[RPL42YEARS]

.... we learn these lessons now!

Being allowed to cross from our left and side for fun!

If you're in control of CM you don't lose 4-3 from 0-3!

O'Sea remains a luxury we can ill afford.

Evatt needed match time so we really cannot complain - he'll get better.

Hird looked lost at RB - I hope he isn't made a scapegoat.

Doyle looks and is class.

Lets hope we go 1- 3 (CBacks) 4 1 2 or 3-5-2

We're not good enough to sit back for 45 mins ! We overlook the teams like AFC Wimbledon that had lots of quality chances but didn't take them. We're OK at the back but not good enough to do what we appear to have tried today.

ONWARDS and UPWARDS!!

[Sabreman]

RPL42YEARS, on 05 October 2013 - 06:12 PM, said:

Hird looked lost at RB - I hope he isn't made a scapegoat.

I take it you went then to come to this conclusion !

[Westbars Spireite]

If he 'looked' lost then he must have been.

[rc1979]

I agree on oshea. Still not a believer he and Dave can play in same side. Both go missing and need a bit of luxury

[brianclose]

Sabreman, on 05 October 2013 - 06:14 PM, said:

I take it you went then to come to this conclusion !

I think he's hedging his bets based on last season!

I highly doubt he went.....

[Heavy_Soul]

brianclose, on 05 October 2013 - 09:51 PM, said:

I think he's hedging his bets based on last season!

I highly doubt he went.....

Me neither, the time of the post is sceptical given I don't think RPL would be one to use his mobile to post.

[cfcblues]

RPL42YEARS, on 05 October 2013 - 06:12 PM, said:

.... we learn these lessons now!

Being allowed to cross from our left and side for fun!

If you're in control of CM you don't lose 4-3 from 0-3!

O'Sea remains a luxury we can ill afford.

Evatt needed match time so we really cannot complain - he'll get better.

Hird looked lost at RB - I hope he isn't made a scapegoat.

Doyle looks and is class.

Lets hope we go 1- 3 (CBacks) 4 1 2 or 3-5-2

We're not good enough to sit back for 45 mins ! We overlook the teams like AFC Wimbledon that had lots of quality chances but didn't take them. We're OK at the back but not good enough to do what we appear to have tried today.

ONWARDS and UPWARDS!!

Did you enjoy your day by the seaside Rob?

[Westbars Spireite]

Screamadelica, on 05 October 2013 - 09:54 PM, said:

Me neither, the time of the post is sceptical given I don't think RPL would be one to use his mobile to post.

Surely it should have been 'sounded' lost in that case to make it clear he listened to it on't wireless.

[Blueprint]

Who'd have thought Drew being missing would create all these issues, if he wasn't out then we wouldn't have split Hird and Cooper up, moved Hird to right back where he's far less effective and allowed Morecambe to get at us so much. I'm sure we missed Roberts too, and Gnanduillet's heading ability would have been useful against a big awkward side like Morecambe are when they play like they want to win.

We still had plenty of quality on the pitch but by the end we had a lot of players on it who haven't had much pitch time this season, and we had a few players out of their best position yesterday, which showed.

What does Cook do on Tuesday? Does he revert back to what was working, i.e. Hird and Cooper together and play someone else at right back, or does he persist with Evatt in the side until he's upto speed. Does he rest a couple of players and unsettle us more, or go with his best 11 and try to get us back on form.

I do think if Roberts, Talbot and Gnanduillet were available yesterday we wouldn't have lost, but one would have thought we'd have enough quality on the pitch to be ok. Before the game I wasn't fully expecting a win - we never do well against Morecambe and they are unbeaten at home, their physical style is always something we struggle to cope with, but at half time yesterday I thought we'd well and truly cracked it. It did seem a little odd why a team in the top half were so poor, esp at home.

I keep thinking yesterday was like a Jekyll and Hyde display, but I'm not sure it was about us being J&H or more about them being so poor in the first 30 mins, and gifting us 3 early goals, before they started to take advantage of us adjusting a side that had done so well this season so far. One thing is for sure after their first goal went in, and the crowd were behind them they were a totally different outfit.

Great for Doyle to get a brace, and MacSheffrey to get a goal, great to finally see Evatt, but we were by far the worst team after the break, Morecambe were the first to most balls, especially from set pieces, we were all over the shop, I think once Drew is back we need to resort to what was working, unless we can sort yesterdays problems out on Tuesday, without him.

I don't think I've ever seen us throw away 3 points quite like we did yesterday, but having witnessed the game I think it was more a case that Morecambe gifted us 3 early goals by being so poor at the start of the game and we thought we were faced with the easiest opposition we'd come up against this season. Morecambe are not a relegation team, they usually do well in league two and are more often closer to the top than the bottom, I think we caught them on a day where the were ill prepared beforehand, and were 3 down before they started playing the way their game. We showed our weaknesses one being that, like in other seasons we struggle against big strong ex non league type sides who know how to get results against sides who prefer to play the ball their own way, and lack the physical presence in their side.

This post has been edited by Blueprint: 06 October 2013 - 10:21 AM

[Nitrous Oxide]

Anybody got any idea when Smith is due back? We've missed his pace at the back. Who'd have thought at the start of the season we'd be moaning about splitting Hird and Cooper up to accomodate Evo? Funny old world.

[Blueprint]

Nitrous Oxide, on 06 October 2013 - 11:03 AM, said:

Anybody got any idea when Smith is due back? We've missed his pace at the back. Who'd have thought at the start of the season we'd be moaning about splitting Hird and Cooper up to accomodate Evo? Funny old world.

