Wingless wonders

DF got it right yesterday more by luck than tactical nous.He could not drop Juke as he has been great since his arrival on loan,Mason we only have for a month so he had no choice but play 4-4-2.This lead to round pegs in round holes.A big plus Wheater and Mills partnership looking solid.Only Baptiste worried me,however their wing back is very quick and did skin Baptiste a few times leading to Bogdans fine save.Mason had a great game playing with Juke looked pack,probably took one touch too many when one on one with Almunia but got some good crosses in across the box in the second half. Best Performance of season in playing 2 up top Spearing had a great game getting stuck in breaking play up and doing what he does best,defensive midfielder.Leave the slide rule passing to Mavies like the one he put Mason through for his first attempt.Long may it continue,same players in their right positions.

Yes when we win it's in spite of him, we lose because of him.

Simple really.

Facts are facts DF prefers 1 upfront .Yesterday he had no choice but to play 2.Mock all you want but Mason looked pact and people were getting on the end of Jukes knock downs and his hold up play was excellent.Also Spearing played in his best role didn't have to get involved in going forward.Just broke up the play,tackled strong and let Mavies,Mason and Juke push forward.Hopefully DF will see that 2 up front at home anyway is a must.!

He could easily have played 1 up top, don't see why he "had no choice." but hey ho.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:He could easily have played 1 up top, don't see why he "had no choice." but hey ho.

He had a choice, but he'd have found it hard to justify a defeat had he left Juke out (because he's been scoring) or Mason (because he tried so hard to bring him back).

And we all know Danns is twice the player Pratley is - another bit of luck to go Freedman's way.

exactly so the "he had no choice" is bollocks. Good I'm glad we've cleared that up.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:exactly so the "he had no choice" is bollocks. Good I'm glad we've cleared that up.

You bellend. Go and throw some hoops.

White84 wrote:Facts are facts DF prefers 1 upfront .Yesterday he had no choice but to play

Give it a rest, he clearly had a choice about what formation to play. What a load of rubbish.

White84 wrote:DF got it right yesterday more by luck than tactical nous.He could not drop Juke as he has been great since his arrival on loan,Mason we only have for a month so he had no choice but play 4-4-2.

Mason is here for 50 days not one month.

Some of you clearly don't understand what exactly bringing in Mason for one month ment,he had to play.There would have been a riot if Juke had been dropped to allow Mason play the lone striker role!Juke plays the lone striker well holds the ball up wins a lot of Ariel tussles and scores goals.However DF had to play Mason as he had been trying to get him in.So either it was in his mind to play 4-4-2 as the 1 up top wasn't working ie no wins this year in the Leauge !Also Juke had made himself undroppable with his performances.So don't tell me DF had any other choice wether he wanted to or not to play 2 up top,after all the work getting Mason for one month he had to start.As it worked out we had our best performance this season.Dropping the ineffective CYL and the inconsistent Eagles worked well.The team were more cohesive and looked for the first time all season a decent side.But do not say DF could have benched Mason after getting him for just one month.Also don't tell me he could of dropped Juke for Mason.If you think that you are clearly delusional.DF might have been going the 4-4-2 route but no way could he have played 1 up front due to the short loan spell and Juke's form.Luaghable the thought he could have played 1 up front.

Splitting hairs a month fifty days,Big Wow xtra 20 days.The fact is DF fancied him as a player and fought to get him.So IMHO benching him would have made him look a tool,and he probably realized what everyone else knew 1 up top was not working,ie no wins this year bar Blackpool in Cup.At home 2 up top is a better option as Spearing played great doing what he does best holds midfield,breaks up attacks,gets vital tackles in and does not have to venture too far out of his comfort Zone.

Without wanting to defend DF but in the name of fair play, he did have a choice he chose to play two up front. In the managers defence he said well before the match that he would play two up front.

If you think as many do that he is wrong no matter what he does then you can dismiss this comment he made to Jack Dearden on GMR " it was never simply about playing two or one up front, it was always about playing the right two up front". Bringing Mason in alongside Juke in the managers words meant that he finally had what he thought was the right combination. This is DF view not mine.

But why can't we just accept a very good performance by a team picked by the manager that actually did the business, he rightly gets pilloried for getting it wrong, show good grace and allow him some credit. It may not be so good by next Sunday so lets enjoy the moment. (Just 4 wins from turning the moaners around lol.

