Minority Report - Gillingham

I enjoy sparring with you on here, but I find your words to RR a little ironic.

As for your assumptions on what I want to read etc, give over man.

I don't 'need' anyone to tell me who the best laikers are. I enjoy various opinions, the forum would be redundant otherwise to me. But I do love Winnall, and Hourihane. You'd have to be blind not to. And I like Reuben, good kid.

 

Only jesting

I know you've made your mind up on who our best laikers are.

Can't see any irony there in my post. Tell me where it is.

 

I do like coming on this forum. Some come on to abuse, some come on to offer praise, some come on to post opinion and some come on just to read and not offer any opinion at all. I come on to try and gain an insight into what other BFC fans are thinking. In realising that football is a game which provokes opinions I'm always interested in hearing the other persons point of view. That's why The Minority Report is always a good read. It offers a different insight into 90 minutes worth of footy. It doesn't slag players off just for the sake of it and, despite the fact that I don't always agree with the opinion, it provokes thought on the subject matter I care most about. My football club.
I don't care how long they are. If they're interesting to me I'll read the lit.mif not I won't. Simple really. Seems like what's provoked the number of responses on this thread is the downbeat posting from RR. Hey ho. If he feels downbeat after a what I consider was a cracking 2 0 win on Saturday, then that's for him to sort out in his own head. Personally I felt we played well. Strong defensively. Dominant in midfield and a threat when going forward with incisive purposeful passing. The only disappointment for me was Sammy. I know he scored but I agree with RR that he's not suited to the lone striker role. Having said that I wouldn't drop him. Let LJ sort that one out.
"this board should and could be a better place" says RR. I wholeheartedly agree. Whilst we're not communists or fascists, we shouldn't come on here just to abuse and insult. On this particular point Red RAin (if you have read this far) nor should you take offence at people who are responding you with a tad of fun poking and humour. You've said you have notoriously thin skin. I'd suggest you need to grow a few more layers and not handle the criticism as sensitively as you seem to be doing.
Anyway keep posting because like Whitey says ...it is brain food and at my age my one brain cell needs all the grub it can get.
Sincerely yours .....a Crowley Happy Clapper Optimistic Fan.

 

As I say, I like them all in different ways, give or take a couple of them who aren't ours anyway. But if I had the choice of keeping one forever, Bobby Hassell style, it'd be Winnall.

And I'm not getting into an argument, better things etc... but I thought your tone with RR was a little unnecessary. C'est la vie.

 

I always read your reports (I very rarely read anything else on here in all honesty) but this is the first time I have to disagree with a few things. I don't think we fluked the victory yesterday, in fact, I think 2-0 flattered Gillingham and we could and should have had four or five. They never truly threatened and Townsend didn't have a shot to save until the final throes.

I find it hard to agree with your verdict on Winnall. I felt he worked really hard and he was feeding mainly off scraps. I can't remember many times when he had the ball into his feet (or even his chest) so struggled to remember any point in which he kept losing the ball.

Harris worked tremendously hard. Especially for the first 15 minutes when he was helping out the obviously targeted Smith who looker shaky at that point.

I felt Johnson got the tactics right today, and you could see the flexibility across the shape. It's not going to be perfect straight away and will take time, but by Xmas I hope we will hit our stride and be looking at the top six serious.

The side is young, so inconsistency is a given but it will come. The naïvety will disappear and the decision making will improve.

 

My point about the abuse is that it is pointless responding to it. All certain posters are trying to do is to create an argument that they hope will escalate rapidly into a slagging match. That is not why I post on here.... at all.

I have considered stopping this series of post though, because I am not getting the satisfaction that I expected to from challenging people to think about the game. What I had hoped for was well reasoned arguments that force me to re-think my own position, as Whitey says, "brain food". What I am actually getting is mainly abuse from people who, it seems, simply want to read what they already believe. It is all a becoming a bit pointless.

 

What you are doing is read what I write on here, and from that you have decided what sort of person you think that I am. You should ask yourself if it is reasonable for you to reach such conclusions from such insignificant and fragile evidence. My team is very important to me, but it only occupies a very small part of my life. Nevertheless, you do not like what I write, you do not like the tone that you think lies behind the words and you do not like me.

Even though you think that you know my type and therefore that you know me, you know practically nothing, and I have every intention of keeping it that way. In consequence, this is the last of your posts that I will ever respond to.

