Went to the game yesterday and from the lofty viewing position it was pretty obvious our changed set up was likely to be ripped apart at times. Playing two advanced full backs (they were told to do this) and Gape dropping in as a third defender worked fine going forward but left us very open with Boltons swift transition play. Had our chances in both half’s but Bolton looked a decent side.
Finally realised what missing Bayo means too. Would have been a perfect change with 30 mins to go.
What sums the current mess up, for me, is that Wakely - an actual centre-back - can't get into the side in that position over Grimmer. That would suggest the coaching staff don't think he's up to the level - so why is he eating up a squad spot? The 22-player limit is overly restrictive imo, but we're not using it well enough.
When do we fix the squad? End of the transfer window?
I’ve always seen Wakely and a couple of others as loan candidates once we get to that point. He’s not played for ages so I can see why Grimmer gets the nod. I thought he did ok yesterday again. Wakely isn’t eating up a squad spot until we can’t change it. Until then he’s simply in the squad and for me deemed good enough to be on the bench rather than not good enough to be on the pitch.
When to Fix it? Preferably when it was clear Stewart wasn’t going to re-sign or as a back up option in case that happened. I would hope we are constantly looking for players to supplement, replace or strengthen the squad rather than waiting for it to need to happen. Or at least at the end of the last window you start the process for what you might need to do at the next one. A bit of proactivity does wonders, rather than wait and hope someone comes available. It’s what Andrew Howard/pete’s job in as part of the “footballing operation”
this is even more vital with the overly harsh restriction on squad size.
By fixing the squad I mean when does the 22 names become final for the first half of the season?
Not getting involved in the debate you raise. You are assuming a heck of a lot is not happening when I think it is. I am quite calm on it for the next couple of weeks. Not going to bother too much with those who think we have a god given right to buy who we want when we want.
I assume it’s either happening and we’ve been unable to get any deals across the line which is concerning. Or we’re not doing it Which is even more concerning.
Either way it’s concerning.
Add in the club statements about trusting the process, there’s along time left in the window, we’ll never be a club to rush down and see who we’ve signed, we’ve always picked up players at the end of the window, all adds to my concern we haven’t been in any rush to fill at least two key positions.
basically, I have enough cause for concern to highlight my concerns.
Apologies @Micra. Obviously a typo. I use a phone to post, I suspect by the length of some if your posts you're on a laptop! Forino back shortly. Duke of Clarence is a local bar, use Google!
Grimmer was great last week, poor this week and tbh it is possible that Bolton are one of the best teams in the league and Burton the worst, and that he had close to zero cover yesterday, so still too early to read as much as some are. Hard to think Ainsworth sees him as being among the 2 or 3 best options centrally in a 4.
Agree the squad numbers thing isn't a big issue, presumably if we get better players in before the deadline we can then unregister some of the fillers.
I’d rather a decent or average square peg in a square hole than a good round one in the square hole. Especially when that good round one could be used in the round hole we are also short in.
wrong pegs in wrong holes just equals inconsistency. If we couldn’t get a Stewart replacement we should have got a Forino back up. Wakely is clearly not that and grimmer, can’t do it consistently .
we’d then have the luxury of the rest of the window to see if a good/great one is available. But if not, we’ve got some cover.
I have thought this for a while. Going back to the Play-off final, it seemed that everytime he got the ball, the pace of the attack seems to slow down.
Granted, he has a lot of credit in the bank but is his age & declining ability starting to catch up with him?
I was initially too concerned about @TheDancingYak’s concerns to deal properly with your rhetorical question, @Chris. To be honest, when I saw that you’d posted immediately in his wake, I expected you to be expressing your own concern about his being so concerned.
To quote Jeremy Clarkson* (Who wants to be as rich as Jeremy, ITV), here’s what I think. An abiding memory of Jack Grimmer’s performance was the lunging tackle (in the centre circle or thereabouts) that brought him an arguably lenient yellow card. I thought Ben Toner was interpreting the newly authorised more relaxed approach to physical contact fairly generously throughout.
Grimmer being in the centre circle (or thereabouts) was indicative of the excessively gung ho approach adopted by our makeshift back four (if indeed it really was a back four at any stage of the game). Only Tafazolli remained in a defensive position for most of the game and, in common with the rest of the defence and defensive midfielders, I didn’t think he was at his best.
When he was defending (and we were rarely under sustained pressure - Bolton’s attacks were mainly breakaways after we’d sloppily given the ball away in the final third) Jack won a few headers, getting up surprisingly well for a fellow of his height. I thought he did ok but can’t wait for Chris Forino to return and Jack to return to full-back.
It's interesting with McCleary as the first season we brought him in he was rested and rotated more.
Last season he pretty much played when available. It might be that we need to rotate a little more, and with Kaikai and Wheeler about we surely have options to do so.
You have generalised professional footballers based on what you saw from our team yesterday. Bolton didn't struggle with keeping the ball down and hitting the target, which is why they were better than us.
