Match Day Thread Town v Gills

At least Cook now must have an idea who is worth keeping and who isn't, I never want us to lose but this shows that we really are a poor side, I regularly see posts saying that we have talented players and a terrific midfield in particular, I've never heard such nonsense we are a lightweight poor quality side that couldn't possibly compete at a higher level.

 

On their day, FM a midfield of Bish, Downes and Dozzel should be a match for any League 1 team. Just didnt show up today.

Think Freddie has played his last game today.

 

When will the day be when they do show up, any ideas ? They are not kids anymore and are not doing the job, they are lightweight, not overly talented, and so ineffective, it's no good turning up every 5th game that's not acceptable.

 

Agreed. Has been for a looong time too. Apart from a couple of decent players it’s a weak, unbalanced squad at a club on a downward trajectory.

 

I liked ITFC who made part of the point of football is about fun, hope and glass half full. Nothing about our club emanates these words or values. Its all ‘eek out as best u can, sell anyone good, and no u cant have any fresh paint for the walls.’ Its embarrassing.

I was cringing when PL was saying he was getting the place spruced up. Wtf is a first team football coach doing that for? Where’s the ****ing estates dept? Even the local library can organise that....

 

I think that defeat shows the importance Judge has on our game lately. He strings things together and has been really creative lately. We definitely missed him. Bishop was ineffective. I think Dozzell needs a rest, he didn’t look good out there in my opinion.

I would like a back four of Kenlock, Wolfenden, Chambers or Wilson, and Matheson. Maybe Downes and Bishop in the middle with Harrop (ideally Judge when he can come back) and go for a front three of Edwards, Jackson, and Norwood? At least there are options in the squad. Just concerned how much of that is deadwood. We won three on the bounce, against some very good teams, this is not a bad team. We should’ve done better against Gillingham.

 

I've said for a long time this squad isn't good enough, talented players but none of them have proven themselves in this league or above. But there are talented players in there, the midfield looked very light weight today but put 1 of them in Gillinghams midfield and they're probably their best players because they've got a solid strong team.

We haven't got those hardened first team players who've played alot of games, as I said they are talented but too many of our talented players have been chucked into a team without those hardened first teamers.

But whilst I wasn't a huge fan of Lambert this is exactly the reason why I wasn't keen on saying he was useless because he is the least of our worries. That was probably the strongest squad we've taken to a game in well over a year and yet we put in such a feeble performance, says it all for me, our squad isn't as good as people think. That's not to say we need a clear out but alot of these players need to be complemented with a few seasoned pros, so there is a strong core to the team.

 

Who are the players people think make us too good for this division. No one in the squad in my mind has proven they are too good for this division even before playing for Town

 

Only a fit KVY. His performances for us are a level above the rest of the team he’s stuck with.

 

I 'll go along with KVY and for the life of me I can't think of any of our players who are talented enough to play at a higher level, I really can't understand why anyone would think so considering the performances this and last season.

 

Wolfenden, Downes, Dozzell, and Dobra have either been heavily linked or received bids by Premier League clubs. Edwards, Nolan, and Jackson all received Championship interest this season, with reported bids for the latter two just a couple of months ago. Matheson, McGuinness, Bennetts, and Parrott are on loan from Premier League clubs or clubs in their top domestic division. The other loanees are from the division above. Chambers, Ward, Skuse, and Sears are experienced players with a vast majority of their caps from the divisions above. Players like Dozzell and Lankester (as well as Downes and Wolfenden) have England youth caps to their name.

This is not a poor squad. Is it over-rated? Yes. Are there several players who we need to offload? Yes. But there are several players here who have attracted the eyes of clubs higher than us. Most the clubs in this division would envy the depth of options we currently have. If we don’t get top six this season, it should be considered a failure.

 

Are squad is over rated not good enough to stay in the championship(proven), not good enough to compete at the top of league one(proven). We used to have youngsters that developed into players good enough for the first team now we have a first team that has deteriorated enough so the youngsters can get in.
If other teams wanted our players then they would have signed them I don’t believe the bullshit about us holding on to them I think any interest is fabricated so fans are fooled into thinking we have kept a ‘gem’ and that is why we don’t make any decent signings.

 

I think there's alot players there who may prove they can make it at this level or above including KVY. I guess what I'm saying is none if them have and that includes KVY, he was a League 2 player and then made 9 very good appearances for us my point is I guess its all they could play above this level or given their talent they should be we don't know that because none of them have.

Too many players who have been given a chance to prove they can make it at a higher level or academy players who've not made many appearance.

