Back 4
kingpne;n3396895 said:
But we conceded 2 goals from corners, so the centre halves must have some responsibility. Villa we conceded from a corner and gave a pen away from the next one. Something is not quite right at the moment and chopping and changing doesn't help. Storey comes in, we concede 1 goal in 2 games and he's dropped. Seems strange
pnematic;n3396889 said:
You are making out like Huntington has always been a quality passer! He hasn't - in league one and since league one Huntington isn't a good passer of the ball. But he is still a really good defender - last three seasons prove that and he had a decent game last night - wasn't at fault for any goal and put in a lot of blocks and won a lot of headers.
Dirty Harry;n3396955 said:
It's great to be scoring so many. Robinson has been class so far this season and Nmecha's recent contribution has to be acknowledged (last 4 games).
Brentford have scored 23 goals as well (same as us) and are a free scoring team, so last night conceding 3 could be understood, even if the defending for 2 of their goals was a bit suspect.
A really entertaining game and much more enjoyable than a dull 1-0 win.
White123;n3396985 said:
No mate - I ve always thought his distribution was appalling for a professional footballer - like you say he’s a good defender.
Thing is these days you need defenders who are footballers as well as athletes - my old mate Fatty Tomlinson was neither - decent lad though.
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Are being a little unfortunate.
it is taking some real class to score most goals against us
or
it takes a 1 in a 100 bad result from mistakes/impossible situations that are seen in the majority of games in the league every week
using last night as a prime example 1st goal was a gem and the 2nd was a bit of bad luck even the 3rd on most days does not end up in the net.
it is taking some real class to score most goals against us
or
it takes a 1 in a 100 bad result from mistakes/impossible situations that are seen in the majority of games in the league every week
using last night as a prime example 1st goal was a gem and the 2nd was a bit of bad luck even the 3rd on most days does not end up in the net.
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Aitch;n3396974 said:
Just because we conceded from corners it doesn't mean it's the centre back's fault? Both centre backs were doing their respective jobs for each of the goals. Fisher should've done better in all three for me.
Fisher was beaten too easily for the 1st, him and Maxwell between them needlessly gave away the corner for the 2nd, and I think he lost the player for the 3rd goal. He had a shocker yesterday bar the assist for our 2nd.
I think the goalkeeper position needs highlighting as well. Rudd got a lot of stick when he was in goals, sometimes rightly so like the Bolton game.
But people were saying Maxwell would restore confidence in the defence, we'd concede less goals, and we'd start having clean sheets again. This isn't happening unfortunately.
I think both Rudd and Maxwell are okay keepers at this level, but far from outstanding. You could probably say that about all our defenders as well right now. Cunningham has been a big miss in my opinion, and the experienced centre halves in Clarke and Huntington just don't seem the same players. Fisher is playing like the Rotherham fans said he would, Hughes, Earl, Davies and Storey are still finding their feet at this level.
I think the goalkeeper position needs highlighting as well. Rudd got a lot of stick when he was in goals, sometimes rightly so like the Bolton game.
But people were saying Maxwell would restore confidence in the defence, we'd concede less goals, and we'd start having clean sheets again. This isn't happening unfortunately.
I think both Rudd and Maxwell are okay keepers at this level, but far from outstanding. You could probably say that about all our defenders as well right now. Cunningham has been a big miss in my opinion, and the experienced centre halves in Clarke and Huntington just don't seem the same players. Fisher is playing like the Rotherham fans said he would, Hughes, Earl, Davies and Storey are still finding their feet at this level.
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In each of Huntington’s last 5 league appearances, we’ve conceded 3 goals in each game. His experience certainly hasn’t been bringing any certainty or solidity to the back line when he’s played. It wouldn’t surprise me if a CB to bridge the age gap between Davies / Storey and Clarke / Huntington is recruited in January.
I also agree with Norky that both the keepers are okay but if we were to challenge we’d probably need someone better than Maxwell or Rudd. Reminds of the situation in our promotion season with Stuckmann. He wasn’t too bad when he ousted Jones from the team but we had to bring in better in Johnstone.
Would imagine, with Nmecha only on loan and Moult not really starting material, AN still wants a target man and options are being scouted / looked at, but without doubt the defensive unit will probably be the area under most scrunity now ahead of January, especially as a RB to compete with Fisher simply has to be on the list.
I also agree with Norky that both the keepers are okay but if we were to challenge we’d probably need someone better than Maxwell or Rudd. Reminds of the situation in our promotion season with Stuckmann. He wasn’t too bad when he ousted Jones from the team but we had to bring in better in Johnstone.
