victorturner

I think the decisions are very worrying. Those complaints above are fully justified. Not playing Rhodes from the start is incomprehensible. Paterson has to be hidden in the team as he lacks skill and ball control. Windass is not a striker. I would add that putting a shirt on Rhodes is not enough. He is a particular type of striker. He is not Nuhui nor Fletcher. He needs the best wingman to play to feed him with crosses into the box. Instead we punt it downfield to chase rather than carefully working the ball to a wingman to cross. Reach has achieved very little for weeks and he

Agree. Quite apart from the effect on the players, if DC really does have cash flow problems and / or has run out of the cash reserves available to him, then the club as a whole is in danger. He may decide to hang on until gate receipts return next season but if so , the club will still be struggling to survive.

Imposing a new system from Day 1; playing out from the back ie taking risks with players short of confidence; some players in and out of the team like yo yo's; not picking a formation to score goals when we know you do not win without goals and that the goals scored total is embarrassingly low.

Starting Rhodes not enough. Managers put him in then shrug and omit him. You have to play to his strengths. Not enough for him to wear a shirt. He needs crosses into the box. Pick the best crosser of a ball and select him to cross the ball whether it’s Green - Reach doubt it- or Harris

The players who are especially pathetic do not have to be picked. There is some choice. And messing about with systems , moving players into the team then out, and playing players out of position are just acts of egocentric management. Think about the motivation and welfare of players, give them stability and stop messing about. Reach looks out of confidence and form, Bannan has reverted to long punts upfield and we are back to one striker to start “must win” games.

Delivery service to strikers has been poor and still is. BB is categorised as a playmaker but these long bouncing punts like yesterday are not service,

He may play poorly and miss the odd chance but he is always likely to score. DM and JS seem to have overturned the original thought that he had to play and we should play to his strengths ie crosses. We currently play to his weaknesses when he finally appears. Crazy management.

Agree but when you say “ the gaffer’s usual 3-5-2”, I thought he started with something complex like 3-2-3-1-1 when he arrived. This obsession with personal preferences for particular systems is damaging. Monk and Bent on Sky said in this situation, it was important to keep it simple, play to your strengths and play fighting football. We are not doing any of this. The guy who posted two months ago on here from DRFC with a parent involved in Wise Old Owls told us that DM was obsessed with a system and played players out of position. I would have thought sticking with a simple s

We do not have the highly skilled, versatile and fit players to play wing back.

Not sure. Think it was Paterson playing rough and tumble RB

What struck me was the quality of ball retention. I feel sorry for the defenders as the midfield cannot win the ball, cannot retain it and cannot develop passing moves. These long punts downfield by BB are better than the meek contributions of Reach but they often give receivers an awkward ball to chase or control. The ball is easily lost. Nobody seems to receive the ball at their feet or in a space ahead where the attacking player can move to worry the opposition. It all looks a terrible struggle to find a man..and that’s before we get to the bit about creating real goal scoring opportuni

I thought the only idea DM had with which I could agree was to get Harris to cross for Rhodes. Result: Rhodes doesn’t start ( what does that do his confidence?) and Harris runs after long balls down the left.

Monk and Bent said; keep it simple, play up the emotional dimension so players know how much it means, play to your strengths and fight for points without complicating matters on the pitch. This management team is not doing any of this.

I hardly saw Green.

He was playing it out from the back, under the new orders and system. Granted Reach cannot do anything with a ball that reaches him which is at all awkward. He is a left winger and should stay upfield, out of range of any defensive duties.