Baxter

[breeny]

What's the deal with j Wallace then? I've seen his quality when he's had some game time but is he not going to feature at all regularly?? And Coutts?? Centre mid is an issue, is the answer not to get them coached properly. Surely Baxter should be good enough?

 

[Glevum Blade]

Agendas, bro. Everyone's got 'em.

---

Not entirely unrelated, I suppose, but I thought Basham was arse last night. Also, not necessarily in defence of McEveley, I didn't see enough leadership or captaincy material from anywhere else on the field.

Baxter didn't look hungry to make amends, but then Scougall looked like a little-boy-lost rather than the relentless nuisance we saw in his first season; Sammon was largely anonymous but a damn-sight more capable than Higdon. Let's hope it's an early blip and with four key players (plus another three second-choicers) set to return we can crack on and never look back.

At least Higdon won every header when he came on last night and if Scouggs and Billy had gambled they would have been through on goal.
I know Higdon is probably not as mobile as Sammon but he looks as though he has worked hard over the summer and should probably
start against Bradford because I can't see any of their defenders being shorter than 6' 2". I thought Higdon's movement to get into a
position to receive the ball was very good last night and I believe he still has something to offer.

 

[TonyAgana]

At least Higdon won every header when he came on last night and if Scouggs and Billy had gambled they would have been through on goal.
I know Higdon is probably not as mobile as Sammon but he looks as though he has worked hard over the summer and should probably
start against Bradford because I can't see any of their defenders being shorter than 6' 2". I thought Higdon's movement to get into a
position to receive the ball was very good last night and I believe he still has something to offer.

Yes, you're right - Higgo did ok when he came on. I still think Sammon is the more capable player and his "big man" role, when playing well, seems more useful than Higdon's (control and through-balls rather than winning headers). Not worked well last couple of games though and hopefully Higdon is hungry to prove something.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

I don't think either Sammon or Higdon will get much joy out of Bradford's defence and I'd be more tempted to play McNulty and Sharp together and either play into their feet our play balls behind in the channels and look to turn Bradford's big clumsy Defenders. If we still had Murphy, I'd play Adams up top with Sharp but don't want Woolford on the wing again.

 

[mulroeblade]

He is brilliant and penaltys though, and should of told billy to step aside. Not having a go at sharpy but in the last two games he has seen red with the opposition goalie and maybe trying to hard. Billy just putting in the net will hurt him more

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I purposely watched Baxter closely last night & he offered absolutely nothing..

How many times did he make long covering runs for defenders who were upfield?

 

[sheffielder]

Maybe the issue isn't Baxter or Basham, however it's because it's Baxter AND Basham that we have a problem. Replace one with someone who knows how to organise either of these.

 

[Captain]

He is brilliant and penaltys though, and should of told billy to step aside. Not having a go at sharpy but in the last two games he has seen red with the opposition goalie and maybe trying to hard. Billy just putting in the net will hurt him more

obviously didn't see the one at Crewe last year, struggled to reach the keeper, get rid he's not a luxury he's a liability and I state once again whilst he is in the side we will never get out of div 3

 

[Ricky]

We've wasted two years trying to accommodate him in the team and he's so rarely justified that. I'm getting sick of it. We can't be relying on him as a first team regular.

 

[forever_blade]

How many times did he make long covering runs for defenders who were upfield?

A total tally of 22. Not too sure blade, did you keep count? How many times did he retrieve the ball whilst performing these long covering runs, come away with the ball & set us off on a break of our own with a tempo? I'm struggling to remember many, if any occasions.

Not trying to be funny here but If all our most attacking creative spark in midfield is doing during a full ninety minutes of football is 'covering our defenders' whilst they break forward up field doing part of the job he's supposed to be doing as part of a midfield two then sadly it's not enough

I want Jose to do well, I want Jose to show me the performances he's capable of as he did at Peterborough away. If your playing in midfield as a two or any midfield number for that matter you have be to influential when we have the ball & when we haven't got the ball, Baxter was neither on Tuesday night.