 

That's sad. It's also an illustration of the fools potentially taking over the asylum.
It appears to me that you want to debate the game the tactics...indeed the fortunes of the club. I would urge you not to stop posting. Take heart in the fact that there are enough people on the forum who look forward to hearing your views. I am one of them.... Not that that means anything.
Seriously. Don't be hounded by philistines and don't be silenced by empty abuse. Just grow that extra layer and right will out in the end.
You post because you care. You post to provoke thought. Keep on keeping on.
Long live the minority report!!!!!!!!

 

The last time you took issue with my response to one of your posts you also ended up telling me what I was thinking.

I am commenting upon the words that you post on here. As you are at liberty to comment upon mine. It is my observation on what you have written. This is a forum after all and responses are invited.

I have no idea nor interest in what sort of person you are. And have never been abusive towards you.

I wish you well and goodnight (whether I'm supposed to think this or not).

 

I enjoy reading the Minority Reports whether I comment or not and generally find them balanced and agree with the majority of the content. Of course there are people on here who think personal comments is the way to answer people. Just ignore them.

 

As an observation on the OP's comments, I'd say that 4-5-1 doesn't mean that the midfield five stand in rigid formation all game. When in possession it seems fairly clear to me that they will be expected to 'wrap around' the striker. Equally, when they lose possession Lee has already made clear that he expects tracking back. I've lost count of the number of games over the last 5-6 years where we looked lightweight in midfield. So I'm all for the way Lee is experimenting with this formation. Doesn't mean I'm right or wrong - but that's my view!

 

There are lots of different combinations that are loosely referred to as 4-5-1. The type that we used on Saturday was refer to in my opening post as 4-5-1 / 4-3-3. That is, it has a defensive shape with 5 midfield players and 1 forward and an attacking shape of three midfield players and 3 forwards, the two wingers being the additional forwards. It is actually more complex than that because the full backs are allowed to get forward when we are attacking, so the attacking shape could be described as 2-5-3.

You are right that we have looked lightweight in midfield for many seasons and that the 4-5-1 system is the way to go in order to combat that, particularly because, most of the time, this is the system that our opponents will be using and we will be outnumbered in this area if we do not. However, there is a down side, and part of the down side is that our striker does not look happy in the system. If this is the preferred system of our management team, and the ultimate aim is not only to be promoted back to the second tier, but also to stay there and thrive there, they will need to have players that are better suited to the system or they will need to try a different system.

I am only too well aware that the current team has other problems, some to do with age and some to do with quality of player. But we are where we are, and there is nothing that we can do about the players that we have at the club. But we can discuss the best way that those players can be used.

The series of postings that I call "Minority Report" is about the discussion of systems. I really do not know why posters are taking offense with them. That is what I want to talk about, but my ramblings attract people who would much rather tell me that my posts are too long, or boring, or that I am being elitist. I am taking the time to tell you this because I have read your posts on horse racing with respect. Whilst I am not personally interested in that sport, I can see that your racing posts are intelligent, well thought through and are well respected. Yet in your post on Saturday night in response to mine, you chose to pose the question, "Attention seeking, or self-flagellation?". Why, as an intelligent and well respected poster, did you think that this was an appropriate response?

 

It's no secret that the two of us don't see eye to eye, to put it mildly. Our styles of posting, the prose we utilise, the interpretation of a huge variety of footballing issues, the conclusions we reach, are poles apart to such a large extent that they offer no point in opening any debate.
However, it is blatantly obvious you're an extremely popular poster who offers an alternative approach to many. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that you should continue to post as you see fit. You're entitled to air your views as much as anyone else on here. The fact I or others don't agree with you is totally irrelevant. The BBS is, or should be, big enough to host a variety of approaches, opinions and styles. It'd certainly be a duller, less colourful place without your comments & contributions.

 

Thank-you for your encouraging comments.

I am going to think this through before the next home match. I really am not enjoying the abuse that I am attracting, and it is true that I am not as thick skinned as I should be.

 

Where is the 'abuse'? I've read the whole thread as it's developed and haven't seen any, I've not read it back so maybe I've missed some?

 

Continue to post your reports. If there are any comments which you don't appreciate, which you feel cross a line, you can always put the poster on your Ignore List, enabling you to continue debating with the others whom you feel more comfortable.

 

I bet the guy wished he'd not opened his mouth!
Glad you don't sit behind me!