Time for changes?

[Pubey]

This isn't a blip.. after banging in 5 against QPR we have failed to score, i think Foran is wasted on the bench or on the wing when he has proven in very little time to be a much better option than Bradbury, who couldn't hit a barndoor with a banjo on his ****! I really rate bradbury and he brings a lot to the side, but after seeing him play a lot on the wing last season and now a lot up front this season, i think it is a waste of forans heading, finishing and creating ability to have him out wide. Freddy isn't getting any service and his few chances are being wasted due to a lack of confidence. Get foran up front with him to take off some of the pressure and hopefully we can bounce back on sat

 

[mattytheshrimper]

i've said this for ages. foran should be up front

 

[Bielzibubz]

Fruk me!!!!!!! Something I actually agree with after a loss :hilarious:

 

[shrimperbhoy]

I've seen enough to suggest that Foran would do brilliantly for us on the wing, in the centre or up-front.

Given that the most urgent need is for an effective partner to Freddy, I think we should give this a whirl.

 

[Pubey]

i should probably add a pre-emptive response... I'm not knocking Bradbury as he has done well for us this season... but unfortunately we need a bit more from our strikers. Bradbury doesn't really cause defences any problems... he isn't quick enough to either use space or make space... he isn't awkward enough to need a defender to come short and whilst his flick ons and touch are good... freddy needs a foil who will pull a defender wide and leave Fred the gap.

Gower and JCR deserve their places in the starting line up and with macca and maher our centre mids... foran has proved he is too good for the bench and therefore its a tough decision but bradbury should be dropped... we haven't got much time left now.. the gap is really 4 points to safety and we need goals quick!

 

[stickyboy]

Have to agree Bradbury is not up to scratch for a striker at this level - hardly scores and has about the third of pace that Goater had ( I may exaggerate a tad). We never did replace the Goat goalscoring wise which is one of the reasons we are likely to go down. Foran needs to be given a chance up front at Sheff Wed

 

[Suffolk Shrimper In Dorset]

We took too long to bring on the ginger nut tonight - not a fan of his but it was so obvious Bradbury was struggling re both a) pace and b) winning nothing in the air against a tall solid defence it was untrue. Tilly must see it but sometimes just fails to react.
Maybe pushing Bradbury into the middle, Gower back at wide and Foran up front with Fred would have been worth a shout.

 

[callan]

Have to say extremely impressed with Foran tonight and yet again thought JCR was superb.
I felt sorry for the lads tonight, we didnt deserve to lose.

 

[Maldon Blues]

Frustrating and just not good enough, not by a long way.

In my opinion, only Flahavan, Clarke, Foran and Hunt can come away from tonights match with any real credit.

Steve Hammell may not be the best defender I have seen at this level, but anyone who believes Che Wilson could do as good a job will have seen tonight that he can't and is out of his depth in the Championship. That is a debate that can certainly be put to bed now.

Another player who simply cannot hack it at this level also is Lee Bradbury. What does he bring to the side? He has no pace whatsoever meaning any through ball to him is absolutely hopeless. In the air he hardly wins a thing and he can't hold a ball up for more than one touch before giving it away.

I thought Freddy put in a lot of effort tonight, but he gets frustrated from having absolutely naff all to feed off. Last season Eastwood had Goater to feed off, now he has this fat lump Bradbury. An Oxford side struggling in League Two last season gave up on him as a striker - so how can it even be comtemplated that he can hack it at this level?

Matt Harrold may not be the perfect answer, but he lacks no effort and puts himself about, that can count for a fair bit in this division.

With McCormack out of the side, we needed Kevin Maher, as captain and the more experienced central midfield player, to add that crucial bite in the middle - certainly as we know that it'll never come from Mark Gower. It didn't come, and I suppose I was naive for even hoping it might. In the final minute a Palace player stood and headed a ball clear whilst Maher, more than in range stood and watched him do so, without the hint of a challenge. I know some people will think I'm mad, but we really would be better off without this guy as a regular in our team, but what are the options?

