| Post Rochdale what are WB's options to secure League 2 survival? 13:09 - Feb 2 with 542 views | durham_exile |
So far so good. Three games unbeaten since WB, JD and DH took over on an interim basis.
But what have we learned so far about the new squad and interim Management?
League Positions:
Barrow 28 29
COLCHESTER 27 27
Carlisle 28 27
Oldham 26 19
Scunny 28 19
Many questions remain unanswered. How long is the interim period for? Until the end of the season or until a permanent successor is identified because another decent manager Neil Harris has just gone to beleaguered Gillingham.
It is early days, but now we have a squad of 30 players, what would WB suggest is his strongest XI.
What did we learn from last night?
That closing out a game at 1-0 is still tricky even though I felt we were always looking for the second goal. But we could also have lost the game because Rochdale received a tremendous lift on 76 minutes when Grant scored the equaliser. These things balance themselves out. On Saturday a late, late equaliser felt like a winner last night the reverse was true. Alan Judge’s superb effort deserved to win the game, but defensive frailties came to the fore allowing a scrambled equaliser and another draw. But it is three games unbeaten,
WB lined up his charges thus:
Hornby
Tchamadeu Eastman Dallison Kenlock
Skuse Huws
Sears Judge Edwards
Akinde
Subs Collins Welch-Hayes Wiredu Hannant Andrews Dobra Coxe
Shamal George remains number one, but Sam Hornby gave an assured performance. Luke Chambers would be the number one paring with Tom Dallison, but the former is sitting out a two-game ban for his red card on Saturday.
I think that the preferred defence would therefore be fairly well nailed on at present.
George
Tchamadeu Chambers Dallison Kenlock
Options would be Eastman, Smith, Gbadebo, Coxe and Clampin (long term injury).
Junior Tchamadeu is still learning his trade and last night was guilty of some flicks and attempted tricks that didn’t come off and on more than one occasion put his fellow defenders in trouble. That is one of the reasons why I like Miles Welch-Hayes who is slightly more assured on the ball. Tom Eastman is Mr Reliable, but he has not played many minutes this season and it showed last night. WB must decide whether Tom is within his plans for one of the twin Centre Half positions.
Midfield is a conundrum, however.
When fit Chilvers, Wiredu and Skuse must be the preferred trio, but can you leave out Emyr Huws who is getting better each game.
Alan Judge is the current fourth member of the midfield and proved last night that he can find the back of the net in spectacular fashion. Luke Hannant is still an enigma. Is he best on the right or the left (he had a great game at Salford) but we are not seeing the goals that he scored at Cambridge?
Also, we retained Brendan Wiredu in the window (brilliant news), so he should be the first name on the team list. Strong, determined, and hugely influential, he needs clear direction in just where he is playing because it was unclear last night. He is at his best when driving forward and carving open spaces in opposition defences. He wins the ball and can always be relied upon to drive forward but he was in no mans land last night after coming on. This must be sorted out and soon.
Noah Chilvers when fully fit must also start along with Cole Skuse who put in another shift last night.
This leaves the forward line. Now depending on the midfield configuration, we either have one, two or three players in the front line. I favour two plus either Judge or one of the young wingers.
As I see it, John Akinde was signed long term to give us the height and strength that has been lacking for years. And he has already assisted in a goal and was perhaps unlucky not to have opened his account last evening. He naturally wins the ball in the air and Freddie Sears should be there to pick up these golden offerings.
However, I am a Corie Andrews fan. I have seen him play twice and he is sharp, pacy, skilful and can score goals. Last night he was bundled over in the box last knockings and should have won a penalty.
What about a pairing of Akinde and Andrews to break things up? Akinde to do what he does best and win the ball, but Andrews has more pace than Freddie and could form a great pairing. Controversial I am sure because Freddie has been scoring goals regularly, but worth a shout I reckon.
We then have Tyreik Wright and Owura Edwards, both wingers, to mix things up a bit. Edwards had the beating of his full back last night. I think the jury is still out on Armando Dobra. He is too lightweight in my view and not as good as Syl Jasper who we failed to get the best out of before his return to Fulham and sojourn to Hibernian recently.
So, WB could well decide that the following offers the strength, experience and youthful endeavour to get us out of this predicament.
George
Tchamadeu Chambers Dallison Kenlock
Wiredu Chilvers Skuse
Judge
Sears Akinde
But in the back of his mind, he has replacements for every position and two wingers to consider plus the young and pacy Andrews to introduce up front.
Plenty to mull over ahead of Orient Away on Saturday. 50 points must remain the highest priority but let us see what this team can achieve.
