Strength In Depth (7 Viewers)

[Magwitch]

Just doodling about as you do and have written this team out
O’Brien
Sterling Grimmer Hyam Mason
Jones Bayliss Kelly Shipley
Andreu
Bakayoko
None of these started yesterday not too sure of Grimmer at cb but all the outfield players can come into a starting line up and hold their own. Add to these Ponticelli, Allissini, the untried like Westbrooke, Williams, Bosma, Walters, plus the injured Biamou just shows how in less than a year really Robins has built a good inter twining squad and maybeo others to come in January. All bodes well for our future. I’ll ask the question though what do you think is our best eleven ?

 

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[Cranfield Sky Blue]

I was thinking the same at the game yesterday. Whenever Robins has had to change something, the replacements have seemed seamless. I thought Thompson was particularly good yesterday. Yes, there were a couple of moments but overall good! Bayliss was a miss but he had a shocker last year.

 

[BlueElephant]

Best XI....
Burge
Sterling Willis Davies Brown
Thomas Bayliss Doyle Jones
JCH Chaplin

Hiwula just missing out

 

[covcity4life]

Great to have strength in depth and that's why I want a good chdcktrade cup run

Autos is gonna be tough even with big squad tho. Pompey and Sunderland look strong

 

[SkyBlueCRJ]

Great to have strength in depth and that's why I want a good chdcktrade cup run

Autos is gonna be tough even with big squad tho. Pompey and Sunderland look strong

Do we really have strength in depth though?

 

[Magwitch]

Do we really have strength in depth though?

Compared to recent years yes

 

[Magwitch]

Best XI....
Burge
Sterling Willis Davies Brown
Thomas Bayliss Doyle Jones
JCH Chaplin

Hiwula just missing out

On current form I would agree I think Dominic Hyam is our best centre back but it shows our reserve strength

 

[SkyBlueCRJ]

Compared to recent years yes

That's hardly difficult though is it. In previous seasons we've traditionally filled numbers by giving squad numbers to our academy graduates.

With the exception to our defence, granted we have depth this season but I wouldn't agree we have strength in depth by any means.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Great to have strength in depth and that's why I want a good chdcktrade cup run

Autos is gonna be tough even with big squad tho. Pompey and Sunderland look strong

Not enough quality for the autos and being honest this is a top half/mid table squad at the moment. Play offs would be a bonus. Next season would be more realistic for a promotion push.

 

[covcity4life]

Not enough quality for the autos and being honest this is a top half/mid table squad at the moment. Play offs would be a bonus. Next season would be more realistic for a promotion push.

Dont agree personally. We have good defence. Know to win ugly and some creative individuals. Played well vs mist rivals too. Playoffs are plan c for me.

We should not be missing out on playoffs imo

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Dont agree personally. We have good defence. Know to win ugly and some creative individuals. Played well vs mist rivals too. Playoffs are plan c for me.

We should not be missing out on playoffs imo

In 4 of the 5 games won in a row we avoided last gasp equalisers by the skin of our teeth. It isn't a dig at the side, I'm just saying it's not the finished article yet.

 

[covcity4life]

In 4 of the 5 games won in a row we avoided last gasp equalisers by the skin of our teeth. It isn't a dig at the side, I'm just saying it's not the finished article yet.

I tottaly respect your opinion on it mate.

When we playing nothing but hoof ineould have agreed with you. But since Shipley dropped I think we can do some damage. Still don't think we hit top gear either.

Burton away won't be easy though. Keep taking it a game at a time. We will need regular runs of 3 or 4 wins in a row to make autos

 

[Skyblueweeman]

Dont agree personally. We have good defence. Know to win ugly and some creative individuals. Played well vs mist rivals too. Playoffs are plan c for me.

We should not be missing out on playoffs imo

Assuming Autos are plan A, what’s plan B?!


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[Paxman II]

The squad is a good one. Some talented players in there. Our main problem seems to be midfield. The creativity is all on the shoulders of Bayliss atm.
Jones back will change that.
To expect Doyle to constantly perform heroics in the middle on his own is too much. kelly is a vital cog and looked good when he came on yesterday. Him and Doyle sharing the dirty work is key for me.
Bayliss and Jones to Create.
Thomas causing all sorts of problems for the oppo.
Chaplin looking to score and if we have this technical ability in the side with good tricky feet like Hiwula, Sterling, Thomas, Jones and Brown why don't we forget the big guy up front and play through teams instead? I'd like to see this tried:

................Burge
Sterling Hyam Davies Brown
...........Kelly Doyle
............ .Bayliss
Thomas................Jones
............Chaplin
Sub Hiwula just missing out but could easily be him.

 

[covcity4life]

Assuming Autos are plan A, what’s plan B?!