Gower was just Gower, and he hasn't proved himself at all this season, but again where are the options? unfortunately, I feel we have been left very short in midfield. Far too short.

We had plenty of possession tonight, but not enough bite all over the midfield. Why do we need one player - Alan McCormack - to inject this into our side? Do the rest of the side have it within them to lift themselves without him? It seems not, and that's just not good enough.

Palace were poor, we can't hide from that. We had a great chance for a home win to give us a good shout of staying in this League, but we were pathetic.

No passion, no bite. No points.

More of that and we have no chance.

 

[Maldon Blues]

Have to say extremely impressed with Foran tonight and yet again thought JCR was superb.
I felt sorry for the lads tonight, we didnt deserve to lose.

Foran gave it everything, but I thought he looked a little raw and hasn't quite adapted to the step up in quality. I think it'll come.

As for JCR, very disappointed tonight. He has been on form recently, but struggled to beat a man tonight and apart from a shot that fizzed just over the bar, a pretty anonymous evening. Possibly struggling from the knock he picked up on Saturday?

I think you mean Palace didn't deserve to win, which they didn't. But we got what we deserved...nothing.

 

[Hooly]

I know that in many eyes Tilly can do do wrong, but I did find it worrying tonight that the blindingly obvious & relatively simple move of putting Foran into the middle was the 1 tactical change we didn't make.

We had 3 up hereish & 3 back thereish and any formation in midfield. Players out of their normal comfort zones. We finished the game with a Newman-like strikers all over the place line up. But the one thing that stood resolutely through all of this was Foran marooned out on the left.

I've only seen the boy on TV until now but he looked useful with a bit of a footballing brain. He stated in his gurning interview that he preferred to play up front and I can't see the point in shelling out, for us, decent money & then not giving him a chance to make an impact. We're not likely to make many other signings, if any others, so why waste this one? Yes he did a tidy job out wide, but there looks to be more to his game than that and in our precarious position I can't see why we didn't give it a go even if only for the last 15 minutes. Would've been too late IMHO but at least a start.

 

[callan]

Foran gave it everything, but I thought he looked a little raw and hasn't quite adapted to the step up in quality. I think it'll come.

As for JCR, very disappointed tonight. He has been on form recently, but struggled to beat a man tonight and apart from a shot that fizzed just over the bar, a pretty anonymous evening. Possibly struggling from the knock he picked up on Saturday?

I think you mean Palace didn't deserve to win, which they didn't. But we got what we deserved...nothing.

Nope, I did mean we didnt deserve to lose.

 

[Maldon Blues]

Hooly, you're right. What can he give us up front? We're yet to find out, but he made his reputation as a striker and not a wideman.

Callan, it's all about opinion, I'm the first to point that out. However, I can't honestly see how we can chip in with such a performance and expect to get anything.

 

[shrimpled]

I agree with Maldon Blues, although there are major positives, especially foran. I agree he hasn't yet got to grips with the championship, but if thats the way he plays not used to the quality i can't wait to see him when he settles into it, great find i think!!! I liked the way he had a go at freddy for not running onto his flicks, of which he won over 10 headers today and they were all superb flicks and freddy only got onto one of them, but they could from a great partnership when they become used to each other, i still think foran was bought as a striker and he will play there on saturday!

 

[callan]

Hooly, you're right. What can he give us up front? We're yet to find out, but he made his reputation as a striker and not a wideman.

Callan, it's all about opinion, I'm the first to point that out. However, I can't honestly see how we can chip in with such a performance and expect to get anything.

As you say all about opinion.

 

[Cliff Pavilion]

Frustrating and just not good enough, not by a long way.

In my opinion, only Flahavan, Clarke, Foran and Hunt can come away from tonights match with any real credit.

Steve Hammell may not be the best defender I have seen at this level, but anyone who believes Che Wilson could do as good a job will have seen tonight that he can't and is out of his depth in the Championship. That is a debate that can certainly be put to bed now.

Agree with a lot of your points MB but feel you are very harsh on Wilson considering he hasn't played all season. For him to come in with no match practice is hardly his fault and thought he did OK considering. More worrying to me were Sodje and Hunt's performances who despite a run in the side looked fragile in confidence and ability.