If alot of those players were put into a team who had more experience I'm sure they'd do well but they haven't.

Plus he's been injured for over a season

 

All if buts and maybes, loads of players have rumoured interest and England youth caps, what it shows is potential. None have actually showed they are good enough to be considered a good League 1 player or Championship player yet. The loan players Look decent but again not alot of experience or games under the belt there.

Chambers, Ward and Skuse are clearly coming to the end of their careers, Chambers and Skuse epitomise the decline in the club and neither seem to show the character to pull the team out of this slump. I could count the number of good games Chambers has had in the past 5 years on one hand and I'd imagine the majority of those were this season. Skuse is injured, Sears was injured for over a year and hasn't been on good form for about 5 years.

The talent is there but there aren't any players there (who aren't over the hill) who've been there and done it....none who are proven to be a consistently good player at this level or above and for me that is why our squad as a collective is overrated. Add to that the injury list.

Whilst I've said all this, I don't necessarily think there should be a massive overhaul of personnel but we need to supplement the squad with a strong core, if we would have signed a CB, CM, ST over the past year and a half who's around 27-31 and proven to be a top player in this division or proven in the Championship I'd agree we have a strong squad.

 

Any interest in our players from a higher level has just been paper talk, there hasn't been been money put on the table for any of them, I've followed Town for many years and I've seen some wonderful players and some poor players but this Town team is the worst I've ever seen.

 

I’m only pointing out the interest from higher levels to demonstrate that there are clubs that do see the ability and potential in some of our players. And I don’t think the bids for Downes, Nolan, and Jackson can be dismissed as “paper talk” or rumours, considering the fall-outs. But I take all your points raised above.

I’m not trying to say the squad is a great one. Itfcptc, I only cited Chambers, Skuse, and Sears from an experience perspective. I wish all three of them well, but I hope this season is the last we see of them in a Town shirt. We need to move on. Clearly this squad is one of the worst we’ve seen as Town fans - and we’ve seen a lot of bad ones lately! As a collective, they’ve not demonstrated any consistent quality over the last couple of years. I believe most of that is down to poor recruitment and poor coaching, but there’s also an issue with character and hunger within the squad. I believe there has been a culture of complacency at this club, which has been an issue for several years, and that’s ultimately down the owner and a couple of previous managers. Cook isn’t going to reverse that in a week.

In terms of on-pitch results, the best we can hope for this season is an unlikely promotion - given where we find ourselves - but that would arguably be a step too far for most of these players, a majority of whom are nowhere near Championship class. The best we can hope for from a realistic standpoint - and a healthier long term outlook - is a change of owner and structure, investment in the summer, and Paul Cook having a clear idea on who is worth keeping, who needs offloading, and to identify five or six key signings. It’s going to be a massive challenge, but I do believe he has several good players in this squad and, including the loanees for this season, a good chance of making the top six. Despite the big names, not many stand out consistent teams this season that look capable of walking the division.

 

Evening gents.

I think we have a few decent players who are being brought down by the rest of the squad and all the terrible coaching and football and negativity.

For me, Woolfy’s early promise is fading. There is no question Norwood can score goals but he’s in terrible shape. Edwards was sharp when he first came to the club but is now more or less anonymous in matches. Holy has brilliant games but often lets in soft goals and has little command over his defence.

If we did put together a genuinely good side a handful of players might be involved or none of them, but we can rule most of them out and there is an incredible amount of work to do.

Best player on the pitch for Town today was Parrott, which says it all.

 

I've no doubt we have some players who given a chance in the right environment and with a certain amount of luck are good enough to play at least in the Championship but we've too many who haven't shown any consistency to prove they can make it at this level YET or even have a career in the football league. And having so many players like that leaves us spineless, to get out of this division we need players who we know can fitness wise play most games and secondly we know that they will perform in most matches.

Can anyone seriously name a player who has proven they are good enough to be in a promotion winning team in this division, by the consistency of their performances at this level or above for more than one season in the recent past?

 

I think we are in with a chance of promotion through the play offs so can easily name players at that level, but the standard is pretty awful so I would not say many of them could go on to do the same thing in the Championship.

 

So who out of our squad has performed consistently at this level or above for more that one season to make us think we should be a promotion winning side?

I agree with the squad we should be looking to get in the playoffs and in reality I think we should be aiming for the automatic spots but the reality is the squad of players we have isnt proven at this level and that's not because they've all played consistently at a higher level thats because the majority of our players are from lower leagues or our academy and simply have not played enough games at a high level of football. Add to that the injuries we've had, I think whoever is managing this squad needs a lot of luck for it to go right