yarddog73

Expecting the retained/released list by 9am Thursday morning after the Halifax defeat to give the disappointing season ticket sales a lift.

2 hours ago, the_mighty_bosh said:

 

They are all technically better than Sheron and can pass the ball better than him (McGahey possibly being the only exception as I really don't rate him other than being a stopper in defensive midfield).  And yet they've all been worse than him this season in my eyes.  Not to say that Sheron is a world beater by any means but more that the list of players above has significantly underperformed on a regular basis.  Hopefully Lundstram's assist is more of what we'll see from him next season instead of what he's shown so far.

 

Can I also add on a technical level that Sheron is a really good tackler?  I'm not just saying that because he puts himself about, but he regularly times risky tackles well when he's pressing that breaks up opposition play.  It is needed in the centre of midfield as well as good passing ability and unfortunately this is shown when the other midfielder is Tom Conlan, who clearly has the ball control that Sheron doesn't but is frustratingly lightweight and often gets pushed off the ball far too easily for a central midfielder.

 

Like last year, if the manager and anyone responsible for recruitment can't find players who can perform better than Sheron on a regular basis they'll probably pay for it with their jobs just like Unsworth (and rightly so).  But I can't dislike Sheron because, unlike our other midfielders, he at least does the minimum that's expected whenever he's on the pitch compared to pretty much every other midfielder this season who regularly fall way below those levels.

This sums it up for me, it is possible to admire him but have reservations about some parts of his game and that's where I'm at.

He stands out for me because his weakness kills us but on the flip side he's the strongest runner, fiercest tackler and is as game as they come but in that area of the pitch I'd rather be looking after the football than looking for it. 

He can play almost any position on the pitch in a defensive role so on that basis you'd keep him but if he's playing centrally in midfield he needs ballers around him who he can do the donkey work for.

There's better out there though, we need a Matty Palmer or Alfie McCalmont type who we can play through and that for me has to be the priority as well as wide men to complement Green and I'm talking about players like Kanu and Sinclair at Dale, solid consistent wide men are a must in NL and you probably need 3 or 4 in the squad.

Defensive frailties are obvious and you could argue the defence needs a complete overhaul, by my reckoning we probably need eight new players to push on up.

1 minute ago, League one forever said:

That’s a lot more fair. 
 

 

 

I'm surprised he's not been played at fullback, everyone else has had a go there.

Sheron kills us with his inability to string a pass together, it's worked playing him further up the pitch pressing which has also seen him chip in with some good goals, he's not the problem but part of the problem in games where we can't control the football. Our midfield and particularly wide areas is weak and I honestly think it needs a complete overhaul, Sheron included.

11 minutes ago, Dave_Og said:

MD/CEO.. What does a title matter?

Whatever title you want to put on him he probably could be doing better.

3 minutes ago, AndyB2 said:

But there is no chance royle will be under any pressure whatsoever. 

 

I fear for the future with him at the helm 

He should be, he's seems pretty astute at wasting others money and with that I'd expect some pressure or at least some assurances it can be put right.

3 minutes ago, kowenicki said:

Gardner and Lundstram brilliant today. 
 

Probably one of Gardners best ever performances, ended by yet another injury… and def Lundstram’s best.  
 

Decent for large parts, but wasteful.
 

Odd subs. 

Gardner is playing for a new contract 100%

Cannot afford to give him one as 60 minute players in this League with only four outfield subs kill you. If we fell for it and handed him another 12 month I bet we wouldn't get 20 games out of him, agree about Lundstrum - his first thought now is positive and it makes all the difference, hopefully he can carry that through to next season.

6 minutes ago, TJ1952 said:

How the hell does McGahay get a start every game.

What does he bring to the team ?

 

It's mind boggling really but is probably a measure of where we are at, I'm hoping we've seen the end of some of these relegation experts.

2 minutes ago, League one forever said:

Think we’re in for a nasty shock in the summer. Don’t think the players we all want will materialise- bloated contracted squad with too many on big wages, who are nowhere near the squad and difficult to shift. 

Nobody will want to play in a team set up like that, it's soul destroying. Great if you get results but awful when you get sussed out as this bunch have been.

4 minutes ago, deyres42 said:

Only 5 defeats in 15 though so absolutely take the positives.

Progress they call it.....

Big yawn

They can all get in the bin for me, fucking frauds. Blame who you want none of them are good enough and Darren Royle needs to take a long hard look at himself because he's currently overseeing a shitshow he's a big part of creating.

