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121  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Can I just say... on: May 08, 2022, 13:09:59 pm
Someone on the Mansfield forum posted the Sc***horpe starting line up with ages in brackets and league starts on the right:

Foster (19) - 1 league start
Matheson (19) - 38
Delaney (25) - 107
Young (18) - 4
Lobley (18) - 0
Rowe (20) - 50
Shrimpton (19) - 2
Wilson (19) - 3
Beestin (24) - 75
Moore-Billam (18) - 2
Nuttall (25) - 35

I think what Brady has to do somehow is transmute all the anger surrounding all this into a fired-up determination to destroy Mansfield and to gain our rightful place in League One so we can do the double of the GAS and wipe the smirk off that c*** Barton's face.


122  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Can I just say... on: May 07, 2022, 19:56:42 pm
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/joey-barton-explains-bristol-rovers-6438121
123  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Can I just say... on: May 07, 2022, 17:49:42 pm


We all know what we're good at, and what we're not good at. Would this team be able to do much in League 1? IMO, no

Five weeks or so ago I would have agreed with you. Our defence has always looked League One quality, but our attacking unit was struggling to score open play goals in League Two and was looking a long way away from League One quality.

However, in the last five weeks things have really 'clicked' from an attacking point of view. Appere has looked like a lower-league Harry Kane, dropping deep and playing people in with cute lay-offs and Eppiah has emerged as an excellent wide forward with the pace to really trouble defences. We've been scoring plenty of goals from open play and have looked really decent. I'd say we've looked like a team with genuine League One potential in the last four matches, which is why today has been such a sickener.

124  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Can I just say... on: May 07, 2022, 17:17:18 pm
Agree completely. I'm sure there's nothing explicitly illegal going on, but I don't think it's too hyperbolic to state that with that team selection Keith Hill has undermined the integrity of the competition and has disrespected our football club (and Mansfield and Port Vale for that matter).

There is an unwritten code of sportsmanship and fair play which has been violated with that selection.
125  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Barrow (a) - 7 May 2022 on: May 07, 2022, 16:59:57 pm
Sc***horpe had a 17 year old rookie in goal...

I honestly think if Rovers had been playing any other team in the league today it
would have been a completely different story. It's a ridiculously unfortunate
turn of events and I'd argue that on balance we've been the third best team
in the league this year.

Having said that I do think Brady's game management was wrong. I think Barrow's goal just before half-time spooked him into shutting up shop and retreating into a wing back system, whereas the smart move would have been to keep the same formation and to retain an attacking threat which could be reignited when Rovers inevitably started chalking up the goals. Our lack of game-changing attacking options off the bench has been a problem all season and once again Rose and Kanu came on and offered nothing.

Ultimately, Brady is a good manager who needs to learn from an occasional tendency towards over-caution which reared its head again today. We have to dust ourselves down and give the play-offs a good go. We've just won three games out of 4 plus a very creditable draw against the second placed team in the league. We are certainly capable of winning the play-offs and Brady needs to find a way to eliminate the disappointment and to focus on the positives of what has been a very positive season overall.













126  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Barrow (a) - 7 May 2022 on: May 07, 2022, 15:53:18 pm
It's alright lads, Danny Rose is going up top again.
127  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Barrow (a) - 7 May 2022 on: May 07, 2022, 15:43:56 pm
Brady needs to wake up and have a f***ing go at this.
128  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Barrow (a) - 7 May 2022 on: May 07, 2022, 15:42:26 pm
If we win and don't go up someone needs to take a serious look at Rovers game....
Either way, Sc***horpe are a disgrace

No mystery. Just a rampantly hungry team playing against the worst team in the league who are playing kids for the experience. We probably could have run up a similar score if we'd kept attacking.

As it is we need to attack.
129  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Barrow (a) - 7 May 2022 on: May 07, 2022, 15:38:10 pm
We need to score another goal or two.

This. Brady needs to wake up and attack. Stop this wing back bollocks. Rovers will keep scoring.
130  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Oldham (a) - 15th April on: April 16, 2022, 18:44:50 pm
A few thoughts on an enjoyable day out:

1. We should stick with 4-4-2 for the rest of the campaign.

I've argued many times that the formation doesn't suit our personnel. I still think that Hoskins is ill-suited to being a traditional winger and is much better as an 'inside forward' in a 4-2-3-1. (I also think this is true of Pinnock, to a lesser extent.)

However, the improvement in Appere's game when he is given a striking partner outweighs any other considerations at the moment. Eppiah and Appere showed encouraging signs of developing a partnership and Eppiah's pace and close control was a real threat.

We need goals in our remaining fixtures and I think continuing with two up top is our best hope of getting them. As TFAMH says, it was great to see Brady's instructions for Eppiah to go out wide on the right almost immediately leading to a goal - that's the sign of a coach who is beginning to think more strategically and aggressively.

(The one caveat I'd put in is that I'd instruct Hoskins to come inside as much as possible and for MacGowan to go past him on the overlap as that seems a better route to an assist than Hoskins going down blind alleys on the wing.)

