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riverside edit ben, matt, guv talking town studio: more I think about yesterday's game, I'll be honest, the more frustrated I get. Not because Ips Town lost. No, Bournemouth are a really good side, but because for large parts of that match, I genuinely couldn't work out what on earth Ipsitown were trying to achieve. All week we talked about Bournemouth's press. How do you beat it? How do you stop them playing? And how do you make them uncomfortable following a European trip? And for me, Town didn't really answer any of those questions or ask many of their own. Tonight's contributor Ben says he's more worried now. About Ipswich Town than at any other point this season. And I'm left asking one question: What actually was Gay O'Neill's plan? And was this simply a poor performance against a very good side? Or did Bournemouth expose something much more concerning about Ipswich? It's the debrief. It's live right now. Let's go. Hello again, friends, and you are my friends. Welcome back to Talking Town. Hit that subscribe button. Right now, 10 games into the season. Town on eleven points and we've got to talk about yesterday. And I'll be honest, Bournemouth are a really good side, but I still don't think we can just look at Bournemouth's form and say, Well, they're a very good side. Let's move on. Because I don't know about you, but for me, this was probably Ishes Town's flattest performance of the season. Bournemouth were in control and seemed able to trigger their press when they wanted, win the ball and crab opportunities when they wanted, and town didn't seem able to respond. So tonight we're going to examine exactly that. What went wrong? What went right, if anything, why did it go wrong? And what does it mean moving forward? Because that's what the debrief is all about. And joining me in this quest is Matt and Ben. Good to see you both, gentlemen. Matt, we'll start with you. Having had time to reflect, was this simply Bournemouth being better or did I Ipsy's town significantly underperform? Sit the table for us. Yeah, Bournemouth were better. We massively underperformed. for large chunks until we scored really, I just felt we was probably we looked like a relegation team. We look like a team we looked like the team from two years ago under McKenna. But with a vastly superior squad, we seem to put in the same performance. So I'm a little bit where Ben is at the moment. You I've been sitting there going, Well, I can see us getting forty points. I'm now wondering, well, actually, where is the next win coming from? It's it's funny you y you you should kick us off that way, 'cause you didn't know b b b b before you joined us to what Ben would say. And Ben, you're worried more worried now about it than than at any point in this early season. What is it about this particular performance that really concerned you so much? because we can now put a pattern together and we're doing the same thing every single game, which is giving away ridiculous goals. We're now top of the league for goals conceded by by mistakes and I don't see any evidence that that's gonna change. I'm worried. I'm worried. Mat Matt hit it on the head exactly. we it it it reeked of of two years ago. It we it was very, very naive and we were competitive, but ultimately just weren't good enough. And that was the whole story of the last time we're in the Premier League. Alright, we'll come back to the bigger picture concern. And I can I can hear you both got those concerns. Colin in the chat meanwhile says 15th and I'm not changing my mind, but Colin's always ultra positive. But first, let's I'll try and understand what we saw in terms of the football match itself. Let's start with the question that's on our thumb now tonight. What actually was Gary O'Neill's plan? Because in the preview, gentlemen, we spent a lot of time Discussing Bournemouth's press. Craig, the Bournemouth supporter, told us how aggressive Bournemouth were without the ball. Gary O'Neill himself acknowledged how dangerous they could be. We knew this was coming. Yet for me, gentlemen, town looked strangely passive. We didn't press we didn't press them anywhere as near as much as I thought we would, and we didn't make the game chaotic as Gary O'Neill said he would like to at Portman Road. When Bournemouth came after us, we didn't seem to have a convincing answer. Now, Ben, you see it a little bit differently than me. You've said the plan was to play through the press. But the mistakes and slow transitions stopped it from working. So what did you see that you c that convinced you playing through the press was O'Neal's intended plan? Because we saw it for four minutes at the beginning of the first half, which was the best it was the best four minutes of football I've seen this play this entire season. With those balls to Maeda who was cutting in the the the quickness of the transition, that the pushing their back line, the going down the byline, that the hit that the crossing inwards. It was it was the tactic that Gary O'Neill said he was going to do and we were doing it and then comes the calamity. I'm sure we'll get onto that. I don't want to take up We will, but you saw saw what Gary was thinking about. For four minutes you just said. So was that a poor plan, a reasonable plan that the players so was it a poor plan or was it a reasonable plan that the players that the players failed to execute for more than four minutes? Because 'cause one goal, one calamity, which we'll w we'll get to, shouldn't change the other ninety three. In this league it does though. In the championship, I would agree with you. This league, you cannot how many times does every podcast say it? You cannot make mistakes in this league. And to gift the goal on the plate to the most red hot striker in the Premier League right now. It was like Christmas. Christmas is six weeks away. so that you can't mitigate against that. There's no game plan that you can include that in it. It changed the
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face of everything and all Portsmouth had all around Bournemouth had to do after that was just play their game and control it. And we've seen so many teams do that against us when it's not going right. All they have to do is just play their game and press us. 'Cause last year, the year before, the year before that, and the year before that, we still have no answer to a team that presses us. What about you, Matt? Did you see a a clear tactical intention from Ipswitch yesterday? Well, it was difficult, wasn't it? I agree with Ben. We did start the game well, but then when you've literally just kicked the ball in your own net, effectively is what Walton did. And you're one nil down within four minutes, then the game plan is out the window, isn't it? Ditto conceding within a minute of the second half, the halftime team talk is now out the window and down the toilet. So we started both halves on weak footing, didn't we? I thought we struggled more against Nottingham Forest, to be honest, playing through them. They gave us opportun because they because Bournemouth their transition is so fast, it's so rapid. Cliver, Aad, Evan Ilson. By the way, even Illson, did he miss that goal? I he did, yeah. And he just went in by the post, didn't it? If you'd missed bounced up. They're just so quick on the the transition and then when you do have the ball, because if we're a if she had a better XG, for example, yesterday than what they did against Forrest, I said on here. I felt like it was impossible for us to play through Forest. We actually had opportunity against Bournemouth, but their discipline getting back into shape after when they're going back into defence. We struggle with that. We it's we've we've actually had a bit of a lesson in the last two home games. We've struggled with Forrest doubling up on our wingers, for example. And then we struggled yesterday to to break Bournemouth down. what do we have? Two shots on target? I would imagine one was the penalty and the other one was one of NC So's powder puff free kick efforts. Not hard to have a good XG then if you only have two shots on target. And I I want to challenge you both on that one really, because obviously Gary O'Neill spoke before the game in terms of the five four mentality creating chaos at Portman Road, attacking intent. It it to be blunt, did you see any of that yesterday, Matt? Because, did Town actually try and press And attack aggressively, make it chaotic, or was the approach more cautious than perhaps Gary O'Neill's words suggested that they would be before the game? Well, we've we've discussed how Gary O'Neill could take reality and push it into the realms of ridiculous positivity. If you aren't gonna beat anybody five four, are they? We've just said we've had two shots at home in this game here. So there's not gonna be but we created our own chaos, didn't we? We've conceded in four minutes, we've conceded within thirty eight, forty seconds of the second half. So whatever he wanted to
