Sam Stubbs

He fractured his skull against Doncaster, that's what kept him out of the squad. It was immediately after the doncaster match that we started losing again, so had that not happened, I'm sure GA would have kept him in.

 

Eye socket . Not quite the same but I get one’s meaning.

 

Another example of poor T&A reporting. Their headline was fractured skull, then went on to say a fracture above the eye.

 

I think with a settled side and no change in styles or managers (3 last season) Stubbs will be one of the first names on the team sheet. He's a great defender and I just think last season is difficult to judge a player on because of the swapping in tactics, play styles and managers. It's why i dislike changing managers unless it's absolutely necessary.

 

One’s dramatic to sell papers , the other is correct .

 

Spot on, with him, Platt and Taylor injured and Tompkinson on international duty we lost those 4 straight games, having to play Ridehalgh there. Stubbs fit instead of being victim of a bad Donny elbow might even have had us in the playoffs.

 

True. How the officials missed that elbow is beyond me. Should have been a straight red.

 

I also blame Donny for injuring Walker and destroying that great run we'd been on. Glad they didn't go up, let's hope they don't injure any more of our players next year

 

Thats another thing that's given me more optimism than usual. I'm 99% sure GA will see out the whole season with us, giving the players much more of a chance to stamp down their place and develop further

 

Stubbs is one of the few from last season with leadership qualities. I like his attitude.

but his lack of gametime did make me wonder if he’d be on his way out.

Who drops out to accommodate him? Byrne and Baldwin seem like starters. Does Johnson get shoehorned in at right side CB next to Brad or is he back up to him?

Where does Kelly fit in?

Stubbs might be okay as a ‘blocker’ alongside Baldwin, who is a bit of a maverick but has pace, apparently.

 

Osadebe?

 

In fact Stubbs was booked for his challenge !!!

 

If it was me then every single central defender we have drops out to accommodate Stubbs.

I'd definitely play him in the middle though and Kelly would probably start on the left after his decent end to the season so it's between the 3 new signings to fight it out for the remaining spot.

 

Thanks!

So Alexander's quote on Stubbs from February was "He works exceptionally hard and deserves opportunities and I thought he was superb." This suggests Stubbs had worked his way back into the managers plans.

Stubbs started the following games in defence, albeit with Platt injured, before fracturing his skull. And as pointed out in this thread, it was after this we went on the torrid run of losses.

It would have been interesting to see if Stubbs had retained his place in front of Platt had it not been for the injury.

 

I think it's worth pointing out with Stubbs that a year ago alot of people regarded him as our best central defender. And at the end of the playoff season it was a case of who out of Platt/Critchlow partnered him.

 

That's my thinking. It's a case of that Stubbs has proved he can teach the levels required to take us forward whereas the rest are still relatively inexperienced in one way or another and still have plenty to prove that they can also reach those levels.

In an ideal world they all make it exceptionally hard for Stubbs to keep his place and we have genuine rotation and cover options but right now, if you want a central defensive leader from the squad that's most likely to not to let you down then that man is Sam Stubbs.

 

Foul play by a Donny player, I won’t have it Roger.

Walker, Osadebe and Stubbs……..pattern?

 

I'd take that a step further Roger, and would have had us in the playoffs.

 

Stubbs is quality. He showed us that in his first season here. As someone rightly pointed out, when he came into the club, He was a dead certain to play, and the question was who partners him? would it be :
● Crichlow : Who plays in League One, or
● Platt : Who people talk about as if he has played in League One

When Exeter handed him to us, their fans were all in agreement with the following (give or take) :
● Instrumental in their promotion to League One. A Quality CB at League Two.
Was definitely in the managers plans for their season in League One. IE, he was capable of making the step up
● Fans were worried about their survival chances if Stubbs was out for a prolonged period of time

Only reason they got rid? because of his reoccurring knee injury. Which could be managed, so long as he wasn't trained too hard, which he wasn't under Hughes. We went on one of our best defensive records in League Two that season with Stubbs an Platt at the back. 8 goals conceded from 12 goals or something silly like that?

Reason he didn't live up to expectations last year? The injury at Donny. Chopping an changing formations under Hughes mainly but also under Alexander, which lead to a loss of form, but that applied to the whole team. Not just him.

If you play Stubbs in the centre of a back 3. He will be solid. His main weakness is pace, which was only exposed in the Hughes season when Halliday went for a wander at Crewe an left Stubbs isolated with Agyei. Twice.

As for this season, well he wasn't always deployed in the centre of the 3, an he was often paired with players somehow even slower than him. IE Taylor

Id imagine Kelly starts on the left of the back 3. Stubbs in the middle. Perhaps Johson plays on the right, or they bring someone else in for that slot. Byrne will be cover. Have players paired with Stubbs that are quicker than him an he'l be fine. He reads the game really well, which covers his main weakness. He's better on the ball than Platt as well, an better in the air

 

Of all our CBs I think Kelly is the one nailed on starter, on the left of the 3 obviously. The others will be battling it out for the other 2 spots. It was mentioned above that Baldwin looks a bit of a maverick. I quite like that and hope he plays. If he does I'm sure he will give us some heart stopping moments, but if he gets away with them can see him becoming a fans favourite. I've no doubt some will prefer a steady plodder.