[Dancingwilldoit]

Looks like we had our starting 11 for Oxford out last night. Not a bad game. The only weak part of the team was the centre back pairing which looked a bit slow and the pairing of Evatt and Raglan just isnt good. Raglan seems to be way off it IMO and going backwards. Derby went straight through the centre a couple of times with ease. Evans looked lively, O'Shea was O'Shea - poor to average for most of the game then scores with a superb finish. Was impressed with Jones Gardner and Dimaio.
Am still of the opinion that we will slip under most peoples radar and have a good season. Considering we played 25mins with a 46 year old left back 1-2 was pretty respectable and we deserved better.
Shane Nicholson was great for us and deserved last night. His career had a big blip but he picked himself up and did something about it. You have to respect him for that. Don't know the crowd but would have said at least 3k

[bluepooch]

Pretty much agree with that Dancing.
Id just like to add that i thought Mcginn had a decent game and looks like a good signing.
We need to strengthen centre mid and im hoping Angel or Nolan step up to the plate.Although i think Dimaio is improving but im struggling to see what Liddle brings to the team .He runs about a lot but doesnt really do anything of note .His best position is a holding midfielder because he has hardly any creativity but is protecting the back four a wasted position in any team ? .

[Dancingwilldoit]

Agree Blue but Liddle needs to protect Evatt and Raglan when they play. One game towards the end of last season - cant remember which, when he pushed forward he looked a different class of player.
Evatt looks to have plonked some weight on close season. Raglan gets pulled out of position far too easily and Evatt reads the game well but seems so so slow. At least with Hird there it gives us a more solid feel. He misses the first game so we will get what we get.

[bluepooch]

Assuming Nolan and Angel arent fit id go with 4231 for the Oxford game.

Fulton

Mcginn
Evatt
Raglan
Jones

Liddle
Dimaio

Gboly
O Shea
Gardner

Evans

Subs .Dennis,SEB,Mitchell,Donohue,Graham,Maguire,Sub goalie.

[Devongone]

Haven't we got Buxton and Leicester City to play before Oxford?

I'm not really keeping up, so we've got O'Neil, invisible Nolan, and the cotton-wool Angel injured already? Is Simons injured? Why didn't Gardner go, I thought he was away?

I'm not knocking your selection ability Pooch, and it could be accurate, but that looks like a terrible side to me.

Evans main ability is scoring goals and I don't see him doing it playing as lone front man. O'Shea only really turns up when Hulley's bus is on time, Gardner flits in and out of games, so Gboly (or Mitchell if we cash in on Gboly) is going to have to be permanently devastating.

No one seems impressed by Liddle, so the defensive screen of him and an inexperienced Dimaio doesn't augur well for a back four supported by a loanee keeper. It looks a relegation-bound side to me, almost certain to struggle against an Oxford side invigorated by new signings.

Aren't there any rumours of signings? HELP!!!!

[bluepooch]

Forgot about Simons Dev ,but to be honest hes been pretty awful pre season .he looks to have bulked up but his first touch is terrible .i probably wouldnt even put him ahead of SEB thats how bad hes been.
Looking at that team there doesnt look to be many goals in it I must admit.But the new or young players have not been on the pitch enough to judge them.Im hoping they step up to the plate.Dennis could possibly start in a 442.

[Devongone]

But we look potentially weak in every department ..... young loanee keeper, relying on an old-ish central defender and younger ?non-progressive? partner, a defensive midfield of an unimpressive captain and an untried youngster, an advanced midfield that could go missing entirely and a striker coming back from four years out ........ It isn't your obvious recipe for success, but I agree it is looking like our starting eleven. To be honest it looks rather like England at the Euros - only the full backs turning up.

Simons does have one great asset, he's young and can improve. It doesn't sound as though SEB can ever recapture anything like his Wolves or Plymouth form. So if I was looking for a sub who might go on and shake a few people up ..... well SEB would never be in the running. I reckon SEB either starts now, or you leave him on the red button with Gaby Logan. A young lad with a poor first touch? It's at least a maybe as a sub.

