DCFC Kicks

5 hours ago, Tamworthram said:

I’d rather take a glock than a water pistol to a gun fight. I’d rather use a Ferrari than a Robin Reliant in a race.

 

So, not necessarily true.

Fernando Alonso in a Robin could probably beat me in a Ferrari 

10 hours ago, Paultheram said:

Sorry if this post has already appeared on here but I just want everyone’s thoughts on our league form!

My personal view is that we are just around the play offs and with a good win on Saturday we could be in the play offs with a gap forming to the teams behind!

Players back from injuries, International break to give players a rest.

John Jules could be a secret weapon!

Are we happy with play offs this season or we think autos should be the aim?

 

A weapon is only as powerful as the one who wields it. 

On 17/11/2023 at 12:23, Chris_Martin said:

there are plenty of examples where that isn't the case though

1 hour ago, jimtastic56 said:

If Bird goes in January we could upgrade by getting Joe White from Crewe if his loan from Newcastle ends then . The England u18 is too good for Tier 4 .He does not continually pass sideways/ back and if there is nothing “on” he dribbles past opposition players.

He would do if he was coached by Warne.

What do captains in football even do apart from coin tosses and being allowed to talk to the ref a bit more? If a players a leader they're going to lead whether they have the armband or not. Bradley, Collins, Forsyth, Bird, Nelson, Smith and Hourihane have all been captains at either this club or another. 

6 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Not sure they outplayed us in the first game to be fair.

You might disagree but to me we were just blowing a lot of hot air that game. Crewe let us have loads of unrealistic shots. Look at shots on target, 8 for us and 6 for them. 

15 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

We've not spent a penny in the last 2 transfer windows.

Crewe were a second tier club at the turn of the century.

They were a club that had a reputation for a fantastic youth system which produced many top level players.

 

Yes, we've both not spent any fees, but we've spent more on wages. 

They were last in the Championship 16 years ago, which is a long time.

They did have a good youth system. Sold quite a few to Derby as well. 

I'm not sure what you're arguing. Are you saying Derby and Crewe are on a somewhat level playing field? I just cant accept that. We were outplayed by them in both games. They only had 12 players available in the first game. 

19 minutes ago, Rampant said:

I thought they'd had a season or two in the Championship.

I've just looked. They were last in the Championship in 2007. To be fair they were in the Championship quite a bit from 1999-2007.

24 minutes ago, Sparkle said:

I can’t say that I want Warne to be given any money to spend in January as I have little confidence that any kind of decent footballer would be signed 

He'd buy players to fit his style of play. So yes I agree, no decent footballer of any kind.

16 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Have they been on the brink of going bust, had their best young talent taken for a pittance and started a season with just 5 senior players on the books?

Genuine question as I have no idea about Crewe.

I'm not sure that's relevant because we're not in that situation now. We've spent more in the last 2 transfer windows than Crewe have in 10+ years 

As far as I'm aware, Crewe have been a 3rd or 4th tier club for ever. Don't think they've done much else. 

Everyone banging on about a possible lack of transfer budget as an excuse for our performances - We just deservedly lost to a club whose entire squad value is around £4m, and who haven't actually spent a fee on a player for almost 10 years. 

12 minutes ago, Chris_Martin said:

i would argue he doesn't even with NML

Depends if you regard 'passing it to him so he can run a bit then cross it' as an offensive tactic or not.

Without Mendez-Laing I'm not sure Warne knows what to do offensively. This is what happens when you play so one-dimensionally - if a player is missing or the opposition figure out how to counter it, that's it. It's just embarrassing that its Crewe who've worked out how to counter it. 

1-3 loss

Barkhuizen

Scored again tonight. I know his wages are probably high, but why didn't we just sign 1 or 2 good strikers like him instead of 4 average ones

2 hours ago, On the Ram Page said:

Think you'd better watch Liverpool a bit more. Mo Salah in particular on the left side. Newcastle are another who attack down the wings with Gordon and Almiron.

Just because they both like to attack from wide doesn't mean they want to do it in the same way. What Warne wants is nothing like the    3-3-3-1 Liverpool or Man City play, or Newcastle's 4-3-3. Liverpool have Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Trent who play through the middle. Warne wants something similar to how Luton play, who also attack almost exclusively from the wing-backs. 3-5-2, with three ball-winning midfielders, and two big target men up front

11 minutes ago, On the Ram Page said:

I agree that is is what Hourihane said and that Paul Warne has said in the past that his preferred method of play (maybe to get out of League One only?) is to play with wing backs, high energy, press and get crosses into the box. This is what Liverpool do and Man City to a great extent although they do play through the lines as well.

