31-01-2016, 14:12
Whilst town often have more than their share of possession, our ability to convert that into goals seems to be underwhelming. However, to succeed in winning games purely on the basis that we will score more than the opposition no matter how many they put past us requires a forward line like Manchester United used to have and look how much that cost. Dean Hoyle isn't into investing that sort of money in the Championship, nor should he be expected to. By all means get a new striker who can convert into goals, but that alone won't solve the problem.
The most pressing problem is shipping goals. Teams with a good goalkeeper, defence and to a certain extent midfield do not ship the number of goals that town do on a regular basis. Defenders are generally much cheaper than strikers and its time ineffective members of the defence were issued with P45's and replaced. There is also some doubt about the positioning and speed of some defenders. Town, in common with many teams seem to have a misguided loyalty to senior players. In football, a good reputation built up over years counts for nothing if your legs go or you slow up and can't be replaced with a corresponding improvement in positional play which means you don't need to be able to run half the length of the pitch because you are already in the right place. An example of continuing to play when he should have hung his boots up is Rio Ferdinand - he was worse than useless at his final club and a complete embarrassment to his club and himself- it's essential a manager knows when a player is no longer any use and has the balls to get shut. In general a clear sign that a defender is past it is when he gets yellow and red cards for lunging at an attacker he knows he can't keep pace with a little too frequently.
The most pressing problem is shipping goals. Teams with a good goalkeeper, defence and to a certain extent midfield do not ship the number of goals that town do on a regular basis. Defenders are generally much cheaper than strikers and its time ineffective members of the defence were issued with P45's and replaced. There is also some doubt about the positioning and speed of some defenders. Town, in common with many teams seem to have a misguided loyalty to senior players. In football, a good reputation built up over years counts for nothing if your legs go or you slow up and can't be replaced with a corresponding improvement in positional play which means you don't need to be able to run half the length of the pitch because you are already in the right place. An example of continuing to play when he should have hung his boots up is Rio Ferdinand - he was worse than useless at his final club and a complete embarrassment to his club and himself- it's essential a manager knows when a player is no longer any use and has the balls to get shut. In general a clear sign that a defender is past it is when he gets yellow and red cards for lunging at an attacker he knows he can't keep pace with a little too frequently.