Mael

Are we ready to admit this defence looks so much worse when he doesn't play? Huge miss.

Roberts today - should hang his head in shame, after such poor performances recently, even if it wasn't a red, he deserves one, for his stupidity in going to ground in that area of the pitch, when Wycombe weren't progessing, when the ball was already half out. Idiot.

Pines looks like Bambi on ice when the ball is anywhere near him. Nowhere near good enough on that right hand side, his one redeeming feature is he's brilliant defensively in the air, should only play in the middle of a back 3.

Earl, poor today but overall decent enough.

McCarthy - not good enough. Cost us 2 points today with a stupid pass attempt.

Felt sorry for Killip today.

 

Yes. And that's an absolutely damning indictment on our recruitment the last couple of seasons.

 

Agree with you overall. Although I’d argue Pines isn’t good in the air. He didn’t deal with one of their long balls tonight, Kept allowing the ball to bounce awkwardly, and for a big man he gets outmuscled all the time.

 

DeGevigney is an awful player.

Pines is a dreadful player. Earl can be ok but makes poor decisions, Roberts is trying to be the glue to hold it together but is well past his prime but having to do the job of 3 defenders.

I really think the coach has to take a lot of responsibility here. After 6 months there is no clue at all what identity he wants to create.

I didn’t like Ismaels style of play, but in 3 games he’d created an identity from a bunch of misfits.

 

Roberts has been shocking since he's come back lost all pace and has the turning speed of a double decker bus. Plus passing and carrying the ball has never been his strong point.

Pines I've never seen a professional defender let a football bounce like he does when playing basic stuff. Liability.

 

It really does paint a damning picture of our defensive options when we're missing Mael so badly.

 

Do you reckon we'd have won tonight mate if he was playing ? Because we're not exactly a clean sheet machine whether he plays or not, and that's in no way a criticism of Mael who has had plenty of good and bad games for us.

 

Roberts and Hourihane were appeasement signings.....everyone on board?

 

The whole defence is tripe, the proof is in the pudding! MDG missing makes no difference, he’s crap! The recruitment has been absolutely atrocious for a long time!

 

I’ve said it on here numerous times that De Gevigney makes too many individual errors but I’ve also said he’s undroppable because neither Roberts or Pines are comfortable playing as one of the outside centre backs. They’re both at their best in the central role so it’s one or the other.

Nothing I’ve seen in the last two games has changed my view.

We also can’t go to a back 4 because we don’t have the full backs or wingers to do so which also means De Gevigney has to start.

 

I’ve seen this on a few posts now. Was Robert’s stupid, idiotic challenge not a red card?

I’d like to see this back. Looked a nailed on red card to me.

 

We've haven't got a defender I would be gutted to see moved on.

 

The rules of the game it’s a red card.
In this day and age if you leave your feet and tackle like that it’s considered dangerous even if you get the ball.
I don’t agree with the rule but it’s there.

“Leaving your feet in a tackle, especially if done with excessive force or endangering the opponent's safety, is generally considered a "serious foul play" and is likely to result in a red card in most situations”

 

No, mate, I don't. But the last 2 performances I think it's fairly obvious we miss him, both defensively & going forward, we certainly miss his runs into midfield and players running off him. We've looked abysmal these games he hasn;t played it, much much worse than usual - especially at the back.

Mael did make a errors, he does still on occasion mate. But nowhere near as many as people still make out - a lot of them also come from when he does run into midfield or try pick out a creative pass, but if thats what the coaches want him to do, then it will always happen. You see mistakes like his every single week in the premier league from world class centre halves. It just bugs me when people make out like he's ridiculously bad. He isn't, he's actually pretty good.

I'm sorry I just can't take your opinion on anything serious

Completely disagree regarding Mael, dreadful is incredibly harsh. Each to their own though.
I do agree with you on the manager having to take some responsibility, these last 2 games have been thoroughly awful. No excuses what so ever - really poor showing, yet again. Needs to pull his finger out because this squad isn't that bad as to play as poorly as we have done the last 2 games.

Hopefully we get someone in the door soon.

 

I think it was a red based on current rules, but not 100% convinced.

My point about him being stupid is, there was no need to go to ground there mate. The player was half way up the pitch, facing the wrong way, ball was already half out. Absolutely no reason to dive in like that, just continue to shepherd it out. Mental decision

 

No, he was just as bad if not worse against a far lesser Wycombe team last season. And the only other comparator is Stevenage where he turned in one of the worst performances I've ever been present at in the 3-0 there earlier in the season even though they were missing their striker Reid. That in itself was only marginally less bad than his stinker in the 2-1 defeat at Stevenage in April.

Somebody else making poor contributions doesn't make this lad any better. If you have any grasp on the reality of defending in a professional football game, you really should be prepared to say this defence is shocking, full stop, whichever of them play.

Five clean sheets in the last 46 league games, none against a top half team and only one against a side outside the relegation zone.

 

Should try pines up front, doesn't look like there is a striker coming anytime soon

 

never understood the MDG hate, to me he’s head and shoulders above the rest of the defence, was poor early on last season but thats it

 

Got the ball

 

There are 2 players that came out of last night with their reputation enhanced.

The first is Ben Killip who was outstanding.

The second was MDG purely because he wasn’t playing. He’s not the greatest player on earth but I’ve always thought he gets a lot of unfair stick and is a better player than people think. Sometimes you only realise a players importance when they can’t play. We seriously missed the balance he gives to a back 3 last night.

As for Roberts. He was pretty crap and the sending off was brain dead. However, people forget that before his injury he was probably our best defender.