A constructive flaw in our gaffer

Is he just will not ditch this 352 will he ?

We Play or have played our best football when not using it , you have to judge this season on an overall and we will survive but have never looked good apart from these freak runs we went on .

I like jolley but my god has he got to ditch this 352 he is obsessed with it but it just will not work , he should know he has spent a full season trying it and the only thing it shows us is it is too inconsistent and too negative, some of the stuff we have seen has been so poor.

He thinks by having 2 strikers on the pitch we are somehow an attacking force , well he should and he probably will look at it and notice in most games we cant even get a shot off..

Scrap it.

5 strikers on the pitch at one time-barmy. Doesn't he realise that if you had 10 strikers you wouldn't score goals if they didn't get any service. Most chances are created by a good midfield-especially an attacking one. We are not creating enough chances for our forwards with this system. Jolly must know it so why why why wont he try something else. He can talk a good talk but talking is not enough. Is he too pig headed to admit his system isn't working.?

MJ is fast running out of options as further injuries and contract negotiations start to influence selections. How long does he continue to select players who will not be here next year? Is he shackled to a bonus triggering 50 points target? etc. etc.
He is trying to pilot a badly listing ship back to safer waters, the scallywag skipper has walked the plank and old sawbones Moore is struggling to patch up the crew.

If he starts with any four out of Hendrie, RHJ, Davis, Ohman and Whitmore in a back four, a central midfield pairing of Hess and Clifton and play Dennis, Vernam, A Rose and Thomas in front of them, that's the best he can do with what's left of our thin and very unbalanced squad. Possibly a 4-2-3-1 or something similar. As Golfer and others have said, this insistence of playing 3-5-2 has killed our season off, maybe going to damage Ring's confidence for good and more importantly maybe damage the squad's confidence in the manager as much as it is doing the fans. Yet again the frailties of GTFC as a club are laid bare well before the end of any season in Division Four over the past twenty years. The flaw may be in the club as much as it is in the manager..

Quoted from Bigdog

If he starts with any four out of Hendrie, RHJ, Davis, Ohman and Whitmore in a back four, a central midfield pairing of Hess and Clifton and play Dennis, Vernam, A Rose and Thomas in front of them, that's the best he can do with what's left of our thin and very unbalanced squad. Possibly a 4-2-3-1 or something similar. As Golfer and others have said, this insistence of playing 3-5-2 has killed our season off, maybe going to damage Ring's confidence for good and more importantly maybe damage the squad's confidence in the manager as much as it is doing the fans. Yet again the frailties of GTFC as a club are laid bare well before the end of any season in Division Four over the past twenty years. The flaw may be in the club as much as it is in the manager..

Ain't that the truth. Deja vu all over again as someone once said.

I think we just don't have enough good players to make any impact on the top end of the league, whatever the system. We have a "just good enough" budget, which should see us clear of danger given a half decent manager, but if we want more, we need investment in better quality. It's the repeated cycle of fans getting bored with the same old same old, drifting away, less income from match days and on it goes. Somehow, we need to break this year on year malaise, but another season comes and goes, and nothing much changes, except the players, and occasionally the manager. I can only see a change of regime, and/or a new ground making things any better.

Ginnywings is spot on IMO
if you have a 'modest' budget then you pretty much assemble a modest squad
We don't get 'top shelf' players - it's almost impossible to compete with the top half in terms of budget and I would say geography

Lincoln, Mansfield, MK all have either generated income (Gimps) or wealthy backers (MK and Stags); and Bury have a fantastic location to attract players

16 games where we haven't scored - whatever system you play that is clearly not going to get you challenging (I'm sounding like MJ)

I have felt all season that the back five is as good as most in this league - they are under pressure in most games to keep a clean sheet cos there's a fair chance we won't score... the pressure just builds week in and week out

Big fan of Hess and Clifton but they are more 'workhorse' type midfielders - busy, energetic, grafters - and what we need is a Danny Meyer... or an Embleton on top form. At any level you need that 'creative spark' or it just becomes a struggle on a consistent basis

Strikers are the biggest worry and unless MJ plucks a gem or two from reserves at other clubs (Amond) or a non league predator (Omar) then we will struggle like hell to make progress

I read the other day Blackburn (Championship) are sniffing around a striker from Nuneaton (bottom of Conf North) - that's what GTFC need to be doing; thinking outside the box and getting a non league striker with potential to the club

Once a goalscorer always a goalscorer IMO - then you need to get the service to him

Not a huge amount wrong IMO but it is really lacking in the key areas - creativity and goal scoring

If you haven't got the quality then the system is irrelevant IMO

Until it's sorted or we get lucky then mid table is perhaps all we can expect?

It looks like regime change is something that in reality isn’t going to happen any time soon despite rumour after rumour.

The catalyst to any change will be a fully confirmed new ground project then people with some cash might get involved.

Unless you where a Town made multi millionaire(s). For purely commercial reasons you’d not throw money at GTFC at the moment as there is no possibility of a ROI. Even with a new home what’s the reality of having a season ticket fan base of over say 7500? Season ticket revenue we’re told is a big driver of the playing budget.

This is definitely a workman like squad, a squad that feels like it’s pulled together using opta stats rather than a good scouting network and relationships in the game.

Credit though to MJ he’s recognised we need a supply chain and Embleton’s time at GTFC Indicates to other bigger clubs that we’ll look after their unutilised talent.

Next season is pivotal for this manager and group, I’m not expecting promotion or play offs but unless we achieve a greater level of consistency we’ll always be toiling in the bottom third and in danger of the trap door.

All that said I’m still really optimistic about MJ & AL and ultimately believe they’ll make us better.

If you are going to play 3-5-2 then you need very fit, strong, quick players with brains who can and will run all day because success depends on all of the 5 and both of the 2 covering a hell of a lot of ground. That is why the Hursts of this world who play the percentages will stick to a 4-4-2. The players find it easier, positions are simpler to stick to and everyone knows where everyone else should be.

This has always been the case. You can tinker with it a bit but basically success depends on a good back 4, a decent central midfield, some pace up front and on the wings. At our level it is the safe way to play and the most likely to get results. I bet the players would be delighted if MJ turned up on Monday morning and said we were changing to 4-4-2 for the rest of the season.

All said and done our meek budget means we'll always be shopping in the bargain basement of available players,  hoping to land an out of favour Dennis is about all we can expect to buy...
This 3-5-2 system requires quality ball players with quick feet and quick brains, something we just do not have the funds for...so, for as much as I like MJ & AL if they cannot see we'll never have the squad to play 3-5-2 successfully and are determined to keep going with it, maybe this club isn't for them ..
In no way do I think they are bad managers, but I do wonder if they need some guidance from an older more experienced manager/coach...
And on a foot note, would love to know exactly what Dave Moore thinks about the situation...could he not point out the error of their ways??!