Match Thread Swindon Town (H) @ 15:00 5th March

Is Bass any better? From what I've seen he rushed to the edge of the box, holds onto it for another 5 seconds despite various options available to him and then waves everyone upfield for a big punt up the middle.

 

Sukkieniki?

He's currently on trial at hull

 

Yeah but we wouldn't have a striker to play when the first 5 get injured?

 

He is, he's no Ederson but his distribution is far better than ROD. His was atrocious.

 

Really? I was wondering why he hasn’t featured in the youth wins recently.
Surely we can’t let another slip away?

 

Sorry but I've not seen anything yet to suggest he's got decent distribution. All he does is punt it upfield and certainly not picking out someone with a pass.

That's not a criticism, I've only ever seen Pickford with the ability to do that but to suggest it's an attribute that proves he's a better pick than ROD is, imo completely untrue.

 

You are right just pointing out his lack of edukashun

 

Agree with that one Dave . Pickford was brilliant at it the long kick to a team mate when here on loan.

 

Go back a month and he'd be silly not to leave if players that he probably looks up to like Finn, Staunton and Scales can't get a look in and are treated poorly by the manager.

 

Some of us see it differently. Lots criticised him for the second goal against Mansfield, when he quite rightly left it for three defenders to clear. Hardly his fault, if one of his defenders decides to go back to his under 12's years as a striker and do a bit of goal hanging isn't!! Paudie's positioning was terrible - look at the video, what was he doing? Bass, who is then partially unsighted by Paudie, let's in what looks a soft goal.

You have to take into account then disruptions to the defence in front of him, i.e. their erratic play will have a unsettling effect on any keeper. ROD would just shout at them every two minutes, arguably making them worse.

I also think it's myopic not to remember what the other two were like.

Of course he'll have made errors. But I wonder if some of us are a bit harsh about keepers, someone on here said they thought Doyle was rubbish!!. Every keeper I've seen at this level, has made major errors at some time - it was part of the reason the duties were shared between Duke and McLaughlin and that remember was in a successful team.

In the 13/14 season, virtually every fan I know was delighted that McLaughlin went. Shows what we knew!! He's gone on to have a very good career.

So that's why I don't believe swapping back would have any positive effect and why Bass is worth defending.


I actually don't believe in throwing any of the defence under the bus. Whilst, it's fair to point out errors when others are getting blamed, we have to remember it's not their fault that Ridehalgh is injured and Adams decided to wind up his captain on the last day of the transfer window.

As the T&A's headline states it's "no blame game" for me. Unless Ridehalgh is back, we keep the same back five as it is quite correctly important to put an 'arm around the shoulder' at the moment as lots of them simply lack confidence at the crucial times (for instance Cook would have had three in the last two matches - if he was his earlier season best)

Dropping Bass does nothing, except satisfy the bloodlust some fans have when things are going wrong. The performance on Saturday was good, but if we're going to be super critical then those who wasted those very good chances, were far more at fault than Bass. However, that's what happens when you've had our last three months.

 

His contribution is nowhere near Pickford class, but it's been the best I've seen from a keeper since we've been back in L2.

He actually tries to distribute it quickly, but we have players lacking confidence who have that 'don't give me the ball' body language. That's improving, which is why there was at least one very good supply from Bass that resulted in some positive attacking.

I think I like most about Bass, is that like Pickford, he never hides and is goes for the 60/40 all the time - when some would back off. Of course as this is a judgement call, some of them will be 40/60, i.e. rash. But overall, we gain more than we lose and with a decent manager this young keeper will improve.

 

With it being highly likely that we will have at least one new keeper here next season then we need to plan for that. What's the point in going back to a keeper that won't be here next season.
My only concern would be that Bass probably won't be here next season, I'd like to have us playing a keeper with a long term position in mind.

 

I agree with everything you said in your posts about Bass. The whole of the defence was responsible for the mistake on Saturday. I really like the look of Bass, who knows what will happen next season’s recruitment. However, I would also point out the pressure our defence is under most games makes it inevitable that mistakes will happen. They kept going for the full 90 but you could see them tiring. Now that is a fitness issue, in my view that is why we lost on Saturday. At the beginning of the game high energy levels kept Swindon on their toes, this will get better I have every confidence in the management team to sort it out as best they can this late on the season.
Early prediction, I think we might give Forest Green a game and take all three points next week, there is optimism for you

 

It's not a bad prediction that we will get something out of the Forest Green game. Their last 5 matches have ended in draws or a loss. Hopefully they don't recover their form on Saturday.

 

Let’s hope the arrival of Hughes can maybe change his mind.
Talking of promising lads going to higher division clubs, the bbc wrote that several clubs are looking at a striker from Guiseley. Josh Stones. Wigan and Blackburn apparently. I’d like to have thought we’d have scouted him too.

 

It's a knocking bet that if someone is going to rediscover their form......It's going to be against us.

 

An article I saw described him as a teenage sensation. I wonder what they have seen in the lad, 1 goal in 11 starts are not the best stats for a striker

 

Strange!! I've got a good feeling about our FG trip (so that's a defeat then!!)

The problem our defence as, is that yet again (see 2018/19, 19/20, 20/21 etc!!) they are given no protection by a proper CDM player. And of course the player who's good at doing that (if we give him more than four games on the trot that is) plays as a CB right now.

 

We had Josh in our academy, did not fit at the time. Also he recently played and scored for England schoolboys at Crystal Palace. Sunderland also showed interest.