Views from the Sieve

Still not actually sure what this guy McClure does for 90 minutes.I remember him jumping up in the air and heading the ball out for throw ins a few times last night.Is it that hes just brilliant in our away games ?

As for Ferdinand,I noticed a big patch of empty ground between our defenders and the forwards all night again and rarely was Ferdinand ever in it.I did see him make a good tackle though but couldn't help but notice he was booed through out.Now not being a great fan it was difficult to not join in but I cant see what he really did wrong last night other than be quite anonymous yet again.

That is Ferdinand's main problem. The game often passes him by. For a central midfielder that is quite worrying.

He gets around the pitch but it always seems to be at a single pace. You don't really see him breaking his neck to make a tackle, he often seems to arrive just too late. He's decent on the ball but he also admires his passes rather than move forward with intent.

Him and Boucaud is just not a good mix. Neither have the energy or the discipline to play defensively and neither drive us up the pitch. Both players came to us with the reputation of being good in a 3 and poor in a 2 but yet we're trying to play both together in a 2!

Ooh to have a player in our squad like... oh I odn't know... Luke Howell?

Moaning about any striker with the service he's getting is beyond stupid

Richie wrote:Moaning about any striker with the service he's getting is beyond stupid

Yeah this. Not quite sure what Arnu is expecting McClure to do when he is barely getting a sniff of the ball. He worked his bollocks off from side to side last night and probably contributed as much as he physically could.

leewilson wrote:

Richie wrote:Moaning about any striker with the service he's getting is beyond stupid

Yeah this. Not quite sure what Arnu is expecting McClure to do when he is barely getting a sniff of the ball. He worked his bollocks off from side to side last night and probably contributed as much as he physically could.

So that's gonna be your generic reply for strikers that you do like is it Lee ? No service to any striker puts them at a disadvantage I concede,but maybe he should try making his own luck,like Jody,I mean he did get the ball a few times. Anyway I aint saying hes shite yet,Im just saying I haven't seen him do much to threaten a defence or even have a shot in the home games he's featured in.Even chambers hit the bar last night.

ARNU wrote:

leewilson wrote:

Richie wrote:Moaning about any striker with the service he's getting is beyond stupid

Yeah this. Not quite sure what Arnu is expecting McClure to do when he is barely getting a sniff of the ball. He worked his bollocks off from side to side last night and probably contributed as much as he physically could.

So that's gonna be your generic reply for strikers that you do like is it Lee ? No service to any striker puts them at a disadvantage I concede,but maybe he should try making his own luck,like Jody,I mean he did get the ball a few times. Anyway I aint saying hes shite yet,Im just saying I haven't seen him do much to threaten a defence or even have a shot in the home games he's featured in.Even chambers hit the bar last night.

No Arnu, it's not a generic reply. It's called watching the game and understanding his role. The making his own luck comment sums it up really. He's not a player in the mould of Jodie Jones who can beat 2-3 players. That's why Jodie is playing a creative role out wide and McClure is your man in the box who is there to tuck the ball away when given the opportunity. Did he get given an opportunity last night? No, we created ****** all. Jodie and Ash had a shot each. That was it. We gave him absolutely nothing to go off, not even any decent crosses. It's not just a case of 1 player. Every cog in this team needs to function for it to work and at the moment the cogs are all over the place. I'm not saying McClure is perfect but you're doing him a disservice. Give him a decent opportunity in the box and there are good odds he'll score.

Well Im not disagreeing with you entirely but the ball was in the opponents box a few times last night,could it be that he aint in the right position at the right time ? I suppose we can put this one to bed if he ever starts scoring.We've had 5 home games now and I think hes played in them all at some time or other,will he score Saturday ? I hope so.

ARNU wrote:Well Im not disagreeing with you entirely but the ball was in the opponents box a few times last night,could it be that he aint in the right position at the right time ? I suppose we can put this one to bed if he ever starts scoring.We've had 5 home games now and I think hes played in them all at some time or other,will he score Saturday ? I hope so.

Curo has one goal to his name this season. Granted he missed a few against Newport (I could argue McClure may have scored them but there's no way of knowing(, but somebody like him would normally have a few more by now. In the majority of games Curo has played, we've hardly given him a sniff (Barnet as the most recent example). McClure showed a couple of times during pre season and with two of the goals he's scored so far this season that he can be a predator like Curo if we give him the right service. We quite simply haven't.

Strangely,though Im sure it gives us both great enjoyment I wasn't actually looking to argue with you Lee.I get it.No service would and does hinder his chances.I haven't really seen much of him to really say he's a superstar or not that's all.

As for Ferdinand,hes no Stuart Thurgood is he ? Maybe its his style,just looks a bit lazy and reluctant to make a tackle.I did see him make quite a good one the other night but that and a poor pass or two are all I can really remember. We need a battler,a Thurgood,a Bingham or an Ogogo type in there.I do like Boucard actually,not sure he's a captain but time will tell.

Sadly the battler is Richards and he's out for two months. Personally I'd play a 4-1-4-1 with Ferdinand whose not much of a ball playing midfielder sitting in between the back four and the midfield, with Boucard and Raymond in front of him with Jones and Hemmings out wide. Up front is anyone's guess, but I'd go with McClure, he's no Jamie, but can win balls in the air. Right, that's sorted then, when do I take over from Wayne! :D

I cant remember what home game it was that Richards started in but he was very anonymous in it.He looked like Thurgood played like Ifil.

Richards and Ferdinand were the midfield pairing that cost Cheltenham last season, not sure why our Manager thought they would be any different here.

Ferdinand was only there a short time and was bombed out. :roll:

Boucaud was actually a million times better in the 2nd half on Tuesday. Probably his best half of football this season. Still played 1-2 lazy sideways passes but the majority of his passes were to the player in the hole behind the strikers which got us moving. Just shows the benefit of having Chambers/Hines in there.