He has the talent to dictate games for us, get us moving at a tempo, zip the ball into our forwards & move off them, play those splitting passes inbetween centre halves & full backs for the likes of JCR to run onto (he did attempt one second half mind).

However he too often than not & Tuesday being a prime example looks disinterested, wait's for someone else to make it happen & shows no urgency or purpose with or without the ball. There's a lack of drive to get us moving at a tempo when we've got it & without the ball there's a lack of desire to press, bite & harry his opposite numbers.

It's not just Baxter it's many members of that squad who aren't prepared to take the bull by the horns & make it happen when the going gets tough.

Let's hope we see a reaction Sunday & the performance & result is similar to that of Swindon away compared to the last two disappointing displays.

UTB

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

A total tally of 22. Not too sure blade, did you keep count? How many times did he retrieve the ball whilst performing these long covering runs, come away with the ball & set us off on a break of our own with a tempo? I'm struggling to remember many, if any occasions.

Not trying to be funny here but If all our most attacking creative spark in midfield is doing during a full ninety minutes of football is 'covering our defenders' whilst they break forward up field doing part of the job he's supposed to be doing as part of a midfield two then sadly it's not enough

I want Jose to do well, I want Jose to show me the performances he's capable of as he did at Peterborough away. If your playing in midfield as a two or any midfield number for that matter you have be to influential when we have the ball & when we haven't got the ball, Baxter was neither on Tuesday night.

He has the talent to dictate games for us, get us moving at a tempo, zip the ball into our forwards & move off them, play those splitting passes inbetween centre halves & full backs for the likes of JCR to run onto (he did attempt one second half mind).

However he too often than not & Tuesday being a prime example looks disinterested, wait's for someone else to make it happen & shows no urgency or purpose with or without the ball. There's a lack of drive to get us moving at a tempo when we've got it & without the ball there's a lack of desire to press, bite & harry his opposite numbers.

It's not just Baxter it's many members of that squad who aren't prepared to take the bull by the horns & make it happen when the going gets tough.

Let's hope we see a reaction Sunday & the performance & result is similar to that of Swindon away compared to the last two disappointing displays.

UTB

The general assertions are that Baxter is lazy and the team didn't care.

Neither of these are true.

Baxter made at least two unglamorous but fully committed long distance covering runs. There may have been others.

The team.- supported by some sections of the crowd - showed passion and belief when they finally woke up and created three great chances for Billy, one for McNulty, and a penalty. A slow start and finishing were the major issues on Tuesday.

Just bc result was crap doesn't mean the performance of everyone all night was crap.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

A total tally of 22. Not too sure blade, did you keep count? How many times did he retrieve the ball whilst performing these long covering runs, come away with the ball & set us off on a break of our own with a tempo? I'm struggling to remember many, if any occasions.

Not trying to be funny here but If all our most attacking creative spark in midfield is doing during a full ninety minutes of football is 'covering our defenders' whilst they break forward up field doing part of the job he's supposed to be doing as part of a midfield two then sadly it's not enough

I want Jose to do well, I want Jose to show me the performances he's capable of as he did at Peterborough away. If your playing in midfield as a two or any midfield number for that matter you have be to influential when we have the ball & when we haven't got the ball, Baxter was neither on Tuesday night.

He has the talent to dictate games for us, get us moving at a tempo, zip the ball into our forwards & move off them, play those splitting passes inbetween centre halves & full backs for the likes of JCR to run onto (he did attempt one second half mind).

However he too often than not & Tuesday being a prime example looks disinterested, wait's for someone else to make it happen & shows no urgency or purpose with or without the ball. There's a lack of drive to get us moving at a tempo when we've got it & without the ball there's a lack of desire to press, bite & harry his opposite numbers.

It's not just Baxter it's many members of that squad who aren't prepared to take the bull by the horns & make it happen when the going gets tough.

