The Squad Now

[Ghost_Of_1883]

I think some of the new signings could have strengthened us? Personally I think our current players lend themselves to a 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation.

I have to say the following looks quite strong...I'm a bit more optimistic now.

.............. Taylor...............
Griffiths Lawlor Burton Hedley
................Platt...............
.........Lindley Hatfield.......
...Salkeld.............Ngandu...
..............Asante...............

Rowe, Nelson, Rivers, Moke, Liddle, one of Lees/Sukar as a core.

Obviously we need to extend Burton's stay or replace with someone as good. I'd be happy if the rumour about signing Nathan Thomas was true. If we got him, he could compete with Ngandu as Rivers could compete with Salkeld.

It'll be interesting to see if Curry is part of Josh's plans when he is fit because he hasn't really featured much.

Big question marks over the rest of the squad, I think most of the following will be moved on - Hazel (sadly IMO), Mustoe, one of Lees/Sukar (sadly IMO if Sukar), and the other loanees Windass, Winfield, Simms.

[Spyman]

Agree with everything you've said there. I'd rather we kept Hazel over Nelson but that does seem unlikely.

There was talk of Moke being 'forced out' a couple of weeks ago, although it seems he was injured and so perhaps people putting two and two together/stirring the pot. If we are going down the route of 4-3-3 or whatever you want to call it, then he's worth keeping in my mind.

[loan_star]

Agree with everything you've said there. I'd rather we kept Hazel over Nelson but that does seem unlikely.

There was talk of Moke being 'forced out' a couple of weeks ago, although it seems he was injured and so perhaps people putting two and two together/stirring the pot. If we are going down the route of 4-3-3 or whatever you want to call it, then he's worth keeping in my mind.

Moke has been injured but also had personal issues to deal with. Its great to see him back.

[grimsbyquaker]

Adriano is my favourite player. Tidy on the ball and never gives it away. Definitely worth keeping him to play in front of the back four with Platt or Lindley

[Ghost_Of_1883]

I think some of the new signings could have strengthened us? Personally I think our current players lend themselves to a 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation.

I have to say the following looks quite strong...I'm a bit more optimistic now.

.............. Taylor...............
Griffiths Lawlor Burton Hedley
................Platt...............
.........Lindley Hatfield.......
...Salkeld.............Ngandu...
..............Asante...............

Rowe, Nelson, Rivers, Moke, Liddle, one of Lees/Sukar as a core.

Obviously we need to extend Burton's stay or replace with someone as good. I'd be happy if the rumour about signing Nathan Thomas was true. If we got him, he could compete with Ngandu as Rivers could compete with Salkeld.

It'll be interesting to see if Curry is part of Josh's plans when he is fit because he hasn't really featured much.

Big question marks over the rest of the squad, I think most of the following will be moved on - Hazel (sadly IMO), Mustoe, one of Lees/Sukar (sadly IMO if Sukar), and the other loanees Windass, Winfield, Simms.

I was kidding myself there wasn't I - an 8-0 defeat merely hours after this post made me look like an absolute gormless know nowt. Quite strong my arse.

I'm no longer deluded.

[The_Natural]

Thanks Alun!

[Ghost_Of_1883]

5 Josh signings in that 16, though one has gone back, making it 4.

It literally does look a pretty strong line up on paper though - make it make sense.

8-0 man.

[Darlofan97]

5 Josh signings in that 16, though one has gone back, making it 4.

It literally does look a pretty strong line up on paper though - make it make sense.

8-0 man.

The problem is deeper than the players themselves.

[Ghost_Of_1883]

5 Josh signings in that 16, though one has gone back, making it 4.

It literally does look a pretty strong line up on paper though - make it make sense.

8-0 man.

The problem is deeper than the players themselves.

Let's not be too hasty excusing these players. No one else but them goes on to that pitch. They're grown blokes who should have pride, aggression and fight.

If there's stuff going on behind the scenes they need to leave it behind the scenes for 90 minutes on a Saturday, and have a sort out at the appropriate times.

