36 minutes ago, Traf said:

That's a bit harsh on Milli Vanilli. 
They'd have played better than Taylor & Pissoko/Missoko (as I've heard the piss-weak stepover merchant referred to) did

Despite his many many flaws Cissoko created more than the rest of them in amongst him falling over and giving the ball away 

This Dempsey at 10 malarkey needs to stop.

14 minutes ago, gonzo said:

This Dempsey at 10 malarkey needs to stop.

If he wants to continue with a 10 he needs to get a player in who can play the position! 

4 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

If he wants to continue with a 10 he needs to get a player in who can play the position! 

Not sure why Sheehan doesn’t get a start there… Erahon and Simons could play Sheehans role. 

2 minutes ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Not sure why Sheehan doesn’t get a start there… Erahon and Simons could play Sheehans role. 

If it stops him being the 'pass to' person for the centre halves it gets my vote. 

6 minutes ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Not sure why Sheehan doesn’t get a start there… Erahon and Simons could play Sheehans role. 

Puzzles me also .

It would have been tried along time back.  As above sheehan takes it off the toe of our defenders and is sometimes level with them. That’s not this fucking mythical 10 that I’ve never seen anyone be able to play.

The void between Burstow and Demps was huge on Sunday. In his defence Randall links the play in certain areas well, it’s just those areas aren’t anywhere useful or near the bastarding goal. Macatee just shuffles around pointing and shouting at folk. 

So in summary we don’t have anyone that can play in behind the striker, therefore put 2 lumps up top and pepper them with crosses from the wings, score some tap ins and go and claim 2nd place by being less shit than the teams around us. 

 

Did I imagine it or did Cissoko actually do a step over running away from goal under pressure from a defender yesterday?

Not sure why Johnston is getting stick or Toal either, there's not enough movement. While Sheehan has been very good of late he needs to give them an outlet more often to allow himself to deliver the passes to the front that Burstow or Dalby obviously want.

Why do some folk think a L1 defender can offer pinpoint accuracy to our striker? Sheehan is our best and he fucks up a simple corner half the time.

I thought Simons and Erahon would add steel and both have had some good games but nowhere near as robust and combative as I hoped they would be.

 

 

1 hour ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Not sure why Sheehan doesn’t get a start there… Erahon and Simons could play Sheehans role. 

100%, have felt like a stuck record droning on about playing Sheehan there, he would be effective and it'd facilitate getting all three of him, Erhahon and Simons on the park at once.

Surely worth a try in the current circumstances, unless SS is no different to Evatt in pigeon-holing players as 'he's a this but he's not a that'. 

 

Edited January 5Jan 5 by ianofcleveleys

1 hour ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

If it stops him being the 'pass to' person for the centre halves it gets my vote. 

Given that seems to be Schueys tactics I'm not sure any of the others could do that job as well as Sheehan.

Erhahon and Simons are very similar midfield grafters. Morley is a BTEC Sheehan and Dempsey is best further forwards.

The argument will rage on whether playing this way brings the best out of Sheehan but there's is no better option for that role than him

43 minutes ago, frank_spencer said:

The argument will rage on whether playing this way brings the best out of Sheehan but there's is no better option for that role than him

The argument is more whether that is a good way to play.

6 hours ago, Ani said:

Back or pay me out is what I was hearing. More ‘pay me out’ than ‘back me’ 

Dunno what he gets now but if they'd sacked him before November he'd have got £12m

Confidence in attack looks to have gone after failing to score against Mansfield. Happens to all teams but times like this you need a set piece to get by or galvanise things and we don't seem capable. Maybe that corner shouldn't have been disallowed to be fair but with how many we get should be scoring more.

I play for a very low level amateur team and we have 2 lads that can consistently put in better corners than any of our lot, on much worse pitches as well. Can't get my head round 10 pros being that standard.

Pissed me off hearing SS talk about the fixture pile up. Biggest squad in the league with hardly any injuries against the likes of Doncaster and Northampton. Shithouse excuse.

 

3 hours ago, Winchester White said:

Did I imagine it or did Cissoko actually do a step over running away from goal under pressure from a defender yesterday?

Not sure why Johnston is getting stick or Toal either, there's not enough movement. While Sheehan has been very good of late he needs to give them an outlet more often to allow himself to deliver the passes to the front that Burstow or Dalby obviously want.

Why do some folk think a L1 defender can offer pinpoint accuracy to our striker? Sheehan is our best and he fucks up a simple corner half the time.

I thought Simons and Erahon would add steel and both have had some good games but nowhere near as robust and combative as I hoped they would be.

 

 

Yes we also had a chuckle at Cissoko going back towards our goal, doing a stepover!  Its like a nervous tick, it just happens, I'm sure he doesn't realise he's done it half the time.

5 hours ago, Matt Lofthouse said:

So in summary we don’t have anyone that can play in behind the striker, therefore put 2 lumps up top and pepper them with crosses from the wings, score some tap ins and go and claim 2nd place by being less shit than the teams around us. 

That'll do.

11 hours ago, gonzo said:

This Dempsey at 10 malarkey needs to stop.

I think he’d make a great 10 IF he stopped dropping deeper to help out in midfield which is his natural instinct - we have nobody better at arriving late in the box for the pull back. Similarly Sheehan needs to stop dropping back taking the ball deep off the CBs as that leaves only 7 players in front of him. We need both to hold their positions and a way to beat the forward press with a pass to them rather than them coming back to collect.

12 hours ago, Winchester White said:

Did I imagine it or did Cissoko actually do a step over running away from goal under pressure from a defender yesterday?