Let's hope we see a reaction Sunday & the performance & result is similar to that of Swindon away compared to the last two disappointing displays.

UTB

The general assertions are that Baxter is lazy and the team didn't care.

Neither of these are true.

Baxter made at least two unglamorous but fully committed long distance covering runs. There may have been others.

The team.- supported by some sections of the crowd - showed passion and belief when they finally woke up and created three great chances for Billy, one for McNulty, and a penalty. A slow start and finishing were the major issues on Tuesday.

Just bc result was crap doesn't mean the performance of everyone all night was crap.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

The general assertions are that Baxter is lazy and the team didn't care.

Neither of these are true.

Baxter made at least two unglamorous but fully committed long distance covering runs. There may have been others.

The team.- supported by some sections of the crowd - showed passion and belief when they finally woke up and created three great chances for Billy, one for McNulty, and a penalty. A slow start and finishing were the major issues on Tuesday.

Just bc result was crap doesn't mean the performance of everyone all night was crap.

No but a game theses days is usually 90 minutes plus ET added . We need to be focussed , involved , motivated from minute 1 to when the final whistle goes . For some reason we fail to do this in all games. Thats why we have lost . Man for man , we actually havent been beaton up to press by a better team. We beat ourselves by only playing say 60 out of 90 mins.

UTB

 

[Dnblade]

The general assertions are that Baxter is lazy and the team didn't care.

Neither of these are true.

Baxter made at least two unglamorous but fully committed long distance covering runs. There may have been others.

The team.- supported by some sections of the crowd - showed passion and belief when they finally woke up and created three great chances for Billy, one for McNulty, and a penalty. A slow start and finishing were the major issues on Tuesday.

Just bc result was crap doesn't mean the performance of everyone all night was crap.

I was a bit critical of the first half display and thought Jose was poor along with others,but having watched it back on B/P it gives a better impression than I saw on Tuesday night....Baxter First Half only gave the ball away twice...ok one of those occasions led to the first goal when he ignored the easy ball and tried to pass forward...the other time was the pass into touch meant for Freeman...Second half he was better even winning back possession a couple of times and playing some decent passes for JCR...Not saying he was great,but I think sometimes you see a player do a couple of things wrong and it colours the thinking on whether he was crap or not..it also doesn't help when we go 2-0 down early on the back of home defeat a few days earlier.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

No but a game theses days is usually 90 minutes plus ET added . We need to be focussed , involved , motivated from minute 1 to when the final whistle goes . For some reason we fail to do this in all games. Thats why we have lost . Man for man , we actually havent been beaton up to press by a better team. We beat ourselves by only playing say 60 out of 90 mins.

UTB

Agreed. To some extent we're waiting till half time to find out what to do as the players on the pitch are not yet able to react to different challenges. This is part of the work in progress. I think this will develop positively over time.

Blackpool parked the bus. Bury kicked and cheated. Colchester came at us all guns blazing.

We didn't react well in any of those games till later than we should have.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I was a bit critical of the first half display and thought Jose was poor along with others,but having watched it back on B/P it gives a better impression than I saw on Tuesday night....Baxter First Half only gave the ball away twice...ok one of those occasions led to the first goal when he ignored the easy ball and tried to pass forward...the other time was the pass into touch meant for Freeman...Second half he was better even winning back possession a couple of times and playing some decent passes for JCR...Not saying he was great,but I think sometimes you see a player do a couple of things wrong and it colours the thinking on whether he was crap or not..it also doesn't help when we go 2-0 down early on the back of home defeat a few days earlier.

Bergen put me right on this a couple of weeks ago. I saw a couple of stray passes from Baxter, conclusion: he was dreadful all game. Turns out he wasn't.

Fwiw I think McEveley - or whoever the latest scapegoat is - gets grief for similar reasons.

Accentuate the negative, eliminate the positive.

