Problem with the Sharp/Clarke partnership

[grafikhaus]

Done to start, Clark to come on after 60 minutes most weeks. If anything we need a really tricky winger with pace when we can't break teams down.

Otherwise I don't think too much is wrong

Apart from his 'mini cameo' at Chesterfield, Clarke has done absolutely nothing. Granted he's only started six games in partnership with Sharp, but that's ended with 2 draws and four defeats. Still, let's keep the myth about 'impact substitution' going. His five games as an 'impact sub' has resulted in one goal from him.

 

[I should coco]

There should still be some cash left over from the Adams and DCL sales even on the reduced budget. Apart from O'Connel and Moore Chris barely spent anything on transfer fees and hasn't gone overboard on wages either.

We were already losing £4-5m per year due to wages being too high. We have had to pay up Hammond's extra year and are presumably subsidising the Beard's wages at Burton by about £10-15k per week so those two might add up to another £1-£2m.

When will people understand that for about 9 years we have massively overpaid on wages and all player sales, FAC run receipts etc etc etc have gone into the pot to pay for these.

I am sure CW will get something, but please don't start bandying around stuff about '£Xm being left in the kitty'.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Nobody wants another season, but without trawling through the forum, I thought a broad consensus when Wilder took over that this was for the long term, building the team and showing patience.

Shows how far we have come in a short space of time.

some may want a long term view - but that is more applicable in the 2nd tier than the present 3rd tier.

The key to any team is having a solid defence (and we now have) coupled with a midfield that works (and ours does).

We actually had a forward line that worked (Sharp and Done) but Done was struggling with goals - but in the whole, we had a team that would easily finish top 2.

CW wants Clark in the team - was obvious from week 1 and was obvious when CW said "Clark's done well all week and we wanted him in the team" - well, the striking departement is now struggling. It may be a combination of teams sitting deeper and deeper as we have seen recently, but that means CW & AK have to teach the players new skills in how to beat these types of teams. We actually saw it with the winning goal v Bury - quick, incisive movement in and around the box with players arriving late either from midfield or defence.

Patience from the fans is here once again in abundance - what we want to see is progression of the team and ideas, but at the momnet we look a bit cluless with how teams are lining up against us, especially in the last 18 yards.

This league is quite simply ours to lose, and it is only US that will lose it - neither Scunny/Bolton or Bradford are good enough to finish above us, if we keep progressing as we have since week 5.

Clark's inroduction has stopped that progression, and if he is to stay in the team, then a solution has to be found to make it work. As for Sharp, his role changes when Clark plays and he seems half the player he should be. A solution is needed and we will see what the management team do about it. They passed with flying colours with the changes around week 4,5 and 6 - this is now their next challenge.

UTB

 

[DronnieBlade]

What partnership ?

I must have blinked and missed it !!

UTB

 

[Darthblade]

We were already losing £4-5m per year due to wages being too high. We have had to pay up Hammond's extra year and are presumably subsidising the Beard's wages at Burton by about £10-15k per week so those two might add up to another £1-£2m.

When will people understand that for about 9 years we have massively overpaid on wages and all player sales, FAC run receipts etc etc etc have gone into the pot to pay for these.

I am sure CW will get something, but please don't start bandying around stuff about '£Xm being left in the kitty'.

The money from the sales of DCL & Adams SHOULD still be in the "kitty" !

Whether it is there ...... is likely to be found out in January .......

UTB & FTP

 

[SteveBlade]

If Clarke starts against Swindon it'll be the first real 'wtf' moment from Wilder.

Confident Done will start though.

 

[Westran]

Paul Ifill, Adrian Littlejon, Trenton Wiggan,Tony Agana

Nick Blackman, Colin Kazim-Richards

 

[Jehovah]

If I remember rightly didn't sharp Evans play together a while and were crap together?

 

[Grappler]

We need some ridiculously quick and skilful 5 ft 5 wide player, preferably black, who can just spaz his way through defenders.

What's JCR up to these days?

This guys appears to be around 5ft 5 wide........

 

[blade67]

Apart from his 'mini cameo' at Chesterfield, Clarke has done absolutely nothing. Granted he's only started six games in partnership with Sharp, but that's ended with 2 draws and four defeats. Still, let's keep the myth about 'impact substitution' going. His five games as an 'impact sub' has resulted in one goal from him.

I'm not basing my view of Clarke on the 4 or 5 games I've seen this year. I'm basing it on several years of looking too good for defenders at this level. 3rd choice striker at league 1 level is hardly the greatest endorsement, is it?

 

[Caveblade]

Its funny how players have great games against Chessie. This year Leon, last year a certain Connor Sammon looked fantastic in the home game against them!

How misleading was that!

