Quick Kicks: Two in the middle?! Really? Steele horrendous, & the worst defence we’ve had in years

Two in the middle - inept isn’t the word

Can anyone explain to me how selecting a two-man midfield consisting of our two slowest players to play up against a middle three that has been dominating possession in games since the season began wasn’t going to end in anything other than utter disaster?

I just don’t get it. Didier Ndong has played a lot of football this season but dropping him in a game where having energy in midfield was the absolute bare minimum seems utter lunacy. I can only imagine that there must be a serious reason behind him not getting a touch of the ball.

It was just a rank, rank decision by Simon Grayson. Lee Cattermole has been our worst player for weeks and is apparently undroppable. Surely the manager can see it if we can?

Steele?!

Oh, and whilst we’re on the subject of terrible decisions - what on Earth was the thinking behind bringing Jason Steele back in to the team?

He was absolutely appalling all night - the worst goalkeeping performance we’ve seen since Vito Mannone fell to bits against Southampton. Nothing he did went right.

And to think we wasted a quarter of our already minuscule transfer budget on him.

I’m beyond words.

Defending

Why was our best right back playing left back? Why was Bryan Oviedo playing left wing? Granted, he did alright there for about half an hour at the weekend. But... why?!

Marc Wilson was abysmal, as was Lamine Kone. The pair of them ought to be ashamed.

When you look at our roster of defenders, and you consider their experience of playing at the top level of the game, it really is amazing to think just how bad they are as a collective unit. We fielded a Welsh international, an Ivory Coast international, a Republic of Ireland international and a full back who has played hundreds times in the Premier league. It’s smply not good enough.

Whilst that ultimately counts for nothing, it’s nothing short of pathetic that they’ve been unable to keep a clean sheet all season. The amount of goals we’ve conceded is largely down to their ineptitude, and that of the goalkeepers. Disgusting.

Aiden McGeady

I suppose I should probably give some credit to Aiden McGeady before I round this piece off. He was the faint sparkle of hope that we had throughout the game and I honestly wonder how much worse it would have felt had his contributions to both goals not occurred.

Granted, they ultimately counted for nothing, but his reappearance in the starting eleven was a welcome one and I’m glad that he’s back - even if the future, regardless of whether he plays or not, looks bleaker than ever.