Missing Out the Midfield

[Greenbeard]

Really important and well deserved three points today but it infuriates me how often we miss out the midfield when playing out from the back, and I don't mean just the last 10mins of hoofball. Far too often it is left to the defenders to launch balls forward with a poor success rate. There is the odd exception when a long diagonal from Hanlon finds its man or Doidge gets a nick on an aerial punt, but I'd rather see our midfielders doing more to make themselves available for simple balls on the deck. It's not Gogic's best or main role and today Irvine was more forward than Newell who I watched for spells and too often he was just jogging along in marked space pointing the way elsewhere. For me he should have been the one who was working hard to get into free space to receive the ball on the deck off the defenders but he rarely did it. And his booking was the direct result of laziness or switching off, call it what you want, and letting his man stroll past him until he realised he had to do something to rectify the boy's move forward.
Not been convinced by Newell since he got back in.
What's the solution?

[Blaster]

I thought we played some nice passing football in the first half today and on the counter attack in the 2nd half on a tricky pitch and tricky conditions.

We’d all love to be playing silky football all the time but for the next 6 league games just give me as many points as possible and we can look to improve the standard of football next season

[Andy74]

Really important and well deserved three points today but it infuriates me how often we miss out the midfield when playing out from the back, and I don't mean just the last 10mins of hoofball. Far too often it is left to the defenders to launch balls forward with a poor success rate. There is the odd exception when a long diagonal from Hanlon finds its man or Doidge gets a nick on an aerial punt, but I'd rather see our midfielders doing more to make themselves available for simple balls on the deck. It's not Gogic's best or main role and today Irvine was more forward than Newell who I watched for spells and too often he was just jogging along in marked space pointing the way elsewhere. For me he should have been the one who was working hard to get into free space to receive the ball on the deck off the defenders but he rarely did it. And his booking was the direct result of laziness or switching off, call it what you want, and letting his man stroll past him until he realised he had to do something to rectify the boy's move forward.
Not been convinced by Newell since he got back in.
What's the solution?

Poor pitches just now so we just have to get through by playing this way just now.

Think it is pretty obvious that it isn’t really how Ross would have us playing ordinarily.

[1620]

Really important and well deserved three points today but it infuriates me how often we miss out the midfield when playing out from the back, and I don't mean just the last 10mins of hoofball. Far too often it is left to the defenders to launch balls forward with a poor success rate. There is the odd exception when a long diagonal from Hanlon finds its man or Doidge gets a nick on an aerial punt, but I'd rather see our midfielders doing more to make themselves available for simple balls on the deck. It's not Gogic's best or main role and today Irvine was more forward than Newell who I watched for spells and too often he was just jogging along in marked space pointing the way elsewhere. For me he should have been the one who was working hard to get into free space to receive the ball on the deck off the defenders but he rarely did it. And his booking was the direct result of laziness or switching off, call it what you want, and letting his man stroll past him until he realised he had to do something to rectify the boy's move forward.
Not been convinced by Newell since he got back in.
What's the solution?

Magennis!

[hibbysam]

Really important and well deserved three points today but it infuriates me how often we miss out the midfield when playing out from the back, and I don't mean just the last 10mins of hoofball. Far too often it is left to the defenders to launch balls forward with a poor success rate. There is the odd exception when a long diagonal from Hanlon finds its man or Doidge gets a nick on an aerial punt, but I'd rather see our midfielders doing more to make themselves available for simple balls on the deck. It's not Gogic's best or main role and today Irvine was more forward than Newell who I watched for spells and too often he was just jogging along in marked space pointing the way elsewhere. For me he should have been the one who was working hard to get into free space to receive the ball on the deck off the defenders but he rarely did it. And his booking was the direct result of laziness or switching off, call it what you want, and letting his man stroll past him until he realised he had to do something to rectify the boy's move forward.
Not been convinced by Newell since he got back in.
What's the solution?

I was convinced we played decent first half and then managed the conditions second half (when there was a torrential downpour which left visible standing water). After coming on here I feel like we’ve robbed Ross county of the points now. Mental. We won and got three points ‘what’s the solution’ - keep winning.

[B.H.F.C]

As long as Gogic is playing, I think we generally do the dirty side of the game fine. Took a centre half to step up the park to create the winner today. I think our midfield are lacking middle to front which leaves us too reliant on Boyle, in particular.

[Brightside]

We created plenty of opportunities today with the long ball over the top of their line.

[Northernhibee]

Teams who try to play a passing game on these pitches just now will lose. It’s turning it into a lottery in some ways.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

The complaint today would have been overplaying it and trying to play too much football. On that surface and with that rain, you want the ball into the opposition box as quickly and as often as possible and how it gets there is secondary.

[Hibernia&Alba]

Takes me back to when I was a kid in the late 1980s there was a fierce debate about a 'new' tactic called the long ball game, whereby the aim was to get the ball up to the opposition penalty areas as fast as possible and rely on players who headed the ball well. Wimbledon, with Dave Basset, were credited with inventing this new approach, and other clubs started to employ it: I remember Sheffield United and Millwall used it. Managers like Brian Clough, who taught the passing game, were appalled and said it was destroying the skill in the game.

[wookie70]

It certainly wasn't hoofball for the winner. Lovely move and it shows you can easily play good football on that surface. We just didn't do it enough

[Peevemor]

Did we play hoofball in the 1st half before the weather worsened? I certainly can't remember any.

We totally dominated County (albeit without managing a shot on target) and from what I remember everything came through midfield.

I have no problem whatsoever in mixing long balls and passing through midfield. It unsettles opposition defences.

[Northernhibee]

It certainly wasn't hoofball for the winner. Lovely move and it shows you can easily play good football on that surface. We just didn't do it enough

“Easily” is carrying a lot of weight in that sentence. The ball was bobbling and sticking all over the place, picking the weight for a pass along the ground turned into a lottery. I’m even willing to give Cadden the benefit of the doubt in regards to his early miss, it just takes a small bobble for a screamer in the bottom corner to end up going into orbit.