What's our best 11?

Only Craig has played in all our games so far, and we've had a look at quite a few new lads over the past few weeks. So what do you think our best starting XI is going forward?

 

Bonham

J Clarke Lockyer Broadbent Kelly

Matthews O Clarke Sercombe Bennett

Reilly Payne

Cant remember the name of the lad from Bournemouth to fill MFR position

Subs DF Partington Leadbitter

MFC Lines Sinclair MFW Rodman

Jukubiak Nichols

 

Ok, I have thought long and hard about this for the last few weeks. I am glad you made this thread Gastro

For the players we have, we suit the 4231 formation. And I feel the team in this formation should be the following....

GK: Bonham is a no brainer so far.
RB: I like Leadbitter but I think Partington just shades it for me as a better defender. He can help with height and he can cross/assist too.
RCB: Lockyer just shades it for me over J.Clarke.
LCB: I havent been keen on Craig so far this season. I would go for Broadbent as faster and can play the ball out. Taller too so better for set pieces.
LB: We havent seen him yet but he is suppose to be very good so he should be starting whenever fit.
DM: O.Clarke for me here as he has impressed since he got back into the team. Dangerous at long range too. Probably our best tackler.
DM: Sinclair shades it for me over Lines. Lines can come on to add a little more creativity but Sinclair is like a duracell battery. Never stops running.
AM: Bennett has to be here. Frustrating at times as can be too greedy but he knows how to beat a man and score too.
AM: Sercombe also has to be here. Our best player last season. He can score his share of goals too.
AM: Matthews shades it over Rodman. I like Rodman but Matthews has really impressed so far and deserves to be starting.
CF: Payne is a no brainer. I like Reilly and I think Jakubiak can do well but Payne has to start. Nichols has improved a little but still cant score. Has had enough chances.

So my line up is...

............................Bonham............................
Partington..Lockyer..Broadbent..Holmes-Dennis
...................O.Clarke.....Sinclair...................
...........Bennett...Sercombe...Matthews........
...............................Payne..............................

DC likes to change formations during games. With this line up, we can change to...
451 putting Bennett and Mathews as wingers and Sercombe slipping in between O.Clarke and Sinclair.
4411 putting Bennett and Mathews as wingers and Sercombe behind Payne.
352 putting Partington, Lockyer & Broadbent as the 3 CB's Holmes-Dennis & Matthews as wingbacks. Bennett along side Payne.
433 putting Bennett and Matthews either side of Payne.


My subs:
Smith to cover the GK position of course.
J.Clarke covers the RB/RCB position.
Craig covers the LB/LCB position.
Lines covers the DM position to add more creativity when needed.
Rodman covers the AM positions of course.
Jakubiak covers Payne in a straight switch.
Reilly to come as a 2nd striker when need 2 up front.

Thats what I would do if I was in charge.

 

I think it's good to have a settled side!

GK: Bonham looks like one of our better keepers for a good while, and he's kept lots of clean sheets.
RB: If Leadbitter's fit he's excellent going forward and I think the more options we have out wide the better.
CB: Lockyer probably has to be in there because he's the captain.
LCB: I prefer Broadbent over Craig, although the defensive side has looked better than last season with Craig as a regular, so I'm a bit on the fence on that one.
LB: We probably need a fully fit Holmes-Dennis. I'm sure he'll make a difference. The guy who got sent off didn't make a good first impression!
DM: O.Clarke should be a shoe in, and he's now a skipper too.
DM: Sinclair's energy is important for keeping things ticking.
AM: Agree that Bennett has to be there, and as understanding grows he should be a lot more effective.
AM: Sercombe and Sinclair are a handful for most teams, so he's another shoe in.
AM: Matthews could be like Bodin - a decent left foot and capable of a few goals. He seems to make things happen.
CF: Payne will click into gear soon and should hit somewhere near 20 goals.

So I guess my line-up would be pretty much the same CJS!

It's good to see that there are plenty of options with some decent players too. I notice that Upson doesn't get a mention!

 

Reason I put Kelly in is because Holmes-Dennis isn't fit as yet, that could change when he reaches full fitness

 

Oh crap. I forgot about Upson

 

The entire team is fooking crap I don't rate any of them and as for DC I've lost all faith in him I feel his era at the club could be coming to an end.

 

I wonder if the season tickets will be cheaper next season for league 2 football. Either the board have got to find some money to seriously strengthen the team or we will go down with the present squad of players. I know we did quite well with these players last season but I believe they are now being found out and a lot of them are not good enough

 

We miss Harrison, Bodin and Brown, but I think DC should keep the spine that got us out of the National League and then tinker around with the other positions. That means playing Lockyer, Leadbitter, O.Clarke, Lines and Sinclair. They know how things work and can hold things together until the newer players get up to speed. Matthews and Bennett deserve to be in there, but the rest of the places should be up for grabs.

 

Stole this from the other forum....

Today is 16th September.

