Time to be ruthless

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andy m said:
difficult to make a forward pass when nobody makes a run
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He's too deep to make any telling passes but tonight I knowxwhat you mean. Last couple of games he's reminding me of Baxter with the showboat cross field passes that don't acieve much. Need to get forward more in where it hurts.
 



Alfreton14Blade said:
Yeah, same goes for Fleck too I think (whose form's been good recently). He keeps making little bursts & trying to inject a bit of tempo, but Couttsy - the "go-to guy" who probably has many more touches of the ball than anyone else every game - is fatally slowing things down all the time at present.
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this ^^
 
Yesterday was probably an example of why we have the new signings and where we had to 'make do' to some extent.

Wilder clearly wanted something more from whoever partners Sharp. Now, clearly Hanson has been brought in to do just that. Unfortunately he wasn't signed in time so we ended up giving McNulty a game. No reason he should be scapegoated, he's had very little chance this season for a correct impression to be given, but clearly this was one change in mind which just didn't happen.

I'd also suggest that if the unfortunate injury to Carruthers hadn't occurred, the gradual decline in effectiveness of the midfield would have been addressed by rotating players. Fact is form is not permanent and clearly since Southend and perhaps even a little before, the midfield trio were not quite as the same level of previous months. We now have Carruthers back to replace any one of the three and O'Shea as more of a direct goal threat to perhaps take some pressure off Duffy. Scougall ended up getting the nod yesterday, and he's been in the cold for a while, yet surely both of these recent additions would have made the pitch before Scougall.

Players go through ups and downs in form and it's not uncommon, especially as the weather turns and it can be more about digging in than about stroking the ball around on bowling green (Desso!) pitches.

Disappointing but it seems we have fallen victim a little to injury and the reinforcements not arriving on time. This further compounded by Wilder giving one too many chances to an errant defensive trio when a change of personnel was probably overdue. Wright really needs to return and EEL needs to play to the right of three or not at all, he's no organizer and needs experience to help with his own game. Wilson or Basham playing right centre half for a few games might give him the breather he needs.

We have a massive Christmas with maximum points after a huge effort. Perhaps this has just caught up with us, especially when the new additions have been unavailable.

I'd still rather be in our position, but we do need to press home the next few games and though we lost, it does now mean there are only a couple of games against the 'top' teams left.
 
Champagneblade said:
Yesterday was probably an example of why we have the new signings and where we had to 'make do' to some extent.

Wilder clearly wanted something more from whoever partners Sharp. Now, clearly Hanson has been brought in to do just that. Unfortunately he wasn't signed in time so we ended up giving McNulty a game. No reason he should be scapegoated, he's had very little chance this season for a correct impression to be given, but clearly this was one change in mind which just didn't happen.

I'd also suggest that if the unfortunate injury to Carruthers hadn't occurred, the gradual decline in effectiveness of the midfield would have been addressed by rotating players. Fact is form is not permanent and clearly since Southend and perhaps even a little before, the midfield trio were not quite as the same level of previous months. We now have Carruthers back to replace any one of the three and O'Shea as more of a direct goal threat to perhaps take some pressure off Duffy. Scougall ended up getting the nod yesterday, and he's been in the cold for a while, yet surely both of these recent additions would have made the pitch before Scougall.

Players go through ups and downs in form and it's not uncommon, especially as the weather turns and it can be more about digging in than about stroking the ball around on bowling green (Desso!) pitches.

Disappointing but it seems we have fallen victim a little to injury and the reinforcements not arriving on time. This further compounded by Wilder giving one too many chances to an errant defensive trio when a change of personnel was probably overdue. Wright really needs to return and EEL needs to play to the right of three or not at all, he's no organizer and needs experience to help with his own game. Wilson or Basham playing right centre half for a few games might give him the breather he needs.

We have a massive Christmas with maximum points after a huge effort. Perhaps this has just caught up with us, especially when the new additions have been unavailable.

I'd still rather be in our position, but we do need to press home the next few games and though we lost, it does now mean there are only a couple of games against the 'top' teams left.
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Agree with most of that.

The signs have been there at home for a while and there were plenty of posts pre Xmas about the doubts over EEL, Basham and Moore and unfortunately, all seem to have imploded at the same time.

I've still got 100% (well maybe 95 :)) confidence in Wilder and his comments after the last two games have pretty much summed it up without him naming names. He's brought in someone to give us (and defenders) something else to think about up front and has brought in more directness for midfield.

We have struggled to break teams down at home for a while and the personnel changes should help and I'm confident the away form will continue as we are better suited when teams come at us more than they do at the Lane.

As the OP suggests, it's probably time to bring in Wilson/Wright and maybe look at breaking up the Coutts/Fleck partnership at home as we have been sussed and unfortunately, mistakes have compounded that over the last few games.
 
