Retained list confirmed

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

It's not the defenders that were the issue, it was the way they were set up.
Set pieces were our achilles heel all season, so you have to look further than the players, imo anyway

That in itself could be construed as a ‘lazy take’ though couldn’t it?? Too many factors just to assume it’s the ‘instructor’ to blame.. or the defenders alone.. whatever.. it’s probably a combination of lack of concentration, following instruction, taking in instruction, understanding between colleagues, uncertainty in certain situations what the keeper is going to do .. ie come out and challenge/assert, and also not being good enough in certain situations individually.

It’s a known issue, they’re aware, addressed it.. initially I think the retained list yesterday said quite a bit imho, but also there’ll be more too’s and fro’s before we start up again, there’ll be more input into how we set up/defend preseason than what there was last time. Etc etc. End of the day they want to improve..I’m sure they will in that respect.

Quoted from marinerjase

That in itself could be construed as a ‘lazy take’ though couldn’t it?? Too many factors just to assume it’s the ‘instructor’ to blame.. or the defenders alone.. whatever.. it’s probably a combination of lack of concentration, following instruction, taking in instruction, understanding between colleagues, uncertainty in certain situations what the keeper is going to do .. ie come out and challenge/assert, and also not being good enough in certain situations individually.

It’s a known issue, they’re aware, addressed it.. initially I think the retained list yesterday said quite a bit imho, but also there’ll be more too’s and fro’s before we start up again, there’ll be more input into how we set up/defend preseason than what there was last time. Etc etc. End of the day they want to improve..I’m sure they will in that respect.

Well put and shows how many variables are involved. You  need a leader or commanding figure at set- pieces and that starts with an assettive and vocal ' keeper, one who is strong in their air.

We lost set pieces when "Hunt to Waterfall - goal" stopped working !!

Missing the "get to the 1st ball" urgency factor with lousy deliveries 8 out of 10.

Surely there must be some form of target routine for a corner or set piece taker to practice getting the kicks into an area away from a keeper's grasp or over the 1st defender at least ??

Quoted from acko338

Surely there must be some form of target routine for a corner or set piece taker to practice getting the kicks into an area away from a keeper's grasp or over the 1st defender at least ??

Youd like to think so, but if none of the players are capable of consistently hitting the sweet spot then they have to utilise the best of the worst to take the set pieces

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

It's not the defenders that were the issue, it was the way they were set up.
Set pieces were our achilles heel all season, so you have to look further than the players, imo anyway

Agree. Not sure how much value we get out of a couple of the back room staff if I’m honest.

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

It's not the defenders that were the issue, it was the way they were set up.
Set pieces were our achilles heel all season, so you have to look further than the players, imo anyway

Plus if you're getting overrun  in midfield, it leaves the backline woefully exposed.

The best teams defend as a team, from the front.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Agree. Not sure how much value we get out of a couple of the back room staff if I’m honest.

Who do you think we are "carrying"?

Am genuinely interested - I have my own thoughts, felt there is one being carried and another who is very lucky - I change my mind regularly - fickle football fans you see!!

Quoted from Watch and Shoot

Who do you think we are "carrying"?

Am genuinely interested - I have my own thoughts, felt there is one being carried and another who is very lucky - I change my mind regularly - fickle football fans you see!!

Just to put my two pence in, I think Croudson has made every goalkeeper that has come in worse, maybe he slightly improved Crocombe? Although he’s a great guy, I think we could do better than Davies, and Pearson is maybe the only one I would keep, but I still feel we could improve upon Pearson, and I feel Artell may have similar thoughts, as I’m sure if he was given the opportunity to choose his own back room staff, the setup would look very different. I’m willing to wait another season, however I would maybe look at the value Greg (the S&C coach) brings, as we’ve had a hell of a lot of injuries over the last few years, I know sometimes that’s just football, and I feel the pitch contributed to it this last season, but maybe it’s something to monitor. Just my opinion, happy to hear differing ones

Quoted from Watch and Shoot

Who do you think we are "carrying"?

Am genuinely interested - I have my own thoughts, felt there is one being carried and another who is very lucky - I change my mind regularly - fickle football fans you see!!

As much as He's a great guy and very generous on a night out.... Have to Question what on earth Steve Croudson has done whilst being here.

He had a big input on Both Cartwright and Jordan Wright, both of whom were pretty poor, Especially considering we paid a fee for Wright...

He is supposedly our set piece coach also, We are hopeless at both attacking and defending set pieces.

Quoted from TheultimateMariner

Just to put my two pence in, I think Croudson has made every goalkeeper that has come in worse, maybe he slightly improved Crocombe? Although he’s a great guy, I think we could do better than Davies, and Pearson is maybe the only one I would keep, but I still feel we could improve upon Pearson, and I feel Artell may have similar thoughts, as I’m sure if he was given the opportunity to choose his own back room staff, the setup would look very different. I’m willing to wait another season, however I would maybe look at the value Greg (the S&C coach) brings, as we’ve had a hell of a lot of injuries over the last few years, I know sometimes that’s just football, and I feel the pitch contributed to it this last season, but maybe it’s something to monitor. Just my opinion, happy to hear differing ones

I assume you're involved within the first team squad to be passing judgement on coaches and what they do? Croudson yes, responsible for defending set pieces and the goalkeepers but how do you know what Artell assigns Davies/Pearson to do? We're also very lucky to have Greg, one of the best around at what he does, and he's turned down many approaches from other clubs because he loves the area. Injuries we've had aren't exactly players that haven't been injured before, i'd look more to recruitment rather than something in-house. Vernam, Davies, Obikwu, Luker, Thompson all arrived here with known injury problems.