A Drake but no ducks. Home v Plymouth Sat 7 Jan 15-00.

[GhostoftheBok]

Which sort of brings us to Morley and Dempsey, yesterday they looked good enough but they don't always hit that level and are occasionally well short of that mark.

So priority for me given we've got a LWB and Forward in (nearly), is that 10 and some consistency.

I know I'm banging on about it, but it comes back to that work rate issue again.

How do you upgrade quality and maintain the work rate?

Evatt's philosophy is built on technical ability and work rate. If you have it you have to be able to keep it and if they have it you have to sprint to get it back.

People who are really good at football AND work really hard aren't usually available for transfer, because weirdly managers like those sorts of players.

We're getting better, but are still in League One. That's the point things get tricky. If we went up it'd be easy to find better players, but we're getting to the top end of League One quality in a number of positions now and it gets hard to take that last leap to being the best.

That'll mean that horrible term, "project players."

Nlundulu and Williams are both such. Obvious ability in both, but lots of gaps to work on. The chance to really improve us, but also the chance to flop. That gives you a lot of things, but consistency? That's a real ask.

[Worthy4England]

Of course it is. Consistency is a significant part of the transfer wedge...and where the manager earns his spurs, trying to get 11 players playing at 100%. What I would say, Ghost, is in amongst the criticisms, we're not really seeing the typical "not trying" "not playing for the badge" type comments, other than a few directed towards John, which on the face of it seem like they might not have been misplaced. The players generally look to be trying even if they have a poor game...

[BWFC_Insane]

Yeah. Bradley is really struggling in the final third. His pace gets him into great positions but he lacks the ability to make the most of them.

It is our big problem for me. Lee is absolutely brilliant but not great final third. Bradley is superb until the final third. Dempsey is busy but round the box is bang average. Morley is the same.

It’s that chance creation we suffer from. It’s a problem of too many who are just outstanding but unlikely to score or assist on a regular basis.

I wrote a whole reply to this, but at the end of the day it's just one thing...quality.

We have players who are relatively good at stuff for the level we're at. Bradley is much better than most right backs in this division in the final third. Dempsey and Morley are better than most 8s.

This is why we're in the play-off positions.

To be at the very top you need lads who are just really good. For us that was meant to be Dapo, but he's not at it for various reasons.

You can cover for a lack of genuine, "how does he do that?" quality up to a point, but we just need at least one really good player in the final third. Not relatively good for League One, but genuinely good.

Yeah completely agree with this. It’s that final third quality. Very hard to obtain on a budget. We are I think way above the standard of most teams up to the final third. That’s where I think we fall below the standards of more teams than even our league position suggests. When you consider 5 below us have scored more, some considerably more. And when you consider we are currently scoring at a rate below the Parkinson promotion team who were hardly prolific.

It’s clear to see it’s that final third quality in midfield and attacking areas we are missing.

[Prufrock]

I'm a big fan of Dion Charles. His work rate is phenomenal and he must be a nightmare to play against. Again, yesterday, he was harrying and chasing, running into good positions but again, we couldn't play him in or create an opening for him. Was the Dad Bod miss the only clear opening we made for the front two yesterday?

I'm seeing a lot of comments on social media about us getting a 20+ goal striker but at present and as well documented in the previous posts, we're not creating the shape or enough openings for this to happen. I'm sure we'll get there though.

Kachunga had a great chance too.

I thought a number of times Charles was guilty of a poor final ball or failing to get the shot away quickly enough.

I agree about chance creation although don’t the stats show we are one of the top chance creation teams.

As did Baka. The issue is not that we aren't making enough chances!

[GhostoftheBok]

The players generally look to be trying even if they have a poor game...

The best thing about the Evatt era is the application and attitude of everyone at the football club. If you're even slightly suspect in that area you end up gone. It's why this squad is so easy to like and also why it can feel so harsh saying, "That guy needs upgrading."

[Worthy4England]

Yeah. Bradley is really struggling in the final third. His pace gets him into great positions but he lacks the ability to make the most of them.

It is our big problem for me. Lee is absolutely brilliant but not great final third. Bradley is superb until the final third. Dempsey is busy but round the box is bang average. Morley is the same.

It’s that chance creation we suffer from. It’s a problem of too many who are just outstanding but unlikely to score or assist on a regular basis.

I wrote a whole reply to this, but at the end of the day it's just one thing...quality.

We have players who are relatively good at stuff for the level we're at. Bradley is much better than most right backs in this division in the final third. Dempsey and Morley are better than most 8s.

This is why we're in the play-off positions.

To be at the very top you need lads who are just really good. For us that was meant to be Dapo, but he's not at it for various reasons.

