To win on saturday...

[murraymints4brighton]

Kuipers and Virgo need to be dropped and Smith and Tunnicliffe have to be brought in. Elphick has made errors but his distribution, although still not great, is improving and Virgo's hoof everything mentality is rather pathetic and useless.

One of the key attributes in my opinion is distribution from the defense. Hoyte and Wright who will start as the full backs have it and Elphick is improving. If you hoof the ball like Virgo the midfield, the driving force of the team, are completely cut out of any move as the ball just comes straight back at them.

Kuipers distribution has been reasonable particularly against Gillingham however his main strength, reflexes, have been called into question with that first goal against Oldham and his positioning (goal against Mk Dons) has also been poor. You also notice in the highlights of most games he is unable to hold onto shots and parry's everything into the penalty box for our defenders to clear for a corner, which leads to more pressure on the Brighton goal.

We need to give Smith a go and Tunnicliffe was unfairly dropped to accommodate are captain "sir hoof a lot" and based on his previous performances should start. The defense is the problem and we need a change in personal to sort it out.

Mints "In Slade we trust"

 

[blue and white army]

 

[clippedgull]

As much as I think Virgo shouldn't even be here, I would drop Elphick. He went to sleep for the second goal on Saturday. His situation awareness is currently very poor.

Although I do agree that Tunnicliffe should be playing

 

[murraymints4brighton]

As much as I think Virgo shouldn't even be here, I would drop Elphick. He went to sleep for the second goal on Saturday. His situation awareness is currently very poor.

Although I do agree that Tunnicliffe should be playing

I think Elphick deserves another game as he was at fault for the goal yes, but for the rest of the game he was quite tidy and again his distribution was better than Virgo. If Mcnulty wasn't dead again I would play:

Hoyte Tunnicliffe Wright Mcnulty

 

[KneeOn]

Elphick is still young. Younger than we remember. Yes he's been playing a lot but we need to mature as a footballer.

 

[Shinbreath]

Tunnicliffe SHOULD be on that team sheet every week without question. He is by far our best CB, and has proved that he has a keen eye on goal too !!!

But who to drop is the question. I am currently 55/45 in favour of Elphick but wouldn't really care who gets dropped, just so long as there is a place for JT.

As far as Kuipers is concerned, although he has had a few howlers recently, he is still a good keeper who consistently produces a cracking save. Not quite ready to be dropped in favour of Smith just yet but he needs to prove that its just a blip he is going through, and fast !!

 

[murraymints4brighton]

Elphick is still young. Younger than we remember. Yes he's been playing a lot but we need to mature as a footballer.

I would agree with you if we were referring to someone like Guy Butters, but we are not. Adam Virgo despite having a good few seasons under his belt is not playing well and need to be dropped, if he was this mature footballer then he should lead by example as captain and at the moment he doesn't.

Tunnicliffe looks much more composed and aware on the ball than Virgo and should start ahead of him with Elphick.

 

[the wanderbus]

what a load of old cock,Elphick may be young but surely around 100 1st team games is enough to be classed as experienced. Lack of concentration & losing your man has cost us goals & saturday wasn't the first time it's happened. Both players are hoofers & the distribution from both is piss poor but virgo is the one least off of his game so its got to be Elphick warming the bench for while. I agrre about Kuipers though - Smith should have been in the side weeks ago

 

[murraymints4brighton]

what a load of old cock,Elphick may be young but surely around 100 1st team games is enough to be classed as experienced. Lack of concentration & losing your man has cost us goals & saturday wasn't the first time it's happened. Both players are hoofers & the distribution from both is piss poor but virgo is the one least off of his game so its got to be Elphick warming the bench for while. I agrre about Kuipers though - Smith should have been in the side weeks ago

I would disagree and say Virgo is the one out of form however I do agree both of them have not been great of late. the amount of times Virgo bypasses the midfield and hoofs the ball to Dickinson is unbelievable and costing us dearly. Surly a ball played to the midfield and then into Dickinson's FEET!!! would create more goalscoring opportunities. In my opinion Elphick has started to play that ball to the full backs and midfield and that is why he should start.

 

[Simon Morgan]

I think we should play -

-----------------------Smith----------------------
----Whing (if fit)--Tunnicliffe--Wright---Hoyte------
------Bennett------Dicker---Thornhill---A. Davies---
----------------C. Davies----Forster---------------

A bit risky moving Hoyte to the other flank but he looked ok on Sat and could cope with it I think. Either that or move Whing (if fit) over there. After Saturday's catastrophe, Virgo and Elphick must be dropped. Tunnicliffe is our best defender and Wright apparently played well against Orient in the middle. He is not a left-back. Midfield's a bit of a risky one, but even though Davies and Thornhill (maybe moreso) have not quite done it yet, I think they're good players and should start. Crofts, whilst being as solid as a rock, is about as interesting as one as well. Up front, I rate Dickinson but I think he needs a rest, maybe a goal off the bench would boost his confidence. Davies deserves a chance IMO, he is a good footballer and, as others have said, will get it right eventually given the chance.

 

[portslade seagull]

I think one of the problems has been the constant swapping and changing of the back four..they never get a run of games together to know how the others play.....Think Hawkins could make the difference when fit with Tunni beside him

 

[murraymints4brighton]

I think one of the problems has been the constant swapping and changing of the back four..they never get a run of games together to know how the others play.....Think Hawkins could make the difference when fit with Tunni beside him

I was too hesitant to mention a Hawkins Tunnicliffe partnership... BUT it just might work!

 

[Marc1901]

we should have the same defence we had against millwall IMO .

 

[the wanderbus]

The simple fact is both need dropping but at the moment one has to stay in the side,as said before Elphick's lack of concentration is costing goals(dont worry about the ball to midfield concentrate on stopping the opposition first) It'll probably never happen but once everybody is fit Tunnicliffe &Wright could be the best pairing.

 

[Spanish Seagulls]

To win we need to score goals. Simple. Lets hope RS has the balls to go all out attack with the midfield getting up in support. It's obvious really we are just not attacking enough & inviting teams onto us. More shooting instead of trying to complicate things.

 

[Rookie]

A Tunnicliffe Wright partnership has to be given a go when both are fit (+ McNulty) I would hazard a guess that a large percentage of goals against us are from centre back mistakes. Smith must be given a go as well