MONDAY MARDLE: Irrepressible one minute, irresponsible the next…

Yesterday at 08:56 AM

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

The opening paragraph from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Were it not published in 1859, you could almost imagine this as Dickens' opening line for his 'Monday Mardle', to be read by the 'Myfootballshouter' town criers across the county.

We were 'treated' to both sides of Hoffball last week.

In the first half against Sheffield Wednesday, City were irrepressible, cutting aside the visitors with some sweeping moves and scoring two excellent goals.

In the second half, they were irresponsible. Three cheap concessions stunned the home team, so much so that even after the substitutions, they looked clueless as to how to get back into the game and more likely to concede than score.

Against Bristol City, they managed to combine both into the first half. More slick attacking football, yet oh so vulnerable when the ball was given away.

The second half was much better, and it was only a matter of time before City scored, but even then, they weren't able to capitalise fully and force a draw.

It wasn't pretty. And the run of sparodic, inconsistent results continues – as far as I can see, City have only put together successive league wins once this season. Yet it did not deserve the furore of comments on social media demanding the JHT be sacked. 

I refer you back to my Mardle of some weeks ago about the generation that demands instant everything.

Rarely has Kenny McLean looked so downbeat as after the Sheffield Wednesday game, even during the most dire periods in the Premier League under Daniel Farke, when he was often the only player willing to talk to the media post-game.

The opener against Bristol came from a City attack. They lost possession high up the pitch, and the home team found it way too easy to pass through the City midfield, through the back line and score.

After only five minutes.

There were nearly more, yet by the time the second went in, City could have scored three.

Responsibility for the second would appear to begin and end with a fit-again George Long. He rolled the ball to Jose Cordoba in a precarious position, forcing the Panamanean into the high Bristol press, tight against the touchline.

Bristol won the ball, moved it quickly and smashed it into the net. It looked from some angles that Long could have done more to stop it – I'll leave you to judge that one for yourself.

To my mind, the problem was caused by one of two factors:

For whatever reason, as they set up against Bristol, City did not seem to be able to cope with the Robins’ 'box of four' in midfield. This was not a new formation that they adopted specifically for City, it's how they often play.

Now, either Johannes Hoff Thorup and his team made a tactical blunder in the instructions that they gave to the players or in the players selected to carry out those instructions.

If it is the latter, then there is some sympathy, as we all know that City are managing the fitness of several players, which may force JHT's hand when it comes to team selection.

However, given that the team looked more solid when City re-arranged into more of a 3-4-3 shape, it may point to the former.

This would point an accusing finger towards the dugout.

Those of the 'post first, engage brain second' brigade were given more ammunition in the second half when Thorup began to make his substitutions.

Callum Doyle had proven highly effective at left-back in the opening minute of the half. He was then moved to centre-back and then back to left back.

It looked like, from the outside, Thorup didn't know what he was doing.

An explanation may lay, once again, in the requirement to manage the minutes of certain players, forcing withdrawals at moments when they were not best suited.

I highly doubt that Thorup doesn't know what he is doing – he is far too astute an operator for that.

What he is, though, is part of a long-term project. It is probably too much to hope for a second season like the magical one produced by Daniel Farke, after what my memory tells me was a pretty dull and uninspiring season – and perhaps to do so would make me guilty of a 'superlative degree of comparison' a la Dickens’ quote.

But that is what it is. So this week, I apologise for going back to the 'project' excuse for the City performances. It makes me sound like a broken record.

There is a piece of music by J Cole (no, not him) called A Tale of 2 Citiez – but as it fully deserves the 'Explicit Lyrics' warning, it’s not for me to recommend.

This, however, seems more appropriate:

Broken Record by Jason Derulo