yankfan

He’s had a shocker of a career

Can’t be surprised. We have a front 3 that consists of a left wing back on the right, a center forward at left wing and a midfielder playing as our center forward. And the one whose least likely to score is the one who’s a recognized forward.

After international break I’d guess

Actually quite well controlled by his standard

Ringing endorsement from the Gaffer about Gally…”He was very delicate, we had a conversation and his reaction told me that a fit Sam Gallagher was going to be a better option than a 40 or 50 per cent Reda Khadra.” why we handed out a new contract to someone is considered to be just better than another player at 50% is beyond me.

And BBD is sold

And it’s hard to win if you can’t score.

5 quid. Maybe 10.

If we don’t go up, I’d gladly accept mid table next year. Assuming BBD is sold and like AA sale the money isn’t reinvested, the side looks more like relegation that promotion to me.

Certainly will be a young and inexperienced side next campaign as it stands. Don’t expect Diaz to be around pats this summer, so it’s really difficult to see us competing for promotion. That’s what seems to have made the January window so frustrating. An opportunity to go up might not come again for a while, and we failed to bring in any pieces to push us over the top.

Result as expected. Without BBD it seems we don’t have any real goal threat. What’s most concerning to me is the status of the club for next year. Of the 14 that were on the pitch today. 5 are loans, 2 are out of contract. Of the 7 that will be back, none look likely to have standout performances. Unless we sell BBD for 30 million and reinvest all those funds, I don’t see the side having more talent than this.

I'd guess we lose 2-0. I think they are by far the best side in the league and while we are improved defensively they could have had 10 the last time and I dont see us keeping from scoring. I also just dont see where we get a goal from. Dolan can be a pest, but he's not very proficient in front of goal. Can't count on Gally and the likes of Buckley/Rothwell aren't natural finishers. Our best chance to score is off a set piece and we rarely score those either.

I want some of what you're having.

I'd guess we'd be forced to play a back 4 as Naymbe is out too...Hard to believe the weekly wage Ayla take home, and we couldn't make an offer to keep Naymbe here. Shame really, as all that cash is tied up in a player who rarely is healthy enough to see the pitch, and even when he is, cant get in the side. Meanwhile a regular in the first team is scraping by.

For being 6'5" he also seems to get muscled out of position regularly.

Zeefuik hasn't really been giving a proper run at right wing back. He's had a few substitute appearances, but mostly has played on the left, or further up the pitch. A good run will give us a better idea of the player he could be. I've seen enough for JRC since returning to know he's out of the depth. Has been the worst or second worst player on the pitch in his appearances this year.

A win would require a goal. I’m not betting on us scoring.

Agreed, Zeefuik sone quality but haven’t seen enough of him at his natural position to not think it will be a loss without Naymbe

We can give them a challenge in back. Last time we went down a man then made tactical subs to be more attacking. The 7-0 score line was bad but we we’ve improved in the back since then. I think Zeefuik will give us more in the attack as rwb but until otherwise shown we will lose a bit defensively there. I still don’t know where our goals would come from. And as long as that’s the case it’s difficult to expect anything from this match.

Good results around us with Sheffield and Boro losing. Top probably out of reach at this point

I dont see us moving away from the back 3...the problem is Neither Pickering or Naymbe are true wing backs, so we end up with 5 defensive minded players + Travis. That puts a lot of pressure on the likes of other 4. That leaves 4 players who have a total of 12 goals between them. And you wonder why we struggle to score?

His poor anticipation and movement are only surpass by his poor first touch. The cross 10 min or so in to the second half was a prime example. Any goal scorer would see Khadra was going to attempt to beat his man and get a ball in. He either needed to make a run across the defender to the near post so the ball could be payed in front of him or behind so the ball could be played between the defender and the keeper. Khadra picked out the second ball as Gallagher wasn’t making the first run. But he didn’t make the second either. He just ran up the back of the defender and was no where near getting a touch. A half way decent striker would have tapped that in.

Let’s be honest when we conceded that corner in extra time every single one of us knew this was where we were going to lose it. We hoped we’d be wrong but in our hearts we all knew it was inevitable.

The problem is we’ve played well yet again and have not scored. Outside of the missed penalty, we never looked likely to score. The back 3 has been solid but when you couple that with Travis, 2 defensive minded wing backs, and a donkey center forward playing on the wing, it falls apart. Up a man we could have played another 45 min and still wouldn’t have scored. Khadra was great, created chances that fell to no one because Rothwell, Gallagher, Buckley are not finishers. Without BBD we’re impotent in the final third.

We are absolutely wasteful in the final third. Been that way all season. Even in games we’ve scored 3 felt like we should have had 5. Gallagher simply is not a footballer. His incapable of moving into the correct space and cannot anticipate the play. Case in pint the ball Khadra played in about 10 min into the second half. Great ball, but upon replay Gally was not floating in behind nor was he making information of the defender. Just running up his back. Khadra had a good game, penalty miss aside. He was by far our most dangerous option. Penalty was poorly taken, but a propped striker, not Gally, would have stepped up and slotted it away. not bringing in an attacking option in January looking like a real blunder. No idea where or when the next goal will come.