All I want for Christmas is.......a striker!

[Billy bodger]

Not against having two up front, but it is going against DW’s system that he likes to operate with.

Maybe if Angol had not got injured that partnership may have worked and he would have kept with it, who knows? Hopefully Angol is back in the New Year and DW has more options.

It’s about options and DW cannot fancy any other formation than to try and keep games tight and that hopefully we come out on top. As aw know it’s failing, but if DW can get that string of results over the next six games to get us in a position were we are not cast adrift we I believe have a great chance of staying in this league, for me the overall standard is as poor has it’s been for several seasons. It’s a massive call for DW, does he stick or does he gamble and tweak the formation?

The BoD’s have to give DW all the money they can for the January transfer window, you can bet other teams are. Jason has to let the Club make the decision on what to do with the money the team has won in Cup competitions, but he seems to have no conscious on what happens unless it’s money into his pocket.

(I personally believe we would not have got relegated if he had not taken all that money the years we were in League one).

Bringing in another striker is a must, if it’s Cole I’m not against that, he knows the system and overall I think he would be welcomed back for a swan song to his career.

A couple of young eager lads on par with last years bunch DW brought to the club at the start of last season
for me would mean we would climb that league with no bother from what I have seen so far.

Unfortunately we have just fallen short but it would not take much to change that if we get recruitment right in January.

[fulwoodshrimp]

I am puzzled little shrimp thinks the current system is working well. We are bottom of the league and if things don’t change quickly we will be adrift at the bottom of the EFL. The present team does not have enough goals in it and continuing to organise like we have been playing will lead to disaster. Dackers is not good enough to play as a striker and midfield lacks a bit of quality.If we don’t change the organisation of the team and if we don’t strengthen the squad we will be relegated.

[KenH]

I am puzzled little shrimp thinks the current system is working well. We are bottom of the league and if things don’t change quickly we will be adrift at the bottom of the EFL. The present team does not have enough goals in it and continuing to organise like we have been playing will lead to disaster. Dackers is not good enough to play as a striker and midfield lacks a bit of quality.If we don’t change the organisation of the team and if we don’t strengthen the squad we will be relegated.

I agree that we need to strengthen the squad.

But can't even begin to imagine how you think we can "change the organisation of the team".

We've got what we've got and, as we saw last Saturday, they're starting to play well, play as a team, etc. Not surprising it's taken a few months as barely any of them had played before. We've also been plagued with injuries of arguably our best players, so haven't even been able to play the best team we've got. I'd love to know what people think that Derek could do better given the uninjured players he's had available over the past couple of months!

Assuming that the "best" players remain without any more longer term injuries, then I think we're probably safe-ish with who we've got, once Angol is back, plus assuming Moore isn't out too long, and we've also got Ray back. You've got to remember we've had Lewis, White, Ray, Angol, Edwards, out injured for several weeks and that's meant we've had to use players who would probably otherwise have spent most of their time on the bench as regular starters!

But, yes, for safety, we need some quality being brought in during January up front as we really can pin our hopes to stay up solely on Angol coming back fit for the second half of the season and no one else getting a long term injury! We're not that lucky. Any more longer term injuries to the starting 11 last Saturday and I think we're relegated without some new faces in January!

[fulwoodshrimp]

I think we largely agree in our analysis of the team, Kenh. By changing the organisation I meant we have to bring in some new personnel. I would like to see at least one new striker brought in, a creative midfield player and a new full back. What I don't agree is your comment that we are safe-ish. We have played well but haven't won a home game. Safety is a long way off and the longer we go without a home win the more unsettled the players will become. The team show a lot of spirit and work hard but at crucial times in games you perhaps see why many of them have been playing in the National League.

[glagys]

Kemar Roofe is still without a club get him in
on a short term and puts himself in the window
Cannot afford him but we need to look at a decant goal scorer,
Hallam Hope has never been the player he thought he was,
couldn't get a NL contract when we gave him one

[CityShrimp]

I am puzzled little shrimp thinks the current system is working well. We are bottom of the league and if things don’t change quickly we will be adrift at the bottom of the EFL. The present team does not have enough goals in it and continuing to organise like we have been playing will lead to disaster. Dackers is not good enough to play as a striker and midfield lacks a bit of quality.If we don’t change the organisation of the team and if we don’t strengthen the squad we will be relegated.

This. Yes we’ve been a bit unlucky and have played alright at times but the consistent problem we’ve had is not putting the ball in the back of the net, and we are bottom of the league - how bad does it need to get before we try something different?

