Match Thread Away V Carlisle Saturday 13th March 3.00pm

word. perfect.

 

Evans is not a central midfield player or a ten, he's a workmanlike wide player. You're comment on the dynamic is spot on. Sutton to be fair has probably over achieved for us, his energy very important in a team that needs that midfield movement. The dynamic of the front four feels way off and i'm not sure who complements who? Cook is a physical presence but is not gonna bring others into play bar the odd flick header. Rowe can bring others into play and technically is failry good but offers very little movement and often drops too deep into the space of others. Crankshaw looks like he could fit well in a 4-4-2 but i've been disappointed with Vernam who offers little when a team sits deep. Evans does a job but seems to wear the same lead boots as Cook. Its not really clicked yet upfront, be interesting to see how the managers go about trying to make it happen.

 

If you play the ball on the deck the wind doesn't really have that much effect as it is we are pumping it aimlessly up the pitch at the minute. I lost count of how many times we did that today. We can play on the deck we have the players to do it.

At the moment we aren't putting oppo players under pressure on the ball if you give players at any level 5 yards to get their heads up and pick a pass they will look like Barca. On the ball we were laboured and panicky absolutely no composure and pumping the ball to no one in particular. If we are going to play that way there is literally no point in having Watt, Vernham, Rowe, Crankshaw, Evans or Clarke on the pitch.

 

So you're saying Swindon should NOT have signed Eoin Doyle from us? Even though he fired them to promotion?

 

2 defeats, 2 games not involving Cooke. He recycles posession and has a pass completion rate in the high 80s and 90s. Today we had no way fo getting the wingers into the game and Cook had little service. Got to keep that ball better.

 

Fell apart when we didn't have a striker, fallen apart without Cooke.

We are so reliant on our first XI at the minute, our formation and style of play simply can't account for injuries to key players.

 

2 defeats, 2 games not involving Cooke. He recycles posession and has a pass completion rate in the high 80s and 90s. Today we had no way fo getting the wingers into the game and Cook had little service. Got to keep that ball better.

 

yes.. what constraints. if you're talking about certain players, I'll agree.. happily.

 

We lost quite simply because our managers picked the wrong players in wrong positions, To make it worse after 20 minutes of been battered we failed to do anything and make changes that any supporter and his dog could see needed to happen, It is worrying that they could either not see that or decided to do nothing till half time which proved to late and the game was gone, These two need to up their game

 

On the plus side we can at least plan the recruitment for next season with some degree of certainty that we will be in L2.

 

What changes would you have made out of interest?

 

I agree, in game there wasn't a right lot to change.

It was a mistake to line up with a 4 2 3 1, but after that little we could have done would have made a difference.

On the plus side, we have been consistent with our formation which could be helpful going forward.

 

Would have taken Crankshaw and Vernom off and brought on Clarke and Stevens much earlier, Stevens a much harder worker and has more pace than Vernam who drifts out of the game to often, and Billy Clarke is much better at looking after the ball in midfield and keeping possession to help Evans to give the defence a breather , One of the reasons they were on top is that Watt and Sutton were caught in possestion or gave the ball away cheaply because there was often no one to pass or had to go long because Crankshaw and Vernon were not helping out

 

Interesting that both your choices have been getting pelters recently from many on here and Clarke especially today.

I agree that Vernam and Crankshaw are "luxury" players and I think 1 of them should start but not both.

We missed Cooke badly to be that link across the park.

 

Clarke and Stevens? I don't think Clarke completed a pass when he came on and I've never seen Stevens successfully control a ball since he's been here. Two players who need upgrading next season.

 

I agree somewhat but that is all we had on the bench to make changes, The difference was immediate and we began at last to compete, with better finishing we should have drawn, Had the changes been made when they were needed we would have won this game, We started with a very weak midfield and paid the price

 

And for the balance of our side I think we played the better football when we had Pritchard in the side ,down that side I do think we have missed him.

 

If Cook had put his clear cut chance away then yes we could.... What was he thinking with that one??

 

Lacklustre performance. Not sure where T&S go from here. Not a single one of the window signings have looked good in the last three matches. The solid defence has gone to pot, the midfield is being bypassed and we look toothless upfront. This is a massive test of their ability and will define where we go next season.

Despite all the hype over recent form we have only played really well once and that was Cheltenham. We have ridden our luck a lot in that streak and given our last five performances I'm not 100% convinced that these two are the ones to take us into a serious promotion push next season.

You beat a team today that is hust running on empty. You'll be back to normal when you come up against the rest. Playoffs are as far away for you as they are for us.

 

Pritchard is somewhat limited but could add balance to the left side of a three. Don't think we'll see him back.