Was a massive part of our success last season and was as key as any of January signings.

Not had the best of seasons for me though so far.  For a 'destroyer' he's struggled to destroy and has offered little protection to the defence.

Is it just a case of temporary poor form, or is League 1 just a step too high for him?  Is there anyone else in the squad who can do the job he does, but better?

Expecting pelters for this btw

23 minutes ago, Cheese said:

Donkey punch?

I had one chance when the skip lorry driver came over to sort me out so I put everything I had behind it... sent the bugger flying into a puddle, I'd never felt such an impact. Copper who was sat in his car saw it happen and asked the lorry driver if he wanted to press charges but he said "I tried it on and came off worse" we shook hands (he was a decent bloke) but my hand swelled up on the drive home.

Just goes to show I'm no good at fighting

If we get promoted and is still fit or with us he will rightly get the opportunity to play in the Championship. Then if he doesn't come up to scratch he will thanked for his efforts and moved on. 

9 minutes ago, nantwichwhite said:

If we get promoted and is still fit or with us he will rightly get the opportunity to play in the Championship. Then if he doesn't come up to scratch he will thanked for his efforts and moved on. 

Nice one.

6 hours ago, Rudy said:

Posted tits and not one comment. TO THE DOGS THIS GAFF

Sorry, thought it was a random picture of a fifth metacarpal. It wasn’t clear so I’ve pointed it out on her left hand.

Surely, even the doubters, must see how important he is to the team when he performs like he did yesterday. 

With a team performance like that and the obvious individuals taking the limelight, his performance could drop under the radar.

He rarely (in fact I can’t remember one error yesterday!) misplaces a pass or gets caught in possession.

There were a couple of blocks/tackles/interceptions at 1/2 - 0 up that prevented goalscoring opportunities.

He still has a massive part to play in our promotion push.

 

Absolutely

think people was questioning can he do it all season

Not for me 

1 minute ago, radcliffe white said:

Absolutely

think people was questioning can he do it all season

Not for me 

I agree, quite rightly, he will no doubt be part of the rotation.

And as part of Evatts “Horses for Courses” approach to games, when we play some of the lower teams in this division, who we need to be a bit more dynamic against, moving the ball quicker (eg Wimbledon last year) then he might be rested.

With teams who are going to match us (Ipswich last week) and be a bit more physical/direct in our final third (Wycombe) then I imagine Evatt will have him as a starter.

 

 

27 minutes ago, desperado said:

Surely, even the doubters, must see how important he is to the team when he performs like he did yesterday. 

With a team performance like that and the obvious individuals taking the limelight, his performance could drop under the radar.

He rarely (in fact I can’t remember one error yesterday!) misplaces a pass or gets caught in possession.

There were a couple of blocks/tackles/interceptions at 1/2 - 0 up that prevented goalscoring opportunities.

He still has a massive part to play in our promotion push.

 

MJ was superb yesterday. Never stopped running, and with a result at the end of it. Him, Delaney, Morley and Bradley ran the show yesterday and Wycombe never got close to us.

@DazBobhates this

47 minutes ago, desperado said:

Surely, even the doubters, must see how important he is to the team when he performs like he did yesterday. 

With a team performance like that and the obvious individuals taking the limelight, his performance could drop under the radar.

He rarely (in fact I can’t remember one error yesterday!) misplaces a pass or gets caught in possession.

There were a couple of blocks/tackles/interceptions at 1/2 - 0 up that prevented goalscoring opportunities.

He still has a massive part to play in our promotion push.

 

We can't afford to go beyond the transfer window without back-up/alternatives for MJ. And I don't mean makeshift alternatives from within the squad. Holding midfield is the one area where we don't have depth and its the one signing we need before the window shut.

4 minutes ago, paulhanley said:

We can't afford to go beyond the transfer window without back-up/alternatives for MJ. And I don't mean makeshift alternatives from within the squad. Holding midfield is the one area where we don't have depth and its the one signing we need before the window shut.

Again I agree. 

