Any Thoughts On Lj's Performance Vs. Argyle?

[Lack of Action Man]

Thought he worked with real effort as he has done all season so far

[bh_red]

GJ has worked wonders and i hope he continues to do so and i am eternally grateful for what he`s done for this club for the past 3 years but surely it is not wrong or disloyal of me to question the ability of our current squad and the tactics employed in being capable of achieving the clubs stated aim of, at the least, repeating last seasons achievement.

Totally agree, been a massive johnson fan long before he joined City, however making any negative comments regarding him, his signings, players sold or tactics.

Is looked at as being totally disloyal and over ambitious.

[Spud55]

Surely that applies to almost the whole of our squad. I think we can all agree that last seasons success was founded mainly through hard work, more than our fair share of luck with the occasional flash of brilliance thrown in.

To cite the reason for our dismal midfield performances being Johnsons presence in it is ridiculous. I can think of plenty of other reasons that have nothing to do with LJ......

When Wilson plays, whether he`s instructed to do so or not, continually tucks in offering no width whatsoever.

If the ball is in play with any of the back four 9 times out of 10 it results in a hoof towards Dele totally bypassing the midfield altogether never mind Johnson.

Our attacking play, when it`s kept on the ground, is too often far too slow and predictable. Little movement up front, resulting in the ball either being passed sideways, backwards or, as is happening more often, possesion lost.

Again our attacking play has become so one dimensional its unreal.

Sad to say there did seem to be a lack of something Tues night in the 1st half, call it what you want but one incident stands out for me. Towards the end of the half an Arglye attack petered out and Wilson had the ball with a chance to break out, and in fairness he carried the towards the halway line showing some good intent. Dele and Maynard looking for a pass but being well marshalled by the defence, Wilson starting to get closed down just inside the Argyle half and where was his support ? Trotting out of our penalty area. Not a single other player had made an effort to support Wilson by giving him an option.

I`m not a happy clapper, i`m not a doom monger i will however speak my mind.

GJ has worked wonders and i hope he continues to do so and i am eternally grateful for what he`s done for this club for the past 3 years but surely it is not wrong or disloyal of me to question the ability of our current squad and the tactics employed in being capable of achieving the clubs stated aim of, at the least, repeating last seasons achievement.

I`m not saying that if we fail GJ must go. I just think that there are a heck of a lot of people on this forum that need to get a reality check. We are Bristol City, we may well Believe, we may well Believe too much.

If we finish above mid-table i will consider that a good season. If we finish in the play-offs with the squad we have i will consider that another GJ miracle.

So before people start throwing the blame at a single player, more often than not, because, as the managers son he`s an obvious target, look at the bigger picture.

Rant over, cue the backlash.

PDG

Most of the time though he's tucking in either under instruction or because we have no central midfield so has no choice, it's the reason Maynard may as well be playing central midfield rather than upfront, you could stick Torres up front in our side and he's be crap as the only time he'd get the ball is when he came and got it himself, same applies for Maynard, we've barely created the kid any chances only half chances most of the time or when he makes something himself.

Johnson is an apparent integral part of our central midfield he has to take as much blame as Skuse for it being so incredibly poor this season on the whole, he's no more or less at fault than Skuse, they have both been a sack of shite on the whole, and they both are making the rest of the midfield look worse than they are, Elliot has played 45 mins at anywhere near his normal level of performance and he ran that midfield almost single handedly, the wingers got into the game and we looked decent going forward, he is our linchpin he is the one that makes all the difference.