[Darlofan97]

Thanks Alun!

Alun isn’t to blame.

He left us with: Taylor, Griffiths, Lawlor, Sukar, Hedley, Platt, Hatfield, Liddle, Felix, Hazel, Barnes, Rivers, Salkeld.

All of those players are good enough for a mid-table NLN side. You could even stoop down to 15th or 16th if you believe my mid-table calibre claim is too high.

Don’t forget, out of the 8 fixtures Alun managed this season, 7 were against sides in the top 10.

The problem has been what has occurred since the moment Alun was sacked. A very questionable appointment, poor tactics, poor signings & the alienation of senior players.

[Darlofan97]

5 Josh signings in that 16, though one has gone back, making it 4.

It literally does look a pretty strong line up on paper though - make it make sense.

8-0 man.

The problem is deeper than the players themselves.

Let's not be too hasty excusing these players. No one else but them goes on to that pitch. They're grown blokes who should have pride, aggression and fight.

If there's stuff going on behind the scenes they need to leave it behind the scenes for 90 minutes on a Saturday, and have a sort out at the appropriate times.

The players don’t make the signings, devise the tactics and choose the team, though.

As an example, if your manager has instructed you to press very high against Chorley, when you are 3-0 down at half-time, away from home, then that is a recipe for absolute carnage.

They can’t drop in to two low blocks, as that would be going against manager’s instruction.

The 8-0 was 70% on Gowling, 30% on the players.

[Ghost_Of_1883]

Thanks Alun!

Alun isn’t to blame.

He left us with: Taylor, Griffiths, Lawlor, Sukar, Hedley, Platt, Hatfield, Liddle, Felix, Hazel, Barnes, Rivers, Salkeld.

All of those players are good enough for a mid-table NLN side. You could even stoop down to 15th or 16th if you believe my mid-table calibre claim is too high.

Don’t forget, out of the 8 fixtures Alun managed this season, 7 were against sides in the top 10.

The problem has been what has occurred since the moment Alun was sacked. A very questionable appointment, poor tactics, poor signings & the alienation of senior players.

Some of the close season signings have been poor though - Mustoe, Windass, Curry, Lees and really we couldn't keep Barnes for ever.

I'd say that so far Platt isn't as good as Purver was, and Hazel has been not the Hazel of last season since day 1 of this season.

[Ghost_Of_1883]

As an example, if your manager has instructed you to press very high against Chorley, when you are 3-0 down at half-time, away from home, then that is a recipe for absolute carnage.

They can’t drop in to two low blocks, as that would be going against manager’s instruction.

The 8-0 was 70% on Gowling, 30% on the players.

Do we know that JG actually instructed that?

Look I'm not trying to excuse him either, the jury is well out for me - as you will remember I said in his first match I was alarmed to see a 5-4-1 vs Gloucester, WTF is going on here...

You're never going to score many with such a negative formation as that and if you keep on shipping goals then you're in bother.

But I do think that we do over rate many of our players as well. The league table doesn't care what we think.

[Darlofan97]

Thanks Alun!

Alun isn’t to blame.

He left us with: Taylor, Griffiths, Lawlor, Sukar, Hedley, Platt, Hatfield, Liddle, Felix, Hazel, Barnes, Rivers, Salkeld.

All of those players are good enough for a mid-table NLN side. You could even stoop down to 15th or 16th if you believe my mid-table calibre claim is too high.

Don’t forget, out of the 8 fixtures Alun managed this season, 7 were against sides in the top 10.

The problem has been what has occurred since the moment Alun was sacked. A very questionable appointment, poor tactics, poor signings & the alienation of senior players.

Some of the close season signings have been poor though - Mustoe, Windass, Curry, Lees and really we couldn't keep Barnes for ever.

I'd say that so far Platt isn't as good as Purver was, and Hazel has been not the Hazel of last season since day 1 of this season.

I agree.

Barnes was happy to stay though, and could have been retained.

Same with Felix.

The core of 14 was there to keep us up, regardless of a few poor players here & there.

