Give the manager more time

I go to matches now and I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the mistake to occur.
Baldwin let me down for a few games as he played like Bobby Moore but he had obviously been working on that cock up verses Sutton.

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Originally Posted by Chicken Balti Pie

I think a rethink is needed in personnel. Our goalkeepers play the ball short. If a grown adult can't pass the ball then something is wrong so why not focus on their keeping ability? In ice hockey, a bit stat for goalies is their save percentages, I reckon ours must be very low as I can't remember the last time I felt confident and on target shot from the opposition would be saved?

If we play three at the back, why do all three have to be ball playing centre backs? At least one needs to be a brute who will dominate, ideally two of the three really, stops them from pulling defenders out of position. One ball playing centre back will still have the midfield, the wing backs and the keeper to play to, in total football, the idea is to have at least two options so why do we have to have all our centre backs to be effectively tallish midfielders?

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Good points.

Our recruitment so far - which has unearthed some very good players - has probably over-balanced towards players who are good in possession, at the expense of players who are good out of possession.

As you say, there's a feeling that our selection of goalkeepers has focused too much on what they can do with the ball at their feet and their general distribution, rather than the fundamentals of goalkeeping which are to catch balls, stop shots and command the penalty area.

Likewise, we've got an overload of ball-playing centre-backs who unfortunately are not good (enough) at winning headers, closing down attackers, making tackles and generally dominating their own penalty box.

No matter how much we want the team to play in a certain style, retaining possession wherever possible, you've still got to have the right balance of ball-players and destroyers. The main job of defenders and goalkeepers (and defensive midfielders) is to get the ball off the opposition and keep it out of our net, and the current 'group' doesn't have enough of those types.

...or to put the above in Neil Warnock parlance, "We're soft as sh**!"

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Originally Posted by Chicken Balti Pie

If we play three at the back, why do all three have to be ball playing centre backs? At least one needs to be a brute who will dominate, ideally two of the three really, stops them from pulling defenders out of position. One ball playing centre back will still have the midfield, the wing backs and the keeper to play to, in total football, the idea is to have at least two options so why do we have to have all our centre backs to be effectively tallish midfielders?

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The problem with the possession from the back style of football is if you do have a weak link in the back 3/4 in regards to how they are in possession they become as very easy target for the high press.

You would imagine recruitment are looking at just this for the summer as the defence has not been strengthened in any way from the NL and it shows.

Another thing that strikes me about our central defenders is that they're relatively young for that position, aside from Rawlo, and Brindley who isn't really a centre-half anyway. If there's one area of the team where it matters most to have a big, grizzled 30-ish year-old warhorse and leader then it's in the heart of your defence, organising and commanding the respect of their colleagues and using their experience to read the game. Nigel Clough signed just such a player when he recruited Aden Flint for Mansfield, and it's given them a hard edge they were missing previously.

Interesting to see Morecambe right up there in playoff contention with Archie Mair apparently excellent. 2 questions are obvious, why didn’t we sign Mair, and can you remember when we absolutely battered Morecambe 5-0 in Williams’s last home game?

I can’t imagine that happening now.

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Originally Posted by Mapperleypie

The problem with the possession from the back style of football is if you do have a weak link in the back 3/4 in regards to how they are in possession they become as very easy target for the high press.

You would imagine recruitment are looking at just this for the summer as the defence has not been strengthened in any way from the NL and it shows.

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The problem is, if we continue with the possession-based style, is it possible to find defenders at L2 level who are comfortable on the ball, good at defending, and up for the physical battle? You'd imagine that players that possess all of those qualities would be playing football higher up the pyramid.

If we insist on signing defenders who can 'play', we'll inevitably end up with ones who aren't the best defensively.

I think we need at least one no-nonsense defender whose job it is to win headers, get a foot in, and boot the ball out when needed. The last player we signed like that was Mark Ellis on loan, and he made a tangible impact pretty much straight away.

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Originally Posted by BigFatPie

Interesting to see Morecambe right up there in playoff contention with Archie Mair apparently excellent. 2 questions are obvious, why didn’t we sign Mair, and can you remember when we absolutely battered Morecambe 5-0 in Williams’s last home game?

I can’t imagine that happening now.

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They're not even any good yet they're somehow 7 points above us, it's unreal they have no quality, for example can anybody name me one of their players (other than Mair) I haven't heard of any of them.

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Originally Posted by BigFatPie

Interesting to see Morecambe right up there in playoff contention with Archie Mair apparently excellent. 2 questions are obvious, why didn’t we sign Mair, and can you remember when we absolutely battered Morecambe 5-0 in Williams’s last home game?

I can’t imagine that happening now.

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We should have signed Mair. He showed enough last year to suggest he was on par if not better than Slocombe but lacked experience. He's certainly better than Stone

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Originally Posted by marky

They're not even any good yet they're somehow 7 points above us, it's unreal they have no quality, for example can anybody name me one of their players (other than Mair) I haven't heard of any of them.

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Says something about us that does. We've been throwing points away like confetti!!