Who goes and who stays?

Correct me if I am wrong, but it appears to me that we are playing a 'zone' system which we are not very good at. When opposition player do get the ball in and around the box we do not have a defender close enough to them to block them. A classic example was that target man on Saturday for Newport, he was never man marked, so he won far more headers than he should have. Our full backs always seem further away from the oppositions wingers when they get the ball than their full back are to ours when they get the ball. In other words I think we give teams too much space to play.

So my view is it is not the players we have it is the system we are playing that is bad.

Quoted from Garth

How about Port Vale away and the last 20 minutes of the Newport game, we have more character in this team than what was evident previously (a small plus for the duo) what we also have in abundance though is sloppyness in defence( a huge negative for the two defenders in charge)

I'm not sure if showing a bit of grit in one and a bit games out of more than 20 this season is really indicative of the indefinable 'character'.

Now, if they had held on to win a point or three at the various away games where we have led but then capitulated this season, you might say there was some character there. The embarrassing performances away at Braintree and Ebbsfleet show a lack of it and I feel sorry for anybody who went to those matches.

I suppose coming back from two down to win a point on Saturday was reasonable but I can't really say this was because of any character in the team because we really didn't play well enough during the game to deserve much.

I can't disagree with your comments about the sloppy defence. I thought we had too many centre-halves on the books at the beginning of the season but they are all looking pretty dodgy, regardless of the combination tried, so that is a big disappointment.

Quoted from Grantham_Mariner

So my view is it is not the players we have it is the system we are playing that is bad.

Nope, the players are definitely playing poorly regardless of the formation tried from one week to the next! However, it is up to the managers to get them playing well and, unfortunately, we seem to be getting worse at present!

Quoted from mariner marc

60 k a year  are they really on as much as that!!!(though to be fair to Ridley does try when Ive seen him play).The only ones in my opinion who merit that sort of wage especially for a bsp team(which is very good money at this level) is probably the likes of Coulson and Hearn

I'm led to believe that the senior players,mostly the ones signed by Woods,are on around the 1200 a week mark,so yes,60k a year.

That's what got most of them here and is,in my view,one of the reasons we are in the mire.Overpayed,underperforming players for this level.

We had a big budget for this league and it was used to attract players it was thought would be good enough to sail through this league.It didn't work and now we need to go back to basics and build a younger,cheaper squad.This will take time and patience,but i fear the fans haven't got the patience.

We should have started this process last season.

Quoted from Maringer

Now, if they had held on to win a point or three at the various away games where we have led but then capitulated this season, you might say there was some character there. The embarrassing performances away at Braintree and Ebbsfleet show a lack of it and I feel sorry for anybody who went to those matches.

The two away games I've been to this year hmmmmph

Someone mentioned that performances will improve the closer the players get to the end of their contracts. I'd expect the managers already have a good idea of who will be moving on in the summer but two or three will be playing for their futures...probably Eagle (who seems to have realised this) and Garner (not that he gets any chances).

One thing that I'm hopeful for is a couple more joining from the youth rank for next season (because it's cheap labour and they are a better option as backup rather than signing players like Silk to warm the bench - Conor Marshall would be just as good at not playing as silk is). Definately Southwell....any others?

p.s. sorry 80s didn't read til this morning re Codalmighty

Quoted from Meza

I would try to release some of these in Jan if possible.

Arthur - would on a decent wage (decent keeper though) but for someone to be not playing is a waste of money.

Silk - not been impressed although some players take longer to settle than others been our injured most of the time and overshadowed by Wood.

Ridley - experienced but come next year he won't be here again on decent money and too many injuries.

Kempson - decent defender on decent money but I feel we can get someone younger on less money.

Duffy - has struggled since he arrived has been in and out the side more times than the hokey cokey again decent wage I bet.

Spencer - I would loan him out to give him game time (gainsborough) before deciding at the end of the season.

We need to scout some players from lower leagues Inc this league, getting players like Hearn and Vardy can't be that hard to find surely.    

I would guess every club believes this too. If it was that easy we wouldn't be were we are.

Disregarding the money side of things,

Keep- Coulson, Wood, Hearn.

Replace- Everybody else.

Quoted from Meza

I would try to release some of these in Jan if possible.

Arthur - would on a decent wage (decent keeper though) but for someone to be not playing is a waste of money.

Silk - not been impressed although some players take longer to settle than others been our injured most of the time and overshadowed by Wood.

Ridley - experienced but come next year he won't be here again on decent money and too many injuries.

Kempson - decent defender on decent money but I feel we can get someone younger on less money.

Duffy - has struggled since he arrived has been in and out the side more times than the hokey cokey again decent wage I bet.

Spencer - I would loan him out to give him game time (gainsborough) before deciding at the end of the season.

We need to scout some players from lower leagues Inc this league, getting players like Hearn and Vardy can't be that hard to find surely.    

Harder than Pearson and Church I would think

Quoted from Maringer

My view is that there is a lack of 'character' in the squad. Nobody has that indefinable 'something' which can lift his teammates when things are going badly and none of the players seem to be able to lift their own performances in the face of adversity.

Unfortunately, this has been the case for a number of years, hence our decline. Connell was able to score goals out of nothing which won us a lot of points last season but the rest of the players weren't able to lift their own games in response to this.

We don't appear to have anybody who is Captain material in the squad. Disley should be one of our better players but he tends to disappear when we are playing poorly rather than lifting his own game. I suppose that Bradley Wood (bizarrely, our longest serving player!) is one of the few who keeps on going and trying when things are going badly but he's surely too young to be the Captain.

Ryan Bennett was made captain by Mike Newell when he was only 18 if I remember correctly, so age shouldn't be a barrier to taking responsibility

Got to agree about Disley....as much as I think he has ability in his midfield role, I don't think I've ever once seen him pushing his team-mates on to bigger performances.

He just seems to play his own game and if someone alongside him isn't performing, he doesn't appear to take any steps to get them playing better, which surely should be a pre-requisite of having the captain's armband

It doesn't seem worth the money to keep Arthur. Was a fair keeper years ago but is unlikely to stay fit enough even to be a back up, his treatment & physio must have cost as much as his wages.

Kempson is the right sort of experienced player we need in a young back 4 but just not good enough

Ridley looks like he's another injury prone expense. Silk could be on the edge of that too.

Artus hasn't done much and like Eagle, either play him or release him. Got a good left peg but too much of a fringe player. There must be more effective ones available. The same applies to Spencer - give him a go or let him go. Do these things now and get some space for replacements.