 

[grafikhaus]

I'm not basing my view of Clarke on the 4 or 5 games I've seen this year. I'm basing it on several years of looking too good for defenders at this level. 3rd choice striker at league 1 level is hardly the greatest endorsement, is it?

I've little doubt that Leon will do well at another club (and probably come back to haunt us). It's just that the 'chemistry' with Sharp isn't working.

 

[Revolution]

If I remember rightly didn't sharp Evans play together a while and were crap together?

No. Evans was crap all on his own for 2 years.

 

[I should coco]

The money from the sales of DCL & Adams SHOULD still be in the "kitty" !

Whether it is there ...... is likely to be found out in January

You missed my point about the player wages black hole.

There is not some separate 'special kitty' for transfer receipts. All sales proceeds have gone in the general pot to cover the massive overspend on wages (i.e. wages are £4-5m more than income every season). If McCabe releases some money to CW he is taking a gamble that although we will make another massive loss this season, we will get promoted and then our income will increase.

Why do people continue to think there is some special magic untouchable transfer fund, that exists along side the massive day to day operating deficit?

 

[Fulwood Blade]

You missed my point about the player wages black hole.

There is not some separate 'special kitty' for transfer receipts. All sales proceeds have gone in the general pot to cover the massive overspend on wages (i.e. wages are £4-5m more than income every season). If McCabe releases some money to CW he is taking a gamble that although we will make another massive loss this season, we will get promoted and then our income will increase.

Why do people continue to think there is some special magic untouchable transfer fund, that exists along side the massive day to day operating deficit?

Don't worry about it - a lot of fans miss the point.
Money trees is what they believe in.

UTB

 

[Darthblade]

You missed my point about the player wages black hole.

There is not some separate 'special kitty' for transfer receipts. All sales proceeds have gone in the general pot to cover the massive overspend on wages (i.e. wages are £4-5m more than income every season). If McCabe releases some money to CW he is taking a gamble that although we will make another massive loss this season, we will get promoted and then our income will increase.

Why do people continue to think there is some special magic untouchable transfer fund, that exists along side the massive day to day operating deficit?

For me it just makes sense that if you are going to sell players, you would re-invest the proceeds in an attempt to improve the squad overall !!

Allowing funds of this nature to "disappear" into the general running of the Club is how we have found ourselves in self-imposed exile in L1 for the last 6 years ( together with some truly appalling appointments and signings ).

We have slashed our wages bill and now need to improve the squad so that we have a chance of promotion from this division. failure to improve the squad with quality ( rather than previous poor attempts with quantity ) will extend our exile for a further in-determined period of time.

No money tree expectations from me mate

Just logic ......

UTB & FTP

 

[Cerberus Blade]

No coincidence forms dipped since Clarke returned

It might be?

 

[I should coco]

Allowing funds of this nature to "disappear" into the general running of the Club is how we have found ourselves in self-imposed exile in L1 for the last 6 years ( together with some truly appalling appointments and signings ).

They don't "disappear", they are used to pay players we have contractual obligations to pay.

We have slashed our wages bill and now need to improve the squad so that we have a chance of promotion from this division. failure to improve the squad with quality ( rather than previous poor attempts with quantity ) will extend our exile for a further in-determined period of time.

I agree with your general sentiment but I think you be sadly disappointed if you think wages have been 'slashed'. They have not, they have just been reduced from a cripplingly high level.

Coutts will still be on his £14k per week, god knows what element of the Beard's £20k we are still paying and Sharp is also on a similar figure.
Even our 'lesser' players will be on £4k - £7k per week so our annual wage bill will not leave a lot of change from £10m (including all admin staff and the academy).

No money tree expectations from me mate

That's a good job then. The much maligned Kevin McCabe does not have bottomless pockets hence his bringing the Prince on board. Any money tree was chopped down and burnt for firewood under Blackwell's reign.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I think some fans want to make Clarke a scapegoat for some reason, maybe the ex-Wednesday connection? What I've seen is that he wins the ball in the air and can hold it up and lay it off - but no one is actually playing anywhere near him most of the time. So he wins headers and flicks them on into space in a goal-wards direction but no one seems to be anticipating that and running into those spaces to capitalise on it.

I didn't hear anyone complaining about the Clarke and Sharp partnership at Chesterfield btw - I thought both played really well. But I do think that they haven't quite clicked for the reasons I mentioned, they're not reading each other's game very well and working together as a striking unit - it's two individuals doing their own thing.

The remedy lies on the training ground. They should tie them together with a length of rope (old washing line would do) about 10 metres in length. This will mean that when one has the ball the other one is only a short distance away. It will get them used to the idea that they need to work together and be in proximity of each other during a game. I've used this technique very successfully when explaining the offside rule to the missus.

