Confidence

[DronnieBlade]

Looks shot at this early stage in the season and I would put it down to a clear change in approach which, on the face of it, is very difficult to understand.

Why have we bought a lump of a CF that is immobile, doesn't really win many headers, mainly cos his feet rarely leave the ground ?

Said lump is clearly not up to it ATM, which is claimed is down to fitness levels.

So why is he in team ?

Baxter up top for me would be a better option while lump sorts his fitness out. Added advantage would be that it surely would remove the tendency to hit the long ball which is clearly not working. Baxter in this role was a success last year.

I trust Nigel to get this right but this change of approach both baffles and surprises me, based on the successful blueprint laid out from end of last year.

UTB

 

[zablade]

confidence and morale seems to be currently lower than a Corgi dogs bollocks, and I am really worried as to where this is going to end up over the next month or so.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

presume you are meaning Higdon?

If you are then I for one have to disagree and reckon more on here will disagree with you also.

We may have lumped balls yesterday but that is not what NC wants - what he wants is the sort of goal we scored near the end against Mansfield.

Baxter played up top a lot last year out of necessity and that the other incumbent, Porter was not good enough, but Baxter is not a leader of the line. As to where Baxter fits is a mystery - hence the reason he has started on the bench this season.

As for he blueprint last year - that is what NC inherited and was an emergency to ONLY get us out of relegation - which as we all knew worked perfectly with the massive bonus of a SF.

As for Higdon - give the lad a chance! He will come good.

UTB

 

[bartman]

presume you are meaning Higdon?

If you are then I for one have to disagree and reckon more on here will disagree with you also.

We may have lumped balls yesterday but that is not what NC wants - what he wants is the sort of goal we scored near the end against Mansfield.

Baxter played up top a lot last year out of necessity and that the other incumbent, Porter was not good enough, but Baxter is not a leader of the line. As to where Baxter fits is a mystery - hence the reason he has started on the bench this season.

As for he blueprint last year - that is what NC inherited and was an emergency to ONLY get us out of relegation - which as we all knew worked perfectly with the massive bonus of a SF.

As for Higdon - give the lad a chance! He will come good.

UTB

Higdon may come good but in particular in the second half he didn't jump,didn't challenge and his movement was non existent.

NC has had the pre season to get thins sorted and now has brought in sufficient players whereby he can now play a first 11 of his purchases rather than Weirs(subject to fitness). In view of this,the style of football,commitment and lack of urgency was a major concern yesterday and thought the players were lucky that the boos at the end weren't a lot louder. Same type of effort at Peterborough and the murmours of discontent will get louder

 

[Fulwood Blade]

. In view of this,the style of football,commitment and lack of urgency was a major concern yesterday

you are correct about yesterday and in the majority of the games including the pre season.

We should all be concerned as the initial perception of the season and the bookies (ludicrously) making us clear favourites could well backfire.

Patience may be the key word this season, although I doubt a number on here possess that feature.

As some have said - give it 10 games, dread to think what this forum will be like if we are still holding down a place in the bottom 4?

UTB

 

[DronnieBlade]

presume you are meaning Higdon?

If you are then I for one have to disagree and reckon more on here will disagree with you also.

We may have lumped balls yesterday but that is not what NC wants - what he wants is the sort of goal we scored near the end against Mansfield.

Baxter played up top a lot last year out of necessity and that the other incumbent, Porter was not good enough, but Baxter is not a leader of the line. As to where Baxter fits is a mystery - hence the reason he has started on the bench this season.

As for he blueprint last year - that is what NC inherited and was an emergency to ONLY get us out of relegation - which as we all knew worked perfectly with the massive bonus of a SF.

As for Higdon - give the lad a chance! He will come good.

UTB

Of course I will give Higs a chance. Have too. A lot appears to be riding on his shoulders though and, without wanting to sound like a broken record, right now I have great concerns. Which I appreciate puts me in a significant minority.

Just seen it all before, and it didn't work then either !!

UTB.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Of course I will give Higs a chance. Have too. A lot appears to be riding on his shoulders though and, without wanting to sound like a broken record, right now I have great concerns. Which I appreciate puts me in a significant minority.

Just seen it all before, and it didn't work then either !!

UTB.

I think we have all seen it before - me since 1967 !

I reckon we are all trying to second guess NC at the moment. His slightly bizarre selections and comments about pre-season have caught us all off guard, compared to the relative success of last season. This is NC's first pre-season which seems a bit strange to me, but he is the boss and may be laying down the law and certain fundamentals to a certain clique of players that it is either the NC way or you can FUCK OFF (to be blunt).

