[fishini]

Blueprint, on Jan 12 2008, 08:51 PM, said:

Rico was a good midfielder too....til his legs gave up on him.

And your point is? By the wayhe was never in the same class as Ebdon

[Blueprint]

Did Ebdon captain Blackburn Rovers? or play for Aberdeen?

[fishini]

Blueprint, on Jan 12 2008, 09:22 PM, said:

Did Ebdon captain Blackburn Rovers? or play for Aberdeen?

Your point is exactly what? Thought we were talking about town players not Blackburn or Aberdeen players. Make it simple for you we are only talking about the playing careers at town ok?

[ELTON 2020]

ChrisSnell, on Jan 12 2008, 08:06 PM, said:

Eloquent, rational and well constructed post, my friend.

I haven't been today, but all your points are relevent to our season as a whole.

I've argued long and hard regarding our deficiencies in midfield and it concerns me that, to this point at least, Richardson prefers to recruit youngsters in other positions rather than the experienced ball-player we desperately need.

LR has repeatedly stated that he knows exactly what's needed to get us out of not just this division, but the next one aswell. I wonder if the sarcastic response from increasing numbers of Town fans might be "Yeah, your resignation!".

Isn't Leven a ball player?

[Town_Fan]

I thought it was Lowry who hit the post today? Ward did well to keep his shots in the ground.

[marlons curtains]

ChrisSnell, on Jan 12 2008, 10:24 PM, said:

Marcus Ebdon...Paul Holland...Mark Allott - top midfielders, but bow to your master:

Sir Philip Robinson.

For once Im inclined to agree with you there.

[marlons curtains]

MP-Spire, on Jan 12 2008, 10:32 PM, said:

Throw into the equation, Kev Arnott and a certain Mark Dempsey, whose name popped up in a conversation last night!

And for me as well, in his one season he had here, John Matthews.

[lindave]

If the last 2 results are anything to go by no we are not good enough, but we are not far short if we can get the Management and players to sort themselves out in a positive way.

[Doughnut]

Blueprint, on Jan 12 2008, 08:17 PM, said:

I wouldn't go as far as saying Larkin is a better striker than Ward, ward has an eye for the post at the moment, twice in two games, he isn't playing as well as we need him too but he's not that bad, the problem is we haven't a reserve striker who can compete with Ward for a place in the team, some would say we have Jackson and Smith but they aren't the same class as ward so that rules them out.

We do have Rooney though who has scored more goals than Ward.

[Wooden Spoon]

Doughnut, on Jan 13 2008, 03:24 PM, said:

We do have Rooney though who has scored more goals than Ward.

Rooney should be played as an out and out forward, not a wide player.

square pegs and round holes......

[Wooden Spoon]

fishini, on Jan 12 2008, 08:40 PM, said:

Leven as good as Allot IMO no I don't think so, I was a fan of Allot, he was consistant whereas Leven is a bit hit and miss, but I admit not a lot between them, but Leven will only be here this season then he'll move on, we already know this. winter is not in the same class as Allot and is looking to me like a poor Rico signing
Until the end of the season that is, after all it looks like we the only club to give him a chance. He will use us a stepping stone to greater things

It does not help when LR lets him play in the centre, get some form, and then push him out wide.

The fact we are still having this debate half way through the season really suggests that CFC are probably NOT good enough to finish in the top 3.

[mr. smith]

death, on Jan 13 2008, 03:51 PM, said:

It does not help when LR lets him play in the centre, get some form, and then push him out wide.

The fact we are still having this debate half way through the season really suggests that CFC are probably NOT good enough to finish in the top 3.

i would guess apart from mk (& after yesterday who knows there) similar debates are being had by every clubs m/board over tactics/formations/players etc. thats football, we're never happy.

[sophocles]

frearsghost, on Jan 12 2008, 07:52 PM, said:

.......and after today performance it's a valid debate. My view is that I don't think we are good enough.

it's hard to put a finger on went wrong today because in the second half, playing 4-3-3- we should have been good enough but we were well off the pace.

