My thoughts

[hoppo78]

As a lot of people probably did, at half time I predicted a 1-1 draw. Another predictable good 2nd half performance, after an equally predictable shocking first, but not enough to beat another very average team. If it wasn’t for a last ditch tackle it could easily have been 2-0 and would have been game over. Another 2 dropped points and another chance to assert ourselves as genuine title contenders, in a league that is as poor as it has been since we dropped into this terrible league, squandered.

I haven’t been on the 4-4-2 band waggon but it is now patently clear to me that we don’t have the strikers (COG excluded) to play 4-5-1. Higdon gets booed off after another poor performance but he is clearly a striker who needs a player playing off him in a 4-4-2. Strong, (sometimes) good in the air, but way too immobile to be a lone striker in a 4-5-1.

On the bench we have McNulty, another good player but again, a player who is not a lone striker and should be playing up top with another target man next to him. If only we had one of those, hold on a minute…..oh yes, we do.

If we are going to persist with 4-5-1 home and away (yes I appreciate we went 4-4-2 towards the end and we looked better but can anyone see Clough playing that more regularly?) then we might as well sell Higdon and McNulty and get another couple of players to challenge COG who can lead the line effectively in a 4-5-1 instead of constantly trying to hammer square pegs into round holes (Baxter included).

It pains me to say it but the striker who in my opinion is probably the worst regularly played striker we have had at this club in the last 20 odd years is much better equipped to play up top in a 4-5-1 than any of the 3 we hare persisted with this season. He’s mobile, can run the channels and can win headers. Ok, so he’s soft as shit and cant hit a barn door but you get my point. You know who I am referring to.

I appreciate Clough’s quandary because we have so many talented midfielders he would have to leave out some of our better players if we played 4-4-2 regularly but he needs to either stick to 4-5-1 and get strikers who can do the job, or go 4-4-2 and accept some of the quality midfielders will have to be benched and/or potentially be sold.

Clough’s had more than a year to sort this out, as much as I want him to be a success he is failing at sorting our the most crucial part of his team. My previous faith in him is now beginning to quickly diminish.

Now on to the old chestnut of investment and ambition.

When we first dropped into this league we were told we couldn’t spend big because we had to fall in line with the new SCMP rules. We had a plan to be a well run club, living within our means and promoting youth players and keeping within our budget. I bought that theory. Looking back and now looking at teams such as Bristol who seem to be able to buy their way out of the league (with far lower attendances and as such should be below us in allowed SCMP wage budget) it now looks like an excuse not to spend money. Either that or we were too naïve to work out ways around SCMP, both are damning on the board, either on their intentions or aptitude.

Then came the “game changing” investment. I remember losing to Rotherham away and singing “we’re shit, but we’re filthy rich” – how embarrassing in hindsight.

I genuinely can’t see what Prince Abdullah’s “investment” (and I use the word lightly) has done other than give us a couple of American and a Turkish board members who interact with the fans on twitter, as nice as that is.

We are told that we have a stringent wage budget and we still have to live within our means and they can’t through stupid money at it, yet we were supposed to be in the premier league in 5 years - 3 and a half years to go lads.

Surely this league IS the league where throwing a bit of money at the team can give you big rewards as Bristol have proved? Are we meant to believe we are going to be frugal in League 1 and then on the off chance we get promoted suddenly throw at it the millions required to get into the Premiership? Yeah right.

We’re getting a new pitch though so that’s something to get excited about – I for one cannot wait. Plus we don’t have that much available money (forgetting about the promised investment) because Harry Maguire cash only paid 1 million up front. What a load of rubbish. All transfer deals are like that and guess what, if we ever do spend any money we will also write into the deal that there is a certain amount upfront and the rest in instalments, so the argument does not carry any weight.

Comically some fans were on here asking people to “apologise” to the board for doubting them when they brought in COG on a short time loan. A game changing player loaned using the game changing investment. I think not.

Has Clough dictated this low wage budget in the interests of team spirit or has he had this dictated to him by the board? You can have millions to spend but if you are only prepared to pay players peanuts then you cant spend any of it because no one will sign for you once the transfer fee is agreed. Maybe this enforced or agreed wage budget is the problem. Or maybe the board simply aren’t prepared to invest.

We seem to me to be a club who is happy to plod along, being a nice well run club, floating around the playoffs in League 1, hoping that sooner or later our luck will turn and we will win a playoff final.

How has it come to this?

 

[Esablade]

An interesting post with a lot to take in.
One thing is clear to me though, Nigel's got to change something re:results how we're set up...I suspect however he'll carry on and put all his eggs in COG's basket...let's hope it works and he can make the space for more attacking play.

