Since we have not kept many clean sheets this season and we always seem to look like conceeding (we seem to conceed soft goals alot) do you think we need new defensive cover?
Daily and Doc are both very good centre backs in their own right, but are the pair of them just too slow together? I think they possibly are. They do well when the ball is lumped forward, but if the balls along the floor and in the channels, they seem to have some problems. Fortune is no slouch, perhaps he should be given a longer run in the team alongside one of the more experienced defenders. Or, as many people are suggesting, is a new younger, quicker centre back is required? The thing with young defenders is they tend to make lots of mistakes, especially in posistional play. Can we risk playing someone young when we are pushing for promotion?
I think fry has done well at left back and we should aim to keep him for the rest of the season.
Francis I feel is a different matter. Sometimes he looks ok, and generally he puts in some good crosses and provides alot going forward. But his defending worries me, I always think he is going to make a cock up and he seems to lack any awareness of what is going on. He often drifts inside way to much, leaving bundles of space down the left flank. If we are to replace him, who would be better? I dont really have any ideas to be honest, so perhaps we should stick with him?
Opinions please
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We are slow at the back but quite a few of the teams have slow lumps up front anyway. I also think that Elliot will improve more under Powell
New left back & possibly move Fry over to centre back to partner Dailly. Advantage with this is that it should take him little time to adapt as he knows his team mates and has played the position at the Whammies.
Dailly is the only defender at the moment who semms to have any urgency when in possession and when trying to move the ball forward. Quite a few times on Saturday there was a burst of pace from him with the ball at his feet and then a simple pass.
He is 6ft or do you mean in physical terms?
Physical...
He just dosnt come across as an imposing centre back (i guess its both due to his age (in terms of muscle etc) and lack of experience)
Besides, like i mentioned before....I think putting a young cb into the team could cause errors amd problems which we can do without....
young defenders often get played at rb/lb before progression to cb to give them more experience and at the moment I think fry should stay where he is
Very harsh to say Francis had a bad game on Saturday. He wasn't beaten by their left sided player(s) once. His crossing/final ball was poor but the amount of ground he covered was excellent. He gets up and down the right far more than Fry does on the left hand side. However, Fry escapes criticism because he doesn't get in as many attacking positions so doesn't put in many crosses at all (not that left back is his natural position). It seems to me it's getting to a point where Francis is being picked out despite trying to get forward, as his crossing isn't that good.
Not sure what the answer is at centre back. Does anyone know what kind of centre back Doc played alongside for Norwich last season?
A good one?? :P
All depends on how close to fitness Chris Solly is. he's back in training but could still be a while or he could play for the stiffs this week.
But is he the answer? I think he better than francis, but I still dont know if he is good enough to help us gain promotion
If one of the best full backs this club has ever seen can't bring him along then i'm not sure anyone can.
Thats another point, by the time he is back up and running the transfer deadline would have shut and then it would be too late to bring anyone else in...
If francis gets injured and solly dosnt make a good recovary (i.e gets a setback) then we could be in trouble
Was rubbish v Orient - only touched the ball once.
I think Solly is a great prospect and he'll be playing Championship football sooner rather than later.
Would be better if we had at least one with a cross on them though.
Borrowdale rarely crossed the halfway line. The lack of attacking full-backs is highlighted when we play two non-wingers in front of them. Even Reid gets doubled up and loses effectiveness when Fry isn't ready to go past him.
Borrowdale also good at set pieces.
Francis doesnt cut it with me. His crossing I find particularly poor. Id like to see us push up the table a bit more and then give one of the younger guys some playing time - Jenkinson?
Definitely agree on a new CB, Doherty always looked amazing against us, always looked like scoring from headers... see nothing like that anymore!
Would keep Dailly as obviously hes a leader and wont back down from challenges.
Very happy to keep Fry, but am worried about next season as i cant imagine him staying any longer!
I believe the lack of pace becomes an issue when we aimlessly send the ball forward long without setting up, to then be turned and exposed. By playing a simple passing game (which we seem to be working towards)and being positionally correct when we look to play the long ball we will see a marked improvement.
I can see the logic in bringing Mambo back, regardless of whether he will break the first team in the coming weeks - being tutored by Doc and Dailly at his age will give him a great footing. I believe his development would be advanced by then allowing him to play alongside one of them on a more regular basis.
I also consider Solly, Francis, Fry (to some extent) and Youga extremely lucky and will show signs of improvement over the remainder of the season, if there is any manager in the Football League who can improve a full back's game its SCP.
IMHO the only investment we should look to make is a shrewd one should a BWP type bargain in a defensive role surface.