Instead, Gowling has sold some players, brought in some poor players & decimated a few of the players’ confidence by trying to sell them.

And again, people wonder why we lost 8-0 the other night, and have lost 7 out of his 11 matches in charge.

It’s not a coincidence.

[Darlofan97]

As an example, if your manager has instructed you to press very high against Chorley, when you are 3-0 down at half-time, away from home, then that is a recipe for absolute carnage.

They can’t drop in to two low blocks, as that would be going against manager’s instruction.

The 8-0 was 70% on Gowling, 30% on the players.

Do we know that JG actually instructed that?

Look I'm not trying to excuse him either, the jury is well out for me - as you will remember I said in his first match I was alarmed to see a 5-4-1 vs Gloucester, WTF is going on here...

You're never going to score many with such a negative formation as that and if you keep on shipping goals then you're in bother.

But I do think that we do over rate many of our players as well. The league table doesn't care what we think.

The players wouldn’t have pressed like mad-men at 3-0 down unless instructed to by the management.

Doing so goes against the norm; what you tend to do in that situation.

Rewatch the fourth goal. Chorley’s CB has the ball and we have five players pressing in their half.

Gowling then complained that we got done by a long-ball.

[Ghost_Of_1883]

I agree.

Barnes was happy to stay though, and could have been retained.

Same with Felix.

The core of 14 was there to keep us up, regardless of a few poor players here & there.

Instead, Gowling has sold some players, brought in some poor players & decimated a few of the players’ confidence by trying to sell them.

And again, people wonder why we lost 8-0 the other night, and have lost 7 out of his 11 matches in charge.

It’s not a coincidence.

I can't disagree with too much of that apart from I think you maybe over rate some of our players - not naming names because it won't be helpful.

Sadly for players, new managers will always try and sell several of them to make room for their own players, this happens 100% of the time. In that respect Gowling has done nothing new.

The fact that he failed to get rid of any of them apart from Felix might give us a hint as to how good these players really are. Not been snapped up have they?

[Ghost_Of_1883]

Gowling then complained that we got done by a long-ball.

We're always getting done by the long ball, that's Darlo.

[lo36789]

Gowling then complained that we got done by a long-ball.

We're always getting done by the long ball, that's Darlo.

And set pieces

[jjljks]

Gowling then complained that we got done by a long-ball.

We're always getting done by the long ball, that's Darlo.

And set pieces

And in the few minutes straight after kick-off & restart.

[lo36789]

Gowling then complained that we got done by a long-ball.

We're always getting done by the long ball, that's Darlo.

And set pieces

And in the few minutes straight after kick-off & restart.

It's precarious situation to put yourself in. Need to practise coin toss predictions more in training.

[e4sby]

As an example, if your manager has instructed you to press very high against Chorley, when you are 3-0 down at half-time, away from home, then that is a recipe for absolute carnage.

They can’t drop in to two low blocks, as that would be going against manager’s instruction.

The 8-0 was 70% on Gowling, 30% on the players.

Do we know that JG actually instructed that?

Look I'm not trying to excuse him either, the jury is well out for me - as you will remember I said in his first match I was alarmed to see a 5-4-1 vs Gloucester, WTF is going on here...

You're never going to score many with such a negative formation as that and if you keep on shipping goals then you're in bother.

But I do think that we do over rate many of our players as well. The league table doesn't care what we think.

He did, I asked him at the fans forum if he would do anything differently second half of the Chorley game. He said we didn't have the players on the pitch that talked to allow us to go into a med-block and stay organised.

[e4sby]

As an example, if your manager has instructed you to press very high against Chorley, when you are 3-0 down at half-time, away from home, then that is a recipe for absolute carnage.

They can’t drop in to two low blocks, as that would be going against manager’s instruction.

The 8-0 was 70% on Gowling, 30% on the players.

Do we know that JG actually instructed that?

Look I'm not trying to excuse him either, the jury is well out for me - as you will remember I said in his first match I was alarmed to see a 5-4-1 vs Gloucester, WTF is going on here...