I'd like to see us stepping Dennis up to the plate in our remaining friendlies. Known goalscorers like Evans and Dennis paired would at least keep an opposing back four honest. If Simons is as poor as SEB and they played together, imagine the chaos the opposition back four would create when they realised we carried no threat at all.

In clips I've seen of our Juniors, Ricky German looks to be exactly what the first team needs up front. He gives the play shape, he scores goals, he's a handful for his marker/s AND when you watch the lads play without him the difference shouts at you. He needs another year, we haven't even assigned him a squad number ..... but Kevin Davies was younger when he started and it very quickly made a man of him.

My preference would be a signing. If Danny Mills is still languishing at Whitehawk I'd gamble on him. Either Evans or Dennis alongside would score plenty and Danny himself gets 20+ a season at that level. Toothless teams rarely win and I don't think we can afford to wait until Jay decides it's time to chip in with a couple of 30-yard stunners.

I'm not convinced our current first eleven would actually beat a team made up from those injured or left out:-

Keeper (Ginger or not)

Graham
Hird
Maguire
Donohue

Nolan
Angel
O'Neil

Mitchell
Dennis
Simons

and that leaves out the Hump who deserves at least a half and SEB, just because I want runners to create a bit of chaos for Dennis to take advantage of the first team centre backs.

My worry would be that Gboly might rip us apart, but I'd also think that if he was up against our first choice defence.

[bluepooch]

But Dev youre complaining about unproven players then suggest playing a kid or signing a non league player to ease our problems .Isn't he just another Dennis ?
You're right about the team you've suggested being as good as my team,I think at least when injury free we have some depth to the squad even if its only average quality.
As for The German lad he did look decent at Matlock and could develop into a first teamer ,he is a big strong lad for his age .

[Devongone]

Why I suggest Danny Mills is he is a physically strong centre forward, capable of causing problems that will make chances for Ched Evans or Krystian Dennis ........ and we could afford him. I know the lone forward is popular but I believe he's at best only as strong as the players supporting him ........ and ours don't look that committed to hard work. If we've gone through all the unpopularity of signing Ched Evans because we think we're getting a proper thoroughbred I can't see the point of using him as a workhorse.

I'm not against us using players who aren't yet established or proven at our level. In fact I'm all in favour of it. But I worry when I fear the young lad may carry the can for the failings of the regular player alongside him. If Dimaio and Liddle didn't work out who do you think would get the blame? If the relationship between Fulton and Evatt doesn't work and we start conceding, who'll stand up and say Evatt's past it? I wonder if that's not been what happens with Raglan. When he plays, if we concede, who's at fault? Well not Tommy surely or Evo or Sam! It can be hard to come through and even a good young player can doubt himself, don't you think?

When you play 4-2-3-1 one of the three's jobs is to try and pinch the ball back in the opponent's half. Defender's like order, getting robbed bringing the ball out drags them out of position, and you're halfway to an effort on goal. England under Hodgson had two of the best at it in Welbeck and Lallana, with them playing they caused anyone trouble, put Dele Alli with them and they were handful. My trouble with our likely three is two of them won't catch defenders out. I think defence is about maintaining order and attack is about creating chaos. That's why I used to argue with old Dancing about Tendayi, because for whatever he got wrong he also always created situations in which defenders were being dragged around the pitch fire-fighting. I'm not sure that now Gboly is enough on his own to do that. I always wanted Tendayi to do more of it, not become saner and more predictable. I wanted him to cut in and shoot, use his weaker foot, change the point of play, defenders can't handle that.

As for Ricky German, do I think he has potential? Well I'd give him a squad number now. I'd contractually anchor him at Chesterfield for as long as I could. When Leicester City come I'd hide him in a big box. Whatever we get for Gboly we should be thinking that we have triple, quadruple that amount in our bank with Ricky German. Everything I've seen him do, shouts Premiership quality to me. He just knows what to do.

[bluepooch]

I bow to your knowledge of German Dev .If hes as good as you say then im drooling at the thought of him tearing through defences.