CAM on you Whites. Away to Cambridge United, Sat 12th Nov 3 o'clock .

[BWFC_Insane]

I think you are harsh on Bradley. When he first came in he looked the business - as our best (only without DJ?) attacking outlet he’s been nullified, plus there’s a bit of burn out as well. To me he looks like a wing back. Think he even played on the wing for Northern Ireland! What isn’t working is the left hand side and for whatever reason Dec John has disappeared into thin air.

The argument for the system is to do with playing Sadlier and Dapo - arguably two of our players most likely to get / create goals. And it’s fair to say opponents have worked us out so we need to adapt. Some games 433, some a 3 at the back variation. We’ve got options in the squad.

I think there is a big difference between being an attacking full back and a wing back especially as you say our only real outlet given we’ve nothing on the left. But I don’t think he’s an out and out wing back in the sense that he works down the line well but delivery isn’t there, end product isn’t there. He’s a developing player for sure, but not the outlet you can just rely on in totality.

The thing is he gets a lot of the ball in the attacking third yet can’t produce a lot with it. And that means for me he’s not a natural wing back.

The difference between his and Sadlier's deliveries into the penalty area is stark.

Starting Sadlier brings its own problems but I think we have to try and take advantage of what he offers.

I don’t think Sadlier if we are being honest can really play wing back, certainly not left wing back and not away from home. Maybe on the right at home he could.

It comes back to not having players suited to the back four at centre back vs needing to get Sadlier on the pitch on the right and Dapo in his arguably best role on the left.

I’m not really sure how as every system seems to bring problems. We are working round issues and really need to find a way to solve them.

To be clear, I meant playing Sadlier further upfield rather than as a wing-back. Given Evatt's determination to play a formation which relies so heavily on wing-backs to provide the attacking impetus it amazes we seemed so relaxed about not really signing any during the summer.

Quite, there was one poster quite vocal about the issues without having specialised wing backs though….

People seriously underestimated how Fossey being what he was made that system work. Without him we relied on in form strikers. What we’ve got now is how we played at the end of last season without the strikers being in form.

As an aside…I see Wigans manager has got the boot. Former Bolton player…better than we’ve got as manager…it’s not happening but…it’s the first time I’ve seen a ‘free’ upgrade who might be realistic.

[Worthy4England]

I don't think it's just one thing, at the moment. Whatever Bradley is or isn't we have a larger problem on the left for me. Combine that with forwards missing some sitters and generally misfiring and what was a pretty tight defence starting to leak, a midfield that's not creating much and some square pegs in round holes and you have the disaster that was October W3 D1 L3...well maybe not a total disaster...

One or two of those things improving will help.

[nicholaldo]

I think you are harsh on Bradley. When he first came in he looked the business - as our best (only without DJ?) attacking outlet he’s been nullified, plus there’s a bit of burn out as well. To me he looks like a wing back. Think he even played on the wing for Northern Ireland! What isn’t working is the left hand side and for whatever reason Dec John has disappeared into thin air.

The argument for the system is to do with playing Sadlier and Dapo - arguably two of our players most likely to get / create goals. And it’s fair to say opponents have worked us out so we need to adapt. Some games 433, some a 3 at the back variation. We’ve got options in the squad.

I think there is a big difference between being an attacking full back and a wing back especially as you say our only real outlet given we’ve nothing on the left. But I don’t think he’s an out and out wing back in the sense that he works down the line well but delivery isn’t there, end product isn’t there. He’s a developing player for sure, but not the outlet you can just rely on in totality.

The thing is he gets a lot of the ball in the attacking third yet can’t produce a lot with it. And that means for me he’s not a natural wing back.

The difference between his and Sadlier's deliveries into the penalty area is stark.

Starting Sadlier brings its own problems but I think we have to try and take advantage of what he offers.

I don’t think Sadlier if we are being honest can really play wing back, certainly not left wing back and not away from home. Maybe on the right at home he could.

It comes back to not having players suited to the back four at centre back vs needing to get Sadlier on the pitch on the right and Dapo in his arguably best role on the left.

I’m not really sure how as every system seems to bring problems. We are working round issues and really need to find a way to solve them.

To be clear, I meant playing Sadlier further upfield rather than as a wing-back. Given Evatt's determination to play a formation which relies so heavily on wing-backs to provide the attacking impetus it amazes we seemed so relaxed about not really signing any during the summer.

Quite, there was one poster quite vocal about the issues without having specialised wing backs though….

People seriously underestimated how Fossey being what he was made that system work. Without him we relied on in form strikers. What we’ve got now is how we played at the end of last season without the strikers being in form.

As an aside…I see Wigans manager has got the boot. Former Bolton player…better than we’ve got as manager…it’s not happening but…it’s the first time I’ve seen a ‘free’ upgrade who might be realistic.

For what it's worth, I posted during the summer that we really should sign a right wing-back and I remember you replying to state the left hand side was the bigger problem as Sadlier and Isgrove could cover.