If we can sign a better striker in January who will slot into the existing setup then great but until that happens, what is the worst that can happen in giving Brown a go, and if we have to change the system then so be it. I don’t believe that we’ll start scoring even less goals with him in the team and our league position can’t get even worse so what is there to lose?

[redrobo]

DA will NOT change the players or system despite whatever we fans think.

He is not one for changing and is stubborn in his beliefs. Unfortunately that stubbornness to even contemplate a change up front could cost us out league place.

DA is an excellent manager but he has his faults like all managers and his unwillingness to change the system results in us being totally ineffective up front.

Even if he was given some money in January the catch up with other clubs near us could be out of reach by then.

[nobbyshrimp]

Not against having two up front, but it is going against DW’s system that he likes to operate with.

Maybe if Angol had not got injured that partnership may have worked and he would have kept with it, who knows? Hopefully Angol is back in the New Year and DW has more options.

It’s about options and DW cannot fancy any other formation than to try and keep games tight and that hopefully we come out on top. As aw know it’s failing, but if DW can get that string of results over the next six games to get us in a position were we are not cast adrift we I believe have a great chance of staying in this league, for me the overall standard is as poor has it’s been for several seasons. It’s a massive call for DW, does he stick or does he gamble and tweak the formation?

The BoD’s have to give DW all the money they can for the January transfer window, you can bet other teams are. Jason has to let the Club make the decision on what to do with the money the team has won in Cup competitions, but he seems to have no conscious on what happens unless it’s money into his pocket.

(I personally believe we would not have got relegated if he had not taken all that money the years we were in League one).

Bringing in another striker is a must, if it’s Cole I’m not against that, he knows the system and overall I think he would be welcomed back for a swan song to his career.

A couple of young eager lads on par with last years bunch DW brought to the club at the start of last season
for me would mean we would climb that league with no bother from what I have seen so far.

Unfortunately we have just fallen short but it would not take much to change that if we get recruitment right in January.

If the BOD give DW the money then that’s the final straw for me, I’m out, done, gone for good. Why give Wigan our money (DW stadium but rebranded in May), please give it to Derek Adams instead

[KenH]

He is not one for changing and is stubborn in his beliefs. Unfortunately that stubbornness to even contemplate a change up front could cost us out league place.

We're back to Brown again, I assume? As I can't think of any other "change up front" that is feasible with the squad we have who are fit.

As we keep seeing whenever we change the style of play, under any manager, we start to leak goals if we play too aggressively with more attacking style of players. Under Derek, we generally play more defensively to try not to concede too many goals.

That's a perfectly valid tactic. It was absolutely the right thing to do at the start of this season as the defence, as a block, had never played together before nor played with the midfielders either. So we needed the midfield and attacking players to track back and protect the defence.

From what I've seen of Brown, he's not particularly good at tracking back, tackling, nor defending. Derek wants someone who can "help" out during free kicks and corners against us. That's not apparent with Brown. If you think back, when we had Stockton, he was always a big presence on the goal line. Brown simply can't do that. I've said it before, but during the Summer friendlies, Brown missed a couple of easy goals when he was literally stood right in front of goal and only needed a simple tap in - he wasn't following the game and wasn't anticipating the ball coming to him, so wasn't ready and appeared surprised at seeing it at his feet! I trust Derek, and if he's seeing things he doesn't like during training, then he's right not to play him. It's not even all about goal scoring, it's about his "helping out" in other areas of the pitch. No point in him scoring two goals in a game, if his lack of contribution at corners and free kicks means we end up conceding 3!

[KenH]

If the BOD give DW the money then that’s the final straw for me, I’m out, done, gone for good. Why give Wigan our money (DW stadium but rebranded in May), please give it to Derek Adams instead

I tend to agree. I also think Derek will walk if he doesn't get the cup monies at the very least as he'll know we're unlikely to survive L2 without two or three decent new players in January. If the BOD give the money to JW or to pay off loans, then I think I'll be calling it a day too. It was bad enough when they used the million pound profit in the promotion year to become "debt free" which I feel was a massive mistake and we should have kept some back to augment the squad for two or three years to guarantee us keeping L1 status.

[Keith]

You've kind of missed the point in the first sentence. Put Brown up front in a two with Dackers - and you've then changed the whole team/system which is generally working very well.

...You're asking Derek to change a system/formation which is generally operating well ...

Saying 'just put two up top' is, as it always tends to be, a complete over-simplification of the situation.

I'll accept your first & last points, but we have a very different opinion of 'working well'. Not only has Dackers not scored, he even managed to miss the target from 2 yards out! No point keeping it reasonably tight at the back, and keep losing 1-0.

No doubt Derek will stick to what has been "working well" or "failing" depending upon your point of view. We've a few games against other sides that are struggling. If we start picking up points, then all will be well, but keep firing blanks and we'll be cut adrift by Christmas.

