Burchnall Ball wont ever get us promoted

[The-Mac pie]

Get in! Presumably jonnyt1's post means we're going up?

(Welcome back too JT!)

Hey swale
Hope your right
JT rarely makes a post nowadays so when he does it has to be respected
Nice to see you back onboard

[Glad2BeAPie]

They don't play tippy tappy football across the back either. They seem to be better equipped for this league.

Exactly my friend

[hissingdwarf]

I’m afraid I agree. If we don’t go up (and I honestly don’t think we deserve to…) IB needs to go…BUT
We are kitted out for possession triangle play. The owners pulled IB in for that very reason. The recruitment model (which must have took a massive hit with Brexit) is geared to that.
We don’t have the ability to dominate if the “through the thirds” doesn’t work.

Genuinely concerned we are putting ourselves in a position of same old, same old. If we remove IB, does anyone see the owners bringing in an “old fashioned” style coach? I certainly don’t and think we’ll end up with another tippy tippy style.
No dogged determination about the team. No hard man routine. Rawlinson has tried, but we need more than a CB to be rough and ready. The middle is as soft as!

[jackal2]

I’m afraid I agree. If we don’t go up (and I honestly don’t think we deserve to…) IB needs to go…BUT
We are kitted out for possession triangle play. The owners pulled IB in for that very reason. The recruitment model (which must have took a massive hit with Brexit) is geared to that.
We don’t have the ability to dominate if the “through the thirds” doesn’t work.

Genuinely concerned we are putting ourselves in a position of same old, same old. If we remove IB, does anyone see the owners bringing in an “old fashioned” style coach? I certainly don’t and think we’ll end up with another tippy tippy style.
No dogged determination about the team. No hard man routine. Rawlinson has tried, but we need more than a CB to be rough and ready. The middle is as soft as!

I don't think we should get too carried away with the idea that the owners insist on this type of football to a fault. They are, by nature and profession, analytical people who will look at the evidence and shouldn't be too proud to adjust. I don't think it a matter of ego or rigid ideology for them. Obviously they would like to see us play attractive football that brings good crowds and perhaps they've aimed for perfection in that regard. I can't really knock them for that, but it wouldn't surprise me if they're reaching the same conclusions as many of us about the type of player needed to add strength, aggression and character to what is currently a talented but somewhat 'nice' squad.

We're a bit like the Spurs and Arsenal of this league - capable of very good performances against most sides, but found wanting against the big guns and with a tendency to drop silly points elsewhere.

The real question may be whether IB is equally pragmatic and willing to adjust away from his rather idealistic playing style in pursuit of a few more results away from home. When all's said and done, that's what's missing. We aren't a bad team - our home record is fine and we're in the play-offs with a number of winnable fixtures to come. It's a case of taking what's already there and adding the missing ingredients, both tactical and personnel.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

It’s infuriating because it’s so close to being able to work, but we appear to be so dogmatic that we won’t change the style even for a little bit during games to allow Plan A to work.

Everyone has just realised that if you press us really high and mark everyone from the short goal kicks, we’ll baffling try to do them anyway. So teams like Torquay can play miles up the pitch and leave loads of space in behind knowing we won’t (and don’t have the pace to without Nemane and Sam) even try and quickly exploit it. So we end up under loads of pressure because Rawlinson and Lacey, for all of their qualities, are rarely picking a splitting pass into midfield through the middle of a high press.

Just go directly in behind their defence quickly a few times and the opposition will have to drop and give us the space we need to play the style we want. It really shouldn’t be rocket science, but it’s easier for opposition managers when we won’t adapt during games at all.

I don’t think we are too far off either. At home we have only lost twice and have picked up a point less at home than Stockport. So our style of play at home and performances generally on the whole are good enough to be challenging for the title.

It’s away from home where we have fallen down this season again. Stockport have won double the amount of games away from home than what we have. Likewise Chesterfield and Wrexham are in second and third place. Three of our defeats on the road needed to have been wins to have kept us up with those three.

It’s like the reverse of the Keith Curle reign. We were the toughest side to beat away, but at home it didn’t work. With IB at home it works but away we have fallen short.

Regardless of what happens I’m hoping the club will analyse and go through all our away games and identify our failures and weaknesses and address it in the summer. Whether that’s by changing our style away from home and/or bringing in players who can make us stronger away from home and grind and fight out a win. It’s been the same the whole three seasons we’ve been at this level.

