportunities presented.   This goes back a long way.   Even in our title-winning season, we didn't score that many goals for a side that romped home as champions.   Most of the wins were by a single goal; Laurence Vig set a record for the number of clean sheets.  Yes, he was a good gk, but the chances of doing that are greatly enhanced if you play a high possession passing game and have a strong defence.  You then don't need to score very many to be successful and that's exactly how it was.   Note that our two main atracking threats were both wingers - Smyth and Archibald - and their goals were often spectacular individual efforts rather than product of midfield dominance or pulling the defence apart through creative play.    Note that both were nominally flank players.   Note also how few 'tap ins' you saw.   Throughout the period we never had a specialist striker, putting away chances created by others - well, certainly not a successful one.   Kelman, Agyei and O'Neill are perfectly able finishers but they are mostly feeding off breadcrumbs.   When they do miss chances, it notices a lot because chances are so rare.   I saw Carlton Palmer score four goals the other day   He could have had seven.   When did the O's last make seven chances in a game?   (And I mean for the whole team, not just one player.)

If I am right in suggesting the lack of goal-scoring opportunities is down to the way we play then changes in personnel are not likely to help much.   If forwards are flat-to-the-boards pressing and tracking back they are less likely to be effective in creating and converting chances.   I think that is what has been happening.   The problem has always been there but in League One this year it's hard to get away with it.   The gk issue hasn't helped, nor some individual blunders in games where we played quite well.   The root of the problem however is that if we are not rock solid and error-free at the back we always likely to be edged out - not thrashed, but normally on the wrong side of the result, just as we were normally on the right side of it two years ago.

One possible conclusion from all this is that maybe RW has taken the club as far as he can.   It's not one I want to draw because he has done so well since he arrived.   Nine times out of ten when a manager is sacked, it's really the Board that is the problem.   The Board certainly is not the problem here.   I think, and hope, it continues to back RW through what is turning into a difficult second season in the higher tier.  

I also think, and hope, we should just keep buggering on.   We have the players, the staff and the Board.   I don't see any magic solutions, but i don't want to see desperation either.   Naturally I would like to see more creative forward play.   That means a better contribution from everyone though.   Just as good defending starts with forwards pressing hard and tracking back, so the creation of chances starts from the back.

Maybe tonite is the nite we see some more of that.   Let's hope so, and that proves the start of a run that takes the pressure off everyone.