I think most of us here agreed he would score goals in this division what we were worried about was would he stand up to the more physical game in L1 after his injury prone start to life at BS3, I am now starting to wonder if there was something wrong with the training and/or fitness regime under DM as Baldock and Davies both looked fitter at the start of this year and Sean is not exactly known for a physical preseason prefering games to PT. It is also apparent that Sean knew what he was doing making Sam captain as he seems to have upped his game somewhat. However his lack of height means that when he is defending he can and does get beaten in the air most of the time surely we should always leave him up front as a breakout player the back five at BS3 will improve as they play more together, I didn't get to the game due to illness/injury but from what I have read the goals we conceded yesterday were 'good' goals not simple ones gifted to the opposition and we did play well against the only other team in this division that plays the same game we do even if they are several years ahead of us in that respect. Sean started the season picking a mixture of seasoned pro's and youngsters looking for the senior players to steady the youngsters he seems in the last few games to have come to realize that certain of our experienced pro's are struggling to give that leadership and is giving the youngsters their heads yes this is going to result in the odd mistake but the team is still growing together and as they grow so they will improve although we do not have the points we would have wanted at this stage of the season I personally think the team is in a better place than we were last year at this stage even though we had more points then. This team is prepared to fight.
There is certainly no doubting a totally different committment to the cause with this season's team. I as always only listened on Radio Bristol so make my mind up initially from that. Sam is certainly going to score goals and I think he is actually thriving on having the captaincy. JET had a quiet game based on what he had done in the preceding games Based on the number of times they were mentioned in the commentary and the success or not of what happened when they did get a mention, Joe Bryan and Bobby Reid seem to have had made very good performances. Whereas their midfield colleagues, Wagstaff and Elliott rarely had any mention throughout the game and when they were, it was mostly negative. The back four seem to be doing their job and Flint gets lots of mentions for clearing crosses. There is perhaps still a tendency to give away free kicks too easily around our box. Fielding probably needs to up his distribution and his decision making on when to come or stay but that could improve as the entire back five get to know each other better, According to text and radio, Fielding did make one superb save late on at 2-2 tipping a shot onto the past to keep a point for us. All in all, while we can all be disappointed at not holding on for a win, not a bad day at the office.
The trouble with Fielding is being a goalie every goal conceded you get analysed. Some doubted Heaton for not commanding his area, David James got slated beyond recognition but 2 months before he came to us he was playing for England in the World Cup after Rob Green made a nightmare start. Fielding will improve in time and seeing some of his saves against Wolves he can do well. Sam Baldock in my opinion has stepped up to the captains arm band fantastic. I've never been a great lover of forwards having the armband, but looking back one of the best captains around has been Shearer who got the best out of teams he captained by respect. Sam's injuries have been called into dispute but is that because he's competitive and puts himself about, bit like another great captain Brian Robson. He will score for fun in this league, but it's his influence we need and we will get it, players seem to respect him. And most importantly him having this armband will go a long way if any team come in for him in the next week until the transfer window shuts. By January the team will have clicked and we will all start to see the club moving forward. I've said countless times we need to be patient this season, it's not as poor as some expected, we have a young team who will take time. It won't be our season this year (hope I'm proved wrong) but next season we will be stronger and romp that league.
Baldock is one u would have wondered if he would still be there come start of the season as he has shown in front at goal at every club he has been at that he knows where the target. He has also shown he can stay fit which has helped in as in ptevious seasons he seemed to always get injured just when he was finding form As for captain. Im sure if there was anyone in the first team u would say is a stand out pick for being captain. Guess baldock got it as he is seen as our best player. Similar to when england have made rooney captain. The defence is a tricky issue. When fonts plays we have let too many goals in which u can put down to bad defending and mistakes but he hasnt played the last two goals and we still have shipped goals but those goals u could argue were well worked goals which the only issue is we gave mk and wolves too much space which involes our defence and midfield.
