Spike

I'm very much in the agreement camp on Knight being a talent and that makes me feel like our best midfield has to be Knight, James and Naismith. Naismith offers that technical passing ability when coming forward as well as the confidence to carry the ball forward where many of our other players just play it long. James offers that calm cool head and the ability to read the game and do all the parts that are seriously over looked and then Knight, well, as the thread says, a quality player. So I have a question, would anyone change that midfield 3? Naismith coming out would allow us someone who is better suited to the pace we play at but would come at the expense of that ability to go direct from a deep position and I can't think of another player in the midfield who offers that. I don't think James or Knight can be dropped based on the season so far as they've both given 100% and look driven. It's an interesting discussion imo.

I think for me it depends on when the promotion comes. This season - no, not a chance I would want to see us go up as we don't have any Premier league quality players right now. If we're going to go up to the top flight then we need at least the spine of the team to be Premier league quality or our first season in the Premier League wouldn't be about surviving, it would be about trying not to be embarrassed. Luton are a good example, they didn't have many Premier League quality players, if any, when they went up and now they're one of the favourites to come back down and rightfully so. I think before we get promoted we need some players who can make that step up so that in the window we'd be able to add to them and potentially get at the very least a capable starting 11 at that level. I think realistically we're far more likely to be a slow build, losing players who develop into Premier League quality players to keep us a float financially whilst we try to build up the squad to a better overall standard. I'd love to see us in the Premier League, but I don't see the point in getting there if we can't stay there for a season or two to build up our finances and squad strength so that if we do come back down we're in a position where we are at an advantage over a lot of teams as many teams are over us right now.

I mean in all fairness he skipped my mind benday of his injury, I'd put him first and then Cornick but at this point I'd like to see either Cornick or Conway get a good run in that position ahead of Wells as I don't think Wells does a good enough job. Conway was showing amazing talent before his injury so I am interested to see how he does after getting back and having some time starting, Cornick I also think could offer more in that middle role given an actual run, not just 30 minutes on as a sub here and there.

Whilst on this subject of busting a gut and making the best efforts there was a situation at the end of the game yesterday that irked me, Weimann is known for always giving 100% even if he doesn't always produce but yesterday there was an incident where he went down easily and rather than get back up when the free kick was not given he stood around complaining as Stoke got on with it. In comparison at that exact moment Cornick was chasing down three men and busting a gut to try and regain possession. I cannot remember if it was directly before they came up and scored the winner or if it was a cycle or two before but I know not long afterwards they got the winner which really bothered me as I was thinking the same thing that OP posted about Naismith. That's two senior players either ball watching or complaining whilst our younger/ most critiqued players were running around giving 100%. I think what bothers me the most is both Weimann and Naismith have so much to offer to this squad but it seems to come at a cost recently, Weimann just doesn't seem to have a place in this formation/tactic and Naismith for all of his qualities seems to not have the drive that Knight, Williams or James have which makes it very difficult in my mind to put them in the team. We're a team built on high energy, constant pressure and fast countering and whilst Naismith has qualities in carrying the ball and making direct passes his energy and drive seem to be lacking. If we had a 100% fit squad I do wonder if our back 2 would be best being contended by Vyner, Atkinson and Dickie and I do not see how Naismith gets in the middle unless we go Naismith, James and Knight as James always gives his all, controls the midfield off of the ball and does a lot of work that is overlooked so I cannot see how we drop him, Knight has an engine and a drive that is unrivalled in closing down and chasing 50/50's so I can't see how we can drop him which leaves Williams and Naismith competing for that last spot. I'm kind of interested in what our first 11 is if the whole squad was fit? I personally think O'Leary, TGH, Vyner, Atkinson, Pring, Naismith, James, Knight, Bell, Wells, Sykes. That said, I personally would have Cornick in front of Wells, Wells scored yesterday but I honestly think given enough games in the middle instead of Wells and we'd really see what Cornick has to offer. I think yesterday he got a raw deal, Wells got a goal given to him and then Cornick wasn't brought on until we were actually struggling to create meaning he really wasn't given anything to work with and yet he closed down, made a few decent moves that created space and as we pushed on and started having a better last section of the game he looked sharp, I do worry that Wells is being picked over him because of experience and the attitude many of our fans have towards Cornick, but I can see a good player who just needs consistency rather than being thrown on whenever we're struggling. We also have a situation where Pring was showing some of his best quality again yesterday and Bell was his usual menace meaning neither Mehmeti or Roberts are getting a chance and whilst with Mehmeti it's not overly surprising he's not getting a chance Roberts has looked sharp every time he's been given a chance, I think the left side is actually stacked with Roberts and spring both more than capable of playing LB or LWF but Bell is undroppable right now. I still can't say "this is our best 11" without umming or ahhhing about some positions but I do think Pearson needs to consider how Weimann fits into this team and he certainly needs to have a word with Naismith about if he's capable of keeping up with our playstyle as a center back as to me he looks a little too slow and lacking the stamina to keep up with the rest of the team at times despite having some of the best technical abilities in the team.

