Subbing O'Keeffe directly after the gaffe

Right move or not?

I don't know. I mean, he's already made the blunder by that point. There was a strong argument to have subbed him before the error (or not played him at all, but that's a different conversation). Was it the right move, for either the short term or long term benefit of the team? It's just punishment isn't it and it's not like O'Keeffe meant to do it.

That doesn't mean I don't have any sympathy for Clarke and why he did it, he must have been livid and frustrated as hell, I just don't know if it did any good.

If he's never going to play O'Keeffe again then it makes no difference, but I suspect, given the options, he'll have to. And then we're playing someone who probably thinks he'll be chucked under the bus if he makes a mistake. Not that I have much sympathy for O'Keeffe at the moment.

 

He’s got to be big enough to accept it.

It’s not about being thrown under the bus. He was likely to make another error that would lead to an equaliser; he was pulled for good reason.

Had they missed the chance I’d have still taken him off.

He’ll be looked after, and if selected he’ll be supported on Saturday from the stands. Nobody wants to see players fail - much as there’s a lot of negativity, especially on socials posts, we all ultimately want success.

I suspect young Dexter might start Saturday though won’t be surprised if Clarke chooses to not risk him v Lincoln and goes back to O’Keeffe.

Just because I suspect someone is going to play poorly doesn’t make me want it to happen - I want Stephen Humphrys to put a shift in, I want Jon Russell to be strong in the tackle, I want O’Keeffe to defend properly and beat the first man from a corner.

You can’t have it all though…

 

In my opinion, he'd have made the change anyway. He usually does with the wingbacks. Personally, I think Okeefe was close to losing his head a little, so the right call for me. Another mistake or some dodgy fouls perhaps.

 

I also think it was likely that the change was coming as he’s made it in several recent games.

I do think O’Keeffe needs some proper competition again.

He lost his place to Cotter & it seemed to inspire him between around October & December & he had his best spell in a Barnsley shirt (in my opinion).

Since the new year I think he’s been pretty poor & has been more like the O’Keeffe of last season.

It could just be coincidence but some players seem to thrive off competition.

 

Doesn't matter.

 

Okeefe was a symptom not the cause. Usual thing, get in front and try and sit on it. Negative football and tippy happy round the back. Mistakes are bound to happen. If we had decided to have a real go at them we'd have won 4 0. Okeefe is a decent winger for this level, sometimes could get ball in quicker but always puts a shift in and gets assists. He's not a right wing back though

 

We won. As crap as he was doesn't mean he's going to train less or play as crap v Lincoln.

A good manager wouldn't select him on form. However, he'd respect the fact that.....

 

He was going to sub him before that. Lembikisi was already changed and waiting to come on. I saw OKeefe rubbing his hamstring a couple of times through game so wondered if he was carying a injury

 

One of the worst errors I’ve ever seen because it wasn’t just a split second bad decision it was ten fifteen seconds of pure calamity

 

I'd be tempted to start Lembikisa against Lincoln. In the snippets we've seen of him, he's looked pretty competent - quick, positionally solid, comfortable on the ball. But if Clarke decides to go with O'Keeffe I'm fine with that as well, as I have no issues with him as a player. He can do some things very well some of the time. Some of his passing is Premier League quality when he gets it right, and his attitude appears to be spot on. But some of his decision making is awful, he's not very quick, and his defensive positioning is suspect. He is very versatile and not completely rubbish, so he's definitely a useful squad member, but the upper reaches of the 3rd tier is very likely his career ceiling. Which on the grand scale of things is pretty impressive. It's far, far higher than most people who've kicked a football could ever dream of getting close to. However, I digress. Taking him off was definitely the right move as we didn't concede again and won the game. Northampton had a bit of pace down the left and we were getting pulled out of position. Putting on a quicker right back to play slightly deeper made absolute sense in that situation.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0ktlmrv

Was coming off anyway mate. Straight from the mouth of the man in a baseball hat, shirt and tie combo.

 

That's a relief.

 

I think you'll find it's a well-known fact that combining a baseball hat with a shirt and tie is a surefire sign of competence and integrity.

 

I hope he was subbed cos of it....Earl needs same treatment. For me I wish he would play Earl as left wing back cos he can cross a ball but can't defend as a left defender

 

That was my thought the speed of which it happened he must have been stripped and ready to come on.

 

1 - turn and pass into midfield
2 - turn and launch down the channel
3 - pass to the keeper
4 - put ball out into the stand for a throw in
5 - turn run with ball back towards your own goal then pass the ball to nobody then stop and do nothing until their striker takes the ball then chase him and slide tackle him

can't believe he chose option 5

 

Neither can anyone else.....

 

Great screenshot. you can see that every player baring COK and the lad nearest him has given up on him choosing anything but option 4, which given the fact we were 2-0 up with 10 minutes left was the correct option.
Happy with the 3 pts though. Thought they had a solid first 10 and then we were comfortable until the 2 moments of madness.

never easy being a reds fan eh

 

The only thing that was really wrong was the mis-hit pass....99 times out of a hundred the keeper would just have cleared it without any drama.

 

Was going to say the same. He was definitely waiting to come on a good few minutes beforehand. Also noticed he was doing quite a few sprints at half time so perhaps they'd anticipated that chance even earlier