[redrobo]

He is not one for changing and is stubborn in his beliefs. Unfortunately that stubbornness to even contemplate a change up front could cost us out league place.

We're back to Brown again, I assume? As I can't think of any other "change up front" that is feasible with the squad we have who are fit.

As we keep seeing whenever we change the style of play, under any manager, we start to leak goals if we play too aggressively with more attacking style of players. Under Derek, we generally play more defensively to try not to concede too many goals.

That's a perfectly valid tactic. It was absolutely the right thing to do at the start of this season as the defence, as a block, had never played together before nor played with the midfielders either. So we needed the midfield and attacking players to track back and protect the defence.

From what I've seen of Brown, he's not particularly good at tracking back, tackling, nor defending. Derek wants someone who can "help" out during free kicks and corners against us. That's not apparent with Brown. If you think back, when we had Stockton, he was always a big presence on the goal line. Brown simply can't do that. I've said it before, but during the Summer friendlies, Brown missed a couple of easy goals when he was literally stood right in front of goal and only needed a simple tap in - he wasn't following the game and wasn't anticipating the ball coming to him, so wasn't ready and appeared surprised at seeing it at his feet! I trust Derek, and if he's seeing things he doesn't like during training, then he's right not to play him. It's not even all about goal scoring, it's about his "helping out" in other areas of the pitch. No point in him scoring two goals in a game, if his lack of contribution at corners and free kicks means we end up conceding 3!

If we keep loosing games due to an ineffective front line then surely DA has to change something. Games are won by scoring goals. Something that we are simply not doing in games were we've often matched the opposition until they bring on fresh legs and then we are snookered.

We've simply got to win the upcoming games or our league survival is even more precarious. Goals win games........and at the moment we are simply not doing that. For me it's time to drop Dackers. Play Slew in the centre and direct Hope to play closer to Slew. One up front is simply not going to get us out of the mess as the one up top at the moment is being asked to do something that he has never done before.

I remember Jimbo wanting Hope to play alongside a fellow striker as he knew that Hope wasn't the player to play on his own up front.

[nobbyshrimp]

If it’s any conciliation we are on the same points and in same position after 16 games as our promotion season when DA performed miracles in the 2nd half of the season. I will be happy if he can do half as well this time

[black morse]

The question I have got for all those who think two up front is the answer is....who are you going to drop to fit the extra man in? Do you take a defender or a midfield player out? Much as we may like to we cannot play with 12 men.

[Little Shrimp]

I'll accept your first & last points, but we have a very different opinion of 'working well'. Not only has Dackers not scored, he even managed to miss the target from 2 yards out! No point keeping it reasonably tight at the back, and keep losing 1-0.

No doubt Derek will stick to what has been "working well" or "failing" depending upon your point of view. We've a few games against other sides that are struggling. If we start picking up points, then all will be well, but keep firing blanks and we'll be cut adrift by Christmas.

I don't know how you can watch that performance against Port Vale and not think 'this is generally working well'. If we play like that against teams who aren't the league leaders, we'll do ok. Our fixture list hasn't been too kind so far, but we've now got a run of nine fixtures until mid January that only sees us play one top half side in Grimsby. I'd argue Tom White has been the main huge boost in recent weeks - don't think it's a coincidence we've got our first two wins since he's been back in the side.

You're essentially asking Derek to sacrifice some of our strongest assets (the pressing, Lewis/Edwards/Tollitt, Dackers's battling/disruption, direct/fast attacks) on the off-chance that Brown might suddenly burst into form in a team that has been developing without him in a way that most likely won't suit his abilities.

Don't get so hung up on who might be scoring the goals. We absolutely do not have the squad to put in shoddy team performances but win games on individual brilliance, like Chesterfield did against us the other week. We need to be strong and work well together as a team - that is our best chance of winning games and what Derek will be prioritising. I think Charlie Brown is a decent player, but it's not worth risking all that for him.

[Keith]

I don't know how you can watch that performance against Port Vale and not think 'this is generally working well'.

But, we still didn't score.

If we play like that against teams who aren't the league leaders, we'll do ok. Our fixture list hasn't been too kind so far, but we've now got a run of nine fixtures until mid January that only sees us play one top half side in Grimsby. I'd argue Tom White has been the main huge boost in recent weeks - don't think it's a coincidence we've got our first two wins since he's been back in the side.

I am positive, genuinely. But, when we played Accrington, who were also struggling, we were awful. We need to play well AND find those goals.

Don't get so hung up on who might be scoring the goals.