[BWFC_Insane]

I think you are harsh on Bradley. When he first came in he looked the business - as our best (only without DJ?) attacking outlet he’s been nullified, plus there’s a bit of burn out as well. To me he looks like a wing back. Think he even played on the wing for Northern Ireland! What isn’t working is the left hand side and for whatever reason Dec John has disappeared into thin air.

The argument for the system is to do with playing Sadlier and Dapo - arguably two of our players most likely to get / create goals. And it’s fair to say opponents have worked us out so we need to adapt. Some games 433, some a 3 at the back variation. We’ve got options in the squad.

I think there is a big difference between being an attacking full back and a wing back especially as you say our only real outlet given we’ve nothing on the left. But I don’t think he’s an out and out wing back in the sense that he works down the line well but delivery isn’t there, end product isn’t there. He’s a developing player for sure, but not the outlet you can just rely on in totality.

The thing is he gets a lot of the ball in the attacking third yet can’t produce a lot with it. And that means for me he’s not a natural wing back.

The difference between his and Sadlier's deliveries into the penalty area is stark.

Starting Sadlier brings its own problems but I think we have to try and take advantage of what he offers.

I don’t think Sadlier if we are being honest can really play wing back, certainly not left wing back and not away from home. Maybe on the right at home he could.

It comes back to not having players suited to the back four at centre back vs needing to get Sadlier on the pitch on the right and Dapo in his arguably best role on the left.

I’m not really sure how as every system seems to bring problems. We are working round issues and really need to find a way to solve them.

To be clear, I meant playing Sadlier further upfield rather than as a wing-back. Given Evatt's determination to play a formation which relies so heavily on wing-backs to provide the attacking impetus it amazes we seemed so relaxed about not really signing any during the summer.

Quite, there was one poster quite vocal about the issues without having specialised wing backs though….

People seriously underestimated how Fossey being what he was made that system work. Without him we relied on in form strikers. What we’ve got now is how we played at the end of last season without the strikers being in form.

As an aside…I see Wigans manager has got the boot. Former Bolton player…better than we’ve got as manager…it’s not happening but…it’s the first time I’ve seen a ‘free’ upgrade who might be realistic.

For what it's worth, I posted during the summer that we really should sign a right wing-back and I remember you replying to state the left hand side was the bigger problem as Sadlier and Isgrove could cover.

From a numbers point of view I still say that’s true. Even from a positional side Bradley would be ok if we had real dynamism and thread on the left from someone. The issue was about finding natural wing backs. We all hoped we had. But whilst Bradley is a good player he’s not enough going forward to counter balance the issue on the left.

I did say that finding natural wing backs is very hard and is critical to making the system work.

We got spoiled with Fossey. A truly top talent for that role with a game that helped our shape out massively.

But I did fear he was more or less impossible to follow and that meant we needed to have genuine threat on either side and we’ve just come up short there.

[boltonboris]

The midfield is a big issue for the win backs too. The midfield sits so deep and static that our wingback has nobody to play off to beat theirs.

A couple of our midfielders are pretty good on the ball, but we have very little athleticism and guile in there

[BWFC_Insane]

The midfield is a big issue for the win backs too. The midfield sits so deep and static that our wingback has nobody to play off to beat theirs.

A couple of our midfielders are pretty good on the ball, but we have very little athleticism and guile in there

Indeed. And again all summer I said unless we found that midfield player who could physically dominate box to box we’d struggle. We have too many similar types in midfield. It’s Morley who is static off the ball, MJ who is a sitter and nothing else, Dempsey and Lee who let’s be honest are both relatively specialised roles to fit a system but probably neither are ideal as conventional number 8’s nor are either really number 10’s. Sheehan is sort of similar. He’s not a 6,8 or 10 so trying to fit him in is hard.

Thomason is the nearest we’ve got to that all round type but whilst he’s improved a lot he still doesn’t have enough impact on games.

The lack of off the ball running and ability in midfield is why I suspect we are stuck with a three at the back because when we went to a 4 at the weekend we looked wide open and I think most of that was a midfield that just can’t do enough to make that system work. And an oddball centre back pairing.

[officer_dibble]

A back four could be:
Jones/Bradley Santos Johnston Iredale
I’d actually argue Aimson may be better suited than Santos but it isn’t happening (Aimson injured anyway).

[Prufrock]

My worry last week was we'd go 4 at the back, lose, and then that would be that...

4 still clearly suits us far far better for me. That it didn't work in 1 game when Dapo and Sadlier have barely played doesn't change that.

And if it's 5 at the back it should be 343. Then you've got the partnerships down the side for the wingbacks to work with. 352 you really either need incredible athletes at wingback who can get up and down and to the byline on their own a lot of the time, or you need presence in the box they can hit from deeper. We have neither.

[TANGODANCER]

To be clear, I meant playing Sadlier further upfield rather than as a wing-back. Given Evatt's determination to play a formation which relies so heavily on wing-backs to provide the attacking impetus it amazes we seemed so relaxed about not really signing any during the summer.

