Midfield (3 Viewers)

[AFCCOVENTRY]

After watching all our games so far I do worry about our midfield and players available. The game seems to just bypass our midfield. Our attackers have no chance and defence is not shield

Hamer is quality but at the same time a ticking time bomb. Once he’s gone there isn’t any class in midfield. How many games will he miss this season through suspension?

Sheaf just dabbles on the ball and looks a liability. Doesn’t give me much confidence.

Shipley (Although higher up the pitch today) just isn’t Championship quality. His response times areslow.

Allen just runs around a lot and doesn’t do much with the ball when he gets it. Also too lightweight in this league.

O’Hare more attacking we are seeing glimpses of his quality but he has no support

Kelly is unproven at this level so far. We’ve seen 20mins of him. Is that experience and old head been a massive miss? Quite possibly.

At the moment I can’t seem figure out what is the best central midfield pairing.

I think our downfall this season will be a lack of some experienced championship players who are just clever at the midfield battle and mind games. How we could do with a Doyler character.

 

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[SlowerThanPlatt]

Injuries haven’t helped. Don’t know good Hilssner is but he’s not ready to play yet. Jones and Bapaga also out.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Personally, I think we could do with playing Gooden and Walker upfront together. I thought Allen came on and made an impact in the press and was more lively than Shipley. But, Gooden isn’t athletic enough to make an impact in open play.

We don’t really look like we’ve got a lot of goals in us.

 

[AFCCOVENTRY]

Injuries haven’t helped. Don’t know good Hilssner is but he’s not ready to play yet. Jones and Bapaga also out.

I am hoping Hilssner is the creative player we need to play on the left of the front 3. Because that is causing us problems at the moment.

 

[stevefloyd]

We are missing Kellys calmness/interventions in midfieild, but our midfield is in limbo atm Sheaf hopefully is just lacking match practice and will come good (fingers legs and toes crossed) they are not helping our defence by continually giving the ball away and dropping us in the shit, equally they are not supporting Godden as he needs or creating chances for him, we know he can finish but not if he don't get the ball!!! Giles has looked off it in the past couple of games so lets hope the break will do him good or do we see the regular return of McCalum

 

[Marty]

We have a serious lack of quality in the midfield, there is no real pace at all. Marcus Madison was available on a free but comes with baggage, pisses all over Allen & Shipley in the AM role. IMO We've wasted money extending the contracts of certain players we should have allowed to move on.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

We have a serious lack of quality in the midfield, there is no real pace at all. Marcus Madison was available on a free but comes with baggage, pisses all over Allen & Shipley in the AM role. IMO We've wasted money extending the contracts of certain players we should have allowed to move on.

He went to Hull and they didn’t want him. He’s now gone to Charlton.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

We have a serious lack of quality in the midfield, there is no real pace at all. Marcus Madison was available on a free but comes with baggage, pisses all over Allen & Shipley in the AM role. IMO We've wasted money extending the contracts of certain players we should have allowed to move on.

Panic central.

We can’t do it all in one window, and the most likely tactical switch will probably be Walker going upfront with Gooden. Makes the most sense.

 

[Marty]

Panic central.

There is no panic, look at my prediction for today, I said it would be comfortable for them, I fully expected this result, the fact is we lack quality in midfield.

 

[AFCCOVENTRY]

This might sound crazy but I actually think Eccles is a better prospect in midfield than Shipley.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

This might sound crazy but I actually think Eccles is a better prospect in midfield than Shipley.

They don’t even play the same position. Eccles is a holding midfielder

 

[KersleyDigs]

Kelly is a HUGE miss currently

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

There is no panic, look at my prediction for today, I said it would be comfortable for them, I fully expected this result, the fact is we lack quality in midfield.

A few weeks ago we were two leagues apart and their team costs £90+ million compared to £2 million. This point may, or may not, apply to you but what do people expect us to get out a game like tonight?

There are disappointing aspects about tonight’s performance, but two of their goals were really, really good and the other a good finish.

I must hold my hands up and admit my previous comments on other threads said they were going to implode. Their new manager has done reasonably well rejuvenating the personnel they have.