Foran seems to be MOM by general consensus so ironic to think he probably wouldn't have started if McCormack had been fit. I agree with others that he must start up front with Freddy now. We all know Bradbury has done well and worked hard but now is the time for Tilly to be ruthless in his selection. From what I've seen, Foran can do everything Bradbury does and a hell of a lot more.

I fear the injuries and suspensions will cost us ultimately. With our lack of depth, we need a settled side to maintain any decent run of form.

UTB

 

[steveo]

We had 3 up hereish & 3 back thereish and any formation in midfield

which of course smacks of desperation. Throwing people forward means there is no one to win the ball in the area of the field they came from, so we dont get their ball there and dont get it forward. Tilly should have retained the same 4-4-2, pushed Foran up front, Bradbury wide right and JCR into his favoured postion on the left. He didnt get much form the left back so a change of sides wouldnt have hurted. Foran looked like he can win a header, which Bradbury can't do and as Tilly seems reluctant to take Bradbury off wide right would be the best place for him.

Also, Che, had a reasonable game defensively but just didnt get forward at all in the same way Hammel does.

 

[Benfleet Blue]

I haven't felt so disappointed in a long time. We were lucky enough to attend the sponsors evening and the quote from Ron Martin was that 'if the stadium gets the go ahead, then Tilly will have a serious war chest available in January'.
We have saved the wages of Ricketts whilst, at the same time have offloaded Luke Gutteridge, Jay Smith and Mitchell Cole. We have sent out on loan Billy Paynter and James Lawson and have effectively brought in 1 player, Richie Foran, as we already had Alan McCormack on loan.
We have always been told by Tilly that he would not bring in players who were not better than what we had and who did not add anything to the squad, yet, of his summer signings, Ricketts has gone, Paynter has been sent out on loan, and Francis, Harrold and Collis are bench warmers.
Our squad has effectively been depleted from last year, and for all who had doubts over Wayne Gray, at least he played well with Freddy and injected some pace into the squad. Bentley also gave us extra bite in the middle of the park, and I feel, even at this level, had quite a lot to offer.
We endured the 17 match span without a win with so many players being played out of position with the knowledge that the club would make funds available in January to at least give us a chance of staying in the division.
So now can I question the motives of the club. Do we really feel we have a chance of staying in the Championship? What really is the point of building a 22,000 seater stadium if relegation is a distinct possibility and all we can expect are crowds of around 6,000 to 7,000 if we are lucky.
For the first time I am led to question just what the motives are with a threadbare squad and, quite truthfully, no real light on the horizon.

 

[Leeboy]

Hunt was shocking last night, especially in the second half when he seemed to be on a different planet.

The amount of times he let Freedman go behind him eventually led to Freedman setting up the goal

 

[TTS]

The problem was the sub, I cant see why Tilly changed it to 3-4-3 , this just makes team whack the ball long and quite frankly that is not going to win games against teams like Palace. Leading up the goal, we always looked dangerous, Freddy was working the line well and getting a lot of space behind their left back, and whilst JCR chose the wrong option when faced by the left back, he was giving him a pretty hard night by keep running at him. The change of formation stopped all this.

I agree we missed McCormack , but we was always going to, but I do disagree with one thread that said that Maher did not do enough today, I thought he was immense, always working and also some of the balls he thru and wide and behind the full backs (the left back on many occassions) were our biggest threat.

Hunt did appear to go missing for the goal, and in this league we will get punished for these lapses.

The problem was leading up to the goal the lads were giving it a real go, the goal just seemed to knock the stuiffing out of them and the worry is the impact this is going to have during the remaining games.

The squad is to threadbare and this will again catch up with us again on sat with the loss ( a great loss at that of Clarke - who has been superb over recent weeks ) and of course players like Macca and Hammell (and also Wilson) are obvousily not match fit, games are just gonna get tougher.

I think we have had our run now and that escape is just a bit to far from us, how will we fair next season will defo depend how we trade in the mid season. I am not being negative, just realistic.