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Title is plan a
2nd is plan b
Playoffs plan c

 

[GaryMabbuttsLeftKnee]

The squad is a good one. Some talented players in there. Our main problem seems to be midfield. The creativity is all on the shoulders of Bayliss atm.
Jones back will change that.
To expect Doyle to constantly perform heroics in the middle on his own is too much. kelly is a vital cog and looked good when he came on yesterday. Him and Doyle sharing the dirty work is key for me.
Bayliss and Jones to Create.
Thomas causing all sorts of problems for the oppo.
Chaplin looking to score and if we have this technical ability in the side with good tricky feet like Hiwula, Sterling, Thomas, Jones and Brown why don't we forget the big guy up front and play through teams instead? I'd like to see this tried:

................Burge
Sterling Hyam Davies Brown
...........Kelly Doyle
............ .Bayliss
Thomas................Jones
............Chaplin
Sub Hiwula just missing out but could easily be him.

I’d also like to see something like this. JCH has played well this season and would still play a pivotal role off the bench but I would really like to see us play something like this. Just trial it, if it doesn’t work scrap it but I think we have the quality now to try it. Would be good if we got through next Saturday and got a league 2 team at home in next round to have a little experiment


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[smileycov]

I tottaly respect your opinion on it mate.

When we playing nothing but hoof ineould have agreed with you. But since Shipley dropped I think we can do some damage. Still don't think we hit top gear either.

Burton away won't be easy though. Keep taking it a game at a time. We will need regular runs of 3 or 4 wins in a row to make autos

We won 5 in a row and another decent result yesterday, and still we are not even in the play offs!! Shows how tough this league is, Autos way beyond us imo. Play offs would be a great result for this year tbf

 

[SAJ]

I’d also like to see something like this. JCH has played well this season and would still play a pivotal role off the bench but I would really like to see us play something like this. Just trial it, if it doesn’t work scrap it but I think we have the quality now to try it. Would be good if we got through next Saturday and got a league 2 team at home in next round to have a little experiment


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Why change a formula that has just started to work? If anything has been shown to us in the last two seasons is that it takes these players anything up to two months to start delivering positive results. Whilst I can see from an attacking prospective this could be good just look at the size of the players left. We are bad enough at corners without putting out the shortest team in the league.

 

[covcity4life]

We won 5 in a row and another decent result yesterday, and still we are not even in the play offs!! Shows how tough this league is, Autos way beyond us imo. Play offs would be a great result for this year tbf

That's forgetting the poor start we had tho isn't it?

 

[steve cooper]

We won 5 in a row and another decent result yesterday, and still we are not even in the play offs!! Shows how tough this league is, Autos way beyond us imo. Play offs would be a great result for this year tbf

That's forgetting the poor start we had tho isn't it?

We were 14th six games ago

 

[ccfcway]

We were 14th six games ago

robins

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

I tottaly respect your opinion on it mate.

When we playing nothing but hoof ineould have agreed with you. But since Shipley dropped I think we can do some damage. Still don't think we hit top gear either.

Burton away won't be easy though. Keep taking it a game at a time. We will need regular runs of 3 or 4 wins in a row to make autos

Pompey took a season to find their feet and have now pushed on a gear, I see us on a similar trajectory. I don't think we have quite enough about us to do it this year but I would LOVE to be wrong!

 

[Paxman II]

Why change a formula that has just started to work? If anything has been shown to us in the last two seasons is that it takes these players anything up to two months to start delivering positive results. Whilst I can see from an attacking prospective this could be good just look at the size of the players left. We are bad enough at corners without putting out the shortest team in the league.

Man City are the shortet team in the prem. They don't play with a target man. Yeswe are league 1 but teams do play football down here too you know.

 

[Grendel]

Man City are the shortet team in the prem. They don't play with a target man. Yeswe are league 1 but teams do play football down here too you know.

Yeah every time we play that type of formation it goes really well

 

[SkyBlueJord]

Id really like to see how Andreu would function as a back-up to Bayliss, as opposed to playing him further up the field in a AM position. Although Kelly looked good when he came on (for a very obvioulsy not match fit Ogogo) we still lack a lot of creativity, it is left to Doyle to create.

 

[SAJ]

Man City are the shortet team in the prem. They don't play with a target man. Yeswe are league 1 but teams do play football down here too you know.

Big difference here is that Man City have about 20 players that are all comfortable on the ball, pass it exceptionally quickly, have a great degree of accuracy in the passing, an average possession in excess of 60%. Where as we gave about 60% of our players that look really comfortable on the ball, regularly pass the ball to the opposition and very early exceed 54% possession. Hardly a comparison in my view.

 

[steve82]

Id really like to see how Andreu would function as a back-up to Bayliss, as opposed to playing him further up the field in a AM position. Although Kelly looked good when he came on (for a very obvioulsy not match fit Ogogo) we still lack a lot of creativity, it is left to Doyle to create.

