Clarke at Fault!

He picked the wrong team, it lands at his feet.

Watters missed loads of chances, he shouldn’t have been in the side, play Humphrys, the most consistent striker since he signed.

We leaked 3 goals, cos he played the same 5 who lost all the games over the last few months, what has McCarthy & Pines done wrong & Cotter when allowed, has not let us down.

Why put Gent in again, who was powder puff & wasteful all afternoon.

Connell can’t pass or tackle, is bang out of form, whereas Nwakali has won MOM awards more times than not & won the goal of the month award in December. he showed his class again when he came on.

All this is fact, the majority of folk on here, even with our massive opinions & favourite players, cannot argue much different.

he found a 4 match winning formula after weeks & months of coming out after games saying he didn’t know his best side.

he’s gone back to type, after a 2 week break from playing & thrown a winning team out with the bath water, to pick his favourites.

I’ve been sympathetic to him & felt sorry that he was working with his hands tied, but this is on him.

we need a striker, of course we do, but today was about much more than that.

I’m questioning his ability as a manager after today.

 

Connell can't pass or tackle? I get he had a very bad game today but ofcourse he can. He hasn't been the same Connell as under Duff but any club in this league other than Birmingham would take him.

As for defenders,let's hope he makes the right decision next week. I wouldnt personally have changed them but for 90% of March, especially first half, Earl did very well. Roberts was poor, got beat plenty, but let's hope that's just cos he's a bit rusty.

I'm not too bothered about conceding as long as we score more (duh...), issue is when we play with wing backs we can get torn to shreds by 1 ball. Need a much more clinical striker if we are going to be so adventurous imo.

I like Watters, his overall play today was actually decent, by bloody heck that finishing was poor. Should have scored atleast 2 of the 4 huge chances he missed. Lack of confidence as Adi Moses says ,but unfortunately we need someone who can put those chances away. Humps dwindles on ball too often, did it twice today instead of shooting earlier. I really rate him but he needs to release earlier

 

Players who played in defence when we were doing well, were dropped far too easily when some returned.

 

It's pretty clear to me and to nearly everyone else that Nwakali is by far our most gifted player. Why on earth he is not an automatic starter is beyond me. It's also fairly clear that Humphrys has far more ability than Watters. Of our present options, if we are playing with one main striker, Humphrys is the best choice. He's tough, skilful, has a fair turn of speed and has a good shot.

 

Absolutely ridiculous.

Well yes, that’s more like it, but if he can’t pass or tackle when has he been ‘in’ form?

It really isn’t.

I will question the manager on certain things - and I’ll agree it seems poor to have taken McCarthy out of the eleven when he’s been the one centre back that looks like he can run, defend effectively and not make a monumental error once every half. Pines? Looks an accident waiting to happen. A bit like Mael - only he can’t do the other stuff Mael can. I’d use Pines as an emergency lump up front - not a centre back. Pines for me is fifth choice, McCarthy should be in the team - at the moment over Roberts though Mael pulls up few trees.

Gent - not a big fan myself - but you can’t just throw in a lad from the league of Ireland - who proved when he came on that he hasn’t the first idea how to defend at this level. Cotter over O’Keeffe? Or on the left? Not for me. And it isn’t a ‘fact’ to say Pines and Cotter haven’t let us down defensively. I like both players, for their endeavour etc - but they are very limited.

As for Humphrys being most consistent - well, he’s not really an out and out centre forward for a start, more a wide forward - but forgetting that, in terms of consistency, he hasn’t scored in his last ten league appearances and Watters has as many league goals as him this season from four fewer appearances. (Watters four from sixteen, twelve starts, Humphrys four from twenty, twelve starts). I’m not arguing Watters is better. I think Watters is an awful centre forward in terms of goal scoring; never known a striker panic as much with run of the mill chances.

But Humphrys is certainly not more consistent as a goalscorer - and Watters is pretty effective at the selective press, pressuring centre backs, and is quick. If you can’t trust either to score, there’s not really an argument that Humphrys is that much better a bet, other than he has looked to link a bit better with DKD.

Nwakali should be starting. No argument whatsoever. But not with Russell and Phillips. Phillo has to play, he should have had yet another assist today and his goal contributions from midfield are outstanding - and he isn’t as bad as some make out at the other stuff, but you have to say he isn’t always in the game.