UTB!

 

[bartman]

I haven’t been on the 4-4-2 band waggon but it is now patently clear to me that we don’t have the strikers (COG excluded) to play 4-5-1. Higdon gets booed off after another poor performance but he is clearly a striker who needs a player playing off him in a 4-4-2. Strong, (sometimes) good in the air, but way too immobile to be a lone striker in a 4-5-1.

Agree with a lot of your post but this thin with formations frustrates me. I am sure you notices we player 4-4-2 for 3/4 of the game yesterday. It didn't work( as the 4-5-1 formation didn't work) as we do not play with a high enough temp.

We are slow is passing,movement and thought. We need to be quick to the ball and then press teams. An example was when we went to down to ten men at Donny. All of a sudden we worked harder,made up for the missing player and we used quick passing and movement to get forward.

Ten minutes into the 2nd half yesterday we won a corner. We need to get them on the back foot. Instead of players running into position and the corner taking running over to take it,we had defenders sauntering forward and Baxter doing a slow walk to the corner flag. This allowed the County players to set up their positions.

Any formation can work bit for me we need to play at a high tempo against teams like County

 

[DSB-91]

Good post, with a lot of points that can't be easily dismissed as wrist slashing hysterics.

I think United's shortcomings come down to last summer's recruitment. Key players went and weren't replaced with equal quality. There was the Butler debacle. Wallace has never been fit long enough to make a significant impact, and at this rate never will be. JCR is a good player but clearly can't play the role he's being asked to because his crossing is poor. Davies has disappeared and doesn't seem to fit into the team anymore.

As for Higdon and McNulty, why sign strikers that need a partner when you are obviously committed to having one up font? McNulty admitted when he arrived that he prefers to play as part of a pair and Higdon looks completely out of it on his own. They're not suited to the system the team plays, why buy them? Unless your willing to change tactically, and Clough seems to have no interest in 2 up front, then I don't see the logic.

 

[Northyorksblade]

'Very average' no they weren't that good. Thought they were shocking, and until they scored, well against the run of play, their fans were very quiet. They too obviously recognised how poor they were. It's no wonder they have a good away record as they don't try and win, just try not to lose. Their fans celebrated the final whistle as though they'd won a cup final. We have to 'attack, attack, attack' from the start. What the f### have we got to be scared of in this league for god's sake!!

 

[raul]

Expect the answer to include the new double A -side Charttopper "We're only some points off the top with some games left" with "they were a good side who will be there or therabouts". This will be the No1 Smash Hit until April, when "We're bound to win a play-off one day" becomes the fastest seller of all time - pop pickers.......


In reality, the parallels between NC and DW's difficult second season are scary. A team hovering on the cusp despite never really looking the part, frsutrating the expectant crowd who are growing increasingly angry as the wait for the stars of last seasons firecracker of a side to ramp it up. Only, look closer, and they're not there anymore. The best players have departed, replaced by an interchangeable and anonymous troupe of journeymen, bogged down and logjammed by tactics designed by a man who knows his team can no longer swagger their way to victory, opting instead for a more pragmatic and attritional style which sort of gets the results but leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.

This is the key. Then, the warning signs went unheeded. Two players were lost to injury on what was maybe the last good performance of the season and an already flimsy confidence was shot. Efforts at patching up were limited to short-term has beens and chucking in kids, with a large slice of Bladey Bladey Bladeness thrown in.

Whether you think things are different now is something that's been done enough recently, but I suspect we're about to find out one way or another.

 

[sitwell]

Agree with a lot of your post but this thin with formations frustrates me. I am sure you notices we player 4-4-2 for 3/4 of the game yesterday. It didn't work( as the 4-5-1 formation didn't work) as we do not play with a high enough temp.

We are slow is passing,movement and thought. We need to be quick to the ball and then press teams. An example was when we went to down to ten men at Donny. All of a sudden we worked harder,made up for the missing player and we used quick passing and movement to get forward.

Ten minutes into the 2nd half yesterday we won a corner. We need to get them on the back foot. Instead of players running into position and the corner taking running over to take it,we had defenders sauntering forward and Baxter doing a slow walk to the corner flag. This allowed the County players to set up their positions.

Any formation can work bit for me we need to play at a high tempo against teams like County

Great post , I noticed exactly the same thing ,every time we built up the tempo ,Baxter or the referee slowed us down and we had to build again. I know I sound like a broken record with Baxter , but a slow paced game doesn't suit and it is costing us. The problem is he can do it as he proved at Donny ,but he is so lazy and this is why his career is steadily dropping down the leagues.