If we start winning games, I won't care if Dackers doesn't score for the rest of the season. But at the moment, we've far more chance of a defender scoring, than a centre forward.

[Hodgie1978]

So we have a good relationship with Liverpool.
I'd be seeing if we could get Jaydon Dans on loan

[Little Shrimp]

But, we still didn't score.

Come on Keith, I've already addressed that but if you want more detail - Port Vale are one of the best sides in the league, have the joint most clean sheets, and are statistically right up there defensively. As I said - play like that against teams that aren't top of the league, and we'll do ok.

I am positive, genuinely. But, when we played Accrington, who were also struggling, we were awful. We need to play well AND find those goals.

We played a front two vs Accrington. It doesn't guarantee good performances or goals! Ultimately, our best chance of scoring is playing well - we've a better chance of scoring with the lineup/system we started with (or similar) on Saturday than we'll have with whatever else I've seen this season.

If we start winning games, I won't care if Dackers doesn't score for the rest of the season. But at the moment, we've far more chance of a defender scoring, than a centre forward.

As I've said - we need to play well as a team to win games. We can't rely on individual brilliance, like a Chesterfield etc, because we simply do not have the players. Not sacrifice a good system because you think Brown might grab a couple.

[Billy bodger]

Nobbyshrimp, thanks for pointing out I put DW and not DA in my post, i think you know really, that it was supposed to be DA and you could have (rightly) laid into me but I accept readily your correction.

To you all, sorry and to make my thoughts clear;

“TO THE BoD’s PLEASE GIVE ALL THE MONEY TO DEREK ADAMS”

[Billy bodger]

The question I have got for all those who think two up front is the answer is....who are you going to drop to fit the extra man in? Do you take a defender or a midfield player out? Much as we may like to we cannot play with 12 men.

That’s true, we can however over 90+ minutes use 16 men, there have been times Derek has not reacted to the opposition making changes, (even if it’s just having fresh legs on the pitch), otherwise as you point out to have two up front we have to alter our system. He waits till about the 80th min, I’d like to see changes first around the 55-65min, so teams have to react to our changes. Give our players time to get into the game.

In our current team we don’t have a player who can play off the loan centre forward (say like JJ last year) so DA could do away with the a man playing off the loan forward because non of our players seem to be able to do it to any great effect. So it’s either 3-5-2, 4-4-2 or a chancy 4-1-3-2.

[CityShrimp]

I'll accept your first & last points, but we have a very different opinion of 'working well'. Not only has Dackers not scored, he even managed to miss the target from 2 yards out! No point keeping it reasonably tight at the back, and keep losing 1-0.

No doubt Derek will stick to what has been "working well" or "failing" depending upon your point of view. We've a few games against other sides that are struggling. If we start picking up points, then all will be well, but keep firing blanks and we'll be cut adrift by Christmas.

…If we play like that against teams who aren't the league leaders, we'll do ok.

We always say that though.

We put in a good shift against the good teams but come up short, then a week later we play against a dross side and play miserably.

Maybe I’m just being negative and it will click soon but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to change things when you’re nearly at December and are bottom of the league.

[Little Shrimp]

We always say that though.

We put in a good shift against the good teams but come up short, then a week later we play against a dross side and play miserably.

Maybe I’m just being negative and it will click soon but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to change things when you’re nearly at December and are bottom of the league.

Change things? We've been changing things all season, and tried lots of different systems/tactics. We've had aggressive man-to-man marking all over the pitch, back fours, back threes, two up top, and a range of different personnel in different roles.

The system we've seen emerge in recent weeks with White and Jones holding in midfield, then three of Edwards/Adam Lewis/Tollitt/Macadam ahead of them is looking like our best option, and just saw us pick up a rare win then put in a very strong showing against top of the league. The way we play needs a striker who can put themselves about physically and, despite his goalscoring drawbacks, Dackers has done that well.

In an ideal world, we'd have Angol available who I think would probably provide that extra bit of quality/goalscoring ability as well as physical presence. But he's injured, and the next best options we have for making the team function as best it can are Dackers or Hope.

[CityShrimp]

I just think the squad lacks quality and it’s the personnel we need to look at swapping. If you wanted to keep the system ‘as is’, I’d be happy to see Brown play out wide just to get him on the pitch.

With Gwion now out, perhaps Dackers could play with Brown and Tollitt either side?

[Redalert1970]

Just watched Derek's Swindon review and he sounds quite happy and confident

Been given budget / funds by Jason for new players in January
Also said some players will be leaving.. Brown will be first one out the door in my opinion

[Redalert1970]

I know I've said it before but would love Kieron Phillips to sign in January

Also keep Rhys Williams till end of season