Brindley gone...

[the_anticlough]

With not many players out of contract, I can see the majority that are, will be moving on.

I'm hoping it's 3 or 4 of the 7 who will be moving on.
Bajrami is the difficult one for me. You tend to want to give injured players a chance but if pushed I really don't think he's going to be a contributing EFL player for us.

I want Baldwin and Bostock to be offered contracts. AB might well turn it down, JB I suspect wouldn't. It'll be interesting.

[queenslandpie]

I'm hoping it's 3 or 4 of the 7 who will be moving on.
Bajrami is the difficult one for me. You tend to want to give injured players a chance but if pushed I really don't think he's going to be a contributing EFL player for us.

I want Baldwin and Bostock to be offered contracts. AB might well turn it down, JB I suspect wouldn't. It'll be interesting.

Interesting on Bostock. Why? He's been brutally exposed at times but I suppose he seems better when Palmer plays they got a reasonable understanding going after initial teething troubles.

[the_anticlough]

Interesting on Bostock. Why?

To see if the club values what he can offer more than a section of the fans do.
We should be careful of jettisoning players who can play our style, they don't grow on trees.

He's 32 now, if he stays there should be a plan for managing his pitch time (just like there wasn't for McGoldrick this season)

And midfield is a problem area - we're going to need options. Too many fans are assuming MP comes back the same player. Let's pray he does - but we've seen how brutal L2 can be in the middle of the park, that knee's going to be tested 20 times a game.

[jackal2]

We should be careful of jettisoning players who can play our style, they don't grow on trees.

Bostock can certainly play our style because he's very good with the ball, but the question I would ask is, where?

It's been evident this season that he's not defensively strong enough to play a reliable deep midfield (i.e. defensive midfield) role at League Two level. Similar to the wing-backs, our overall dominance at National League level meant the weaknesses in his defensive game weren't often exposed, but in this higher league he looks like a passenger if he hasn't got the ball and when we're not controlling the game.

I agree Bostock's got tremendous ability as a ball-player, but the only way I can see him contributing is if he moves further up the field. As a screen for the back line he's a liability a lot of the time, getting bypassed or lunging in with clumsy tackles. He's very much been part of "the problem" defensively.

[queenslandpie]

Bostock can certainly play our style because he's very good with the ball, but the question I would ask is, where?

It's been evident this season that he's not defensively strong enough to play a reliable deep midfield (i.e. defensive midfield) role at League Two level. Similar to the wing-backs, our overall dominance at National League level meant the weaknesses in his defensive game weren't often exposed, but in this higher league he looks like a passenger if he hasn't got the ball and when we're not controlling the game.

I agree Bostock's got tremendous ability as a ball-player, but the only way I can see him contributing is if he moves further up the field. As a screen for the back line he's a liability a lot of the time, getting bypassed or lunging in with clumsy tackles. He's very much been part of "the problem" defensively.

Agree. He was alright at the start of the season when he had Palmer mopping things up for him. Personally I would not be disappointed if we did not renew his contract but equally I would not be critical if we did. But if we do it is surely only likely to be a one year deal and at this stage of his career he will probably look for better if he can get it. Which he will probably be able to. I don't think he will be here next season.

[SmiffyPie]

Bostock can certainly play our style because he's very good with the ball, but the question I would ask is, where?

It's been evident this season that he's not defensively strong enough to play a reliable deep midfield (i.e. defensive midfield) role at League Two level. Similar to the wing-backs, our overall dominance at National League level meant the weaknesses in his defensive game weren't often exposed, but in this higher league he looks like a passenger if he hasn't got the ball and when we're not controlling the game.

I agree Bostock's got tremendous ability as a ball-player, but the only way I can see him contributing is if he moves further up the field. As a screen for the back line he's a liability a lot of the time, getting bypassed or lunging in with clumsy tackles. He's very much been part of "the problem" defensively.

Agree (and with legs77) the issue with him playing in an advance position is he only has a left foot (well he has a right one as well but...) if the pass isn't on that foot he has to turn or gets caught.

[the_anticlough]

Bostock can certainly play our style because he's very good with the ball, but the question I would ask is, where?

