Trouble at Alberton.

[Booney]

Must say from the outset,at 6 and 1 I thought we were getting ahead of ourselves.I was happy with the way we were playing,fast free flowing attacking footy.

So why have we in the last 3 weeks gone so defensive?

Yesterday against the Hawks,in the third quarter,Jacob Surjan intercepted a pass on half back,running flat out towards the centre square,about to dash forward.For some reason,he stopped.He could have run,bounced to the middle of the ground and pumped it forward.

Players at Alberton are now playing on instruction and not instinct,and I for one dont like it.

[JK]

Must say from the outset,at 6 and 1 I thought we were getting ahead of ourselves.I was happy with the way we were playing,fast free flowing attacking footy.

So why have we in the last 3 weeks gone so defensive?

Yesterday against the Hawks,in the third quarter,Jacob Surjan intercepted a pass on half back,running flat out towards the centre square,about to dash forward.For some reason,he stopped.He could have run,bounced to the middle of the ground and pumped it forward.

Players at Alberton are now playing on instruction and not instinct,and I for one dont like it.

Well said Danielson ... I've personally always thought Port has plenty of pace and creativity, perhaps the two most attacking qualities and can't believe they manner in which they have been playing recently.

I must admit I only walked in yesterday as Salopek was being carried off, but from then on it was all Hawks (who should not be dismissed, as they are a good side) .. I even had to ask my mates if Tredrea was playing because I hardly saw him until the 3rd quarter, is it time to give him a spell back with the PAM (as much as I would hate that lol)?

[Booney]

I think they will give him 1 more week,I also hope that is the case.

When the ball did come in quickly yesterday he took a couple of grabs and held his ground.When it comes in slow and he needs to use his pace to get around the ground he gets found out quick smart.

Would be sad to see our skipper dropped,but hey,if he isnt playing up to standard he must be dealt with like any other player.

[scoob]

Booney, what are your thoughts on White? I dont think PAP can afford to have both him and tredders in the same forward line as they both lack some pace... white does work hard but getting sick of him missing important shots for goals...

[Thiele]

Didn't see much of yesterdays games how did Robbie Gray go.

[Booney]

Didn't see much of yesterdays games how did Robbie Gray go.

Very impressive Thiele ,very good indeed.Spun out of trouble twice and delivered with poise.Westhoff played well too,kicked 3 majors.

[Thiele]

Thanks after watching him play for West last few weeks i knew it wouldn't long before he would play for the power

[Aerie]

Players at Alberton are now playing on instruction and not instinct,and I for one dont like it.

I think quite a few teams in the competition (including Adelaide) are playing this way. Nothing pi*ses me off more at the moment than seeing the player with the ball do the "settle down" signal with his hands. Richmond lost the game against Essendon because of it. This tempo footy has a role to play, but I think it is being used too much and at the wrong times in games.

Same with Neil Craig saying man on man doesn't work and you need to use zones. Man on man does work if you back your player to beat his opponent.

[JK]

Yep both kids played well and should have good futures ... In fact I think that is half of Ports problem, it's not the kid's letting them down.

I appreciate that the senior players are generally checked more closely and opposed to the more talented opposition, but they have not stood up for near on a month and will need to get their form back ASAP ... I think the best way to acheive that is to play the fast flowing, forward at all costs, run in numbers footy that can make Port so lethal.

[Booney]

If,as the general public,we refer to 'tempo football' as 'shit football' then the powers that be may take notice.(Tell 'im 'es dreamin)

I know that is how I shall refer to it in future.

[rod_rooster]

Don't think there is too much to worry about at Alberton. I think the early season form perhaps gave false hope that Port were further advanced than they actually are. Fact is that Port have a very good young list but it will take a year or 2 for them to be serious threats. They will be very hard to beat once the younger players have 40-50 games under their belts.

[overloaded]

Now that's a more sensible comment RR

[jackpot jim]

Don't think there is too much to worry about at Alberton. I think the early season form perhaps gave false hope that Port were further advanced than they actually are. Fact is that Port have a very good young list but it will take a year or 2 for them to be serious threats. They will be very hard to beat once the younger players have 40-50 games under their belts.

Spot on Rod.
I've been to the last 2 matches and cant believe how EASY Geelong and Hawthorn Take the ball from kick ins from one end to the other where as Port Struggle like Hell just to get it out of their defensive 50m. any thoughts on this?
Is it that the coach has No Idea how to set up from a Kick in OR is it that the players are Not following instructions due to a lack of Grey Matter or Fitness ?

