What was the sliding doors moment of the season (21 Viewers)

[Sky_Blue_Daz]

Don’t think i ca edit the thread title that’s supposed to say season sorry ! Lack of investment in key areas ?
BTA injury when is was in great form
Dropping Simms for wright
The flu bug that Went through the team
Stubbornly refusing to change tactics and formation

The lack of points , motivation and on pitch leadership is worrying.
Although I’m sure back in August we would take the position we are in now . And if we beat Middlesbrough 4 points from two games is a decent return

 

---

[Ccfcisparks]

BTA injury coupled with us not signing Bamford.

 

[richnrg]

...the win at home against Boro

 

[SeaSeeEffCee]

BTA getting injured and Rudoni coming back in for him

 

[Evo1883]

I think weve failed to adapt tactically as the season has gone on too

Many points dropped from winning positions suggest this aswell

 

[skybluelee]

Hirst not being sent off. That was the first game in this run of 16 points from 13 games. We were on top and would most likely have gone onto win that game. It would have put us miles clear of Ipswich and our confidence and belief would have gone up another notch.

 

[Cally Fedora]

Don’t think there has really been one. Fine margins that went for us early arent so much now. If I had to identify one it might be not killing Preston off when 1 up with them down to 10.

 

[jto123]

Not winning at preston

 

[andy86]

Not being able to break down 10 man Preston.

Felt like an off night at the time, but goals have been hard to come by since.

 

[MAFF]

I think Lampard is tactically inept and got away with in a lot of games purely because of the confidence within the team. I reckon the players got complacent and thought we were already up. Since Ipswich and Preston away they've just looked gone. Something mental that I don't think Lampard can fix.

 

[Otis]

...the win at home against Boro

Yup.

The sliding doors moment will be when FTT has a stormer against Boro and we win the game

By the end of the season his statue will be a quarter of the way chiseled.

 

[SIR ERNIE]

For a large part of the season we looked a seriously impressive team, on a different level to most others in the division.

The last time I saw that was the first 45 at Southampton.

It's been a struggle since then.

 

[junglej13]

For a large part of the season we looked a seriously impressive team, on a different level to most others in the division.

The last time I saw that was the first 45 at Southampton.

It's been a struggle since then.

Was going to say similar. Dasilva's red card

 

[Sick Boy]

Hirst not being sent off. That was the first game in this run of 16 points from 13 games. We were on top and would most likely have gone onto win that game. It would have put us miles clear of Ipswich and our confidence and belief would have gone up another notch.

It does feel as though the Ipswich defeats so close together affected the players.

 

[alexccfc99]

Losing to Ipswich at home

Performances in December had not been what they were, but we were still grinding out wins and got a battling point at an inform Southampton - Beating Ipswich at home would have took us 16pts clear and not losing would have kept us 13 clear

Since that game we’ve looked really average (a half each against Leicester and Millwall aside)

 

[Liquid Gold]

Not signing Bamford.

I wasn’t really for it at the time but he would have scored enough goals to have kept us ahead of the chasing pack.

 

[oscillatewildly]

One word - Bamford.

 

[alexccfc99]

I do not for the life of me get the Bamford answer

Bamford wouldn’t have stopped our defenders brain farting at Blues, Norwich and QPR away

 

[jto123]

I do not for the life of me get the Bamford answer

Bamford wouldn’t have stopped our defenders brain farting at Blues, Norwich and QPR away

Yeah I’m with you on this. Bizarre take.

 

[oscillatewildly]

I do not for the life of me get why some people confuse the actions of strikers with defenders.

 

[CovValleyBoy]

The First Blink was the, 10 man, Preston equaliser.

 

[Saddlebrains]

Lampards inability to do anything pragmatic

How many times have we seen teams that get automatic promotion grind out 0-1 away wins?

Preston threw away 3 points and got 1
Charlton threw away 3 points and got 1
Norwich threw away 3 points and got 0
QPR threw away 3 points and got 0

12 points that were on, and we got 2

Also, the home game v Ipswich sent out completely the wrong signals to the players for me. We were under clear instruction not to press, clear instruction not to go at sides and destroy them like we were doing to anyone at home up to that point. That game for me was basically admitting that he was scared of Ipswich and they are the best side in the league, but we were fucking 13 points clear of them. Even if we had lost but played our way, fair enough, but the mental message that sent to the players for me really wasnt good

I seriously think he is being given an easy ride at the moment, and what hes done up to December for us is absolutely incredible

But he's the one carrying the can for this shite at the moment in my eyes. So not a sliding doors moment, more a 'I think its the manager more than the players'

 

[sotvtoday]

I do not for the life of me get why some people confuse the actions of strikers with defenders.

Perhaps because our strikers have been pretty woeful for the last 2 months (along with virtually everyone except the goalkeeper).
Bamford would have scored goals though, and we would have had several more points.
Still - Doug saved a million quid.
(I realise this is much easier with hindsight, but to me it looked like a no-brainer).
If the idea was to show confidence in Wright and Simms then that has backfired spectacularly.

 

[CCFCSteve]

Perhaps because our strikers have been pretty woeful for the last 2 months (along with virtually everyone except the goalkeeper).
Bamford would have scored goals though, and we would have had several more points.
Still - Doug saved a million quid.
(I realise this is much easier with hindsight, but to me it looked like a no-brainer).

Said before Simms (8 in 9 starts) has outscored Bamford (6 in 8 starts I think) since Bamford joined SU and we only play one up top.

He might’ve chipped in but in but I doubt he’d have changed our form

 

[oscillatewildly]

Perhaps because our strikers have been pretty woeful for the last 2 months (along with virtually everyone except the goalkeeper).
Bamford would have scored goals though, and we would have had several more points.
Still - Doug saved a million quid.
(I realise this is much easier with hindsight, but to me it looked like a no-brainer).
If the idea was to show confidence in Wright and Simms then that has backfired spectacularly.

I think you've misunderstood the sentiment of my reply - I was 100% in favour of Bamford and for exactly the reasons you've given.

 

[play_in_skyblue_stripes]

Southampton away. Never had the confidence after that.

 

[Pezza]

The irony is Southampton away was the moment where we were all shown the "character and togetherness" of the squad. Yet the real sliding doors moment was the red card and us not winning that game, not the 1 point we got from it.

 

[Sheffield Sky Blue]

For me it was the JDS red card. Until then I thought we'd beat Southampton. His three match ban shook up the defence. We've been unconvincing since then, even when we've won, except perhaps for one half vs Leicester.

 

[CovRes]

There could be something in @Chris1987's (if I've remembered the right person) theory about Grimes going down injured at Southampton and him not being the same since

 

[steve101]

BTA injury and the illness I think started the rot. He has a knack of being in the right place for scraps in the 6 yard area. The Oxford game, though not missing through injury, was the type of game he would have made a big difference. His energy was also missing when he was out.
We may never know exactly how many players were impacted by the illness but I am sure that altered our intensity of play.