Booker4 said:
Moore pulled of two exceptional saves and their goal was a first time shot from just outside the six yard box hit with a lot of power and accuracy. Moore isn't supposed to stay on one post all the time, unless the ball goes out wide and the ball came from the other side of the pitch ,so naturally Moore couldn't get across to it.
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That's true. Apart from his howlers at Walsall, Moore has been very good. In fact he has kept us in games (Swindon, Oldham, Northampton) which we could well have lost. He kept us in it last night with that save with his feet but, as usual, it counted for nothing as the rest of the team are collectively inept. He had no chance with the first and their second summed up part of what's gone wrong. A Barnsley cast-off (Cole) induced such panic among two of our 'defenders' that we conceded a comedy goal. Don't expect Hanson to change things. Our 'service' to the forwards is pathetic. Our players don't even look up and try to pick a player out - they just cross it in the general direction of the box (usually over-hit) and hope for the best. Hanson and O'Shay were sat just in front of me and must be wondering what they've let themselves in for.
 
grafikhaus said:
That's true. Apart from his howlers at Walsall, Moore has been very good. In fact he has kept us in games (Swindon, Oldham, Northampton) which we could well have lost. He kept us in it last night with that save with his feet but, as usual, it counted for nothing as the rest of the team are collectively inept. He had no chance with the first and their second summed up part of what's gone wrong. A Barnsley cast-off (Cole) induced such panic among two of our 'defenders' that we conceded a comedy goal. Don't expect Hanson to change things. Our 'service' to the forwards is pathetic. Our players don't even look up and try to pick a player out - they just cross it in the general direction of the box (usually over-hit) and hope for the best. Hanson and O'Shay were sat just in front of me and must be wondering what they've let themselves in for.
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Indeed I agree ...... particularly about crosses !! o_O

Do we EVER practice crossing a ball other than from a dead ball situation ???? The only player in the side who can deliver a decent cross on the run is Sharp ....... and he should be on the end of the bloody thing !! :rolleyes:

We always seem to either hit the first man ( from corners and free kicks as well ) or it goes flying 4 feet over the heads of our "big" lads upfront !!! :eek:

Opportunity for improvement there methinks ....

UTB & FTP
 
Roygbiv said:
Moore was our best player tonight (which says a lot). Only he and Sharp could have any serious argument if they were dropped after that tonight
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Harsh on Lafferty and Freeman who both put in a couple of excellent crosses in the first half but no-one was anywhere near them.

I thought Fleck did as well as he could, given they did a job on him. A combination of some early nasty shallenges (no 38) and then sitting tight on him, stopped him being effective but he still kept trying.

I was disappointed in Coutts who I've previously praised. He seemed to look for the safe option rather than putting pressure back on to them by going forward.

Other teams will have watched this and we now need plans B. C & D. I can't see how any of them can include McNulty or Scougal though.
 
Tyler Durden said:
Fuck all Moore can do when he has the worst defence this side of the millennium in front of him.
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Really? With some of the defences we'd had playing for us since Maguire left are you seriously claiming this is the worst?
 
Sean Thornton said:
He's too deep to make any telling passes but tonight I knowxwhat you mean. Last couple of games he's reminding me of Baxter with the showboat cross field passes that don't acieve much. Need to get forward more in where it hurts.
Click to expand...
In our system at least one of the midfielders has to sit. I think our problem is we only have one way of playing. We have no pace to run in behind defenders, no big man to hit, nobody that can run at players. We have technical players who can keep possession but we always end up going wide and crossing it. And our crossing is shit.
 
I should coco said:
Harsh on Lafferty and Freeman who both put in a couple of excellent crosses in the first half but no-one was anywhere near them.

I thought Fleck did as well as he could, given they did a job on him. A combination of some early nasty shallenges (no 38) and then sitting tight on him, stopped him being effective but he still kept trying.

I was disappointed in Coutts who I've previously praised. He seemed to look for the safe option rather than putting pressure back on to them by going forward.

Other teams will have watched this and we now need plans B. C & D. I can't see how any of them can include McNulty or Scougal though.
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Fair points, probably a bit of an emotional post there from me after last night. Looking back now I thought Fleck did at least try and drive us on from midfield and Freeman did nothing much wrong. Lafferty may have been at fault for the first goal and possibly should have scored with a header but his performance wasn't much different to every other week really.

I too was disappointed in Coutts. He seemed to dwell on the ball way too long. To be fair there didn't seem many options in front of him at times but he did take the safe option too many times for me. Duffy wasn't at his best either, particularly with his final ball.
 
The state of some of the hyperbole in this thread.

