I have with reservation the appointment of a new manager, as THE GANG OF FOUR as they have been loosely known, have with a few tweaks taken over the helm and have had great results.Not that this would prove to be the way forward, four in charge. Maybe maybe not. Exciting football, pleasing the fans , the mainstay of any club. Gaining points and moving up what is a very tight league. Who is to say this was not PT,s plan ? he did for most of the season provide negative football. As is seems.But it is what he has created. Until the leash was taken from the dogs to run loose. We have one of the youngest teams in the league, with experience and time, great for the club if it all gels. This has only happened by what previous management has put in place , it has not happened by luck and the future will be based on this. I now see tonights result, clean sheet and two goals AWAY from home, and now a good run of form and six points from the play offs. Could we take another 3 points Saturday ?? I hope so.May the form and possible play offs beckon. My point is remember where the credit should have been placed if and when fruition occurs. And hopefully new management continues to nurture was is being produced, not hinder it UTG
No greater burden than that of unfulfilled potential. Shame it didn't materialise under PT. Still....we all have to move on.
My take on what PS said when Edinburgh was appointed - ""We made it very clear to the players and Justin that we didn't want to change too much - he is joining the family as opposed to taking over it." is that he expects the development to continue in the same direction. Certainly PT laid the foundations of the current performances by bringing in the players, but you have to ask why he wasn't able to get the performances or results that have been achieved in the past month. Although I haven't seen a live game in the flesh since Crewe I did watch the JPT game at Bristol on TV, and have watched (very brief) highlights of other games, and have noted a couple of quite simple but apparently very effective ways which have improved performances. Firstly the team selection has been more consistent with very few changes in personnel from game to game. Surely this must benefit the overall team performance. Playing together in training is one thing, but getting used to your teammates in competitive conditions which alter from game to game will certainly be of much more benefit. Secondly it would appear that McGlashan is being encouraged (or at least allowed) to venture more into what old farts like me think of as the inside right position, rather than playing as an out and out winger where I think his decision making in terms of when to pass and who to pass to (especially given we don't have a proper target man as a centre forward) were patchy at best. Wing backs might not like fast players running at them very much, but centre halves at this level usually have a hatred of it and all but the best will get found out. Management by committee served us well, but some of the guys had commitments outside the first team which in the long term they really shouldn't be distracted from. As with all previous incumbents to the position of Manager of our team I welcome Justin Edinburgh and wish him a long and successful stay in the hope that his performances and style of play meet our expectations.
The things I have noticed since PT left have been, leaving players up field when defending corners, getting players forward quicker and in numbers when attacking, Playing more balls into the box along the ground which suits Cody, Dack, Marquis. By leaving players up field the ball is less likely to come straight back so relieving pressure and allowing the defence to push out. Getting players forward quicker in numbers allows more attacking options whilst putting the opposition defence under more pressure. Playing balls into the box along the ground is using the natural strengths of our forward players whilst making 6½ ft CB's obsolete.
