So, what's going to change?

Really interested to see what fresh thinking VI is going to bring to our game. When watching Villa thrash Liverpool it reminded me of how difficult it can be to play an aggressive press with high back-line and stay solid. Get it wrong and it's easily countered. It would seem the 'club' is committed to the 'pressing game', and in principle I like that, but there are variations on that theme and I'm hoping fresh eyes and thinking might just produce the tweak we need to become more effective and pacy in transition. Sometimes I think we just don't move the opposition around enough. Moving the ball wide quickly immediately stretches the game and creates space to exploit.

 

We might actually win the odd game?

 

It's very often decision-making in the final third that let's the team down and the lack of somebody with a bit of nous in the box. Defensively it's the odd daft mistake. There's not a lot wrong though. They're not far off being a good team. Trouble is the problems I've mentioned could mean further struggle unless addressed (how the manager gets them to stop making daft defensive mistakes is a conundrum with the current players).

 

Well Ismael was a centre half, and a very good one.

His first job for me is to do some one to one drills with Andersen and Helik. Both have all the attributes to be fantastic in my eyes, but both have looked to need a bit of instruction / a kick up the arse in recent games.

Cut out the errors and there’s less pressure on the forward line, we have started scoring from open play and the improved midfield will help the creativity.

Hopefully there’s a free agent forward with a bit of strength/power available as we are lightweight up top and no new manager can make any of our current forwards bigger, stronger or more of an aerial threat.

 

Were weak as p!ss up front. Something that out of the many things you can lament the board for, this is the single most riddiculous point of all. All this talk of getting in a free agent is nonsense, for the reason that if they couldnt be arsed to push the boat out in the transfer window they aint going to do it now, and secondly these free agents are free agents not taken by a club already for a reason. Even if it was a loan from the prem or championship, something, anything. Weve got loads a strikers but half of them are nowhere near champ level and the other half are all 5ft 4. The side is looking aif decent at minute and our play is decent but seems to nearly always fail when we got into top third of the pitch. A striker has been a must for ages, but doesent seem to get addressed, is it cos a striker is normally the most expensive player to purchase? Who knows? But the decision not to rectify the issue will cost us many points this season.

 

I'm resigned now to not getting the striking positions sorted at all. We were ill-equipped there last season and never replaced Moore but now we're also without Brown (and Wilks albeit his potential wasn't realised with us).

You can only say that what the Board have done in terms of striking options through three windows is nothing short of absolute negligence.

I recall the Board going through the whole panoply of lines last summer with nobody signed and they're well on the way again over another year down track - "we had someone lined up then they changed their mind" (really? then why have all your eggs in one/insufficient numbers of baskets - I thought the spreadsheet was gigantic?), "we're looking domestically but can't find anyone to improve on what we've got" (really? - that's ultra hard to believe given eg the Div 2 play-offs that I saw) and then "we'll look to the free agent market" (really? you said that last season and then signed nobody and if there was really someone in there that could do a job for us why wait until now, given they're free agents since July in most cases?) We just need the "there's nobody available in free agency that would improve us within our salary range" (most of us already know this Dane) to get the full-house on annual BFC Striker BS Bingo.

The spreadsheet for me has gone into complete terminal failure over the last couple of years and whilst it may identify players that have reasonable stats in the Bielo-russian pub league it mitigates against building a functioning team, whatever the system favoured. No other gegenpressing teams have so one-dimensional a set of players. Until the recent signing of a couple of good right-footed midfielders the spreadsheet had left us with a wholesale bunch of (very, very) left-foot only midfielders. We still have a complete group of solely right-footed defenders and, crucially, a posse of midget, unathletic, weak but not even very quick, forwards to play with Woodrow. (You don't need the spreadsheet to identify our better signings of Sollbauer, James and Kane either).

So where the Board and spreadsheet have left us is with the most threadbare of attacking options in the division by far and one made to look even more paltry once you factor in the absence of Woodrow. Teams at this level just about without exception, including those with similar budgets to ours, have four credible striking options, as a bare minimum. We have been negligently left with just one imho and he was injured in the warm-up yesterday. If I go down the list of all the squads in this division and pick four strikers from ours and each of the others, in every case Cauley is the only one of ours who would get in the four imo.

