Mcghee

[Uncle Buck]

All the while we persisted with the bold attacking, two-winger 4-4-2. What the feck else could we have done without sacrificing our control of midfield and the likes of Frutos/Carole/Gatting who were making a mark?

Part of the reason we seem to be in trouble is what you call this bold attacking is not working, we keep losing.

Maybe it is time to get tight at the back and grind results out? With Hinsh now back it is surely sensible to start fielding 3 centre backs?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Another game that could have been so different.

I agree with Uncle Buck, that perhaps our bold attacking is not creating as much chances as it should do and leaving us looking undermanned at the back.

The Leicester result was not McGhees fault. Yes, he picked the team, but to concede two goals in the first 5 mins was unacceptable. The first one did look like a fould on Hendo and they were still shell shocked for the second one.

I wouldn't sack McGhee simply because he has done a decent job for us and he has the experience to get us out of trouble.

McGhee in!!

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Oh for some 1-0 wins like we had last season.

Time to sacrifice flair for graft.

John Byrne said skill is all very well but there needs to be some end product such as a decent cross or shot and at the moment there isnt.

 

[Icy Gull]

Part of the reason we seem to be in trouble is what you call this bold attacking is not working, we keep losing.

Maybe it is time to get tight at the back and grind results out? With Hinsh now back it is surely sensible to start fielding 3 centre backs?

Like the Burnley game, where McGhee got crucified for not playing an attacking line up? We ground a point out of that game, it wasn't enough according to most on here.

Maybe we were supposed to be tight at the back on Saturday but McGhee (well it has to be his fault not the players) had a nightmare 1st 5 mins and that plan had to be abandoned ?

 

[Uncle Buck]

Like the Burnley game, where McGhee got crucified for not playing an attacking line up? We ground a point out of that game, it wasn't enough according to most on here.

Maybe we were supposed to be tight at the back on Saturday but McGhee (well it has to be his fault not the players) had a nightmare 1st 5 mins and that plan had to be abandoned ?

Burnelys away record meant that they were always going to put men behind the ball, so we had to try and beat them, but when you fall out and sell one of your few players who can unlock a defence it is always going to be a struggle.

However Hinsh is now back and last season was probably our best defender, so surely a defence of Hinsh, Butters and McShane is worth looking out. Might help us stop letting soft goals in or is that OK?

 

[Sid James]

It's not just the defence, we look undermanned in central midfield as well. I would agree with the 5-3-2 just to beef up numbers in the middle, the trouble is we lack people to play there what with suspensions and injuries !

It definately is grind time, at the moment I don't think we can play both Frutos and Carole without looking a bit lightweight.

 

[Blackadder]

However Hinsh is now back and last season was probably our best defender, so surely a defence of Hinsh, Butters and McShane is worth looking out.

Good Call.

 

[Trigger]

However Hinsh is now back and last season was probably our best defender, so surely a defence of Hinsh, Butters and McShane is worth looking out. Might help us stop letting soft goals in or is that OK?

No doubt the clueless one will throw him into centre midfield as a straight swap for Hammond.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

No doubt the clueless one will throw him into centre midfield as a straight swap for Hammond.

The way things are expect Kuipers to be given one of the central midfield slots.

Magoo will justify this by saying that its something they have looked at in training.

Why dont you f***ing teach the forwards to shoot on sight , get the team doing long distance running and practice set pieces.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Why dont you f***ing teach the forwards to shoot on sight , get the team doing long distance running and practice set pieces.

Actually on Saturday, Gatting did attempt to shoot when in space, which was a novelty for our forwards.

Am sure that will be beaten out of him soon enough, bit like wingers crossing early....

 

[Trigger]

The way things are expect Kuipers to be given one of the central midfield slots.

No chance of Kuipers featuring again due to the clueless one, it'll have to be Martin.

 

[Scoffers]

Ok, so we suck right now, with no money, a shit ground, a Judicial Review threatening to kill us off completely - who else are we going to attract ?

McGhee is a solid enough manager, and I think we should keep hold of him, even if we get relegated.

 

[Blackadder]

McGhee IN 89
Out 82

Punctured Arses 20

 

[O Lads]

GET HIM OUT

Bye McGhee

 

[London Irish]

Part of the reason we seem to be in trouble is what you call this bold attacking is not working, we keep losing.

Maybe it is time to get tight at the back and grind results out? With Hinsh now back it is surely sensible to start fielding 3 centre backs?

Right, so EXACTLY the opposite of what Kinkygoon was saying about throwing more strikers on Fine, as long as we cleared that up.

To be honest, the more grinding, defensive approach was generally the one we took in the second half of last season, and it didn't work, because teams are generally too good in this league for you to play negatively against them, they will pick you off eventually.

