doctor evil

He's got the attributes to be a good option for sure, maybe under a new manager he can improve. And I'd be absolutely delighted if he did.

We all see things differently, we all have different opinions after a game. If you don't think somebody played well there's nothing wrong with saying that. I call it how I see it, Someone plays well I'll say it, same if they don't. People might disagree, that's fine. But you can argue your point without the need to call people embarrassing and such.

It's actually slightly better than I thought. He still needs to improve his end product and decision making overall if he's to feature a lot this season for me.

True. The point I was making was that the assist last night shouldn't be used as an argument that he has end product. It wasn't an assist where he's put it on a plate for somebody. If he gets assists with easy 5 yard passes every week then I'm all for it, but the evidence of his time with us suggests that won't happen.

Point was that he didn't create the chance, it was nuttalls good work...

He's not only the best striker, he's the best player at the club, by far. I think I'm happy to forgive his poor discipline, which is probably due to having to watch everyone attempt to play unsy ball behind him. Reid got his goal coming off the bench against tiring opposition, I'd let him do that again. Play your best players, it's simple really.

Jack stobbs used to put numerous crosses into the box or roughly near it. Doesn't mean he was good. We won 2-0, I had no frustration. None of his crosses in were accurate, he was pushed of the ball far too often and his assist was a 5 yard pass into nuttall who did all the work. If we ever get out of this league (the correct way), he won't be in the team....

I understand why people rate Sheron because he runs around a lot and is busy but if we're going to play a 442 I don't think we can carry him in midfield. If you're the opposition you just stick a man on the other cm and we're done for. We can maybe get away with him playing CDM in a 3. He's just not good enough on the ball in an attacking sense. I'd personally only play him as a CB in a 3 and have him as the one to step into midfield in possession... As for the game it was a definite improvement in attitude and intent. We started on the front foot which we haven't been doing and we actually tried to press them a bit at times. There's definitely still loads for whoever comes in to work on with this group, it won't be an easy fix. One of our main problems is losing the ball after winning it back. So many times we either just launch it forward or try to play ridiculous passes and end up losing it straight away. That not only invites pressure but also just ends up tiring us out. I still don't think we created an awful lot either so there's definitely work to be done. As for the players Hudson 8 - Was fine, didn't have an awful lot to do but did it well, think his distribution is better than Norman so he stays in for me. Sutton 7 - Square peg in a round hole, can't fault his effort but I just don't see who's benefiting from him playing there. It ain't us and he's not progressing trying to learn to be a full back that he'll never be. Couple of good tackles first half. Fell asleep a few times defensively. Hobson 9 - If he's better in a 3 we need to play it because he was seriously on it tonight. Strong and quick, can't remember him putting a foot wrong. Hogan 7 - Solid if unspectacular. Always seems to end up on the deck. Between the 2 CBs they dealt with the 2 York big strikers well. Kitching 8 - Runs all day, always an attacking threat (often our only) and again put in some decent balls. Defensively solid enough too. Ridiculously booked for being fouled. Green 4 - Their LB had him in his pocket all match pretty much. Very little end product, not strong enough, made the wrong decision most of the time. Gardner 6 - Guaranteed effort and overhit passes. Wish he'd turn and run with the ball more because I think that's his strength. At least attempts to pass forwards. Sheron 6 - Already said my piece. Dickinson 4 - Poor I thought, numerous times his first touch let him down, another who's end product has vanished in recent weeks. Could he play rwb? Nuttall 8 - Took his goal well, always puts himself about. Needs to be in the box more often, 2nd half especially he'd end up on the edge or out on the wing. Willoughby 6 - Effort was there, still finding his feet in the team and unfortunate that his minutes are limited at the moment. Needs to pick his head up more when on the ball. Subs - Reid took his goal well, another who's unlucky to not be getting more minutes (anybody think we might have too many strikers?). Can't remember who else came on .

Gardner just needs to put 90% less power on every pass and he'll be alright then....

