Match Thread: Gillingham v Lincoln City | Page 14 | Vital Football

Match Thread: Gillingham v Lincoln City

buckielugger said:
Maybe given the fit/available/good enough midfield lack


O'Hara is definitely being missed.
Best player last season after he joined us.
Could we get him back??
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And just checked, only 2 appearances on loan at Motherwell so far.
Posh might not be happy with that, but then again unlikely to want to help us as we're now a direct rival.
 
mikeosullivan said:
I disagree that MA has inherited an unbalanced squad. We have really good alatetrnatives in every position bar striker.

GK - Vickers, Smith
RB Eardley, Lewis
LB - Toffolo, Coker
CB - Shackell, Bolger, Connolly, Bostwick, Melbourne
Midfield - Morrell, O'Connor, Chapman, Pett, Frecklington
Wingers - Andrade, Anderson, Grant
2nd Striker - Payne, Hesketh
Striker - Walker, Akinde

Unlike past seasons, when the squad was filled out with loanees that were not up to scratch, every one of the above is a genuine first teamer. 23 players!

Yes, we need a goalscorer, but if we are to make several signings in January as many people are asking for - who of the above would you release and be confident new additions would be better?

I firmly believe there is a decent team amongst those 23, maybe with the addition of a goalscorer. If I'm right, I would have the same opinion of MA as I would if DC was still here - that is, the directors have given you a decent squad - the rest is down to your coaching ability.

Saturday worries me. I hope it was a one off, but it had signs of the players not wanting to play for the manager. I truly hope I am wrong.
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So much to disagree agree with here. Really good alternatives? Zero alternatives more like.
CB - No pace at all across the 3 regular starters, a young lad learning his trade and another young lad signed by DC as a midfielder.

Midfielders....Freck is perpetually unfit, O’Connor injury prone, Chapman has promise but that’s all at the moment, Morrell is class but isn’t ours and misses too many games and Pett isn’t good enough. Grant....heart of a pea, shit facial hair.

Strikers.... Akinde, clearly not good enough.

Genuinely think DC had no intention of being here for the season and frankly, the squad as he left it reflects this.

As for the players not playing for MA, this goes against everything I’ve heard.
 
Mattytindraws said:
So much to disagree agree with here. Really good alternatives? Zero alternatives more like.
CB - No pace at all across the 3 regular starters, a young lad learning his trade and another young lad signed by DC as a midfielder.

Midfielders....Freck is perpetually unfit, O’Connor injury prone, Chapman has promise but that’s all at the moment, Morrell is class but isn’t ours and misses too many games and Pett isn’t good enough. Grant....heart of a pea, shit facial hair.

Strikers.... Akinde, clearly not good enough.

Genuinely think DC had no intention of being here for the season and frankly, the squad as he left it reflects this.

As for the players not playing for MA, this goes against everything I’ve heard.
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How can you say that is an balanced squad several have not been fit and we dont to what extent they are now , and as MA says several are too old and incidentally injury prone .
 
Mattytindraws said:
So much to disagree agree with here. Really good alternatives? Zero alternatives more like.
CB - No pace at all across the 3 regular starters, a young lad learning his trade and another young lad signed by DC as a midfielder.

Midfielders....Freck is perpetually unfit, O’Connor injury prone, Chapman has promise but that’s all at the moment, Morrell is class but isn’t ours and misses too many games and Pett isn’t good enough. Grant....heart of a pea, shit facial hair.

Strikers.... Akinde, clearly not good enough.

Genuinely think DC had no intention of being here for the season and frankly, the squad as he left it reflects this.

As for the players not playing for MA, this goes against everything I’ve heard.
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Don`t agree with all of your comments only 97% of them.(feel Akinde could still play a role for LCFC despite MA`s comments,esp when pitches cut up and passing football on quagmires fails dismally)
Check out tabletoppers Wycombe and Akinfenwa.....target men rule?

Your second last comment gives us a succinct picture of and why we are struggling today in our current position and is an accurate interpretation of events.(imo)
 
Mattytindraws said:
So much to disagree agree with here. Really good alternatives? Zero alternatives more like.
CB - No pace at all across the 3 regular starters, a young lad learning his trade and another young lad signed by DC as a midfielder.

Midfielders....Freck is perpetually unfit, O’Connor injury prone, Chapman has promise but that’s all at the moment, Morrell is class but isn’t ours and misses too many games and Pett isn’t good enough. Grant....heart of a pea, shit facial hair.

Strikers.... Akinde, clearly not good enough.

Genuinely think DC had no intention of being here for the season and frankly, the squad as he left it reflects this.

As for the players not playing for MA, this goes against everything I’ve heard.
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Although what you "heard" over the summer wasn't worth much as it turned out...
 
Scotimp said:
Really?

Here's some facts: under Michael Appleton, despite the lack of wins, we have conceded only 9 goals in 10 games. We conceded 8 in the previous 3 games under Jamie McCombe. That run includes SIX away games including Blackpool, Ipswich, Portsmouth and Peterborough; we have also played Sunderland at home in that time. We have also conceded just 4 in our last 6 games, which is far from catastrophic. In fact, that is promotion standard. Following major upheaval, that is genuinely impressive.

We have been missing some key players: Bostwick (our Player of the Season) hasn't kicked a ball since 14 September; Frecklington (our captain) has played 60 minutes; Pett (finished third in Player of the Season) has appeared in three games and is not fit; influential O'Connor is now injured; we keep losing Morrell and Lewis to international duty without being permitted to postpone a game. If those players had been available, Ellis Chapman would not be anywhere near the first team. He isn't good enough to play regularly in League One, not by a long way; that is not his fault - he is only 18.

Never underestimate how much Cowley's departure knocked us sideways. Personally, I think Appleton is doing a great job under the circumstances he has been handed: he said he would make us hard to beat in the first instance, and he has done that despite the lack of wins. We are not a bad team, the problem lies in the loss of key players and the (partly related) inability to score. Appleton has not said he can do anything about that at the moment, but I suspect we will score more goals - and possibly concede even fewer - once those key players return. We also have the January transfer window imminent, whatever that may offer, and we have money available for the right player(s). Appleton has already stated that he is 'crystal clear' about what is required in January, so give the poor guy a chance.
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Stats can be made to show anything.

We've also played Gillingham, Wimbledon, Portsmouth and Shrewsbury, all in the lower half of the division, and gained two points. We are not competing for the points we should be able to gain.

We've scored five goals in the eight league games with him in charge. Over 44 games that's 28 goals - unless you're winning 1-0 28 times I can't imagine that will be enough to save a team from relegation.

Similarly, if we lost 1-0 in all our 44 games we would probably have the best defensive record in the division.
 
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elkimp said:
And the squad is unbalanced. We all know there is a lack of forward options. But the midfield is overloaded with similar players. We are missing powerful athletes, strong in the tackle and good headers of the ball, box to box type players. We needed a grafter or two like this, such as O'Hara.
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That's then talking about quality and attributes of said players, which is a different argument (I'd agree that we lack of a bit of physicality in areas).

If a way of playing is 'x', you don't then spend your budget on 'y'. This squad is built by a manager and his way of playing.

Numerically and positionally, it's not an unbalanced squad. The only time this season we've had to play someone out of position is Anderson at RB against Rotherham due to Lewis being on international duty and Eardley being rested. And that's despite the amount of injuries. Even with Freck, Morrell and O'Connor missing, we were still able to play two CM's on Saturday.

As I say, if we're delving further into the players attributes and the quality of them then that's a different issue.
 
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