Match Thread Away v Port Vale Sat 13th November @ 12.00pm

I can't think of a single attribute he has or a single thing he brings to the team.

He plays an attacking role yet fails to offer any influence going forward. His work rate is reasonable but he lacks the physical presence or intent to break up the play and he doesn't offer us blistering pace on a counter attack.

He's played the full season pretty much and has the same attacking contributions as the much derided Gareth Evans despite playing twice as many games.

We've had injuries so there's possibly (if I'm being very generous) a reasoning there but now players are coming back surely his place is under severe threat.

 

Not necessarily, that run we went on with trueman and sellers was said to be lucky as the xg in that run was very low. Either we were having one sitter a game or just being lucky.


we all saw what happened after that run.

xG over a few games does show where a team should be. I bet you anything if our xG stays as high as it is we will end up in the playoffs.

 

He's not THAT bad.

His main attribute is he's neat and tidy and doesn't often give away possession - but I agree, for a key attacker, he's very ineffective. He tends to give the ball to the full back or central midfield than actually cross, shoot or take a defender on. This isn't always the wrong option, as it helps us retain possession, but I'm struggling to think of many goals that came from this - whether it's the right back crossing instead of him, or whether it's a ball popped in by Watt or Sutton.

 

Amen to that, Brother.

 

Or, in "plain speak", "if we continue making chances, and start to convert more, we will end up in the playoffs".

 

He's very good on the ball, skilful in possession and can beat a man. It's what comes next that's the problem. If he's wide he can't cross, if he's central he can't see or make an incisive pass and he can't score. Effectively, he's hopeless. He has an innate skill which managers can see and it's what probably has got him into the professional game, but his lack of end product is consistent in the two spells he's had with us. We need better.

 

Football, like any sport, is very position specific. And with that comes the need to have assets to an individuals game with the end game of contributing to a successful team. With an attacking midfielder/wide player they have to fit into the managers formation with the intention of supplying either goals or assists or being part of the build up of an assist. Now Adams may see something in Gillieads game that warrants his inclusion but without assists or weighing on with goals I can't see what that is?

 

Me neither. And what's more galling I believe he's on a 2 year contract.

 

Crankshaw offered far more yet was underused till he left.

 

It's also consistent with his output at Scunthorpe so it's not just short term or Bradford City that's the issue.

 

There's a lot of work to do, I don't think anyone is denying that, but for Tight1-0Victory to be completely writing off our promotion chances at this stage of the season when we are like you say, 4 points outside the playoffs and there are still 30 games to go, is just ridiculous.

 

Vernam, Canavan and Foulds are still around too.

 

£10 to each charity and you're on

 

No problem I accept the bets.

 

Gillead holds the team back as unfortunately for him he has a dreadful scoring record but also has no attacking instinct in him and misses runs of players attacking as he does not see them, An average utility player but no more than that, We MUST do better if we are to progress

 

The statistics over his last 5 seasons say differently.

As a player that is utilised in the forward areas his numbers are generally terrible and at a guess I'd put money that they were worse than a lot of full backs across the division.

That's very poor from a player that's either been stationed on the right wing or tasked with playing centrally just behind the forward.

 

As the ref decides it’s a free kick for Vale (as opposed to simulation), actual contact doesn’t matter.

The laws state “kicks or attempts to kick” along with “trips or attempts to trip”. See Law 12.

The fact that Threlkeld made little contact has no consequence when it comes to considering a yellow card. He went into the tackle on the edge of his own box recklessly (i.e. dived in) and missed the ball, causing their player to go over/take evasive action (exaggerated or not).

He was very, very fortunate.

 

I don’t mind Gillead. It’s a fair point that his end contribution does need upping - goals and assists - but I think he works hard for the team and he causes problems running at the oppo. Maybe he’s not the one to play a killer final pass but he’s positive and gets us up the pitch.

For me our biggest weakness has been finishing chances, rather than creating them, and I think there are others far more guilty than him in that respect.