 

[Tezza1889]

You missed my point about the player wages black hole.

There is not some separate 'special kitty' for transfer receipts. All sales proceeds have gone in the general pot to cover the massive overspend on wages (i.e. wages are £4-5m more than income every season). If McCabe releases some money to CW he is taking a gamble that although we will make another massive loss this season, we will get promoted and then our income will increase.

Why do people continue to think there is some special magic untouchable transfer fund, that exists along side the massive day to day operating deficit?

As famously confirmed when asked weather the money from Jamie Murphys sale had gone into the first team... as he promised... by phipps...

 

[Berlin Blade]

Done is one of our most important players. He absolutely makes us tick and sets the tone and tempo of our play with his pressing. It's not just 'he runs around and tries hard'. He doesn't play as a striker, he just occupies the areas high up the pitch.

It annoys me that some people don't see that, and just blindly expect goals goals goals. It's not his job. It reminds me of Kyle Naughton a few years ago, he was integral to the way we played and started moves off and stretched the play with his width and overlapping. Nobody moaned about his goal return BECAUSE IT WASN'T HIS JOB TO SCORE GOALS!!!

Yeah Done misses a few chances. Look at the difference when he isn't in the team.

 

[Darthblade]

I think some fans want to make Clarke a scapegoat for some reason, maybe the ex-Wednesday connection? What I've seen is that he wins the ball in the air and can hold it up and lay it off - but no one is actually playing anywhere near him most of the time. So he wins headers and flicks them on into space in a goal-wards direction but no one seems to be anticipating that and running into those spaces to capitalise on it.

I didn't hear anyone complaining about the Clarke and Sharp partnership at Chesterfield btw - I thought both played really well. But I do think that they haven't quite clicked for the reasons I mentioned, they're not reading each other's game very well and working together as a striking unit - it's two individuals doing their own thing.

The remedy lies on the training ground. They should tie them together with a length of rope (old washing line would do) about 10 metres in length. This will mean that when one has the ball the other one is only a short distance away. It will get them used to the idea that they need to work together and be in proximity of each other during a game. I've used this technique very successfully when explaining the offside rule to the missus.

Whilst I believe that your tactic of tying up your missus is adding a bit of spice to the thread, it may cost you a black-eye if she finds out you've shared this information

I think you're right though ....... it was noticeable in the poor performance against Walsall that Clarke and Sharpe were only close to each other when walking up or down the tunnel !! Playing much too far apart and on the face of it this partnership ( for whatever reason ) just does not work.

Over to you Tufty !!

UTB & FTP

 

[I should coco]

I think some fans want to make Clarke a scapegoat for some reason, maybe the ex-Wednesday connection?

Yup.

BOOOOOO

He should be chased out of town by men with sticks.

BOOOOOOO

 

[Tezza1889]

I think some fans want to make Clarke a scapegoat for some reason, maybe the ex-Wednesday connection? What I've seen is that he wins the ball in the air and can hold it up and lay it off - but no one is actually playing anywhere near him most of the time. So he wins headers and flicks them on into space in a goal-wards direction but no one seems to be anticipating that and running into those spaces to capitalise on it.

I didn't hear anyone complaining about the Clarke and Sharp partnership at Chesterfield btw - I thought both played really well. But I do think that they haven't quite clicked for the reasons I mentioned, they're not reading each other's game very well and working together as a striking unit - it's two individuals doing their own thing.

The remedy lies on the training ground. They should tie them together with a length of rope (old washing line would do) about 10 metres in length. This will mean that when one has the ball the other one is only a short distance away. It will get them used to the idea that they need to work together and be in proximity of each other during a game. I've used this technique very successfully when explaining the offside rule to the missus.

Sharp needs a player working directly for him, whenever he is paired with another striker who also wants to score it falls on its arse, when did you ever see sharp set the other striker up for a tap in ?? Done is perfect for sharp, and then people don't understand why he doesn't get his share of goals... done and sharp unless injurys for rest of season.. that's the starting pair, sub em both on 60 mins for Clarke and lavery when they're knackered... I'd like a Ched type though..

 

[blade67]

Whilst I believe that your tactic of tying up your missus is adding a bit of spice to the thread, it may cost you a black-eye if she finds out you've shared this information

I think you're right though ....... it was noticeable in the poor performance against Walsall that Clarke and Sharpe were only close to each other when walking up or down the tunnel !! Playing much too far apart and on the face of it this partnership ( for whatever reason ) just does not work.

Over to you Tufty !!

UTB & FTP

it was bizarre how far apart they played. Really made no sense. I quite rate Clarke but in the end, Sharpe has to play based on goals record and Done keeps playing in a winning team so I'd suspect e will soon be back to that pairing