I reckon I.E. mistakenly assumed Fossey would re-sign for us. When he didn' t maybe he was trying to prove we didn't need a replacement of his ilk. He's a stubborn man when he wants to be. Just an idea.

[BWFC_Insane]

My worry last week was we'd go 4 at the back, lose, and then that would be that...

4 still clearly suits us far far better for me. That it didn't work in 1 game when Dapo and Sadlier have barely played doesn't change that.

And if it's 5 at the back it should be 343. Then you've got the partnerships down the side for the wingbacks to work with. 352 you really either need incredible athletes at wingback who can get up and down and to the byline on their own a lot of the time, or you need presence in the box they can hit from deeper. We have neither.

Who is your midfield in a 343?

[officer_dibble]

My worry last week was we'd go 4 at the back, lose, and then that would be that...

4 still clearly suits us far far better for me. That it didn't work in 1 game when Dapo and Sadlier have barely played doesn't change that.

And if it's 5 at the back it should be 343. Then you've got the partnerships down the side for the wingbacks to work with. 352 you really either need incredible athletes at wingback who can get up and down and to the byline on their own a lot of the time, or you need presence in the box they can hit from deeper. We have neither.

Sadlier played a half on the right wing and twenty minutes at left wing back last weekend.

[TANGODANCER]

Declan John out declared sick. "Sick of not being picked" according to B.N report. Seems to be a conspiracy theory about him?

[officer_dibble]

Aye he’s done here it would seem. Big shame. Looking forward to the story - a fit Dec John is missed.

[TANGODANCER]

Be nice if we concentrate on scoring first instead of playing catch up coming from behind. Can't blame the front men for "soft-goals incorporated's" errors and I've almost forgotten when we actually did score first. .Let Jon Dad have 60 minutes or so on, and get in front, then bring Dion on feeling he has something to prove. Oh, and remind the lads at the back what "defend" actually means.

[Worthy4England]

Be nice if we concentrate on scoring first instead of playing catch up coming from behind. Can't blame the front men for "soft-goals incorporated's" errors and I've almost forgotten when we actually did score first. .Let Jon Dad have 60 minutes or so on, and get in front, then bring Dion on feeling he has something to prove. Oh, and remind the lads at the back what "defend" actually means.

Reasonable, TD, reasonable. COYWM.

[Bruce Rioja]

Players out -

Aimson (hamstring)
Isgrove (hamstring)
Williams (suspended)
John (poorly)

So only Williams, realistically.

Apparently, we have won there in the league since 1985 - and we'll be saying exactly the same again next season too.

0-2, both from poorly defended set-pieces.

[Harry Genshaw]

Apparently, we have won there in the league since 1985 -

Ah. Good old Roger Walker.

We were a really crap side then. The team coach arrived at Cambridge City's ground in error and had to dash across town to get to Abbey Road in time for kick off. We still won. Nowadays we've got a better manager and much better players who will have travelled down the day before, stayed in a comfy hotel but unfortunately can't play well on small pitches, muddy pitches or against overly physical sides. Progress eh?

[BWFC_Insane]

No Williams could be problematic. We lack presence without him in midfield.

I don’t know what team will be picked but I think it’s a game you need to score first in and probably keep a clean sheet in. Need to dig out a win. Doesn’t matter how. Just imperative we find a way.

[Prufrock]

My worry last week was we'd go 4 at the back, lose, and then that would be that...

4 still clearly suits us far far better for me. That it didn't work in 1 game when Dapo and Sadlier have barely played doesn't change that.

And if it's 5 at the back it should be 343. Then you've got the partnerships down the side for the wingbacks to work with. 352 you really either need incredible athletes at wingback who can get up and down and to the byline on their own a lot of the time, or you need presence in the box they can hit from deeper. We have neither.

Who is your midfield in a 343?

Legs and defensive nous. I think you want them to be proper anchors. Probably MJ and Dempsey. Think Morley and or GT would be able to do it too.

[BWFC_Insane]

My worry last week was we'd go 4 at the back, lose, and then that would be that...

4 still clearly suits us far far better for me. That it didn't work in 1 game when Dapo and Sadlier have barely played doesn't change that.

And if it's 5 at the back it should be 343. Then you've got the partnerships down the side for the wingbacks to work with. 352 you really either need incredible athletes at wingback who can get up and down and to the byline on their own a lot of the time, or you need presence in the box they can hit from deeper. We have neither.

Who is your midfield in a 343?

Legs and defensive nous. I think you want them to be proper anchors. Probably MJ and Dempsey. Think Morley and or GT would be able to do it too.

I worry that with that system we end up with 5 players passing it round each other and then santos hitting a long diagonal out of play. Rather like we do now. For the reason that we are taking out of midfield and we already are struggling to play through there.

It’s a counter punching system and we don’t really do that sort of thing and other teams tend to want to sit in against us.