We seem to have the same routine every time we kick off, Rose passes back to McKeown who then wellys it upfield usually out for a throw in, we did this 3 times on Tuesday.

A recent home game we nearly came a cropper with it.

Is this the best our coaches can come up with?  Might as well just pass it through to the opposition keeper.

Quoted from arryarryarry

We seem to have the same routine every time we kick off, Rose passes back to McKeown who then wellys it upfield usually out for a throw in, we did this 3 times on Tuesday.

A recent home game we nearly came a cropper with it.

Is this the best our coaches can come up with?  Might as well just pass it through to the opposition keeper.

One of Maccas faults is his kicking so obviously:- "tell you what lads, when we kick off, lets give it to our worst kicker so he can kick it out of play to give the opposition the ball."

It sets the tone as well doesn't it? Backwards from the kick off and welly it out of play lets us know what we are in for. Like you say, it really should be a lot better than this.

Macca’s Kicking was fine at Cambridge. Don’t think he kicked it out of play once.

Never understand why any player passes back to the keeper from the halfway line it never gets the team further up the field,

If Jolley wants us to do that from KO  he might as well take a leaf out of the rugby manual,

Kick it as near to the opponents corner post as possible at least then we have them in their own half,


PS.  I have no coaching badges but have been watching football for 65 years,

I think the theory behind it is that we take a long kick, players press forwards and win the second ball because we should have a numerical advantage in the area that the ball goes. Unfortunately, Macca's distribution is awful and very rarely does it even get close to the 'target'.

Compare that with Lincoln, who played long balls but into areas that Akinde was likely to win the ball. I think Thomas looks competent in the air but he's usually chasing a lost cause because the ball is nowhere near him.

Quoted from grimsby pete

PS.  I have no coaching badges but have been watching football for 65 years,

So you didn’t start watching football until you were 30 then Pete  ;)

Pete,  watching Grimsby does not always qualify as "watching football".  Maybesaying "going to watch a match" is more appropriate?  :o

I have to say, this routine from kick-offs drives me up the wall when I see it at any level of football.

I didn't expect it to carry on into this season to be honest. It's a bit of a Slade-esque thing isn't it.

It’s almost as boring as the long Rose throw for Collins to flick on at the near post ......... which results in us losing possession as well.

Quoted from Tommy

I have to say, this routine from kick-offs drives me up the wall when I see it at any level of football.

I didn't expect it to carry on into this season to be honest. It's a bit of a Slade-esque thing isn't it.

Back to the 'keeper at kick-off, long throw that never quite reaches a flick-on (Rose instead of Clarke), everyone back at a corner...

For a supposed modern thinking manager, Jolley does indeed have some Slade like traits when it comes to tactics.

This isn't a dig at Jolley but it makes you wonder why it is that we're persisting with these approaches when they clearly don't work.  The long ball from the back is especially baffling when you consider we have very little height in side, especially in forward areas.  Those with some height (Hooper) aren't really effective with it. I would presume Jolley watches the games again with his staff, surely they're picking this up?

Our set-pieces are hopeless. HOPELESS. Recent weeks has seen free kicks in the oppositions half played, all the Town players looking startled as if to say 'eh? I didn't expect the ball' , panic sets in and its played back to a defender who plays it back to Macca who just wellies it anywhere.
As a kick off is a dead ball situation I guess it's almost lumped in with set pieces so it's a given these days that we'll concede within 10 seconds. Really poor stuff.

For me and my team if we have first kick off I try to get the striker to play it into the cm, to cb and then a full back. Sounds silly but unless the opponents push and press quickly it's good to get as many people a touch of the ball as possible and get confidence up, if their first touch is a smash out of play or a intercourse up it'll effect their game. Whereas if they get to do a simple 5 yard pass it's more likely to have a more positive attitude from them. 50% of sports is mentality.

We should pass it straight back to Collins and then 8 run up to their area for him to launch it at them. Some German team did it and scored in ten seconds. It was all over the internet. Got to be worth a go once.

Quoted from 140381

We should pass it straight back to Collins and then 8 run up to their area for him to launch it at them. Some German team did it and scored in ten seconds. It was all over the internet. Got to be worth a go once.

The problem there begins when a defender wins the header back upfield and it's suddenly 8 vs 1 at the other end...

Quoted from HertsGTFC

It’s almost as boring as the long Rose throw for Collins to flick on at the near post ......... which results in us losing possession as well.

Rose has never reached any of our players nevermind picking out Collins

Well as all managers have to do the same course nowadays, I assume they are all shown the various statistics for each scenario hence finish up playing the predictable option. Also, are people starting to question our messiah's methods.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Never understand why any player passes back to the keeper from the halfway line it never gets the team further up the field,

If Jolley wants us to do that from KO  he might as well take a leaf out of the rugby manual,

Kick it as near to the opponents corner post as possible at least then we have them in their own half,


PS.  I have no coaching badges but have been watching football for 65 years,

Slade did exactly that. Please don't go back to those days, we're like Brazil of '70 now compared to that dinosaur football!

Quoted from Gaffer58

Well as all managers have to do the same course nowadays, I assume they are all shown the various statistics for each scenario hence finish up playing the predictable option.

Not really, hence so many different managers like their teams to play in many different ways.

Quoted from Gaffer58

Also, are people starting to question our messiah's methods.

I think people have questioned things he's done ever since he came in. That's just football, I wouldn't say it means people's support is wavering. There's so many variables in football that you'd almost always do something slightly different. Buckley is a footballing God to me but I'd still have done some things differently to him and some traits of his teams frustrated me. That's just football I think, maybe highlighted more nowadays with all the social-media and forums like this.

The kick off routine is infuriating, having someone with a decent pass such as collins stand a few feet away and watch our keeper (the least competent player with his feet of our team, obviously) welly it aimlessly forward. Obviously managerial instructions so no reflection on macca.
Combined with the fact that if macca makes a slip at that point it gifts a precious goal to the opposition, you should not be deliberately putting your keeper in that position at kickoff. Its basic stuff and yes a slip is unlikely but not THAT unlikely - it very nearly happened at home a few weeks ago. Its not even as if we get any advantage out of taking that risk, we get a disadvantage, maybe macca can kick it further but bloody hell other players will be more accurate which is more important.

Apart from anything else, if you're going to knock it upfield, much better to have somebody 20 or 30 yards further forward than the keeper kick it. Then it needs to be less of a whack and allows more placement.

Yeah, I know that it will still go straight into touch, whoever kicks it.  ??)