do in terms of create being chaotic offensively was never in the game plan yesterday because we would shot ourselves in the foot twice. I'm lucky with the second one though, being an own goal, but Yeah, I mean can't do can't do much about that. But in terms of chaos and and that attacking intent, and I think obviously what Gary Neil was speaking about there is the lack of clean sheet and he'll keep getting asked that until they eventually, if ever, in this Premier League season. Sorry, Martin, do you think we're gonna keep a clean I can't say he's keeping a clean sheet this season? No, no, no, no. I've got more chance of winning the Euro millions than we've got of keeping a clean sheet, I think. And I I'm honest. I'm not shaving my beard until we keep one. I started this seven games ago quietly. It's a thing in my family group we always go together. I'm not shaving this beard or even trimming it until we keep a clean sheet. I don't care. It'll it'll be I'll be a bloody Gandalf by the time this season ends. But but but sticking with that mentality, which is fine if it you know too many times yesterday, Ben, I I just saw bodies in an attacking position, but movement of statues, which is so easy to to defend against. It's okay having five, six bodies committed forward, but if they're all standing still, if the movement's non-existent, it's so easy to so easy for defenders just to just to mark. But I I don't I I I do disagree slightly on the leaning of that. I I think you're not gonna see a better pressing side than Bournemouth. Their press was unbelievable. And unbelievable. I've I've not seen anything like it so far this year. How as soon as we had the ball, there was two or three players closing down all of the angles. And and every single time we received the ball, that is what happened. And you had that momentarily that and that that's the time it takes to change it. I think it's a group of players working our absolute maximum. Take out Lukic not being on the pitch, but that's conversation for probably in a bit. That's our players doing the best we can against a really hard high press. You will not see better than that this season. Liverpool didn't even do that to us. They were actually so good they didn't need to. But Bournemouth, they gave us no room for error. And the proof of that is they they capitalised on exactly that. I just don't think you can underestimate how good Bournemouth were off the ball yesterday. That is the best team I've seen in years off the ball. And I think Gary O'Neill again we'll never know what his plan is. And I don't blame him for yesterday because you cannot mitigate against a catastrophe. Well, well, well, well, you can. You can. We're gonna come to it now. Because we are moving on to the the issue, the the situation we keep floating around. But I've I've brought my lack of plan. These two gentlemen have pushed back. They've agreed in parts, disagreed in parts. Let us know what you think in the chat or ultimately the chat are always the ultimate decider in this one. Nigel predicted a draw before the game. Tammy's Tammy says says, I'll read it word for word 'cause I'll get it right. My husband thinks everyone's overly negative, says we lost to a deflected home goal and a gaff from the keeper, cut one of those out and it's a draw. both sort of both it's a win. That that's ultimately as that's ultra, ultra positive. And I don't live in that world right now. Not after like three hours' sleep. But I might do tomorrow. But we've we've discussed the plan or I still think lack of it. But we'll move on. Because four matches aren't played on tactics boards. They're decided by what happens on the pitch. And we keep flirting around it, so let's move straight into it. And I wanna be clear before we do on where I stand, if if those that that that just don't know. I said for a long time that Kel Sherman should be starting at this football club. And another warm mistake has only for me strengthened that opinion. Going behind against a Bournemouth team, gentlemen, in this form is difficult enough. You can't keep making life harder for yourselves. And I felt sorry, I really felt sorry for the other ten players at halftime who worked their socks off to go in a goal down. Now I'm not saying Town would have automatically won or drawn the game. Make no mistake about it. Football matches don't are not like that. It's not cut and dry. It could have developed differently But it's another avoidable moment that changed the the challenge that we were facing. And Ben, you've mentioned Wharton several times and you and you mentioned to me, I think last night just how much of how much of it it's just inability to play through Bournemouth's press was also down to Wharton. So what did you make of his performance? Well, it just it's hard to talk about a mistake. Part part of me can almost live with that, you know. I I can almost live with a complete screw up. We're all human, we've all done it. I don't think he's ever really done it like that before, to be honest with you. But He was so slow when he got the ball. He slowed the game down twenty, thirty percent. And even when they were pinging it round the back and pinging it to to the defenders, back back to Leaf, back to Wharton, you then spur it, put his foot on it, looked around, or when he held the ball, he was looking around and the crowd were getting really pissed off with it. and and we we were kind of sitting there kind of pontificating about it and we thought it's so so obvious that he's so slow that it has to be an instruction. It cannot be organic. That he think i you're chasing the game. You got players running out to try and get balls, you've got players with the arms out and and he's slowing it down. This and by that point, Bournemouth fifty three set, they've got their shape back. So we had no chance. I think it's I'm not I'm not gonna go too overboard, I think, on the mistake because mistakes happen. And he's a good shot
stopper to be fair. But he made this complete script. Is he he's a better shot stopper than goalkeeper. Holly McBurney's three kick says hello, Ben. I d I get that, but then he made a then he made a save five minutes later. Yeah, but Ben that's what makes me even more frustrated about him. I would rather the thirty yard strikes go in the back of the net. It's the simple ones that go in. You go I completely agree. Walton is not the focal point here o of my he's not good enough, he's a League One keeper. We'll know that. We've got an endemic problem of goalkeepers at this club and we've had it for years. The only goalkeeper we have had who is exactly where he should have been since the Americans came in was Halaki. And that was by sheer accident that we found a goalkeeper who happened to match the way we play, which was on the ground, fast out the back and playing through the back. And then and then he was dropped and then he's now retired off we've got a serious, serious blind spot with goalkeepers here. and Walton is only doing as good as he can be. He's a league he's a League One keeper playing in the Premier League. we've had about four or five other keepers who he keeps displacing and as you said just before the show, multiple you are well multiple managers, okay, two managers, Kira McKenna and and Gary, have put their faith in him. don't get me wrong, Gary shot himself in the foot when he said he's number one, which is a total load of rubbish. But now he's put himself in a bad position because Walton is doing the only thing he can do, which is be a League One fairly okay championship keeper. And anyone expecting any more from him, I think is an unfair criticism. It's not his fault. He's in the goal. It's the recruitment team's fault. So well in that regards then, Matt, I'm gonna break the question into two parts for yourself. First of all, the the mistake, and it is a mistake. We can't it's can't escape it. As I said on the on the reaction show last night, I w I want nothing more than to sit here every week and eat humble pie, heat it eat just and and say, you know what, Wharton's great, Wharton's done well, Wharton's brilliant and and say I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong. It doesn't it doesn't do me any good to sit here and and say about Christian Wharton, but here we are. So talk us through about the the mistake. But equally what Ben's just said there, it isn't his fault. Okay, let's flip that. 'Cause is it is it the person's s s selecting the team's fault then? 