You can cover for a lack of genuine, "how does he do that?" quality up to a point, but we just need at least one really good player in the final third. Not relatively good for League One, but genuinely good.

Yeah completely agree with this. It’s that final third quality. Very hard to obtain on a budget. We are I think way above the standard of most teams up to the final third. That’s where I think we fall below the standards of more teams than even our league position suggests. When you consider 5 below us have scored more, some considerably more. And when you consider we are currently scoring at a rate below the Parkinson promotion team who were hardly prolific.

It’s clear to see it’s that final third quality in midfield and attacking areas we are missing.

We're 4 goals down on where Parky's team were after 25 games. I'd be very surprised, nay shocked if that tally wasn't down to contributions from defenders.

Johnston had two pretty free headers in second half from around 5/6 yards that weren't on target...

[Prufrock]

Aye, apologies, I was thinking of chances for the starting front 2. Kachunga, who did very well when he came on, was desperately unlucky with his effort. It was an outstanding save by that arsehole of a keeper they had.

On 2nd viewing that chance of Bradley's, off the superb ball from Aimson, was a lot better than I had first realised.

Bless your faith in the lad, but that was Morley

[BWFC_Insane]

Yeah. Bradley is really struggling in the final third. His pace gets him into great positions but he lacks the ability to make the most of them.

It is our big problem for me. Lee is absolutely brilliant but not great final third. Bradley is superb until the final third. Dempsey is busy but round the box is bang average. Morley is the same.

It’s that chance creation we suffer from. It’s a problem of too many who are just outstanding but unlikely to score or assist on a regular basis.

I wrote a whole reply to this, but at the end of the day it's just one thing...quality.

We have players who are relatively good at stuff for the level we're at. Bradley is much better than most right backs in this division in the final third. Dempsey and Morley are better than most 8s.

This is why we're in the play-off positions.

To be at the very top you need lads who are just really good. For us that was meant to be Dapo, but he's not at it for various reasons.

You can cover for a lack of genuine, "how does he do that?" quality up to a point, but we just need at least one really good player in the final third. Not relatively good for League One, but genuinely good.

Yeah completely agree with this. It’s that final third quality. Very hard to obtain on a budget. We are I think way above the standard of most teams up to the final third. That’s where I think we fall below the standards of more teams than even our league position suggests. When you consider 5 below us have scored more, some considerably more. And when you consider we are currently scoring at a rate below the Parkinson promotion team who were hardly prolific.

It’s clear to see it’s that final third quality in midfield and attacking areas we are missing.

We're 4 goals down on where Parky's team were after 25 games. I'd be very surprised, nay shocked if that tally wasn't down to contributions from defenders.

Johnston had two pretty free headers in second half from around 5/6 yards that weren't on target...

I suspect so yes. But doesn’t matter how you score them or who does.

Aimson had a decent chance from a corner too.

[GhostoftheBok]

I suspect so yes. But doesn’t matter how you score them or who does.

It does when you start talking about relative quality between sides from open play in the final third, though.

[Worthy4England]

I suspect so yes. But doesn’t matter how you score them or who does.

It does when you start talking about relative quality between sides from open play in the final third, though.

Bingo! And if memory serves a £6m striker...vs our current £350?k one...

[Harry Genshaw]

Aye, apologies, I was thinking of chances for the starting front 2. Kachunga, who did very well when he came on, was desperately unlucky with his effort. It was an outstanding save by that arsehole of a keeper they had.

On 2nd viewing that chance of Bradley's, off the superb ball from Aimson, was a lot better than I had first realised.

Bless your faith in the lad, but that was Morley

was it?

I looked through bog eyes on twitter this morning and could have sworn it was Aimson going all Santos on us

[Prufrock]

Ever the optimist

Aye it's Morley who'd dropped deep between Aimson and Toal and turned into Pirlo.

[DJBlu]

Ever the optimist

Aye it's Morley who'd dropped deep between Aimson and Toal and turned into Pirlo.

This is how good he was yesterday. He made people believe he was other players.

They've released a video of his distance tracker.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

What I would say is Dad Bod has a better goals per minute played record than Charles does this season.

Very true.

Not very true. Well, not in the league – I didn't check how many goals we'd scored against Fourth Division and U23 teams.

Minutes per goal, league
Dion 205
Bod 240
Sads 295
Dapo 416
Baka 589
Kacha -

Obvz if you deduct Dion's four pengies, it's a different ball game... even Dapo, apparently hopeless for three months, has a better strike rate....
.

Aye it's Morley who'd dropped deep between Aimson and Toal and turned into Pirlo.