Up the U’s
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| Post Rochdale what are WB's options to secure League 2 survival? on 20:42 - Feb 2 with 430 views | wessex_exile |
Excellent write-up Durham. At the moment, I think Wayne and the management team hang in the balance. Three games unbeaten is a massive improvement - with the benefit of hindsight could have been seven points, could just as easily been three. When you're at the wrong end of the table there are no easy games, but after a very good transfer window and a massive squad to choose from, as far as I'm concerned the management team have earned the right to try and do something with it. However, with two tricky away games followed by t'other CUFC at home, we don't have the luxury of waiting any longer to see if the management team are up to the task.
Realistically, 4pts from those three has to be our minimum expectation in the present situation, anything less and surely time to bring in a permanent management team - though to be fair 3pts and still unbeaten might feel okay. 5pts and definitely still unbeaten would be even better, and surely enough for Wayne, Joe and Dave to finish the job to the end of the season. Anything more than 5pts (i.e. 6, 7 or, whisper it, 9pts) and they have to stay, simple as that. |  |
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| Post Rochdale what are WB's options to secure League 2 survival? on 21:08 - Feb 2 with 428 views | bwildered |
WB record has interim last season was
Played 9 , won 1 , drawn 3 , Lost 5. ( Five Home /Four away).
Scored 6 , conceded 14.
Possible points 27 , gained 6.
In this reign .
Played 3, won 1, drawn 2 , lost O ( Two Home / One away ).
Scored 5 , conceded 2.
Possible points 9 , gained 5 .
Early days but a improvement in the stats , let’s hope it can continue. |  |
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| Post Rochdale what are WB's options to secure League 2 survival? on 22:34 - Feb 2 with 401 views | noah4x4 |
I think it was a good point and five from nine a decent haul, albeit not secured in the manner the bookmakers expected! But unlike rugby, the best side in football doesn't always win, as well evidenced by our smash & grab point versus Swindon. To a degree, Rochdale were similarly fortunate as we should have scored at least two more and secured a penalty when Andrews was felled. But that is the nature of football.
The way I see it is that the key thing is to not lose games. We have an eight point cushion above relegation (nine with goal difference) and if we can average a tiny fraction over a point a game to the end of the season it would require play off form for Scunny and Oldham to catch us as 47+ points will probably be enough. But if we win a few and hence turn one pointers into threes we will soar clear. The (effective) nine point buffer is immense provided we protect it. .
In summary, it is time to be solid in defence and to better hold the ball up when in the opposition half. Many of the goals conceded have been due to too lightweight (but skillful) forwards losing the ball with us overstretched. My main concern is the extent that we are softly surrendering possession. A run of dour draws and the odd win or two might be just the ticket. But any defeats might breed a lack of confidence and fan cynicism. Time for fans to resolutely get behind the team and its management, and that includes Cowling who has financially backed Brown and Dunn with new players. We should respect him for that. [Post edited 2 Feb 2022 22:38]
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| Post Rochdale what are WB's options to secure League 2 survival? on 08:04 - Feb 3 with 362 views | bwildered |
| Post Rochdale what are WB's options to secure League 2 survival? on 22:34 - Feb 2 by noah4x4 |
I think it was a good point and five from nine a decent haul, albeit not secured in the manner the bookmakers expected! But unlike rugby, the best side in football doesn't always win, as well evidenced by our smash & grab point versus Swindon. To a degree, Rochdale were similarly fortunate as we should have scored at least two more and secured a penalty when Andrews was felled. But that is the nature of football.
The way I see it is that the key thing is to not lose games. We have an eight point cushion above relegation (nine with goal difference) and if we can average a tiny fraction over a point a game to the end of the season it would require play off form for Scunny and Oldham to catch us as 47+ points will probably be enough. But if we win a few and hence turn one pointers into threes we will soar clear. The (effective) nine point buffer is immense provided we protect it. .
In summary, it is time to be solid in defence and to better hold the ball up when in the opposition half. Many of the goals conceded have been due to too lightweight (but skillful) forwards losing the ball with us overstretched. My main concern is the extent that we are softly surrendering possession. A run of dour draws and the odd win or two might be just the ticket. But any defeats might breed a lack of confidence and fan cynicism. Time for fans to resolutely get behind the team and its management, and that includes Cowling who has financially backed Brown and Dunn with new players. We should respect him for that. [Post edited 2 Feb 2022 22:38]
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Surprised that there is no season data on possession/ retention of the ball ( or is there ? ). Presume the sides at the top end of the table have the better percentages due to having better rates to score more goals.
The pretty obvious though is to beat the sides around you, and hopefully last seasons efforts to survive hold us in good stead, a situation which we have to use for our advantage. | |
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