Russell has had a decent season so far and has played well in patches but you can’t trust him, look at today. Back to wandering round like a headless chicken looking disinterested and being generally ineffective everywhere, successful only at getting in the way; making recovery ‘runs’ that made him look like he was running through treacle and being well over six feet tall but barely five foot six when he jumps for a header…

Connell had a poor game, the second goal was of course mainly his responsibility. But he doesn’t hide, he doesn’t shirk, and he does the ‘dirty’ work out of possession consistently better than anyone else in the squad; we can’t afford to play without that, especially with being questionable defensively.

So I’d play Nwakali with Connell and Phillips.

Probably Humphrys and DKD up top but in hope of getting a proper striker in, Mael, McCarthy and Earl at the back on current form, O’Keeffe on the right, probably Gent on the left, and Ben Killip - who I thought was going to either leave or be third choice during pre-season - in goal.

 

Humphrys the most consistent striker but can't remember his last goal maybe Rotherham.

Connell has needed a rest for a while out of form and more or less assisted there 2nd. Good player on his day but like said not as good as the season under duff.

 

This with bells on

 

Cambridge away in November for Humphrys.

 

He can't keep starting Watters.

 

Am I the only one who went to the Crawley match? I keep reading that Clarke changed the defence yesterday but it was the Crawley game he changed the defence for & it worked.

Gent played well against them, Earl had a brilliant game. Until he came off & Pines did a really good of nullifying their forward.

Then after McCarthy & Roberts came on we started to struggle & were lucky to keep our clean sheet.

Connell can obviously tackle & he can pass a bit too when he’s on form. Does he deserve to come out of the team for Nwakali? Yes but it’s certainly not the first time & won’t be the last time that a managers wanted to try & find room for his captain.

Humphrys is a better finisher than Watters but the team has played better & won more games with Watters up front.

I feel like your facts are just opinions that aren’t the general view at all.

 

Phillips is our most gifted player by a mile. There’s not a single player at the club with the technique he has who can play passes & take shots on the half volley like he can.

Nwakali is an excellent passer & should be starting but he’s nowhere near as gifted a player as Phillips is.

 

Philips is not remotely in the same class as Nwakali in my honest opinion.

 

That wasn’t what was said though. He said gifted. That to me is pure ability. No one at the club can hit the kind of passes & shots Phillips can. I feel like Phillips constantly gets overlooked by Barnsley fans. I think there’s a lot of our fans that will only realise what they have when he goes.

 

Don’t get the criticism of Pines ( especially being an accident waiting to happen) he’s tall and gangly that’s all but he has pace and very effective because of his height.
Watters does good work looks scared to death when he has a run on goal and his attempt's are typical of a striker temporarily on a bit of a goal drought, the difference with him is he’s permanently on a goal drought and when he has scored they have been scuffed and generally unconvincing.
The thing is if we were taking the chances we make, we would hardly be talking about the defence because we would be in a dominant position most games .

 

I don’t think Clarke likes the idea of a midfield without Luca away from home or against the better sides at home and I can’t say I blame him. On the ball Nwakali, Russell, Phillips are very good but I think we need Luca for the off the ball bits. For me we really missed that in our midfield when Orient turned us over. I can see where people are coming from with the defensive changes, although I think when fit MDG, Roberts, Earl are our best back 3 so I’m not surprised it’s what Clarke went with, I certainly don’t think it was an outrageous choice especially after a two week break where Roberts and Earl could continue building their fitness. Hopefully any rustiness will be out of the system before next week.

 

Shots.....absolutely....passes, no one has the passing range or accuracy of Nwakali....we haven't seen his like for a long time....errrr imho.

 

Clarke was not at fault yesterday. Clarke didn’t miss sitter after sitter, Clarke didn’t defend like a pussy. The players at his disposal, particularly in attack & defence aren’t good enough. That is down to the recruitment team. Until that changes & the recruitment team start being more ruthless in bringing players in & somehow offloading the crap, we will stagnate in this league.

 

The difference with Nwakali is his consistency. He rarely gives the ball away & is comfortable with the ball in tight spaces but he can’t pass a ball like Phillips can. Very few players we’ve ever had can ping a ball around like Phillips can. Some of the passes he’s hit this season on the volley or half volley from one side of the pitch to the other have led to most of the stadium gasping at the audacity of it.

 

He's done a few of those I agree but I will leave it at that, if you believe Phillips is a better passesr of a ball than Nwakali.