Big val

I'm sick of people saying it was hoofball under Val. It absolutely wasn't. To me hoofball is sitting deep, whacking it up to a big man and that being the only form of attack, and that's not what we did at all.

 

100% correct, we went to places like Brentford, Bournemouth and footballer em to death.

 

Under Val we didn't p¡ss about with the ball in our own half , we played in the oppositions half and out worked and out fought most sides we faced and played with no fear. ..........sithi.

 

2 probs with Big Val.

1) He didn’t have a Plan B. We eventually got found out near the end of the season.

2) I genuinely don’t think our squad is fit enough to play that way this season.

It rarely works out for returning managers.

 

Val knew our defenders were not up to playing the ball out from the back. Went long with a very high press. Didn't want to play football in our half of the pitch. Get the ball forward and it worked that season.

 

One thing you can be sure of: Big Val wouldn’t tolerate these lazy b’stards

 

I'm not suggesting we get him back I agree never go back. But abit of a plan, everyone giving 100% and no passengers wouldn't go a miss.

 

I think if you put Carlton Morris in this side, we’d easily be in the playoff picture.

 

I mean that's fairly obvious yeah as he's a striker who was scoring goals in prem last season after scoring a boat load in championship the season before. He's a player far too good for L1 level.

Like saying if we had Pinnock back we'd be better.

But fans were slating that Morris signing when he arrived cos his record was crap. Val got him firing and made him mint.

 

Bit harsh on Flockton under 12’s.

 

A distinct style of play, everyone knowing their job, not allowing limited footballers like De Gevigney and Pines try to pass it around, and not allowing people like Humphrys to stroll about doing the square root of **** all.

Just having eleven players on the pitch giving their all and not cakking their pants when the opposition get the ball would be a start.

Some actual leadership. Backbone.

I’d have Val back. He wouldn’t stand for the sh.ite we’ve been watching at Oakwell for the last two seasons.

But he’d not come back - and they wouldn’t want him. After all, what’s the point in getting to the playoffs if nobody bids for your players? (Yes I know Khaled’s gone, but the philosophy hasn’t).

In the last twelve calendar months, going back to this time in February last year; we have played twenty three regular home games in the league. As you’d expect we would have.

We have won five. Five in twenty fu.cking three games. Not even one home win for every four and a half home games on average. In division three.

In that time we’ve also failed to win at home in the playoffs, lost both games played in the EFL trophy at home, and lost on penalties in the fa cup after a dire draw against a side we’d actually beaten in the league at home a couple of months prior.

 

Great post echoes my thoughts. Apart from the mdg bit who is our best defender especially with the ball at his feet.

 

The point I’m making is we don’t have a decent striker. Not one.

 

But we have other decent enough attacking players to win games.

Reading sold their only good striker late in January but still are winning games and finding a way to get by. Stockport lost by far their best player, and arguably best player in league in Louie Barry and they aren't sat moaning, in fact they are still winning most weeks.

 

I don’t really care what Stockport or Reading do for goals. They have different players, probably play different formations. Stockport had a big lad up front that gave us a torrid time first half, same as Wycombe.

I’m talking about us, and I think we would benefit from a big lad, not unlike Morris, to put himself about and allow the likes of DKD, Phillips & Humphrys to play off him.

Cosgrove should have been that man, but wasn’t.

 

Was just making the point other sides make do without so called top strikers but apparently we can't.

No idea why cosgrove wasn't that for us. On paper like you say he should been. No idea why we didn't see the best of him. But a talented manager at Stockport has seen enough to take him there.

 

Big Val was a quality manager who had us playing as a team rather than a group of individuals. There was obvious belief in his methods and what we could achieve by following them, both amongst the players and the fans watching them.

 

They don’t even have to be top strikers, just someone that’s capable of playing a role that suits the set up.

Yeah shame about Cosgrove. I’d have liked nothing better than him knocking defenders about and scoring/assisting, but 2 managers haven’t managed to get a tune out of him.

Big ask for him to earn a contract at Stockport, especially if they get promoted.

 

Bettered only by Wilson in terms of greatest achievement in our history. Second best gaffer in my lifetime. Taking that squad to 5th was insane.

Signing Carlton Morris & Dike in January. Halcyon days.

 

The football under Ismael in possession was horrible. Quality midfielders just hooking it over their heads to purposefully give the ball away or into touch to reset.

Out of possession it was something else. I can appreciate the motivation, the authority he conveyed… but I couldn’t watch it again.

There’s a reason he gets sacked quickly when it doesn’t work. Because if you don’t get results it’s awful to watch.

Though he wouldn’t tolerate a ‘captain’ half heartedly jogging back and not trying to get back to get a tackle in. Again.