Peterborough United suffered a grim night for all sorts of reasons as a home defeat set the alarm bells ringing

It has been easy to defend Posh after narrow and undeserved defeats at Derby County and Portsmouth.

And for 45 minutes last night there didn’t seem to be too much to be overly-concerned about. Posh had been given so much time and space on the ball it only seemed a matter of adjusting sights and improving decision-making for a game against limited opponents to be turned around.

But what followed in the second-half was a mess. Posh slowed down and yet hurried their passes. Faced with a red wall in and around the Fleetwood penalty area they appeared clueless and free of imagination. It was predictable and therefore so easy to defend against. Cross the ball and hope for the best appeared to be one tactic and it never looked like working.

Collective off days happen in sport and this one extended to the technical area leading to a third League One defeat on the spin.

This loss seemed different though. Squad weaknesses were exposed.

It’s only eight games into a long season, but a massive improvement on this performance is required to stop alarm becoming a full on panic.

TALKING POINTS…

1) The crucial moment in this match came early. Jack Marriott’s 18th minute miss when he only had a small goalkeeper to beat was a shocker, or was it? Marriott has four League One goals to his name this season, a respectable return after eight matches, and yet he could easily have doubled that tally. He spurned a similar opportunity to last night at Derby County when his attempted finish lacked composure and he could have scored five against Lincoln City rather than two. Marriott rarely missed in his last season at League One level and Posh taking the lead against Fleetwood would have led to a far more open game than actually transpired. That would have suited Posh rather than Fleetwood.

2) Mind you who you rather have on the pitch when you’re in dire need of a goal, Marriott or Ricky-Jade Jones? It’s not even an argument. Manager Grant McCann’s decision to remove misfiring Marriott was understandable, but Jones’ strength is running into space behind defenders and it wasn’t available last night. The introduction of forward player Ephron Mason-Clark as a wing-back was also a weird one and it never looked like paying off, while bringing Joel Randall on at all was a real leap of faith. The million pound man looks completely ill at ease.

3) Posh couldn’t even change shape easily last night as they had no full-backs on the bench. Joe Tomlinson played in the under 21s at Sheffield United earlier in the day when his presence on the bench would at least have allowed Posh to go four at the back with Joe Ward as the other full-back if only to try something different. The decision not to have Tomlinson available was even more surprising given Harrison Burrows’ lack of form. The Posh management clearly need convincing of Tomlinson’s worth and if so it’s peculiar full-backs rather than wingers weren’t preferred summer signings. Posh started the season in a 4-3-3 formation, but abandoned it after 45 minutes. It’s also not a great look seeing three centre-backs remain on the pitch when you’re chasing a goal at home.

4) It’s not an original thought, but the lack of creativity outside of Ward’s right boot is scary. There won’t be too many killer balls or troublesome dribbles coming from other players. Posh are trying to pass through the thirds which is commendable, but they will meet many massed defences at the Weston Homes Stadium this season when a bit of magic will be needed to find a way through at the business end of the pitch.

5) The presence of Hector Kyprianou from the start ahead of Jeando Fuchs was sort of understandable as Posh presumably expected to dominate possession and the Cypriot looks after the ball better than the Cameroon international. Kyprianou played okay and yet went off at half-time in favour of the greater energy of Ben Thompson. It was another substutition that didn’t work.

6) The minute’s silence and the singing of the National Anthem were impeccably delivered before the game by both clubs. That was always going to be the case at London Road and grounds all over the country and it’s a shame the out-of-touch high-ups at the EFL didn’t realise it. Football should not have paused.

REF WATCH

Will Finnie has a dreadful history with Posh, awarding Wycombe Wanderers a highly-dubious game-saving 90th minute penalty in 2019 and in 2021 he sent off Nathan Thompson at Lincoln City for two bookable offences, but let home midfielder LIam Bridcutt foul constantly without fear of sanction.

It would be wrong to blame Finnie for defeat last night as it wasn’t his fault Posh failed to win a tackle or a second ball in the second-half, but my goodness he was hopelessly inconsistent. He cautioned Thompson in the second minute which was fair enough, but let other similar offences from visiting players go unpunished. Josh Vela committed a handful of cynical trips and yet escaped without a caution. Finnie moved around the pitch well, but it didn’t help his foul detection skills and his failure to properly punish time wasting was lamentable.

It isn’t easy when players just sit down asking for treatment, but delaying restarts by kicking the ball away are easy to punish. Finnie failed in that duty on a disappointing night for the official.