Not sure why Johnston is getting stick or Toal either, there's not enough movement. While Sheehan has been very good of late he needs to give them an outlet more often to allow himself to deliver the passes to the front that Burstow or Dalby obviously want.

Why do some folk think a L1 defender can offer pinpoint accuracy to our striker? Sheehan is our best and he fucks up a simple corner half the time.

I thought Simons and Erahon would add steel and both have had some good games but nowhere near as robust and combative as I hoped they would be.

 

 

Sheehan (and the other midfielder tbh) needs to stop collecting the ball while level with the defenders. It adds nothing to the attack and just slows us down.

I remember Sounness banging on about this 10 years ago about a deep lying player in the Premier league having great passing stats because he was doing what Sheehan does but his opinion was that was all safe passing going nowhere and midfielders need to be in midfield willing to accept a pass under pressure and be on the turn to beat the person pressing them.

1 hour ago, Stig said:

Sheehan (and the other midfielder tbh) needs to stop collecting the ball while level with the defenders. It adds nothing to the attack and just slows us down.

I remember Sounness banging on about this 10 years ago about a deep lying player in the Premier league having great passing stats because he was doing what Sheehan does but his opinion was that was all safe passing going nowhere and midfielders need to be in midfield willing to accept a pass under pressure and be on the turn to beat the person pressing them.

This is my thought as well.Collecting the ball off your C.D toe and then doing 17 pirouette's slows down the attack and gives the opposition time to set back up 

Not been on here over the Xmas period but we look like a totally different side from the one earlier in the season. Even in August/September when we weren't necessarily picking up results we looked threating in games and controlled a lot of matches. 

Last 6 games or so has been very dare I say it Evatt-esque. What has caused is to look so sluggish in these games? 

Oppostion keeping ACD going down the line instead of cutting in and doubling (even tripling) up on him should create more space for others but the passing is so much slower. A lot of times it feels like we give the ball to Sheehan or ACD in the hope that they make something out of nothing.

I'd love to see us swap Gale and ACD over and have them go outside their fullbacks and get some crosses into the box instead of cutting in and getting a shot off a floating an aimless ball in. So many crosses end up at the wingers and the strikers almost miss out completely.

5 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

I think he’d make a great 10 IF he stopped dropping deeper to help out in midfield which is his natural instinct - we have nobody better at arriving late in the box for the pull back. Similarly Sheehan needs to stop dropping back taking the ball deep off the CBs as that leaves only 7 players in front of him. We need both to hold their positions and a way to beat the forward press with a pass to them rather than them coming back to collect.

If our two in the 4231 were double pivots a la Rice and Phillips, Sheehan could be linking play up further forward and using his little turns and nimble footwork to better effect. He'd get fouled a bit, but win free kicks in more dangerous positions than in our own half. 

It doesn't solve the picking it up off the CBs bit, though I think Erhahon might be better suited to that as he seems a bit more minded to get it and give it more quickly, or move forward across the half way line with it.

2 minutes ago, BeeversLeftPeg said:

I'd love to see us swap Gale and ACD over and have them go outside their fullbacks and get some crosses into the box instead of cutting in and getting a shot off a floating an aimless ball in. So many crosses end up at the wingers and the strikers almost miss out completely

This is the bit that's 'not as advertised' about how SS indicated he wanted to play. Would take some digging back into Iles archives but I'm pretty sure it was along the lines of 'play with strong, quick wingers who get crosses in'.

What we have is the polar opposite. We've seen moderate sides look dangerous against us in recent weeks by getting it down the line and whizzing in good balls from their normal sides. 

Dalby is limited, of that there's no doubt, but if he had someone reliable like Morais on one side and a similarly good left winger on the other he'd have got 7 or 8 goals by now. 

I watched Bradford's highlights at Blackpool the other day, their game is uncomplicated but, with the right types playing it, is all that's needed to unsettle most L1 defences

That word complicated nails it.

With 2 inverted non-widemen and a no 10 plus a deep lying possession hungry Sheehan it's just all so complicated. 

We just don't need 4 lads who there who want to take 5 touches each and keep possession. 

Each attack is so slow because every fuckers wants the ball for half an hour with each pass.

Sound like a broken record but watch Wrexham or even us under Parky. Simple effective and well drilled is what gets you up.

We have toal taking 5 touches who gives it to Sheehan who does 3 pivots and goes wide to ACD or Gale who take another 6 touches who gives it the 10 who wants another shit load. It's just all too much.

44 minutes ago, gonzo said:

Sound like a broken record but watch Wrexham or even us under Parky. Simple effective and well drilled is what gets you up.

GT's starring role on the left v Sheff U last week was simply based on him getting down the left and whipping balls onto Keiffer Moore's bonce. 

51 minutes ago, gonzo said:

That word complicated nails it.

With 2 inverted non-widemen and a no 10 plus a deep lying possession hungry Sheehan it's just all so complicated. 

We just don't need 4 lads who there who want to take 5 touches each and keep possession. 

Each attack is so slow because every fuckers wants the ball for half an hour with each pass.

Sound like a broken record but watch Wrexham or even us under Parky. Simple effective and well drilled is what gets you up.

We have toal taking 5 touches who gives it to Sheehan who does 3 pivots and goes wide to ACD or Gale who take another 6 touches who gives it the 10 who wants another shit load. It's just all too much.

And then after all that pissing about we’ve still no one upfront finding space or running in behind. 

Edited January 6Jan 6 by Mounts Kipper

5 minutes ago, Mounts Kipper said:

And then after all that pissing about we’ve still no one upfront finding space or running in behind. 

Burstow was looking to run in behind quite a few times but we decided to go backwards instead.