Callum Cooke

Bielsa did.

 

Yep back and our player. Rumours he will be off though

 

Took him 2 seasons to succeed though

 

15 minutes of madness cost them in the first season in which he took a team that had finished once in the top half in seven seasons, added one player to the existing squad and finished third in a season where they were arguably the best side in the division. So it can be done, you have to have an excellent manager though, backed by a manager and a squad that has the talent there to be able to squeeze out of it. Whether we have any of those ingredients i'm not sure. I certainly don't think the squad is capable as it stands, too many players still here who i don't think will contribute enough to a successful side.

 

Was just thinking it was a bit extreme to compare mccall to turn a poorly performing squad round in 5 games to what bielsa has achieved over 2 seasons

 

It was in response to a post saying you can't effectively get better results out of the same group of players which Bielsa did. Mitigating circumstances with McCall in that it was clear no manager could turn this shit show around in a couple of weeks, the club was, and still is to some extent, in a downward spiral. Its why i don't think we will see much improvement till at least the mid part of the season. We still have problems from before McCall came which somewhat hamper his potential progress, terrible transfer windows in the summer and January, the January one beggared belief it was that bad.
Once the club shows signs of being better run off the field, and i'm yet to see that, then my belief is we will still struggle despite McCalls best efforts. I hope i'm proved wrong.

 

So you don't think Ben White & Diego Costa made much of a contribution this season for Beeston

 

None whatsoever m8, like us signing Akpan and Wright.































Disclaimer: Yes i'm joking....

 

Don't joke, there's time yet...

 

Stuart did also mention Sutton being an effective wing-back, which could see us go with him and Wood wing-backs with two in midfield and one of Clarke or Pritchard behind the front two perhaps

 

Hornby?

 

Not if you are flexible with it, if the opposition squeeze our centre halves and central midfield you use your full backs. Then if they push up all across our back four they leave space behind. Whatever level you are at you need to be flexible once the game starts.

 

Interesting comments on the diamond - as a coach I have seen it used to devastating effect but it is reliant on an effective tackling player in the holding role at the back of the diamond (think how good an average team like Southampton can be when Romeo is playing well in this position) and a creator at the head. Problem is when you just try to get 4 midfielders/wide players to fill the diamond without the necessary skill sets to do it.
I have seen a team playing 4-2-4 or 4-3-3 against it starved of the ball to their wide men as they were getting overrun in the central 60% of the pitch (Man City obviously do this so well) and it also means the full backs of the diamond team can bomb forward dragging the other teams offensive players back with them.
But if its done badly (as sadly we proved on many occasions when we used it) the opposition wide men can have a field day - if you watch from an elevated position we just look very narrow

 

With Wood at one side and rumours of us wanting a wing back on the right I think it will be a 433 with the wing backs giving the width.
Talking about Wood I thought someone might have come in for him he is looking good

 

I can see 4 3 3 as well. It makes sense with us employing some very expensive or at least seasoned strikers. DMH might play as a wide forward, Pritchard can certainly play centre midfield.

 

Yes,Hornby has another year On his contract.

 

Why would someone pay money for someone,when there will be plenty for free.

 

Very few managers if any are flexible, they stick to a tried and tested formula that guarantees them the most success. Parky was pretty much always rigid 4-4-2, with the the odd exception such as 4-4-1-1 with say Clarke behind Hanson. If i remember he did have a the odd play with the diamond formation and we looked awful. Not to say it can't work, but it will be a managers preferred formation if it does.