If you want to know how Lj's position should be played then i give you Xabi Alonso against PSV on Wednesday, he covered the ground, his passes were always purpouseful even when they were backwards, he sprayed some quality balls around the park, there were barely any pointless sideways 5 yard balls that played his team mates into trouble, his vision was stunning his ability to move the ball quickly was top notch, he made challenges, he closed down and defended for his side. Now baring the covering of ground every single one of these attributes is where in my eyes Johnson falls down, now i'm not expecting him to play as well as Alonso as they are not even on the same continent ability wise, but it's an idea of how effective a deep sitting creative midfielder can be when paired alongside a powerhouse central midfielder. Johnsons passes are largely pointless and inneffective, it's all very well and good not giving the ball away but if the ball is never going anywhere of use then it doesn't matter, you could have 90% of possesion, but if it's all sideways, backwards pointless passes then you are still going to get beat by an opposition who use their possesion effectively. Against Wolves we actually had more of the ball yet they had more than double the amount of shots we had and actually looked threatening going forward we look toothless because our midfield is doing sod all with the ball.

Johnson is indicative of this and a large amount of the time when he gets the ball we suddenly look like we are going nowhere, now the 5/6 players who are invariably infront of him are not suddenly stopping like statues they are still makign the same runs they are when Trundle and Noble in the past find them with ease, in good positions going somewhere, we can pick out these runs to devestating effect when Trundle and Noble, elliot or Carle last season were on the pitch, but take them out and we suddenly stop finding them, so either this indicates to me that when Johnson has the ball the rest of the team give up and can't be bothered to make the runs or johnson simply hasn't got the vision or ability to find them. Without any of the 3 truly creative players we have Trundle, Noble or Elliot we look completely toothless, which again leads me to believe that Johnson is not up to it as a playmaker/Creative midfielder. Mcallister makes the sort of runs he made to set up the goal on Tuesday night many times every single game and 9/10 of the time he may as well have stayed at left back and not bothered, put any combination of our creative players on the pitch and we suddenly start finding these runs. Sproule can become a devestating winger with these players on the Pitch, the end product is about as hit and miss as it gets, but he's still infinately more effective, some of his best performances have come with Noble or Trundle on the pitch, players he can lay the ball off to and start running, they don't take 5 seconds to think about the return ball and allow the defence to marshall him, they nock it back first time and he's away, it doesn't always work but it comes off a fair amount, usually by the time Sproule has got in a position to do anything of interest he's had to beat 2 players to get there, because there is rarely anyone who can unlock the defence to put him through, same for mcindoe.

Johnson is not a creative midfielder he rarely creates anything, or if he does he still leaves the player which a good deal of work to do to score, or put in that cross.

Now i may seem like i'm being overly harsh on Johnson and blaming it all on him, i'm not the midfield as a unit is not performing, but he is a common denominator, he always plays, there must be some reason we suddenly looked vastly superior when Trundle can into the midfield and injected a bit of creative spark. It just pains me to see that all over the pitch Gj is happy to try different options yet there is one place he will not try anything different when it's obviously no working for whatever reason, stick Noble in there for 5-10 games, it may turn out that Johnson does something unseen and our midfield is even more a bag of shite than it already is without him in it, but he refuses to even try it which is why people accuse him of nepotism. Johnson was quick to basically lump most of the blame for our lack of goals at Trundle's, Byfields, Showumni's door yet seemed to lay sod all at the feet of a midfield which was clearly doing something wrong, not one of our strikers last season was missing chance after chance, after chance, which means we weren't creating enough, so all areas of the midfield have to be looked at, Mcindoe has been dropped, Sproule and Wilson have played on the right and yet johnson hasn't ben dropped to see what a fit Elliot and a Noble, Carle, Chirst Artus midfield would perform like, Noble and Carle were played in almost every position baring central midfield, Wilson plays where ever he's told and does an admirable job, but is then dropped as soon as someone else is available no matter how well he's played, yet Lj is untouchable. I'd love to see Noble alongside a Fit elliot being able to create with his considerable ability, and if Elliot has to cover for his lower workrate then so be it he spends most of his time covering for johnsons absence from the position he's supposed to be anyway so whats the difference. If it doesn't work then fine. It's not the Johnson is a terrible player, for where we are he's a decent enough midfielder, but for where we want to be i don't think he has what it takes, but we will never know if we have somene that does because he will play every game regardless of form and irrestpective of the fact that our midfield is clearly our weakes area.

