Match Thread Home v Oldham Athletic 3pm Saturday 20th March

I've been wondering why Rowe took so long to make the jump into FL football. He'd been scoring shitloads for Fylde for several years so he must have had plenty of interest and offers from FL clubs.
He's a talented player with clever feet, an eye for a pass and a thunderbolt shot. On the face of it, he should be first name on any lower league team sheet. But he's lazy - he strolls about, doesn't close down and basically expects others to do all his work for him. He will have been *@?$ of the walk at Fylde and could get away with murder because of the sheer number of goals he scored. But that doesn't wash at FL level. He's not very good in the air and not mobile enough to be a lone target man or a 10. I don't see how he's a viable long term option in a 4231 system. We either have to start him alongside a target man or he'll end up being just an impact sub to bring on when we are throwing extra forwards on to claw back a deficit.

 

Nope. Without Cooke the 4231 system doesn't work. Neither our strikers nor our wide men are getting the ball in dangerous areas often enough to hurt teams. The goals have dried up because our primary creator is missing and no one else has his skill set to do the attacking playmaker job. So we will continue to launch long hopeful balls or hope to catch teams on the break, while spending most games with nine or ten men behind the ball, playing every game like a tough away away game. It's looking increasingly like Bowyerball and it'll leave us going nowhere in mid table if it continues.

 

Apart from Fylde he hasn't stayed long anywhere. Could it be that clubs soon realise he's doesn't fit into any system. He certainly doesn't fit ours. It's hard to see the thinking behind signing him.

 

I've been thinking about the Danny Rowe situation for a while. When he was banging them in for AFC Fylde clubs will have been watching and wondering "yes quality player but where do you play him".
I think at that level they could give him more of a free role and when is scoring that volume of goals other players don't mind doing all the hard work for him. Calling him lazy is probably a bit harsh but his casual manner does give that impression, a lot of defenders will certainly say that he does make his presence felt.
I don't think he would be happy just being used from the bench and why should he? He only needs little pockets of space to work in because he has two quick feet when he gets the ball, so I think he could play in a two with the right partner.
The other player would need to be someone who makes the runs to drag defenders about, a fit Lee Novak or a more mobile version of Andy Cook.
Let's be the first League club to get the best out of Danny Rowe.

 

I tend to agree with you Park, but if thats the case slightly worrying that form has dipped again so quickly - a lot of these players had 'no form' for the first 3 months of this season (a number of reasons for this we already know) but if they have gone back out of form so quickly on the back of a winning run it would suggest the malaise is a little deeper.
As previously said, Jan was very much a needs must window and the true team building test will be this summer - we have to be ready in the autumn with a positive, winning mentality and the players (and coaches) who can deliver it. There will be ups and downs on the way but cant afford another season where we are off the pace for large parts of it

 

I'd play a fit Lee Novak ahead of both Cook & Rowe, though in a two upfront (with what we have) would play Cook & Novak. They could really bully league two defences, and Rowe can come on when one of them is spent.

 

Please can we drop o’donkey

The defence seem lost when he is in goal and as for being captain don’t get me going

Weakest player on the park in my opinion