 

[stupot07]

After watching all our games so far I do worry about our midfield and players available. The game seems to just bypass our midfield. Our attackers have no chance and defence is not shield

Hamer is quality but at the same time a ticking time bomb. Once he’s gone there isn’t any class in midfield. How many games will he miss this season through suspension?

Sheaf just dabbles on the ball and looks a liability. Doesn’t give me much confidence.

Shipley (Although higher up the pitch today) just isn’t Championship quality. His response times areslow.

Allen just runs around a lot and doesn’t do much with the ball when he gets it. Also too lightweight in this league.

O’Hare more attacking we are seeing glimpses of his quality but he has no support

Kelly is unproven at this level so far. We’ve seen 20mins of him. Is that experience and old head been a massive miss? Quite possibly.

At the moment I can’t seem figure out what is the best central midfield pairing.

I think our downfall this season will be a lack of some experienced championship players who are just clever at the midfield battle and mind games. How we could do with a Doyler character.

We haven't improved the quality of our midfield at all, especially the attacking midfield. We really lack options to change a game - o'hare will always start but you're having to choose between Allen and Shipley.

Defensively Hamer has generally played wrll but in 4 league games we've had to sub him to stop him getting a red card in one game, and he's been sent off in another.


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[Mucca Mad Boys]

We haven't improved the quality of our midfield at all, especially the attacking midfield. We really lack options to change a game - o'hare will always start but you're having to choose between Allen and Shipley.

Defensively Hamer has generally played wrll but in 4 league games we've had to sub him to stop him getting a red card in one game, and he's been sent off in another.


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In fairness, injuries to JJ and Hilßner probably haven’t helped things. Jobello will hopefully offer something more direct going forward.

Going forward, I do believe that MR will switch to two strikers. The two AM options, at this point, probably won’t provide enough goals. Also, we need to find a way to be more direct when better teams try to press us high up the league. Gooden needs support.

 

[stupot07]

In fairness, injuries to JJ and Hilßner probably haven’t helped things. Jobello will hopefully offer something more direct going forward.

Going forward, I do believe that MR will switch to two strikers. The two AM options, at this point, probably won’t provide enough goals. Also, we need to find a way to be more direct when better teams try to press us high up the league. Gooden needs support.

Fair point. JJ is definitely a loss, but i haven't seen anything from Hilsner to suggest he is anything but another Kasteneer. I like Jobello, but he seems to be an out and out winger which would mean a change in formation and dropping the wingbacks.

I'm not sure on the two up top, but you never know.

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[johnwillomagic]

I actually think Baka has been under utilised this season to date......kellly also has to come back in!

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

I actually think Baka has been under utilised this season to date......kellly also has to come back in!

Yeah he hasn’t played a minute so far. Hard to see him getting a look in the coming games as well

 

[KersleyDigs]

We need a threat in behind on the counter. Teams have worked us out already and are going for an.insanely high.press and it is working. They know we have little in behind and over the top

 

[johnwillomagic]

Baka's pace in behind could work well wondering if we do need to consider formation and play two up top>

 

[Liquid Gold]

Kelly is the glue that holds this team together, we were poor in league one until Doyle left and he could play his proper role, our worst spell was when he was injured last year. When he comes in Hamer plays 5 yards further forward which pushes the AMs closer to Godden. Sheaf may be his long term replacement but he's obviously not up to speed yet, we'll tick as soon as the captain is back.

 

[SkyblueTexan]

It’s a huge gulf between League 1 and the Championship. Bournemouth are as close as it gets to a Premier league team (as would Watford and Norwich I’m sure). I agree our midfield is weak and cannot seem to bridge our defence to our attack. We are vulnerable to the press and need to realize that it’s a tactic most teams are going to use. Outside of COH who gets repeatedly hacked and Hamer (who’s red/yellow card prone) we just have no legitimate midfield threat. Time to go back to the drawing board and become less predictable.

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

Looking forward to having Kelly back.

 

[speedie87]

I posted last season that Walsh was that good he was like having two players in the position.
Gone from that and kelly to sheaf and hamer last night.

plus would Westbrooke have been more suited to championship than Shipley and allen? Would certainly have kept the ball better.