Biggest issue is we've been crossing so much when they've got bigger and stronger players and a tall keeper who likes to claim, so much ping pong with the ball in the air and yet when we get it on the floor we really cause them issues, I just can't understand why we keep playing into their hands.

Back post is completely unmarked, ******* awful!

He's saying like that because he's been corrected, he kept saying "At-a-oh" the first half.

That was not a shoulder barge, that was a flat-handed push, how can they say it's not a foul?! It's only because it's in the box!

That Ben Pearson just saved them and Yeboah must be fuming, great tackle to be fair.

Ball was around waist height and moving, he managed to guide it on target but keeper saved, very awkward height so he couldn't kick it or head it, unfortunately.

Those corners are so annoying, delivering the ball into the 6 yard box with a keeper who is tall and likes to collect when we have smaller players is just wasteful.

Making Stoke look good now...

Well that's a great start to the second half, god-awful defending!!

omg Wells, what on earth was that!!!

O'Leary silly decision then, confidence a little too high there.

This ref seems to hate contact, we've been given a few weak free kicks and they've been given a couple too.

I couldn't even see what happened, my Minecraft resolution is apparently on 4 pixels....

YEAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! Wells gifted a goal there!!!

Almost shouted penalty then, then I remembered who I support...

I'll be honest, I'm a little concerned this could go very poorly if they score early, I think they'll enjoy countering our counter attacks, only they have by far the best squad in the league. Definitely going to be a very tough game today, if we could take a point I'd see that as a fantastic result.

I've been saying this for a while and been rubbished for saying it. Popularity seems to be more important to some than the actual performances.

I mean Wells played 60 minutes last night and didn't score, Cornick played 30 minutes in the middle and did score. I can see a good player there, he's just not consistently used in the middle where he is best. Also for the record he now has a better goals-per-minutes ratio than Wells and Wells has only played in the middle whilst Cornick has been forced out wide.

Maybe the Plymouth fans were right about their line up being poor :laugh:

Yeah, a lot of unhappy fans and quite a few calling it their "second team".

I think it's more a case we have Wells who can't play anywhere else, Bell has probably said he wants to play there as its his preferred position but is doing so well on the left that Nigel probably thought he'd earned a chance in the middle and when Conway is fit Cornick would still be behind him in the pecking order so he's probably playing Cornick wide because he is hoping he'll come good as Bell has. If Cornick shines in the middle he's suddenly got 3-4 strikers all fighting for that central role when Conway comes back, I'd imagine he would rather try and get one of them firing on another position. With regards to Wells, he can cross, he's quick, he'll run a lot too so I wonder why he doesn't get Wells out on the right with Cornick in the middle, well, other than I'd imagine Wells doesn't like the idea.