[dezgimed]

Most of the time though he's tucking in either under instruction or because we have no central midfield so has no choice, it's the reason Maynard may as well be playing central midfield rather than upfront, you could stick Torres up front in our side and he's be crap as the only time he'd get the ball is when he came and got it himself, same applies for Maynard, we've barely created the kid any chances only half chances most of the time or when he makes something himself.

Johnson is an apparent integral part of our central midfield he has to take as much blame as Skuse for it being so incredibly poor this season on the whole, he's no more or less at fault than Skuse, they have both been a sack of shite on the whole, and they both are making the rest of the midfield look worse than they are, Elliot has played 45 mins at anywhere near his normal level of performance and he ran that midfield almost single handedly, the wingers got into the game and we looked decent going forward, he is our linchpin he is the one that makes all the difference.

If you want to know how Lj's position should be played then i give you Xabi Alonso against PSV on Wednesday, he covered the ground, his passes were always purpouseful even when they were backwards, he sprayed some quality balls around the park, there were barely any pointless sideways 5 yard balls that played his team mates into trouble, his vision was stunning his ability to move the ball quickly was top notch, he made challenges, he closed down and defended for his side. Now baring the covering of ground every single one of these attributes is where in my eyes Johnson falls down, now i'm not expecting him to play as well as Alonso as they are not even on the same continent ability wise, but it's an idea of how effective a deep sitting creative midfielder can be when paired alongside a powerhouse central midfielder. Johnsons passes are largely pointless and inneffective, it's all very well and good not giving the ball away but if the ball is never going anywhere of use then it doesn't matter, you could have 90% of possesion, but if it's all sideways, backwards pointless passes then you are still going to get beat by an opposition who use their possesion effectively. Against Wolves we actually had more of the ball yet they had more than double the amount of shots we had and actually looked threatening going forward we look toothless because our midfield is doing sod all with the ball.

Johnson is indicative of this and a large amount of the time when he gets the ball we suddenly look like we are going nowhere, now the 5/6 players who are invariably infront of him are not suddenly stopping like statues they are still makign the same runs they are when Trundle and Noble in the past find them with ease, in good positions going somewhere, we can pick out these runs to devestating effect when Trundle and Noble, elliot or Carle last season were on the pitch, but take them out and we suddenly stop finding them, so either this indicates to me that when Johnson has the ball the rest of the team give up and can't be bothered to make the runs or johnson simply hasn't got the vision or ability to find them. Without any of the 3 truly creative players we have Trundle, Noble or Elliot we look completely toothless, which again leads me to believe that Johnson is not up to it as a playmaker/Creative midfielder. Mcallister makes the sort of runs he made to set up the goal on Tuesday night many times every single game and 9/10 of the time he may as well have stayed at left back and not bothered, put any combination of our creative players on the pitch and we suddenly start finding these runs. Sproule can become a devestating winger with these players on the Pitch, the end product is about as hit and miss as it gets, but he's still infinately more effective, some of his best performances have come with Noble or Trundle on the pitch, players he can lay the ball off to and start running, they don't take 5 seconds to think about the return ball and allow the defence to marshall him, they nock it back first time and he's away, it doesn't always work but it comes off a fair amount, usually by the time Sproule has got in a position to do anything of interest he's had to beat 2 players to get there, because there is rarely anyone who can unlock the defence to put him through, same for mcindoe.

Johnson is not a creative midfielder he rarely creates anything, or if he does he still leaves the player which a good deal of work to do to score, or put in that cross.