 

[stupot07]

I posted last season that Walsh was that good he was like having two players in the position.
Gone from that and kelly to sheaf and hamer last night.

plus would Westbrooke have been more suited to championship than Shipley and allen? Would certainly have kept the ball better.

I agree.

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[stay_up_skyblues]

I actually think Westbrook would be ok at this level playing deep, certainly as a squad player.

In terms of the next three games, any word on how long Bapaga is out for? I wonder if a tweak in the midfield with him coming in for Shipley/Allen might add some spark. I don’t see us holding Bournemouth et al to a clean sheet so it may need to be a case of going for it and scoring more than them.

Kelly Sheaf

COH Bapaga

 

[AFCCOVENTRY]

Well Robins needs to look at Bapaga, Hilsner and Jobello as options to give us a bit more in attack. We just aren’t able to carry the ball and drive to the opposition box.

 

[Sick Boy]

This was always going to be an issue, the gulf between League 1 and Championship is huge, especially with the teams coming down from the PL.
Survival really would be an excellent achievement, talk on here of challenging for the play-offs was just devoid of any reality

 

[stupot07]

I think Babaga is out for 6 weeks, but i can't remember where I heard that.


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[stay_up_skyblues]

Jones’ injury was a real wanker for the club as well as him.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Fair point. JJ is definitely a loss, but i haven't seen anything from Hilsner to suggest he is anything but another Kasteneer. I like Jobello, but he seems to be an out and out winger which would mean a change in formation and dropping the wingbacks.

I'm not sure on the two up top, but you never know.

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You’re right in saying that Jobello is an outright winger.

However, I don’t see why we couldn’t accommodate that in the current setup. Allen and O’Hare often get the ball in wide channels. As long as Jobello can keep possession, press hard, he could provide a useful outlet on that wing/AM role.

Unless Walker is athletic enough to play upfront on his own, I cannot see us continuing with 3-4-2-1 for the whole season. I really like what Gooden offers, but in this league I think we’re going to provide the service for him by passing through defence like we did last season.

Last night, I didn’t really see what Shipley offered. Allen was an improvement, but we need goals and/assists from both AMs and I’m not confident we’ll get that production. In fairness to the team, we played a recently relegated Premiership team who have got off to a good start, and look like they’ll be in contention for promotion come game day 46.

 

[Esoterica]

I think Babaga is out for 6 weeks, but i can't remember where I heard that.


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He was able to hold his shirt up in the new contract picture, he's fine!

 

[stupot07]

You’re right in saying that Jobello is an outright winger.

However, I don’t see why we couldn’t accommodate that in the current setup. Allen and O’Hare often get the ball in wide channels. As long as Jobello can keep possession, press hard, he could provide a useful outlet on that wing/AM role.

Unless Walker is athletic enough to play upfront on his own, I cannot see us continuing with 3-4-2-1 for the whole season. I really like what Gooden offers, but in this league I think we’re going to provide the service for him by passing through defence like we did last season.

Last night, I didn’t really see what Shipley offered. Allen was an improvement, but we need goals and/assists from both AMs and I’m not confident we’ll get that production. In fairness to the team, we played a recently relegated Premiership team who have got off to a good start, and look like they’ll be in contention for promotion come game day 46.

Its funny, I thought Shipley was poor last night, but noticed he was on the pitch. Allen was anonymous. Neither are good enough imo, im really hoping Robins can get some added quality in on loan, like a mason mount when he went to Derby.

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[AFCCOVENTRY]

I wonder if the Championship is suited to Kasteener? His power and aggression is what we need going forward. As long as he doesn’t get sent off. Maybe this seasons wild card pick.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Its funny, I thought Shipley was poor last night, but noticed he was on the pitch. Allen was anonymous. Neither are good enough imo, im really hoping Robins can get some added quality in on loan, like a mason mount when he went to Derby.

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If we’re going to get a loan, I agree that position is where I’d prioritise. We need goals from either an AM or a striker and a change in formation. That’s where I see us going from here.

In attack, Allen did look largely ineffectual even before the sending off, but for 29 minutes we were also down to 10 men. In the last two games, Gooden has been largely anonymous, and that is because the midfield isn’t providing chances for him. Additionally, he’s been on his own against 3 CBs in all our games so far. He needs help.