Dublin & De Vries: Was this a positive Move

[Bilborough Fox]

Did any of you feel that this was the right choice for this game. When the team was announced I had my doubts about us scoring one never mind any more. Picking two big men with limited mobility meant that everything would be coming in through the aerial route and Burnley proved they could cope with easily at the Walkers. I know that Smith & Sylla were playing wide but doubted that they could create 30 chance for us to get at least one goal. For this game I would have maybe prefered playing just the one striker and the midfield reinforced enough to support him. Didn't manage to get yesterday but it didn't even sound that good on Radio L. Be interested to hear other opinions from people who went. Did we ever look like scoring, did we create any clearcut chances. Look forward to maybe hearing something positive that came out of the game!!!!!!!

 

[PFKAKTF FOX]

Did any of you feel that this was the right choice for this game. When the team was announced I had my doubts about us scoring one never mind any more. Picking two big men with limited mobility meant that everything would be coming in through the aerial route and Burnley proved they could cope with easily at the Walkers. I know that Smith & Sylla were playing wide but doubted that they could create 30 chance for us to get at least one goal. For this game I would have maybe prefered playing just the one striker and the midfield reinforced enough to support him. Didn't manage to get yesterday but it didn't even sound that good on Radio L. Be interested to hear other opinions from people who went. Did we ever look like scoring, did we create any clearcut chances. Look forward to maybe hearing something positive that came out of the game!!!!!!!

IMO it was a shocking team selection, Burnley are renowned for being a team that soaks up pressure and then counter attacks, surely the best way then to combat this is to fill your team with players who have pace, good movement and technical ability, so what does CL do pick the IMO the two slowest, immobile strikers in the division. This limited our options to either the long ball which Burnley dealt with fairly well or to get the ball out wide to Smith and Sylla to fire crosses in, this meant though that these 2 were very tightly marked and another attacking option was closed out. Also if De Vries or Dublin did win a flick on the other was too slow to take advantage, we needed an additional option of pace, and although Hammond's finishing was woeful, he did appear to inject more impetus when he came on.

Very disappointing performance by Levein yseterday, his team selection was very poor, his tactics were one dimensional and IMO his substitutions were too little too late.

 

[highland fox]

I just don't get why we pick a Team to contain them.Surely we should be looking to impose ourselves upon them i.e Give them something to worry about,make them adapt to us.IMO that team yesterday should have been picked with 'Pace' in mind.

 

[PFKAKTF FOX]

This is what is beginning to concern me with Levein, he pays far too much respect to the opposition, as you say Highland, we should be giving the opposition headaches as to how they will contain our flair players, not adapting our tactics to best suit nullifying the opposition, Levein is far too cautious and IMO he lacks the courage to attack and take the game by the scruff of the neck. We have the resources available to be solid in defence but also to play with an attacking flair that encourages us to score goals, at present our attacking players seem to be stifled with defensive duties.

 

[frankw]

It all sounds very familiar i.e. poor team selection, poor tactics and poor substitutions. Lets hope we are not suffering from collective deja-vu.

 

[Bilborough Fox]

Glad to hear people are of the same opinion as me that we should have gone with Hume & Hammond yesterday as I'm sure we would have caused them far more problems on the ground than pumping high balls into the area.

 

[PFKAKTF FOX]

Glad to hear people are of the same opinion as me that we should have gone with Hume & Hammond yesterday as I'm sure we would have caused them far more problems on the ground than pumping high balls into the area.

It is just a shame the manager and his back room staff didnt have the same viewpoint ! Although it is easy with hindsight as some might say, I have to admit that everybody that I was around had massive reservations over the team selection.

 

[highland fox]

This is what is beginning to concern me with Levein, he pays far too much respect to the opposition, as you say Highland, we should be giving the opposition headaches as to how they will contain our flair players, not adapting our tactics to best suit nullifying the opposition, Levein is far too cautious and IMO he lacks the courage to attack and take the game by the scruff of the neck. We have the resources available to be solid in defence but also to play with an attacking flair that encourages us to score goals, at present our attacking players seem to be stifled with defensive duties.

