Brian Parker wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 8:54 pm
If nothing else let's hope for some better football. The plethora of kick and rush that we saw last season was disheartening.
As for a change of personnel, well I think that the back line is basically OK. Yes they made some silly errors but they were always under pressure not to make mistakes as those in front of them were extremely unlikely to score. We were seldom over run but the lack of ability to create chances and inability to put away the few that occurred cost us dearly.
So ideally we need a creative midfielder. Someone who can dictate the play and begin to create the chances that were so lacking last season. Up front we need wholesale changes. At least one but better two strikers with the pace and sharpness needed to snap up chances. We also lacked any aerial power up front, which rendered most corners, set pieces and crosses redundant. Players like Brad Bell and Layne Eadie are useful wing backs but there was no one to feed upon their crosses. Otherwise some thought needs to go into the delivery of a variety of set pieces rather than just hoicking high balls into an area where we lack the ability to make anything of them.
So rather than a wholesale clear out I think it's more necessary to introduce some quality into our major areas of weakness.
I read this Brian, and I have to say I concluded by thinking your expectations might be a bit high for starters! We'll be at Step 4 where the standard of football is not what it is at Step 3.
Brett will want players who have the mental toughness to grind out results I am sure, and get us back to Step 3 for starters. Creative midfielder? At Step 4? I thought that was the goalkeeper! Set pieces? Two strikers with the pace and sharpness to snap up chances? Would be good relatively speaking, but if they are that good, and with us at Step 4, be sure that they will be highly sought after.
So far as creative midfield goes, we won promotion last time (2011-12), with a cultured midfield trio of Louis Lee, Callum Donnelly and Luke Gregson. We were lucky with Frendo, and he was backed up by Zak Burke and Jamie Arlick as goalscorers. In that season, what we did have was experienced players with the mental toughness to get the job done.
So for me, getting the heads right, the right characters with a winning mentality, is the first priority surely. And personally I don't see that that can be achieved without a wholesale clearout. The football comes later.