I wasn’t alone in having a sense of foreboding ahead of last night’s trip to Deepdale.
It wasn’t so much a case of ‘After the Lord Mayor’s show’, because no-one can ever question the desire of this bunch, but there was a collective sense that the emotionally draining effect of a white hot derby would impact on proceedings in deepest Lancashire.
What we didn’t need were opponents who were intent on going for the jugular from minute one and who had no intention of letting City slip into that pleasing passing rhythm that’s typified almost every awayday this season. Equally, to suffer the same fate that Ipswich did on Sunday, by conceding a goal before the clock had struck two minutes, was most certainly not what Doctor Farke had ordered.
From there it was a tale of two penalties.
Despite being way off their fluent best, there were enough vital signs to suggest City could get a foothold in the game, but courtesy of Emi Buendia’s untimely nudge – Farke called the decision a ‘complete joke’ – the experienced Paul Gallagher, who was in no mood to fall for Tim Krul’s mind games, despatched his spot-kick.
When it was City’s turn – after Onel Hernandez had been upended by Pearson – Marco Stiepermann gave the game away before the ball had been struck with a nervy run-up, and despite a clean strike it was comfortably read and at a comfortable height for Declan Rudd to palm away.
However you dress it up, five penalty misses by four different penalty takers is a terrible record, and while it’s much easier to say than do, it really is something that has to be addressed. Stiepermann, according to Farke, has been scoring them for fun in training and indeed has a wand of a left foot, but as he nervily stood over that ball there were few who expected it to hit the net.
It’s no longer a question of technique, it’s in the head. An odd conundrum for a group that oozes confidence and belief in almost every other aspect of the game. Maybe the nearly fit Mo Leitner will not only add some calm and ballast in the centre of the pitch, but also from twelve yards. Here’s hoping.
The second-half was an improvement on the first, it had to be, and the ball was shifted with more oomph and purpose, but there was also a sense of Preston settling for what they had in the knowledge City would be committing numbers forward and would, therefore, be vulnerable on the break.
Alas, buoyed by his penalty save, Rudd was in no mood to be beaten on his 100th appearance for the Lilywhites and pulled off a string of fine saves, most notably from Ben Godfrey’s close-range header. Farke changed shape and personnel but to no avail and there was an inevitability around Preston grabbing a third on the break – Maguire firing home after Browne’s shot had rattled Krul’s woodwork.
Teemu Pukki’s injury-time strike was a fair reward for City, who knocked on the door for the entire second period, but it was a game lost in those fraught, nervy 24 minutes. As Sky’s red button commentator reminded us, it was difficult, before the break, to tell which side was top and which side was top, but at least City did bare their teeth after it.
Said red button commentator also did a fine line in wrongly identifying players on both sides – something that at least raised a smile on an otherwise fairly grim evening.
But. it’s one we simply take on the chin. We’ve generally been spared the ‘well, that’s the Championship for you’ lines, but last night was very much one of those. And credit to Alex Neil who has put together a good side who, on the night, exploited City’s lethargy with an energetic. confident display. No complaints.
So, let’s not dwell. We’ve had a couple of weekends where the results have gone our way; last night was the opposite and we’ve been telling ourselves there will be peaks and troughs aplenty as we enter the final straight.
Farke and co won’t lose their nerve. Neither will the Yellow Army.
Bring on Bolton.
Dust off and go again, that is the nature of the beast, to be honest I was expecting a slip up with this one. Missing the two generals in midfield Super Mario had stepped into Magic Mo’s boots brilliantly, but to lose him as well, was perhaps too much. Trybull and Tettey are more defensive sheilds nd cannot be criticised for not being the conductor of the middle. McClean I have not seen enough of to form an opinion, perhaps to drop Emi into the role and McClean in his role maybe anothe option.
We are a prize scalp and must now expect all and sundry to want to take it, it is well known now, stop the passing and you will stop City, but I believe class and style will win in the end.
On to Bolton with more fire in the belly after last night.
Game lost in the first half hour. Second half I thought we were good, PNE sat back, and it was like the Alamo. They defended well though, plenty of bodies blocking shots, off the line clearances, and Declan made 3 great saves – apart from the Pen. We really need a win at the Reebok now though
Yes, I think we all worried about this one and indeed I DO think it was a question of after the Lord Mayor’s show Gary, since the adrenaline levels were obviously low post Leeds and Ipswich. Daniel Farke has many brilliant strengths, but there are a couple of weaknesses there too. One is that so far this year he has only made changes in his line up when there have been injuries to players, other than the FA Cup match, and possibly when we brought back Leitner for 45 mins until he was kicked to pieces again. Otherwise all selection changes have been enforced. In such an instance as yesterday when tired legs on the pitch can be expected and there are plenty of fresh legs on the bench, that’s a wasted use of your squad.