Now i may seem like i'm being overly harsh on Johnson and blaming it all on him, i'm not the midfield as a unit is not performing, but he is a common denominator, he always plays, there must be some reason we suddenly looked vastly superior when Trundle can into the midfield and injected a bit of creative spark. It just pains me to see that all over the pitch Gj is happy to try different options yet there is one place he will not try anything different when it's obviously no working for whatever reason, stick Noble in there for 5-10 games, it may turn out that Johnson does something unseen and our midfield is even more a bag of shite than it already is without him in it, but he refuses to even try it which is why people accuse him of nepotism. Johnson was quick to basically lump most of the blame for our lack of goals at Trundle's, Byfields, Showumni's door yet seemed to lay sod all at the feet of a midfield which was clearly doing something wrong, not one of our strikers last season was missing chance after chance, after chance, which means we weren't creating enough, so all areas of the midfield have to be looked at, Mcindoe has been dropped, Sproule and Wilson have played on the right and yet johnson hasn't ben dropped to see what a fit Elliot and a Noble, Carle, Chirst Artus midfield would perform like, Noble and Carle were played in almost every position baring central midfield, Wilson plays where ever he's told and does an admirable job, but is then dropped as soon as someone else is available no matter how well he's played, yet Lj is untouchable. I'd love to see Noble alongside a Fit elliot being able to create with his considerable ability, and if Elliot has to cover for his lower workrate then so be it he spends most of his time covering for johnsons absence from the position he's supposed to be anyway so whats the difference. If it doesn't work then fine. It's not the Johnson is a terrible player, for where we are he's a decent enough midfielder, but for where we want to be i don't think he has what it takes, but we will never know if we have somene that does because he will play every game regardless of form and irrestpective of the fact that our midfield is clearly our weakes area.

His worst trait is having the ball in a midfield area, then passing it backwards to a defender and casually jogging off.

Criminal in my eyes, and it adds no value whatsoever.

[bs3]

LJ was poor on Tuesday.

Geoff Twentyman also said he had a poor game on the Radio last night.

Time for a change in midfield I think.

Elliot should be back into today but I would also like to see Noble or Gavin Williams in the centre of midfield.

[headhunter]

Most of the time though he's tucking in either under instruction or because we have no central midfield so has no choice, it's the reason Maynard may as well be playing central midfield rather than upfront, you could stick Torres up front in our side and he's be crap as the only time he'd get the ball is when he came and got it himself, same applies for Maynard, we've barely created the kid any chances only half chances most of the time or when he makes something himself.

Johnson is an apparent integral part of our central midfield he has to take as much blame as Skuse for it being so incredibly poor this season on the whole, he's no more or less at fault than Skuse, they have both been a sack of shite on the whole, and they both are making the rest of the midfield look worse than they are, Elliot has played 45 mins at anywhere near his normal level of performance and he ran that midfield almost single handedly, the wingers got into the game and we looked decent going forward, he is our linchpin he is the one that makes all the difference.

If you want to know how Lj's position should be played then i give you Xabi Alonso against PSV on Wednesday, he covered the ground, his passes were always purpouseful even when they were backwards, he sprayed some quality balls around the park, there were barely any pointless sideways 5 yard balls that played his team mates into trouble, his vision was stunning his ability to move the ball quickly was top notch, he made challenges, he closed down and defended for his side. Now baring the covering of ground every single one of these attributes is where in my eyes Johnson falls down, now i'm not expecting him to play as well as Alonso as they are not even on the same continent ability wise, but it's an idea of how effective a deep sitting creative midfielder can be when paired alongside a powerhouse central midfielder. Johnsons passes are largely pointless and inneffective, it's all very well and good not giving the ball away but if the ball is never going anywhere of use then it doesn't matter, you could have 90% of possesion, but if it's all sideways, backwards pointless passes then you are still going to get beat by an opposition who use their possesion effectively. Against Wolves we actually had more of the ball yet they had more than double the amount of shots we had and actually looked threatening going forward we look toothless because our midfield is doing sod all with the ball.

