FIRST:
This performance embodied everything that could be expected following an extraordinary week of unrest off the pitch. The football players themselves normally make the news, but this time around they had to settle for a supporting role. Sadly for us, they performed in a way that made it seem like they were still passengers rather than the driver.
From the very beginning to the very end, the performance was dull, stale, and uninspired. However, that’s not the joke that it may normally be; given the week they would have had, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that’s what we witnessed.
Minds will undoubtedly have been diverted this week due to the focus on Reading in the media (including mine!), and it would have been an odd week at Bearwood with the addition of Tom Holmes and Nelson Abbey’s transfers. It’s difficult to avoid feeling a little sorry for your club since it seems like all the dirty laundry has been airing in different forms.
SECOND:
As a result, this was a result we could have predicted but didn’t need. We never really got out of first gear since we had little to no momentum to sustain ourselves. All of our play’s regular heroes performed poorly, especially Lewis Wing and Femi Azeez, who both had games they wouldn’t look back on with fondness.
Wing’s passing was poor, and Azeez frequently attempted to deliver the same type of cross, which led to the ball being cleared with little difficulty.
And that’s one of the problems with this team: we have a clear offensive strategy and not much else to work with to turn things around. When Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan replaced Paul Mukairu, we did give that a little attempt, but it’s an odd club to come out of the bag.
Alternatively, and this is a common practice, Michael Craig can be replaced with Charlie Savage. Although Savage was intelligent and quick, he was unable to break through Wigan Athletic’s bus-like defence in the latter stages of the match.
THIRD:
The hosts’ response to Thelo Aasgard’s disappointingly good goal was to hold on to nothing more. Although it’s rare to see teams in League One park the bus at home, we’ve all been known to do it occasionally, so it’s hard to get too worked up about it.
Sadly, we lacked a viable response to overcome a well-organized and unyielding defiance. Our players’ individual off days combined with that made sure we didn’t cause any problems for Sam Tickle, the Wigan goalie. We could have continued playing far into the night without managing to get a clean shot on goal. It’s more of a stumble than a tickle.
FOURTH:
We don’t have that one person who will really do something brave and audacious to spark the rest of the group into life, which is unfortunate because we have a group of sensible people who all play for each other and exhibit a strong sense of camaraderie.
We lack a Phil Parkinson, a Joey van den Berg, or even, if we’re being very aggressive, a Mamadou Loum to be a little mean and give the opposition even a small reason to be afraid.
You wonder if this team has what it takes to turn nasty when the chips are down and we have to win three points by any means necessary at some time during the season. Later in the season, we will undoubtedly need to win three points; some may argue that we need them already, which is a valid point, but does this team possess the inner fortitude? It’s concerning because the fight must ultimately appear—we’re well into the final four months of the season.
FIFTH:
In order to make up for this loss, we now have two crucial home games. Exeter City plays two away games against Bristol Rovers and Barnsley, while we have two at home.
We can beat City again if we can secure two significant victories and they make two mistakes. Two victories are necessary to keep us near the top of the pack since Shrewsbury Town and our allies Port Vale are above and none of them are playing well.
We need to exert a little more creativity and perseverance in order to secure those six points, and Derby County will present a formidable challenge in an intriguing setting at the SCL. Gulp.
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