One point gained

[RiverEndRick]

One thing I noticed at the Bournemouth game was that the front three were interchanging a lot. Redmond crossed for the goal from the right but also spent a lot of time on the left and coming infield. Lafferty was popping up centrally and Grabban was pushing out to the right.

It appears, tactically, we're trying to get the front three to play as fluidly as possible. It may just be that the tactics need changing slightly rather than personnel or positions.

I agree with this, and feel it's an important tactical change Adams, Holt and Robson have made since the Wolves game. Grabban has spoken of it and moving out wide to allow Lafferty or Redmond to come into the middle. When Hooper is available there will be even more potential in this regard.

 

[Superman wears Grant Holt pyjamas in bed]

One thing I noticed at the Bournemouth game was that the front three were interchanging a lot. Redmond crossed for the goal from the right but also spent a lot of time on the left and coming infield. Lafferty was popping up centrally and Grabban was pushing out to the right.

It appears, tactically, we're trying to get the front three to play as fluidly as possible. It may just be that the tactics need changing slightly rather than personnel or positions.

to be fair, redmond was only on the right because he'd just taken a corner. i saw no natural interchanging and i do think at the very least that would help. lafferty didn't come in field once on saturday and i think redmond did once but lost the ball. lafferty did a couple of times in previous home games and immediately brought the full back into play and got himself in the box - both times led to a chance. i agree it could work with these three, i still think they are playing in roles which don't help them play their natural game. it definitely needs tinkering with as far as i'm concerned.

 

[Superman wears Grant Holt pyjamas in bed]

I'm not at war on this one, Supers, but I do feel that Grabban is a natural goalscorer, and that Wes and Redmond are not (at least not yet in Redmond's case). Jerome is still new to the team and will have an important role to play in the future, but his career scoring stats are not immediately impressive. Hooper is the only other striker I feel has that sort of regular scoring ability and tweaking to allow him an important role I can see. It's as simple as that, I'm afraid.

clearly grabban knows where the back of the net is. the rest of his game leaves something to be desired but i've no problem with that, so long as other people in the team can bring others into play. but that formula hasn't quite been found yet! grabban's goals, in many ways, are glossing over the issue and making it look like there isn't one. hooper definitely has more to his game than grabban but the ex bournemouth man has great pace and i enjoy watching his movement on the edge of the box. just needs to be a bit more clinical.

 

[toughmeanyellowandgreen]

to be fair, redmond was only on the right because he'd just taken a corner. i saw no natural interchanging and i do think at the very least that would help. lafferty didn't come in field once on saturday and i think redmond did once but lost the ball. lafferty did a couple of times in previous home games and immediately brought the full back into play and got himself in the box - both times led to a chance. i agree it could work with these three, i still think they are playing in roles which don't help them play their natural game. it definitely needs tinkering with as far as i'm concerned.

Lafferty had a shot on the turn after linking up with Hoolahan on the edge of the box. I don't remember whether Redmond was on the right after a corner for the goal, but I remember him picking up the ball a number of times in front of the South Stand, which is where I sit.

 

[toughmeanyellowandgreen]

That said Lafferty was poor all game. Not necessarily his fault, but he does get frustrated easily, which affects his game and disciplinary record.

 

[DHCanary]

I'm coming in late on this one, but I'd like to ask a few questions. If we are going to tweak the front three to create more opportunities for Redmond, Lafferty and Hoolahan, just where is the evidence that they will take them? Grabban and Lafferty weren't around last season, so someone remind me just how many goals Redmond and Hoolahan have scored. I think there will be goals scored by others (including Lafferty and Jerome), but at the moment Grabban is the one who has scored 5 goals in 5 games. The only one who might challenge him in that regard (and I emphasize might) is Hooper when he is fit again. Hooper is the more natural CF, and I can see tweaking things to bring him in and play Grabban in a wider role, but even that is a gamble. There was a time when this sort of thinking was called dangerous 'tinkering', and as such it needs to be undertaken with caution.

Fair points.

Hoolahan I feel can't really be judged on last season too easily as he was rarely in the team for a run of games, and as a side we weren't creating a great deal of opportunities for anyone. He isn't the most prolific goalscorer, but he managed 10 in his 41 appearances during our promotion season. As he's a bit older he might not be capable of hitting the same heights again, but I don't think it's beyond him to be scorer 5-10 goals this season.

Redmond's record last season was abysmal, and at Birmingham in the season before he joined us he only scored twice in the league, so perhaps not the most natural goalscorer. For me though Redmond's place in the side is still under question, and I think we can bring players in to offer a greater goal threat.

Lafferty historically has averaged about 1 in 3 in the SPL, Serie B and League 2, although his record in the Championship is nearer 1 in 8.


From what I can remember, it was Lafferty left and Redmond right against Watford and Blackburn, but more recently against Ipswich and Bournemouth they were on opposite flanks predominately? I felt it worked better in the first two games than the second two, so would try to return to the tactics used in those opening fixtures. Looking at the other personnel available to us, a fully fit Hooper would for me be the better option in the centre of the park as I think he's the better finisher, with Grabban moving out to the right. I think Jerome also has the ability to play the "wide target man" role Lafferty has been doing, and think that might be worth experimenting with, although in the latter case I'd want to trial that as a substitution to begin with rather than from the beginning.

I agree that tinkering can be dangerous, and whilst we are scoring goals any change needs to be done carefully. After the Cardiff game, we've got Brentford, Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Blackpool, Charlton and Rotherham, and I'd like to think in at least two of those we'll be in a position to tinker with tactics towards the end of the game with a result already secured. And whilst tinkering can create problems, so can allowing the tactics to stagnate. We've got some real qualities players looking to get into the starting eleven, I wouldn't want to see them unable to break into the side because we're afraid of changing things sometimes.

 

[RiverEndRick]

That's pretty much what I was suggesting DH. In the long run of things, I think Hooper and Jerome will be playing centrally and Grabban attacking from the right and either Lafferty or Redmond from the left. What I don't know is how good Grabban (when playing on the right) is at tracking back when the ball is lost. Lafferty is good at that on the left and Redmond is improving. As you say, Jerome can also play wider. For me the cup game is a chance to experiment with different positioning.

 

[goldeneadie]

I think that one overriding thing we have learned in the first six matches, including Crawley, is that Adams is flexible.I would expect several, probably minor, changes in the next three games to get the feel of the ability of the team. Picking the team, and the bench, for the CPL for the next few games will be interesting.

 

[RiverEndRick]

Very interesting indeed GE!