Can anyone justify the midfield selection tonight?

[Finchley Seagull]

It's not about who the better side is though, in my opinion. It's the fact we were at home tonight. As a home team, we have to go out and attack and try to create openings. That's NEVER going to happen with a midfield of Cox -El Abd - Thomson - Johnson. Playing that lot in a tough away game is one thing, but relying on them for creativity and intelligence is asking for trouble.

The players you mention at the end may not all be entirely consistent, but they do at least have the talent to produce something. When I heard the midfield tonight I said to my dad EXACTLY what would happen (right down to El Abd embarrassing himself with an OTT foul) and I was proved totally right. I'd rather have a player who MIGHT do something than three players (Thomson, El Abd, Cox) who must have played 250 games for us without ever being consistently good enough.

I disagree with the stick El Abd gets. He is an under rated player for us and I think does a decent job as a defensive midfielder. I also rate Thomson but feel he has never had a settled midfield partner since he has been here. Cox is very frustrating. I thought he was our worst midfielder tonight but he definitely has the talent. He seems to have a few good games, then have a bad spell, get dropped and have a few more good games when he comes back in. I agree he is not consistent enough though.

I have a feeling with us struggling that Mickey wants to build a side with a strong core and players up for the battle so wants a strong midfield and minimal number of loan players. That would explain tonight's selection.

 

[clapham_gull]

...minimal number of loan players.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

in the actual first team there were only two tonight. The idea being that your own players are more likely to fight for the cause than loan players

 

[clapham_gull]

in the actual first team there were only two tonight. The idea being that your own players are more likely to fight for the cause than loan players

Which begs the question....

 

[1066familyman]

All 3 subs tonight were loan players, and all those going off were signed players.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Can anyone justify why Hawkins was picked over Lynch from the start of the season,

Maybe because he was playing well and maybe Lynch hadn't done enough to impress in pre-season, remember Hawkins started really well before injury affected his form, Lynch would have come in and played, (and maybe kept the place too) had he not thrown a temper tantrum and looked to leave

why Virgo will start ahead of Robinson upfront when he isn't a striker,

Robinson is more a winger than a striker, Virgo offers something different upfront due to his size, and maybe that was along the lines that Adams wanted to play tactically, using Virgo as someone to hold up front, allowing the others to join the attack, something he did fairly well under McGhee

why Elphick looks a shadow of himself compared to last season,

Pressure? expectation? not playing with Lynch or El-Abd in the centre, something he may have done and had built up and understanding with at youth level?

why Mayo and Hart are given contracts,

Because it seemed like the right choice at the time, potentially useful and cheap squad members who wouldn't go off in a strop if they were not playing week in, week out

why El-Abd plays midfield when we have Fraser Loft and Thornton available,

Different styles of play from the different players you mention, could you see Loft or Thornton as defensive midfields flying in with tackles and trying to break up the oppositions approach play, like Oatway did under Adams last time?

why we're going downhill.

Because fans levels of expectation are too high and their demand for instant success, last time it took Adams til the second season to build a promotion winning team, yet there were some calling for his head in October this time round. Teams and players perform better when they can relax and just play rather than worry about being abused by their so called fans if they make a small mistake or if they even just misplace a pass, the fashion this season for our fans to vent their own personal frustrations as abuse at our own players can't be helping, and the misguided concept that performance = result, so if we arn't winning, there can't have been any good performances.

Were going downhill? - messured against what? - a fair messure or not?

One reason MICKEY ADAMS do the honourable thing and f*** OFF sharpish

Or far better for everyone, those miserable moaning fans develop some patience and learn how to support a football team again, rather than turn up with the sole purpose of abusing our own players etc, incredibly they still do it, even when we are winning, - what message does that send out to our players and just how much of a boost must that give to an opposition player to hear that.

Often we have played well and just not got the result the fans expected and for the player to still get booed is wrong imo, I can see more players wanting to leave because of this unsettling them.

Adams will sort it out, and results will improve so have a little patience, and for heavens sake, stop laying into a player when a pass goes wrong, or moan at the manager if we fail to score or conceed early, its a game of 90 mins ffs

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Guy Fawkes yesterday

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

I'm a big Adams fan but here we are, some 20 games in, and I can see no progress, no passion, no planning and, sadly, no prospect of a change in the near future.

I don't hold to all this players needing to be pampered. They are professional, train all week and are, compared to most of us, well paid.

Fan's don't spend their hard earned just to go and moan at their team but it's so frustrating to see, what looks like a decent bunch of players, running around like they've never met a ball before let alone their team mates.

How many times have we lost after going in front? I never thought an Adams side would would roll over and surrender in so many matches. We need some men out there.