Scotchegg
Well-known member
- Joined
- 14 Dec 2017
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It's got draw written all over it..... 5-5
Remember several people around me leave when it was 5-2!
It's got draw written all over it..... 5-5
Apart from that one season when Long and Ruffels were brilliant at full back.He has played at centre back and in a back 3 over the last couple of seasons when we have been short there, in fact they have been his best performances.
Well maybe 5 or 6 of 200 appearances ( stand to be corrected)He’s played quite a few times as right CB in a back three, and done pretty well at it.
Not so sure about Smith but as nobody else seems to be able to score....
This got me thinking, so I did a bit of stats trawling.
And unless I'm much mistaken, the only fit player in our squad that has ever scored 10+ league goals in a season is Cam?
Tyler Smith never has. Nor have Browne, Murphy, Wildschut or Joseph (Bodin, Baldock and obv. Henry all have - but that's not much use to us when they're all crocked).
Which leads me to three conclusions:
a) It's not all that suprising that we've not been able to hit a barn door with a banjo recently when none of our fit forwardshave ever had a track record of scoring regularly at any time in their careers.
b) Of all the dumb decisions made this year, loaning out the guy who has 100+ league goals to his name twenty minutes before the January window shut probably takes the biscuit
c) Karl could not have done a worse job of putting together a functional squad this season if he blindly threw darts at a stack of Rothmans (and yes, I know, they haven't been Rothmans for a while, but I'm old and it still sounds better than 'Sky Sports Football Yearbook')
I'll agree with the final sentiment in particular, as well as the overall futility and overwhelming sense of bleakness.I’m not saying he can’t or shouldn’t change it, I’m merely pondering whether it’s likely and if teaching them a totally new system at this stage is going to be better than trying to improve on the one he’s been trying to hammer them into shape with since his first day. Would we have enough time to get it going? Have we gone too far down the road in terms of the time that’s left? Would tearing it all up halfway through a ten game season be bold and decisive or brazen and destructive? Would it leave the players less clear on what they’re meant to be doing when by all accounts the thing they like the most at present is that they know exactly where they’re meant to be playing and what is expected of them?
The truth is that we would only really know by the time the season is over whether it was right or wrong, and if it were the latter it would probably be far more damaging for Manning long term. I’m glad it’s not me having to make the call, that’s for sure.
Good post, strongly agree. The last few games have felt a bit like a high pressure pre-season, bedding in new principles and getting a view on certain players. There've been some encouraging signs and some equally obvious misfires. Tinkering with shape and structure of the team now could undo the good and would be unlikely to fix the root problem which is clearly a lack of confidence to attack as a unit and trust one another. Regarding team selection, Manning seems to have prioritised physicality and erred towards proven 'quality' regardless of form, hence Murphy over Goodrham. His post-match comments after Bolton were pretty damning so I'm expecting to see a few changes in personnel and positioning tomorrow but not core formation. Based on team would be...I think the issue at this point is that rightly or wrongly, Manning has picked his formation and the way he’s going to try to get out of it. He’s spent over a month drilling a certain shape and way of playing into the players. I don’t think he’s going to change that now, and maybe that’s for the best in the here and now.
Arguably we went from having a bad season to being stuck in a death spiral when Robinson reached the ‘change absolutely everything until something sticks’ stage of panic and chaos. “Drop Findlay! Play four at the back with Djavan on the right! No, I’ve decided he’s a liability, get Longy back in there! Try wing backs and stick Yanic up front! Now get Josh Murphy at wing back and stick Baldock up front! s**t, they’re crap and injured again, go back to a four! I’ve got it! Take the armband off Elliott and make Longy and Cam co-captains!”
I thought a back three with wing backs was the most logical choice when Manning showed up, but he didn’t go that way. Would it actually be worse to lob everything in the bin now? Would the players start thinking, “Oh here we go, another bloody tinker man stuck in a tailspin”?
I can't see us winning tonight either hopefully tomorrow night thoSadly just cannot see us winning tonight.
Would be great if Mous did us a favour and put his U15 team on but PFC are still in the hunt for a playoff place so have something to play for.
Our squad is absolutely shot to pieces thanks to that previous chap and the negligence of T&G.
Manning has an impossible task now to unlock a solution, blend the team properly but with no time to make it all gel with this bunch low-on-confidence players.
Have to accept the inevitable unless Cambridge somehow implode and we hold on for a couple of draws and a narrow win somewhere.
Problem is we seem to struggle against the so-called 'easy' teams as well as the better ones.
Oxford 0-3 Portsmouth
me too .... thankfully the match is tomorrow night, Ive a feeling we'll (finally) notch up a win under ManningSadly just cannot see us winning tonight.
Would be great if Mous did us a favour and put his U15 team on but PFC are still in the hunt for a playoff place so have something to play for.
Our squad is absolutely shot to pieces thanks to that previous chap and the negligence of T&G.
Manning has an impossible task now to unlock a solution, blend the team properly but with no time to make it all gel with this bunch low-on-confidence players.
Have to accept the inevitable unless Cambridge somehow implode and we hold on for a couple of draws and a narrow win somewhere.
Problem is we seem to struggle against the so-called 'easy' teams as well as the better ones.
Oxford 0-3 Portsmouth
I hope your right if we do get relegated I'd rather go down fighting this team have it in them to scrap hopefully w get the first goal and the confidence starts coming backme too .... thankfully the match is tomorrow night, Ive a feeling we'll (finally) notch up a win under Manning
Whoops, sorry getting a bit ahead of myself!me too .... thankfully the match is tomorrow night, Ive a feeling we'll (finally) notch up a win under Manning
Browne is, in my mind, not a left midfielder. All of his good actions come down the middle. That formation would leave Fleming horribly isolated (which is when he has major issues) and the back line protected by an inexperienced Smyth.I think they've been drilled into a 4-2-3-1 and we have been more solid playing this since Manning arrived. Our issue is scoring goals.
As others have mentioned, too much changing in shape that they haven't worked on would be detrimental. It needs the existing shape tweaking to make us more dangerous further forward.
Eastwood
Long Moore Brown Fleming
Smyth Mcguane
Goodhram Brannagan Browne
GOD / Smith
Anderson could play right back too which would allow us some better play down the wings. I'd move Browne to left wing where I think he plays his best football, he looks less confident as a 10 and his finishing has been woeful. Let's focus him down the left beating his man and getting to the byline.
Goodhram in for the work rate our other wingers simply do not have.
Brannagan has to play higher, these are desperate times and we need our star player in and around the box, not defending in front of his own.
Give Smith a try, worth a shot.
Astonishing, I feel the exact opposite. Browne has looked like a rabbit in headlights in the middle and his final ball was appalling at Port Vale especially. He's clearly uncomfortable there, he's not linking with Brannagan or Mcguane, he offers no protection or pressing in the centre of the pitch. Brannagan and Mcguane consistently pick the ball up and can't pick out Browne between the midfield and defensive lines, leading to all of our play going down the wings or playing direct balls to an isolated striker. The best we get from Browne in the middle is a quick skip round a player and foul in deep positions, or the occasional decent burst forward which always ends in hopeless efforts miles over the bar, sure there's a bit of potential there but it's ineffective at the moment and not something we can afford at this stage of the season.Browne is, in my mind, not a left midfielder. All of his good actions come down the middle. That formation would leave Fleming horribly isolated (which is when he has major issues) and the back line protected by an inexperienced Smyth.