Half Term Report - The Occasionally Mighty Reds.

Before I start. Just opinions. A kick start for discussion. Like most of us I’m not an expert nor do I pretend to be. I’m also a notoriously harsh marker so you may think some scores are low.

The season started, after another tumultuous pre-season with most fans probably not knowing what to expect.

Manager gone. Inexperienced manager installed.

Central Defence gone some inevitably and some with the money too good to turn down.

The forward line had huge question marks against it. We had lost an experienced but replaceable forward but seem to have neglected to replace him. McAtee came in with a lot of talent but little goal scoring pedigree. Watters came back with a general meh reaction and late in the day Cosgrove arrived in what looked at the time to be a good addition.

midfield looked stable but then we were hit with Luca’s issues.

Off field again we seemed to lurch from catastrophe to disaster with little sign of any real change to this.

So here we are half way through the season what do we think?

Performances - 7. Patchy. In places we have dominated in others we have looked incredibly naïve and poorly set up. In recent weeks things have improved but still hard to put your finger on what a Neill Collins sides style of play is.

Results - 8. Creativity at this level and a bit of pace take you far so some outstanding individual moments have got us better results than performances dictate.

Off the Field Managememt. 4. Admin cockups. EFL investigations. A clearly incompetent CEO allowed to remain in post far too long. Would have been lower but the appointment of a DOF points to at least trying to address some of the field issues.

Neill Collins and the Team. 7. The frustration lies in how we set up defensively. We overplay but cannot get the basics right. At the same time we have to acknowledge that Neill came into a difficult situation. With the talent we have from an attacking perspective we need to kick on and look to translate this into more dominant performances while tightening up at the back. We also need to start to exploit the pace and dynamism of Cole, McAtee and Watters when playing. We also if we play Cosgrove need to adjust our low crossing preferences. So some bright shoots cut across by basic failure to improve players or play to their strengths.

Roberts. 8.5. One of our best loan signings a real talent and would be great to sign him the difference in the team when Killlip played was very noticeable

Killip 6. A decent back up but too many flaws to be a regular starter regardless of whether Roberts can be signed or not.

Cadden. 5.5 Its been a difficult season for Nicky. Injuries and loss of form have restricted his game time. One of the most worrying things about Collins is that too many good players have regressed and got worse and Nicky is one of them.

O’Keefe. 6. At times looks to be very talented at others looks poor. His positional sense isn’t great defensively and he lacks composure going forward. A work in progress.

Dodgson 6. Not had a consistent run of games to make a judgement on but looks to have something about him.

Williams 5.5. Really suffering from playing in the middle. Again worrying that he has gone from being one of our better players to really struggling and we have lost the attacking edge he brings. The need to play him in his proper position is really strong.

McCart. 7. Solid enough player. A regular 7 out of 10 pretty much every game. Better than I expected when we signed him.

Mael. 7. Great passer of the ball. Great awareness going forwards. Just so slow. Needs someone with some pace next to him to make up for his defencies

Lopata 6. Sometimes good. Sometimes not. Plenty of room for development but we are not seeing it enough or consistently.

Shepherd. 6. Very raw. Some games he has looked up to it and some well off the pace. Started off well probably running on adrenaline. One for the future.

Kane 7. Playing much better with Connell beside him to do the running. An on form Herbie is a very valuable player in this division so the last few weeks have been very encouraging.

Connell 7.5 transforms the team when he is in it. Does the simple things ridiculously well. We are very light in his position and he needs to sort out his tackling / disciplinary issues.

Phillips 5. A very poor start from Phillips. Another one who has significantly regressed. Good to see him coming back to form in the last few games as at his best he is a real difference maker and could be the key to our promotion aspirations.

Russell 5.5. Suffers when he plays with the equally immobile Kane. Some fantastic talent in his feet but that doesn’t always translate into being a fantastic player. I still harbour some hopes for him though. Definitely at a career crossroads though

McAtee 8. Really starting to impress in every game. A very difficult player for limited L1 players to mark as he drifts and can score or create from anywhere. If he has a big second half of the season we will be in contention.

