slystallone Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Smith needs to start playing games. This 5 / 10 minutes here & there isnt helping him or us Against the gladiators that are Stevenage, let Smith start the game. Shefki Kuqi is spent. I think i know the answer to whether he's going to make it / is cut out for the pro game.......but we wont know for sure in giving the lad 5 mins, coming cold into a game when 9 times out of 10 we're chasing the game M'Changama starts for the shocking Reece Brown and Smith to start in place of Kuqi for Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobOAFC Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Smith needs to start playing games. This 5 / 10 minutes here & there isnt helping him or us Against the gladiators that are Stevenage, let Smith start the game. Shefki Kuqi is spent. I think i know the answer to whether he's going to make it / is cut out for the pro game.......but we wont know for sure in giving the lad 5 mins, coming cold into a game when 9 times out of 10 we're chasing the game M'Changama starts for the shocking Reece Brown and Smith to start in place of Kuqi for Tuesday. Who else would you partner M'changama with? Adeyemi's loan has finished, and nothing on OS saying we've got him until end of season. So we could Winchester in there with him, or put Winchester RB and stick Lee into CM? Dickov's said M'changama may need a few reserve games before starting, so he might just be having 30 minute run outs for a couple of games until up to speed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slystallone Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Who would i play in CM. Keep it on-house Winchester or Burns. I'd also look to move Dave Mellor into the role & position he is actually best at, plays normally & is used to.....midfield. Left back required. So; send back Reece Brown & dont renew (again) Tom Adeyemi's loan; use the money to bring in a specialist left back who actually undertands the position instead of ruining a kid by playing him woefully out of position and exposing him & the side as a result Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristolatic Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Pah, you can't have a go at Dickov for fighting his corner. The first choices of the positions you highlighted are: injured (Diallo/Black), injured (Wes), injured (Furman), out of form (Taylor) and out of form (Kuqi). If Kuqi had taken a third of the chances he's missed, we'd be safe from relegation and probably be on out way to Wembley - injuries and Kuqi's misses are not Dickov's fault. That sums it up for me. yesterday was the first game I'd managed to get to in quite a while and, having listened to the Scunny game on LP, was looking forward to another excellent performance. We didn't get it, but I still agree in part with what PD is saying. Overall, I thought we were the better side without being exceptional. For the first 9 minutes, I thought we looked in control although not playing brilliantly and then, wallop, we let them in through losing possession too easily and giving their man the freedom of BP to belt one in from 25 yards. I don't blame Cisak either. It was a cracking shot and I thought he did well to get a hand on it. And I still wasn't worried as I felt we were well on top and they didn't look anything special. We then became mediocre for most of the next 35 minutes, only showing in spasms that we could play football. When we were good, we were OK, when we were bad, we were bloody awful. It was a real mix of neat passing and creating openings with headless chicken stuff, wild long balls and no midfield bite. The second half was a big improvement IMO. We looked more together, passed the ball better and, with more composure, could and should have been 2 or 3 ahead and fully deserved the equaliser. I really though we would kick on from there and win it until we came to that incredible miss from Kuqi. He could have wafted it in with his cap. Then the rot at the back set in again (I thought Tarky struggled all game), Diamond makes a half-arsed challenge, nobody sticks a foot in, Cisak has to come because staying rooted to his line wouldn't have done much to help and their bloke gets round him and pops it in. And I still thought we'd get something out of it. I still thought we were the better side. It wasn't to be although we had more possession, more shots, more shots on target, more corners, more everything. So, what else can be done? I don't go along with starting Smith ahead of Kuqi. He proved yesterday in his 10 minute cameo that he is not League 1 standard, so I sure wouldn't want him in for 90 minutes. I know Kuqi is on an unbelievable barren run and he's as frustrated as hell, but I'd stick with him, despite his obvious petulance which, I believe, stems from his lack of goals. He wants one so much and is now trying too hard. He runs, he chases, he harries and I don't see Smith doing that. We've no recognised LB and Mellor is certainly struggling. If we can get Black or Diallo back, whatever you think of them, (or someone in on loan) I'd give Mellor a shot at left mid, drop Taylor and see what happens. Not much wrong with Morais on the other wing; MOM for me yesterday. We obviously need Furball, Wes and Simmo back asap but, until they are back, I'd give M'Changama a go in CM. He showed in a short time yesterday that he's got something about him. Who plays there with him? Brown looked like a fish up a tree, Adeyemi didn't have a clue and we've no-one else apart from Burns (who I've never seen btw, but will take BP1960's assessment) until the injured ones come back. Of the first two, I'd probably persevere with Brown and also go with a straight 4-4-2 at Stevenage on Tuesday. So Tuesday night's line up could be IMO: Cisak; Lee, Diamond, M'voto, Mellor (we've no-one else); Morais, M'Changama, Burns, Taylor; Reid, Kuqi. I'm a little out of touch regarding Kirk Millar; is he injured? If not, switch Morais to the left and put Millar wide right. There, is that taking positives out of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctblue Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 If I was Dickov I think that as soon as we are safe, another 10 points or so, I would be planning for next season. Try all our options to see who to keep and who to let go. Get rid of the loan players and try some of the youngsters, give Smith a run to see if he's got what it takes (personally I doubt it) and at least then he can identify what players he needs to try to sign in the close season, and who he can try to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluehobbit Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Smith needs to start playing games. This 5 / 10 minutes here & there isnt helping him or us Against the gladiators that are Stevenage, let Smith start the game. Shefki Kuqi is spent. I think i know the answer to whether he's going to make it / is cut out for the pro game.......but we wont know for sure in giving the lad 5 mins, coming cold into a game when 9 times out of 10 we're chasing the game M'Changama starts for the shocking Reece Brown and Smith to start in place of Kuqi for Tuesday. 2nd pst in this thread i completley agree with, im surpsied brown has been signed as a midfielder he doesnt seem to have much ability on the ball bar the odd decent pass - looks more like a defender to me M'Changama at least wanted the ball to feet and was prepared to close people down quickly he could be useful, looks to have a fair shot on him as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stargazer Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Matt Smith must win the divisional award for most minutes spent warming up imo. I don't know if he is good enough , but he only seems to get on late in games when we are chasing yet another lost cause , not fair on the lad imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc1955 Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I've been saying that for weeks...rest Kuqi and give Smith a couple of starts. Everytime he comes on for the last few minutes he's under so much pressure to make an impact his confidence must be shot. We did the same with Kelly who I thought could have proved to have been a decent player. It's not as if we've been scoring freely so let's give the lad some game time so he can be judged properly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluehobbit Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 id start smith tuesday, away from home (and the boo boys) give him an hour and then assess how he does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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