 

[sheffielder]

Bergen put me right on this a couple of weeks ago. I saw a couple of stray passes from Baxter, conclusion: he was dreadful all game. Turns out he wasn't.

Fwiw I think McEveley - or whoever the latest scapegoat is - gets grief for similar reasons.

Accentuate the negative, eliminate the positive.

Sometimes it's what a player doesn't do that can cause issues.

Basham for example very rarely wins a tackle facing the oppositions goal and is usually a recovery tackle when our midfield is being sliced open. He also very rarely passed the ball forward.

For me the main issue with McEverley on Tuesday in the first half was that he never crossed the half way line, even when presented with 20 yards of space. This cut our options in passing and opening space whilst also meaning when McEverley got the ball, he was facing the wrong way and the ball ended up going back. They push up and we to start again 20 yards back. In the 2nd half he bombed on, created space for himself and won a penalty.

For me with Baxter was that he didn't move the ball quick enough, and with Basham they don't offer their team mates such as full backs options to come short. The ball got put down the line, cut out or in some cases back to the CB who pumped it forward. Ball lost.

Too many players not taking responsibility in key positions for me.

 

[forever_blade]

The general assertions are that Baxter is lazy and the team didn't care.

Neither of these are true.

Baxter made at least two unglamorous but fully committed long distance covering runs. There may have been others.

The team.- supported by some sections of the crowd - showed passion and belief when they finally woke up and created three great chances for Billy, one for McNulty, and a penalty. A slow start and finishing were the major issues on Tuesday.

Just bc result was crap doesn't mean the performance of everyone all night was crap.

No but a game theses days is usually 90 minutes plus ET added . We need to be focussed , involved , motivated from minute 1 to when the final whistle goes . For some reason we fail to do this in all games. Thats why we have lost . Man for man , we actually havent been beaton up to press by a better team. We beat ourselves by only playing say 60 out of 90 mins.

UTB

Lord Bos of Eckington. summed up what I was set to reply with William Henry Foulkes.

The assumption's the team doesn't care & Baxter is lazy are ridiculous assumptions & I agree some Blades (some missing a shilling or two) seem to make this assumption as soon as we lose a game or are playing poorly. They show their frustrations by booing & slagging 'em off unconstructively which does no-one any good at all. I agree there we're a few positives from Tuesday - if Sharp had buried his four chances we'd have took home three points, McNulty looked like a man on a mission when he came on & was impressive (surely has to start Sunday)

Of course the players care & want promotion like we all do but think some of them need to realize you can't just up the tempo against the better opponents in this league or for 45 minutes then wander round at half pace for the other 45 minutes expecting someone else to take responsibility & come up with the goods that gets us three points.

They all need to be at it from minute one, every game from here on in. They've got it in them as proven by some of the impressive displays so far, the underpar performances have also shown that although some of these sides may not be glamorous fixtures on paper, these sides will want it, be hungry for it & fight for every ball e.g. Colchester who set off like an house on fire Tuesday whilst we we're still sat in the dressing room . We need to realize as I've said before you've got to earn the right to play before we can play, doing the dirty work, the pressing, the harrying..that's from the first whistle to the last, not just expect to turn up when we fancy it.

Looking forward to Sunday, let's hope we bounce back to winning ways

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

Agreed. To some extent we're waiting till half time to find out what to do as the players on the pitch are not yet able to react to different challenges. This is part of the work in progress. I think this will develop positively over time.

Blackpool parked the bus. Bury kicked and cheated. Colchester came at us all guns blazing.

We didn't react well in any of those games till later than we should have.

WHF , i saw Adkins yesterday ( nothing grand it was in a petrol station and we were in the queue to pay ) . I asked him if he minded , if i could talk to him about SUFC . The guy is positive about all things SUFC , and to cut to the chase , he spent 20 minutes eloquently telling me the way he sees it , and was in some way the same as you.

We have got to back the guy.