[JK]

Don't think there is too much to worry about at Alberton. I think the early season form perhaps gave false hope that Port were further advanced than they actually are. Fact is that Port have a very good young list but it will take a year or 2 for them to be serious threats. They will be very hard to beat once the younger players have 40-50 games under their belts.

Thats an excellent post RR and whilst I agree with the point your making, I'm not sure it explains all of their issues ... Tredrea, the Burgoynes, Ladey, Kane Cornes have all been well down in recent weeks and they do have the experience you mention.

However, in trying to come up with those experienced ones it hit home just how inexperienced they are ... Losing the likes of Dew, Francou, James, Carr, Primus, Pickett etc is a lot of nouse missing in the last 3 years

[Blue Boy]

Port have played some good sides in the last 3 weeks - so I wouldnt be to concerned. If the game plan has changed to suit those sides you would have to say the coaching staff has got it wrong.

With ports young side they should still be takin the game up to those sides as it is still meant to be a development year - If those games still had of been loses and they played attacking footy - supporters would still be happy I would say.

[Blue Boy]

Port have played some good sides in the last 3 weeks - so I wouldnt be to concerned. If the game plan has changed to suit those sides you would have to say the coaching staff has got it wrong.

With ports young side they should still be takin the game up to those sides as it is still meant to be a development year - If those games still had of been loses and they played attacking footy - supporters would still be happy I would say.

Oops I forgot @ least you beat Melbourne

[Hondo]

Problem is teams raise our expectations during the year by when they score their W's ....

Port have done something like W-W-L-W-W-W-W L-L-L

If they had gone W-L-W-L-W-W-L-W-L-W (got all my L's and W's? ) or something similar we'd all say 6-4 was good. But when it's 3 L's in a row it feels like the wheels are falling off.

In the W's were Freo, St Kilda, Melbourne, Richmond, Collingwood (good one) and Kangaroos (good one in hindsight). 4 'expecteds' and 2 'good ones'

In the L's are Adelaide, Sydney, Hawks and Geelong, all teams arguably at the top end of the table. Says Port are mid-range, around 7th-10th which is what we all thought anyway at the start of the season.

So maybe their results so far are to be expected overall??

[RustyCage]

The thing that concerns me the most is not the fact that we are losing, but its how. We have gone soft, not hard at the ball or body anymore and have lost the ability to tacke which was one of our strong points until recently. We dont chase hard enough, we are too unaccountable. The opposition is having too many lose players around the ground. We need to get back to how we were playing at the start of the year, hard, fast and attacking.

[Macca19]

Players at Alberton are now playing on instruction and not instinct,and I for one dont like it.

Yet when you ask the players that they say that it is them not following instructions and going back into their shells.

As soon as we start chipping it around the game is over. No matter if we are in front or behind. We cant do it. We are terrible at it. When we try and slow a game down or try and stop a run on we just cant.

I think the main thing to come out of the last two matches is that the players - mostly the midfield - are simply not working hard enough. Without knowing the stats, I would say we would have more goals kicked against us from kick ins than any other club in the league. The last two weeks have been terrible in terms of that. Once the opposition go over our zone they somehow have 2-3-4-5 free players with noone near them. They just run it down the other end. Has happened repeatedly in the past two weeks.

Yet you look at our kick ins and its the complete opposite. We seem to always kick to the pockets. Hold it. Nothing to kick to. Kick back to the player who kicked in. Hold it. Kick to the other pocket. Hold it. Forced to kick to a contest, turnover.

We just dont move the ball fast enough out of defence and we always get stuck.

There have been abotu half a dozen players in the past two weeks who have really failed to work hard defensively which has seriously let the team down.

A win against Carlton this week would be a fantastic confidence boost but you'd be a brave man to pick us.

[Hondo]

I heard the crowed were booing the players again ... Kane Cornes was one who copped it

5AA apparently got a lot of emails from Port 'supporters' naming and bagging (in some cases) every player in the team

I know it wasn't a great result on the weekend and I know AG thinks that behaviour is fair enough but what do the Port supporters on here think about that?

Part of me is relieved the Crows players are being spared for a week ... sort of ... but it's still not right IMO