If we don’t learn and adapt to beat teams away from Meadow Lane we will never be serious contenders for the title.

[uysapie]

I don’t think we are too far off either. At home we have only lost twice and have picked up a point less at home than Stockport. So our style of play at home and performances generally on the whole are good enough to be challenging for the title.

It’s away from home where we have fallen down this season again. Stockport have won double the amount of games away from home than what we have. Likewise Chesterfield and Wrexham are in second and third place. Three of our defeats on the road needed to have been wins to have kept us up with those three.

It’s like the reverse of the Keith Curle reign. We were the toughest side to beat away, but at home it didn’t work. With IB at home it works but away we have fallen short.

Regardless of what happens I’m hoping the club will analyse and go through all our away games and identify our failures and weaknesses and address it in the summer. Whether that’s by changing our style away from home and/or bringing in players who can make us stronger away from home and grind and fight out a win. It’s been the same the whole three seasons we’ve been at this level.

If we don’t learn and adapt to beat teams away from Meadow Lane we will never be serious contenders for the title.

Not with IB that's looks certain. He is intransigent on tactics

[Davy500]

Playing tippy tappy football, thinking you are Man City in the National League just doesn't work. Torquay looked much better than us both defensively and offensively playing proper National League football.

We spend far too much time with the ball in our own half and don't have that ability to unlock defences that Man City do playing with that style. We need to be more direct and play in the oppositions half far more.

Arter and Palmer doesn't work. It should be one or the other. Most of the time Wootton was left stranded on his own with little or no support, so not surprising Torquay put us under pressure.

My conclusion is that Burchnall has to go, his style won't work at this level and will leave us languishing in the National League.

Your conclusion is correct

I said it from the beginning, IB was a poor choice of manager, based on his lack of experience , and that has pretty much played out as i predicted, we might as well of stuck with Ardley
The usual excuses, of we cant keep sacking managers, give him more time bla bla , maybe get the right manager in the first place

Over the years, we have had many managers, which some say is a reason for a downward spiral, the reason for our downward spiral is when we sack a manager we replace them with somebody worse, i mean the whole thing is one big joke , lets sack Ardley , and replace him with a manager with limited experience on a 4 year contract, you cant make this up, and you reap what you sow

[irishpete]

I said on the match fred & will say again, I believe the Owners are influencing the Coaches on what they want to see on the pitch. Little Nob did it to Nolan. Ardley isn't that style of play, maybe just maybe that was why he struggled. He is playing a completely differnt style @ SM, a style that suits this league. Don't believe for one minute they have a "big" budget like some on here claim.
You don't play tippy tappy in your own 1/3. All you do is put yourself under pressure for no reason. Citeh have been sussed, Arsenal conceded last season, 2 defenders playing it across the box against Burnley

[LaxtonLad]

Without a doubt every manager in this league know that our defence and midfield are under orders to play "tippy-tappy" football in our own half and not to relieve pressure by changing that tactic. It's not just that we are more than capable of losing the ball there, putting ourselves into an immediate panic that we should have a Plan B, it's also that we have only one striker upfield and he has to help out for corners, and one scoring midfielder who we rely on for goals. One of those has an off day and it's half a game gone and maybe a goal or two down before a sub comes on and still no Plan B.

Plan A has collapsed and our mananger is still standing on the touchline staring, silent, unmoving, but hearing the enemy manager shouting encouragement to his team, perhaps he's rehearsing in is mind what to say to the press or perhaps he's wondering what Doyle thinks of him.

[laddo]

So Laxton, every manager knows what we do and how to counter it yet many haven't done it with any success. How come? They know but just can't execute it? Or has Plan A worked a fair few times this season or maybe we just got lucky lots like we did under NA

How many times has the passing about at the back directly cos us a goal this season? This question was asked a few months back and it was a struggle then , there must have been a recent rush.

Agree that Wootton's workload is too great, that's part of the reason I'm not on board with all the criticism he gets recording goalscoring only. Also agree that only have one main striker does allow teams to push more forward, play higher. When they do we haven't been effective enough to go direct and get in behind however many times IB says it post match.

Although to call Rodrigues a midfielder is a stretch. If so, then what a goals and assists return from our Portuguese magician#radar


This is like a school reunion, nice to see Davy and JonnyT come re-emerge. I remember when the latter said we would win the league and get 100 points or was it 100 goals? Great days