Mark Connolly

but but but remember when connolly first signed everyone loved him because he showed that passion when conceding!? suddenly people have started to realise he has always been a bombscare. the amount of goals he has cost us since joining is crazy. Last season we were better defensively when he was out injured. we played Reynolds and Watson CB mainly during our great run that effectively won us the league because we went on a good run without conceding. Our form then dropped once he came back (also with RN mucking about with the selection tombola)

He has his good games aswell and shows that he is capable of playing at this level but he has too many mistakes in him. Anyone who would take him over Reynolds in the team doesn't know much about football imo. Reynolds is past his best and isnt great on the ball but he is generally a better defender and has less mistakes in him. he also allows us to have natural balance at the back with him being our only left footed CB. Edwards has looked better alongside Reynolds aswell

Should have kept Paul Watson.

Absolutely. There is nothing here that is unexpected. Connolly wasn't up to it in The Championship never mind The Premiership. We knew it. Watson. Reynolds was a solid partnership which happened by accident because of Connolly's injury, When Neilson threw him back in we started leaking goals again. Releasing Watson and extending Connolly's contract was totally baffling.

I think its due to Connolly being what i would consider a "flashy" centre back. He wants to win every ball, hes aggressive, he throws his body in the way of things and thinks he is a ball playing CB. but all this hides the underlining factor..... that if he done the basics of defending then he wouldnt need to cover commit to stuff therefore putting himself in stupid positions which result in goals! Thats why i think watson never got a new deal. hes not flashy enough. he was a boring CB who went unnoticed alot of the time. exactly what you want but apparently not from certain managers

look at that livi goal for example. that goal gets prevented by MC being in a better starting position to start with. then he wouldnt need to control the ball like he did but once he is under serious pressure from their boy he has a great chance to just hook it away or even attempt a pass to Deniz but instead he tries to take a touch away which is heavy and he gets robbed.

the basics! get the ball away from the goal. put it out and deal with it afterwards would have got us a draw.

If in doubt, put the f*cking thing out.

The whole thing is an absolute joke. Edwards' fresh air clearance. Connolly trying to chest it down. Butcher & Bolton standing ball watching. Bolton must have about 6 yards on Forrest over on the other side but just does not see the danger, whereas Forrest does, drives into the box and ends up being the boy who scores. Just comical.

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Originally Posted by arab777

Absolutely. There is nothing here that is unexpected. Connolly wasn't up to it in The Championship never mind The Premiership. We knew it. Watson. Reynolds was a solid partnership which happened by accident because of Connolly's injury, When Neilson threw him back in we started leaking goals again. Releasing Watson and extending Connolly's contract was totally baffling.

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Agree 100% yet many on here argued with me on this

My main worry and i hope its unfounded but when Micky gave him a 3 year deal it may have been his leadership qualities would allow Mr and Mrs Mellon more time off to enjoy the beauty of our country that none of them have seen for years.
I fully appreciate that Connolly in the dressing room will be a leader but he really needs to cut out the horrific errors from his game or we are going down,Micky will get sacked and his deal will be cut short with a pay off,FACT.

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Originally Posted by arab777

Absolutely. There is nothing here that is unexpected. Connolly wasn't up to it in The Championship never mind The Premiership. We knew it. Watson. Reynolds was a solid partnership which happened by accident because of Connolly's injury, When Neilson threw him back in we started leaking goals again. Releasing Watson and extending Connolly's contract was totally baffling.

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THIS ^

But we need solutions: Liam Smith must be back soon. Robson is OK. Bolton is class. Butcher could move back from midfield. Edwards might improve as he settles in. Reynolds and Connelly are not the answer I fear.

We need Connolly's passion on the park. Often he is head and shoulders above the rest with this attribute. Yes he is accident prone when it comes to **** ups, but his team mates should be offering him more support than leaving him to get out of situations himself. The opposition knows full well that to put Connolly under pressure will likely give them a chance in a game to score. Remember too, our highly creative midfield and razor sharp attack has put our defence under more pressure than it should suffer. Generally speaking the defence has borne the burden well.

I don't mind Connolly selling a goal if in return our midfield and forwards can score two. If we have the balance right in the team, he will be under less pressure and the slip ups more easily forgiven and likely less frequent. A Connolly in a 'we only score four' team can be an asset. A Connolly in a 'we cannae score at a' team can be an ass!

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Originally Posted by RAM1971

We need Connolly's passion on the park. Often he is head and shoulders above the rest with this attribute. Yes he is accident prone when it comes to **** ups, but his team mates should be offering him more support than leaving him to get out of situations himself. The opposition knows full well that to put Connolly under pressure will likely give them a chance in a game to score. Remember too, our highly creative midfield and razor sharp attack has put our defence under more pressure than it should suffer. Generally speaking the defence has borne the burden well.

I don't mind Connolly selling a goal if in return our midfield and forwards can score two. If we have the balance right in the team, he will be under less pressure and the slip ups more easily forgiven and likely less frequent. A Connolly in a 'we only score four' team can be an asset. A Connolly in a 'we cannae score at a' team can be an ass!

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Agree with this.