Come On Gary

[Whale Eye Beef Hooked]

don't get me wrong i am more than happy with where we are in the league etc etc but it is time to get some consistancy. We know that Basso is first choice as is Carey, Mccombe Orr and McCalister. Elliot, Johnson and Elliot are also defo starters but from then on it is a bit of a mess and has been for a couple of years. We don't know our best formation, we have not had a settled partnership up front that has worked, we cant get a decent/ consitant performer on the right wing. We currently have Myre-Williams, Brooker, Akinde, Trundle, John, Adebola and Maynard as our striker options, that should be enough to score plenty of goals but for some reason we are trying to fit square pgs in round holes.

GJ needs to decide if Noble fits into his plans long term, Can Gavin Williams get fit enough, Can Gavin WIlliams or Noble play on the right of Midfield when they are much more suited to the middle. Is Sproule good enough for this level ?? Is Brooker worth persisting with ??? Where is Trundles best position and does he have a future with us ?? What formation are we going to play ??

It is no good Trundle or Noble coming in, playing 2 games and then next game out of the squad, this knocks players confidence.

I personnally think that Spoule is not good enough to play regually at this level but his pace is a good outlet if used properly ( why not leave him up on his own when defending a corner so when lumped up to him he should be able to beat most with his pace ). I also think that a 5 man midfield does work so why not go 3 at the back so we can still have 2 up top ??.

I am not worried about Akinde or even Maynard as they are young and i believe do have the quality. Myre-williams will never be a regular at BCFC so we are better off selling him. I would give Brooker to the end of the season to prove his fitness.

We need to buy someone with pace at the back, whenever players like Tyson or Lita run at us we are in trouble, someone like Sodje at Reading would do us.

Time for some tough decisions to be made Gary.

[Antman]

don't get me wrong i am more than happy with where we are in the league etc etc but it is time to get some consistancy. We know that Basso is first choice as is Carey, Mccombe Orr and McCalister. Elliot, Johnson and Elliot are also defo starters but from then on it is a bit of a mess and has been for a couple of years. We don't know our best formation, we have not had a settled partnership up front that has worked, we cant get a decent/ consitant performer on the right wing. We currently have Myre-Williams, Brooker, Akinde, Trundle, John, Adebola and Maynard as our striker options, that should be enough to score plenty of goals but for some reason we are trying to fit square pgs in round holes.

GJ needs to decide if Noble fits into his plans long term, Can Gavin Williams get fit enough, Can Gavin WIlliams or Noble play on the right of Midfield when they are much more suited to the middle. Is Sproule good enough for this level ?? Is Brooker worth persisting with ??? Where is Trundles best position and does he have a future with us ?? What formation are we going to play ??

It is no good Trundle or Noble coming in, playing 2 games and then next game out of the squad, this knocks players confidence.

I personnally think that Spoule is not good enough to play regually at this level but his pace is a good outlet if used properly ( why not leave him up on his own when defending a corner so when lumped up to him he should be able to beat most with his pace ). I also think that a 5 man midfield does work so why not go 3 at the back so we can still have 2 up top ??.

I am not worried about Akinde or even Maynard as they are young and i believe do have the quality. Myre-williams will never be a regular at BCFC so we are better off selling him. I would give Brooker to the end of the season to prove his fitness.

We need to buy someone with pace at the back, whenever players like Tyson or Lita run at us we are in trouble, someone like Sodje at Reading would do us.

Time for some tough decisions to be made Gary.

I think a degree of tactical flexibility in the way we approach matches is essential these day, however, where Gary falls down for me is his habit of trying to stick with a tactical switch when he should revert to a more solid approach where appropriate. The Soton game is a case in point. He switched style to play the 4-5-1, or 4-3-2-1, however you wish to interpret it, incorporating Noble in a floating role, allowing williams and Johnson to also push up, having seen the formation work, he hung to it for the Forest game. This wasn't the first time he's done this, and it just didn't work because they play a very different game.

I completely agree with the point about a lack of consistency, players like Noble come in and play well (for the cameras?) and then produce a display of indifference, Macca seems unable to spark this season and Williams for me is simply not good enough (how can you be a pro footballer and not learn to head the ball in a 50/50 challenge ? - that applies to Macca too!)

