Its going to be a long tough half season
Jan 26, 2020 11:32:34 GMT
kingswood Polak and mangogas15 like this
Post by stevek192 on Jan 26, 2020 11:32:34 GMT
I must say that I honestly can't see the change of playing plan leading to anything other than a successful fight against relegation because with a 40% possession 6 shots at goal of which only two were on target and only 3 corners in the match hardly represents a good home performance against any team let alone a Fleetwood team who are probably correctly placed in mid table. I have no problem whatsoever with a back four set up which for me represents a set up which should cut out the high number of goals conceded recently where the wingers have cut inside and outside and provided far too many anxious moments. However everything else about the plan worries me at the present time and could adversely affect our status. The one up front backed up by wingers/midfielders requires a centre forward who can hold the ball up and release it accurately firing on all cylinders. Clarke-Harris is far from this at the present time and there is still the possibility he will go in this window leaving us with no natural leader of the attack and with a formation that relies so heavily on this you really need two of your five strikers to be built to do this. Add to this I really can't see where the next goal is going to come from as we also do not possess a regular goalscorer in our ranks with only Gavin Reilly seemingly being considered following both loaned strikers going back and Nichols considered not part of the Managers plans.
Support is going down at the present time and it is hardly surprising with six shots at goal being an improvement on most of the matches since GC left. A point against Fleetwood is not a disaster but playing this way is also going to make it a struggle to beat even the worst teams in this divisions. The midfield players are probably as big a problem as the strikers with none other than Ginnelly and Rodman having any pace whatsoever and the others look bewildered at the present time as to what exactly they each should be doing.
Blackman 7 Looks a good keeper. Much quicker off his line and good distribution and the defence finally looked confident again and restricted a strong Fleetwood forward line to very little,
Kilgour 6.5 a solid game in a new position to him and hopefully it won't be long before Little is challenging him for that place
Davies 6.5 A little rusty at times but that is to be expected after so long a lay off and it is great to have him back.
Craig 7 MOM back to his best after a recent lull in his performances and led the back four well and kept Ched Evans very quiet.
Holmes-Dennis 6.5 Like Davies a little rusty but he is one hell of a talented full back if we can get him playing regularly and I am sure if that happens we will see many frays into the opposition half rather than just a couple.
Upson 5.5 Not one of his better games but not at all helped by the fact that all the midfield players are similar in their qualities and this was made worse when Ogogo came on and restricted our attacking threat even more.
Clarke 5 Similar to Upson but it is good to have him back to provide competition but three defensive midfielders on the pitch at the same time with only one forward up front is not going to provide entertainment or I believe get us the results we need.
Sercombe 6 Not on his best form and being played in a position where you would think he could get shots in but he failed to do this yesterday. We don't really have another like him so I hope his injury is not serious as his absence without replacement would hamper us.
Barrett 5.5 I like the look of him but not in the position he is being played. with the loss of a bit of excess weight he could be the creative midfielder we are looking for and the right age.
Ginnelly 6 Another I really like the look of. He has the skill and pace to excite but what we lack at the present time is the player to give him the ball more often. He was much better first half than second half where either he tired or just didn't get given the ball.
Clarke-Harris 5 Another disappointing performance and anybody that tells me it was a good penalty they are having a laugh. Any penalty that hits the keepers foot is a poor penalty and I have to9 say that I was not confident that he would score as he has been so poor recently. To be fair he got little of the protection that the referee gave to the Fleetwood players where every touch seemed to bring a free kick. IMO we should only get rid of him in this window if the price is right and that for me is an absolute minimum of 2m with so long left on his contract. whether he stays or goes we must sign a replacement plus at least one other striker.
Subs: Ogogo 4 very rusty and struggled to get possession and made us even more defensive.
Reilly 4 Totally lost in a short appearance.
Rodman 6 Gave us a bit more width and a bit more attacking threat and won the penalty.
Crowd 5 Quiet but tried hard to get behind the team but in fairness the entertainment is missing.