I don't struggle to believe how many professional footballers sky the ball or miss the target. Sometimes it just doesn't go your way. Pressure gets to you and you try too hard or second guess the split second decisio ns you have to make.
For every part of the above that you don't agree with or struggle to make sense of, please feel free to criticise my grammar. I works as a great defence mechanism.
Kaikai will remain an enigma for me. He’s currently injured with ******* and won’t be back for ***** weeks. He’s not managed over 20 games for a team in his career. He will be a contract pay off.
Kaikai's been brilliant pretty much whenever he's played - one of our top creators last season. Plus he played 40 games for Blackpool - he's played 22 for us!
I'm still fairly relaxed that we will bring in the necessary players (GK, CB & ST(maybe)).
However I am disappointed in what little we've seen from any of the development squad players stepping up to make a claim for a starting place - Mehmeti, Forino & Dickinson aside.
It seems to me that - and I'm sorry for saying this @glasshalffull@glasshalffull - but GA just doesn't really appear to rate them. If he did they why are they not getting any game time? Only DeBarr, from memory, has featured and only then for the odd 10 minutes.
Im not saying the development squad players are rubbish but, if they really were league 1 standard, why are none of them getting any game time?
They haven't, but they really ought to justify their place in the squad by the time they start eating into the limit. I've seen nothing from De Barr to suggest he's up to it yet, so I think there's a decision to make there. Wakely is also over 21, but I've literally not seen play competitively, so I don't have a clue - same with Parsons.
We don't even need a Mehmeti or Forino every season to make it worthwhile, but the squad limit simply doesn't allow for filler - so we might have to make some tough decisions.
Comments
Went to the game yesterday and from the lofty viewing position it was pretty obvious our changed set up was likely to be ripped apart at times. Playing two advanced full backs (they were told to do this) and Gape dropping in as a third defender worked fine going forward but left us very open with Boltons swift transition play. Had our chances in both half’s but Bolton looked a decent side.
Finally realised what missing Bayo means too. Would have been a perfect change with 30 mins to go.
What sums the current mess up, for me, is that Wakely - an actual centre-back - can't get into the side in that position over Grimmer. That would suggest the coaching staff don't think he's up to the level - so why is he eating up a squad spot? The 22-player limit is overly restrictive imo, but we're not using it well enough.
When do we fix the squad? End of the transfer window?
I’ve always seen Wakely and a couple of others as loan candidates once we get to that point. He’s not played for ages so I can see why Grimmer gets the nod. I thought he did ok yesterday again. Wakely isn’t eating up a squad spot until we can’t change it. Until then he’s simply in the squad and for me deemed good enough to be on the bench rather than not good enough to be on the pitch.
Agree on the squad limit size.
When to Fix it? Preferably when it was clear Stewart wasn’t going to re-sign or as a back up option in case that happened. I would hope we are constantly looking for players to supplement, replace or strengthen the squad rather than waiting for it to need to happen. Or at least at the end of the last window you start the process for what you might need to do at the next one. A bit of proactivity does wonders, rather than wait and hope someone comes available. It’s what Andrew Howard/pete’s job in as part of the “footballing operation”
this is even more vital with the overly harsh restriction on squad size.
By fixing the squad I mean when does the 22 names become final for the first half of the season?
Not getting involved in the debate you raise. You are assuming a heck of a lot is not happening when I think it is. I am quite calm on it for the next couple of weeks. Not going to bother too much with those who think we have a god given right to buy who we want when we want.
I assume it’s either happening and we’ve been unable to get any deals across the line which is concerning. Or we’re not doing it Which is even more concerning.
Either way it’s concerning.
Add in the club statements about trusting the process, there’s along time left in the window, we’ll never be a club to rush down and see who we’ve signed, we’ve always picked up players at the end of the window, all adds to my concern we haven’t been in any rush to fill at least two key positions.
basically, I have enough cause for concern to highlight my concerns.
Grimmer has played fine at centre back so far?
Apologies @Micra. Obviously a typo. I use a phone to post, I suspect by the length of some if your posts you're on a laptop! Forino back shortly. Duke of Clarence is a local bar, use Google!
Most of us get that it's better to wait for a good player than jump in on a a lesser player.
But put another way, in almost 30 years of being a league club, have we ever started a season without signing someone who will be a starter?
Even that really underwhelming Sanchez season of signing only Mapes, he at least started the season for a run.
Grimmer was great last week, poor this week and tbh it is possible that Bolton are one of the best teams in the league and Burton the worst, and that he had close to zero cover yesterday, so still too early to read as much as some are. Hard to think Ainsworth sees him as being among the 2 or 3 best options centrally in a 4.
Agree the squad numbers thing isn't a big issue, presumably if we get better players in before the deadline we can then unregister some of the fillers.