It's been evident this season that he's not defensively strong enough to play a reliable deep midfield (i.e. defensive midfield) role at League Two level. Similar to the wing-backs, our overall dominance at National League level meant the weaknesses in his defensive game weren't often exposed, but in this higher league he looks like a passenger if he hasn't got the ball and when we're not controlling the game.

I agree Bostock's got tremendous ability as a ball-player, but the only way I can see him contributing is if he moves further up the field. As a screen for the back line he's a liability a lot of the time, getting bypassed or lunging in with clumsy tackles. He's very much been part of "the problem" defensively.

To be quick, I can't see him being paired up much with Palmer again - they'd share a position. He'd be next to Robertson, his old Doncaster partner, who we'd hope will be better.
And there's got to be at least 1 new CM coming in because JOB's at the end, right?

"Screen for the back line' is a large step towards going from an entertaining, attacking team to a run-of-mill cagey and boring L2 team (You want that and to pull the plug on Jones and Nemane as well!? )
We need defenders who can defend and not need a whole extra defensive line to protect them.

[jackal2]

"Screen for the back line' is a large step towards going from an entertaining, attacking team to a run-of-mill cagey and boring L2 team (You want that and to pull the plug on Jones and Nemane as well!? )
We need defenders who can defend and not need a whole extra defensive line to protect them.

A successful team needs a balance between attacking flair an defensive nous, and in crude terms it should be about five outfield players of each type.

I think if you play with a back three shielded by two effective and combative defensive midfielders who will track runners, then you can get away with playing attacking wing-backs like Nemane and Jones.

Or, on the other hand, if you play with a back four with full-backs who can defend properly and stop crosses, then your wingers can be proper wingers and two of your three midfielders can also get forward and be creative, knowing there's enough of a foundation behind them.

Unfortunately, the approach you seem to be describing only has three central defenders and (maybe) one midfielder doing any real kind of job defensively, which is just kamikaze if you're playing decent opposition. It's even worse if some of the players who are supposed to be defending aren't actually very good at it to boot.

Most teams this season have been lucky to have a third of ball possession against us, but the damage they've been able to do with that possession has been catastrophic.

We've simply got to be defensively more resilient, and that's going to require solutions involving new personnel, less silly risks at the back and potentially a different formation (if we don't find enough defensive midfield combativeness).

[the_anticlough]

A successful team needs a balance between attacking flair an defensive nous, and in crude terms it should be about five players of each type.

I think if you play with a back three shielded by two effective defensive midfielders, you can get away with playing attacking wing-backs like Nemane and Jones.

Or, on the other hand, if you play with a back four with full-backs who can defend properly, then again your wingers can get forward and two of your three midfielders can also get forward and be creative.

Unfortunately, the approach you seem to be describing only has three central defenders and one midfielder doing any real kind of job defensively, which is just kamikaze if you're playing decent opposition.

Most teams this season have been lucky to have a third of ball possession against us, but the damage they've been able to do with possession has been catastrophic. We've simply got to be defensively more resilient, and that's going to require solutions involving new personnel, less silly risks at the back and potentially a different formation (if we don't have enough defensive midfield combativeness).

That's all fine, but it doesn't take too many adjustments to go from potent to impotent, from threatening to toothless.
A midfield of a Robertson-type and a Bostock-type in front of a 3 should provide enough of a screen, but if we want want to be a winning team, we have to be a front-foot attacking team and that midfield's main purpose should be to dominate play in the middle of the pitch and set up attacks.

The club's reaction to this season shouldn't be to scared of L2 and set up as a mid-table team trying to nullify the opposition. Or a bottom-third team trying to stave off relegation by shoring up it's defence. I fear now though that we have a manager who wants to string out his tenure, and will be much more conservative with everything he does. As opposed to the last guy who finally showed us what you can achieve if you really go for it.
Expect a massive drop in the entertainment level next year, which will please the old school posters on here, but look around and they'll find they have the ground to themselves again next season.

[matt_magpie]

Good luck to Brinds, had some very good moments and a good pro. I personally think moving him to RCB ruined him. The l player I’ve seen in the last 12 months had absolutely no confidence, didn’t really want the ball or to risk carrying it forward, it’s 2 totally different positions as you’re far more exposed at RCB and I don’t think he liked it one bit.