Burton (H) - August 21st

Just an observation. In the first half Scannel beat his man on several occasions and hit low crosses in to the near post. Unfortunately our strikers were nowhere near. I think when Scannel gets in that position one of them needs to anticipate and make a near post run

 

Just watched the highlights.
He defo should of at least hit the target.
I think he miss timed the header and it just brushed his head

 

My bad sorry, temporary memory burst lol, Meant to say the good posters of Bantams Talk ( BT )

 

I thought a major flaw in our play was Wright and Akpan sitting way to deep last night. Scannell regularly took 2 or 3 players with him leave a huge area behind our front 2 and we only filled that area once and on tgat occasion Wright put the ball through and we got a shot in. Akpan needs to learn to sit and patrol but not too far back especially if our full backs go forward and Wright needs to learn to fill that space and trust Akpan to do his job. The movement all night from Scannell Payne and Doyle showed they are a class above the rest, they know what they're doing and its upto the rest of them to make that step up in intelligence not for those 3 to dumb down their play. A decent lb a box to box midfielder and a decent front man who can hold it up and let Doyle play his correct game and we will be a good outfit in time

 

No one has mentioned Akpans miss. Score that (which he should have) and it would have made the game a bit easier.
Riley getting slated, but his block in the second half saved us a goal for sure.
Wright getting praise for the through ball. One through ball? With two strikers who like it to feet, I'd be expecting more than one through ball a match from our midfield playmaker.
Payne on the wing was wasted a bit. Especially when most of the traffic was either up in the air, or out to the right wing. I'm glad he abandoned that wing for his goal. Definitely works better as a roaming player it seems.

But it's work in progress. Glad that Collins has decided to revert to the formation people have been crying out for. I do think however, that he's got to stop making these forced changes and tactics just because "he's a head coach". His subs made me scratch my head a bit. Fair enough Miller was shot to pieces after running his arse off all game, but chuck on big Kai and wear their CB's out even more. Especially when for most of the game we were hoofing it up the park. Can only think Mellor was also tired or carrying a knock, as Riley didn't bring anything else to the game, other than that block (which actually came about due to his error and could have cost us a pen).

All in all happy with the win and the confidence it brings. A few more of these on the trot, hopefully coupled with a few loan signings (our bench really highlighted the lack of depth) and we'll be looking settled come Christmas.

 

Andy Kiwomya could send a glass eye to sleep.

 

I wasn't praising Wright I was just proving what we can do in that space, I thought Wright and Chicksen were both poor last night. Akpan very hit and miss and Miller ran his heart out but just looks like a smaller Bruenker. We need to see some movement in the loan market before Saturday for me. Wycombe may not have won yet but they are scoring goals and Kashket seems to have found his confidence again, if they score 1 or 2 I'm not sure we can out score them with this lot yet

 

A very lucky win. Burton had comfortably more shots but only 1 on target. Our 3 on target was the best so far, which is a little worrying. 7 on the mark from 4 games is still probably relegation form. The goal looked a bit scuffed and/or slightly deflected but we deserve our share of luck now and then. We were extremely reliant on Scannel, who was great. Slightly better crossing and getting back more would have him pushing 10/10. Payne tending to drift in a lot also tended to upset the defensive formation and left space out wide, though he had a decent game and got a rare goal. He just needs to move wider as soon as we lose possession to stop early breaks down our left and reduce confusion about defensive duties elsewhere. The rest of the team was a rather mixed bag but most showed some sign of improvement. We will need better performances throughout the team to say in the top half but there was enough there to carry some optimism forwards. I do hope we can stick to the simpler 4-4-2 until we work out the best players and they can get used to each other more. Once we better understand strengths and weaknesses, we can experiment with formation a bit. Not great overall but a lot better. Onwards and upwards.

 

It's rather sweet that you believe that.

 

It is odd given all Wright's comments about being an attacking midfielder and getting forwards in pre-season. Perhaps he's being asked to stay deeper?

 

The worrying thing for me is the fact we created very little against York and Carlisle in preseason, and the signs were there that we needed better up front and in midfield but yet nothing's been done about it except for Doyle but lost Wyke. I hope to God they don't think we've finished with our recruitment because if they do then we're in the shit.

 

Yes I believe he quoted something like "he likes being involved and driving forward and having a shot", but certainly implyed he prefered going forward rather than defensive/holding midfield player.

 

Agree with this assessment. But if you consider the last time we effectively utilised 442 under Parky, the two centre mids did sit deeper in order to protect the defence. The reason they could do that and we still looked a threat was because we had an aerial presence via Hanson or alternatively on the wing via Thompson and the ball would stick with them or with Wells on the knock down. That meant the midfield could catch up.

The other way Parky did it was via the left wing with Meredith and Reid getting us up the field. We have Scannell that can do that so we are almost there. For me, the long passes into Doyle & Miller need to be to their feet or chest so that they can at least get into the game because they can't do the job that Hanson did. Hopefully that will come with time or we will certainly need to bring in an aerial threat up front if we are sticking with 442.

 

Don't disagree with most of what you say, but saying scanell could've got back more is a strange one for me. I thought part of what made his performance so great was the fact he got back whenever Burton attacked. He won so many balls from his willingness to get back.

 

well we won, but we were very fortunate. a better side may have punished our lapses.
defensively we are shaky at best - I still disagree wholeheartedly with leaving out Kilgallon. he would improve the defence currently.
Josh Wright has not hit the ground running, has he? it's starting to look like the good campaign he had with Gills was a one off, rather than the norm. him and Akpan are far too deep - and Akpan, for a big lad, isn't particularly tough or strong. get stuck in man.

Scannell was good, carried the ball well, pace and trickery, some of his crossing wasn't the best though. Payne was terrific. Doyle looks anonymous, we need to work out how to bring him into the game, whether thats with who he plays with upfront, or the service he gets. he's a goal scorer and we need to be giving him chances.
Miller didn't impress me - ran his tail off though.

not entirely sure with bringing Gibson on on the right - when he can't use his right foot. he struggled.

3 points is 3 points but we need to improve to keep picking up points.

 

Good game, and great three points. Bit fortuitous, but remember it will take a lot more games to get them playing as team consistently. The central midfield is a off the pace, but it will come together. I might be the only one glad that Akpan is ducking out of some challenges, but given his history and reputation he needs to do this until he is fully fit.

Wycombe will be no pushover given their performance at Plymouth, but you never know. Beast versus Akpan will be interesting.