Match Thread Chesterfield - Coventry City Match Thread - Saturday 2nd Sep (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Nick
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SlowerThanPlatt
Well-Known Member
Didn't really get to follow much last night, who's injured? I read Kelly, Stokes, McDonald, Stevenson and Willis in the match thread I think?
Doyle too
Nick
Administrator
Who was in CM yesterday?
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
Maycock
Sky Blue Harry H
Well-Known Member
Tickets sold out - Chesterfield sending 200 more (why that few?). Hope it's pay on the gate - their end can hold more than 1200 ?
Tommo72
Well-Known Member
Guess the 200 is based on how many they expect to sell in less than two days...
I think the end holds about 1900?
oucho
Well-Known Member
Exactly - not a senior pro. Remember his efforts at Oxford away last season? I still wake up screaming in the night at that one....
SlowerThanPlatt
Well-Known Member
He played 22 minutes as a sub when we were already 4-0 down? Most of the fans agree last night he had a solid game and so did Robins.
oucho
Well-Known Member
Nonetheless, the fact he's our first choice CM after others are out, only reinforces my view that we are a man short in this dept.
Nick
Administrator
He isn't first choice if he is only going to play behind 4 or 5 others. That's about 5th choice.
oucho
Well-Known Member
The point is that we are a man short in CM. I said we needed 3 seniors, we have three with Kelly, Doyle and Stevenson. IMO we are a man short without a 4th senior as cover/competition for the other three. It's not an unreasonable precaution to have 2 players for each position. We play 2 CMs so need 2 spare, but only have one spare (excluding kids) at present. I don't count Vincenti, Andreu etc as they're cover for other areas of the pitch....if they're being moved to cover CM, who's replacing them in the areas from which you've just moved them?
Nick
Administrator
Not really, both Andreu and Vincenti have both played at CM. If you play them at CM you cover them with players like Duke, McNulty, Jones, Beavon etc or adjust the formation a bit to suit.
It's not as if we are on about sticking Willis or Biamou into centre mid.
There's no point having the fringe players like Shipley and Maycock to not even have them 5th and 6th choice.
oucho
Well-Known Member
I agree to a point. I'm not saying "never pick academy boys" - but they shouldn't be expected to fill in when needed; if they can fight and win a place in the team then all well and good, but they shouldn't be part of our 22 "first team squad".
What I'm saying is that if you move Tony Andreu or Peter Vincenti into CM, then there are fewer options elsewhere. If we are to play 6 players in midfield/attack than we need a senior reserve for each (IMO). The current list reads: Doyle, Kelly, Stevenson, Jones, Andreu, Vincenti, Nazon, Biamou, Thomas, McNulty, Beavon. That's only 11 and thus we are one man short, that man being a CM not a wide man or attacking midfielder.
Nick
Administrator
That's exactly what 5th and 6th choice players are for though, to fill in when required. I could understand if they were our 1st and 2nd choices but they are there for extreme emergencies. Last season people were pinning their hopes on Stevenson saving us from relegation, now he is on the bench and you are suggesting to get somebody else in front of him in the pecking order.
If you were to put Andreu in midfield you would just change the formation slightly to something like a 4-4-2. You could then have Jones / Duck or even Vincenti on the left / right with McNulty / Beavon / Biamou / Thomas up front with Ponticelli on standby.
It's where a decent manager earns their coin in the lower leagues, where they can't have the luxury of hoarding loads of players.
better days
Well-Known Member
Maycock is even younger than Jones but he's taller & bigger physically than most lads his age so has some of the strength to cope in League 2
Like all kids his age he's learning the men's game so could see him coming on as sub in games where we need legs in CM late on
It's a bloody long season so I think Robins have another look at him in remaining Checkatrade rounds
Like all kids his age he's learning the men's game so could see him coming on as sub in games where we need legs in CM late on
It's a bloody long season so I think Robins have another look at him in remaining Checkatrade rounds
oucho
Well-Known Member
We don't agree on this. I just think we ought to have someone competing with Kelly, Doyle and Steve (not necessarily at any particular place in the pecking order). I feel like our midfield is a body light, and playing someone out of position as cover won't properly make up for that and will leave us without cover elsewhere. A luxury? Maybe, but that's what I'd prefer to see.
Cranfield Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
Askance.. love that word. Well played sir!
Sky Blue Harry H
Well-Known Member
My wife has 'enjoyed' using the word decant this summer, and not in the Cockney 'de cant shoulda shot when he had a chance' way!
Mucca Mad Boys
Well-Known Member
Isn't that the point of having a squad? If players get injured players can fit in elsewhere. For CM you have Andreu, Kelly, Doyle, Vincenti and Stevenson who can play there before the academy boys. Wingers you have Nazon, Jones, Vincenti and Andreu before DeKE and Finn. Then we have 4 strikes so if midfield is that depleted, we could switch formation to 4-4-2. We have the squad to do this.
We're not a prem side who have the resources to stockpile players, we have to be intelligent with our resources. I feel like we've done this well enough.
Only 3 CMs make the match day squad, with our strikers, we're already in a position where we have 1 senior striker playing in the U23s for game time. That's before Ponticelli... why sign a player just to start in the U23s?
Sky Blue Harry H
Well-Known Member
I feel we have cover in most areas of the pitch. Yes,perhaps we miss a big brute of a centre forward (let's see how MR shuffles his current forwards) and maybe a winger.; however, if Baker comes we will have a (very) poor man's Beckham - who can play wide (ish) and can put in a cross (if pace is lacking. He usually bags a few from distance, too.
You have to have a balance between a squad with depth and being financially viable, in a perfect world yes, youd have 2 full time seasoned pros competing for every position, this isn't a perfect world though, its league 2 football. You cant pay 4 seasoned CM's in league 2, its not like were having to call on 16/17 year olds these are 19/20 year olds who should really be looking to be part of first team football in the next season or two before a decision is made on their future, they are the competition for places.
For the majority of the season Doyle, Kelly, Stevenson will be fit and a fourth would be lucky to make the bench, you have to be resourceful and realistic.
COVKIDSNEVERQUIT
Well-Known Member
Yes indeed , good mangers will play the right formation with players that are available !
In the second half against Shrewsbury Town 442 was the right formation, we put them under a lot more pressure which got us back into the game, let's hope MR sticks to it.
steve82
Well-Known Member
Be nice to have a idea...
going on Tuesday night there could be minor doubts over Stokes, Willis, Stevenson, DKE and Doyle.
Tho I'm assuming the only long term one maybe Mcdonald.
Sky Blue Harry H
Well-Known Member
Having taken in some of the above about squad size, we may start to see the advantage of MRs recruitment and our academy's quality during October - December, as other clubs hit injury issues and are having to scrape the bottom of their own proverbial barrels. That's the bit of positivity I'm taking from the new transfer rules !!
ccfcway
Well-Known Member
or if we play 5 at the back, we have too many in the squad already, without including the youngsters
Otis
Well-Known Member
I think it will be Burge.
I also don't think a Beavon/McNulty combination is working at the moment either.