After watching this game I was really impressed with a lot of our players. It just shows the strength in depth our squad really has. I've already picked our starting line up from yesterdays performances. Gulacsi looked very composed and calm, distributed it very quickly which impressed me quite a bit, although his kicking looked a bit iffy. Chester was outstanding for me. Got stuck in really well and really impressed me with his tackling. He was my mom. Macca was good but would not have had to make so many tackles if his positioning was slightly better. Dudgeon was pretty solid, impressed me with his pace but I'm not sure about his tackling yet. Rosenior was...Rosenior so 'nuff said. Brady was fantastic, fast and skillful and showed he does have a right foot. I see him having a good season with us. Cairney I thought was superb in centre mid. Won plenty of tackles and his passing was pretty good. If he performs that well throughout the season he'll be one of the starting two centre mids. Evans was terrible, didn't make any tackles, didn't make a pass to one of our players and his touch was shocking. Stupidly over rated by some on here (I've never really rated him, so this one isn't just based on today). Koren looked good today, especially when coming into the centre form out wide. Really impressed me today. Fryatt and Mclean didn't really do that much today, or maybe they were just outshone by the midfield? Either way I have no comment on them today. From the second half I didn't think there were many star performers really. Adebola showed exactly what he brings to the team. Good movement, hold up play and strength. Lovely cushioned header for Simpsons goal. Anywho I really cba to rate the other players so heres the team I'd start with against Blackpool: Gulacsi Rosenior Hobbs Chester Dudgeon Koren Cairney Mckenna Brady Fryatt Adebola Subs: Basso, Macca, (insert whoever, it's too hard with only 5 now) Your thoughts?
korens goal only emphasised my belief he should be in the middle of the park as much as possible, evans-koren-mckenna-brady.... i agree adebola showed what he can offer with his assist, not sure how many minutes he can last at championship pace tho, so id still start with simpson
adebola didnt link up with our passing game whatsoever, he should start in games we need a physical presence and play on the counter, otherwise he's a bench option in my opinion.
Movement and Adebola dont belong in the same sentence. If you start with him, we will be making our first sub on 35 mins. So Simpson in for him and unfortunately i agree it will be Mckenna in the CM. But with Evans not TC.
Why are you so sure that Adebola can't last longer than 35 minutes? Age isn't everything, do you not remember Deano? He was starting games at 39 and I don't remember him having to come off in the first half.
But Evans doesn't offer anything that other players don't. He's not a particularly good tackler or passer, and doesn't have any leadership qualities. Mckenna and Cairney would offer leadership, decent tackling and a good passer. Don't get why everybody rates Evans so much. He's nothing brilliant and we have far better players.
Why do people keep desperately hanging onto the age of Deano to justify Adebola. Dean Windass had more skill in his little finger than Ade ever had, entirely different players. Did you not see Ade try and run onto a through ball from Devitt? I have no problem with him coming on for 20 mins but that is all.
Mckenna and TC will both sit deep, that isnt what we want. Evans is the runner, thats why him and Tc work. I think he can tackle and pass a ball, but a simple pass, plus he covers for Koren when he drifts in to the middle.
Overall I'm very pleased with NP's signings and I think we're well placed to challenge this season, I just wish we'd signed Iwelumo instead of Adebola, then I think we would have been really sorted.
I don't get why he's that bad. He scored a great goal at Ferriby and looked okay overall, and set up a great goal yesterday for Simpson, having a mixed game in the process. At time he looks slow and immobile, but he makes up for it by winning nearly every header. That's all he is there for. Granted he is a different type of player to Windass, but the point is they were both old and if Deano could start games at 39 there is nothing to stop Adebola doing so at 36.
I thought Adebola did ok yesterday :s. Yeah he couldn't make that run when he got put clean through but he's not fully fit yet and we all know he's slow. He's more about making problems for their defense and knocking down the ball for the smaller, faster strikers to score goals. If Mclean can start 20ish games for us last season I see no reason as to why Adebola can't start a few?
The worst thing Adebola did yesterday was get his attempted last man lob blocked, he did look particularly slow though, fryatt isin't the quickest either
Personally thought Evans played well yesterday, think we need a box-to-box midfielder in there and can see him starting most games. Think he will have a good season