Cole. 8. A steamroller of a start for Devante. He has unsurprisingly calmed down a bit as the season progresses but is still contributing regularly. Slight frustration is do we use his pace as effectively as we should with the slow build up.

Watters 4. Lacks confidence but also awareness of those around him. I actually think there is a goal scorer in there somewhere but again if he is on the pitch we need to use his pace.

Cosgrove 3. A signing that I thought could make a difference. It has but not in a good way. Needs to improve and improve fast.

Jalo. 7. Looked very bright in patches. So much potential I’d be surprised if he is here at the end of January.

Cotter. 6. Love the wildcard element to Barry but he seems to have lost the ability to beat a man.

Styles 5. Injury and poor form have really impacted Callum. He also thinks he is a midfielder when he isn’t.

Overall 7 I’d say to match our League position.

Over to you lot.

 

Good read, Styles for me is 5hite, an individual player that obviously thinks he's better than he is, me myself an i, get shut asap, apart from that i'd agree with a lot of what you say. Cosgrove, Styles an Watters out for me, a new midfielder, an a new striker., oh an a keeper cos i think we'll need one.

 

A pretty well thought out summary of the season so far.
Agree with most points and I really beleive the January window will once again make or break our season.
Over to you the board.
Show some ambition please.

 

Good read. Agree with most of it.

 

Last night we were building an attack slowly with some good passes ball comes to styles on right cadden was in loads of space on the left it looked the obvious pass. He cuts inside and just blasts a ball way over the bar attack gone possession back to posh. Frustrating stuff.

 

7 a bit generous for Jalo given he's hardly played. Needs to start rather than come on with 15 to go, No mention of why Dallas and Shaw were signed and then loaned out. Two odd signings
Our wing backs are good going forward not so good defensively. Cotter isn't a WB!! We don't seem to be able to control a game once in front. Port Vale an obvious example

 

Decent read. I'd say a tad unfair on Cosgrove but I get why you think that. Has he really had a decent run? Still think he will come good; hopefully starting from Monday.

I've been really disappointed by 'some' performances but more impressed recently. I said in an early season review that we would have to score more than one to win a game as we always look like conceding and sadly that remains the case.

 

Agree with this and the thought the overall assessment was very good. Think Cosgrove could do a job tho, his nuisance value against Stevenage turned the game for me.

 

To be fair he's looked good in cup games and little cameos he has had like reading. Probably n/a would be better as he hasn't been given any starts yet to judge him on. Good that even when he was warming up last night fans were singing his name must feel good as a young 17 year old.

 

Yeah I guess I’m more disappointed so far with Cosgrove than anything. Definitely not one to write off and when we start / bring him in we need to adjust tactics to play to his strengths. Didn’t think I could score him more highly due to a lack of any output ( the goal of the season aside)

 

Think it’s fair to say none of us have seen enough of Dallas or Shaw to really judge but both seem part of a scattergun approach to recruitment which has landed us with about 7 centre halves but the manager choosing fullbacks in front of them.

Jalo appreciate your view I just think his cameos have been really promising. Might have been fairer to say that rather then give him a score.

 

"part of a scattergun approach to recruitment which has landed us with about 7 centre halves"
One of the main reasons we have struggled this year...good point well made.

 

Roberts - 8 - excellent for the most part, shame he missed so long injured

Killip - 6 - pretty average back up for this level, as expected

Cotter - 5 - Very hit & miss, capable of great moments of attacking play but scares you defensively

O’Keeffe - 5 - Same as Cotter which is why neither have managed to nail down the spot

Williams - 5 - Feel for him a bit as it’s needs must to get some pace in the back line but obviously not playing the role as well as he did alongside physically dominant centre backs in the championship. Don’t think he’s been as bad as some have made out, he stepped out of the defence with the ball really well last night & started off plenty of attacks in the first half but easily overlooked when he makes a mess of their first goal

Lopata - 5 - Not convinced, lacks pace, not great on the ball. Can’t question his commitment & our only available centre back who’s any use in the air but I’d like to think we’ll upgrade in January.