This is the best place for him now in this side, his vision and passing rage feeding could well work. MR is the gaffer tho and feels otherwise right now and likes to keep things tight in the middle


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[CCFC88]

This is the main difference for me compared to our last decent L1 season. The first team on paper up until Jan was the best side we've had since relegation from the Championship however the bench the day that we beat Gillingham 4-1 was

• 1Burge

• 8Lameiras

• 17Phillips

• 19Bigirimana

• 20Tudgay

• 26Haynes

• 32Fortuné

Apart from Lameiras for Shipley at a push I don't think any of those outfield players would have made Saturdays bench. This squad just feels built for a long season.

 

[covcity4life]

This is the main difference for me compared to our last decent L1 season. The first team on paper up until Jan was the best side we've had since relegation from the Championship however the bench the day that we beat Gillingham 4-1 was

• 1Burge

• 8Lameiras

• 17Phillips

• 19Bigirimana

• 20Tudgay

• 26Haynes

• 32Fortuné

Apart from Lameiras for Shipley at a push I don't think any of those outfield players would have made Saturdays bench. This squad just feels built for a long season.

Agree. Could argue bigi over Kelly possibly but get the general point

 

[fernandopartridge]

Agree. Could argue bigi over Kelly possibly but get the general point

LOL

 

[shmmeee]

That's hardly difficult though is it. In previous seasons we've traditionally filled numbers by giving squad numbers to our academy graduates.

With the exception to our defence, granted we have depth this season but I wouldn't agree we have strength in depth by any means.

Burge/LOB
Sterling/Grimmer
Brown/Mason
Willis/Thompson
Davies/Hyam
Doyle/Ogogo
Bayliss/Kelly/Andreu
Thomas/Jones
Hiwula/Shipley
Biamou/JCH
Chaplin/Bakayoko

Which of those backups do you think is significantly worse than their first team counterpart or not L1 quality? The academy kids (Shipley/Thompson) maybe, but they’re kids. LOB arguably, but it’s not unusual to rarely need your backup GK.

I think it’s one of the most consistent and balanced squads we’ve had for a while. Even if not all of them are currently fit/on form, that’s the entire point of having the depth.

 

[Sky Blue Harry H]

I agree - much more balanced/more options and ability to cope with injuries/suspensions etc.
Also have Ponticelli, Camwell and one or two others who are improving and will be in the mix in a season or so Burroughs, Ngandu (fan!)

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

I agree - much more balanced/more options and ability to cope with injuries/suspensions etc.
Also have Ponticelli, Camwell and one or two others who are improving and will be in the mix in a season or so Burroughs, Ngandu (fan!)

Exciting times

 

[Magwitch]

We have to credit Robins with his summer signings, not a bad one between them, confident that Bakayoko and Ogogo will come good too and remember we have Westbrooke, Allassini, Williams,Walters and Bosma untried yet

 

[SkyBlueCRJ]

Burge/LOB
Sterling/Grimmer
Brown/Mason
Willis/Thompson
Davies/Hyam
Doyle/Ogogo
Bayliss/Kelly/Andreu
Thomas/Jones
Hiwula/Shipley
Biamou/JCH
Chaplin/Bakayoko

Which of those backups do you think is significantly worse than their first team counterpart or not L1 quality? The academy kids (Shipley/Thompson) maybe, but they’re kids. LOB arguably, but it’s not unusual to rarely need your backup GK.

I think it’s one of the most consistent and balanced squads we’ve had for a while. Even if not all of them are currently fit/on form, that’s the entire point of having the depth.

O'Brien is terrible. Judging from his performances his level is probably National League at best. There's nothing 'arguable' about it. Why is it you don't need a good back up? Our position in the table this season would look a lot different if it wasn't for Burge. A solid back up would be crucial if he got injured.
Andreu clearly is struggling for fitness. IMO it's starting to look unlikely whether he'll ever be fit due to his injury. Needs to be moved on IMO.
Ogogo's playing like he's never seen a football before.
From his performances so far Shipley is struggling to consistently cope with the demands of League One.
Jones isn't 100% and admittedly I thought he'd be back sooner. Might be a while yet until we see the old JJ.
Hiwula scores goals but clearly isn't a LM. Goes missing in games for far too long in matches.
Biamou is out for the season. However, do I believe he could make the step up on a consistent basis. I'd probably go with no.
Baka. Question marks surround him. Why isn't MR giving him his chance? Apart from Charlton has shown very little to suggest he'd make a difference if he started week in week out.

Like I said. IMO we have depth. We don't have strength in depth, apart from in defence. We have a squad built for the future, where in a season or two I do think it'll be a fantastic squad but do I think this is a promotion winning squad this season? Then the answer is no.