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Richard Smallwood

Discussion in 'City Talk' started by Park bantam, Jun 22, 2022.

  1. Idlebantam

    Idlebantam Squad Player
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    As expected, Smallwood named club captain
     
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  2. Kevin1954

    Kevin1954 Squad Player
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    Oddly Club Captain is not always the “ playing or team “ captain.

    The former can sometimes be an ambassadorial or mediation role between players and Management. I wonder if he’s undertaking both roles?
     
  3. Jordan

    Jordan Impact Sub

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    Next opponents Doncaster announced theirs yesterday. Adam Clayton is the on field captain, Rowe is the club captain. If there is a different man for the jobs, they usually announce both together so i'd imagine Smallwood is captain for all.
     
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  4. Faithful Bantam

    Faithful Bantam Squad Player

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    Good player is Adam Clayton. He'll be a dangerman for us on Saturday
     
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  5. Idlebantam

    Idlebantam Squad Player
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    He is very good for this level. He's a dirty sod though, or always has been playing against us
     
  6. SelbyFan

    SelbyFan Impact Sub

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    He only has two legs though.

    It's worth a try though.

    Spain and Italy built international teams on this principle.
     
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  7. SteveC

    SteveC Squad Player
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    Let's all be brutally honest, he is nowhere near the midfield general we were expecting to skipper us out of this godforsaken league. Little energy, misplaced passes, awful set pieces. I wanted to give him a few months before judging him, but I really cannot see him having a sudden upturn in level of performance

    How he captained a team for 2 seasons in the championship prior coming to us beggars belief!
     
  8. chris mac

    chris mac Fringe Player
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    Hull had our pants down with smallwood , like they did with aaron maclean , and huddersfield with chris brandon .
     
  9. bantamdave41

    bantamdave41 Regular Starter
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    I get the frustration but not having the McLean and Smallwood comparison. The former was consistently dire and did absolutely sod all, at BCFC.
     
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  10. WilsdenBantam

    WilsdenBantam Squad Player
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    How did they? He was a free agent it’s absolutely nothing to do with Hull where he went, bizarre!
     
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  11. Rogered Tart

    Rogered Tart Regular Starter
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    A guy who has played at championship level for so many games doesn't suddenly become a player not up to league 2 standard. I guess it depends on how he was used elsewhere because at Bradford we tend to be using him as the player to dictate the middle of the park and be dominant on set plays, something he currently looks uncomfortable with. Gilliead looks more and more not the right partner to get the ball moving quicker and i don't think Hughes sees enough in East to be that player. But right now without Critchlow and with the struggling midfield the pass out from the back tactics look likely to be a problem
     
  12. Jordan

    Jordan Impact Sub

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    Up until 2 weeks ago, Smallwood was statistically the 8th best passing midfielder in L2 with an 80.1% completion, as stated with him being on corners and technically, a corner cleared goes down as a miss placed pass, he was probably a lot higher than 80% and 8th. Only Platt has intercepted play more in a City shirt than Smallwood, he also has the third best tackling numbers for a CM in L2 so far this season. To say people don't think he's been a midfield general type so far is not the case at all.

    However, he has had a shocking November. Which is even more evident when his midfield partner is also having a terrible time at the minute with letting people breeze past him and offer little to stop play. The engine room has had a very poor run of games, which hopefully will have an upswing soon especially with the weekend off to refresh. It's also something that can be glossed over if the attacking midfield 3 offer something to change a game, but again none of them really have a consistent output so a lot of the players behind Cook that should be offering either general play of from set pieces are going to be scrutinised. Central midfield is an area of the team with very little competition, that needs addressing in January.
     
  13. Bigrod

    Bigrod Captain
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    Agree. Some notably poor passes and over hit dead balls, be it from a corner or free kick.

    I must admit I expected more. A player with his experience ought to be able to put a stationary ball into a dangerous place.

    I also expected a more vocal captain, directing play more obviously.
     
  14. Rogered Tart

    Rogered Tart Regular Starter
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    We still haven't worked out how we are playing upfront with Cook/Oliver and the three behind. Both Cook and Oliver feed off scraps and don't really get involved in the sort of build up play that Hughes is trying to achieve. Walker is a very welcome return as it gives Hughes another upfront option, interesting to see where he fits in with the three of Wright, Chapman and Banks, three talented but inconsistent attack options. Cook and Oliver certainly don't work together, a problem when one is our only real goal threat and the other on a three year deal.
     
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  15. AngryGaz

    AngryGaz Impact Sub
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    maybe they don’t work together ( Oliver/Cook ) because they simply don’t get enough game time or training time together .............if Oliver did well at a higher level along with Smallwood then surly it’s down to the way we are playing ........... before they got here from higher level clubs they where both highly rated so somethings gone badly wrong down there :(
     
  16. Ulysses S Grant

    Ulysses S Grant Squad Player
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    Good point. If Hughes is so insistent on 4231 then I'd bet he never sets training up to play with two up front. If he's so scared to play 442, he should try 352 with Halliday & Foulds as wingbacks, Timi/ Platt/ Critchlow at the back and a centre mid with legs - Songo'o, East & Sutton.

    I appreciate that means no place for Wright, Banks & Chapman, but its not working with them and he could always play Wright as the second striker.
     
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  17. Rogered Tart

    Rogered Tart Regular Starter
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    No no no.
     
  18. Kevin1954

    Kevin1954 Squad Player
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    You have your trousers round your ankles then?
     
  19. SteveC

    SteveC Squad Player
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    When I referred to the midfield general, I wasn't particularly thinking about the stats. Let's be totally honest, we want to see a skipper who screams & shouts, points, directs, dictates the play, dominates his position, flies into crunching tackles full blooded, drives play forward. Dare I say it....another Gary Jones, something we ain't had a sniff of since he left us. Smallwood in comparison is a wimp of a man, gets bullied fairly easily in my eyes and that affects his confidence and passing

    Statistics mean very little in Leagues 1 & 2. A team can be absolutely hammered all game and then sucker punch the opposition in the 95th minute with a long ball, and take all the points. Several people on here used to bang on about how good Watt was "statistically"....got us nowhere
     
  20. WilsdenBantam

    WilsdenBantam Squad Player
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    Do many modern players do that though? I remember Morais last season saying something along the lines of Gary Jones type players are all but died off. I can’t think of any team that have come to VP this season and thought there’s a tough tackling midfield general tbh. Most are more technical these days.
     
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