Its not what Liverpool or Man City do. It's what Sheffield United and Chelsea were doing about 4 or 5 years ago. Then its effectiveness suddenly fell of a cliff when people worked out how to counter it. Now hardly anyone uses it.

3 minutes ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

I didn’t say we were being effective, just that it’s more than ONLY getting it out wide and crossing it. 

We must be watching different games then.😆

I wonder when the classic Collins sub, two up front hoofball will happen.

2 minutes ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

I think I’m watching a different game, I’ve definitely seen some passing and movement, leading to things like the shot from Hourihane a moment ago or NML driving into the box and getting a shot away. It’s not just “cross cross cross” as some have said.

However, it’s not working with the current set up and they’re set up to counter us with ease. Think Warne needs to introduce a couple of subs, some pace and guile in Sibley/Wilson/Ward and maybe get Fornah on for his athleticism 

Yes, there's been some movement and passing, but it relative to the opposition. We're playing a full strength team against Crewe. 

Our tactics are so simple, its obvious how to counter it. even Crewe can do it. 

6 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

We’ve been camped in and around their box for big chunks of that half… 

It would incredibly depressing if we weren't, considering we're playing Crewe. Camped in and around their box doing what though? It always just ends up as a cross, or a hopeful pass in behind for Washington. Typically unsophisticated tactics yet again, unfortunately.

It doesn't matter how many players we commit forward if they're just going to do the same old things. If anything it just makes us vulnerable to counter attacks.

8 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

Have a day off pal. I’m no fan but he’s Set us up to dominate today and we have so far. We’ve been camped in their third. He can do very little about TB and NML who should be 2 of the most dangerous forwards in league 1 losing all composure against a league 2 side. He can do very little about Forsyth having one of those matches where I can’t believe he’s lasted 11 years without replacement 

It looks like we're dominating but in reality they're just doing what they always do. Play it out wide and cross it in, or shoot from unrealistic angles. We have no attacking play through the middle of the pitch. 

We should still be winning though and will probably still win this.

16 minutes ago, Jram said:

I don’t think Northampton defenders knew the rules for the first goal 😂 they work hard to keep Bird goal side and then appeal vociferously for offside as if his being behind the ball is irrelevant 

I think they were appealing that Washington was offside with the previous pass, which he might have been. 

3 hours ago, Ghost of Clough said:

In terms of chance creation, we aren't far behind the leaders, with the same top 6 for shots

However, we're mid-table for open play chances created and shot accuracy. Those two could be linked, as set piece chances are typically headed efforts or with a lot of bodies between the attacker and the goal. This is backed up by us being 10th for open play xG. This is something I would be looking to improve on.

I would say our main issue is attacking depth. Rest a couple of players (eg. Waghorn and Bird) and we're struggling to find creativity/goals. Prior to last night, only Bird, Waghorn, Mendez-Laing, Collins and Hourihane were statistically high attacking contributors from open play. Cashin was actually 5th in our squad for xG and ahead of Collins for xA.

I would look at someone like Demitri Mitchell, to add much needed depth at LWB and LW (dependant on formation). With only 6 months on his deal and Exeter destined for the drop, I think he'd be available on the cheap, maybe even in a deal similar to Fornah or Wilson.
Dan Kemp is an odd one. His contract expires at the end of the season and was loaned out by MK Dons to Swindon, but has been one of the best players in the league this season. 8 goals and 4 assists from AM, which is why I would also look into signing him to compete with our AM options.
Ali Al Hamadi is having a decent start to the season (4 goals and 5 assists) for Wimbledon and is still only 21. We had him on trial with our U21s, but any chances of us signing him disappeared when we entered admin. Contracted until 2025, but one to keep an eye on.
In the meantime, I would enquire about Callum Marshall (West Ham) until the end of the season. I've mentioned him before, but he's now on 13 goals and 2 assists in 8 games (2 goals in 90 mins vs Bristol Rovers in the Pizza Cup)

I'm not sure how squad depth affected the game at Stevenage or any in recent weeks. We've had all the key players you mentioned available, apart from Waghorn occasionally, for a while now.   

In terms of transfers, doesn't it all depend on what formation we're going to be using? We still don't know if Warne has permanently changed to a back four, or if he still wants to eventually go back to the back three.

The squad doesn't make much sense. E.g. - Ward's crossing ability is too good to be left out but he's not going to play at RB, and he doesn't look like a RW. Wilson is similar.  

The only negative is seeing Bird play like this and knowing he'll be leaving in January for next to nothing.