Team for Dagenham & Redbridge
Back to the relative safety of an away match tomorrow then.
So what to do after the wreckage of a quite awful second half performance on Saturday.
The keeper and back four pick themselves again - with Anthony Stewart having every right to consider himself as unfortunate, his turn will come.
Midfield wise you'd have to think that O'Nien and Wood, both with fresh pairs of legs, would be pushing for selection. Bloomfield and Bean both struggled on Saturday and one will get a rest. Harriman had his moments but didn't entirely convince in a left sided role.
Upfront would be Hayes plus one of Gozie, Thommo, AAH or PCH.
Personally, I'd quite like us to see whether PCH can cut it through the middle as its clear that its where our problem is. He's got all the right attributes and if he could find his feet as a central striker it would enable GA to keep Harriman on the right hand side.
Comments
Completely agree about PCH and Harriman. Harriman has scored and assisted from the right hand side all season so far and looked far less effective on the left.
Can't argue with any of that.
Interesting that you (like GA) consider Hayes a shoe in for a start. Can't really see the justification personally
PCH and Thommo to start up front for me,can't be any worse than what we've tried so far this year.
It's true that PH has not been at his best lately but he has had one or two niggles during recent months and class, as they say, is permanent and I've forgotten how they describe form - variable I suppose. PH is almost worth his place for his captaincy.
Captaincy alone.
The team do look better when PH is playing...but we are very slow. We need a bit if attacking pace I think.
I know he has critics this season but I would like to see Holloway up front with the pace of Harriman and pch either side of him and Hayes just in behind with the same back five and o nien and bean in the middle in a 4,2,3,1 kind of formation. Last season Holloway seem to come good when he got a good run in the side
We can't afford passengers at Dagenham so Holloway needsvto stay on the bench. PCH and Hayes up front for me.
A confident Holloway will score goals in league 2,
We are crying out for goals so I say give Holloway his chance to prove himself. PH hasn't been setting the world alight, but I think we play better with him in the team. Ugwu to the bench, and either he or Thompson can be brought on to change things up.
I Totally agree with chinnor give the bench a chance, change at h/t if needed , come on do not wait until the last 15 mins
I'm not sure where these calls for changes at half time come from. It's a pretty drastic step but some seem to be calling Ainsworth up on not doing it.
The main thing for tonight I want to see is Harriman played on the right hand side. There is no point at all in bringing in an inferior player in to his place and making him less effective.
If we got rid of all the inferior players , would there be enough for a full team ???
@ticktock If we got rid of all the inferior players we'd only have one player left (by definition the best player) so I hope that answers your question.
Thanks for missing the point of my post.
Second half on Saturday PCH flagged a bit leaving Sido exposed on many occasions. Sido pushes forward so the two of them might not be the best combination if PCH is not 100%. Either put PCH through the middle or on the left where JJ is a little more conservative.
As for the conundrum of up front the stats speak for themselves. None of them have a right to a start but GA has got to get to grips with what pairing MIGHT actually work. And then stick with them. He must see what works in training and what player works with another and what doesn't. If AAH shows enough then we start with him and adjust other players to accommodate his application short comings. Ogwu strikes me as an impact player no more.
Well I thought it was funny
Much as I admire him, Sido can sometimes be a liability with his undisciplined forays forward and I come back to how well the McCarthy/Harriman combination worked at Kenilworth Road.
That would allow Anthony Stewart to come in refreshed and determined against a physically powerful Dagenham side. As others have suggested, PCH should be capable of playing wide left or "up front". Either that or as an impact sub.
Can't see the point in paying players to sit on the bench every week if there is no intention of playing them , they probably feel like a bunch of spare p....s, I know i would , & it's cold sitting there in the winter freezing their nuts off.
We should probably only have a squad of eleven players then.
All i'm saying is get the bench match fit & give them more opportunity to play , those on the bench know there is very little chance of that, even though they work hard every day training , mind you paying around £200 p/w we can keep them as spare parts
£200 per week? You're having a laugh!
£200 aw week? That's below the legal minimum wage!
Would say a few are probably not far off that and most won't be here end of season. It's Danny row that baffles me but I'm sure he will get his chance one day!
Two hundred! outrageous but I hear Johnny Haynes gets a cool ton ..a week .
I bet hayes has the lions share of the pot & prob one not far behind him
Who knows?
You'd be surprised how much some players are actually on these days. As for the lion's share of the pot, minutes played, they don't equal goals but hey, we apparently play bettter don't we ? Just unfortunate we haven't been awarded 5 or 6 penalties or the stats would look justified other than being the captain.
I often wonder on match days if the Gaffer missus is locked in Hayes's basement till after the game.
May be in thompson's