There's no doubt that the first 11 needs mixing up after the last 3 games. But given how Southend is still in very recent memory, to start using words like "worst" is daft.

Wilder has to follow through on his creedo that you keep your place if we're playing well. Certain players are not playing well, so it's time to make changes.
 
There is no replacement at the club for Moore - he is plenty good enough, it's the poor defending directly in front of him to blame.
We need Fresh Legs!

Back 3 needs alterations like:
O'Connell - Wilson - Wright

Keep Fleck, Coutts and Duffy - they are the main reason we are top of the league. - Carruthers and O'shea as back up.

Leave Freeman at RWB and bring in Joe at LWB

Bring in Hanson alongside Billy with Lavery getting a good regular portion of game time.

Basically just needs freshening up and let the out of form players get their form back in training or bit parts.

Lavery was so much better than McJumper last night. Lavery plays some nice intricate moves with Billy and also wins his fare share of headers. His direct running at players is a real threat.


We do need that Beast in the box for knockdowns but we also need the players to get around and behind the defence. I am sure that Hanson will occupy 2 players minimum when balls are aimed at him - something that simply does not happen.

There has to be player changes for the Womble game and it's nice to know we have a week and a half to work on tactics and partnerships.


Keep the faith - UTMB !!!
 
Tyler Durden said:
Fuck all Moore can do when he has the worst defence this side of the millennium in front of him.
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This.

A keeper is only as good as the defenders in front of him. Ok this is a defence that has helped get us to where we are, but for some reason, something isn't firing and any uncertainty will spread to the keeper. Yes he's let a couple of soft ones in, but what's the alternative? George Long (really not looking like it's going to happen for him) or Aaron Ramsdale who will get slaughtered like a Spring Lamb the first time he makes a mistake?
 



The Crab said:
This.

A keeper is only as good as the defenders in front of him. Ok this is a defence that has helped get us to where we are, but for some reason, something isn't firing and any uncertainty will spread to the keeper. Yes he's let a couple of soft ones in, but what's the alternative? George Long (really not looking like it's going to happen for him) or Aaron Ramsdale who will get slaughtered like a Spring Lamb the first time he makes a mistake?
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Well that's the thing isn't it. Many have said on here, "If the defence is so bad then why are we top?".
The answer is very simple, it's had nothing to do with the defence. We've been relying on scoring more goals than the opposition all along. When our goals start drying up, the problem is clearly exposed.
34 goals conceded by January is not the hallmark of a team with promotion credentials.
 
Bruce Wayne said:
Against the mighty Fleetwood (arse end of the mighty Blackpool) Moore keeps us in it on our way to a 2-0 home defeat. Says it all doesn't it.

.
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funny I remember the its only bournemouth comments 5 years ago
fleetwood are 4th in the table won 5 on the bounce

show a bit of respect, just now they arent a bad side , better than Bradford
 
s4-blade said:
I don't know what you're obsession/irrational hatred of Coutts and now O'Connell can be attributed to but, frankly, it's quite bizarre. If you're that desperate to scapegoat someone, at least pick a bad player.
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Opinions Blade. Yours on Moore is at best strange but its your opinion, as Tyler has his own views on O'Connell.
 
Tyler Durden said:
Well that's the thing isn't it. Many have said on here, "If the defence is so bad then why are we top?".
The answer is very simple, it's had nothing to do with the defence. We've been relying on scoring more goals than the opposition all along. When our goals start drying up, the problem is clearly exposed.
34 goals conceded by January is not the hallmark of a team with promotion credentials.
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I think there have been question marks for weeks over the solidity of the defence. They have just been somewhat masked because we have been scoring. As you rightly say, now the goals are drying up a bit our defensive frailties are more exposed.

This now is where CW will earn his corn, he will know, and the experienced staff around him will know, something isn't right. The key is how they address that, what the Plan B is. He's done a fantastic job so far, and long may it continue. But I fear that given the general fashion for sacking managers, added to KM's whim for sacking, Wilder might not get the time he needs. Then we will be back to square one, yet a-fucking-gain.
 
And Hammond... we're probably still paying his wages anyway
 
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The Crab said:
I think there have been question marks for weeks over the solidity of the defence. They have just been somewhat masked because we have been scoring. As you rightly say, now the goals are drying up a bit our defensive frailties are more exposed.

This now is where CW will earn his corn, he will know, and the experienced staff around him will know, something isn't right. The key is how they address that, what the Plan B is. He's done a fantastic job so far, and long may it continue. But I fear that given the general fashion for sacking managers, added to KM's whim for sacking, Wilder might not get the time he needs. Then we will be back to square one, yet a-fucking-gain.
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He'll only sack CW if we start crying again and he thinks he won't be able to sell season tickets.
 



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