Johnson is indicative of this and a large amount of the time when he gets the ball we suddenly look like we are going nowhere, now the 5/6 players who are invariably infront of him are not suddenly stopping like statues they are still makign the same runs they are when Trundle and Noble in the past find them with ease, in good positions going somewhere, we can pick out these runs to devestating effect when Trundle and Noble, elliot or Carle last season were on the pitch, but take them out and we suddenly stop finding them, so either this indicates to me that when Johnson has the ball the rest of the team give up and can't be bothered to make the runs or johnson simply hasn't got the vision or ability to find them. Without any of the 3 truly creative players we have Trundle, Noble or Elliot we look completely toothless, which again leads me to believe that Johnson is not up to it as a playmaker/Creative midfielder. Mcallister makes the sort of runs he made to set up the goal on Tuesday night many times every single game and 9/10 of the time he may as well have stayed at left back and not bothered, put any combination of our creative players on the pitch and we suddenly start finding these runs. Sproule can become a devestating winger with these players on the Pitch, the end product is about as hit and miss as it gets, but he's still infinately more effective, some of his best performances have come with Noble or Trundle on the pitch, players he can lay the ball off to and start running, they don't take 5 seconds to think about the return ball and allow the defence to marshall him, they nock it back first time and he's away, it doesn't always work but it comes off a fair amount, usually by the time Sproule has got in a position to do anything of interest he's had to beat 2 players to get there, because there is rarely anyone who can unlock the defence to put him through, same for mcindoe.

Johnson is not a creative midfielder he rarely creates anything, or if he does he still leaves the player which a good deal of work to do to score, or put in that cross.

Now i may seem like i'm being overly harsh on Johnson and blaming it all on him, i'm not the midfield as a unit is not performing, but he is a common denominator, he always plays, there must be some reason we suddenly looked vastly superior when Trundle can into the midfield and injected a bit of creative spark. It just pains me to see that all over the pitch Gj is happy to try different options yet there is one place he will not try anything different when it's obviously no working for whatever reason, stick Noble in there for 5-10 games, it may turn out that Johnson does something unseen and our midfield is even more a bag of shite than it already is without him in it, but he refuses to even try it which is why people accuse him of nepotism. Johnson was quick to basically lump most of the blame for our lack of goals at Trundle's, Byfields, Showumni's door yet seemed to lay sod all at the feet of a midfield which was clearly doing something wrong, not one of our strikers last season was missing chance after chance, after chance, which means we weren't creating enough, so all areas of the midfield have to be looked at, Mcindoe has been dropped, Sproule and Wilson have played on the right and yet johnson hasn't ben dropped to see what a fit Elliot and a Noble, Carle, Chirst Artus midfield would perform like, Noble and Carle were played in almost every position baring central midfield, Wilson plays where ever he's told and does an admirable job, but is then dropped as soon as someone else is available no matter how well he's played, yet Lj is untouchable. I'd love to see Noble alongside a Fit elliot being able to create with his considerable ability, and if Elliot has to cover for his lower workrate then so be it he spends most of his time covering for johnsons absence from the position he's supposed to be anyway so whats the difference. If it doesn't work then fine. It's not the Johnson is a terrible player, for where we are he's a decent enough midfielder, but for where we want to be i don't think he has what it takes, but we will never know if we have somene that does because he will play every game regardless of form and irrestpective of the fact that our midfield is clearly our weakes area.

Spud,

I write as the originator of this thread and I must say you have made a far better job of getting across what I was trying to say.

We are all entitled to opinions and it is human nature that LJ will come under greater scrutiny because he is the Manager's son.

We do need to try something different in the middle because, as GJ woluld say himself, goals must come from all areas of the team and these stats show [Elliott apart] the midfield is not delivering:

Johnson 107 appearances / 6 goals

Elliott 51 appearances / 6 goals

Skuse 89 appearances[ + 48 as sub] / 2 goals

[Rednready]

Spud,

I write as the originator of this thread and I must say you have made a far better job of getting across what I was trying to say.

We are all entitled to opinions and it is human nature that LJ will come under greater scrutiny because he is the Manager's son.

We do need to try something different in the middle because, as GJ woluld say himself, goals must come from all areas of the team and these stats show [Elliott apart] the midfield is not delivering:

Johnson 107 appearances / 6 goals

Elliott 51 appearances / 6 goals

Skuse 89 appearances[ + 48 as sub] / 2 goals

You could add Noble 1 goal from 1 substitute appearance this season, 2 goals from 17 starts last season and 4 goals from 24 starts the previous season. However, I feel it has to do as much with where the players are selected to play, as to their goals scored. In the Championship, LJ has scored I goal from 52 starts this and last season. That with the benefit of the free kicks. McIndoe and Noble proved that goals can be scored from free kicks.