I think he is guilty of being over cautoius but I can sometimes understand why when half of your Supporters want you sacked after every defeat,maybe he is scared of losing.It's not all doom and gloom though we look settled at the back and we are progressing be it slowly.Next season( if he is allowed that long) is when I would expect to us to mount a serious Promotion challenge and I would sooner us gain Promotion with the nucleus of a side, with 4 or 5 additions,that will keep us up.

 

[highland fox]

Glad to hear people are of the same opinion as me that we should have gone with Hume & Hammond yesterday as I'm sure we would have caused them far more problems on the ground than pumping high balls into the area.

I wouldn't have gone with Hammond,a Player either very short on confidence or simply not good enough.MDV and Hume for me or if Hume was Too knackered then MDV and Smith.Hammond needs some shooting practice in the Reserves IMO.

 

[Bilborough Fox]

I as one don't want him sacked. He's improved our team be it slowly. It's just that his tactics sometimes are over cautious. It's as though he looks at the opposition's strenght and picks a team to negate it rather than looking at our strenghts and playing into them. This would give the oppositon a problem with the fact that we wouldn't be so predictable in the way we play with the limited resources we have got.

 

[Bilborough Fox]

I wouldn't have gone with Hammond,a Player either very short on confidence or simply not good enough.MDV and Hume for me or if Hume was Too knackered then MDV and Smith.Hammond needs some shooting practice in the Reserves IMO.

At least you wouldn't have gone for De Vries & Dublin. It was so negative after all the talk of working on our striking prowess in preperation for this match.

 

[PFKAKTF FOX]

I think he is guilty of being over cautoius but I can sometimes understand why when half of your Supporters want you sacked after every defeat,maybe he is scared of losing.It's not all doom and gloom though we look settled at the back and we are progressing be it slowly.Next season( if he is allowed that long) is when I would expect to us to mount a serious Promotion challenge and I would sooner us gain Promotion with the nucleus of a side, with 4 or 5 additions,that will keep us up.

Good points Highland, I am inclined to agree with you that defensively we are very solid and that has been a massive improvement, but if Levein is scared of losing then maybe he is in the wrong job, he has to be brave and have the courage of his convictions, IMO we are improving no end as a defensive unit but in attacking terms we are a lightyear away from being anything but mediocre and that has to be changed quickly. We should respect all opposition but fear nobody, based on current performances we appear to fear everyone and IMO that is negative and giving the opposition a huge psycological advantage and it also suggests to me that Levein has little faith in his attacking options. Based on current performance and results promotion is not attainable next season either unless Levein can bring in at least 2 decent strikers and 2 decent wide men. Otherwise it will be mid table mediocrity for as long as, we have proved over the last 6 or so games that even when we are defensively sound, it is the attacking side of our play that has failed to deliver and we are incapable of building any kind of sustained winning run. For me Levein has to be ruthless, move the likes of Sylla, Williams and Wilcox on and bring in a couple of decent acqusitions in to help build some momentum and then in the summer add a couple of quality players to the exisiting squad and hopefully we will have a chance, we need the same calibre of striker as we have in defence in McCarthy and Gerrbrand, then we will be able to push on.

 

[highland fox]

It all sounds very familiar i.e. poor team selection, poor tactics and poor substitutions. Lets hope we are not suffering from collective deja-vu.

When CL starts talking about ''Craig Levein not being happy and Craig Levein doing his best to put it right'' then we are in trouble.
Incidentally MA is on Sky now doing the analysis for The Brighton v Palace match.