Ref 2 This was more about what he missed than what he gave. Terrible.
Fleetwood 5 an average League 1 side with some good players attacking wise.
BG Early days but has a tough job IMO to make us an entertaining side. There were glimpses in the first half of what he is trying to do but just not in a large supply.
We move on to the next stage of Ben Garners reign on Tuesday but to be honest I do not see even the mediocre Bolton team bringing us the much needed victory and the best I can see is a 0-0 draw. I would say that 46 points will be enough to stay up this year and the quicker we get there the better but I can see it being mainly reached with one point returns unless we can obtain two aces in the next week.
Support is going down at the present time and it is hardly surprising with six shots at goal being an improvement on most of the matches since GC left. A point against Fleetwood is not a disaster but playing this way is also going to make it a struggle to beat even the worst teams in this divisions. The midfield players are probably as big a problem as the strikers with none other than Ginnelly and Rodman having any pace whatsoever and the others look bewildered at the present time as to what exactly they each should be doing.
Blackman 7 Looks a good keeper. Much quicker off his line and good distribution and the defence finally looked confident again and restricted a strong Fleetwood forward line to very little,
Kilgour 6.5 a solid game in a new position to him and hopefully it won't be long before Little is challenging him for that place
Davies 6.5 A little rusty at times but that is to be expected after so long a lay off and it is great to have him back.
Craig 7 MOM back to his best after a recent lull in his performances and led the back four well and kept Ched Evans very quiet.
Holmes-Dennis 6.5 Like Davies a little rusty but he is one hell of a talented full back if we can get him playing regularly and I am sure if that happens we will see many frays into the opposition half rather than just a couple.
Upson 5.5 Not one of his better games but not at all helped by the fact that all the midfield players are similar in their qualities and this was made worse when Ogogo came on and restricted our attacking threat even more.
Clarke 5 Similar to Upson but it is good to have him back to provide competition but three defensive midfielders on the pitch at the same time with only one forward up front is not going to provide entertainment or I believe get us the results we need.
Sercombe 6 Not on his best form and being played in a position where you would think he could get shots in but he failed to do this yesterday. We don't really have another like him so I hope his injury is not serious as his absence without replacement would hamper us.
Barrett 5.5 I like the look of him but not in the position he is being played. with the loss of a bit of excess weight he could be the creative midfielder we are looking for and the right age.
Ginnelly 6 Another I really like the look of. He has the skill and pace to excite but what we lack at the present time is the player to give him the ball more often. He was much better first half than second half where either he tired or just didn't get given the ball.
Clarke-Harris 5 Another disappointing performance and anybody that tells me it was a good penalty they are having a laugh. Any penalty that hits the keepers foot is a poor penalty and I have to9 say that I was not confident that he would score as he has been so poor recently. To be fair he got little of the protection that the referee gave to the Fleetwood players where every touch seemed to bring a free kick. IMO we should only get rid of him in this window if the price is right and that for me is an absolute minimum of 2m with so long left on his contract. whether he stays or goes we must sign a replacement plus at least one other striker.
Subs: Ogogo 4 very rusty and struggled to get possession and made us even more defensive.
Reilly 4 Totally lost in a short appearance.
Rodman 6 Gave us a bit more width and a bit more attacking threat and won the penalty.
Crowd 5 Quiet but tried hard to get behind the team but in fairness the entertainment is missing.
Ref 2 This was more about what he missed than what he gave. Terrible.
Fleetwood 5 an average League 1 side with some good players attacking wise.
BG Early days but has a tough job IMO to make us an entertaining side. There were glimpses in the first half of what he is trying to do but just not in a large supply.
We move on to the next stage of Ben Garners reign on Tuesday but to be honest I do not see even the mediocre Bolton team bringing us the much needed victory and the best I can see is a 0-0 draw. I would say that 46 points will be enough to stay up this year and the quicker we get there the better but I can see it being mainly reached with one point returns unless we can obtain two aces in the next week.