2. Roberts' distribution is another aspect of his game which marks him out as capable of playing at a higher level 


His quick throw to release Hoskins was excellent and should have got him an assist. He really is a top class keeper and it's maddening to think that we didn't put an extension clause into his contract.

3. Koiki continues to display a touch and athleticism which is beyond this level.
His run and shot in the second half was Championship+ quality, and as many have said his recovery pace is Kyle-Walker-esque.

I'm wondering if Brady can find a way to get him more involved in an attacking sense because despite his threat he has yet to score for us and hasn't had as many assists as his play deserves.

If he is deployed to his maximum he could become a kind of lower-league Trent Alexendar-Arnold - a kind of full-back play-maker and goal threat.

Overall, a good performance against an admittedly poor side. Hope Oldham don't drop because it would be yet another proper league club with a decent fanbase out of the division.

 



 
131  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Louis Appere on: April 12, 2022, 12:25:54 pm


I personally don't buy into the 'Appere hasn't had the service in the last 855 minutes to muster more than one shot on target' brigade.

Whilst the service hasn't been great, you need to make your own luck at times. Putting a 1/1 wide on Saturday springs to mind.

If you don't shoot you don't score.

If you don't get yourself into a position to shoot, you're not a striker.


Both these things are simultaneously true: 1. we need to create more chances and 2. Appere needs to improve his anticipation, movement and finishing.

By Appere's own admission in his first interview: 'Through my career I have played either side of the striker...but the manager made it clear to me that he does see me as a number nine so the aim is to get playing there as much as possible'.

The guy is still learning the position and we will need to be patient with him. Etete is head and shoulders above this level but it still took him 10+ games to settle in and he finished with a meagre return of 3 goals in 17 league games. Hopefully, Rico is coaching Appere and we will see a similar level of improvement in terms of anticipation, movement and finishing to what we saw with Etete. Should we have bought a proven number 9 (Akinde, Hylton etc) in with Appere? Yes, but it isn't his fault that Brady has given an unproven and developing targetman the responsibility of leading the line during a crucial promotion run in.

The wider issue is that the scoring record of our strikers over two seasons under JB has been universally poor. Rose and Lubala both had close to a 1 in 3 goal scoring record last time they played in this division but have been nowhere near that for us. It's been well documented that Harry Smith is 5th in the division's top scorers list now that he's playing in a side who are set up to create chances. 

Bradford was probably the first game this season when I've come away bemoaning missed chances rather than a lack of chances.

Brady either needs to find a way for the midfield to create more chances - i.e. playing Pollock for now or signing a proper playmaker in the summer - or he needs to sign a striker who is capable of creating chances for himself (which is as rare as rocking **** at this level).

As I've said before Lewis has contributed a single assist this year despite playing in the number 10 role in a 4-2-3-1 for the majority of the season! If you want to identify the central flaw in the side then that might be a good place to start.
132  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Louis Appere on: April 11, 2022, 19:54:27 pm
There are two fundamental problems
here. The first, which has been well documented, is that we simply haven’t
created enough chances from open play
over the last two seasons.

The second is that Appere is a young player who has spent most of his career as a wide
forward rather than a number 9. He is still learning his trade, so it’s not surprising that he’s missed
a few on the rare occasions, such as Saturday, when he has received sufficient service. A young Steve Howard, for instance, had an equally slow start to his Cobblers career but ended up doing Ok. Etete also needed quite a few league games to bed in before his class became evident. The problem really is that Appere is a ‘one for the future’ signing, whereas what we desperately needed was an Akinde or Hilton type who could come straight in and sniff out some goals. I think Appere will be a decent player for us next season but we’ll still need an experienced proven goal scorer/no.9 to give us a focal point.
133  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Mansfield away 2nd April on: April 02, 2022, 17:51:28 pm
We've got the second lowest lowest succesful pass percentage, the second lowest number of short passes (only Sutton are worse), second lowest number of goals from open play, and 19th in terms of shots on target. I don't think its fair to blame the league when we're statistically stinking the place up.

One thing is for certain: if you play like that in League One where the better teams can get up to 60% possession, you would get absolutely murdered.

Brady has yet to prove that he can coach a side to create chances in open play.
134  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Mansfield away 2nd April on: April 02, 2022, 16:42:42 pm
In retrospect it was probably a mistake to play Zimba ahead of Appere today (even though I came close to calling for it myself). Zimba is more direct and carries a goal threat, but Appere's superior all-round game in terms of pressing and hold-up play would have been a better option against a tough Mansfield side. I think we all got a bit carried away by Zimba's goal, but Appere is the better all-round option as the lone front man, as demonstrated by his assist for Hoskins last week.

We also missed Appere's pressing ability against a side comfortable in possession. In fact Hoskins was the only one of the front '5' who is really capable of pressing high up the pitch and winning the ball back. As many have said, pressing and tackling is Pinnock's one weakness, and Lubala is equally ineffective when it comes to tackling.

