This Playing Virgo At All Costs Is Getting Ridiculous

[Mr Blobby]

D block got rather heated at the substitutions. When Davies came on we expected Virgo to come off and also hoped that Carole would also come on so we would play two wide men and 2 strikers up front. But no, on comes Davies, off goes Birchall, Virgo goes central midfield and Fraser pushed right midfield. For the next 2 minutes before Carole came on the players looked totally lost as to what to do and Davies even appeared to be playing out wide on the right! Fraser looked up at D block at a throw in and looked almost bemused at the abuse being directed at White and the lack of belief in his tactical knowledge

IMHO Fraser was doing OK in midfield, why he was replaced and Virgo left on in midfield was beyond me.

We finally looked a better team with a 4-4-2 formation, but then the sending offs changed the game and until the last few minutes it never really got going again.

Saturday my team would be

Kuipers
Whing Elphick Hinshelwood McNulty
Carole Jarrett Fraser Birchall/Cox
Forster Davies

Subs
El-Abd, Cox/Birchall, Sullivan, McLeod, Hawkins

Anyway will Crewe bring more than the 93 Northampton managed last night?

 

[theonesmith]

Thought Davies was still recovering from flu, so used Virgo to batter the defence a bit? He's not great but he is a physical presence which can help is sometimes. IMO and I may get shouted at for it, I thought DW and BB did very well over the last 2 games. We should of won last night, we were just very unlucky and lacked a little composure- which is kinda understandable given our season so far..

 

[Barnham Seagull]

The sending off did wonders for us, they lost their most influential player and faded and we lost Virgo who was well...... NOT MISSED!

Virgo should have been moved to centre back to combat their front two as anything played to them was being won by them and a goal or two was always on the cards.

Fraser was doing an ok job and to be substituted to fit in Virgo is crazy, this can not be good for morale. Surely players must be annoyed at always being the fall guy for Virgo?

 

[Bwian]

Davies looked fine to me when he came on

Thanks for your diagnosis Dr Easy. He has been ill for 2 weeks, has hardly eaten during that time (according to White) yet he should have started because "he looked alright"?

 

[clapham_gull]

This may sound a bit odd, but to me it looked like Virgo is a bit out of practice playing up front

Last night he was back to doing that thing of closing down the defenders in a way that only a defender playing up front would

During McGhee's time that was very effective and something that came out of a Seagulls Over London meeting a few years ago was that opposing defenders hated playing him, absolutely hated it.

I'm not suggesting he play upfront when another striker is fit, but if he can back to being an absolute annoying bugger up front when no other options are available, he's definately an option. I started to see a little bit of that again last night.

 

[Easy 10]

Thanks for your diagnosis Dr Easy. He has been ill for 2 weeks, has hardly eaten during that time (according to White) yet he should have started because "he looked alright"?

Can only call it as I see it. He was not struggling for pace, he still covered the ground, ran the channels, his touch and control was there, he certainly wasn't found wanting in the physical battle against their CB's, he hit the bar, and if he'd just kept his head he'd have scored an injury time winner for us. So yes, he looked alright to me.

It would have been perfectly understandable if he hadn't lasted the 90, but why not at least START with your strongest team and make changes later IF it turns out they are needed ? My heart sank to see Virgo lumbering around up front yet again. He should be a last resort there, when there's no other choice and we're chasing the game, not first bloody choice when we've got other options, BETTER options, sitting on their arses.

 

[The Large One]

But Virgo did come off, and we played much better after that.

 

[Easy 10]

Indeed we did. After we'd basically wasted the first 45 minutes and came in losing.

 

[Kosh]

I like the random Virgo factor; it makes the match day line-up so much more surprising!

Personally I reckon the club employ some sort of random position generator (akin to a happy hour drinks lottery machine), which is used (as doubtless demanded somewhere in Virgos contract, which I think should be published btw... From what I've read on here it must be an interesting read!) to determine exactly where he's gonna play.

"Ok Adam, just hit that button... ok it's... Right Wing and a free pint!"

"Yey... Right Wing..."

etc. and so on...

Kosh

 

[Easy 10]

I think they just spin a Wheel of Fortune type thing in the dressing room, with all the options.

Striker....centreback.....midfield.....right wing....rigthback.....and tonight iiiiiiits.....STRIKER !

