Kick Off

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 marinerdazza

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.