Away vs Macclesfield, Sat 30 Nov 2019

There was a feeling of apathy amongst the near 1,500 following, even when we scored there was little reaction. Vaughans enthusiasm has disappeared and there seemed a lack of drive throughout the side, bar Reeves and Taylor. Not a sign for panic just yet but i get the feeling Bowyer needs to pull a couple of good performances out of the bag, its all rather dull and bland at the moment. Results will help but dubious subs and a conservative style of play aren’t gonna help him.

 

McCartan has missed most of the season and I wouldn't be shocked if he leaves in Jan.

We hasn't won in 4 keeping 1 clean sheet and I think now it's 5 with 1 clean sheet we need to change something at the back.

Midfield if Reeves and Taylor with Cooke are the players to carry the midfield until Devitt is back then fine.

The role of a number 2 is vital mate and even more so when when your manager is stubborn. You need a trusted team around you as manager.

 

He could and IMO should have brought Otech on at half time, everyone could see Vaugan was getting no joy on his own.

 

Saturday was another predictably dire display by our bunch of misfits

The only thing that surprised me was that Bowyer actually caved in to pressure from the fans and went 442, bringing Oteh on. He is so stubborn that I thought he'd just dig his heels in further and persist with 433. No coincidence we scored not long after the formation change

No more p!ssing about now Bowyer. You owe it to the hardened fans, who continue to back the team in numbers on freezing cold afternoons, to cut out the experimenting with crap formations

This was a game which was there for the taking, against a very fragile side, and yet again we failed despite the numerous promises from players & manager that they would "right the wrongs from the Plymouth game". Well I saw no improvement whatsoever. We were flat, devoid of enthusiasm and ideas, and this is 90% down to GB and his crap decisions

Also a mention for "signing of the season" BRE. Absolute liability, and he must now be dropped for Paudie. How he escaped another card & ban is beyond me!

 

As good as BRE is in his aerial duals he cost us 3 points at Cheltenham also potencially all three at Macclesfield.
If only to make him realise he can't carry on making challenges that result in a pen, free kick or reckless that get him boked or worse sent off, maybe a seat on the bench might be the answer.
I don't want him to duck out of challenges but at least make sure they arent in the box if they are as poor as that one on Saturday.

 

Thing is, the annoying thing about the Macc penalty was their lad had already knocked the ball forward and (from memory) it would probably have gone for a goal kick, making BRE's foul even more galling

Don't forget his red card against Carlisle either, ok it didn't cost us points in that particular game as we were already a couple of goals to the good, however his 3 match suspension could have cost us at Scunthorpe as we only drew that one. Totally hypothetical I know but who knows. Come to think of it, we actually got 7 points from the 3 games he didn't play in because of the suspension, so maybe it is time to drop him

 

5 in midfield is the issue. Our impotence going forward is nothing to do with Drury or the personnel in midfield, it's simply that the lone striker role isn't working.

 

Definitely. I was trying to find a way of working it with our best 2/3 in the middle, play more football and without a 'target man' find a way of creating more than not many chances!!

Pinching at straws here but 5 could work if your wide men can be bothered to move and get a decent ball in with a player from the middle 5 breaking into the box.

 

Good post SteveC. Like many I too am losing faith in Bowyer. He stated no so long ago that he had finished "tinkering" with players and formations and that he now knew his side and formation, yet still he tinkers along blindly.
From the games that I have seen Vaughan constantly gets high balls thrown at him at shoulder and chest height with his back to goal. Behind him are at least two big, hairy arsed defenders who lap it up.
That is not Vaughan's game - he hasn't scored at a higher level with this sort of service.
No wonder the bloke, like Doyle, is totally pissed off and gets frustrated, which usually ends up with a yellow card.
Bowyer needs to get his act together and fast - no more comments in the T&A about performances not being "acceptable" and how the players are going to "put things right next week". He needs to look at himself first and foremost.

 

Possibly but I believe the problem is not the wide men but the role GB asks his central striker to play.

He has him chasing down defenders right up to the edge of our own box if need be. The result is usually that he's either far too deep when receiving the ball or completely bypassed as we try to counter.

The second issue is that, instead of being on the shoulder of defenders, he's constantly dropping short to recieve it which then leaves him too much ground to make up once he's laid it off.

All that doesn't even cover the isolation problem and the fact we're launching it 60 yards into his head where any header he wins invariably is picked up by another defender as his closest teammate is usually a good 20 yards away (on a good day).

 

Can't argue with that.

 

Yes mate watched it on Ifollow as you say the Macclesfield player was always going to struggle to get to it and cross the ball, I don't have a problem with a central defender ruffing the opposition up but be careful where and how you do it.

 

All this talk about going 4-4-2 and playing Oteh up top with Vaughan is fine but it assumes Oteh is fully fit. I suspect he's not. In the FA cup replay he took a right kick and got subbed shortly afterwards. I thought we wouldn't see him the next game and although he started he was subbed off at HT. In fact he was playing the full 90mins in the games leading up to this kick and has played bit parts ever since. Although the experts would have us believe it's glaringly obvious to go Oteh & Vaughan in a 4-4-2, I suspect the reality is not as obvious as we have no-one fully fit to play alongside Vaughan.

 

Reading the messages on here over the past couple of weeks it would appear we're at a bit of a crossroads - do we give GB the January transfer window to continue the teams evolvement (as he stated at a very early stage it would take more than one window) or is the apathy growing to such degree that we all need a kick start from a more positive presence? I personally would give him the chance to follow out his plans to further develop the team but its hard to argue against those who may take an alternative view (other than is another change, another pay off etc good for the club)

 

Well there's one thing for sure @hippo playing Vaughan up top on his own certainly wasn't working .

 

We didn't even allow him to bring his own staff in so I wouldn't be too fussed about him carrying out his plan.

Talking about his plan, if it's what we have all seen since then start of the season then I would rather not give him time.

He has to be judged on results because since he's been here he hasn't really proved himself as a manager that's going to take the club forward.

Can he get the best out of Vaughan? Can he get the best of of Doyle? Is he too negative as a manager? Is his in game management good enough? Does he know his best team? Is he too stubborn? Does he know the best formation for these players?

Too many questions now and that's why it's a massive month for Bowyer. If we're not in automatic places come the end of the month then we need to get rid no messing!

 

It doesn't help when we have 6/7 of what would be classed as possible starters out injured but before the Macclesfield game he was confident that more were getting involved and we were going in the right direction, we will know more with regards Donaldson's injury as he's seeing a specialist today so fingers he will be back before Christmas.
And then the question of recalling Doyle ?.

 

Thought Donaldo only had a broken toe....?
Can't he run on the other 9....?

 

He's from Manningham mate he's 11 more to run on.

 

Totally agree Macclesfield looked a poor side, unfortunately we looked no better despite having the majority of the play and apart from the Vaughan miss in the first half cant recall the Macclesfield goalkeeper having a shot to save in the entire game, very disappointing.