You're never going to score many with such a negative formation as that and if you keep on shipping goals then you're in bother.

But I do think that we do over rate many of our players as well. The league table doesn't care what we think.

The players wouldn’t have pressed like mad-men at 3-0 down unless instructed to by the management.

Doing so goes against the norm; what you tend to do in that situation.

Rewatch the fourth goal. Chorley’s CB has the ball and we have five players pressing in their half.

Gowling then complained that we got done by a long-ball.

To be fair to Josh Gowling any capable centre half would've been in a better position to head the ball away instead of getting caught like Lees did.

[beatroute66]

Barnes was happy to stay though, and could have been retained.

Same with Felix.

Sorry - I know it's a minor detail in wider context, but I keep seeing it and saying it by return - Kaine intimated in the summer, and secondly when Josh arrived, that the distance/commute wasn't working for him anymore.

Josh said on Friday night that he didn't realise where Kaine lived until he arrived at the club.

If folk are saying that Josh alienated/sold Kaine by his own choice, then it isn't true.

[lo36789]

If folk are saying that Josh alienated/sold Kaine by his own choice, then it isn't true.

I'm not sure that seems to matter at this stage.

[Quakers2009]

As an example, if your manager has instructed you to press very high against Chorley, when you are 3-0 down at half-time, away from home, then that is a recipe for absolute carnage.

They can’t drop in to two low blocks, as that would be going against manager’s instruction.

The 8-0 was 70% on Gowling, 30% on the players.

Do we know that JG actually instructed that?

Look I'm not trying to excuse him either, the jury is well out for me - as you will remember I said in his first match I was alarmed to see a 5-4-1 vs Gloucester, WTF is going on here...

You're never going to score many with such a negative formation as that and if you keep on shipping goals then you're in bother.

But I do think that we do over rate many of our players as well. The league table doesn't care what we think.

He did, I asked him at the fans forum if he would do anything differently second half of the Chorley game. He said we didn't have the players on the pitch that talked to allow us to go into a med-block and stay organised.

What a load of shiite.

We had Tom Platt on the bench.

E4sby, you are seriously falling for this guy’s bullshit.

[Quakers2009]

Barnes was happy to stay though, and could have been retained.

Same with Felix.

Sorry - I know it's a minor detail in wider context, but I keep seeing it and saying it by return - Kaine intimated in the summer, and secondly when Josh arrived, that the distance/commute wasn't working for him anymore.

Josh said on Friday night that he didn't realise where Kaine lived until he arrived at the club.

If folk are saying that Josh alienated/sold Kaine by his own choice, then it isn't true.

No, he just alienated Taylor and now Hazel is playing the hokey-cokey due to Gowling’s indecisiveness.

[Old Git]

Barnes was happy to stay though, and could have been retained.

Same with Felix.

Sorry - I know it's a minor detail in wider context, but I keep seeing it and saying it by return - Kaine intimated in the summer, and secondly when Josh arrived, that the distance/commute wasn't working for him anymore.

Josh said on Friday night that he didn't realise where Kaine lived until he arrived at the club.

If folk are saying that Josh alienated/sold Kaine by his own choice, then it isn't true.

No, he just alienated Taylor and now Hazel is playing the hokey-cokey due to Gowling’s indecisiveness.

Your post would suggest you think that certain players eg Taylor and Hazel have been playing well and should not be dropped. Sadly that is not the case, so the manager has the right to try something different. Whether they have been alienated or not I don’t know, but it clearly suits your narrative to portray it that way. Players come in and out of favour at every club in the land, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they feel alienated because they lose their place. They are grown men and need to show some resilience and strength of character and a desire to prove the manager wrong if they feel aggrieved at being out of the team.

[e4sby]

As an example, if your manager has instructed you to press very high against Chorley, when you are 3-0 down at half-time, away from home, then that is a recipe for absolute carnage.

They can’t drop in to two low blocks, as that would be going against manager’s instruction.

The 8-0 was 70% on Gowling, 30% on the players.