So what can we do? I think they've left us in a corner and the only way I can see us surviving is if Ismael can tighten the defence back up, despite the almost equal and complacent (remember Murray's statement) neglect of the left-back position, and we can scrape a few 1-0s before January and then identify a couple to come in from the moment the Winter transfer window opens. Unfortunately the games come thick and fast during November and December, so it doesn't look good. Maybe VI will finally be the one to make us more effective at set pieces at both ends too.

 

Having a coach that isn’t in the middle of a pantomime about his future might help.

We won’t get a striker before January. Any available are likely to be expensive, rubbish or most likely both. So we have to go with what we have. May as well start working on converting Halme into a full time striker to come off the bench, be better than Victor.

 

We've scored 5 in 3 and people are moaning about firepower. It's the defence that have gone to sleep again. New gaffer will hopefully grow a pair and play two at the back. Either Sollbauer and Andersen or Sollbauer and Helik with Halme in reserve. Williams and Brittain as full backs. I'd also keep 4 in midfield diamond when James is fully fit. Mowatt and James in the middle with Styles and Kane the guys who go wider. Woodrow and Frieser up front.

 

I was just contemplating this morning the fact that we'd now started letting in goals after managing to score the last few games. Hopefully Valerian can sort the defence out being a former defender himself. Not convinced though SD that 4-4-2 is our best formation....yet. It does get more midfielders into the system, but ultimately leaves us weaker at the back. It's a conundrum isn't it?

 

James would be your deep lying midfielder that makes it a three when defending. I don't like three at the back because when you have the ball or attacking one bloke is left with his hand on his Richard.

 

Not necessarily SD. Did you see the article explaining GSs version of the high press? It was a very long article going into a lot of detail that explained why 3 at the back was useful in the system. I'll try and find it again if you haven't (it's a long read though )

 

As a defender himself I hope he can continue improving Andersen. I was shocked seeing the tweet because he's not been here long so it's quite the milestone to get to fifty so soon. He's been an ever present for the vast majority of his time with us and is getting better all the time. Would be great for that to continue, him to see his long term future with us and hopefully in years to come have him play well over 200 games for us like many well thought of defenders for us have through our history.

 

He has no doubt grown in confidence, and looks more assured, but he needs to sort out his wastefulness in possession. I have no issue with him booting the ball out for a throw when in doubt (sometimes it will go wrong like yesterday's slicing it out for a corner). Some of his long range balls to the opposite flank are exceptional, but the long wayward balls up for Chaplin and Frieser are pointless, given their height and strength. He gives the ball away a lot, and perhaps it's a confidence thing again. I would love to see him have a lengthy spell with us, and agree with you on that. Hopefully the new coach can continue to develop him.

 

What I don't understand is what's going on with Thomas and Chaplin. Both were allegedly pursued for some time by us and both are meant to have a good burst of pace. But what are their best positions? Are we playing them (when we do) in the right way. I'd like to see them run at defences and take players on. But I really don't know how we intended to use them when we brought them in - are they both no.10s? I don't think we're seeing the best of them but is that them, system, or a bit of both?

 

Agree,a bit like Phillips at Leeds

 

I think we can talk about systems as much as we want, but the thing is, we buy mediocre players, aim to make them good or very good and sell for profit. The fact is, we’ve got mediocre players, on their way to getting better. With mediocre players, you can wing it by working very hard to try and overcome the lack of class, but you can’t disguise the fact that the team can either play to score, in which way they concede, or play for clean sheets in which way they struggle to score. Teams with better players can do both. It’s in the BFC dna unfortunately.

 

I’ve seen a mocked up table based on expected goals and we’d be 6 points better off. I guess that was Strubers frustration in that we are creating the chances but not taking them.

get Woodrow firing (fit initially) and that could be the difference. I don’t think it needs wholesale changes just tweaks

 

Thomas's pace/acceleration is incredible, we just need to get the right ball to him round the back. Still dont know what his best position is and it's a good question. Same for Chaplin. Thomas was very effective at Middlesbrough in the cup, but too often he goes missing in games. Not sure it's his fault and would like to see him do well. Think a lot of it comes back to the distribution from the back, from Walton, and from the midfield. It's also a shame he can't use his right foot for toffee.