'Cause somebody's gotta be having the finger of of blame pointed out. It's always someone's fault. I hate all this goalkeeper chat, as you know, Martin. Even like last week I was like, not more goalkeeping chat. As soon as he made that mistake yesterday, I was thinking we'll be talking keepers again. I mean, I d I f I feel sorry for him. Look, he has made some really good saves for us in his time at at town, and we forget all about that 'cause you're only as good as your most recent game and I I I think that's true as well. It's like judging a fish Riding a bicycle, isn't it? I've never thought Walton's that good playing out from feet. What did we used to joke might in League One? We scored him two touch, didn't You didn't. Once get the ball under control, just about, and then he'd be able to clear the ball. And this was in League One. Remember he made his debut against Bolton and we shipped five, didn't we? But everyone glosses over that. So I think we play a style our style of football isn't really suited for for his skill set, really. Never has been. That's why I've never really liked playing out from the back. We said last season. Against Sheffield United who we thumped up five nil. There's some really hairy moments playing out from the back in that game, and we thought, against decent opposition, they'll capitalise on that and score. And as we saw yesterday, against decent opposition, forty million pounds striking Eva Nilson, they did capitalise. But it should always live dangerously playing like this, I think. I I've never been comfortable with us playing these tactics, but McKenna wanted to do it and Gary O'Neill wants wants to do it. And he is a goalkeeper ill suited, I think, to maybe the modern game. Look, I've we've got a House in America, right? And and what you're meant to do is and it's on the Gulf Coast, so you're meant to storm stormproof your house, which means if you buy it and it's not stormproof, you better have another fifty thousand pounds in your pocket to stormproof it. So Walton is like a holiday home in America. I haven't stormproofed this club. It's like you've done the windows, you've reinforced the garage, you've put drainage everywhere, you you've thickened up the walls, you've you've put drainage ditches down the front so the water doesn't pull, but you haven't done anything with the roof. You can't blame the roof when the hurricane blows through. You blame the lack of strengthening the roof when the hurricane blows through. And we are getting a hurricane blow through us now with every number nine who's coming, who's just getting gifts from us. You can You didn't start the season with this house. You bought this house as in like you've you you decided halfway through four games in four four four months into living in this house, Ben, you decided, do you know what, I don't fancy this house, I fancy that house. So you switched your house. My my issue Some analogy to this, by the You won't get this on any other podcast. Certainly won't. No, I'm stretching I'm stretching my brain here after three hours' sleep. But my issue is that I would I'd go for a pint with Christian Wharton. I think he's a wonderful gentleman, a great guy, probably a really good laugh. But he's in my goal, trying to s trying to keep my team in games. That's where I'm focused. I know what Christian Wharton is at this point, Ben. I know what I've got with Christian Wharton. We're probably at his ceiling. Now I'm not
saying Kiel Sherpin's the answer, but I'm saying I don't know what I've got with Kiel Sherpin. I saw him in four games. And we could split heads over the goals we conceded. Some would say it's his fault, some would say it's not. But equally, if we're always going to say the picture's gotta be perfect, you could say n n none of the goals were his fault. So I'm I'm I'm saying perhaps it's time you you made that change. But where where are you on that? Because are you convinced there is an alternative? Is it Christian Morton because you don't have one? Where where are you in terms of f in the future, future proof in this position? Where are you with with what you've got at the moment? I don't know. I I don't fucking trust him. God knows what we're getting in next time. No idea whatsoever. We him Palmer to replace him. Now Palmer can't even get in the squad. We got in Sherpin, who's Walton but nine inches taller. But he had an absolute mare. and he and and then we we B Braddy was a goalkeeper at a nightmare. Defining mayor. Hey? Define mayor. Because which game did he have in Mayor? He caught the ball okay, but he couldn't deal with anything below his waist. it took him three and a half minutes plus stoppage time to sort of get down to the floor and pick up a ball. Again, I think he's similar to Walton. He's a bit slow and a bit cumbersome, but a pretty good shot stopper who's ill suited to the speed and athleticism of the Premier League. goalkeepers, look, they are they are so it's just funny, isn't it? That I look at every other team in this league who do not talk about their goalkeeper the same way we do. Even Crystal Palace have a pretty decent bloody goalkeeper in their bottom of the league and struggling. It just seems to be something almost cultural within our club that, it it's it's su it's like a it's like a blind spot. I don't know what the answer is. But evidently neither do Ipswich Town nor our recruitment department 'cause the same thing keeps happening again and again and again. And every single season we rotate our goalkeepers around and around and around, bringing in replacements, bringing in number two, you bringing in new numbers. Yes, it's the recruitment's fault. No no no but th they they keep going on that merry go round despite ending back up to where you started. That perhaps they're they they're they're not content with where they started. How do you mean? I if you keep going back to the one you start with, having already tried to upgrade the position several times, doesn't that tell you that ultimately they are th what they are? Yeah, you yeah, you blast through every broken sports car on your drive and you go back driving to the Mondeo. You go back to the car that will get you there. You get you go back to the car that's gonna get you to wait from A to B. Walton is not he's not a terrible keeper. We've just grown beyond him and we've gotten rid of so many good players because we've grown past them. Morsey, Luongo, Chap Clinton Burns. We've gone past all these players and we loved them all and they were grateful what they could do. But we were ruthless. Now we'd done that with the outfield. We went past where we were and got better. And that there are not many problems in the outfield. We were pretty damn good in possession and we're scoring some goals. I haven't got too many complaints. We barely touched a defence. And funnily enough, we got the worst one of the worst defenses in the league, making the most amount of mistakes. We didn't invest in it and we're suffering. Matt, final word to you on Christian Want before we move on. Final word to you. That's a really good point Ben's made there. Ips it should have been ruthless with Bill big fan favourites. Burns, Plyn, Walton. He's still he's still there. Just to add to this conversation, I don't know if you noticed yesterday who the reserve keeper was on the bench for Bournemouth, Gregorio, who's been Juventus' number one for the last two or three seasons, he didn't even get in the Bournemouth team. Let me just say that again to you. Intersect number one does not get in the Bournemouth team. who would have thought that? Three, four, five. Yeah, Sherman was playing European football last year. Why didn't we get him in instead? Why didn't we get the the the whole kit city keeping Well we're certainly we we're certainly up to You could debate play that game all day long, though, couldn't you, about who why we why didn't we go for him, why didn't we go for that? You could play that game all day long. As you said, we've not seen enough of Sherpin. He's had four games. He's had four It's a fair point. It's it's a f it's a fair point. You could argue the experiment hasn't actually been run yet, but football is a Son of a bitch ruthless game. Four games everyone well, okay, everyone was s saying, yeah, it's not good enough. When Walton came back in, it did seem to settle the defence for a couple of days. Yeah, can we stop playing Man United Liverpool? Funny that, ain't it? We're playing Fulham I I'm I'm with you on that argument until you look at the fiction list and you hang on, it's not a Man United that have just been beaten by Hole and and got a point to prove it on their first time game of the season. Yes, they've been poor since, but in that moment that was a That's the way the fiction list lands and it it was bad for us that week. And Liverpool. Liverpool, by the way. all right, look, we could talk about it all day long. Emily, our recruitment are aren't doing their job properly. If we keep going full circles, not progressing, progression is key, otherwise there's no point. I tell you I saw a lot of yes on Matt on the Matt's reaction comments was Rennie Gilmartin comments, because I didn't expect. But I suppose the question then starts to be moved around, isn't it? 'Cause as I said earlier, there is always a finger of of blame to be pointed somewhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. well Gary O'Neill said in the c