As for the penalties oh my, don’t they practice them in training? Hasn’t he instilled some form of competition now, so the person taking is up for it and in form taking them? Stiepermann had the chance for a shot on goal against Ipswich, and had it on his left foot too, but looked completely terrified of shooting and failed to get any kind of shot off at all… He approached the penalty yesterday with a similar level of confidence.
Well, we do need some changes. Tettey’s early season glow seems to have warn off and he has given away a few balls of late that have then led to goals. Mclean is long overdue a start – he should have had one yesterday, along with Rhodes probably, and I’m not even going to mention Hanley any longer… But pray most of all to see Leitner back soon to get our midfield ticking again, especially with Vrancic off for a few weeks. Onwards, and let’s hope back upwards.
Agree with all the points made here. Experienced quality options are fresh and available. They must be bursting for an opportunity. It might just be the shot in the arm which pushes us over the line.
It had to happen sometime, and I’d rather lose to Alex Neil than Lambert.
I do think that in the first half, several of the players looked “leggy” and mentally tired. The passing was sloppy, and played nicely into Preston’s hands with their pressing game. I was quite surprised that we picked our game up as well as we did in the second half, but with the amount of pushing forward that we did, we were vulnerable when they broke. Basically, they did to us what we did to Leeds.
Some interesting tactical changes by DF – Aarons into left mid-field, Godfrey to right back, Zimmerman almost playing as a single centre back with both full backs pushing forward. It nearly payed off, and had we gone into half time having scored the penalty, I think we probably would have pushed on and won it.
One of the elements of play that I have loved this season has been the lightning paced accurate passing. It really does make it the beautiful game.
But ……. when it unravels, just a tiny bit, our whole game goes chest up. So often last night, our guys couldn’t buy a pass. Frequently, the ball went straight to an opposition, or it was a hospital pass, and we lost the ball. And we didn’t half dither around their penalty box. TT wasn’t really at the races yesterday, and Alex Tettey just wasn’t the right man in the right place. In addition, we favoured the left side of the pitch, and PNE packed that with their players.
Still, when we get our passing boots back on for Bolton, and the psychological kick up the bum takes effect ……. time for a big score!! OTBC
Norwich where tactically out manoverd. They have let in 11 goals from corners and hence another from a brilliant cross from a free kick. They are very weak down the left side. Also leave loads of space when attacking for the counter. They have been well beaten tonight and will learn from this defeat. Wish you well the rest of the season. Note. You should get 6 at Bolton cause we should. They only play the long ball to attack so watch for the corner bombard.
Cheers for the response, Iain. Yep, Alex Neil, who we still have a lot of respect for, did a number on us last night. He’s put together a good side. Your observation around us leaving loads of room for opponents to hit us on the counter is a good one – both full-backs join in and the patient passing naturally draws them into positions high up the pitch – but this was exacerbated last night because we were chasing the game. Of late, if we’ve taken the lead – as on Sunday against Ipswich – we tend to be less prone to throw everybody forward.
Thanks again for your comment, and the best of luck for the rest of the season.
Hi Iain
You thoroughly deserved your win as I’m sure 99 per cent of us Yellows would agree.
We too know what to expect from Bolton – you’re not wrong.
Most of us thank Alex Neil for what he did for us and respect him accordingly.
Just don’t let him loose with around £15 million in the transfer market (as if you could and neither now can we) but that precipitated his downfall here – Naismith and Wildschut: ouch!
I’ll echo Gary by wishing you well for the rest of the season. Lord knows we might yet meet in the playoffs – Jeez I hope not!
Agree on all counts, G – sounds a case of a bridge too far (finally). Disappointing to end the run but shouldn’t be seen as a huge surprise – not because of a lack of our quality, but just bearing in mind how much PNE have. I think most (all) of us were very respectful of them before the game and knew it’d be a tough tie – and ultimately if they hadn’t had a ridiculous run of injuries since the summer, they’d be a lot higher up, AN’s got the bit between their teeth these days and when they’re on their game they’re a match for anyone in the league, and they showed it again last night.
