So what happens to Baxter

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

There was one incident when Baxter made an excellent pass down the right wing ,and then just stood still admiring it. If he had followed it up by running forward we would have had an extra body in the box and could have scored. Why he didn't is either laziness , lack of awareness or fitness ,all 3 are unacceptable. This combined with his shocking set pieces when he is hailed as our technically gifted player is so disappointing. His career is in decline and has been for a few years before he came to us. The problem is in his head in my opinion and is such a waste.

Mr Clough and his back room staff , must watch the videos after each match and notice the deficiencies us fans see . If not Mr Clough may solve a lot of his , and the teams problems , by logging on to this forum . Good posts and full of common sense. Perhaps the whole SUFC set up may learn something useful , from board to players . What do we know , we only pay to watch week in week out.

Pissed off , but always positive Blade.

UTB.

 

[sitwell]

They must have the opta sats. Would love to see how much ground is covered by some players.

 

[Woodwardfan]

#OP -what happens to Baxter - he challenges for Player of the Season hopefuly. If he doesn't we are stuffed.

 

[Foxy]

They must have the opta sats. Would love to see how much ground is covered by some players.

Would be nice if Prozone was publicly available

 

[Dnblade]

My problem with leaving Baxter out is..who else is capable of being creative and become the playmaker...Reed maybe eventually,but not ready yet...Scougs is more mobile,but hasn't got the same range of passing.Baxter has got his faults,but we need him to spray the ball about and pick out the runners...I like Baxter deeper setting up the play,but maybe he needs a more mobile player alongside like Basham...Maybe it's just me,but Baxter isn't the main problem..he's finding players further forward,but more often than not the cross doesn't come in,or the the attack breaks down by lost possesion further forward....it reminds me of McCDonald when he used to play the ball wide..it would then come back as the winger couldn't beat the Full Back,as we had nobody capable of running past their marker..Macca got the blame,now it's Baxter...but let's see the likes of Murphy,Scougs,JCR and Basham run past people and get shots and crosses in ..instead of checking back and hesitating,and we might see a big improvement....oh yeah,and a Right Back who can get forward in support is needed for me.

 

[Foxy]

My problem with leaving Baxter out is..who else is capable of being creative and become the playmaker...Reed maybe eventually,but not ready yet...Scougs is more mobile,but hasn't got the same range of passing.Baxter has got his faults,but we need him to spray the ball about and pick out the runners...I like Baxter deeper setting up the play,but maybe he needs a more mobile player alongside like Basham...Maybe it's just me,but Baxter isn't the main problem..he's finding players further forward,but more often than not the cross doesn't come in,or the the attack breaks down by lost possesion further forward....it reminds me of McCDonald when he used to play the ball wide..it would then come back as the winger couldn't beat the Full Back,as we had nobody capable of running past their marker..Macca got the blame,now it's Baxter...but let's see the likes of Murphy,Scougs,JCR and Basham run past people and get shots and crosses in ..instead of checking back and hesitating,and we might see a big improvement....oh yeah,and a Right Back who can get forward in support is needed for me.

Whilst Baxter does undoubtedly have the talent required to do the job we want him to, he's simply incredibly inconsistent and been off his game most of the season for me. When he's off his game, due to the nature of his play, we end up carrying a man.

You mention other players making Baxter look bad... How many times did he lazily play a ball at least a couple of yards behind the man on Friday? How is the winger supposed to beat the full back when his first task is to check back 2 or 3 yards and pick up the ball facing the wrong direction?

It's not just Baxter that has a habit of doing this, there are many guilty of dwelling on the ball and playing it to a man under pressure or playing it behind the man at the moment.

 

[Dnblade]

Whilst Baxter does undoubtedly have the talent required to do the job we want him to, he's simply incredibly inconsistent and been off his game most of the season for me. When he's off his game, due to the nature of his play, we end up carrying a man.

You mention other players making Baxter look bad... How many times did he lazily play a ball at least a couple of yards behind the man on Friday? How is the winger supposed to beat the full back when his first task is to check back 2 or 3 yards and pick up the ball facing the wrong direction?

It's not just Baxter that has a habit of doing this, there are many guilty of dwelling on the ball and playing it to a man under pressure or playing it behind the man at the moment.

Yes I agree,although I didn't say other players were making him look bad..and like you say a lot of the others were playing passes behind players or passing back when a forward pass was on...baxter did play some good balls to Murphy and JCR in particular,who didn't capitalise from good positions..I agree he's not on great form,I agree he's not the best without the ball..but he's the best passer and most creative player we've got..who else is going to provide those passes..how many chances does JCR need to get a decent cross in,or how many chances does Murphy need to run at the defense and check back and lose momentum.
I like Murphy,and JCR for that matter,but they seem to hesitate in good positions lately...just my view on things that's all..I just think we'd create a lot less without Baxter...Maybe Reed eventually will be the man,but he's still learning and finding his feet.