Vs PNE (football league cup)

Are you for real? Nobody is saying we shouldn’t have made changes, but EIGHT??? The formation is the problem, not the players. But if he’s going to persist, did he really need to leave out the likes of Donaldson, Vaughan, O’Donnell etc?

By all means, tweak the preferred starting line up, e.g. Longridge at LB, Gibson/Scannell at the tip of the diamond, Paudie in at CB, but 8 changes including shoehorning French in to a position he will never play again???

 

The biggest concern is just like last season we go behind and collapse. Agree the opposition we decent but we shouldn’t be losing by 4.
AOC needs to go. Akpan needs to go.
We’ve such a soft centre.

 

Problem is though, who's going to want them?

 

I’m glad he did. We can draw a line through most of that team and concentrate on a smaller squad.

 

You've got it ! . My first look at us this season and even before a ball was kicked I predicted 4-0 PNE !

Like me you were probably thinking 4-3-3 ? Why not 4-4-2 ? and go for it ? Bowyer set up to stay in the game as long as we could and therefore he chose a defensive line up. Circa doubling up with Longridge & Wood on the left, with French right.Then Akpan, Anderson & Devine centre mid. Scannell right to supply Doyle a lone target.

But ! against a better, fitter, stronger, swifter set of players this was never going to workout ?. Aside from the two OC's and Wood on the left City were never good enough here. It was dejavu for Doyle upfront with a 90 minute reminder of last seasons toil and woe.

It took Scannell 20 minutes to touch the ball !
While the midfield three could rarely hold the ball or get the ball out to Wood and Scannell on the flanks. Not good enough by a long way. We do need a leader in there and the ability to cycle and recycle the ball through the midfield and left and right.

So to me it was not so much that Bowyer chose the wrong tactic. He appreciated the need to stay in the game. But it is the wrong tactic if you do not have the players to carry out that instruction.

In that case Bowyer should have realised he needed to attack the game. We are at home so you may just as well go 4-4-2 and have a go !? I would have played much of the team who may play v Oldham on Saturday and get some rhythem into our play. Its only three games in and we are making all those changes. PNE can afford to switch the entire team but we dont have the ability to do that no way.

So it throws the light on Bowyer and brings added expectation that he has to deliver a win on Saturday. I believe we will win that game. But it is clear to me that we need better in the midfield if our expectations are going to be met this season.

Some of the ££££McBurnie "heist" has to be made available to GB to address this.

 

“It is now looking a very strange decision”. No, it was a very strange decision from the moment he offered them deals.

“we all thought.....”, no not all. Some of us couldn’t grasp the rationale around them signing. A ‘cheap back up’ still needs to have the ability to come in and do a job. None of those re-signed are good enough, whether that be for 1 game or 20.

 

Not really. French was poor at right-back, but if we are at full strength and needed to throw French on at centre-back, I’d be confident that he could perform. You’re writing the keeper off too and the left-back? Had Doyle played alongside Donaldson or Vaughan and still struggled, then fair enough. But last night proved nothing that neither we nor Bowyer knew already.

 

I don’t recall saying who I’d right off. You mentioned the keeper and left back.
All last night did for me, was confirm that most of those here from last season need to move on.

 

Your comment was, “I’m glad he did. We can draw a line through most of that team and concentrate on a smaller squad”.

You may not have written particular players off, but you did say ‘most’??

 

Crickey pal. That's awful odds, I assume your based in Estonia? Can you not back with UK bookmakers? I only know it was 40/1 as I laid two bets at that price.

 

I agree that is increasingly looking the case. I could understand GB offering Anderson another year because 1) he obviously see's something in him but 2) he did finish last season with a slight upturn in form so the hope was this might continue with a full pre-season ahead of him.

I never thought re-signing all of them made sense and so far this season they have continued to be uninspiring - all I would say is if GB thought they were part of the future he would have offered them more than a 'cheap 1 year deal'. I think he thought Palmer, Akpan and 1 yet to come in would give him his midfield with the others as back up in the short term (and hopefully 1 of them might really push on). But I am not going to argue a case that they are good enough.

We know where he has spent the bulk of his budget, but having his 'big guns' up front is hopeless without a supply of quality ammunition from midfield and out wide - I am certain GB knows this but key is what he can do about it over the next couple of weeks

 

Sorry for the late response, but all I can say about Tuesday is thank god I won my tickets on this website. If I’d paid for that abomination I’d be mightily pissed off!

 

I see the saying you get what you pay for is true then.....

 

Haha absolutely!