White84 wrote:Splitting hairs a month fifty days,Big Wow xtra 20 days.The fact is DF fancied him as a player and fought to get him.So IMHO benching him would have made him look a tool,and he probably realized what everyone else knew 1 up top was not working,ie no wins this year bar Blackpool in Cup.At home 2 up top is a better option as Spearing played great doing what he does best holds midfield,breaks up attacks,gets vital tackles in and does not have to venture too far out of his comfort Zone.

An extra 20 days of playing Mason up front with Juke, which could be 3 games or so, might, just make all the difference and might keep us up. I bet you never thought of that?

This idea of Dougie's that he hasn't previously had two strikers that work well enough together is ludicrous.

It's been clear all season that Medo and Spearing don't work well together, yet he's persisted with that.

It wasn't long ago that he was talking about a confrontation with a Bolton fan who told him he should be playing two strikers, and he explained quite plainly that that wasn't his plan. 

Maybe he's just realised that for now, we might as well go for it.

doffcocker wrote: It's been clear all season that Medo and Spearing don't work well together, yet he's persisted with that.

Anyone who has watched them play together regularly has realised that they are too similar in style. Dougie has to make up his mind. It's either one or the other.

Personally, this season, Spearing has been a bit of a disappointment for me. He is nowhere near as good as he was last season. The fans voted him Player of the year and I wonder if the accolade went to his head?

Spearing played well yesterday as he was in his unnatural position doing the job he is best at,breaking up attacks,tackling,playing the simple ball to the more forward minded midfielders ie Danns and Mavies.Spearings best game at the Reebok in my opinion.Not slagging DF off for the win but it was basically the same players bar Mason who have been awful under the system used by DF.We can still have two up front and with Medo and Spearing holding and Mavies and Danns attacking mids we snuffed out Watford's attack.I hope he sticks with the same team bar Pratley as we looked a good team.onre swallow doesn't make a summer but the same players turned in a very good solid defence.We are not going down and the team if it carries on will grow in confidence and if we can finish the season well then come August get a good start bit of a clear out sell CYL,get rid of Eagles he peaked last year and Zat Knight as Wheater and Mills look nice and solid.A bit of confidence goes a long way.

Ment Spearing was in his natural position breaking play up not having to push forward when we have 1 up top.

It really is silly that when we win, it's because "Dougie got it tactically spot on today". And yes Hipster, it works the other way in that when we lose it's all because Dougie fucked up completely.

It's like people think there are only two combinations of decisions. One good, one bad, and when we win, it's because he went with the former.

It's alright to acknowledge that we played well, fully deserved to win, at the same time as seeing that some flaws in his thinking were still there, that might cost us a lot over x number of games.

wessy wrote:Without wanting to defend DF but in the name of fair play, he did have a choice he chose to play two up front. In the managers defence he said well before the match that he would play two up front.

If you think as many do that he is wrong no matter what he does then you can dismiss this comment he made to Jack Dearden on GMR " it was never simply about playing two or one up front, it was always about playing the right two up front". Bringing Mason in alongside Juke in the managers words meant that he finally had what he thought was the right combination. This is DF view not mine.

But why can't we just accept a very good performance by a team picked by the manager that actually did the business, he rightly gets pilloried for getting it wrong, show good grace and allow him some credit. It may not be so good by next Sunday so lets enjoy the moment. (Just 4 wins from turning the moaners around lol.

Whilst I don't disagree with most of what you've said Wessy, Dougie couldn't have known they were the "right two" until they actually played together and fortunately for him they did seem to gel. I think the main argument in regard to two up top is that he has rarely if ever given many of the strikers, including our young ones, a chance to see if they can play together, continuing with his one up system instead. 

Like others I firmly maintain that had he used the players better until he had the squad that he wants, we would be much further up the table than we are. I blame Freedman totally for our position, he's the manager, he makes all the decisions, systems,  ins and outs and exclusions like Mears, which I think is just stupid when we're so needing a proper full back, but at the end of the day he stands or falls by it so we have to let him get on with it. He's still a young and inexperienced manager and if he's learned something from his dogmatic attitude to one up front then then we'll all be better for it. For one I just hope he has but I wouldn't bet on it!!! 

Still, Dougie has made it clear that he signed Mason to play off Juke and it's obvious that he couldn't do it with the other strikers we have (with the possible exception of Beckford when fit) 
I know the knives are out for Dougie and he'll never get credit for sticking to his guns but he did and it worked.
I still have reservations though. Juke played his best game so far against Watford and whether he can do that every week is debatable. Plus we're still vulnerable at the back despite two holding mids, so I guess we'll still lose plenty, but at least by playing this way we at least look a threat going forward and more able to compete. Not perfect but better balanced IMO.