 

[bocadillo]

Did any of you feel that this was the right choice for this game. When the team was announced I had my doubts about us scoring one never mind any more. Picking two big men with limited mobility meant that everything would be coming in through the aerial route and Burnley proved they could cope with easily at the Walkers. I know that Smith & Sylla were playing wide but doubted that they could create 30 chance for us to get at least one goal. For this game I would have maybe prefered playing just the one striker and the midfield reinforced enough to support him. Didn't manage to get yesterday but it didn't even sound that good on Radio L. Be interested to hear other opinions from people who went. Did we ever look like scoring, did we create any clearcut chances. Look forward to maybe hearing something positive that came out of the game!!!!!!!

Any formation which leads to high balls being lobbed up against a defence with a bloke like McGreal must be wrong!

It's questionable whether any starting line-up that contains the name 'D.Dublin' as an attacker can ever be right, but IMHO there were few options. Hume had not returned from his international trip in agood enough state to play, Elvis is way off form - so MdV and Dion may have seemed the only option. Personally I can onbly see Dion as an *alternative* to MdV, when the latter is not available.

 

[Durham Fox]

Spot on Boc.

We were awful in the final third yesterday, devoid of confidence and ideas. Really poor show.

Defensivley a few Gremlins returned too.

 

[Redditch Fox]

I think he is guilty of being over cautoius but I can sometimes understand why when half of your Supporters want you sacked after every defeat,maybe he is scared of losing.It's not all doom and gloom though we look settled at the back and we are progressing be it slowly.Next season( if he is allowed that long) is when I would expect to us to mount a serious Promotion challenge and I would sooner us gain Promotion with the nucleus of a side, with 4 or 5 additions,that will keep us up.

Sorry Highland, you could be right, but to my mind this squad is about as far off as you can get from any prospect of challenging for promotion even next season.

Its difficult to get promotion by playing 'pure' football because most of the other sides are not going to let you play that way; its impossible to get promotion by being too cautious because of the points system.... so its about pace and power up front and well-organised uncompromising defenders. I can see the defence being pretty tight but it looks to me like his overall approach together with the scarcity of money for decent strikers together with dubious forward player recruitment todate, means that we are going to struggle until he changes or he's changed.

 

[highland fox]

Sorry Highland, you could be right, but to my mind this squad is about as far off as you can get from any prospect of challenging for promotion even next season.

Its difficult to get promotion by playing 'pure' football because most of the other sides are not going to let you play that way; its impossible to get promotion by being too cautious because of the points system.... so its about pace and power up front and well-organised uncompromising defenders. I can see the defence being pretty tight but it looks to me like his overall approach together with the scarcity of money for decent strikers together with dubious forward player recruitment todate, means that we are going to struggle until he changes or he's changed.

I didn't expect you to agree with me

 

[SilverFox]

We are two points above relegation. I can take defeat. It really isn't something I have a problem with, if I can see light at the end of the tunnel. The only problem is that with this club at the moment there are tunnels at the end of any ray of light.

We are floundering, and if we don't pick up some wins, we are going to be in trouble. Levein should have spotted what was so blatantly obvious to everyone else from the middle of last season...WE NEED A STRIKER! Nothing has really been done in acknowledgement of this until now. 5th best budget demands a better return, and I for one am getting tired of it.

 

[Naughty Fox]

We are two points above relegation. I can take defeat. It really isn't something I have a problem with, if I can see light at the end of the tunnel. The only problem is that with this club at the moment there are tunnels at the end of any ray of light.

We are floundering, and if we don't pick up some wins, we are going to be in trouble. Levein should have spotted what was so blatantly obvious to everyone else from the middle of last season...WE NEED A STRIKER! Nothing has really been done in acknowledgement of this until now. 5th best budget demands a better return, and I for one am getting tired of it.

Agree Silver, but budget or not you have to persuade a player to sign for you, there are many if's,but's and maybe's, but we do not know who he had tried to sign, the chap from scotland (can not remember his name) who turned us down may have done the job. You are right though, we might start to look more like a team, but the results have got to start coming and get those points on the board.

 

[lazzer]

with watford coming here on a 5 game winning streak ans sheff united on saturday it could be cold hard week