LJ scored 5 goals in our last season in league 1. I believe that is his level and in the Championship he will have a few good games, but mostly average or less. He tries hard and does his best, no denying the right attitude, but he has not bettered his league 1 standard of play and does not affect our games sufficiently with goals or creativity.

[Bristol Boy]

Spud,

I write as the originator of this thread and I must say you have made a far better job of getting across what I was trying to say.

We are all entitled to opinions and it is human nature that LJ will come under greater scrutiny because he is the Manager's son.

We do need to try something different in the middle because, as GJ woluld say himself, goals must come from all areas of the team and these stats show [Elliott apart] the midfield is not delivering:

Johnson 107 appearances / 6 goals

Elliott 51 appearances / 6 goals

Skuse 89 appearances[ + 48 as sub] / 2 goals

The situation is really very simple.

Lee Johnson & Cole Skuse are miles away from what is required to get City out of this Division and into the promised land as part of a two man central midfield.There is no midfield general without Elliott and he can't be described as creative, although a fine player and, pound for pound, arguably GJ's best signing, his strengths lie in other areas like closing down high up the pitch and scoring important goals.

McIndoe was spot on-We need to strengthen key areas-so do most teams.

The other question to ask is why LJ's record was more like 1:8 before he joined City, most of that under the same manager, albeit in a lower division?he wasn't full of goals for City is League One.

We have creative players in Noble & Trundle and they've been either out of the team or marginalised in the first nine games.We play percentage football and don't over commit players forward.We're predictable and quite easy to defend against for that reason-Hence a home record of P5 W1 D3 L1 Six points from fifteen.

In those games we've had three good halves-Derby (1st) Doncaster (Second) Plymouth (Second).

When was the last time in a regular season league game that we went behind and won?

It was only when we were two goals down and Trundle was introduced along with John (Handfull) Akinde that we came to life.McAllister overlapped and got to the byeline and we started putting Plymouth's defence under pressure with crosses.They went from looking like world beaters to also rans and that's what pressure does.

Without a fully fit Elliott, and that's getting to sound like a fully fit Brooker, we do not have a midfield and, in fairness I cannot believe that we missed out on Brian Howard who was a snip @£500k.

Since the end of last season (and during it) we've needed a creative midfielder + a quality defensive one if Elliott's out for any reason, along with a right winger-We didn't strengthen and, whilst we signed Gavin Williams, who's a central midfielder (He certainly isn't a winger!), he rarely plays there.

GJ stated that we would be signing a quality replacement for Carle and it wasn't Williams-So where is he?

Despite Elliott being injured for half of last season (he played with an injury and eventually had to take a break) & selling Nick Carle we haven't added the quality that was sorely lacking-Look back at GJ's post match interviews and highlight the phrases "Quality, lacking, final ball cleverness & final third"

It's been 4-4-2 all the way which is fine if you have the players to fill the slots.If those players are out or not performingthen we'll need to switch to 4-4-1-1 which has rarely let us down or try stregthening our midfield by playing three narrow in a 4-3-3 or, dare I Say it, 3-5-2, which will be easier when McCombe's back any week now.

In terms of Wilson, he should play ar right back as he can cross & pass.

Adebola is a fine player and we have played cracking football on a number of occassions with him up front so don't single him out as the reason for going route one because we didn't at Palace in the play offs or Coventry this season and he starred in both.Belive me, if's he's injured and Brooker isn't available, we've got massive problems.

Maynard looks like he's struggling physically with the demands of the CCC and he needs to be rested & played in the same way that Man Utd treated Ronaldo when he first joined, not played week in, week out, just because he cost £2.2m-Let's be blunt, Akinde looked more dangerous, stronger & quicker at 5% of the cost.Maynard needs service to come good and he's the latest in a long line that haven't been given much.

