10 games in, how have they done?

I haven't seen any of the games, so I'd be interested to know how you rate the 28 (yes,28. ) players we've used so far



First choices

Should make he match day squad

Okay as cover

Not good enough

Not ready (age) or not fit enough

Waterfall, Pollock, Hendrie, Clifton and Edwards are first choice picks. Idehen and Ohman have looked alright too. But as 6 out of those 7 are defenders then there’s no wonder we’ve tried umpteen attackers.

Not much to say apart from every single striker bar Windsor are absolutely shite

Quoted from forza ivano

I haven't seen any of the games, so I'd be interested to know how you rate the 28 (yes,28. ) players we've used so far



First choices

Should make he match day squad

Okay as cover

Not good enough

Not ready (age) or not fit enough

First choices
- Macca
- Pollock
- Waterfall
- Hendrie
- Preston
- Windsor

Not sure about any of the others at this stage and I’m beginning to think the Manager is unsure.

Scannell , Bennett , Rose , Mohsni ,......all the new senior players that we havnt really seen play yet. Hanson still looks a few weeks away from fitness/sharpness.  

Waterfall, Hendrie , Clifton same as they have been. Tilley looks on form at the moment and improved over last season but will wait to see how long his form lasts as previously he has been hit and miss.

Preston looks solid enough, had a couple of off games but overall decent enough.

Edwards bright lively unpredictable/ erratic

The rest of the newbies just dont seem to have the quality to make any significant impact from what i have seen.

Sisay, Jackson, Max Wright not had a sniff yet so cant tell. Would hope Wright could bring some much needed energy and forward drive that is badly lacking at the moment.

Various formations used , numerous positional changes, partnership changes none of which have helped us build any kind of pattern of play or understandings.

Certainly room for improvement but the Cheltenham game showed what is capable from this group.

As is ALWAYS the case with us, central midfield is not right. The opposition must have had a better midfield than us in probably 75% of games I’ve seen in the last 25 years.

In that time, who have we had who’s been regularly better than their opposite number? Maybe Groves, Burnett, Bolland, Disley, Nolan. Other than those, we’ve always had weaker players than the opposition. Admittedly I reckon Jamey Osborne was the best we’ve had since Nolan, but he was injury prone and hated Slade.

Of course I’ll have missed some here, but players like Berrett, Summerfield from the past, and now Taylor, Morton, Spokes etc either don’t seem ready or aren’t good enough. It seems the same every season.

I'd mostly agree with that I'd probably add Woodhouse and James Hunt to the tidy list but dew dew there's been some real terrible players play for us in the middle, at least since we dropped to league 2 and conference level anyhow

Woodhouse could ping a ball and had a bit of bite but he had the industrious Bolland next to him.

Disley was the closest we had to Bolland who happens to be the closest we've had to Groves.

Hunt was tidy, kept things simple and reminded me of Coldicott in that he wasn't particularly endearing to the fans but always played when fit.

We desperately need someone like Groves or Bolland. Someone with an engine that can run up and down for 90 minutes, closing down, winning headers in the middle of the park, putting a tackle in and making late runs in to the box.

Quoted from Heisenberg

Taylor, Morton, Spokes etc either don’t seem ready or aren’t good enough. It seems the same every season.

The problem with these 3 is that they haven't really been bad, we're just a lot weaker with them than Rose and Clifton. Rose can play football and Clifton's energy and drive gives us some movement through the middle. Those 3 happily drop deep, get the ball and then pass sideways. One of them along with a different type of player wouldn't be so bad, but 2 of them together gives absolutely nothing in the middle where we need a driving force to get the rest of the players on the move.

Strange to say that we really miss Clifton, but he looked to have finally kicked on in terms of his on the ball game this season.

I’m generalising here but Largely Young players are inconsistent by nature
The majority of League 2 standard players are inconsistent by ability.
Bringing in rough diamonds from lower reaches will take time to adjust.
Young players from above will need time to acclimatise to proper men’s football.
When you throw in these weird times too, Any expectation for us to have anything other than an up and down season seems fanciful to me.

Big season for Clifton the fine line of Grimsby town to Grimsby boro was looming imo but I think he’s kicked on all be it only slightly and as been one of our better players. The words of one of the younger pros still haunt me though when he openly said some of the lads brought in aren’t very good, I think he’s right

IMO the current starting XI with everyone fit is...

                             McKeown
              Hendrie   Waterfall   Pollock
Hewitt                                                    Preston
                       Clifton      Taylor
        Edwards                             Williams
                               Windsor

2nd XI...

                             Battersby
               Ohman    Mohsni     Idehen
Starbuck                                                  Hope
                       Rose        Morton
        Wright                                      Tilley
                               Gibson

Others...

Green, Hanson, Scannell, Spokes, Jackson Jr., Russell, Bennett, Gomis

Think both players and Ollie are still in pre season mode.
Experimenting and getting fit is still evident.