Richardson was criticised for playing Leven out of position and therefore asking players to do things they were not best at; but above all ONE HAS TO BLAME THE PLAYERS TODAY. They were not good enough to deal with Brentford when they upped the pace and there was an air of desperation about us.

The midfield is woeful really. We still lack - and have for the last three of four season under Richardson and MacFarland - a quality midfielder. Their winning goal came after they had hit the bar. An overhead bicycle kick by Fletcher cleared the danger but there was no one to put their foot on the ball to calmly clear the danger; it came staright back and their player had a free shot from the edge of the box. Their other goal came from a similar position.

We do need an experienced ball player in the middle of the park. Worringly I'm not sure Richardson thinks so. He seems to be reinforcing the side with cover players instead of players that would improve us. We played too many balls down the channels - yes we are still doing it ala Accrington - and don't seem to learn.
There were also too many long ball straight at Ward in the first half - all wasted of course - unless you appreciate Wards impersonations of a diving swan.

For the first time this season there was a lot of disgruntled criticism about Jamie Ward along the lines of:

He's years behind Lester in quality.
He's not a striker.
He panics.
Larkin was a better striker
He's not the player we thought he was.
Ward's been found out.
He's not really very good.

He got some stick today too. Only Jack Lester looked quality and one has to say we ARE a one man team. Without him today we would have lost 3-0 at least and been totally outplayed.

So Rico the general view after that debacle is that we need a quality midfielder this month and if you don't concentrate on that part of the team then we won't go up and you don't really understand what's required. We are crying out for some experienced quality. The present midfield personel don't really cut the mustard and we are dropping too many points.

QUESTION:What does dropping points mean?

ANSWER:Another season in this grotty division.

Let's not forget the bottom line; promotion is expected. Anything else is failure. The signs don't look good for the long term.

The simple answer is that the league table shows we are good enough for the top 7 but not the top 3. Like many, I suspect, I wouldn't fancy backing us in a play-off situation, so promotion is looking decidely problematical with our current squad as it is.
Everybody has been able to see that we are often overrun in midfield, and that we need a ball - holding player there in the Allott mould; not trying to be clever, but in the pro and anti - Allott arguments last season I remember saying we would miss him badly. To be fair to Rico I believe he saw Leven and/or Winter as the answer, but so far they are not, and we haven't got that much time for them to get it right. Leven is good, but doesn't dominate a game, Winter is fine when he has plenty of time, but is easily hustled out of it, and neither of them has the pace or aggression to overpower opposing midfielders.
I find the comments you quote about Ward very harsh; anybody in this league is going to look below par next to Lester, and Ward, I believe, WILL make the grade. He is a very talented player, and all he lacks just now is the composure that will come with experience; once that starts to rub off on him (hopefully from Jack) I believe he will become a prolific striker. Again, the problem is that he might not develop quickly enough to help get us promoted this season.
I think we are all going to suffer some tense situations between now and the end of the season, with a lot of fingernail biting going on. Whether it will end in promotion or not is something I wouldn't dare try to forecast right now.

[Doughnut]

death, on Jan 13 2008, 03:45 PM, said:

Rooney should be played as an out and out forward, not a wide player.

square pegs and round holes......

I agree with you. His record when he starts up front is pretty good.

[BlueRover52]

marlons curtains, on Jan 12 2008, 10:28 PM, said:

For once Im inclined to agree with you there.

For me Robbo spent too much time facing his own goal. Spent more time clearing danger than creating.

[marlons curtains]

BlueRover52, on Jan 13 2008, 05:22 PM, said:

For me Robbo spent too much time facing his own goal. Spent more time clearing danger than creating.

and despite that, scored 17 in 61.

[Humpalumpa]

No we are not good enough, end of story.... so get used to a few seasons in this s***e division.
Oh i went again yesterday and will be there on Wednesday.