Until we have a creative midfielder and Elliott back, plus quality on the right wing, we won't threaten the Wolves, Readings & Birminghams of this world.We finshed fourth last season and only a poor finish to the season and the inability to score goals stopped us from winning promotion along with switching Elliott to RB in the play off final.

Let's not make the same mistakes again.

We have the funds to strengthen-Do we have the wherewithall, guts & imagination?

Over to you GJ/SL.

[Tales From The Front]

The situation is really very simple.

Lee Johnson & Cole Skuse are miles away from what is required to get City out of this Division and into the promised land as part of a two man central midfield.There is no midfield general without Elliott and he can't be described as creative, although a fine player and, pound for pound, arguably GJ's best signing, his strengths lie in other areas like closing down high up the pitch and scoring important goals.

McIndoe was spot on-We need to strengthen key areas-so do most teams.

The other question to ask is why LJ's record was more like 1:8 before he joined City, most of that under the same manager, albeit in a lower division?he wasn't full of goals for City is League One.

We have creative players in Noble & Trundle and they've been either out of the team or marginalised in the first nine games.We play percentage football and don't over commit players forward.We're predictable and quite easy to defend against for that reason-Hence a home record of P5 W1 D3 L1 Six points from fifteen.

In those games we've had three good halves-Derby (1st) Doncaster (Second) Plymouth (Second).

When was the last time in a regular season league game that we went behind and won?

It was only when we were two goals down and Trundle was introduced along with John (Handfull) Akinde that we came to life.McAllister overlapped and got to the byeline and we started putting Plymouth's defence under pressure with crosses.They went from looking like world beaters to also rans and that's what pressure does.

Without a fully fit Elliott, and that's getting to sound like a fully fit Brooker, we do not have a midfield and, in fairness I cannot believe that we missed out on Brian Howard who was a snip @£500k.

Since the end of last season (and during it) we've needed a creative midfielder + a quality defensive one if Elliott's out for any reason, along with a right winger-We didn't strengthen and, whilst we signed Gavin Williams, who's a central midfielder (He certainly isn't a winger!), he rarely plays there.

GJ stated that we would be signing a quality replacement for Carle and it wasn't Williams-So where is he?

Despite Elliott being injured for half of last season (he played with an injury and eventually had to take a break) & selling Nick Carle we haven't added the quality that was sorely lacking-Look back at GJ's post match interviews and highlight the phrases "Quality, lacking, final ball cleverness & final third"

It's been 4-4-2 all the way which is fine if you have the players to fill the slots.If those players are out or not performingthen we'll need to switch to 4-4-1-1 which has rarely let us down or try stregthening our midfield by playing three narrow in a 4-3-3 or, dare I Say it, 3-5-2, which will be easier when McCombe's back any week now.

In terms of Wilson, he should play ar right back as he can cross & pass.

Adebola is a fine player and we have played cracking football on a number of occassions with him up front so don't single him out as the reason for going route one because we didn't at Palace in the play offs or Coventry this season and he starred in both.Belive me, if's he's injured and Brooker isn't available, we've got massive problems.

Maynard looks like he's struggling physically with the demands of the CCC and he needs to be rested & played in the same way that Man Utd treated Ronaldo when he first joined, not played week in, week out, just because he cost £2.2m-Let's be blunt, Akinde looked more dangerous, stronger & quicker at 5% of the cost.Maynard needs service to come good and he's the latest in a long line that haven't been given much.

Until we have a creative midfielder and Elliott back, plus quality on the right wing, we won't threaten the Wolves, Readings & Birminghams of this world.We finshed fourth last season and only a poor finish to the season and the inability to score goals stopped us from winning promotion along with switching Elliott to RB in the play off final.

Let's not make the same mistakes again.

We have the funds to strengthen-Do we have the wherewithall, guts & imagination?

Over to you GJ/SL.

Welcome back and thanks for the much needed ananlysis.