Think the back 5 is coming together and is ok.
Midfield and strikers will know in next few games when we need to pick up some points.

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

Think both players and Ollie are still in pre season mode.
Experimenting and getting fit is still evident.

Think the back 5 is coming together and is ok.
Midfield and strikers will know in next few games when we need to pick up some points.

I think it's quite clear IH spent some/most of lockdown studying Chris Wilder's 3-4-3/3-4-1-2/3-5-2 with overlapping centre-backs system. So as well as experimenting and getting fit we're introducing a whole new footballing philosophy as well.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

I think it's quite clear IH spent some/most of lockdown studying Chris Wilder's 3-4-3/3-4-1-2/3-5-2 with overlapping centre-backs system. So as well as experimenting and getting fit we're introducing a whole new footballing philosophy as well.

Reece Hall-Johnson was doing that a couple of seasons ago

When you look at players Holloway has actually signed permanently, who is actually performing? or even in the starting lineup? All our best players so far have been signed by someone else or are here on loan from somewhere else.

I wouldn't mind but we have signed a fair few on 2 and 3 year deals, I would rather see Jackson Jnr on the bench than Gomis, at least he is ours for the next 2 possibly 3 seasons.

So far  crap

I think we'll always just be looking over our shoulder, but probably good enough to avoid being in actual battle to stay up.

Defensively we're fine. Pollock and Waterfall are really good. The back up's are fine and full backs decent enough.

Williams and Clifton are decent enough. I think the front 3 from Edwards, Tilley, Hanson and Windsor is pretty good. But we are reliant on Hanson getting fit and back to his best.

Of the rest Gomis has looked promising, Rose is decent, hopefully Wright will get fit. But the rest are frankly looking garbage bar Scannel, who was pretty impressive until something went wrong.

The most important change we could make is to bring a new keeper in. All players go through rough patches, and those players are replaced till they come back into form, refreshed after being taken out of the firing line.

We cannot keep playing a keeper who is out of form surely? Last night he should have done better with their goal IMO. Got both hands to it, but just helped it on its way into the net.  

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

The most important change we could make is to bring a new keeper in. All players go through rough patches, and those players are replaced till they come back into form, refreshed after being taken out of the firing line.

We cannot keep playing a keeper who is out of form surely? Last night he should have done better with their goal IMO. Got both hands to it, but just helped it on its way into the net.  

To be fair Macca played well last night

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

Big season for Clifton the fine line of Grimsby town to Grimsby boro was looming imo  

Each to their own, but that's way off IMO. Think he's made 80 appearances for us now, and still only 22 so plenty of time to learn and develop yet - plus he's a Wales u21 international.

Agreed that he's been brilliant so far this season and his ability to slot in as cover for multiple positions is an asset too.

Quoted from sam gy

Each to their own, but that's way off IMO. Think he's made 80 appearances for us now, and still only 22 so plenty of time to learn and develop yet - plus he's a Wales u21 international.

Agreed that he's been brilliant so far this season and his ability to slot in as cover for multiple positions is an asset too.

It is an asset, but I don't like that he's being used that way. Fair enough, last season he wasn't playing well and his flexibility was his biggest asset. But this season he has been our best midfielder and not having him in the middle has been our biggest loss along with Edwards.

Clifton being the best midfielder.........

Now I do like Harry and I kind of see why people will be saying that....

But the fact he probably has been our best is an indictment on the rest i feel as opposed to Harry suddenly having a huge leap in his own levels.

His passing isnt great, his shooting isnt either, he harasses and chases , does a massive amount of work but I think he has to,  as without that he wouldn't be in the side at all if he relied on his other abilities. I dont think he has been brilliant this season by any stretch, just better than others alongside him.

Do we need him in there? Yes. Should we be comfortable with him being rated as the best ? No.

pollock clifton hendrie waterfall been our best / more consistent players so far think that say's it all really , what we need to do is find our best other 6 outfield players to go with them then stick ,intercourse all this 6/7 changes every game if players can't play twice a week get rid !!

Quoted from Heisenberg

As is ALWAYS the case with us, central midfield is not right. The opposition must have had a better midfield than us in probably 75% of games I’ve seen in the last 25 years.

In that time, who have we had who’s been regularly better than their opposite number? Maybe Groves, Burnett, Bolland, Disley, Nolan. Other than those, we’ve always had weaker players than the opposition. Admittedly I reckon Jamey Osborne was the best we’ve had since Nolan, but he was injury prone and hated Slade.

Of course I’ll have missed some here, but players like Berrett, Summerfield from the past, and now Taylor, Morton, Spokes etc either don’t seem ready or aren’t good enough. It seems the same every season.