UTB

 

[BushBlade]

Lord Bos of Eckington. summed up what I was set to reply with William Henry Foulkes.

The assumption's the team doesn't care & Baxter is lazy are ridiculous assumptions & I agree some Blades (some missing a shilling or two) seem to make this assumption as soon as we lose a game or are playing poorly. They show their frustrations by booing & slagging 'em off unconstructively which does no-one any good at all. I agree there we're a few positives from Tuesday - if Sharp had buried his four chances we'd have took home three points, McNulty looked like a man on a mission when he came on & was impressive (surely has to start Sunday)

Of course the players care & want promotion like we all do but think some of them need to realize you can't just up the tempo against the better opponents in this league or for 45 minutes then wander round at half pace for the other 45 minutes expecting someone else to take responsibility & come up with the goods that gets us three points.

They all need to be at it from minute one, every game from here on in. They've got it in them as proven by some of the impressive displays so far, the underpar performances have also shown that although some of these sides may not be glamorous fixtures on paper, these sides will want it, be hungry for it & fight for every ball e.g. Colchester who set off like an house on fire Tuesday whilst we we're still sat in the dressing room . We need to realize as I've said before you've got to earn the right to play before we can play, doing the dirty work, the pressing, the harrying..that's from the first whistle to the last, not just expect to turn up when we fancy it.

Looking forward to Sunday, let's hope we bounce back to winning ways

But they're senior, experienced pros, in the main. They know this, and if they don't, I doubt they're going to learn.
If it's not the players' fault, then it's Adkins' fault for setting them up wrong.
Losing to a small team at home is unfortunate, losing to two in a few days is careless.

 

[BushBlade]

WHF , i saw Adkins yesterday ( nothing grand it was in a petrol station and we were in the queue to pay ) . I asked him if he minded , if i could talk to him about SUFC . The guy is positive about all things SUFC , and to cut to the chase , he spent 20 minutes eloquently telling me the way he sees it , and was in some way the same as you.

We have got to back the guy.

UTB

Agree but will we? Jim seems quite resilient but the other owner has a record of making stupid decisions and pandering to the boo-boys. You know the one I mean, the one who said we know fuck all about getting a manager.

 

[Wards]

Every time I see us struggle in midfield I wish we'd pushed the boat out a bit for Sam Morsy. Feel we've missed a trick there.

 

[Balham]

WHF , i saw Adkins yesterday ( nothing grand it was in a petrol station and we were in the queue to pay ) . I asked him if he minded , if i could talk to him about SUFC . The guy is positive about all things SUFC , and to cut to the chase , he spent 20 minutes eloquently telling me the way he sees it , and was in some way the same as you.

We have got to back the guy.

UTB

That's all very well my Lord but what about his [Adkin's] alloys?!

EDIT: I'm about as far from ITK as you can get but I did have a chat with someone who works at United over the summer. He was effusive in his praise of Adkins, who he described as "seriously impressive".

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Lord Bos of Eckington. summed up what I was set to reply with William Henry Foulkes.

The assumption's the team doesn't care & Baxter is lazy are ridiculous assumptions & I agree some Blades (some missing a shilling or two) seem to make this assumption as soon as we lose a game or are playing poorly. They show their frustrations by booing & slagging 'em off unconstructively which does no-one any good at all. I agree there we're a few positives from Tuesday - if Sharp had buried his four chances we'd have took home three points, McNulty looked like a man on a mission when he came on & was impressive (surely has to start Sunday)

Of course the players care & want promotion like we all do but think some of them need to realize you can't just up the tempo against the better opponents in this league or for 45 minutes then wander round at half pace for the other 45 minutes expecting someone else to take responsibility & come up with the goods that gets us three points.