I’d rather a decent or average square peg in a square hole than a good round one in the square hole. Especially when that good round one could be used in the round hole we are also short in.
wrong pegs in wrong holes just equals inconsistency. If we couldn’t get a Stewart replacement we should have got a Forino back up. Wakely is clearly not that and grimmer, can’t do it consistently .
we’d then have the luxury of the rest of the window to see if a good/great one is available. But if not, we’ve got some cover.
Yep, we are short at least one central defender, have not seen anyone disagree amongst fans or management, do you need to post it every half hour?
To change the subject away from speculation about why we haven't added genuine first team players to the squad ...
I'm glad I didn't pay for my copy of the match day program (not that I ever do anyway) but,
the opposition profile page doesn't include any of:-
Dickinson
Vokes
Tafazzoli
If I were a home fan looking for a heads-up of the opposition I'd be confused by that.
Maybe that information is supplied by the away team (WWFC in this case) and we used the opportunity to further obscure our possible selection/tactics.
Trouble is it seemed to confuse GA/us more than Bolton!
Those players were all on the page before and described as the spine of the team.
I’m glad you didn’t pay for the programme as it doesn’t seem like you read it.
I have thought this for a while. Going back to the Play-off final, it seemed that everytime he got the ball, the pace of the attack seems to slow down.
Granted, he has a lot of credit in the bank but is his age & declining ability starting to catch up with him?
I was initially too concerned about @TheDancingYak’s concerns to deal properly with your rhetorical question, @Chris. To be honest, when I saw that you’d posted immediately in his wake, I expected you to be expressing your own concern about his being so concerned.
To quote Jeremy Clarkson* (Who wants to be as rich as Jeremy, ITV), here’s what I think. An abiding memory of Jack Grimmer’s performance was the lunging tackle (in the centre circle or thereabouts) that brought him an arguably lenient yellow card. I thought Ben Toner was interpreting the newly authorised more relaxed approach to physical contact fairly generously throughout.
Grimmer being in the centre circle (or thereabouts) was indicative of the excessively gung ho approach adopted by our makeshift back four (if indeed it really was a back four at any stage of the game). Only Tafazolli remained in a defensive position for most of the game and, in common with the rest of the defence and defensive midfielders, I didn’t think he was at his best.
When he was defending (and we were rarely under sustained pressure - Bolton’s attacks were mainly breakaways after we’d sloppily given the ball away in the final third) Jack won a few headers, getting up surprisingly well for a fellow of his height. I thought he did ok but can’t wait for Chris Forino to return and Jack to return to full-back.
*That same Jeremy Clarkson who has been anathema in this household for decades but who is very amusing in “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”.
Nobody demolishes someone quite like you do son.
Chuckled at that.
It's interesting with McCleary as the first season we brought him in he was rested and rotated more.
Last season he pretty much played when available. It might be that we need to rotate a little more, and with Kaikai and Wheeler about we surely have options to do so.
If there’s a discussion about it. I see no reason not to. Is there a limit on posts nowadays?
Why didn't Vokes shoot
Oh you do, ok, thats fine clearly.
I don't think it's an "odd" comment.
You have generalised professional footballers based on what you saw from our team yesterday. Bolton didn't struggle with keeping the ball down and hitting the target, which is why they were better than us.
I don't struggle to believe how many professional footballers sky the ball or miss the target. Sometimes it just doesn't go your way. Pressure gets to you and you try too hard or second guess the split second decisio ns you have to make.
For every part of the above that you don't agree with or struggle to make sense of, please feel free to criticise my grammar. I works as a great defence mechanism.
It’s a discussion board. We’re having a discussion.
Kaikai will remain an enigma for me. He’s currently injured with ******* and won’t be back for ***** weeks. He’s not managed over 20 games for a team in his career. He will be a contract pay off.
Kaikai's been brilliant pretty much whenever he's played - one of our top creators last season. Plus he played 40 games for Blackpool - he's played 22 for us!
I'm still fairly relaxed that we will bring in the necessary players (GK, CB & ST(maybe)).
However I am disappointed in what little we've seen from any of the development squad players stepping up to make a claim for a starting place - Mehmeti, Forino & Dickinson aside.
It seems to me that - and I'm sorry for saying this @glasshalffull@glasshalffull - but GA just doesn't really appear to rate them. If he did they why are they not getting any game time? Only DeBarr, from memory, has featured and only then for the odd 10 minutes.
Im not saying the development squad players are rubbish but, if they really were league 1 standard, why are none of them getting any game time?
They are a development squad, they haven’t been signed as first team ready players
They haven't, but they really ought to justify their place in the squad by the time they start eating into the limit. I've seen nothing from De Barr to suggest he's up to it yet, so I think there's a decision to make there. Wakely is also over 21, but I've literally not seen play competitively, so I don't have a clue - same with Parsons.
We don't even need a Mehmeti or Forino every season to make it worthwhile, but the squad limit simply doesn't allow for filler - so we might have to make some tough decisions.