Post by Dave on Sept 6, 2008 5:59:19 GMT
Once again so very excellent posts this week, one poster has been knocking on the door every week and made a very inspired post this week, that was a clear winner.
Week four winner Is crispygull
Well done
Dave
Well you can include me in that group!
Unfortunately, its pretty clear that as things stand though - some of those signings are likely to be a waste of money.
Im not for one moment saying that the players concerned arent decent players, but the fact is that they were brought in to try and make us play more football, and change from the direct style that brought us some success last year.
I reckon it was around January time that Buckle first started to try and change things around, perhaps with some pressure applied from his employers? If you look back at his signings then, Steve Adams, Roscoe Dsane and even Jody Banim - they are all footballers who can play a bit, and in the summer he tried to bring even more in, but what does the future hold for them now?
Given that Hargreaves (who he planned to use at Centre Half) and Mansell (Right Back) now seem to have been restored as his preferred central pairing partnership what now for Adams, Wroe, Brough and Thompson ? If these guys arent going to figure in the first XI, let alone the first XVI in some cases - then they must all be regarded as VERY expensive mistakes. In Thompson and Brough you have two BSP captains from last season, and Wroe cost us a fee (£15k) whilst Adams will not have come cheap, with his pedigree of playing at League One, and above, level.
Another "problem" is trying to get the best out of Matt Green. He came with a very decent reputation having had by all accounts an excellent and very productive (10 goals) loan spell at Oxford at the end of last season, and yet 6 games into the season and he has barely kicked a ball for us this season. His chances of cementing a first team start would probably have also been greater if our "passing game" hadnt been consigned to the bin, as surely now Tim Sills is back to being a "shoe in" in the side given that we are playing a direct style again. This leaves Green, Dsane and Benyon all fighting for that one position alongside Sillsy, given Bucks' prefernce for a 4-4-2 line up.
Personally, I would like us to try 4-3-3 which would allow Green AND Dsane to play alongside Sills, with one of our more creative midfielders (take your pick from Wroe, Adams, Thompson or Brough) to play in the hole, with Hargreaves and Mansell doing what they do best in front of our back four. Of course, this would mean abandoning the use of wingers, but in all honesty Messrs Carayol, Carlisle and Stevens have all been too inconsistent for my liking this season and have failed to deliver enough decent quality crosses into the box, to "feed the Sills".
I doubt it will happen, but 4-3-3 seemed to serve our neighbours up the road quite well last season, albeit theirs was more of a 4-1-2-3 in all honesty.
Week four winner Is crispygull
Well done
Dave
Well you can include me in that group!
Unfortunately, its pretty clear that as things stand though - some of those signings are likely to be a waste of money.
Im not for one moment saying that the players concerned arent decent players, but the fact is that they were brought in to try and make us play more football, and change from the direct style that brought us some success last year.
I reckon it was around January time that Buckle first started to try and change things around, perhaps with some pressure applied from his employers? If you look back at his signings then, Steve Adams, Roscoe Dsane and even Jody Banim - they are all footballers who can play a bit, and in the summer he tried to bring even more in, but what does the future hold for them now?
Given that Hargreaves (who he planned to use at Centre Half) and Mansell (Right Back) now seem to have been restored as his preferred central pairing partnership what now for Adams, Wroe, Brough and Thompson ? If these guys arent going to figure in the first XI, let alone the first XVI in some cases - then they must all be regarded as VERY expensive mistakes. In Thompson and Brough you have two BSP captains from last season, and Wroe cost us a fee (£15k) whilst Adams will not have come cheap, with his pedigree of playing at League One, and above, level.
Another "problem" is trying to get the best out of Matt Green. He came with a very decent reputation having had by all accounts an excellent and very productive (10 goals) loan spell at Oxford at the end of last season, and yet 6 games into the season and he has barely kicked a ball for us this season. His chances of cementing a first team start would probably have also been greater if our "passing game" hadnt been consigned to the bin, as surely now Tim Sills is back to being a "shoe in" in the side given that we are playing a direct style again. This leaves Green, Dsane and Benyon all fighting for that one position alongside Sillsy, given Bucks' prefernce for a 4-4-2 line up.
Personally, I would like us to try 4-3-3 which would allow Green AND Dsane to play alongside Sills, with one of our more creative midfielders (take your pick from Wroe, Adams, Thompson or Brough) to play in the hole, with Hargreaves and Mansell doing what they do best in front of our back four. Of course, this would mean abandoning the use of wingers, but in all honesty Messrs Carayol, Carlisle and Stevens have all been too inconsistent for my liking this season and have failed to deliver enough decent quality crosses into the box, to "feed the Sills".
I doubt it will happen, but 4-3-3 seemed to serve our neighbours up the road quite well last season, albeit theirs was more of a 4-1-2-3 in all honesty.