On this date in 2015/16 (League Two), we had lost 4 of our 7 opening games. We were in 15th place. We finished 3rd, and gained promotion.
This season we have lost 4 of our 7 opening games.

On this date in 2016/17 (League One), we had won 1 of our 6 opening games. We were in 19th place. We finished 10th.
This season we have won 1 of our 7 opening games.

On this date in 2017/18 (League One), we had lost 5 of our opening 8 games. We were in 15th place. We finished 13th.
This season we have lost 4 of our opening 7 games.

In all three seasons stated above, we always started to perform during November and rose up the table. November is less than two months away. Stay patient with DC. There is no real difference to the previous 3 seasons. We are slow starters unfortunately.

 

I have said many times on this forum DC is the best signing we have made for many years, I totally agree with CJS that we should stick with DC and get behind the team whether our favourite players are on the pitch or the bench

 

I totally agree with CJS too! This season the problem is scoring goals rather than shipping loads of goals, and I totally trust DC to put things right. Having the likes of Sercombe and Sinclair back and fit will be important, and at some point someone will start getting a few goals, just like Harrison did eventually. Don't panic!

 

Well, we are all entitled to our opinions and mine is that the bloke has punched well above his weight, two promotions yes but we are only back to where historically the club has always played their football and so far during his reign there does not look to be any chance at all of progressing any further. His transfer dealings have been, well let's just say underwhelming and some of his match day decisions have been totally bewildering. In my mind what he has to do rather than treating each fixture as a 'specific project' is to get it right in his mind which is his best eleven players and PLAY THEM in every game and in their correct positions only changing things for an injury or suspension. For those who remember back to the dark old days at that Sh** Pit called Twerton and the season that we were promoted to the old second division I think we more or less stuck with the same starting eleven for the whole of the campaign with every man playing in the same position, it is the only way to breed consistency and to gel a team.
When the axe man cometh, and let's not kid ourselves if things carry on as is it will happen then it is going to be very interesting to see what lies ahead for Mr Clarke.

 

I think his hands are probably tied in the transfer market. I think we'll be ok by Christmas and the New Year. We've always been slow starters, it's just that this time it's anyone's guess where the next goal is coming from.

 

I think in recent times DC has had to rethink things a bit. When Wael came on board we all, including DC, thought the good times were just around the corner and fresh money would push us on to greater things.
Well it hasn't happened with Mr Wael and financially we are still in virtually the same situation as we have been for a number of years, living in hope that the players we have will suddenly gel and we will shoot up the table.

 

I feel that things will improve but I am not sure our manager has the same belief. The Post, shocking journalism which has very much more sympathy and interest in the City club than the Rovers, today makes out that Daryll believes the club is split between owners and the rest. I am concerned that our manager is making his exit excuses ahead of what he fears may be on the cards.If trust has gone between him and the owners then one has too go before the inevitable regulation fight.
Since the owners arrived a lot of management has joined but no real up front progress is seen as to the biggest, stadium and training ground. I know nothing but money is the most obvious cause for thesedelays, whereas the owners can point to current stadium improvements, but this, re the others was a peanut cost

 

I agree with a lot of what you said. But DC's budget for non league would have been one of the best in that league. We won promotion. Our budget for L2 would have been competitive and we had the feel good factor on top of that from our 1st promotion. We won promotion. But then we got to L1. Our budget has not been great at this level. Struggling to bring in good players while losing our better players, our 3 top scorers in fact within 3 transfer windows and not actually replace them, while still using players that are L2 quality at best who has lost the feel good factor from the double promotion seasons. I don't think DC is punching above his weight. I think he is being restricted. He is stuck with what he has got, with the budget that he has got, which he has said is a budget that is at the bottom end of L1, which is where we currently are in the table. Give him a better budget and see him thrive more. He keeps calling out for better training ground facilities so he can improve the players that he has. He keeps calling out for a better stadium so he can bring in the revenue to help give him the budget he needs. It doesn't matter who the manager is. With the budget he has, we will always yoyo between L1 and L2, if we are lucky.

 

I believe if DC is forced out because of a lack of effort by the directors then they will I think lose a lot of support, but if the split is real and not imagined then at least the players are with him

 

When Wael joined the club, a new stadium looked dead certain to be an actual reality. Then it became just dead. Then the plan was a redeveloped Mem. That has also dead. Also land was purchased to build a new training ground. Nothing done. Looks to be dead. Then promised some new tents. That didn't happen. Then they said some delays but will still happen. Which it hasn't.

Now in comparison..... Lets looks at City during he same period of time.

Since Wael joined the club, City have fully redeveloped their stadium. Have been granted permission to build a new training ground which will actually be built. And now today, City announced a £100million development to get next to their stadium a 4000 capacity sports convention centre, which will also host their basketball team. It will also include hotels, housing and a multi story car park - all which will bring in the funds to make this project self funding eventually.

We cant even erect some tents for crying out loud.

 

And if DC is forced out and he has the backing of the players, how will the players perform for the rest of the season? Will we see what happened back in the season when Trollope was sacked and had Penney and Campbell see us relegated?