in the thing yesterday, didn't he? He will take counsel from Renee Gilmartin who works as the keepers day to day and they'll decide who they'll pick as the keeper from there and never said that Walton has been doing better than Kiel Sherpin. But I don't think that's translating into the games as we've said before. Absolutely terrifying to you. Which now tops us for league, yeah. He's it's not only all on Walton, by the way. As I as I said, I've got a lot of love for him and he's operating at the peak of his abilities, you know. I I just think he's doing as good as he can do. And in fairness, he's never really done any different. He's just doing it at a league now, which is just exposing it and you've got to get players press and press but you know that's even not about talking about the four in front of him and Diop particularly having an absolute stinker, but maybe we'll get on to that. We are going to get on to I feel sorry for Walton, I mean, to make that error in front of thirty thousand supporters live on TV. I mean, you'd you just want the world to s swallow you up, wouldn't you? So I felt sorry for him. He makes a very good save two minutes later, then he was lying down saying He had no he had no right to save that. That was an incredible, outrageous save. So yeah, yeah. So, you know. But I mean look we heal you could You could feel the air come out of Portland Road, couldn't when it had gone in? Very much so. Very much. And and nobody wants to be sat here on a Monday night, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Tuesday night, Monday night, whenever you do a show, Matt, and talk about the goalkeepers. As you say, I I'm bored of it, you're bored of it. Yeah, it but it is an issue that just keeps bubbling and I just I don't know. We'd love to stop talking about it. Like give us an opportunity to shut the hell up. Yeah, please. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But but the but the thing is, even without the error, we still have to talk about how little Town created, which brings us to the selection, if you like, of the wider picture. Ben, you've been pretty clear about what the change you what changes you want. You don't believe Jaden Philogene should have been on the field. You want Fleming starting ahead of Emerson, and you believe Lukage should have started. So let's take those in turn. Of those three selection decisions, which do you think had the biggest effect on Sunday's match? Jaden on the left hand side. Fleming on the bench, up top, or Lukic on the bench? That's a great question, Gov. I like that. It's very multifaceted. For it's Lukic. I don't think there's any doubt that he's missed what three is it three games now? Yes. And I and I'd argue it we're we're although we've got picked up at what a point or two, I can't remember. we we have just not looked as good as team of Lukic in. For me, he's behind Dan Palacios, he's our best player. he's my number one on the team. He's so calm, his positional awareness is brilliant, he's so tactically aware of what's going on around him that the other players just seem to relax and and to run their channels and we I have missed him and I was quite surprised not to see him on yesterday. It's gotta be an injury thing. But for me, any game Lukish doesn't play, we look measurably less controlled. And the games that we've won have been when Lukish has played and we have been controlled. We've actually managed the game. I don't think we have the ability to manage a game without him. He's our one person who can do that. is similar but he does different things very well. Above all, for me, that had the most impact, I think. Taking out the calamity as far as the rest of the game. Boy was that a game for Lukic to control that press or get in the way of it. My God, that would have changed it. Yeah, and going by the press the the press conference, I thought Lukic would be would be starting, but he but he didn't didn't even feature in the end. Matt, looking at the at that eleven and the substitutions, what would you have done differently with the team that was selected and a and why would you have done it differently, if anything? Well the team that we selected was was decent, other than maybe I agree with Ben Lukich coming in for Florentino, but of course Florentino has scored a goal in Lukic's instance. Yeah. And we did control the game really. Well, certainly the first half against Hull quite comfortably. The problem I've got with our midfield, right, is Palacios a combination of Palacios, Florentino, Lukic, if you add in all the shots they've had together combined over the season to date out of three players, two shots. Yeah. And then if you look at Ryan Christie, who is had a much less stellar career than those three, he's got twelve shots from midfield in and scores, yeah, but he's got twelve shots in the this season alone from central midfield. So I quite like Palacios and Florentino and Lukic, what they bring to the table. They don't actually bring any attacking threat whatsoever. Like you saw yesterday, Palacios burst through, didn't he? I was going, shoot, shoot. He laid he laid the ball off. So we've got one we've had one shot from Florentino, one goal, one shot from Lukic, we've had nothing from Palacios. That is a big thing for us. We're not going to score goals from midfield. Therefore you're them now relying on Inciso, Philogene, Mayeda to bring some goal threat to you and an Emerson. But if they're miss firing, you've got no goal threat then in the final third at all, have you? This is the problem. You haven't. Craig says Philogene was getting sticked from some of our fans as soon as he first touched the ball. Buyback town, we'll do him a kenna and rotate Fleming and Emerson like Azalon and Hers previous season just to bring some unpredictability up top and see how Emerson's going against tired defenders. Colin says Clark for Philogene for me every day of the week. Tammy says and I think this is where I'm with Ben in terms of your midfield too.
Tammy says Lukic and Palacios gives you give you press resistance, also gives you an experience in there, an ability to run the game. We saw that against Sunderland. But in terms of Fleming and Emerson, Matt, you have s y if if if I've often said, Look, I'd like to see Kel Sherpin in goal because I don't what I've got with him, whereas I do know what I've got with Christian Walton, you've sat here and said, I want to see Fleming on a consistent basis over the last couple of weeks. Brace them as what Ben's brought to the show tonight. Where are you now on that on on that conversation? Would you want to see Fleming? Or are you wanting to try and play through what is a an obvious bat on a form for Emerson, if you like? Well, it seems roundabouts a bit, isn't it? is Fleming that much better than Emerson, really, at the end of the day? he's got two goals coming in from the bench. Emerson didn't get the ball at yesterday, did he? He had no chance to do to do anything. Interestingly, he costs more than what Rahane cost Bournemouth. And Rahane has gone to the World Cup just gone for Bournemouth with br with Brazil. Look how good he looked. Absolutely gymnastics bearing down on you. 24 million quid of much. We said that. How good would he be for us? We said the exact same thing last night watching him like, wow, where did we miss the trick with that one? Yeah, yeah, exactly him. So, so I don't know. I felt the reason I thought we looked like two years ago is question marks on the keeper. Defensively, we didn't look great. The passing out of defence wasn't very good. And we was we were too fliss front. Where are you on Fleming and Emerson? You've called for Fleming over the last couple of weeks. Are you still calling for it like Ben is? I'm not sure it's gonna make much difference, to be honest with me. Well I thought you were. You you you you you want to see Fleming start of Emerson, don't you? sorry, I thought you said Emerson. sorry, okay, yeah. I would like I'd like to I would like to see Fleming start again 'cause at the moment he's scored his goals as cameos from the bench. I'd like to see him get at least, seventy, eighty minutes and see and see what he can do. Whether or not Tottenham is the right game for that. I don't know. He was a bit unlucky yesterday, wouldn't He was about to have that shot when they pulled his shirt back, didn't they? Who knows? It could have rippled the net. That's another thing we don't do enough. Shoot from distance, like that Justin Clivert yesterday. As that girl, and actually we all did well to save that, Ben. We have we have got players in our team that can shoot from that distance. In CISO being one of them, which don't and Philogene. That's what Philogene brings you over Clark, I think. I mean he's not in CISO in CISO will only ever score a goal like he did in the last game every six, seven games. You know, there's that moment of outrageous magic and Sky Sports will put it all over their socials. Yeah. But that's pretty Pretty much as a goal threat as it's gonna be every six or seven games, but it gets all the headlines. As I said last time, a luxury player. I think. well when it comes good, it's absolutely wonderful and spectacular and magical. The rest of the time. You can't sit up here and wax lyrical about the quality players that Bournemouth have got and then call our only player in that very similar way of approaching the game in terms of flair and quality and say he's a luxury player. You need more of Inciso, not less of Inciso p type players. 