Ok, so have i missed something? Bradley has been completely frozen out of the team since the Bristol City game, yes I do think he was somewhat to blame for their winning goal (along with 2/3 others) however i can't help but think that something else has gone on, when you consider he hasn't even had 1 minute since then, in games which he would have very much been of use and Weston and ***an have played a lot and been utterly useless. It makes no sense to me, he doesn't warm up with a smile on his face anymore and isn't running up the line waiting to be thrown in, does anyone know if there's been a falling out with Taylor? For me, Dack has been one of our most consistent performers this season and on a footballing point of view does not deserve to be treated like this, so i sense something rather more sinister.
I hope he hasn't fallen out with Taylor as he has been very good and I think he has gone from strength to strength this season as he was on a good run. Hopefully it is just that he played a lot of games and that Taylor is just giving him some rest to let others play as he is still young so he is still learning and may need time for a bit of rest to ensure that we don't burn him out (Same with Hessenthaler) however I wouldn't have thought that Dack was close to burning out as he has not played that many games that he would get to that sort of level. Hopefully we see Dack back in the team this weekend as I do think that he has improved a lot and he will just continue to get better and better like Hessenthaler has and they will become top players. I feel that Dack does sometimes see a drop in form after a good run however that happens with a lot of players and many young players so hopefully that is the reason why Dack has been dropped if it isn't to do with burning out, however it could be a bit of both and hopefully we see him back in this weekend.
Dack is one player of the team that has been on my thoughts recently in regards to selection or should i say lack of it. Especially with me being strongly for our promising youngsters to be given match time. I at first thought maybe Dack's absence tied with Lee's return, again a player who I like to see selected. However, thinking about it now, I wonder if it is more to do with PT's current preference of ***an. Hence Saturday at Bradford Lee replaced Hessy but I would have taken ***an off. I have seen nothing that impresses me about ***an but that is just a personal opinion rather than an attack on his ability.
***an is fast becoming the new target man for people wanting a whinge, is he brilliant, no a long way from it but he is no worse than the other mid-fielders. He is very good at protecting the fullback, needs to get forward a little better but he is probably acting on orders as defence is where we suffer. His stats on 9 starts show 2 assists, 3 clean sheets (we've only had 5 all season) a win rate for games he's played in of 47% which is 12% above the teams win rate overall. Dack on the other hand likes getting forward and does really well supporting the strikers, if however this isn't what he was asked to do then it might explain why ***an is playing ahead of him.
I wouldn't mid ***an protecting the right back if he had a touch or the ability to pass, I'm afraid he's not good enough and shouldn't be keeping a very promising youngster out of the team.
At last! About the most sensible thing Taylor has said...http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26651586 "For me, him and Jake [Hessenthaler] will be absolutely nailed-on starters next season, whoever is in charge."
That would annoy me if I was either on the board, or the player himself. Taylor has said he is nailed on to start. Well, what if Taylor isn't there next season and your new boss doesn't like Dack for some reason, and leaves him out. I know it's your club, and your manager, and I haven't really got a clue what is happening there, but when managers of any club say this type of thing, it really attaches itself to my mammaries. mini rant over.
Might be something to do with the fact that after the long trip back after Bristol City game, him and few other young players went on a night out in Maidstone. Needless to say when I saw him he wasn't a particular sober state.
Resurgam - rant is understandable. Taylor's 'current' tactics are not for those who like attacking football. To partly defend him - he was brought in at a time when we were heading very quickly for relegation. He had to get points on the board. He has set us up very negatively - but I suppose he will say that the results have justified the tactics. I know that I am not alone in finding the tactics - which include the omission of Dack, and for a long time not playing Akinfenwa with McDonald, somewhat frustrating - but Taylor is so afraid of losing that he fails (too often for my liking) to understand that if you don't attack the opposition goal you can't expect to score ! The statement in brb's link is the first time that I can feel a little optimism for next season - in as much that Taylor, if he is still manager, is hinting that he will give Dack a 'permanent' place. That should provide a little more creativity - of course it might help if we had a decent winger
We know that feeling all too well at Norwich this season alwaysright, especially when you think of the money involved nowadays. This might sound weird, but although I love the idea of top class players playing against my team, but I also miss the 'honest' football that we had in league one.
Bradley Dack's best position is behind the striker and the only way Bradley Dack is going to play in that position is if we play five in midfield, having said that Dack was played on the wing when he assisted all three goals against Port Vale in our 3 - 2 win, including some fantastic one touch football which saw Cody McDonald put Gillingham 3 - 0 up. Hopefully Gillingham are safe with a few games to spare and then we can try and experiment with the squad and try a few things out, we could start Bradley Dack out-wide to see if we can use him as a winger rather then as a attacking midfielder, Dack won't be the first or last player to adapt his game to try and get in the first team and I think Dack might have to play out of position or change his playing style to get into the first team - because Dack and Hessenthaler in the middle for a 4.4.2 formation is too lightweight and you are over-relying on Hessenthaler to do a lot of defensive work.