Without getting all football manger talk on this. I’m using Evatts words. He talks of 2 set-ups in midfield. A “number 6 as a single pivot with 2 eights” as we played yesterday.

And alternatively 2 numbers 6’s (CDMs) as we did last week with a number 10 (Lee last week).

I think there’s different variations based on the above with the clientele we have. And we can have a midfield which works without MJ - so I think there are a number of good alternatives.

However as a like for like (or better) alternative to MJ, you’re right we don’t have that in our squad. Closest is probably Thomason, but he’s still learning - I think we might see him play that role against Salford Tuesday.

 

 

1 hour ago, paulhanley said:

We can't afford to go beyond the transfer window without back-up/alternatives for MJ. And I don't mean makeshift alternatives from within the squad. Holding midfield is the one area where we don't have depth and its the one signing we need before the window shut.

If we were still playing 4-3-3 I would agree but I don't think it's as important with the 3-5-2.

However, he is the only midfielder in our squad with primarily defensive attributes so I do think that is the next area to improve our depth. I think we will cope just fine without getting a DM before the end of the transfer window though.

Johnston could play there at a push.

2 minutes ago, Traf said:

Johnston could play there at a push.

If we are serious about promotion/progress then makeshift stuff like that won't cut it. We need that extra holding midfielder and as the season wares on we'll feel the benefit of the solidity such a player would provide.

1 minute ago, paulhanley said:

If we are serious about promotion/progress then makeshift stuff like that won't cut it. We need that extra holding midfielder and as the season wares on we'll feel the benefit of the solidity such a player would provide.

Hence the at a push.
Every team will hit a point of the season when they have to play someone out of position due to injuries/suspensions etc. My point was that at a push he could fill in.

We're not talking Liam Gordon as a right back type scenario 😉

 

12 minutes ago, Traf said:

Hence the at a push.
Every team will hit a point of the season when they have to play someone out of position due to injuries/suspensions etc. My point was that at a push he could fill in.

We're not talking Liam Gordon as a right back type scenario 😉

 

No I know. You could argue Aimson could do that job as well. Indeed you could even argue Santos would be top notch there. Why rob Peter to pay Paul though - they are our central defenders.

I just think - why take the gamble. We struggled when MJ wasn't in the side last year and Evatt has been clear that we want two for every position. To me it's glaring that it is the one signing to get done before that deadline. Sorting it now is only going to make us more robust and ready for the months ahead.

MJ has benefitted from Dempsey's presence. 

And vice versa. Chuck Morley into that too.

All key components in a team.

5 hours ago, Francis Fogarty said:

MJ was superb yesterday. Never stopped running, and with a result at the end of it. Him, Delaney, Morley and Bradley ran the show yesterday and Wycombe never got close to us.

Delaney ? Or Dempsey ? 😎

Dempsey and Morley based on yesterday make a great combination proper up and down midfield players. 
The young kid at right back looks class. They seemed to target our right side early with high balls but once he got anywhere near ball on ground they could not cope. 
Let's back it up next week. 

1 minute ago, Ani said:

Delaney ? Or Dempsey ? 😎

Dempsey and Morley based on yesterday make a great combination proper up and down midfield players. 
The young kid at right back looks class. They seemed to target our right side early with high balls but once he got anywhere near ball on ground they could not cope. 
Let's back it up next week. 

Dempsey sorry. Must read back before I press sed

5 minutes ago, Francis Fogarty said:

Dempsey sorry. Must read back before I press sed

No worries 😂 

He was class yesterday. 

1 hour ago, Francis Fogarty said:

Dempsey sorry. Must read back before I press sed

I hope you two are going to make peace ?

19 minutes ago, ZiggyStardust said:

I hope you two are going to make peace ?

Very poor.

25 minutes ago, ZiggyStardust said:

I hope you two are going to make peace ?

Go back half a dozen pages. That joke was done already 

6 minutes ago, MickyD said:

Go back half a dozen pages. That joke was done already 

Yeah Ziggy.