De Gevigney - 6 - There's a good footballer in him but he needs height & pace alongside him as he’s lacking in both. Excellent passer.

McCart - 6 - Another one that lacks pace & isn’t great in the air but for a last minute loanee to replace Kitching he’s doing reasonably well. There’s nothing particularly wrong with any of our centre backs individually if they had the right partners but ours don’t really compliment each other.

McCarthy - 5 - I don’t know if it’s the after effects of the injury or if he was never much cop but I think his days are numbered unfortunately. Seems a great lad & it’s a shame but he’s not looked up to it in the cup games.

Shepherd - 6 - Done very well for a novice when he got his chance early in the season. His last couple of games were a bit shaky but from the level he’s come from you’ve got to expect that. Plenty of promise & I’d hope to see him get a loan to a league 2 or conference side when we strengthen in January.

Cadden - 7 - Dodgy early doors when it was a new defence & keeper & Kitching wanted away. After his brief spell of been dropped for Dodgson I think he’s been pretty good. Chipped in with a couple of goals & gets plenty of decent balls in the box.

Dodgson - 6 - Decent back up. We won’t get much better than him to spend most of the season bench warming.

Russell - 6 - I feel for him because it was a lose - lose situation. He’s never going to be able to replace Connell & he came in to the side in front of a new defence with little pace & with a central midfielder alongside him with little pace. Basically he’s a good passer who’s useful in the air but he needs legs around him which we didn’t have.

Connell - 6.5 - I don’t think he’s been anywhere near his best since coming back but his energy & reading of the game is such an upgrade on what we had with Russell. There’s been a few daft moments, he got away with giving away a pen last night, a couple of silly tackles from behind that could’ve been reds in home games & a daft foul that led to a goal in away game a few weeks back but even having said that he’s still given us loads more than we had before & you’d expect him to only get better.

Styles - 5 - It’s just not happening for him is it? There was the one outstanding goal that won goal of the month & that feels about it. He’s not great off the ball, he’s not great on it. I don’t feel like he gets in our best midfield & he’s inferior to Cadden at wing back so it’s hard to know where he goes from here.

Kane - 8 - keeps his composure & seemingly always fit. It’s made it tougher for him that he’s not had a target to hold the ball up for the most part & had Russell alongside him instead of Connell but never loses his head & chips in with goals & assists. Delighted we’ve got our midfield back from last season which should lead to all 3 playing well.

Phillips - 5.5 - Been poor up until the last few games but it looks like a bit of confidence is coming back. There were a few games where he was playing a bit deeper before Connell was fit & it’s not his game. He’s basically a league one Frank Lampard, he needs two players behind him to give him the freedom to get involved in attacks & hopefully he’s got that now.

Cole - 7 - Excellent early in the season but for whatever reason his performances dropped off a bit. I’ve been really impressed with his work rate in the last couple of games & he’s looking back to his best.

McAtee - 7.5 - He was a bit of a wildcard early in the season doing daft things like silly one man presses & lunging into daft tackles pulling other team mates out of position but he’s got better as the seasons gone on & some of his goals have been outstanding. Got that Adam Hammill about him in that he’ll do what he wants & doesn’t care who the opposition are.

Cosgrove - 4 - Thought he was exactly the player we needed but he’s not shown it yet. Still think he’ll prove to be a good signing & will feature plenty.

Watters - 4 - Frustrating. I thought he was decent last season but he’s shown very little this. Doesn’t deserve opportunities based on what he’s shown so far.

Jalo - 5 - Bags of talent but tried a bit too hard to make an impression in the Bristol Motors cup games & didn’t really perform. Wonder goal against Horsham & an excellent assist off the bench against Reading suggest he deserves more appearances off the bench, I don’t think I’d be starting him in league games yet unless 2 of Cole, McAtee & Cosgrove were unavailable.