You have suggested this 3-5-2 all season as a cure all, but we keep coming back to the same point, that system can't accommodate wingers, and the wingers are the one bit of the team that is working well right now. We must start from where the best strengths of our current squad of players. We need a system that incorporates the attacking verve of Carole and Frutos, and I can't see anything else than a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 doing that, but if there is another way, other than sacrificing one of them and playing another out of position in central midfield, I'd like to hear it.

Tomorrow I would reintegrate Hinsh into the back 4 somewhere and release Reid to play in Carole's position, as he did so successfully against Leeds.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Right, so EXACTLY the opposite of what Kinkygoon was saying about throwing more strikers on Fine, as long as we cleared that up.

To be honest, the more grinding, defensive approach was generally the one we took in the second half of last season, and it didn't work, because teams are generally too good in this league for you to play negatively against them, they will pick you off eventually.

You have suggested this 3-5-2 all season as a cure all, but we keep coming back to the same point, that system can't accommodate wingers, and the wingers are the one bit of the team that is working well right now. We must start from where the best strengths of our current squad of players. We need a system that incorporates the attacking verve of Carole and Frutos, and I can't see anything else than a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 doing that, but if there is another way, other than sacrificing one of them and playing another out of position in central midfield, I'd like to hear it.

Tomorrow I would reintegrate Hinsh into the back 4 somewhere and release Reid to play in Carole's position, as he did so successfully against Leeds.

Sorry Steve, but we did not grind results out in the first half of last season? Well West Ham awayand Leicester away immediately spring to mind as games that we grafted a result from and they were in the first part of the season.

I think at present one of the wingers has to be dropped. Look at our results, the wingers may have the odd good game, but they are not getting us results. We are letting in silly goals and some of this is because we are not covering the flanks properly. Get the team tight at the back and go from there and the best way to do that is start with a central defence of Butters, Hinsh and McShane, it gives us height through Butters and decent pace with Hinsh and McShane. Carole (if fit) has a liking to come inside, so see if he can play in a 3 man midfield, protected by 2 grafting midfielders.

At the end of the day the present system is not working, we do not have players to come into the system to change it, so look at the system and I think 3-5-2 will accomodate the best players in our squad more effectively than the bold but failing 4-4-2 with wingers.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

And if you have wingers we need end product as Byrne said. That is crosses and shots. Neither of which they provide plenty of.

 

[London Irish]

Sorry Steve, but we did not grind results out in the first half of last season? Well West Ham awayand Leicester away immediately spring to mind as games that we grafted a result from and they were in the first part of the season.

Yes, it worked for a while earlier in the season when we had a goalscoring targetman in full flow. Then teams worked us out and that approach was responsible for us going two months without a win.

We had to move on and progress because that defensive football minus Virgs up front was bound to cause us to struggle again.

McGhee has tried to improve our football as a means of getting results and he had the backing of all fans at the beginning of the season when doing that.

That is hasn't worked out doesn't suggest that another more defensive approach would have. But of course if you put forward unfalsifiable scenarios that can't by their very nature be disproved, I can't say it definitely wouldn't have worked, that is the happy situation an unaccountable critic like you is in. In America thay call that "Monday morning quarterbacking".

But our problems would have remained the same, the lack of a goalscoring targetman, only your aproach would have robbed us of our main means of carrying our attacking play to the opposition.

I frankly dread to think what the Brighton team would have been without that kind of attacking play, we might have easily have been this year's Rotherham.

 

[enigma]

I think the answer may be to keep the same system but change the personnel.

Its a shame Hammond will be suspended, as I would have liked to see him moved out to the left and another more defensive mid such as Nicholas in his place. This would probably mean dropping Frutos, but hw would be a very useful 12th man to have.

Funnily enough, I think we are really missing the presence of Oatway in midfield, both in terms of the tackling he gives us and the leadership he provides.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Yes, it worked for a while earlier in the season when we had a goalscoring targetman in full flow. Then teams worked us out and that approach was responsible for us going two months without a win.

We had to move on and progress because that defensive football minus Virgs up front was bound to cause us to struggle again.

McGhee has tried to improve our football as a means of getting results and he had the backing of all fans at the beginning of the season when doing that.

That is hasn't worked out doesn't suggest that another more defensive approach would have. But of course if you put forward unfalsifiable scenarios that can't by their very nature be disproved, I can't say it definitely wouldn't have worked, that is the happy situation an unaccountable critic like you is in. In America thay call that "Monday morning quarterbacking".

But our problems would have remained the same, the lack of a goalscoring targetman, only your aproach would have robbed us of our main means of carrying our attacking play to the opposition.

I frankly dread to think what the Brighton team would have been without that kind of attacking play, we might have easily have been this year's Rotherham.

I do sort of see what you are saying, but surely the fact that everyone knows we do not have a goal scorer means that we should be trying to stop letting the things in and looking to nick games. Now the return of Hinsh gives us the opportunity to shore up the defence by playing 3 decent centre backs and I personally think that is what should be done.

The variations on 4-4-2 that have been tried are just not working.