Disappointing end to the season going out having our bellies tickled but not surprising. 

1 hour ago, Londonboy said:

You can try and dress it up as much as you want but the facts remain.

As you say he came in and we were 3 points off the playoffs.

We've won 1 in 10 and are now 9th 4 points adrift as it stands and likely to be further behind come 5pm.

Sorry he's failed this season in my eyes big time.

Last 8 games under Mellon we are on 0.6 points per game or 28 points for the season. 

Form table lads have disappeared off the face of the earth, Unsworth was sacked for less.

8797 with 1685 Dale

3 minutes ago, simplythemostimportantkick said:

Convinced the officials in this league are actually cheating. There’s no other explanation! 

I mentioned it after the Chesterfield game, those officials gave decisions they didn't even see so what is the explanation?. Since that game it's managed to get even worse.

Dallas first touch is a shot.

Hudson and this defence needs to go, pub players.

Great start, positive and on the front foot and untouchable Hudson kills us again.

2 minutes ago, LightDN123 said:

Yet Norwood is the issue according to some! He’s the only one with a goal in him within the whole squad. 
 

Says a lot when we sign Dallas who has always been a 1 in 2 striker in this league, yet he can’t score for us. 

0 in 10 for Dallas, due a goal today.

Here's one for you all going in to today's game.

Todays defence have scored 1 goal from 132 combined appearances this season.

Todays midfield and forwards bar Norwood have scored 5 from 95 combined appearances this season.

That's 6 from 227.

Only three scorers in the line up.

Average age of the outfield players is just short of 29, what a fucking charity case we are.

We've gone from naming four strikers on the bench to naming none...

This fucking club, about a dozen under contract and they've all disappeared. 

Lundstrum in for Conlon, fucking passengers in that eleven stealing wages, quicker we fuck most of this lot off the better.

I'll  watch it on the telly, seasons over for me although I have a sneaky suspicion we will win our last four and still miss out on the playoffs. I'm a bit Micky Mellon at the minute.

Why would you have them scouted when you've got the relegation aid Statbomb at our disposal.

So glad we've tapped in to that and are well on target for our top 10 finish.

On 4/4/2024 at 1:32 PM, JoeP said:

Interesting phone-in last night.  Couple of points caught my attention:

 

"Allegedly an experienced manager has said he wouldn't have James Norwood near his team because of his bad attitude and because he's a bully"

Sort of blows the myth out of the water that he's a model pro, I've heard several stories doing the rounds about him and let's just say he's not my cup of tea.

He's desperate to get away in the summer as he somehow thinks he's still got what it takes to operate in the Championship, he'd be the first I'd have out of the door if I we have any interest in building a team. When Mellon came in he went on a bit of a run in front of goal but we are winless in his last nine games and he's bagged one goal, against Chesterfield in the only game he looked arsed. Scored 11 in 15 when Mellon was appointed.

Coincidence?.

His presser for the Dale game is grim, fucking hell he goes on about the squads deficiencies again and that anyone with a football brain can see its shortcomings yet he's had opportunity to bring in his own players already and now he talks of having to wheel and deal to bring more in, if we start next season with a similar midfield and lopsided defence and no pace on the flanks we might as well give up now.

Also strangely  harps on about the winless run and how we've played all the top teams recently, wow I didn't know we'd become a run of the mill NL club overnight and so accepting of our mediocrity, it's no wonder we can't beat the big clubs like Dagenham, Fylde and Aldershot when we see them as big clubs.

Is it any wonder the players have given up after they've listened to the drivel all week long.

Finally why is Reid training day in day out with the first team yet we can't even get him in a matchday squad, probably the only forward player we have left with any type of pace and he's scored about one a game whist he's been in the team. If he's not going to play again why the fuck is he training with us, fucking stupid decision given he's hardly going to be great to have around from a team moral point of view.

Not surprised if Lundstrum comes in for Conlon, think Conlon downed tools after his debut, he cruises through games despite claiming he'd give his all after joining, some players lack ability, he doesn't but his commitment is questionable. 

I've had a feeling this season was wrote off by Mellon weeks ago when he realised the squad he'd still have to go with in League 2 if we got lucky in the playoffs, looking at the contracts we've given away this is probably a much bigger job than I first thought for him. I'm really hoping we don't renew any players who could be binned, giving the likes of Gardner and McGahey new deals would probably kill it for me.