Put it down to a tough time at the office, shake it off, go again – as we keep saying, who wouldn’t have taken this position at the beginning of the season? Let’s stay positive, we know what the boys can do and am sure they’ll be back on it asap – just need to ensure we bounce back and don’t let a rot set in.
Bolton have started picking up results but we have to go into that game with belief and positivity – and am fully confident der Kapitän will be ensuring that.
OTBC!
I agree with Michael D that one of Farke’s weaknesses is that he has swallowed the old edict of not changing a winning team. The Championship is a long slog at times and with the last two games being so draining perhaps it was a chance to give Cantwell and McLean a start. Tettey certainly looks off the pace at the moment, which gives Farke a lot to think about for Saturday.
Hi Gary
A good read and summary of last night’s game.
Preston won just about every second ball, doubled-up on Emi and Onel every time they got the ball and game-managed once they took the lead.
I was expecting Rudd to get a warning from the ref. Yes he played well but the amount of time he took for goal kicks was bordering on the ridiculous, but he won just about all the high balls into his area whereas Krul seem to have an aversion to come off his line at corners or free kicks.
This loss was going to happen – it was just at the wrong time with the news coming out that Team Farke are about to agree a new deal for 2-1/2years. Maybe fatigue us starting to come into play along with injuries – can DF freshen things up in time for Saturday?
Parkinson will have been at the game last night and after their win on Tuesday that extra day’s rest will be an added bonus, he will be formulating a similar game plan for their game.
I hope City haven’t travelled back home and have found somewhere local that they can rest up and do some training on Friday ready for Saturday.
Maybe it is time for Hanley, Klose, Mclean to come back into the fold – all will be clear at 3pm on Saturday
A painful night in front of the telly Gary.
The proximity of the game to the Derby gave us us all an uneasy feeling but what followed was unacceptable.
That horrendous pass from Tettey which opened us up set the sloppy tone for the rest of the first half. The defending of the set piece isn’t worthy of the name. I’m in agreement with you regarding the penalties, our record is truly appalling, so much so thT I fully expected Stiepermann to miss.
Three games in six days, two of which are long distance away days is frankly reminiscent of the Christmas period, where Dan chose not to utilise the full strength of his squad by keeping the line up wherever possible unchanged. We failed to win those games and slipped back. Saturday at Bolton is a big test of our credentials. After a performance such as that a few players who haven’t had a start for a while would be forgiven for thinking its time they had a chance to stake a claim.
If this was down to tiredness then changes need to be made both to keep the fringe players motivated and to send a message that such performances will not be tolerated. Do not cite tiredness if an unchanged X1 results in a poor result at Bolton.
Sounds like Preston were deserved winners last night, so not going to grumble too much…
However, these penalties are starting to becoming a real issue. If my memory serves , the ones we’ve missed this season have all been on target but softly struck and at a decent height for the keeper.
From 12 yards the taker shouldn’t give the keeper any prayer of making a save. I like to see a player really put his foot through the ball into either corner, like Holt used to.
A frustrating night, but with the amount of chances this team creates we’re always going to be in with shout whatever the general performance levels.
What on earth doesn’t Pukki take the pens. He is so accurate in placing the ball in the net.
Could it be that he does not want to? I can’t for the life on me figure out any other reason.
Am guessing it all boils down to the one he missed earlier in the season, Ken, after he took the armband from Jordan Rhodes. But, as you say, despite one miss he remains the obvious choice.
I asked myself the same question Ken. I’m sure he doesn’t want to take them because as our main striker he would surely get first refusal.
Maybe team policy that someone else takes pens to share the scoring around
That only works if the penalty is converted!
A very good summary. Wish I could join the group and sagely say I saw it coming – unfortunately my prediction of a City win is on the record. Damn!
Never mind Stew – I didn’t get a point in Cookie’s league table either – ha!
A performance and result on Saturday is essential. We can do it but will we?
I’m not surprised that we were leggy last night, and the mental effort of taking on 4 decent teams and then having to play a local derby also seems to have told.
The trouble is that, like PNE, Bolton have the extra day between games to freshen up. They clearly aren’t as good as PNE but the margins are very tight in this league and we saw on Sunday that even the poorest team in the league were able to cause us problems for an hour.
It must surely be time for Kenny McLean to get a start.
It doesn’t help that WBA earned a point from the incident that has led to Gayle being charged, and that Sheff U may have had a good break off the ref last night (although you’d have to side with Tony Pullis to think that, which I’m very reluctant to do).