Sir, I note that you mentioned me in dispatches last night; apologies in that it has obviously taken me more than the 20 minutes you referred to in your article to respond. Yes, l was at the game. No, my opinion has not altered. Hamer is not good enough for this division, let alone the Championship. Solly (who was superb) and Wiggins apart, the rest were woeful; devoid of ideas, imagination, do they really train together in the week? The person who mentioned last night that Colchester were the worst team seen at the valley needs his head examined. Obviously we are the 'business end' of the season. However, the majority of the players looked very tired last night. Yes, they have played a number of games in a short space of time; but so have all the other teams, and Colchester looked a yard quicker than us. If the manager continues to play the same eleven every game this will blow up in front of us. We were fortunate that Sheffield Utd lost again last night. Yes, we have a 13 point lead at the moment, but l doubt we will get promoted as champions. True, the first goal was a bit of a 'one off', but l feel that Hamer should have done better; certainly should have moved quicker to the flight of the ball; the second goal needs no comment. He has come very close to doing the same thing many a time before! Many people have mentioned that we have a large squad; indeed, we have in terms of numbers. Yet l would suggest that only Haynes, Evina, Sullivan, Pritchard and on occasions, Wagstaffe would merit a place in the team. Why on earth is Green in the team?; the only thing he contributes are yellow cards! As for this squad being 'competitive' in the championship; no chance. Unless Powell is given significant sums of money in the summer, we will go back to league one at the first time of asking. I want the team to perform well, and to get promotion as much as the next person. The reality is that we are about to implode (Notts County will prove this at the weekend) due to tiredness and lack of real quality in our ranks.
You can state that as fact, can you? Notts County are indeed in great form, and will be a very tough challenge for us, but we have enough to overcome them, I believe. I don't mean to provoke anger, because a fair amount of what you say is sensible. The team is tired, and I think some tinkering is needed, to give some players a rest and to give our team a new shape and impetus. This season has shown that we DO have the in-depth quality (e.g. when Stephens was out Hughes stepped in, and then Russell, and then Pritchard). Now is the time for Chris Powell to make some tough decisions.
This could have gone in the 'Colchester Match Thread' which generally doubles up as a pre and post match thread. I generally agree with practically everything you've said - Solly was brilliant, Wiggins was alright, everyone else was pretty poor and it does indeed seem that they were far too tired. Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed that Hamers mistake (taking too long to kick the ball out/having little control over a moving ball) last night wasn't a one off, he does it multiple times every game (and even did it two or three times after he'd conceded from doing so). To say that all Danny Green contributes is yellow cards is harsh though - he has 9 assists so far this season. He's a very inconsistent performer, but in my opinion, when he's on form he's an incredibly dangerous player.
Evening Rufus, We can certainly agree on one thing and that's about Hamer - I seriously think that had he not got a back four of such quality in front of him, he would have been found out long ago. I can't believe we actually paid money for him, let alone the amount we forked out. I still live in hope that one day you'll come on here after a great performance and give credit where it's due, rather than confining yourself only to critical postings when we lose or put on a sub-standard performance. We're thirteen points ahead at the top, for goodness sake allow yourself a smile in public once in a while.
I would leave out Hamer, Green, Jackson and Stephens for the Notts Co match and bring in Evina, Haynes, Russell and Sullivan. Perhaps Haynes up front with Kermit, and Waggy in on the right. But I would like to see how BWP does with different service first. A good freshen-up is what we need.
I think there is a case for all but Jacko. It might have gone unnoticed, but when Wiggins was really struggling against Bournemouth, JJ was doing a 2 man job to help his team mate. He is absolutely pivotal to us. Stephens needs Hughes or Pritchard to come in so he has a lot more freedom to go forward. You wouldn't have been able to tell he was a ''goal scoring'' midfielder in recent games.
What is not good for team morale is dropping your captain if he is fit. No case for JJ being dropped even if he had a bad game on Tuesday.
I don't think Stephens' new role of playing just in front of the back 4 suits him at all. Maybe Stephens, Hollands and Pritchard should be competing for one position, while Hughes and Russell compete for the other.
Stephens is my favourite player, but this new role doesn't suit him in the slightest and we aren't seeing the best of him. He is meant to be an attacking midfielder.
Its time to bring Hughes back and give Hoillands a rest. Let spephens get forward which in turn lets kermorgant get forward too.
Good shout, although if such a change were to be made it would be Russell who is ahead of Hughes in the pecking order. I'd also like to see a change in the bench. If JJ is not fully fit Evina should be there and Pritchard for Clarke as well.
I agree with this sentiment completely - if he is fit. I don't think he looks fit and was floundering on Tuesday. Normally, JJ would be the first name on the sheet.
I dont think JJ is unfit I reckon he just had a mare of a game on Tuesday and it rubbed off on th e rest of the team. It is always a big call to drop the leader since the consequences of "dropping the pilot" far outweigh the loss of the individuals skills. You can always replace the rudder on a ship with an oar just dont try crossing the Atlantic!
JJ is inspirational i wasnt there tuesday BUT junior MT said at times we played very well...then ran out of ideas. We lost to a wonder goal and a fluke and having seen the highlights could of won comfortably. I wouldnt big up county to much they`ll come to the valley and try to spoil...we aint gonna see a masterclass in football from them.
