It’s obviously a bit down at the moment. For the first time, for some of these players (and the manager) they’ve felt the wrath of Fratton Park. It’s easy to be together when things are going well but now we’re going to find out what the true character of this squad and this manager is like.
Colby Bishop made a huge mistake when he cupped his ear to the Fratton End, it was a very silly thing to do. Strikers breed off confidence and they love the adoration of the crowd. If he believes it would be any different at another club, he’s probably going to be very disillusioned.
The fans play their part too. Social media gives fans the chance to vent their feelings like never before. Lots want to find scapegoats and we’ve seen plenty of evidence of that on here. It would likely be very wise if the team resist the urge to look at online comments. A live crowd, however, will give a resounding collective opinion and that can’t be ignored and neither should it be.
They are under pressure and it’s time to really see what they are about!
I think the social media treatment of Colby Bishop has had an effect on the whole squad. They appear a tight-knit bunch of players and if you attack one, you attack them all.
Bishop has created a bigger problem than he probably realised by cupping his hands (but I thought it was to some particularly vociferous critics in the NS rather than the FE) but his error of judgement is nowhere near as bad as those fans than took the criticism beyond normal levels to the very personal and caused him to be so angry in the first place.
The bond between the fans and the team was at an all time high after the events at the end of the Blackpool defeat, but it has sink to a low with the reaction to the loss of the form and the unfair and personal criticism of one player. It doesn't matter if 95% of the fans still rate him, the damage done by the 5% is still very real.
The confidence within the team cannot be that high, but I still believe the players are giving 100 percent. They are certainly giving it their all, or the majority are.
I think our form is down to the lack of squad depth as we have injuries to key players, too many players are out of form, .and there is a real lack of pace up front. Bishop will get goals if the service is there but it isn't.
We seem to pass the ball too much, a lot of tippy tippy football, we try to pass the ball into the net.
We questioned whether these players can handle the pressure in recent games and they haven't delivered yet.
If we could get 2 or 3 quality signings in then we can get back on track in the coming months.
Will we beat Fleetwood? Probably. But it will be scruffy.
(18-01-2024, 11:00 AM)DeepBlue Wrote: [ -> ]I think the social media treatment of Colby Bishop has had an effect on the whole squad. They appear a tight-knit bunch of players and if you attack one, you attack them all.
Bishop has created a bigger problem than he probably realised by cupping his hands (but I thought it was to some particularly vociferous critics in the NS rather than the FE) but his error of judgement is nowhere near as bad as those fans than took the criticism beyond normal levels to the very personal and caused him to be so angry in the first place.
The bond between the fans and the team was at an all time high after the events at the end of the Blackpool defeat, but it has sink to a low with the reaction to the loss of the form and the unfair and personal criticism of one player. It doesn't matter if 95% of the fans still rate him, the damage done by the 5% is still very real.
I think all of the players have been fairly criticised, including Colby. They were also praised in the first few months of the season too.
Colby has not been criticised any more than some of the other players, such as Norris.
Colby especially is a well paid professional, I would guess on around 5k a week, and should be able to take criticism. Let's not forget, he and others were being praised August to November time.
If players are throwing a hissy fit when they are criticised, they need to grow up and ignore it.
(18-01-2024, 11:24 AM)TitchfieldBlue Wrote: [ -> ] (18-01-2024, 11:00 AM)DeepBlue Wrote: [ -> ]I think the social media treatment of Colby Bishop has had an effect on the whole squad. They appear a tight-knit bunch of players and if you attack one, you attack them all.
Bishop has created a bigger problem than he probably realised by cupping his hands (but I thought it was to some particularly vociferous critics in the NS rather than the FE) but his error of judgement is nowhere near as bad as those fans than took the criticism beyond normal levels to the very personal and caused him to be so angry in the first place.
The bond between the fans and the team was at an all time high after the events at the end of the Blackpool defeat, but it has sink to a low with the reaction to the loss of the form and the unfair and personal criticism of one player. It doesn't matter if 95% of the fans still rate him, the damage done by the 5% is still very real.
I think all of the players have been fairly criticised, including Colby. They were also praised in the first few months of the season too.
Colby has not been criticised any more than some of the other players, such as Norris.
Colby especially is a well paid professional, I would guess on around 5k a week, and should be able to take criticism. Let's not forget, he and others were being praised August to November time.