'Cause you're not creating anything without him. The problem problem the problem that CISO has got for me is he holds onto the ball for too long and doesn't bring anyone else into play. That's exactly the same negativity that is is is pointed at Philogene. He holds onto the ball and doesn't pass it to anybody. And even Gary O'Neill does. Gary O'Neill said this exact thing in the presser after game last week. He says he's he's gonna frustrate a lot. I don't think he used the word frustrate. He said he's gonna do his own thing, he's gonna run into prayers. Say that. But I've got to let him do what he does 'cause every now and again there's gonna come up with a moment of magic. G Gary O'Neill said that about him. but and and Philogene does the exact same thing. He is okay. But he stopped shooting Jaden Philogene, Ben. He has, yeah, but because aga we've gonna level above him. What when he was cutting in trying to dink that ball on the eighteen yard box. Last season he would have just shot it and it would have curled in. Yeah. The the the Premier League teams are too athletic to let him get away with I had two players on him and he kept on d dinking his foot and running, dinking his foot and running and then and he'd lay it off. There's no space for that in this league. And again, Philogene I he gets a lot of stick. I'm fairly ambivalent towards him. I think he's just another player that he's just gone a a bit beyond this ceiling. I think he did brilliant though, Ben. I So did I. He made a really good tackle in the box, just as Bournemouth did. I think people may have missed that. He had the most dribbles in the game for us. he faded badly, but he always does. He's a half he's a half a game player. Well, they decided to take him off, didn't they, as soon as we'd conceded the second, really. I mean, Clark came on on the fiftieth. When Clark comes in mid game though, he never starts the games like that for me. No, you're right, you're right. That's why I think he's a better option. From the bench. But I think Inciso gets away gets away with it and Philogene gets the criticism when actually they're making the same mistakes. I think that actually is and that's not to say Inciso is measurably a better player than Philogene in almost every single way. But for me that's what makes it more frustrating. That simple things, that lay off pass, that that quick pass to Maida, four or five times you can just see Maida like
Inciso's three kicks are flipping Lowser. Did anyone actually think we're gonna score either of those two that we had yet? All of our free kicks allows us. What we're missing, Martin, it's Mark Venus on the edge of the box twenty five years ago, and he just levers it. I remember we've got something coming up in a couple of weeks. I remember Vino on the opening day of the season after we got promoted from the championship. I remember that. Yeah. Opening the scoring with a free kick at the Great goal. First that was the first goal scored in the Premier League that yeah. The quickest one. That's it. That's what we're missing. This sort of thinking and Cruncher said to He's trying to be too cute. He's absolutely right. This dinking it over the wall or just trying to hit it at top corner. Yeah. Get another Vino in there and lever it, Stuart Beers. It can be cute though, And you can go back to a time with before football was supposed to have started and players like Steve Sedgley, Jamie Clapham, you know, players that could, you know, deliver a quality. Jac Darren Curry, not he didn't play in the P League. Remember Jimmy Wan's free kicks. Jimmy Wanks. We just remember Darren Curry at QPR away. Great free kick that was. We just aren't good at set pieces and and we haven't been, as I I speak all about it all the time. It's another bug bear, isn't it? For a while, yeah. Yeah, and my only issue with Jaden Philogen yesterday, my only issue, because I actually I'm I'm with I'm with both of you. I thought he did okay yesterday, was from my position in the c in the cobble stand, there were so many times when he cut inside and it just opened up and you're saying, Here it comes, here it comes, here's the Jaden strike, the best striker of the ball we've probably got at the football club. Or certainly up there now. We know what he can do from twenty yards, twenty-five, thirty yards. Here it comes. And he'd hesitate. Take a touch. Move go go backwards. Go sidewards. If they're better players than last year have got his number now. He ain't getting any space. He's he is not having the he's not taking the opportunity from in in in the That Philogene's misfiring from that position. Gada doesn't look like he shoots from out outside the box. He's gonna score his goals inside or running into the channel and cutting in and scoring the other way. And then your two midfielders aren't going to show it either. This is some of this is where we've got now got a bit of a problem, I think. It's only in CISO then it's gonna have a have a go regularly if everyone else i i isn't willing to do so. But I don't want to spend the whole evening talking about what Ipswich did badly. I'm sure we'll come back round to it again very soon. But because there were there was some good in there, there was some some positives to take from it. And Ben, you made the point that town kept going as they have done for the through the first eleven games, right to the very And and you also believe we're a
good side in possession. Is that right? Yeah, I thought so I I just I maybe I'm comparing it to two years ago, but it's so measurably better. and I like the fact that it's pardon the cliche, but it's a bit of a never say die team that they're smashing every single team 3 0 in Europe and and domestically, and we pushed them right to the their fans were ecstatic at the end of the game. Cheer them. Because we pushed them really close. And we were a little bit of quality away from a set piece, whatever, from draw getting something out of the game. So I I do like the fact that whatever this team lacks, and it it does lack because we're a promoted team amongst absolute giants. It doesn't lack any heart. And it doesn't lack any kind of guts as well, because we I don't think there's a game we've played where we stopped playing. Even when Man United were ripping us a new one, we kept going and we kept pushing as much as we could. And it's not something I've seen from all of our teams in the last six, seven years. And I'm really plea because at at the very least in this league in this league, you need the That that can be that can you can get six or seven points doing that, as it's proved a lot of our goals have come in the ninetieth minute and beyond. So I'm really pleased with that. And I saw again yesterday, our heads didn't really seem to drop. I didn't see much evidence of it. and I and I like the passages of play. We're we're just up against a team that was the best pressing team in the country right now. Matt, how about you? What's the strongest positive you can genuinely take from the performance? Something that that's supported by what you've seen, not just optimism. Yeah, well I'm agreeing what people Yeah, exactly. yeah, blinded optimism. We're gonna stay up. Hundred points. I think what Watara actually he gave away the gold and he he he started the attack that leads to the own gold, unfortunately. I actually thought he played very well yesterday. He really links up brilliantly with Maeda and then Fataru as well, and they combine, don't they, for the penalty. Was it a soft pen? Maybe, but you know, he instigated the contact Watara in order to force the d referee to make a To make a decision. So we've never really had right back threat, have we? Attacking wise. It's always been on Leaf Shoulders on the left hand side, isn't it? Wattara's now changed the conversation. Best natural right back our club's seen in 25 years, as far as I'm concerned. David Wright. Brilliant player. You could do no wrong with David Wright, mate. He was a good player. He was a good player. Yeah, absolutely. So I was really pleased with Watara. I mean, we saw elements of this, didn't we, with when he started in that role against Everton. Yeah, so so that was a that was A positive for me. But I will go back to s what I said at the top of the show. We did it like a relegation threaten team really w for large chunks of that game, which worries me greatly as we now head into the windsar and w our three wins have only been ninetietth minute winners. You've been peeking at my bullet points again because I was gonna