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Poyet shoulders blame for Millwall performance

5:00pm Wednesday 15th February 2012 in Sport By Andy Naylor

Albion react to falling behind against Millwall Albion react to falling behind against Millwall

Albion boss Gus Poyet has accepted blame for getting the team wrong against Millwall.

The Seagulls needed two equalisers from Sam Vokes on his full home debut and substitute Kazenga LuaLua late on to salvage a 2-2 draw at The Amex last night.

Poyet picked a surprise line-up with no wingers, three strikers and Chile international Gonzalo Jara Reyes used in midfield rather than at right-back.

Poyet said: “We didn’t perform. I pick the team, I decide how we play. It didn’t work, blame me.

“Of course, everyone needs to accept responsibility and I am sure the players will but in terms of the system we played and what I tried it didn’t work.

“I know Gonzalo can play in the middle. I had a good feeling but it wasn’t. Then I thought the three strikers deserved to play. Ash (Ashley Barnes) has been the most consistent, I liked what Sam did at Leeds and Macca (Craig Mackail-Smith) scored there, so it was time for me to bring him back.

“We tried it last year and it worked well in a few games. It didn’t work in this game.

“Everything went wrong. We didn’t defend, especially set plays, the way we normally do. There were a few basic rules we didn’t respect and it is always difficult when you are chasing the game.

“Saying that, if you are having a bad day if you can take something, and in the last minute as well, it is even better. For that you have to give credit to the players.”

Full match report and pictures in The Argus today

Comments(20)

Jonathan Mouette says...
5:45pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Good to see such honesty from the boss and maybe not a bad thing for the team to get a bad one out of the system before Sunday. Whilst I don't expect too many miracles at Anfield I wouldn't like to see an embarrassing performance. If we put in a repeat show of Tuesday on Sunday we won't be looking at a draw... Certain players simply didn't perform against Millwall and that wasn't solely because of GP's tactics. Let's hope there is some good straight talking in the dressing room and that the lads live up to the reputation that John Aldridge and Jamie Carragher are building for them up at Anfield. The Reds are certainly not taking this game lightly so fingers crossed that we (the royal 'we') can do ourselves - and GP - proud. Go Seagulls!!!

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Seagull83 says...
5:56pm Wed 15 Feb 12

But why Gus- it's all well and good admitting it was your fault but why experiment at an easy home game- we could have been sitting pretty in the playoffs tonight but instead we dropped a place because you couldn't resist tinkering!!!

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Bucket feet Duffy says...
6:09pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Fair play the guy has held his hand up, must have viewed last nights thread lol, good management is reviewing where you went wrong and putting it right, please stop the Tinkeman game Gus

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golddene says...
6:10pm Wed 15 Feb 12

don't beat yourself up over it Gus learn from it and move on,I and I am sure all seagull supporters as well have.You have given us the best two years at the albion for a generation and however the rest of this season maps out we are all very very proud to be supporters at this time thankyou.SEAGULLS

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wiseman of hove says...
6:11pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Seagull83 wrote:
But why Gus- it's all well and good admitting it was your fault but why experiment at an easy home game- we could have been sitting pretty in the playoffs tonight but instead we dropped a place because you couldn't resist tinkering!!!
Are there any easy home games? I think the moral of the the story is that playing no winger is an impediment to winning. Maybe the manager still felt his three flank players were not yet 100% fit after injury. I think we are capable of a draw at Anfield if Will, KLL and Nooney get a decent slice of the action. Never been a better time to play an inconsistent Liverpool side.

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JaseBHA says...
6:32pm Wed 15 Feb 12

No easy games in the Championship - witness the struggles to beat Coventry, Forest and Doncaster, the bottom three.

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findon seagull says...
7:00pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Thought we made Millwall look good couldnt believe no wingers when team was posted, Mattock was skinned every time by Feeny who was doing what we should have ie; attacking the full back he looked a good player made one and scored one.
Having said that nice to see even playing badly shows signs of a good team to earn a point.
Thought Reyes was dire in the midfield should have gone off at half time apart from one deft pass, still onwards and upwards plenty of points to play for have a feeling we might just miss the play offs hope i'm wrong??

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gordongull says...
7:02pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Gus is to be admired for accepting responsibility for a less than inspiring performance.
I hope Daniel Levy, Ted Bates, and Roman Abramovich had people watching last night's events :-)

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The Phantom says...
7:16pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Seems to be a little in vogue, manager's blaming themselves to take pressure off the players. No guarantee we would have won even if we had started with wingers. Millwall played very well and Nooney never really got into the game when he came on. Anyone can beat anyone on any given day in the Championship. Last season the teams down the bottom were poor teams and routine "easy" wins were generally taken as read - not the same this season which for some reason some fans struggle to understand.

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saraman says...
7:18pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Yes, great to see Gus holding his hands up for a poor team selection, but with the same breath blames his choice of players for a bad performance. Seems like a case of passing the buck to me.Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti Gus, anti player or anti anything about The Albion but Gus does come over as trying to dodge the column in this case.