Personally, I don't see 100% commitment from a number of players - and it's been that way for a few seasons. Players going through the motions, picking up a decent wage for doing what we all would do at the drop of hat, is not good and perhaps NC is teaching some a hard lesson.

As fans we may have to suffer, but long term it might produce a better club - if it backfires then the shit really starts to hit the fan.

UTB

 

[Darthblade]

Looks shot at this early stage in the season and I would put it down to a clear change in approach which, on the face of it, is very difficult to understand.

Why have we bought a lump of a CF that is immobile, doesn't really win many headers, mainly cos his feet rarely leave the ground ?

Said lump is clearly not up to it ATM, which is claimed is down to fitness levels.

So why is he in team ?

Baxter up top for me would be a better option while lump sorts his fitness out. Added advantage would be that it surely would remove the tendency to hit the long ball which is clearly not working. Baxter in this role was a success last year.

I trust Nigel to get this right but this change of approach both baffles and surprises me, based on the successful blueprint laid out from end of last year.

UTB

I think to say Baxter was a success as the lone striker is optimistic, at best. He clearly wasn't as we hardly scored any goals and he personally hardly scored any goals. We DESPERATELY needed 2 quality strikers, one of which has blistering pace, as this seems to be the quality needed to unlock agricultural defences in this shitty Division.

Regrettably, we have one of the two requirements and he's 4 weeks short of fitness !!!

What we need is the other striker and for some of our players to "man up" and start delivering as they are currently letting down the fans who's optimism for this season is slowly ebbing away.
UTB & FTP

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

I think we have all seen it before - me since 1967 !

I reckon we are all trying to second guess NC at the moment. His slightly bizarre selections and comments about pre-season have caught us all off guard, compared to the relative success of last season. This is NC's first pre-season which seems a bit strange to me, but he is the boss and may be laying down the law and certain fundamentals to a certain clique of players that it is either the NC way or you can FUCK OFF (to be blunt).

Personally, I don't see 100% commitment from a number of players - and it's been that way for a few seasons. Players going through the motions, picking up a decent wage for doing what we all would do at the drop of hat, is not good and perhaps NC is teaching some a hard lesson.

As fans we may have to suffer, but long term it might produce a better club - if it backfires then the shit really starts to hit the fan.

UTB

You've been around just a tad longer than me ( ) but I do think you may well be on to something there Fulwood. Fans don't always get the more subtle nuances of tactics and formations but they do recognise lack of effort and commitment.

Hopefully they are quick learners or Clough has very limited patience. He's got his work cut out though, because as I've said elsewhere on here, players have far too much power today.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

You've been around just a tad longer than me ( ) but I do think you may well be on to something there Fulwood. Fans don't always get the more subtle nuances of tactics and formations but they do recognise lack of effort and commitment.

Hopefully they are quick learners or Clough has very limited patience. He's got his work cut out though, because as I've said elsewhere on here, players have far too much power today.

power is one thing - the apparent lack of effort, commitment and ability to do as you are told should be a pre-requisite.

You could be right - reckon Clough is short on patience when players do not do as they are told or do not show the commitment required by the management team.

I hope it is quickly nipped in the bud as the present situation is going on a sad parallel with last season.

UTB

 

[Worksop_Blade]

Although he has scored goals in the past, you do have to wonder why NC would sign a player so unfit it will take him until october to be up to speed, what was he eating in Holland? Lard?.

It must have been a surprise when a bloke more resembling a bouncer than pro football player turned up Shirecliffe as the new star striker.

 

[Bladesman]

The confidence is not good and it really does seem like we gone back to the Weir days.

Not sure the influx of new players has helped at all.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

power is one thing - the apparent lack of effort, commitment and ability to do as you are told should be a pre-requisite.

You could be right - reckon Clough is short on patience when players do not do as they are told or do not show the commitment required by the management team.

I hope it is quickly nipped in the bud as the present situation is going on a sad parallel with last season.

UTB

Totally agree, sadly 'you can't tell me what to do' is probably more prevalent than it should be, as sunscreen Harry showed. An example made of one or two might hopefully do the trick.

 

[BeatleBlade]

I thought Higdon was quite good when I saw him at the Mansfield game. Set up the goal and did far far more than Porter ever did. He could be fitter but that's a matter of time.