just want to finish that lovely segment up by saying it's important that we look at the positives 'cause we can be cr critical without pretending absolutely everything is wrong. But equally we should never try and manufacture positive just to make ourselves feel better because that's blind optimism and we don't do that here on Talk in Town. But one defeat is one thing. Ten games into the Premier League season. Here it comes, Matthew, keep your palette dry. We have now a body of evidence to examine. Eleven points, three wins, two draws, five defeats and still no clean sheet. And four games without a victory. Give it another month, I can sing I I can sing partridges in a pair tree after all that. But no, I don't think eleven points from ten games is a disaster from a newly promoted side. Not one certainly gentlemen that got in the low twenties. Two years ago, but results aren't the only thing we should examine. So you both mentioned how you're both worried. You can unpack that worry now. Because is that concern mainly about the points we're c we've got in terms of we've got 11 points, but you I can't see us getting 30 more points. Where what where's your concerns really starting to come? I'll start with you, Matt. Talk us through this. I'm concerned, it's reminding me of two years ago. What's really getting you? the optimism of the start of the season when it was sunny and we were still the heat wave was still here and everything, it's now that now the clocks have changed and we're coming out of the stadium in darkness. It kind of changes your mood a little bit, doesn't it? Gary O'Neill needs to prove to us that the three wins we've had so far weren't flukes. And I do agree that it's not a fluke to go to the ninety fifth minute, ninety sixth minute and g and and get wins. But that's all we've done so far. Where's the next win gonna come from? Where we control the game and you're two nil you've cruised to a little two-nil win and there's twenty minutes left and it was comfortable and you make subs to see the game now. I did did those opportunities seem few and far between to me. Go into Coventry to Blink, Castle at home, maybe. I don't see where else these are gonna to come from. And as I said at the top, I've often thought I've looked at this squad of players, what we've been doing at the start of the season, I'm thinking, well, if's which of McKenna Kenner's vintage only got 22 points. Surely this team will get double that. And I still hope they what they will, but we seem to be soft centred to me. We've we dominate whole city, who just played like they were down to 10 men. Dominate them. We're one up, we're going into the break. Within 20 minutes of the second half, we're two one down and scrabbling to get a drawback from a game that we should have been out of sight. And as I said before, the talk sport
went, it's just town a cruise in this game, two half hour later, they've They've fallen apart. That worries me a little bit. So that there's that aspect to it as well. When you're scoring the 90th minute goals, it's easy to get carried away on the momentum of you've put two wins together and everything. But now you start getting into the core of the season a little bit, and it's winter and the games are coming thick and fast, and the opposition is decent, you know, not teams in the bottom six or whatever. It's gonna be I think it's gonna be di it's gonna be difficult, I think. I really do. How about yourself? think I'm I don't think that's too far off it really. Because we're because we are better than what we were two years ago. I'm just a little bit concerned that it lulls people into a false sense of security as to our prospects this year. Because thirty five points is better than twenty two, but it's still not enough. Could be. I'm I'm I'm looking I'm looking at what we're doing and I'm looking at the patterns that are emerging. I'm looking at people's ceilings or what seem to be the ceilings. And on current evidence, this is not what might transpire, this is current evidence. We do not survive this league this year. We can't. We're shipping away two goals a game and most of them are given. This league is synonymous for punishing mistakes. And it actually seems to be getting measurably worse. This is now like a catastrophe almost every single game now. And it does seem that our goals have dried up a little bit and I and I think that you know we are a we are a much better team than we were. I just worry that maybe it's still not quite good enough 'cause we're just for the first time I looked over my shoulder at the league last week, last night rather than looking up. And I don't think there's a particular criticism of the players we've got because I think we've brought players to the level of as good as we can get them. When some of these players they're gonna be tourists here, Palacios and Inciso are not gonna be here next year. No no chance in hell. But we enjoy them while we have them. But on current evidence, two goals a game we concede. We make mistakes every single game. We're rotating the goalkeeper, which is a huge problem all over again, and we've seen that one play out the last time. I just don't see where we're suddenly gonna get defensively, we're suddenly gonna solidify and cut the mistakes out. It is the hardest thing to cut out in football. You can start scoring goals, you can reformation a team, you can play up to a ninetieth minute, but cutting out mistakes is the hardest thing to do in football, 'cause that's about quality. And I think we've maybe s we're at the ceiling of the quality we can get with the money we've spent. And I'm wondering if we're asking too much of the players to cut this out. I I'm I'm really worried, actually. I'm really worried as I say outrod. To Ben's point there, Matt, obviously we have a stat page over on the website, My Talking Town, and we get those stats from X G Stat and every week I I track them and and we update it. So if you could make one change, okay. If you 'cause at right now we are poor at conceding shots. We are not great at creating shots, but we have a high conversion rate, right? So if you create five, we'll perhaps score three. It's not an actual stat. I'm giving you it's just an example. But we don't create enough shots, but we do concede too many shots. So if I gave you a magic, the old blue pill, red pill, right? The blue pill means you concede 25% less shots. The blue pill, the other pill, whatever was opposite the first one, says you have 25% more shots. Which one would you go for? And which one do you think? Gary O'Neill should be going for if if if that's different. To be more defensively sound, I think. this was me, if I was in charge at town, that would have been my strategy really, to try and wing rather than Gary O'Neill saying, we're gonna try and win games five four or whatever it might be, this chaos theory that he pr presented in in the week at the press conference, to take to do what Sunderland did last season, which they're not doing this season, which was to be very difficult to beat, and go to the end, which we are doing, but win games one nil, two one or something and we're just not seeing that. Ben's right. We've said this before and here before at the moment we're trending to concede seventy six, eighty goals. If she's just not going to stay if she's not going to stay up doing that, are they? the theory is Ben, but the theory of getting out of this is we have to finish above whole city and Coventry, who I'm pretty certain are going to be in the bottom three come the end of the season. And then we hope Manchester City get the points deficit, which I'm thinking is going to come in January or February, which will then propel them down into the bottom three. In which case That would be We claw ourselves out. It would be the cruelest relegation ever if if Man City got relegated and we still went down and it was one of the other. I would just hate it. But sometimes you gotta you gotta you you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. You survive by any means necessary, even if you have to call your way in. It's not happening this year, gentlemen, so don't don't don't don't rely on it, Man City. Well Collins Collins Collins made the point there, what about Palace? Of course, yes, at the foot of the table. change your management. We saw that two years ago. One one change of manager and suddenly they're up there. look at the last one. Everton Everton were Paris. Forrest were down there, wasn't it Forrest? Wolves, sorry, were down there. They then suddenly they were mid table by the time we got relegated. So Matt, you're pulling the reins back. You're going for less shots given up as as opposed to creating more. Ben, same situation to you. If you could make the decision, would you go for less shots given up? Or