We find ourselves playing players out of position that suggests we don't have cover, or Gary doesn't have faith in the players he's got (Sproule)

We're still in a reasonable position, but we're not performing as solidly as last year, and IN MY VIEW, the plethora of rumours that seems to whirl around the club these days regards players unhappiness, suggests less of a united front this season. That unity has always been something that has underpinned Garys succesful managment technique.

yes, I'm a 'Football Manager' pundit, thats because I shell out for a season ticket, care about the team and have an opinion - all allowed last time I looked.

[GrahamC]

Sensible comments in both of these posts, though I'm a little surprised that the first of them doesn't consider Liam Fontaine to be an automatic choice, as for me he's probably the first name on the teamsheet at the back right now.

There are 2 conundrums for me, firstly without Ivan Sproule we lack any pace, though personally I doubt that he merits a place in the 16, let alone the starting XI.

Secondly we haven't managed to get any sort of settled successful strike pairing sorted throughout GJ's time at the club and to me it is the case that we have succeeded despite this rather than because of it.

As no-one is uprooting any trees maybe we need to stick with the same 2 forwards for a while (or just the one if we're intent on playing 4-5-1) and give something a decent chance to build up there.

[Whale Eye Beef Hooked]

Sensible comments in both of these posts, though I'm a little surprised that the first of them doesn't consider Liam Fontaine to be an automatic choice, as for me he's probably the first name on the teamsheet at the back right now.

There are 2 conundrums for me, firstly without Ivan Sproule we lack any pace, though personally I doubt that he merits a place in the 16, let alone the starting XI.

Secondly we haven't managed to get any sort of settled successful strike pairing sorted throughout GJ's time at the club and to me it is the case that we have succeeded despite this rather than because of it.

As no-one is uprooting any trees maybe we need to stick with the same 2 forwards for a while (or just the one if we're intent on playing 4-5-1) and give something a decent chance to build up there.

Agreed, although i think Fontaine would benefit playing on the left side of 3 at the back. I think if we still play 5 in midfield then any 2 from our strikers would probably work.

['Orns]

4-5-1 is a good option away from home, thought we looked pretty good against Southampton in places last week.

But for home games where maybe we get a bit more ball and have to make things happen then 4-4-2 must be the way to go. Doesn't have to be rigid, can be changed to fit, obviously. Lack of pace is killing us at home, would be lovely to have 2 flying wingers with 2 centre forwards up there. Not seen enough this season to comment on all the crticism of McIndoe on this forum, but if he's drifting inside and still keeping his place in the team then surely that is what he's being told to do.

Lets not lose sight of the fact that we're only a couple of points off the PO places, and this has all been done without playing particulary well. Think that the squad does need a shake up though, and would hope that this starts in January. Got enough players that can be moved on to free up wages, and bring in some cash to boost the transfer fund. No good sitting around waiting for something to happen, I just hope GJ has the balls to make these decisions.

Not a criticism of GJ, I've seen enough rubbish over the years to be thankful of where we are right now, I just think that we need some fresh faces, in the right positions, to move us onto the next level. Would be a shame to start stagnating, lets give it a crack. Stoke & Hull are proving that with a bit of investment and the right attitude that staying in the Premier League isn't impossible. If they can do it, we can do it. Half of the Championship could to be honest.

[William Stand]

Sensible comments in both of these posts, though I'm a little surprised that the first of them doesn't consider Liam Fontaine to be an automatic choice, as for me he's probably the first name on the teamsheet at the back right now.

There are 2 conundrums for me, firstly without Ivan Sproule we lack any pace, though personally I doubt that he merits a place in the 16, let alone the starting XI.

Secondly we haven't managed to get any sort of settled successful strike pairing sorted throughout GJ's time at the club and to me it is the case that we have succeeded despite this rather than because of it.

As no-one is uprooting any trees maybe we need to stick with the same 2 forwards for a while (or just the one if we're intent on playing 4-5-1) and give something a decent chance to build up there.

I concur & as we shelled out £2M + on Maynard, I think we need to get him in the team. On paper Dele & Maynard is a classic big 'un/little 'Un combo & if we get decent ball into them, there's no reason why it can't prosper.

I also agree that from an attacking perspective we are almost entirely devoid of pace & I wonder if that is part of the reluctance to have Noble & Trunds in the same 11.