They all need to be at it from minute one, every game from here on in. They've got it in them as proven by some of the impressive displays so far, the underpar performances have also shown that although some of these sides may not be glamorous fixtures on paper, these sides will want it, be hungry for it & fight for every ball e.g. Colchester who set off like an house on fire Tuesday whilst we we're still sat in the dressing room . We need to realize as I've said before you've got to earn the right to play before we can play, doing the dirty work, the pressing, the harrying..that's from the first whistle to the last, not just expect to turn up when we fancy it.

Looking forward to Sunday, let's hope we bounce back to winning ways

They set off like a house on fire sums it up perfectly. That was the issue. I suspect we were expecting to have to break down a parked bus, instead we were in danger of being steamrollered, and didn't adjust quickly enough.

 

[sitwell]

Have we sunk to the depths of support for Baxter that we highlight how few things he did wrong ? This is our fucking playmaker ffs ,what is it with this guy ,why do you keep persevering ?
Btw WHF no matter how you try and dress is it ,there is no escaping the fact that he was dreadful as he is 90 % of the time and 2 unglamorous long distance covering runs will not get us promoted especially when he cant be bothered with the one that mattered.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Have we sunk to the depths of support for Baxter that we highlight how few things he did wrong ? This is our fucking playmaker ffs ,what is it with this guy ,why do you keep persevering ?
Btw WHF no matter how you try and dress is it ,there is no escaping the fact that he was dreadful as he is 90 % of the time and 2 unglamorous long distance covering runs will not get us promoted especially when he cant be bothered with the one that mattered.

I was challenging the assertion that he did nothing and was lazy. Both are demonstrably wrong afaict.

Bergen has highlighted Baxter's (and Reed's) role in the team.

We created at least five very good chances on Tuesday on top of the goals scored.

Maybe this was in spite of Baxter but it seems more reasonable to conclude that it was because of him (and others).

For me a slow start against a fired up opposition, taking too long to adjust, and finishing were the issues on Tuesday.

 

[sitwell]

I cant believe you don't think hes lazy ,just watch him ,the old Sainsburys bag used to get round the pitch more than him ,he created nothing on Tuesday and I mean nothing against frigging Colchester. The guy is just taking the piss. I know this is just an opinion ,as is yours ,as is Bergens ,and none are more worthy than the other ,but mine is that if we persevere with him we will not go up. I will be hugely disappointed if he starts tomorrow.

 

[Dnblade]

Who would you start then Sitwell?...Reed is the only alternative and is still a kid who's not ready yet imo..if we're setting up with a deep playmaker he's the only other option as the likes of Coutts and Wallace aren't fit,and I can't see Adkins changing how he wants us to play.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

Agreed. To some extent we're waiting till half time to find out what to do as the players on the pitch are not yet able to react to different challenges. This is part of the work in progress. I think this will develop positively over time.

Blackpool parked the bus. Bury kicked and cheated. Colchester came at us all guns blazing.

We didn't react well in any of those games till later than we should have.

WHF , i saw Adkins yesterday ( nothing grand it was in a petrol station and we were in the queue to pay ) . I asked him if he minded , if i could talk to him about SUFC . The guy is positive about all things SUFC , and to cut to the chase , he spent 20 minutes eloquently telling me the way he sees it , and was in some way the same as you.

We have got to back the g

UTB

Have we sunk to the depths of support for Baxter that we highlight how few things he did wrong ? This is our fucking playmaker ffs ,what is it with this guy ,why do you keep persevering ?
Btw WHF no matter how you try and dress is it ,there is no escaping the fact that he was dreadful as he is 90 % of the time and 2 unglamorous long distance covering runs will not get us promoted especially when he cant be bothered with the one that mattered.

Sitters , dont think its supporting Baxter as such , after feelings / tensions have calmed , its addling some sense to it and supporting the team

UTb

 

[sitwell]

Unfortunately you are right ,we have no alternatives ,Adkins must address the midfield problem with urgency ,as for Sunday I would start with Basham and Scougall ,with JCR and Adams either side and hope Flynn and Reed are fit as back up ,maybe bring Baxter on for the last 20.