Players not up to it...

...(my opinion of course) We have some players who are not good enough and who will not perform at the necessary level week in week out.

Dawson: Very good attitude but not quick enough and not skilful enough
Kennedy: Not good enough except when in a back three
Hassell: Very good servant but not quick enough and is getting slower (age)
Dagnell: Tries hard but not skilful enough. Lacks vision, pace and striker's instinct
Steele: Far too inconsistent. Kicking is woeful. Command of box is poor. Must surely be replaceable by someone else from a lower league if we have to budget

We are a relatively poor club and we are constantly struggling to compete in attracting and retaining genuinely good players. We have a team which usually tries hard and players that try to run around. Credit to their attitude. However, trying hard is not quite good enough. For me the squad is not skilful enough. I could go on but no doubt I'll be slagged anyway. I do think there are positives and there is potential too but ultimately I would like to see player skill increased on the pitch (like we all do). I don't necessarily blame Flicker for the weakness of the squad either as he is pretty much having to cope under the similar sort of restraints that Hill had. He is doing his best of course and some of his recent signings within his budget may prove to be very good in the longer term. We should therefore back him and understand he has difficulties bringing in good players. If he can galvanise this team to get up the League then he will done great things again. If, similarly he can get the players to over-perform again then he will be a truly great manager. At the moment I am resigned to watching players who aren't good enough but I back the manager in the longer term and hope he is given a really long stint.

 

Middle three, couldnt agree more. And TK wouldnt be good enough in a back 10.

 

Most of those player's played and won against the top teams in the divsion latter half of season

 

That's not my real point. Staying up was a groundswell of teamwork and empathy between players and management but staying up by the skin of the teeth was all it was at the end of the day. If we are to progress then we need better players while still keeping the work ethic/team spirit. In that respect I think sticking with Flicker is crucial in the long term

 

What's your view on the fact that those same players, from Jan 1st onwards, displayed form, and gained results that if sustained over a season would have resulted in a top ten finish?

 

Pure hard work overall. They desreved a bit of luck too. The point is that just hard work on it's own wont keep us up forever. We need better players at some point

 

That is what you said about Hill last season.
Also, why bother mentioning Hassell? He will not play until we are desperately in need of points, just like last season, when Hill played him just to try and show that he was not needed,. He got that wrong !!

 

Actually staying up was by the skin of the teeth granted but the manner in which they achieved it was a gigantic achievment and by sounds of things on here wholly underestimated and unappreciated imo

 

They were all good enough last season and kept us up.

 

Sorry but Daggers has never been and never will be championship quality. We'd be better off with paula radcliffe up front, think she'd edge his stamina and chance conversion ratio.

 

Careful, whitey will have you.

Agree with you though, not up to it. Never has been.

 

I must confess to being a big believer in giving a manager a long-term challenge. I think if Hassell were to be played (and I hope he isnt) he would be better off at centre half where he is less likely to get skinned and can still put a good jump in from a standing start. Hill got lots of things wrong but he got things right too... Flicker will get more things wrong but he should be given a really good chance this season

 

If he was championship quality he wouldn't be at oakwell anyway

 

Then why knock his players?

 

Lets just roll over and get relegated then?

 

So a Championship club can expect to have no Championship quality players?

 

He may not be a twenty goal a season striker at this level but he is good enough for the squad IMO. We do need a quality striker to lead the line.

No we wouldn't.

 

Because theyre not good enough as I stated. He inherited most of them and did a great job with what he had. In the main they still werent his though. He needs time to develop the entire squad. It will take well over a year in my opinion. Maybe some of his recent signings like Pedersen, Nyatanga, McCourt, Jennings will come good and contribute but for various reasons they have not really figured to date

 

Add o'brien to that list

 

Flckers policy is to mend and make championship players where you been last 12 months?