Collins - 8 - Think he’s doing a cracking job given the obvious deficiencies in the squad & the absences of Connell & Roberts. My view for a while has been that if he can get us into January in touch with automatic promotion where we can hopefully strengthen at the back then it’s more than job done & he’s done it.

I think the big issue he’s had with fans is that he realised how much pace & height we lacked at the back from day one & got his team to play a possession style of football to try & protect against them weaknesses been exposed. Ironically if he’d have played a back 3 of De Gevigney, Lopata & McCart with Russell in front of them & employed a high press we would’ve got battered & then he’d have been able to change the style without much criticism.

It’s interesting that many of his critics suggested that he wasn’t covering up weaknesses & that this was his style of play. However when he did have more pace in the backline last night with Dodgson instead of McCart he did employ a high press which suggests he would do so more often if we can sign the right type of defenders in January.

 

Generous mark for Collins aside I thought I was a mean marker!

Not his biggest fan but Cole seems very harsh given he is still better than 1 in 2.

 

That's a reasonable assessment overall. There's very little I would change in the scoring.

The most frustrating one to read is the Cosgrove score. Like you, I had high hopes for him, but it hasn't worked out so far. Hopefully this can change, as he has the potential to be a difference maker.

I really don't know what we have as a coach in Collins, which after half a season in charge is a slight concern. You've picked up on the biggest concern though, which is that none of the players seem to be improving under him, but some are definitely regressing. For a club like ours a successful coach has to get the maximum out of the relatively limited resources he'll have available. Cadden, Phillips, Styles and Williams have under-performed compared to what we know they're capable of. For some of them, they might be getting distracted at the prospect of a move away, but the jury is still out on whether Collins is able to get the most out of his squad.

The league position is OK and the direction of travel in recent games is generally positive, albeit inconsistent. He's still relatively inexperienced at this level, so hopefully we can see further progress across the season. The transfer window will dictate things to an extent, but hopefully he'll have more options available in key areas by the time it closes.

 

Very generous for Collins we have a good squad at this level granted the defence isn't as strong as last season but we have a very good squad. I think he's cost us in a quite few games this season but I'm not calling for him to go.
You keep saying we need to play Williams at center back for his pace but he has been awful in that position last month. I do feel sorry for him because he is a very good rwb. And last night playing 2 very small cbs against poshs big front 2 was a big gamble.
Phillips 5.5 is possibly a little low for me he was suspended then he couldn't get a game as styles kept getting picked over him in center midfield now he's had a run of games and found some form. All opinion though.

 

The more I think about it with Collins I just think he’s done really well with our defence to have us in touch of automatic promotion. Killip, Cotter / O’Keeffe, Williams, De Gevigney / Lopata, McCart, Cadden & Russell was our back 6 for a substantial part of the season. I know the style of play hasn’t exactly been exhilarating but if you look at them names you can see why.

Youre probably right on Cole. It’s probably because he had a bit of a drop off from his early season form. If roles were reversed with McAtee & his goals had come more recently I’d imagine he’d get a better rating

 

I just think we’d be significantly worse with McCarthy, Lopata, Shepherd or Cundy in for Williams.

I just hope it isn’t an issue in a months time.

 

Overall a fair and measured assessment I would say.
Think 4 is a little harsh for off field as there are some small signs of improvement like DoF, some good commercial deals etc EFL investigation was past issues as well not this season.
Cosgrove difficult to disagree with score based on current performances but would ask the question is the issue that he just doesn’t suit our style of play given he did alright at Plymouth in this league?

 

All fair points. I think Coles play overall recently has been very good and the partnership with McAtee that I have to admit I didn’t see working is really developing.

Collins has definitely earnt our support for the rest of the season. For about 70 minutes in the last 2 matches the football has been excellent so let’s hope we can build consistency into that