Don’t forget Alan Pouton  

well CONFUSED

Cheltenham win play well defend well, Orient Win, play well create chances defend well Bolton good point

The rest struggle to get a shot on target play like we are still on pilot

if anything deffo disappointed

I think that when we do find our best 11 it will be that even they are not realy good enough. Too many young and in experianced players to be consistant enough to do anything but tread water

Quoted from denni266

I think that when we do find our best 11 it will be that even they are not realy good enough. Too many young and in experianced players to be consistant enough to do anything but tread water

And in a few months they’ll all be older and more experienced!! This is exactly why higher level clubs loan their players to clubs like us !!

Quoted from lee65

Don’t forget Alan Pouton  

Oh now you’ve got me there! That’s an appalling omission. Loved him, was a belter. Even that OG against Reading put not a single town fan off. I’d kill for him in our current team.

Quoted from denni266

I think that when we do find our best 11 it will be that even they are not realy good enough. Too many young and in experianced players to be consistant enough to do anything but tread water

Take your point but we could field the following team:

Macca, Hendrie, Waterfall, Moshni, Preston, Williams, Rose, Clifton, Scannell, Hanson, Bennett

Nothing inexperienced about that line up and if all fully fit you would hope, and expect, a decent points return from them. Not advocating this line up nor is it likely to happen but maybe we have more experienced players on our books then we realise. At the other end of the spectrum we have Edwards and Windsor who to date have been our best forwards but the “experienced” front three might be a handful if they are capable of delivering their best form in a town shirt.

Quoted from pen penfras

It is an asset, but I don't like that he's being used that way. Fair enough, last season he wasn't playing well and his flexibility was his biggest asset. But this season he has been our best midfielder and not having him in the middle has been our biggest loss along with Edwards.

I thought he had one of his best performances in a Town shirt when he played out wide at Leyton Orient.

Quoted from sam gy

Each to their own, but that's way off IMO. Think he's made 80 appearances for us now, and still only 22 so plenty of time to learn and develop yet - plus he's a Wales u21 international.

Agreed that he's been brilliant so far this season and his ability to slot in as cover for multiple positions is an asset too.

I’m a big Harry fan trust me I’ve seen his amazing work rate from being a small boy to a pro however if you think he’s breezing the pro game you’re wrong.  In fact like others have said the level is that low atm it’s almost not doing him any favours for his game to push on.  Out of them 80 appearances how many times has he took the game by the scruff of the neck ? I’d suggest hardly any if any and yeah I realise he’s played in multiple positions but he’s also had plenty of appearances in his preferred position

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

I’m a big Harry fan trust me I’ve seen his amazing work rate from being a small boy to a pro however if you think he’s breezing the pro game you’re wrong.  In fact like others have said the level is that low atm it’s almost not doing him any favours for his game to push on.  Out of them 80 appearances how many times has he took the game by the scruff of the neck ? I’d suggest hardly any if any and yeah I realise he’s played in multiple positions but he’s also had plenty of appearances in his preferred position

Out of interest, in those 80 games how many times have you seen a league 2 footballer ‘grab a game by the scruff of the neck’? much less a 20-22 year old player finding his feet in the game? Not many, if any I would suggest. It may not be the fairest of measures.
For me he’s undoubtedly suffered for his versatility and Let’s not forget he’s played in some bang average and poor sides with tactics to match.
I think town look a better side when’s he’s played in midfield and I think if you look at distance travelled you can see he’s progressing nicely.

Don't forget he's been selected for Wales u21 by two different managers so there are plenty of professionals seeing something more than work rate in the lad.

For the forwards to improve maybe at least one young striker could take an active role in trying to get the Government to improve child poverty?

I would accept the indirect results of 3 shots on target after coming on as a sub - never mind 3 goals.

I think the recent injuries to Edwards, Clifton and Tilley have hampered what will be the ultimate XI.

A bit more confidence up front and we’re actually not that bad - fringe of play offs if we can keep a fairly consistent side IMHO.

I know he gets a lot of stick (sometimes but not always justified) but I still think Green has More than a minor role to play. I say this more in an “on the bench” to change the shape point of view than a starter necessarily.

Re Clifton. Either he’s got 10x better or we’ve got 10x worse. It’d be absolutely naive to think Clifton had a good season last year. I really hope it’s the fact he’s got better otherwise we’re in huge trouble.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Re Clifton. Either he’s got 10x better or we’ve got 10x worse. It’d be absolutely naive to think Clifton had a good season last year. I really hope it’s the fact he’s got better otherwise we’re in huge trouble.

Clifton has been massively improved. He's been taking the ball on the move and carrying it into his stride which gives momentum and allows others to run and make space for a pass, he wasn't doing that much before. He's also been passing much better and trying more creative balls. By no means does he have great vision or passing yet, but he will continue to improve that part of his game.

I previously thought he was only given the benefit of the doubt because he was local and young. He has now earnt his place in the starting team. And we haven't been awful this season either, just lacking a cutting edge.