some will say its only pre season

Not scoring goals....have looked all over the place at the back....a recipe for disaster.

Toto's strength and pace has not been adequately replaced and neither have Podge's goals

Defence are playing deeper...so are the midfield...isolating the loan striker....
With the likes of Tombola,Brown and Jackson i think we have players who can make the system work but i doubt hurst will start two of
them and Bogle and play
offensively .... he has already been accommodating Berrett
in a wide position....

Stick sunmerfield up top, seems to like scoring😂

I'm definitely a little worried about how pedestrian and weak we are in the middle of the park, but that is something I expect Hurst to sort swiftly as his teams have always been at the very least competitive. The midfield have left the back 4 seriously exposed. The team haven't settled into the system yet, but we have signed he players to play that way and it can be a really exciting way to play.
It is preseason and I expect more effort and more fire in the tackles as we come to the real stuff. We still need a few players before the big kick off, another central striker would be a priority for me.
This season is different as all the teams will be stuck with the players they sign until January with no additions, this means good coaching and getting the best out of players is key.

Quoted from moosey_club

Not scoring goals....have looked all over the place at the back....a recipe for disaster.

Toto's strength and pace has not been adequately replaced and neither have Podge's goals

Defence are playing deeper...so are the midfield...isolating the loan striker....
With the likes of Tombola,Brown and Jackson i think we have players who can make the system work but i doubt hurst will start two of
them and Bogle and play
offensively .... he has already been accommodating Berrett
in a wide position....

I think you are right about Podge and Toto, and I've had the same thoughts generally. The presence of the old 'square pegs' tactics is disappointing.I don't think the overall situation looks overly encouraging on that basis. I would add that Chambers looks to have been signed about 3 seasons too late. He's not as good as Arnold and has an awful lot to prove. Don't think he's really done much to make us think he can be a force even in games against lower placed opposition. And, even though we've got about 6 centre midfielders, have we actually got the player we were all calling out for - a driving force; someone who can dictate play and is mobile enough to get from box to box and score goals? I'd say the two players signed from York have also got a lot to prove this season.

Hard to know how good the overall standard will be in L2 and I'm hopeful we can stay out of trouble, but for me we are still perhaps 4 quality players short of a more convincing team.

I have not been to any pre season games but will be going next Saturday versus Oldham. So to summerise what I am reading is that despite the results PH is using these games to identify his best formation, who's match fit, which players work well together and how he might start versus Morecombe .which is exactly what he should be doing. Sometimes it has worked sometimes it has not.

I think as ever we will possibly have a slow start like we did in 14/15 when he signed Brown, McKreth, Toto, Magnay, Clay etc... and we did not win until the 4th game. I would not want to wait for the 4th game for 3 points but recognise we need to manage the expectation a bit at least during August.

Clearly we still need a couple of additions and that no doubt will come but July 23rd is not the time to get too worried, I am sure there wll be some high spots and some lows in the next 8 months but I am 110% convinced we will be o.k. come the end of the season. "o.k." for me is finishing anywhere between 15th and 10th and getting to the 3rd round of the FA cup, sounds like a lack of ambition I know but over the last few years I would have gladly taken that every time.    
    

Pre-season 15/16: P10 W10



First 10 games of 15/16 season: P10 W4 D4 L2

I don't think the results are what people are reflecting on mate. I think they are looking at shape, players, recurring themes etc.

I know that. I'm just saying that people shouldn't look at pre-season as to how the season will pan out. Heck, there's 7 new guaranteed new starters when the season starts. Was that situation avoidable by Hurst? Yes. But it was painfully obvious that the new needed an overhaul. Last season, as a team, we were painfully slow and relied a lot on a single tactic.

I'd also argue that had Gowling, Pearson and Mckeown not been so terrible yesterday, the game would've been a lot tighter and people would have looked at it differently. I'm yet to see Dan Jones play, so I'd like to see what adding some pace to centre half brings.

Yep fair enough mate.

I do actually think that the 4-5-1 variation can be a useful tactic for us in certain away games next season, but think we are in need of an improvement at centre back and centre mid in order to make it pay for us. Have we looked difficult to break down in any of the pre season games?

I personally believe Hurst wants to go for the 4-3-3 formation that worked so well towards the end of the season. I know he has tried different formations etc throughout the pre-season but it is a good time to test and try.

I would expect 4-3-3 with a holding player, a hard worker and a ball player as the 3 in the middle. Bogle, Jackson and Bolawinra as the front 3. I believe this would allow us to play with width, pace and excitement.

Hopefully we will put in a good performance on Wednesday against Gainsborough before topping it off with a convincing display against Oldham before the curtain raiser.