Rotherham 2-0 Blues

The XI

Two changes. Marc Roberts and Troy Deeney for the injured Przymeslaw Placheta and suspended Lukas Jutkiewicz. Maxime Colin moved to RWB, Josh Williams to LWB. No Jonathan Leko or George Friend so Ryan Stirk, Jordan Graham and Gary Gardner returned to the squad.

The game

Completely one-sided and Rotherham barely had to break sweat.

By half-time, Blues hadn't had a single shot at goal. We were undone by two long balls over the top within two minutes, Washington coming close from the second. Wood headed over the bar, Ogbene shot at Ruddy, Humphreys was close from a free kick and Hall had a header tipped over. Then the inevitable happened, Wood getting between two men to head home. 

Bramall got in behind and his low cross ought to have brought a second from Ogbene before Wiles volleyed over. The closest Blues got to Rotherham was Deeney bundling over Rathbone who got handsy with James.

Blues should have scored almost immediately in the second half. Graham played a delicious pass for Hogan to chase but the Irishman was indecisive, failed to pass to Deeney and waited too long to shoot. Johansson saved. Bacuna fired over the rebound. Humphreys then Bramall hurt themselves and had to be replaced. Roberts had an effort blocked from a free kick and Hogan headed wide a long throw. 

Penalty. A simple throw-in, Roberts gets himself turned far too easily by Ogbene, who seems to outmuscle him, and gets away. Ogbene plays for the foul but Roberts should have never put himself in that situation. Thankfully, Ruddy saved. 

Eustace looked to his bench to try and change things. Cosgrove, Stirk and Gardner replaced Deeney, James and Hall. Talk about squad depth. The response was for Wood to score his second of the game. 

Washington shot powerfully at Ruddy. Eaves headed wide from an Ogbene cross. Roberts headed at Johansson, Hogan ought to have done better from a Cosgrove knock down and Williams did well to force a stop from Johansson low down. 

Tactics

3-5-2 v 3-5-2. 

Truth be told, there wasn't much of note here. Both sides played the same way in many respects, only one side did it with some composure and energy.

It was largely man-for-man in the middle of the pitch and this is how Rotherham won the game. While Norton-Cuffy and Williams had a good scrap, Barlaser wasn't bothered by Bacuna, Bramall v Colin was one-sided & Rathbone & Wiles had a little more in terms of legs than James and Hall. 

Both sides tended to move forward with two clear routes. With it being WB v WB, it was easy to draw the other in and look to find a striker moving into the channel behind the wide centre back. Again, Blues had a shortcoming in the form of Marc Roberts. He didn't want to go, which meant Trusty being dragged across the pitch or Sanderson having to cover himself. 

Or the ball was played short across the back waiting for an opening and would find a WB, either via a short pass or switch. The WB would generally carry forward. Rotherham has three players willing to carry in that midfield. Blues had one. 

There wasn't much change apart from Hogan/Deeney closing down a little quicker after the opener (at least after allowing Johansson about 30 seconds to roll the ball down and do nothing).

Players

Marc Roberts didn't look anywhere near fit. Easily turned. Poor distribution. Awful for the penalty. Defence dropped deeper as a result. 

Maxime Colin looked very uncomfortable at right wing-back. Jordan James is talented but also looks shattered and it led to a lot of poor decision making in possession. Bacuna & Deeney looked frustrated throughout at what was happening behind them. 

Josh Williams was our best outfield player and had a good tussle with Brooke Norton-Cuffy. John Ruddy was solid as ever and could do little for the goals. Jordan Graham had a decent impact from the bench, giving us much needed distribution in defensive areas. Ryan Stirk may have played himself into contention with a cameo. 

Dan Barlaser knew exactly what he wanted to do in possession and wasn't fazed by having Bacuna following him. Brooke Norton-Cuffy was bright & a threat, albeit he has work to do still. Ogbene was lively and caused problems, including backing into Roberts - he just needs to stay on his feet more now.  

Conclusions

Today wasn't like Wigan. Against Wigan, we did the right things moving into the final third where we lacked quality in wide areas. Today, the decision making was horrible. Players were far too quick to get rid of the ball rather than compose themselves. It was far too easy for Rotherham.

People talk about formations but it's futile. Whether playing 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1 or 4-5-1, if your players are afraid of the ball and unwilling to commit in and out of possession, you aren't going to create chances to contemplate scoring a goal. 

I'm left scratching my head yet again at the lack of movement in the window. We had three of our likely first-choice starting XI out today - Gary Gardner, Kristian Bielik and Przymeslaw Placheta. It meant, again, three teenagers starting. When it came to the five substitutions, three of them were Ryan Stirk, Sam Cosgrove and Jobe Bellingham. Nothing against those individuals but how can the club see this and think "yeah, that's okay" in such a tight, competitive division? We've been easily marshalled by two sides expected to be down there this year, barely laying a glove on them. It's embarrassing. 

I'm losing heart very quickly. We're going down if nothing changes in the next seven days or so and do I expect anything to change? No.