Mohamed started well for us but has seriously tailed off recently - stick him on the bench. O'Toole's attitude has been disgraceful - he just couldn't give a **** - stick him somewhere as far away from the Mem as possible. Beardsley works hard but he's simply crap and does not score goals - bench. Gillespie - rubbish. I would play 4-4-2 with Clarkson and Harrold up front. Yes I know that they've not exactly covered themselves in glory but Clarkson is about the only player we have with a bit of guile and quality at this level. Harrold's a carthorse, but he's the kind of lump that Clarkson could play off. Broghammer and Harrison on the wings. The Hammer is quick, likes to take players on and can cross. Harrison is tricky and not as lightweight as Santos - he just needs to rediscover his confidence and the way he played this time last season. Clarke and Lockyer in central midfield. We've seen they can do it. Perhaps Woodards in place of one of them for experience. Same back four that have done pretty well for most of the season- Mac, Tom, Brown and Smudger (our best player) And DC should simply tell them that we're losing and there's only 5 minutes to go at the start of each game. That way they might actually start playing football when the ref starts the game, instead of f**king about for 85 minutes. Alternatively, build a time machine and go back to August 2013. Sack Ward and bring in some mean motherf**ker who will scream and shout and physically assault the players if they don't give 110%. Someone like Martin Allen. Look at Fulham - they were dead and buried a few weeks ago. They got Magath in, who by all accounts is a total **** and they now look likely to survive.
lockyer needs to come back in. think he hasnt done anything wrong to have been dropped. parkes has been dropped a couple of times now. think its been a mistake to mess around with the back line that is still 1 of the best defences in the league. put parkes back. o'toole, although he is our top scorer, needs to be dropped. at the start of the season a few of us on here didnt really want him back this season. his goals has proved us wrong but he is worse than chris lines for me. lines only played for about 20 mins in games and was missing for the rest of the game. o'toole is worse than that! i hope he leaves in the summer. should be dropped now. clarke deserves his place. i really dont rate harrison or santos. i think mohamed and hammer should be our wingers now. clarkson is wasted and needs to start the remaining games. his experience will help. along side him upfront is tricky. harrold, beardsley and gillespie. i pick beardsley as the best of the bad bunch. my team to start the remaining games is.... -----------------mildenhall--------------- smith---mcchrystal---parkes---brown hammer--lockyer--clarke--mohamed ---------clarkson---beardsley---------- i praise clarke for mising it up making changes to the team and formation in each game so far. but these players are stuck in their ways and seem to get confused who is playing where! stick to 442 for the remainder of the games.
Looks like a lot more fans are having second thoughts about JJOT I said he was overrated a long time ago and that the wages he would be on would be better spent on a couple of more experienced players. Gillespie just doesn't do anything in the side but would probably thrive elsewhere. Get Parkes back in the side and yes I would also put Harrison and Broghammer on the wings.
here i am clutching at straws..... 4 games left for each team. here is the form table over last 4 games for the teams at the bottom: team............... pts... gd northampton... 6..... -1 rovers............. 4...... -1 wycombe........ 4...... -1 exeter............. 4...... -2 torquay........... 3...... -2 morecambe..... 1...... -3 hartlepool....... 0...... -5 if each team carry the exact same form into the next 4 games as what happened in the last 4 games then the table would end like this: pos.. team............... pts.... gd 18.... exeter............. 52.... -8 19.... northampton... 52... -18 20.... rovers............. 51.... -10 21.... wycombe........ 50.... -10 22.... morecambe..... 50.... -17 23.... hartlepool....... 49..... -7 24.... torquay........... 42.... -25 i so hope this happens!!!
Couldn't bring myself to post until now... I think Lockyer not playing yesterday was a bit of a mistake. He would have shored up the midfield alongside Clarke. ] Gillespie and O'Toole were both useless. Too many players didn't have the stomach for the fight, and at times we looked like a bunch of individuals rather than a team, particularly O'Toole who looked completely p****d off. The last 5 minutes I felt was a bit of an insult. We only attack and show any urgency when the game is effectively over - pathetic. The only bit of class the club showed yesterday was the Hillsborough Tribute. That was excellent.
First game of yours I've seen for a while yesterday.. Clarkson looked like he should be starting. Was on the pitch for what, 10 minutes? Hit the bar with a header, played a great ball across the six yard box that just needed a touch off anyone and created the opening for the goal. As far as appearances off the bench go, it wasn't a bad one. Surprised not to see him start as well as Harrold to be honest, at least he has some sort of physical presence. Can Mohammed play as a striker? He won a few headers and gave the defenders something to think about at times. What the hell has happened to Ellis Harrison too? Honestly hope you guys stay up.
Bring back The Hammer, Clarkson, Parkes and Lockyer. Keep Woodards in a holding role, push O'Toole further up where he likes to play. Harrold...Beardsley...Gillespie... take your pick. The Hammer could make the difference to our season...
Magath has made one significant change: he's brought the experienced players back into the side and dropped a few youngsters. Richardson et al know how to fight a relegation battle.
I agree...get the experienced heads out there and use the younger ones off the bench. It's disappointing that people have started getting on the back of our top scorer. It seems to be a trait of Bristol folk to niggle away at some of our better players until their confidence is shot. It happens on both sides of the city. Shaun of the Dead said as much in a candid interview with Twentyman and I have heard the same sad old gits slagging off our better players for years now. Chris Lines, Jeff Hughes, Craig Disley...the list goes on and on. A bit of encouragement goes a long, long way...
If only our experienced players were half-decent! To be frank though, they should be ashamed of themselves. Many of our experienced players have let the club, the fans and themselves down with their inept, couldn't-give-a-toss performances. Look at Coulhirst from Torquay and Aziz at Daggers - both young prospects at Premier League clubs who were hungry to experience league football. Who did we sign? - Gillespie then no-one. Nuff said.
I don't think any reasonable Gashead would slag off a player that was putting a shift in Gastro. If things aren't working for a player, or they just experience a bit of bad luck, no-one should begrudge them. It's when they clearly couldn't be arsed. I think that was the case with JJOT on Saturday. We know what he's capable of, but he seemed supremely disinterested.
If I had a gun, I would have ****ing shot JJOT on Saturday. A complete disgrace of a performance from someone who is supposed to be on big bucks here. Smith and Woodards were pretty much the only players to come out of that game with any credit
Clarkson made things happen when he came on and must start on Saturday, with Smith, Mildenhall and Woodards. The rest of them need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror this week and ask themselves if they feel good taking good money for no effort, loyalty or application.
harrison has been useless this season but he has had a rape case against him which would have been on his mind. clarke has brought him back in and he dont look at all like a league player. but he has made things happen. he has scored and set up goals. maybe worth giving him a go again??
Yep - he's nowhere near his form this time ;last year, but he can make things happen so give him a go. We're not exactly blessed with options.
I like Darrell Clarke - but what does he see in Santos??? Maybe a decent player in a couple of years time, but is nowhere near ready for the first-team, and particularly in high-pressure games like Saturday. We actually looked like a non-league club on Saturday and that's the most depressing thing.
i think clarke plays santos as he said before that he believes in playing players in the right positions to give us better balance. if were playing wingers then due to a lack of wingers it will only be santos, harrison and mohamed (soon can add hammer too). its a tough decision who to pick out of santos and harrison at the moment. both as bad as each other if you know what i mean. think wing backs may be the way using smith and brown as the potential wingers. i personally keep changing my mind with what our best 11 is by the day.