Lewis' absence gives Brady a chance to rethink the midfield. I think he'll bring either Eppiah or Kanu in and go to a 4-4-2, but he should really consider starting Pollock and trying something more creative. We simply don't have the personnel to play hoofball so if Brady is serious about creating more chances he's going to need to do something to get us passing again.





135  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Louis Appere on: March 26, 2022, 17:54:12 pm
Our XG is the 5th lowest in the League, and that would include all the chances we get from corners that are falling to centre backs. I've got to imagine it's up there with the worst club in the professional leagues to be a Striker right now in terms of chances created.

This. The midfield is the issue. Aside from Pinnock (12) and Hoskins (5) no one is really contributing assists.

According to the BBC, Lewis only has one assist, despite playing effectively as a number 10 all year, and I can't remember McWilliams or Sowerby (as good as they have been in other ways) contributing any either.

In comparison, the Wilder Championship winning side created loads of chances, because our central midfielders O'Toole and Byrom both had an eye for a killer pass and we had Adams and the mercurial Holmes further forward. It certainly helped that we had Rico and latterly Marquis/Collins up front, but the supply line is what really made the difference.

If we do somehow go up then this is the key area which JB needs to address. A creative number 10 play-maker will be the first priority.

136  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Hartlepool 26/3 on: March 26, 2022, 17:17:08 pm
Good win.

Brady's decision to shift to a 4-1-4-1 formation worked well, even though it meant playing Pinnock out of position in the middle. Lewis
doesn't really have the pressing skills to play in the DM 'pivot' in a 4-2-3-1 but looked a lot more comfortable further forward today. Pinnock's output has been excellent this year, with 12 assists and 7 goals. If he can continue to have that kind of influence from centre mid then we should probably stick with this formation for the run in.

Thought Hoskins had a very good game. 9 goals, 5 assists and a hell of a lot of pressing/defensive work is a very decent output for an inverted winger. For me, his status as one of the first names on the teamsheet as a L2 player should never be brought into question. L1 is a different kettle of fish and a whole different debate, but I'm glad he's signed a new contract and I think he's developed as a player over the last two years.

Great to see Zimba get his goal. His positional instincts and movement appear to be superior to our other strikers and he's got into more goalscoring positions than any of them over the last few weeks. Appere worked hard and got a good assist for Hoskins' goal. Eppiah also showed some nice touches when he came on. If I was JB I'd be tempted to institute genuine competition for places and play the man who shows the most goalscoring potential. If Zimba keeps playing like that I think he'll be pushing Appere for a starting berth sooner or later.
137  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Hartlepool 26/3 on: March 26, 2022, 14:21:07 pm
Lubala in for Magloire.

Looks like a switch to 4-5-1 or 4-4-2.

                 
138  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: The Gas (h) on: March 19, 2022, 18:40:45 pm
Brady needs to recall Pollock ASAP and at least try to play with a semblance of a midfield for the remainder of the season.

As with last season, the identity of our forward line is largely irrelevant: we simply don't create enough chances for our strikers in open play so it doesn't really matter who is playing up there.
The only hope for the strikers is to create chances for themselves (as Etete was doing through his capacity to run the channels and to use his strength), but none of the present incumbents are remotely capable of doing this. Chucking on extra forwards is pointless as the supply line problem remains unaddressed.

The only way forward is to play as few of the strikers as possible and to concentrate on building a cohesive midfield with Sowerby and Pollock in the pivot and Pinnock/Hoskins/Lewis and Lubala competing for the three in behind (I was hoping for some genuine competition to develop in this area and for whoever was contributing the least in goals and assists to be dropped).

Pollock is 21 years old, has scored several times in men's football and has clear technical ability. Does Brady really rate him below an 18 year-old rookie and a centre back playing out of position? Has he pissed in Brady's coffee or what? As a former winger himself and famously a supposed advocate of 'bums-off-seat' football, it amazes me that Brady continues to produce such turgid midfield fare. Surely it's time to try something different? 
139  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: The Gas (h) on: March 19, 2022, 16:36:14 pm
Adimbola taken off after being subbed on himself after 20 minutes.

Brady's failure to sign a back up central midfielder in January and
his decision to let Pollock go out on loan has really cost us.
140  The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Stevenage 15th March on: March 15, 2022, 18:36:05 pm
Time surely to say to Lubala (he has significant pedigree at this level, if only he could get going) .... you've got 5 full games now son, show me what you can do and at the same time get your career back up and running.


This.

He's surely got to keep the 4-2-3-1 with Lewis dropping back into the pivot to replace McWilliams and Lubala coming in on the left-hand side of the trio behind the striker. I still maintain that 4-2-3-1 is the only formation that remotely clicked for us all season.

Anything else - a shift to 4-4-2, going to 3 at the back with Magloire, God forbid Danny Rose - is not really going to cut it.

                            Robert

                 MacGowan Guthrie. Horsfall.  Koiki
                                Lewis.   Sowerby

                         Pinnock    Hoskins     Lubala

                                      Appere
                     
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