Just need to get hold of the ball for 5 mins here. Bit of game management

Exactly, with only 5 subs available you've got to balance covering possibilities with the impact that sub could have. The amount of times you're likely to go to the sub GK is minimal, less than once a season I'd say. So even though the impact of the sub GK would be very high, the fact he'd only be of use on very rare circumstances lowers the impact over the course of a season. Compare that to an outfielder who can impact every game and it's a no brainer for me. Obviously if you're a one (or arguably none) dimensional garbage terrible manager who forgets to use his subs on a weekly basis like unsy then none of this even matters and you might as well carry on sticking every striker in the club on the bench. Point is if I was manager I'd back myself to get more out of 5 outfield options over the course of a season than I'd lose not having the GK sub...

I'd rather use the spot on the bench for an outfielder personally. You're only ever going to use the GK sub with an injury and that's a rarity. That being said I agree that it's just bizarre having a bench full of strikers and going into the game playing a system with just 1 of them. His ridiculous use (or lack of) of substitutes this season is another symptom of his garbage game management....

Building from the back. Just got to solve that pesky goal scoring thing. Oh and keep hiring refs that miss our opponents goals.

What I don't get is why he's not just put Dickenson where Sheron is and have Willoughby or Reid as LW. I can't understand the concept of taking a defensive midfielder who's only qualities are his defensive attributes, and shoving him into an attacking midfield position.

This is just turgid stuff. I get that the heat means we can't be pressing like maniacs but even when we get the ball there's so little movement, and when someone eventually does make a run nobody is looking for it.

Being around the squad and learning from the likes of Hogan and raglan is no bad thing. But at some point I'd be looking for loan opportunities for him. Unfortunately because of the squad situation he's probably needed at the minute as cover for RB/CB...

I think if we're serious about challenging at the top end this season, Sutton shouldn't be starting, at least not yet. He's got potential and I know he's mostly playing out of position but I still don't think he's at this level yet.

Currently available isn't he.....

He's probably the best of the midfield 3....

He was booked for kicking the ball away for the first, the 2nd was definitely the challenge. Had his hand in his pocket immediately. Because it was simulation it might get overturned, but I'm not sure if that was only for straight reds....

It's their first appointment, they'll stick with him until it becomes untenable (which is probably a couple more bad results away).

Doesn't rate Gardner = Troll . I'm not deyres

Also I'm seeing a lot of "Gardner best of the midfield" type comments. The guy was useless. He can't run, he can't tackle, he overhits every pass. He offers nothing.

That's the most concerning aspect for me. People criticise DU for his "excuses" but in fairness they're (mostly) legitimate. Had we been coming into this season off the back of a really strong one, there wouldn't be this kind of reaction. But although results improved towards the end of last season, the quality of product didn't follow that trend. There wasn't a particular identity or style begining to appear. In fact DU mentioned time and again that he couldn't play the way he wanted until he had a squad capable. That bought him time, but also put pressure on the beginning of this season. And I think it made his job a lot harder, he's effectively had to try to implement a philosophy or identity from scratch over the summer. There's a reason why we always hear that you have to give a new manager time. It takes time to implement major change. And there's always bumps in the road at the start. But he's already had that time, so fans rightly will demand results and crucially an improvement in the quality of football. And I just don't see a plan, a philosophy, identity whatever you want to call it. We try to play out from the back one game then go hoof ball all game the next. The best teams have recognisable patterns of play, you see them create and score chances the same way all the time. We don't have that, it's aimless hopeful balls waiting for mistakes from the opposition. When we do create chances it's more often than not just because of the quality we have on the pitch. This is a squad more than capable of achieving a top 3 finish but at the moment it looks like a team that will be fighting at the wrong end of the table. It's entirely possible that we could turn things around over the next few games, the injured players come back and we begin to see the style of play unsworth wants. But he's got very little room for error now. 1 or 2 wins won't stop those calls for him to go. It needs to be a sustained period of improved performances and results.

He shouldn't be at the club never mind on the pitch. Has about 1 good game in 20 and gets sent off in 3 of the others...