"Sorry Craig, get your tracky back on, you're on the bench."

 

[Albion Edd]

According to SSN we're considering appealing Virgos Red card. Three games without Virgo in the team we can't be having that.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Taking off an effective midfielder and replacing him with an out of position centre back was just a plain dumb decision. Once Fraser went off Virgo hardly touched the ball, if at all, and the game just passed him by with Jarrett left to fight over the scraps for himself. If anything that substitution demonstrated why we need change at the club, a virgo-less three games is a real boon for the new manager who will not feel contractually obliged to shoehorn Virgo into the team at all costs.

I feel pretty sorry for Virgs who is a good centre back and a decent emergency forward, this obsession with playing him at full back and in midfield when we have specialist players available in those positions exposes him to ridicule he doesn't deserve.

 

[Easy 10]

Totally agree Mr Chilidog.

 

[Spiros]

I don't go with all this Virgo bashing. During the first half he won a lot of headers for flicking on to Forster and several times held the ball up and played in other players. He also chased down their defenders and forced hurried clearances from them. Much as I like Davies he and Forster didn't win much in the air, and lets face it our defenders like sending aerial balls in their direction.

The only possible logic for keeping Virgo on in place of Burchall or Fraser was for his height at set pieces as it was obvious that Northampton were a team of big guys. Also Virgo's master contribution was to get their biggest and most influential player sent off (a la Ian Baird versus Darren Moore scrap in the last game at the Goldstone vs Donny)

I'd like to see Virgo stick to being a centre half - he's good at that.

 

[O Lads]

I can't believe substitutions are being questioned when after they were made we got an equalizer

 

[narly101]

personally i'm looking forward to a Virgoless Albion for the next 3 games.

 

[Smythe]

D block got rather heated at the substitutions. When Davies came on we expected Virgo to come off and also hoped that Carole would also come on so we would play two wide men and 2 strikers up front. But no, on comes Davies, off goes Birchall, Virgo goes central midfield and Fraser pushed right midfield. For the next 2 minutes before Carole came on the players looked totally lost as to what to do and Davies even appeared to be playing out wide on the right! Fraser looked up at D block at a throw in and looked almost bemused at the abuse being directed at White and the lack of belief in his tactical knowledge

IMHO Fraser was doing OK in midfield, why he was replaced and Virgo left on in midfield was beyond me.

We finally looked a better team with a 4-4-2 formation, but then the sending offs changed the game and until the last few minutes it never really got going again.

Saturday my team would be

Kuipers
Whing Elphick Hinshelwood McNulty
Carole Jarrett Fraser Birchall/Cox
Forster Davies

Subs
El-Abd, Cox/Birchall, Sullivan, McLeod, Hawkins

Anyway will Crewe bring more than the 93 Northampton managed last night?

Birchall/Cox? Birchall for me......why do we continue to let Cox waste every corner or free kick we get. What does he do in training all week.....train with the under 12's who are all 4ft 6.....has he ever cleared the first man!! Carole must start and showed how corners and free kicks should be taken.

 

[Titanic]

I can't believe substitutions are being questioned when after they were made we got an equalizer

Don't let facts get in the way of a good old binfest!

 

[Harold]

Birchall/Cox? Birchall for me......why do we continue to let Cox waste every corner or free kick we get. What does he do in training all week.....train with the under 12's who are all 4ft 6.....has he ever cleared the first man!! Carole must start and showed how corners and free kicks should be taken.

Fact.

 

[Gritt23]

I feel pretty sorry for Virgs who is a good centre back and a decent emergency forward, this obsession with playing him at full back and in midfield when we have specialist players available in those positions exposes him to ridicule he doesn't deserve.

Same here. It's not his fault that the manager(s) seems to treat his only strong position as a last resort, apart from actually leaving him out which is not a resort of any kind. Virgo can't be enjoying this season, and must be getting ever more frustrated that his attempts to resurrect his career back with us is being hampered by playing out of position all the time, and even then he never remains in teh same position for a whole 90 mins.

I'm guessing that he'll introduce himself to the new manager as ...
"Adam Virgo, centre half."
"Virgo, eh? Aren't you a bit of a versati ..."
"NO! Centre half, centre half only. You must be thinking of someone else."