We haven't had a consistently good CB in friggin years!! Yes, I know we are div 2 blah blah blah, but if the issue had been addressed years ago we might not be div 2 and excusing bad decisions blah blah bah.
I do a lot of photography and when buying kit the saying goes "Buy cheap, buy twice". How many bloody times have we bought twice ffs?
Last edited by SmiffyPie; 20-01-2018 at 07:37 PM.
I think today we were almost forced into the formation that caused us to have one of our most disappointing and frustrating half’s in a year at home. With Tootle, Duffy out and Yates gone and Ameobi on the bench it showed big time and no surprised we lost the game. The two goals we conceded were very soft.
We missed Duffy’s presence today and as others have said we are weak in central defence and have no cover should Duffy or Brisley get injured or suspended. Hollis would not have been the solution had he been here, but I think today confirmed what many of us suspected about lack of cover. I thought Hewitt was outfought in that position.
I’m sorry, but how Nicky Hunt got man of the match is beyond me. That must have been someone’s sense of humour. I hope Tootle can get back in that position as soon as possible.
Jon Stead was upfront on his own and we really need a striker with pace up top with him if Ameobi is not playing alongside.
Onto the positives and what a delight it was to see Liam Noble create so much. Some excellent quality. Likewise at times we showed why and how we had got to second in the league. Once we had scored the penalty I thought we could still go on and get a win.
In conclusion I thought today was a change of formation and the introduction of too many players who had not played together before too far.
You learn the most in defeat and I’m certain Kevin Nolan will have learned a lot today.
Last edited by MAD_MAGPIE; 20-01-2018 at 08:09 PM.
We were not forced into that stupid system today it was a complete disaster even if Nolan felt Shola couldn’t play why not start Forte and go 4-4-2?
I felt even though we had 3 in midfield we lost the midfield battle and we got completely destroyed in the first half he should have made the sub at half time as soon as Shola came on the game changed.
I wasn’t impressed with Noble or Husin today too lightweight I thought and it was the same at Lincoln as soon as Virtue went off we lost the midfield again but in fairness Lincoln were a sold side and look a very good team at this level.
The sooner we get another CB so we have Hewitt energy in midfield the better we also need another striker think everybody knows that.
If honest we were likely to lose at some point today was that day but it is how we fight back that matters now hopefully starting with Crawley on Tuesday we need to win that game.
I think at this level, when you play three central midfielders, they tend to show a lack of urgency and over indulge themselves. When there's only two, both players know they've got to be switched on, win their battles and get the ball forward as soon as they can. With Hewitt and Yates we've been winning battles despite being outnumbered on several occasions.
I'm alarmed at how many midfielders we have now, what with Noble, Walker, Virtue and Noor. It suggests Nolo is thinking about changing our style unnecessarily. I don't want us to see Hewitt moved out of the engine room where he has been a revelation, and surely there's only a need for a couple more. All of the 'contenders' to be his partner have got some ability, but have they got the desire and work rate week in, week out? Our regular formation and style of play doesn't need to change. It's those players who need to prove themselves.
Last edited by jackal2; 20-01-2018 at 08:46 PM.
I thought Noble had a decent game, made us play football, made a couple of great runs and passes that really opened up Exeter, I think if we see him and Hewitt together in midfield we'd be fine but injuries obviously stopped that.
The frailties of the squad that everyone has known about for months were exposed today.
No options up front and no cover at centre half. Tootle not being available obviously didn’t help either, but signing 3 midfielders in this window is mental. We haven’t won consecutive games since September and our form since then has been mid table.
If we’re not very careful we’re gonna f00k this season right up.