Do we know that JG actually instructed that?

Look I'm not trying to excuse him either, the jury is well out for me - as you will remember I said in his first match I was alarmed to see a 5-4-1 vs Gloucester, WTF is going on here...

You're never going to score many with such a negative formation as that and if you keep on shipping goals then you're in bother.

But I do think that we do over rate many of our players as well. The league table doesn't care what we think.

He did, I asked him at the fans forum if he would do anything differently second half of the Chorley game. He said we didn't have the players on the pitch that talked to allow us to go into a med-block and stay organised.

What a load of shiite.

We had Tom Platt on the bench.

E4sby, you are seriously falling for this guy’s bullshit.

Not at all, unfortunately due to sound and microphone issues fans weren't able to ask follow up questions.

I do agree that we don't have enough talkers in the side, something that has not been addressed since the likes of Brown, Scott, Turnbull, Armstrong were here.

Although my opinion would be you challenge the players to complete the second half in a mid/low-block and keep the score at 3-0 instead of going out pressing/full backs bombing on.

[Quakers2009]

Barnes was happy to stay though, and could have been retained.

Same with Felix.

Sorry - I know it's a minor detail in wider context, but I keep seeing it and saying it by return - Kaine intimated in the summer, and secondly when Josh arrived, that the distance/commute wasn't working for him anymore.

Josh said on Friday night that he didn't realise where Kaine lived until he arrived at the club.

If folk are saying that Josh alienated/sold Kaine by his own choice, then it isn't true.

No, he just alienated Taylor and now Hazel is playing the hokey-cokey due to Gowling’s indecisiveness.

Your post would suggest you think that certain players eg Taylor and Hazel have been playing well and should not be dropped. Sadly that is not the case, so the manager has the right to try something different. Whether they have been alienated or not I don’t know, but it clearly suits your narrative to portray it that way. Players come in and out of favour at every club in the land, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they feel alienated because they lose their place. They are grown men and need to show some resilience and strength of character and a desire to prove the manager wrong if they feel aggrieved at being out of the team.

No, it doesn't.

I hold nothing against a new manager trying different things or dropping players to the bench. What I take exception to, however, is players being transfer listed, offered to other clubs, told not to train, and also have moves to other clubs placed on hold as they are now 'needed'.

And then we bring these players back into the side, you know, the ones who have been offered to other clubs or we have actively tried to replace, and we expect them to perform.

This guy makes TW look like a good manager - at least he waited until the summer to demolish the squad!

[Old Git]

Barnes was happy to stay though, and could have been retained.

Same with Felix.

Sorry - I know it's a minor detail in wider context, but I keep seeing it and saying it by return - Kaine intimated in the summer, and secondly when Josh arrived, that the distance/commute wasn't working for him anymore.

Josh said on Friday night that he didn't realise where Kaine lived until he arrived at the club.

If folk are saying that Josh alienated/sold Kaine by his own choice, then it isn't true.

No, he just alienated Taylor and now Hazel is playing the hokey-cokey due to Gowling’s indecisiveness.

Your post would suggest you think that certain players eg Taylor and Hazel have been playing well and should not be dropped. Sadly that is not the case, so the manager has the right to try something different. Whether they have been alienated or not I don’t know, but it clearly suits your narrative to portray it that way. Players come in and out of favour at every club in the land, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they feel alienated because they lose their place. They are grown men and need to show some resilience and strength of character and a desire to prove the manager wrong if they feel aggrieved at being out of the team.

No, it doesn't.

I hold nothing against a new manager trying different things or dropping players to the bench. What I take exception to, however, is players being transfer listed, offered to other clubs, told not to train, and also have moves to other clubs placed on hold as they are now 'needed'.

And then we bring these players back into the side, you know, the ones who have been offered to other clubs or we have actively tried to replace, and we expect them to perform.

This guy makes TW look like a good manager - at least he waited until the summer to demolish the squad!

TOLD NOT TO TRAIN. I have no idea where you have got that from. Perhaps you should enlighten us, as that is a serious allegation in my book.