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Gee Jay says...
7:23pm Wed 15 Feb 12

After the way they played at Leeds, perhaps we, and the players, were expecting too much from last night's game. But, the team fought back and did not loose.
Just think, things could be worse, there is much 'wringing of hands' up here with Derby, Leicester and Forest all firing blanks. Not to mention the two Sheffield clubs fighting it out in the third tier.
We are Brighton...Super Brighton!

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Hovite says...
7:35pm Wed 15 Feb 12

I wish Gus wouldn't post any negativity on here. ;o)

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Rhodes Seagull says...
8:28pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Cannot understand why a lot of you are moaning about the loss of two points and some moaning about reaching the play offs, we as a club have come on leaps and bounds since the take over and the appointment of Gus as manager he has done a terrific job thus far, I for one would be happy to finish in the top 10 and for the players to have learnt from the experience overall so when we do go up to the prem we go up to stay there. No way did anyone of us ever dream that within two seasons we would be in the position the club is today, time to be thankful for what we have and hope that either next season or the seaon after we go up and up to stay!!!!

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the taffster says...
8:31pm Wed 15 Feb 12

saving themselves for a victory at anfield on sunday.its possible.

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pte says...
8:40pm Wed 15 Feb 12

The T.V have told Gus he must play Nooney in the Liverpool match because he once fixed Gerrard's roof and it gives the commentator someting interesting to talk about during the match

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DorsetSeagull says...
8:45pm Wed 15 Feb 12

findon seagull wrote:
Thought we made Millwall look good couldnt believe no wingers when team was posted, Mattock was skinned every time by Feeny who was doing what we should have ie; attacking the full back he looked a good player made one and scored one. Having said that nice to see even playing badly shows signs of a good team to earn a point. Thought Reyes was dire in the midfield should have gone off at half time apart from one deft pass, still onwards and upwards plenty of points to play for have a feeling we might just miss the play offs hope i'm wrong??
Precisely what I said to a couple of guys in the park n ride queue last night, that we made Millwall look good, and I got blank faces from both. Millwall played some good stuff, but we were responsible for giving them the ball 50% of the match, and letting them have far too much time and space to launch attack after attack.
It was evident very early on that we needed width and pace, but on the plus side, to score twice and run with a point in the bag after a poor performance, hell, I'll take that!

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Albion In Staffs says...
8:57pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Can I just say that it's easy for us to pontificate after the event and play Football Manager with Gus's selection but to suggest we're all wiser then him is, frankly, a disgrace.
We can all be "Monday Morning Quarterbacks" but this guy has put us in a position where Championship football is almost assured for next season. He tried something, it didn't work, and we got a draw. To suggest he let a poor team off the hook (my description,no-one else's) is disrespectful to him and Millwall. Will everyone please calm down?

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Albion In Staffs says...
9:00pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Albion In Staffs wrote:
Can I just say that it's easy for us to pontificate after the event and play Football Manager with Gus's selection but to suggest we're all wiser then him is, frankly, a disgrace.
We can all be "Monday Morning Quarterbacks" but this guy has put us in a position where Championship football is almost assured for next season. He tried something, it didn't work, and we got a draw. To suggest he let a poor team off the hook (my description,no-one else's) is disrespectful to him and Millwall. Will everyone please calm down?
Oh, and by the way, for the Argus to show a Pic on this site of us "reacting" to going behind is a disgrace. Forms Staffs, I've no idea what the paper shows but we equalised in the last minute.. Why not upload that?.....

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Gazza by the sea says...
9:52pm Wed 15 Feb 12

Wouldn't criticise selection of Reyes in midfield. Many of us (on here) had been wanting to see it. To be honest he played so deep last night that at times I wasn't sure whether he or Calde were playing at right back. Bridcutt is there to sit in front of the back four and Navarro gets a nosebleed if he goes over the halfway line. Add to that no wingers and no surprises that once again the midfield was devoid of guile and the forwards were feeding on scraps. Would love to see Vicente and Caskey in there on Sunday. And having said all that here we are teasing the playoffs and heading to Anfield! All credit to Gus for making the best of a squad that is not as strong in depth as some people seem to think. Happy days.

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cullipmyhero says...
9:02am Thu 16 Feb 12

Albion In Staffs wrote:
Albion In Staffs wrote:
Can I just say that it's easy for us to pontificate after the event and play Football Manager with Gus's selection but to suggest we're all wiser then him is, frankly, a disgrace.
We can all be "Monday Morning Quarterbacks" but this guy has put us in a position where Championship football is almost assured for next season. He tried something, it didn't work, and we got a draw. To suggest he let a poor team off the hook (my description,no-one else's) is disrespectful to him and Millwall. Will everyone please calm down?
Oh, and by the way, for the Argus to show a Pic on this site of us "reacting" to going behind is a disgrace. Forms Staffs, I've no idea what the paper shows but we equalised in the last minute.. Why not upload that?.....
Two fantastic posts!! It is complete madness that so many of our typical fickle fans are straight on here to savage Gus...leave the bloke alone!!
Geeeeeeeez, I think many have forgot that this is the Millwall that smashed Leicester 3-0 away earlier in the season, so they were always going to be a threat, regardless of their current league predicament...
Stop whining, groaning,moaning and pointing accusational, petty, derogative comments guys!!

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