What the fans think!
Crossely - People slag him off "pogs has a better kick" - I dont think so, Crossley has a much better kick than Les but should have stood up and covered his near post today for their goal.
Eardley - Some people say that he is good, this season hes been awful IMO. Yes, he's improved since the start but is not a patch on what he was last year.
Gregan - People are calling for him to be dropped. How can they say this? Greegs has no pace, we agree on that but he wins his headers and was generally ok today. Some bad "hoofballs" but not dire today by a long stretch.
Thompson - I am very dubious about this guy. He's an international for Ireland and has been OK at Forest but for some reason he doesn't do the basics and always seems nervous. I'm waiting for him to come good but I just dont see an improvement.
Hazell - Thought he had a good game. Was OK, did the basics well, and did some good passes to the wings in the second half.
Bertrand - One of the very few who played well today. Got caught out a couple of times but had a good game, defended well and tried to get forward.
Liddell - Lidds (pictured) is a favourite of mine. When he goes forward he's pretty good. Granted his legs have gone but he's still a good crosser of the ball and has a good shot. Did some good crosses today but the game was never played flowingly on the ball today, as it was on numerous occasions last year.
Allott - Dire, awful. Had a terrible game. No idea why Shez signed him. No pace, couldn't tackle today, didn't break into a sweat, looked half asleep.
Macdonald - He's been bad since last January. Seemed to try and show a bit of fire today. Got forward a few times but never got the ball under control. Couple of good passes to Davies but doesn't have a large enough presence.
Taylor - When will he learn? I am really frustrated with this guy, he doesnt get down the line. He's a winger. He should hug the touchline and push up when the LB brings it forward. Instead he goes to the halfway line and stops, then he tries to dummy and always brings it inside and gets tackled. When will Shez teach him to get down the line and take people on? Always seems nervous and scared to run at people. Not enough crosses and slow to react. How people can say he was the best player today I do not know. Seems Shez doesn't see that there is much wrong with his game. He doesn't improve as games go by.
Hughes/Davies - Hughesy showed some good touches but whenever he got the ball he was always crowded quickly and there was very little service as we played hoofball and defenders cleared up. As for Davies, always gives 100% and was trying to do trickery to get past people but too many bodies in the way.
Wolfenden - Didn't get long but showed pace and desire.
Ricketts - Always seems to me he just can't be bothered to run and get involved. It's as though he always down in the dumps. He does flick it on well and is a strong presence in attack and can get it down at times too, but he doesn't show enough hunger and desire to be in the box for the goals.
I just get frustrated that we don't do the simple things right. We don't build up play from the back, we tap it around, to me to you all the time then a full back will hoof it and play the "Davies" card all the time. Defenders will head those balls back all the time. Then we don't pass to feet and control. We don't do the basics.
When you watch the Boundary Park opposition, they get the ball down and play. They make a pass, then move into space. Teams have it in midfield. Their wingers are further up the pitch. For us, we have Taylor sat at the halfwayline coming to the ball instead of pushing on. Other teams have men flooding forward when they attack. We have the two strikers to aim at and that's all.
Our midfield is bad. There is no orchestrating presence. Granted, Kilkenny (pictured) may be this but what if he's out for a long time in the future? Our central midfield do not go to the ball and are not tackling all the time and running at people as they should be. It seems that we are just sat waiting for the other team to come at us and throw an onslaught of attack our way.
Shez doesnt see the problem with Taylor not taking people on and he can't see that we don't create. We try and walk it into the box and just chip it in. Defenders will eat that up all day. We are STILL, after numbers of years scared to shoot from range and just RUN at people as Davies did today. They either tackle well or bring you down.
To summarise:
- We are sluggish
- No confidence
- Dont pass quick enough
- No movement
- Hoofball-ing it, a return to Ronnie's days
- Not doing the basics
- No battling midfielders
- No one who is really fired up, no passion
- Shez doesnt see a problem with Taylor - or Taylor won't listen to him
- Shez doesn't know his best team - has he signed too many similar players in the middle?
I really think that we could benefit from Tommy Wright or Shez sitting in the directors box with a headset to relay to the touchline. They'd see so much more than from down there. As the weeks go by, Shez says that they are working hard in training. They've had 10 days since the last game and no real improvement. Hope it gets better. KTF!
I dont think it's right to call for Shez's head. If we're in a relegation fight then so be it, but look at the successful clubs - Everton, United. They all stick by the manager and it works out over time. Look at Big Joe. It was a good 5 years till things got going properly. Give him time.
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