would you go for just creating more shots and understanding where you are perhaps in the footballing food chain of the Premier League and saying, Do you what? We're probably never going to keep clean sheets at this level yet. We're not quite there. So if I double my chances of scoring goals, I double my chances of winning games. Which one are you going for? Is it different to me? I keep it, I keep keep the clean sheets because Hull have made a blueprint from it and I'm envious of them. And ironically our points are very similar. We're doing different things at different ends of the pitch. But I I you just cannot underestimate a clean sheet in this league. and and it it goes is quite logical really isn't it? We spent a hundred and sixty million pounds offensively, and we spent I think a fifth of that defensively. and it and it shows it's the one area of the pitch we didn't really spend, you know, a lot, a lot of money from. And and in fairness, and fairness, because we probably can't. We run out of money to do it, we'd probably a little bit more seed money left in January. We spent well offensively, and it's a much better quality of football with some incredible players, and it shows. Yeah. I just don't think we had any left. It's like, I've I built a beautiful house but I forgot to insulate it. Damn, now it's winter and I'm moaning that I'm cold. It's cause you forgot to insulate it. You run out of money. So y y you kinda live in the house you build really, and it's a beautiful looking house and it's fantastic in the sun, but when it gets cold, when the goals start coming in, when the press is high, you bloody wish we had insulation, but it You couldn't sorry, you finished. I I thought there was an end. I don't know if I'm finished anymore. I think I've run out. I thought I thought there was an end part to the analogy. I was just waiting for the punchline. I was like, no, that's The punchline is is that we ran out of money before we've done the most, in my view, the most important thing. I think you start from the back and you work your way forward. We started from the forward and we worked our way back. Fortunately when we hit the sort of back four, we started thinking shit, yeah, you know, we we can't get sort of three new kind of twenty five million pounds centre backs in. We just run out. I missed my cue there, didn't I? Sorry. Sorry. I'm pretty certain Panets will probably make a change soon. They're not gonna the fact that they've won two. Two accepting tonight and they I thought I'd saw that on Sky News. well no I know, I'm not seeing it. But you know, the fact they've won you know, been riding the crest of the wave, haven't they? They've won the UF FA Cup and the the Conference League or whatever it was. Steve Parrish is gonna protect the the goodwill that he has got with a change. It'd be interesting to see you would go in there if that does. In fact, that's happening. You can't imagine May United being in the bottom three all season, can you? Unbelievable. Kieran, maybe? Been linked there before? Maybe. He has. Right, before we get into the player ratings, Talking Town has proudly partnered with Summercott Ossopass. Quality care since nineteen eighty-five. If you're dealing with aches, pains, or something affecting your movement, get in touch to see if they can help. give them a call on O1449-613-633. That's 01449-613-633. I was there myself this morning. And it's huge. Thank to Summercot Oseopass for supporting independent Ifish Town fan media. Now it's time for your ratings. I say yours because it is yours. This is where your opinions take centre stage. After every town game, supporters can rate every player and the manager through the Talking Town Match Day Center on mytalkintown.com. With that said, due to time, I wanna and I will get better at keeping the time so we get more of the fan rate ratings in I absolutely promise you. But I'm going to highlight a couple of players that we perhaps haven't spoken about or we need to just discuss once again. I'd also normally show you the ratings on the screen, but yep, you've guessed it. We still have that tech issue with Riverside, our streaming company, who are investigating. I'm in email correspondence with them. But alas, I cannot show you anything but our default overlay, which is what you got on the screen right now. Thankfully it contains the sponsors, otherwise I'd be in very big trouble. So there we go. Let's move into the player ratings. And we'll start with you mentioned him earlier, Diop. He got a five from the My Talking Town community rating. Ken, you mentioned him earlier. Here's your time to talk about him. The op got a five from the the the the the My Talking Town community. What do you want my rating? I want your thoughts on the five annual rating. Yes please, sir. I think five is a bit generous. I I think it was his poorest game yesterday. I thought it was very, very slow. He missed a lot of tackles. He wouldn't close down in time. He he seemed to just take that extra half second to make a decision. He he didn't improve the team by being on the pitch. I actually thought he was quite poor and I think they sniffed it out quite quickly. So for me it was his well I I like him actually. He's perfectly serviceable, lower end Premier League centre back, I suppose. But I think yesterday he was just a bit not great. So it'll be more of a four for me. More of a four for you, okay. And his partner at the back there, Matt Dara Roche. Before I give you the rating, what's your rating for Dara Roche and what do you think of his game? Because a lot of people are saying Dara should have got rid of it. It's not Walton's fault. I'm not only on the up the Wharton debate again. I'm just gonna purely ask you on Dara Roche. I would I'd probably give him and Diop a a six yesterday, I think. There was nothing particularly special there. Are you blaming O'Shea about the goal? No, no, but which one? What the where he should have cleared
it down the line, that's what I'm hearing. Well, bloody hell. you can't go any further back than Walton buggering about with the ball with an illson. I'm not pointing fingers anywhere else other than there on that one, unfortunately. you know, the Diop went and played center centre fullway at one point yesterday, didn't he? As we're trying to get back in the game. I would give them both six, those two. Okay. the community gave O'Shea a five into midfield and Palacios got six point five and Luis got five point seven. Now, Matt, you annoyed me last night, so I didn't bother replying because you sent me a WhatsApp that just simply asked one question. Why do you rate Palacios so much? So I'm taking from that silly question that you're not quite as in love with him as perhaps I am. I'm not saying you don't like him. I'm just saying you're not perhaps as in love with him as As I am. So talk talk to me about that. That was only to set us up into the conversation of he doesn't shoot. See the problem is you're then coming up you're then be yeah, I you I knew you were that's I did it. you're then you're now moving into glorified Cahooste territory here, aren't you? 'Cause like everyone who say, he's a Rolls Royce with the ball, he brings it around. He actually offered nothing in the final third in the Premier League and the championship in actual fact. Now of course to be honest, I'm joking. Palacios World Cup winner, levels levels above Yen's Cahuste. Fortunately for us. But I am concerned that we have no offensive threat with two midfielders. I think that's gonna bite us on the backside moving forward. You're not getting you're not getting goal you you've got you're not getting goals from the midfield at all, other than Florentino's got his one for the season, I would wager. And I don't mean Palacios doesn't even shoot and neither does Lucich particularly. So why I enjoy Palacios. I think it's great. I think he's reads the game brilliantly. He's there for defensive clearances, interceptions, but he's he's a recycler of the ball. But that's only going to pay dividends when our front three and Emerson are on fire. And if you're playing a Forest or Bournemouth who can negate that, it's not going to be much in product at the end of the day with it with it, unfortunately. We are missing that box to box midfield plan. Yeah, it goes alongside a six, aren't Somebody who can arrive late in the box, be a be a goal scoring threat. No, I do agree with you with you there. Ben Louise got a five point seven from the community For his performance yesterday. What's your thoughts on Florentino Luis's game? I think it's fair. I I think he is a Mr. Five point seven. I don't really know what to make of him yet, to be honest with you. It's a great goal, of course, but I just haven't really made up my mind about him. I don't I just don't know. I d I haven't yet decided what he really brings to this team. he's okay. But he's just okay. He's i i is he one of those like by the relegated team's best player kind of thing. We've done that before and it didn't really work out for us. So I I just think I think he's okay. I d he just hasn't done enough for me to have any kind of strong opinion about him, which probably speaks for himself itself really. He's Mr. Five Poven. He's a hot dog on a cold day, fills a gap, not too disappointing. Matt, he's good he he'll right with a nickname. It w remind me what what the nickname was. I thought I think we saw a little bit of of it yesterday, didn't we? I think with Nunes. Yeah. Luis. the octopus. The octopus. And I think we saw that yesterday, didn't we? Yeah, I thought he did 'cause even the second goal, Matt, it's his foot that comes from nowhere to stop the first shot. