The first rumblings of ‘Hecky out’ seem to be happening. Before you join in bear in mind that we’ve lost virtually our full first eleven within a year & we’ve got virtually no leadership & experience within the squad & then go through the squad & actually think about what another manager could do with it. Davies - Was superb last season up to the Sheff Wednesday **** up & hasn’t recovered. Doesn’t look up to this level at the moment. Townsend - Wasn’t up to standard 2 years ago, hard to judge until we see him play again Cavare - Unknown McCarthy - Average, good going forward, shaky defensively Yiadom - Good overall but been poor the last few games, likely to be gone in a months time anyway MacDonald - Form is terrible. Not up to standard this season Jackson - Looks good but crocked for months Lindsay - Looks good Pinnock- Hard to judge Pearson - Doesn’t look a championship player Fryers - See McCarthy, decent going forward but questionable defensively Hammill - Inconsistent, had a great start to the season but gone off the boil for a while Isgrove - Jury still out, barely played Williams - Been very good but hard to see how a kid his age with no men’s football experience can keep playing every week to the same standard Gardner - Poor, may improve with games & better fitness McGeehan - In the games I’ve seen he’s been awful, as bad technically as Potts but doesn’t even have the work rate to earn a place Potts - Very limited footballer, getting a game due to the limitations of our other central midfielders Moncur - One good game in about 10, there’s talent there but does he want it enough. Appalling against Leeds Mallan - He’s the one criticism you can aim at Hecky in that he’s not had a chance when Gardner, McGeehan, Potts & Moncur have been so bad & still kept getting games. Can only imagine he’s shocking in training. Hedges - Decent in cameos, needs to perform when he gets a start, dreadful against Cardiff Barnes - Been good overall but even he’s had some shockers recently against Reading & Leeds Bradshaw - Decent enough, considering our lack of good midfield players to supply him I’d say he’s done well goals wise Ugbo - Been awful up to now, doesn’t look ready Thiam - Jury still out. Needs to be able to have the fitness to start games before anything else So for me we’ve got Lindsay, Yiadom, Williams, Barnes & Bradshaw who look comfortable at this level. That’s just 5 players. 1 of which is in all likelihood going in January. I’d include Jackson but he’s crocked for months so if no use to Hecky or any other manager. We’ve then got 3 in Hammill, McCarthy, Fryers who can have good games & bad at this level & are borderline good enough. We’ve then got Cavare & Isgrove who are unknowns at this level. The rest? I don’t think any of them are getting games for other championship clubs. When I say they aren’t good enough I mean in the near future for Hecky or any other manager this season, I know most are young & likely to improve. So tell me, if Hecky left who’s coming in to take that side to a comfortable mid-table finish? I’m presuming that’s what you want as 20th isn’t good enough. I don’t see it in the squad, what should he be doing differently? Which players is he not using? Which systems is he not using? Etc For me, we should be in a relegation scrap, anything else is over achieving with this squad, I stand by what I said in July, the aim should be to stay up & get many of this squad 30+ games at this level with the aim of pushing on next season.
If anybody needs removing it's this shambles of a "board"! This takeover needs to get sorted sharpish, otherwise we are going backwards.
Pretty good summary, makes sad reading though. Thiam needs to play more, he looks like a professional football player.
Nice summary we need to go with 2 upfront but only when we have another option beyond Thiam and Bradders - i.e some big hard b*****d who'll hold up the ball and run the channels, that with Thiam would work, the problem we have is that 2 of Thiam, Bradders and Ugboots is not effective.
Possibly the most accurate and thoughtful post of the year. It's a pleasure to agree with so much. I do think Williams and Bradshaw are slightly enhanced, but what do I know?
Why would we sack Hecky? Pointless. He's just the same as every other manager we've had at this level post 2006 in that he's got to work with peanuts. We've tried the foreign player approach, the lower league approach and now the lower league still in nappies approach with loanees thrown in along the way. The result is the same, and we will eventually end up relegated. We've sacked manager after manager and always end up here, struggling, yet we still think a new bloke will do the business.
I’l be honest I wrote Bradshaw off at the start of the season so I’m trying to give him a bit of credit for scoring a few. I wouldn’t say I’m convinced by him but I think he’s definitely been one of the better performers this season. I rate Williams but I think he’s already began to fade these past few weeks, doesn’t look as sharp as he did August - October but unfortunately he’s pretty much got to start every game with how bad the other central midfielders are
Unfortunately you’re probably right. I just wish we’d kept one or two like Roberts & Scowen to lead the team & give them a bit of experience
Think Bradshaw is our most improved player this season having to adapt to the lone striker role, Davies seems to be going backwards, his positioning for the first goal today was poor. Gardner was one I couldn`t wait to see, was average first time I saw him second time was as if he didn`t know what a football was. Lindsay infuriates me one minute playing a great diagonal ball quickly followed by a sloppy pass straight to the opposition, he manages at least three of these per game.
An interesting piece in this mornings Mirror confirms our current dilemma re- lack of quality. Paul Heckingbottom says his young squad is suffering a reality check after losing three games on the spin. The Club brought in 17 new signings in the summer, most from League Two and non league sides, after the Clubs best players were cherry picked by other Clubs. " I need to know about these players between now and the end of the season" said Heckingbottom whose team are at Bolton today. " It's a reality check for everyone, the players, me, the staff, the fans and the Club. It's a whole new squad, we had 17 out and 17 in and half of them won't be good enough." I'm disappointed we didn't beat Bolton today because in truth, we need to be getting as many points as we can from teams in the lower reaches of the division. Having said that , whilst I'm becoming concerned at our loss of form, I personally think we will have enough to beat the drop, come the end of the season.
