Strongest starting lineup?
If every player in the squad is available - who would be in your lineup?
I am not sure Gareth Ainsworth is sure of his best/strongest lineup and maybe that is a part of the problem.
Imagine a midfield of Gape, Thompson and O´Nien. It would also have been great to have Bryn Morris for the whole season. In my mind we are missing that creative spark in midfield (that O´Nien/Morris type of player). Would Sam Saunders have been useful in that position, playing with Gape and Thompson and providing that creative spark?
The transfer window in January did not go well; losing Bryn Morris, Fred Onyedinma and Randell Williams. I hope Luke Bolton and Charlie Owens show something special during these final games but I am not that optimistic about it. Was not pleased to see CMS go out on loan - thought he could be useful and did not get a chance in the starting line-up
Is Michael Harriman out of favour - a bit like Sam Saunders was? He has hardly featured in the squad. I thought the signing of Jason McCarthy was a bit strange since we have Harriman and Jombati for the right back position. But maybe it´s not everyday a quality player like that is available and want´s to come.
What´s the story with Darius Charles? Still injured? Anyone know what kind of injury and when he should be back? Or is he gone?
This is my starting lineup. I am going for Freeman in a midfield creative role. Could Kashket play that role; maybe as a second striker?
Bayo on the bench to be played as plan B. I would have picked CMS ahead of Samuel as I feel CMS has more goals in him than Samuel. McCarthy rb / Harriman rw could also maybe work - be a version 2.0 of Uhlenbeek/Senda.
Allsop
McCarthy Jombati or Stewart El-Abd Jacobson
Thompson Gape
Freeman
Cowan-Hall Tyson
Samuel
Comments
For me it would be something like 4-3-3 and this line-up
Allsop GK
McCarthy RB
Stewart CB
El-Abd CB
Jacobson LB
Thompson CDM
Gape CM
Freeman CM
Cowan-Hall RW
Akinfenwa ST
Kashket LW
Thoughts?
Allsop, McCarthy, Stewart, El Abd, Jacobson, Thompson, Gape, Bloomfield, Cowan-Hall, Tyson, Akinfenwa
Missing a high quality attacking central midfielder for me, a Saunders of a few years ago.
Unfortunately none of our strikers have looked threatening in a while now, Samuel will be picked for effort and hold up play and then its either keep rotating the others until someone looks fit and handy or stick with the same 2 or 3 and get slated for that.
Time for someone to stand up and be counted, or for us to realise that playing well for between 20 and 70 mins in most games probably means we aren't as a whole good enough. Still we have been better than 10 teams and might only need to get it together for maybe 3 wins to be well clear of danger.
With the loanees not returning we lost a lot of pace and running and created a whole lot more work for the old boys.
CMS was benched at the weekend, and seems to have been used as a wide midfielder. Not sure he's scored many down there.
So it's not like it's a definite disaster of a move so far.
Having said that, while Samuel is very willing and good at holding it, I worry a bit about him as a main striker. Both on goals, and the smashing he gets every game.
I worry that he may wind up like the crash dummy lad we had up front a decade or so ago and whose name escapes me although he was mainly noted for making direct runs into the box rather than as a low-level target man covering vast areas of the last third.
That may be a first for me. A medium length post without punctuation (apart from a hyphen and a statutory full stop at the end).
Andy Baird.
A decent comparison but Baird was braver which was to his eventual demise as he had a great knack of looking like he'd overrun it, nudging it and getting wiped out.
How that oaf sean gregan wasn't sent off that time will always be one of the great unknowns
Andy Baird was some player wasn't he? Really enjoyed watching him.
I think Luke Bolton is a nearer comparison to Baird and Samuel more of a Byron Walton
Samuel vaguely reminds me of Steve McGavin, albeit a different type of player
I think it's the way he runs and gets his body between ball and defender
We do lack a dangerous attacking mid fielder, Gaz has tried Paris but he is a winger or striker, this is why he plays Blooms in that role (Hobsons Choice).
You cant leave Sido out he is quality. I’d rest El Abd, he has become the player who first joined us again.
Need a surprise package to come good to save the season, would love it to be Nick F, or Scotty K.
Steve McGavin had great skill on the ball and was always looking to be creative but, from memory, he scored far fewer goals than most of us expected him to. I often referred to him (and I don’t think I was alone) as “the nearly man”.
Under gregory i remember McGavin as pretty much our whole creative side of things.
Harsh on the inimitable John Cornforth @Malone...
He was a bit of a disappointment if i remember correctly.
I remember his "range" of movement was the centre circle, renamed the "Corn-circle"
His stats were hyped up by pens and free kicks.
My main memory about the Gregory days was the wing backs, and only conceding about 5 or 6 goals at home in the league in a whole calendar year. Phenomenal.
No real attacking threat away from home though.
The weirdest one was losing 5-2 to Wigan away on an opening day. I was in some random hospital with a relative, and in the pre mobile days constantly running back to find ceefax updates.
Despite what sounded a stonking, we played so well the Wigan manager talked very well of us after.
Though obviously that's easy to do in victory!
We were terrible at Wigan that day Malone. I remember that only a couple of the team came over to the away end to clap the travelling fans at the final whistle.
I sent an email into the club about that fact that few of the team respected the fans who had travelled so far, and fair play to him, John Gregory actually called me at home. However, his explanation was that the team thought that the fans would turn on them after such a mediocre display.
Probably the worst opening day result I can remember.
Called you at home, wow!
Reminiscent of the MON days where he'd write and call up dissenters!
A random memory i have of Gregory, is sitting with my mum in the main stand before a game. He was knocking some balls around on his own, missed an "Open goal" from about 8 yards, and screamed F@KCIN HELL in front of us.
Charming.
Oh dear. Such a charming man. He also used a sheep dog whistling technique to communicate with the players.
And the ridiculous fine for shooting from outside the box!
Or being seen without shoes.
For at least part of the time he was manager the squad trained at Holmer Green. One hot sunny morning I was walking the dog past the area where they were training. I bade him a cheery good morning and remarked on the unseasonably warm weather. Totally ignored me. He may of course have had hearing difficulties but I rather doubt it.
Who can forget his soundbites to the media as Villa manager too.
If he had a gun he'd have shot Dwight Yorke. The dodgy depression comments about Collymore etc.
Collymore in his book speaks highly of O Neill as manager, as seemingly everyone who was managed by him does (with the exception of Jeremy Goss, and that right back he kicked out who was getting in Dave Carroll's way!).
One chuckle is when he mentions that O Neill thought Gregory was, and I quote (albeit it with censoring), a c@@t.
I didn't mind John Gregory
He liked Bruce Springstein, he brought back the quarters, was quite funny and the team played decent football (at home at least)
We've had a lot worse
Do you mean Steve Abbley? I thought it was because he subbed him one evening game and told him to sit on the bench and instead he went straight to the dressing room to shower?
I'll try and dig out the interview with Steve Abbley from around 2006
As the headline on this thread suggests, would love to hear who gas folk feel should play at the Multiplex Cinema Stadium next Saturday, after all ‘it is our cupfinal’ - for once the PNL are not wrong.
I struggle to have Freeman in our best XI. I do quite like Paris in that number 10 role - although he can go missing.
Though in Frank Talia's case, maybe not such a bad idea.
Steel toecaps were required in that case!
I’ve a feeling Steve Abbley was something of a barrackroom lawyer as well.
O Neill specifically said that he took a while to discover that Carroll could play, as the right back (Abbley?) thought he was some sort of winger and never passed to him.
Maybe the incident you mention was the final straw that secured him being properly shipped out.