Plan A
So a tactically inept manager playing his OAP mates who has no Plan B has just got us promoted with a game to spare, scoring shedloads of goals along the way. Does this mean not having a Plan B is not as important as some Gasroomers would have us believe?
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When you have the best targetman league 2 has ever seen, you can certainly get away with just a plan A. A marvellous season.
It was interesting to see a more "normal" tall striker like CMS in the same role on Saturday though. I thought he got absolutely battered at times
We need an extra big man as a spare...
We already have 6 forwards, it's hard to see a 7th coming in with us needing at least one player down the rest of the spine.
Ingram-PIerre and a midfielder would be nice.
I don’t want to get @micra -ed but CMS isn’t tall is he?
Did Martin O'Neill ever have a Plan B? His tactics never deviated from 4-4-2 and relied heavily on what was basically a high energy kick and rush style, with a 'big man, little man' combo up front.
He didn't do too badly.
@Malone - Not sure Kashket counts in view of his terrible injury record.
There was a sort of Plan B (maybe more a Plan Aa) - if you don’t score, get a corner and we’ll send two of messrs Creaser, Kerr, Crossley and Evans up.
with dead ball delivery from corners of the quality Guppy and Carroll could produce, then getting centre halves forward for them was very much part of plan A
in fairness to O'Neill, we adapted very well after Keith Scott left and didn't play with a target man for the rest of that season, often deploying Steve Thompson in an attacking role from midfield to support Hemmings, or Langford, or eventually Garner
@Malone I agree bringing in yet another forward might look a bit pointless on paper, but we should probably expect to have at least 2/3 of them out injured at any one time.
@mooneyman , he counts going into next season of course he does.
@Chris , I thought he was 6ft, but it seems 5ft 10. Maybe I simply have false memories of him when he was a proper through the centre guy.
@Jonny_King , good point. We had supreme fortune to keep Bayo available for almost every game. Maybe 1 other game unavailable before the recent little spell out?
What is monumentally clear, is that when Bayo is out, delivery has to be of pinpoint accuracy, rather than smashing the ball into a vague area, knowing Bayo will smash people out the way
Looking back on this season we have been incredibly unlucky with key injuries at key times. Our defence was decimated for large parts of the season and losing Kashket, a player we all thought would be crucial to our goal of competing with the football giants (aka Luton and Crawley). We also lost Tyson and Saunders for large parts of the season same with 09, Harriman and Gape. Yes we were lucky with Bayo but terribly unlucky in other areas. So as for the Plan A, Plan B etc I don't think GA has had too many cards to shuffle in all fairness.
We will need like for like replacements for Saunders and Bean (watched THAT goal another half dozen times today) but I also fancy us to bring in more raw talent from Championship and above. Evolution not revolution.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub spot on. We've lived without our first choice defence and important players in and out with injury. Had we been as clinical defensively as we normally have been under Gareth we would have been breathing a bit easier as we headed into the business end of the season. Another reason Gareth should get all the plaudits.
Did anyone see the report that Chesterfield’s wage bill is apparently double that of Wycombe?
When you think Stewart has been missing for a long time as well, its incredible how well the defence has done and for me Sido coming back in made a difference at a time when we needed him. Gareth has done a tremendous job in getting us up when you have the likes of Mansfield, Coventry , Notts County as well as Luton in the same division. Lucky to have him here, lets hope its for a few more seasons yet.
This Plan B nonsense is just another thing that’s crept in from the phone-ins and social media world. Essentially it means your team has lost. The idea an experienced manager won’t or doesn’t know how to change tactic mid-match is ridiculous. Sometimes it just doesn’t work, due to their being another team on the pitch who may also (gasp) have a Plan B.
Spot on.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub , excellent point, and very easy to overlook that!
I always wonder with this wage budget business, is it actually like for like? Is our number lower straight away because we don't have anything below first team level?
Not many teams have the likes of Bayo, Tyson, CMS and Saunders on their books in the lower tier. Those guys aren't going to be cheap, even if we have managed to pick them up to injury doubts and suchlike.
Let's not forget that Swindon spent a minor fortune on players this season & look where they are! The key recruit has been Gareth Ainsworth and his enthusiasm combined with work ethic which has been embedded throughout the club.
Have we a Plan B in case GA departs? ;-)
Plan Bloomfield
I'd be very keen for Ingram to return. As for Pierre, after the manner in which he left, I wouldn't be so excited.
No chance with Ingram really. Didn't QPR pay quite a considerable fee for him, £350-450K? He is still regarded well by them as I understand so a fee would be expected in return, which we won't/can't give.
whats the obsession with Ingram and Pierre, Pierre aint as good as El Abd or Stewart so not sure he would even play if they are fit and Ingram don't come off his line either.
QPR gk position is difficult for Ingram. Smithies is clear no 1 but they also have a very promising kid in lumley who is challenging for no2 spot and to be number 1 if smithies goes in the summer.
Ingram might be sold in which case no chance of coming here. Or he might be available for loan....
Be a bit surprised if Ingram went to another L1 club on loan after spending time at Northampton this season. Unless he's not progressing, in which case, without wishing to appear cold-hearted, would we want him?!
Whatever Pierre's merits, and I reckon he'd probably do for us in the higher league, he's not leaving Northampton without a fee, unless things have gone really wrong there, in which case maybe see above...
I know he's "One of our own" and all that, but I don't have any great desire to see Ingram back. He's not proven at League One and wouldn't, IMO, be an improvement on Brown.
here here !!
dear oh lore
Gareth's recruitment has been exceptional since he changed to a policy of ensuring that the personalities fitted and not just the football ability. We've all agreed what a great footballer Dean Morgan was but what a negative influence he could be. I couldn't see a Dean Morgan getting near the squad now. Conversely CMS, Tyson, Saunders have all played at a higher level and could have come in and coasted, quite the opposite has been true and they have been leaders, characters and all round good eggs on and off the field. Add to that the loanees like Moore have been Wycombe through and through since they walked in.
If I was a football chairman with a vacancy to fill he ticks all the boxes.
seriously?? ingram is class and massive upgrade on brown