If players are throwing a hissy fit when they are criticised, they need to grow up and ignore it.
No player would complain about fair criticism , they know they have good and bad games and will get criticised for the bad ones. But some of Bishop's criticism was apparently very personal and aimed at his family too. Bad enough for team mates to show it to him when he hadn't seen it himself.
I've no problem with players being angry at that sort of shit, as long they keep trying to prove the critics wrong, and as you say they are all still giving 100%.
We’ve had dips a few times, at around this time of year. It’s happened under different managers with different squads. On at least one occasion, it even happened under different owners,just prior to the Eisners taking over. In all this, there appears to be only one constant. That being, US the supporters. Are we, somehow, transmitting negativity or pressure, that we aren’t even aware of, onto the players?
(18-01-2024, 01:42 PM)Smirnoffexpress Wrote: [ -> ]We’ve had dips a few times, at around this time of year. It’s happened under different managers with different squads. On at least one occasion, it even happened under different owners,just prior to the Eisners taking over. In all this, there appears to be only one constant. That being, US the supporters. Are we, somehow, transmitting negativity or pressure, that we aren’t even aware of, onto the players?
Yes we are. But there is nothing wrong with setting high expectations and expecting that the better level of support we normally give sets a high bar. Finding players that can play under that pressure is a challenge but I would say with the likes of Poole, Shaughnessy, Ogilvie, Pack & Morrell we have enough of those.
But turning nasty and being unfairly critical is bound to have a negative effect on any team.
I feel pretty deflated and am concerned we aren't going to get anyone in and the season will peter out into nothing which will be pretty embarrassing and very frustrating.
I really hope the owners can just put a bit more coal on the fire to get things going again.
A couple of wins would really turn all the negativity around.
There is just an obvious shortful on tactics based on the limitations of the squad.
As you've said Colby made a really stupid decision cuppinig his ears and chirping to the media.
He's not a popular man atm.
Fans however will quickly forget if he goes on a run!
He needs some help up top - he can't win the ball, get around 3 players and expect to score every game.
Putting sitters away he can do though and I think that comes from confidence.
(18-01-2024, 11:06 AM)TitchfieldBlue Wrote: [ -> ]The confidence within the team cannot be that high, but I still believe the players are giving 100 percent. They are certainly giving it their all, or the majority are.
I think our form is down to the lack of squad depth as we have injuries to key players, too many players are out of form, .and there is a real lack of pace up front. Bishop will get goals if the service is there but it isn't.
We seem to pass the ball too much, a lot of tippy tippy football, we try to pass the ball into the net.
We questioned whether these players can handle the pressure in recent games and they haven't delivered yet.
If we could get 2 or 3 quality signings in then we can get back on track in the coming months.
Will we beat Fleetwood? Probably. But it will be scruffy.
100% agree to all of that.
It's still January so it's a cast iron loss, innit!
I'm just glad that we are in the mix whilst we have our wobble. When we find our stride again there is no reason why we can't regain top spot.
(18-01-2024, 02:09 PM)Pedalo_menders Wrote: [ -> ]It's still January so it's a cast iron loss, innit!
I'm just glad that we are in the mix whilst we have our wobble. When we find our stride again there is no reason why we can't regain top spot.
I hope so - I've not long bought a half-season ticket!
(18-01-2024, 11:06 AM)TitchfieldBlue Wrote: [ -> ]The confidence within the team cannot be that high, but I still believe the players are giving 100 percent. They are certainly giving it their all, or the majority are.
I think our form is down to the lack of squad depth as we have injuries to key players, too many players are out of form, .and there is a real lack of pace up front. Bishop will get goals if the service is there but it isn't.
We seem to pass the ball too much, a lot of tippy tippy football, we try to pass the ball into the net.
We questioned whether these players can handle the pressure in recent games and they haven't delivered yet.
If we could get 2 or 3 quality signings in then we can get back on track in the coming months.
Will we beat Fleetwood? Probably. But it will be scruffy.
I will be surprised if they beat Fleetwood. I' m surprised you think they will.
After Blackpool we went on a run. If the players and manager want us to believe, we need a similar run right now. Talking about analysis and all that is completely meaningless if we continue to struggle against bottom half teams.
When the going gets tough and all that.
If the likes of Whyte cannot get going on the pitch, then they can get going right up the M6 and stay there.