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. He's very he's very good at that. He is your typical central defensive midfielder, isn't it? As we said last week, you must have got a nosebleed when he arrived in the whole box and scored. you know. But yeah, but he's he's he's probably a better tackler of the ball than maybe what P Palacios is. Obviously Pallatios is a far better Parser of the ball. But again, I just feel like they're too c they're just too close together in what they bring to the table. Yeah, I agree with you. All right, attack attacking players. We didn't create enough, but was that because the attackers weren't performing or because they weren't getting the service? Matt, who offered the most attacking threat from Ipswich for you? Well, it probably was in CISO, to be honest with you, just because he makes himself so busy. But I did like how Tara and Maeda were combining, as I said earlier. I think that's a really good partnership. A partnership I don't like. And I think they're poles apart and wavelengths apart is Maeda and Emerson. How many times did those two try and pass to each other and it went out for a throw or they lost the ball or something? And Maeda sort of just walks past him without saying anything. Is it a language issue there? I don't think either speak fantastic English. That was one thing I no noticed from yesterday. But when the when the th the three aren't firing and Emerson is in the nine is isn't firing, we're in a world of trouble because you know you're not going to get goals from the midfield and you find yourself losing games. He's pretty about right, I would say. In terms of in CISO, Ben, he a six point four and was the second highest rated player. Too high for you or just about right? Yeah, he's about right. I mean, straight as he can be, pretty much any player who could has a potential to get anything. I think that's a I I can't re argue that, really. Can't re argue it fair enough. I mean I'm interested to see was higher. Maybe I'm just not thinking about it enough. Six point five was a he was the talking town man of the match. Yeah. He he done almost a Lukitz job yesterday. He controlled it as best he could. He he calmed the whole thing down. When they were trying to push their press, he would
just hold on to it and dink it to a player next to him, which kind of cut the momentum a bit. And you can't underestimate a player who does that with a half-pressing team. I think he was very good yesterday. I just enjoy him. We're only gonna see him for another twelve games live, so just enjoy him off his head. And finally the manager, Gary O'Neill. He got a five point four. From the community. Matt, what are you giving Gary O'Neill and what's the biggest reason for the racing you're going to give him? It's a difficult one, isn't it, isn't it? 'Cause was let down by his players really, wanting for the first goal and probably Watara's pass to straight Stephen Nilson that leads to the to the own goal. So it's a bit of a difficult one, that one. I'm probably going to give him a six. Again, you know, he was so better look, even like his do you remember when Paul Lambert came in mind, we used to say he's like a whirling dervish, wasn't he? Gary O'Neill was that yesterday, we was running to get the ball off the cone, wouldn't he? beat the ballboard to the ball to get the ball back into play. So there's certainly no lack of effort or enthusiasm motivating the players there. And part of me did think we might even equalise when we got the pen back and, we still had whatever it was, was it twenty fifteen, ten minutes, whatever, to try and get ourselves back in the game and the nine minutes that was added on. Mm. I thought we might d will we go to the well again to get something out of the game, but it wasn't meant to be. But but I s so while I give him a six Probably for the game yesterday. I still don't agree with him on this kind of we're gonna cause chaos. And it doesn't matter if we win one nil. Well, that's not gonna happen, I don't think, whilst we're playing like we are at the moment. And we're certainly not gonna beat anybody five four. We ain't got saying I've got five goals in it, has it? He might concede four, we ain't certainly gonna score five. so I find those a bit baffling. But we've said this before, he can say some stuff in press conferences that kind of great and annoy people a little bit, and that's in the territory for me there a little bit. Trevor's marked Gary O'Neill down for his post match summing up. Gianni says O'Neal four. Ben, where are you on the manager? What rating would you give him? Four. Six point eight. I thought again his players let him down seriously yesterday. I saw what he was trying to do for the first four minutes and I thought was a brilliant tactic, but you can't mitigate against disaster. And I like the fact that it is very unmakenna like. He made bloody early substitutions and the exact ones I would have made. He saw it, he gave a few minutes and he thought, Nope, not working, try something else. Ultimately it wasn't quite enough against a very, very red hot, you know, the the form team behind Arsenal of the entire league and probably Brighton. So I think we've done very well with the substitutions. It was nice to see early subs, which is a manager who is trying to be, not reacting but get getting ahead of the game, which I really like. We don't see a lot of it. and I could see the game he was trying to play, but for the absolute disaster that's happening on the pitch, I cannot blame O'Neill for that. I don't care what he says in an interview. I care the effect he has on the players out on the pitch. He can he can dress up in the thong and and he can cover himself in jelly in an interview. But those players are motivated and they've got the right tactic as a team. Bear what you want, So I think he got it right yesterday. I could see the plan. He he just never got a chance to do anything with it because, it it was if the players nuked it. six point seven. I like an early sub. So we've examined the performance, we've looked at the tactics, discussed Walton, questioned the selection and considered what it all means inside the first ten matches of the Premier League season. So now let's finish with your own one line verdict. We ask you to leave these on the website. Go and check them out on the website. They are really well worth a look. But Ben, Matt, your one line verdict to finish the show. Matt, what is your one line verdict following yesterday? Just got some slight concerns going into the going into the winter months, I think. look, it can all be addressed, can't it? We go as people are saying in the comments there, do we go to the Tottenham Stadium and win there like we did last time? If we do, then great. Then you've got the momentum back, haven't you? But I don't know. I I just think it's difficult games on the horizon and it against teams that are better than us, I think it's gonna be difficult. But we are we were with the bookies, we were favourites to go down and we've kind of forgotten that because we've started off so well. But yeah. I've just got some s just got some concerns. One line. Well well, Matt's taking Matt's I've taken a whole book. So you've got the top right hand corner where you'd normally put your name. So if you squeeze it in there, you're okay. Alarm bells are ringing. Will we take heed? I was only joking. You could have had more than that if you wanted it. You got it? I'm good. He's good. He's good. Eleven points. I'll tell you what also is also good. Eleven points from ten. It gives us something to build on, gentlemen. So get your chins up, but only if we're learning from the matches where things don't quite work. And that's what the International Break has to be about. A huge thank you to Matt and Ben. Thank you very much for joining me. And thank you, everybody who's watched. Commented, submitted their player ratings. Don't forget we've got more Talking Town coverage coming up during the international break. And if you're enjoying what we're building here, please consider becoming a YouTube member. Hit the join button on YouTube or head to my talkingtown.com forward slash support. Your support genuines keep producing independent town coverage throughout the season. So until next time, here's been Matt, here's been Ben. I've been the gov. Three hours sleep. I'm going to bed. I can't wait, but the Bears won. Town didn't. I can't have it all. Until next time, take care, God bless, all the best, and upper Tamba.