That seems to be his new role, as Ghost explained in typically informative terms. We've stopped asking The Player Formerly Known As Aimless to pass the ball long, instead letting the Radcliffe Pirlo do that job. As long as we don't assume he's also Gattuso...
.

We're 4 goals down on where Parky's team were after 25 games. I'd be very surprised, nay shocked if that tally wasn't down to contributions from defenders.

Johnston had two pretty free headers in second half from around 5/6 yards that weren't on target...

I was wondering - and this is hard to assess statistically, I'd think - whether the "poor set pieces" are poor delivery or poor runs/anticipation in the middle. I'm not saying Morley doesn't hit the first man - most players do; Messi did it in the World Cup final, and that turned out alright - but maybe he's putting balls in that aren't being converted. IIRC he had a good assist total at Struggling Rochdale, so clearly he can clip in a good ball. Set piece conversion has been a problem throughout Evatt's time, and while many other gripes are disappearing - we'd have lost yesterday's game last season, for instance - we're still not getting enough from SPs, as if the "attacking runs" side still isn't working. See also Randy's long throws dropping into unpopulated areas.

[Worthy4England]

I think on that last point, it's difficult to assess whether the direction is to hit to a space or play to a man...it's not quite working, whichever it is, but There've been plenty of times this season where I've thought "that's a good ball with no one gambling on it. The two Johnston headers, the ball was pretty much where you'd hope it would be, maybe a little high on the first one. Brads was well picked out by Morley, Kacha well picked out by Beck etc. Add in Bod, Dion picked out in decent positions and I think Aimson on a header too, and yesterday it would be pretty harsh to say the supply didn't put enough in the right places...sure they all had moments where we hit the first defender too, but yesterday was more problem finishing than no decent chances (and a couple of pretty good saves)

[TonyDomingos]

I reckon we need three more wins to stay up.

[DJBlu]

I reckon we need three more wins to stay up.

COYWM!!!

[BWFC_Insane]

What I would say is Dad Bod has a better goals per minute played record than Charles does this season.

Very true.

Not very true. Well, not in the league – I didn't check how many goals we'd scored against Fourth Division and U23 teams.

Minutes per goal, league
Dion 205
Bod 240
Sads 295
Dapo 416
Baka 589
Kacha -

Obvz if you deduct Dion's four pengies, it's a different ball game... even Dapo, apparently hopeless for three months, has a better strike rate....
.

Aye it's Morley who'd dropped deep between Aimson and Toal and turned into Pirlo.

That seems to be his new role, as Ghost explained in typically informative terms. We've stopped asking The Player Formerly Known As Aimless to pass the ball long, instead letting the Radcliffe Pirlo do that job. As long as we don't assume he's also Gattuso...
.

We're 4 goals down on where Parky's team were after 25 games. I'd be very surprised, nay shocked if that tally wasn't down to contributions from defenders.

Johnston had two pretty free headers in second half from around 5/6 yards that weren't on target...

I was wondering - and this is hard to assess statistically, I'd think - whether the "poor set pieces" are poor delivery or poor runs/anticipation in the middle. I'm not saying Morley doesn't hit the first man - most players do; Messi did it in the World Cup final, and that turned out alright - but maybe he's putting balls in that aren't being converted. IIRC he had a good assist total at Struggling Rochdale, so clearly he can clip in a good ball. Set piece conversion has been a problem throughout Evatt's time, and while many other gripes are disappearing - we'd have lost yesterday's game last season, for instance - we're still not getting enough from SPs, as if the "attacking runs" side still isn't working. See also Randy's long throws dropping into unpopulated areas.

All comps because Bod hasn’t started too many league games. But all comps he has a better goals/min record.

It’s a bit chicken and egg. Charles is top scorer cos he plays most. I’m not convinced that Bod wouldn’t have same goals with same minutes. I’m pretty sure that neither are clinical enough to fire us up on their own so we deffo need that quality in the final third adding to.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I'm not sure scoring against Barrow, Salford and Leeds U21, as Bod has, adds much to the crux of the conversation. As I said the other day about Dion's lack of goals against any top-10 opponents (barring the Sunderland outlier), it's not those that win the biggest games - as our players showed yesterday.

For the record though, Bod's league goals this season have come against Lincoln, who were 14th; Burton, 24th; and Barnsley, 4th – a defensive howler, although I was glad Jon Dadi was awake to it. And as with Dion, I'm glad whenever he scores, and I like him – but like you, I wonder if any of our strikers are clinical enough to win the crucial games. Sadly, yesterday didn't do much to ease that worry. I would love to be wrong about it.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]