Dammit, accidentally caught Full Version at the bottom of the page when about to click send only just fathomed out how to get the mobile version back 2 days ago...


I think we need Drew's presence and never say die attitude more than we need Smith back, we've done well without Smith most games this season. We also need Roberts back to help us break forward, his trickery, and to help us keep possession, plus given his ability he helps take other players out of the game as the opposition look to stop him.

This post has been edited by Blueprint: 06 October 2013 - 11:18 AM

[RPL42YEARS]

Blueprint, on 06 October 2013 - 10:15 AM, said:

Who'd have thought Drew being missing would create all these issues, if he wasn't out then we wouldn't have split Hird and Cooper up, moved Hird to right back where he's far less effective and allowed Morecambe to get at us so much. I'm sure we missed Roberts too, and Gnanduillet's heading ability would have been useful against a big awkward side like Morecambe are when they play like they want to win.

We still had plenty of quality on the pitch but by the end we had a lot of players on it who haven't had much pitch time this season, and we had a few players out of their best position yesterday, which showed.

What does Cook do on Tuesday? Does he revert back to what was working, i.e. Hird and Cooper together and play someone else at right back, or does he persist with Evatt in the side until he's upto speed. Does he rest a couple of players and unsettle us more, or go with his best 11 and try to get us back on form.

I do think if Roberts, Talbot and Gnanduillet were available yesterday we wouldn't have lost, but one would have thought we'd have enough quality on the pitch to be ok. Before the game I wasn't fully expecting a win - we never do well against Morecambe and they are unbeaten at home, their physical style is always something we struggle to cope with, but at half time yesterday I thought we'd well and truly cracked it. It did seem a little odd why a team in the top half were so poor, esp at home.

I keep thinking yesterday was like a Jekyll and Hyde display, but I'm not sure it was about us being J&H or more about them being so poor in the first 30 mins, and gifting us 3 early goals, before they started to take advantage of us adjusting a side that had done so well this season so far. One thing is for sure after their first goal went in, and the crowd were behind them they were a totally different outfit.

Great for Doyle to get a brace, and MacSheffrey to get a goal, great to finally see Evatt, but we were by far the worst team after the break, Morecambe were the first to most balls, especially from set pieces, we were all over the shop, I think once Drew is back we need to resort to what was working, unless we can sort yesterdays problems out on Tuesday, without him.

I don't think I've ever seen us throw away 3 points quite like we did yesterday, but having witnessed the game I think it was more a case that Morecambe gifted us 3 early goals by being so poor at the start of the game and we thought we were faced with the easiest opposition we'd come up against this season. Morecambe are not a relegation team, they usually do well in league two and are more often closer to the top than the bottom, I think we caught them on a day where the were ill prepared beforehand, and were 3 down before they started playing the way their game. We showed our weaknesses one being that, like in other seasons we struggle against big strong ex non league type sides who know how to get results against sides who prefer to play the ball their own way, and lack the physical presence in their side.

Tricky one really because what we do know is that Evatt is a class player that needs match time.

So, I think taking the long term view, Paul Cook has to stand by his man so to speak.

For what its worth I'd go with 3 centre backs and consider 5 across midfield or other permutations that go with a 3 CB formation.

I also feel we need to ditch the one up top approach and get a settled 2 up top.

With Cooper and a fully match fit Evatt and the likes of Porter, Armand and Richards we shouldn't struggle to defend set plays.

What I noticed from the highlights is that nobody was taking responsibility in wide midfield to stop crosses raining into our box.

[Spire-Heights]

Highlights!!!!! We were all under the impression you attended the game with your comment in relation to Hird ?

[Westbars Spireite]

The highlights were clearly a 'second look' to check initial impressions live.

[valemadness]

Nitrous Oxide, on 06 October 2013 - 11:03 AM, said:

Anybody got any idea when Smith is due back? We've missed his pace at the back. Who'd have thought at the start of the season we'd be moaning about splitting Hird and Cooper up to accomodate Evo? Funny old world.

I know Smith has used the New hydrotherapy pool 3 Times this week, to help strengthen his ankle

[Cartman]

Hird was fine at right back in the first half

he looked more lost as part of a back 3, as did Evatt and Cooper

any one advocating a switch to 3-5-2 regularly is a lunatic

[Sabreman]

RPL42YEARS, on 06 October 2013 - 11:20 AM, said:

What I noticed from the highlights is that nobody was taking responsibility in wide midfield to stop crosses raining into our box.

You implied you had been on Saturday with your Hird looked lost comment, you do make yourself look daft plus you leave yourself wide open for criticism. Anybody would think you dol it on purpose to provoke a reaction, do you ?

[Cartman]

Sabreman, on 07 October 2013 - 07:12 PM, said:

You implied you had been on Saturday with your Hird looked lost comment, you do make yourself look daft plus you leave yourself wide open for criticism. Anybody would think you dol it on purpose to provoke a reaction, do you ?

course he does

[Jonno]

As usual, you make some good points, but you undermine your whole argument when you come out with drivel such as 'let's play 3-5-2'.

I speak as someone who was at the game on Saturday. To me, the second half was bizarre, as we looked poor at the back yet at the same time I didn't think anyone individually within the backline had an absolute stinker.

Certainly think we would have looked better with Drew at full back, and that's no slight on Hird as he was doing the job he was asked to do.

He has grown on me alot but I'd stick with Evatt and Cooper for the time being. We have to play our strongest XI. People saying Evatt looked unfit, I don't agree at all. They weren't saying that at half time.

[LuSiVe]

I didn't think he looked particularly unfit, just a bit rusty maybe. Also in the second half no-one seemed to know exactly what they were supposed to be doing - too many centre backs spoil the broth?