Would imagine, with Nmecha only on loan and Moult not really starting material, AN still wants a target man and options are being scouted / looked at, but without doubt the defensive unit will probably be the area under most scrunity now ahead of January, especially as a RB to compete with Fisher simply has to be on the list.
kbd_pne;n3397089 said:
Maxwell is more than capable IMO, couldn't do anything for all 3 goals.
Pulled off some very good saves in the Hull and Brentford games.
Could the CB your talking about be Murray Wallace?
RB, CB, ST and RW in January for me.
norky84;n3397087 said:
The difference is Maxwell is making saves and not making mistakes like Rudd was doing.
Early on in the game Sawyers played a ball over the top that took 3 of our defenders out of the game and Maxwell was off his line to mop it up before it landed at the feet of Maupay, I turned to my old man and said that if Rudd was in goal Maupay would have had a 1 on 1 and probably scored.
Maxwell with his style of keeping prevents more just from being off his line.
Maxwell played well at Hull and pulled off some good saves against Brentford, especially at the beginning of the second half.
Tino;n3397125 said:
I'd be inclined to say striker is slightly less important for the time being but unless we are signing someone proven at this level we need to get one in this January purely to give them chance to adjust
norky84;n3397087 said:
If you look at the video Maxwell is livid with Fisher for giving away that corner though given that Fisher could not be certain if an opposition player was closing in on him a safety first policy i.e. putting it out for a corner probably made sense. Maxwell is a big improvement on Rudd and I don't think he can be blamed for the goals we are conceding. It seems evident that while confidence is returning to the side it is doing so more slowly at the back than at the front and we are still a bit fragile there in that respect. It also has to be said that a particular back four - Fisher, Huntington, Davies, Hughes - seems particularly vulnerable. I think the blunt truth is that of those four only Davies has the quality that you need in a team that has ambitions to get into the paly-off positions at least. None of the other three can be faulted for effort and Huntington in particular has been a mainstay in our first three seasons back at this level but otherwise the odd neat cross from Fisher aside - as on Wednesday and to be fair Saturday - there is not much there that is out of the ordinary in terms of skill. We have three other players Clarke, Storey and Earl for the defence and of those three I would say that Clarke brings some leadership in other words the ability to inspire other players to raise their game and that Storey and Earl though young have an edge of quality. I certainly cannot see that there is a great case for preferring the four who started on Wednesday. At some point the centre and left of our defence is going to be Storey, Davies and Earl - whether Fisher will be the right back remains to be seen.
Tino;n3397125 said:
A right-back is the absolute priority. An experienced central defender would obviously be useful but if such a player did come in then surely one or other of Clarke and Huntington would become
surplus to requirements. As far as I am concerned Maxwell is doing fine - he has made some crucial saves and the one from the penalty at Aston Villa was possibly the most important save any keeper has made for us in years. Where on earth we would be now otherwise hardly bears thinking about. Frankly Maxwell is vying with Robinson as player of the season so far. So as with the central defence a new keeper would make Rudd superfluous. As for a striker with Nmecha now hitting form, Moult finding the net and Maguire back it may be something we can leave to the summer. Where we lack strength in depth - especially since the injury to Harrop - is in midfield where realistically we only have the veteran Gallagher and the novice Ledson as back-up to the Pearson-Johnson-Browne trio. Frankly a decent loan to the end of the season to give us extra resource there might be of more use than a striker who might spend most of their time on the bench. A loan out for Burke, who does have some skill but maybe needs to get used to the robustness of league football, might also be useful
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norky84;n3397087 said:
You're being harsh on Maxwell there. Clean sheet against Wigan, 1 goal conceded against Hull, 3 goals gonceded against a free scoring Brentford team (non of which he could have saved). He has also made more vital saves over the last 3-4 games than you can count on two hands (even Dingle hands 😀). Yes, Maxwell's restoration to the side has definitely helped.
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Is Mathew Hudson being written off in the goalie department, he will be back in contention next summer?
Tugg Speedman;n3397158 said:
3 goals against Sheffield United, West Brom, Villa and Brentford in his 6 games. No matter whether it's Rudd or Maxwell in goals, were conceding at an alarming rate. Maxwell currently has a higher goals conceded per game ratio then Rudd.
He has made some good saves, but I don't think he's a top quality keeper at this level overall. Neither is Rudd. I also don't think Neil has total confidence in either given the number of times we've changed who starts.