Worthy Must Take The Blame

[magic_eyes 0]

We have been letting in goals for fun and so does Worthy do. He drops our best defender - Doc. Unbelievable. Take your pick from Flem, Edworthy or Drury - none of them are good enough, but at least Doc has been winning the aerial battles.

To be fair Shackell played well, and Drury did OK tonight. But once again where was Flem when we needed him most? The first goal he got caught ball watching and his man - Siberski - had a free header 6 yards out - schoolboy error. Where was he for the 2nd goal? Not even in sight.

We are going down, because we can''t defend, and we can''t defend because our manager does pick the best defenders. We all know Shackell has been good enough for a long time, Doherty has been playing well and Charlton is a quality player. Tonight it should have been Eddy, Doc, Shack and Charlton.

Another thing I don''t like about Flem is the way he goes around pointing the finger at his own team mates, is this really what you expect from your captain?

Time to start planning for next season - rest Flem and start building a partnership between Doc and Shackell. I think they will do well together.

OTBC

[silver fox 0]

I agree with you completely magic_eyes and if you look at my post for Chelsea team you will see that I have gone for your back four.  I have been a little controversial in my midfield choice by putting Drury on the left, but he is fit enough to get up and down the left for 90 minutes. 

Regarding their second goal, Fleming was the player Sibierski skipped past unchallenged before putting the ball through to Wright-Phillips.

Finally I have to say that Fleming and Holt are the best markers of open space we have in the squad.  You can see why they both only have one yellow card, because they never get close enough to actually tackle anyone.

[3pmkickoff 0]

I have to also agree in part. Doc didn''t deserve to be dropped completely. If Worthy doesn''t rate him as a defender then perhaps he''d like to tell is why he forked out £750,000 - £1M for him when the majority of football supporters could have told him he wasn''t a big improvement on Malky.

I though Shackell has a great game tonight. I thought he was at fault for the second goal but after seeing it it''s clear that other players were not picking up Fowler.

As for Malky, I don''t think he would have been great at this level but we''ll never know. I''m sure Pompey fans said the same about Primus when they came up.

 

[We need a Manager 0]

Spot on , everybody has been saying the Doc has been our best defender lately so what does Worthy do ? drop him and leave Fleming in . The manager has been making clanger after clanger this season and any other club would have been shot of him well before now .

[morty 0]

Our best defender, Docherty????

[Curran Kenyon 0]

Tuff on Flem I''d say.  Finger pointing is a Captains job.  If we were doing badly and the Captain was quiet he''d get criricised too.  Not sure Doc & Shack would be good together.  Flem to stay til th eend. Next season Nige will hav to think again.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,531]

Sadly I agree.

Shackel deserved a game and did well. But Flem is struggling enormously at this level. We must play

Eddy (Helveg when fit)  Doc   Shackell   Charlton

 

It wont happen though- Flem is beyond reproach

[sheded 0]

[quote]I agree with you completely magic_eyes and if you look at my post for Chelsea team you will see that I have gone for your back four. I have been a little controversial in my midfield choice by puttin...[/quote]

Yes , Worthy is the manager , and the buck stops at his desk .....  no question !  .......  again and again  his  defensive  formation  has been found wanting  ...... get a grip Worthy !    we have seen what our team can do ....  2 goals in 15 minutes ! proof that we can more than hold our own in the prem ...... then  a soft goal against , yet again ,  caused  the attack to drop back into defensive mode  ...... Mancity  dominated  , and it was only a matter of time before  goals  2 and 3   got past the hapless Greeno  ....[ is he really  England class ? ]   

As you say  Silver  , Fleming and Holt   circled around their  strikers  like they were waiting for them to die of old age ! ......  ooooh  , dangerous !    easy meat for the likes of  the Ski and  SRP  ..........  at least Jonson got the  tackles in ,  ahem

[Francesco Volpe<P><BR><EM><FONT size=3><STRONG>A<STRONG><FONT>wesome<STRONG><FONT size=3>S<FONT><STRONG>ublime<STRONG><FONT size=3>H<FONT><STRONG>onest pro<EM><EM><FONT size=3><STRONG>T<STRONG><FONT>alented<STRONG><FONT size 0]

[quote]We have been letting in goals for fun and so does Worthy do. He drops our best defender - Doc. Unbelievable. Take your pick from Flem, Edworthy or Drury - none of them are good enough, but at least Do...[/quote]

Magic Eyes, you have just expressed the exact thoughts which are circling around in my head as i write this. 100% agree with you and i just can''t believe that worthy hasn''t done anything about this.

[FatMan Fat 0]

I am a big fan of Fleming both on and off the pitch....however, for much of the season he has simply not been good enough.  My own thoughts are that we miss a true leader at the back (in the Malky mould) as Flem does not fill this role.  Even last night it was Shackell calling the back line up rather than Flem. Flem has done a great job for us over the years but its a case of one season too many I fear.

So, we need to reorganize at the back.  Who have we got?  Charlton, Helveg, Eddy - whoops, all are approaching their mid 30''s, along with Flem - a crisis methinks

And who got us into this situation?  Mmmmm...........

[Making Plans 957]

[quote]We have been letting in goals for fun and so does Worthy do. He drops our best defender - Doc. Unbelievable. Take your pick from Flem, Edworthy or Drury - none of them are good enough, but at least Do...[/quote]

Surely the biggest mistake happened during the transfer window when absolutely zilch was done to strengthen the defence

Why did we spend 3 million quid on a striker rather than invest in the defence - I''d rather draw 0-0 than loose 3-2

From a longer term perspective this should have been the priority anyway as most of our defenders will need replacing whatever league we''re in next year as the current crop, including (and especially) Doherty, are either not good enough or they are past it

[Worthy Nigelton<br><br><br><br><br>Evening News Sports Page Headline 8th August 2007:<br><br>Henderson joins Dereham Town. 0]

Yep Flem should be dropped but the line up should be:Eddy Doc Charlie Drury

[ZLF 335]

I do think we should have looked to sign an aging experinced defender but that chance has been lost - at the start of the season too.

However I do think we have a back 4 that can succeed in the prem.  At right back Helveg is a class above Eddy, who is an adequate stop gap until Thomas gets fit, hopefully for the bolton game. 

At left back Drury was excellent last night, doing very well against SWP, and a unlucky to have Ashton in such form for the MOTM award - he also benefited from having a worker in front of him rather than Hux - thats for all you hux on left fans.

At centre back we now have three players who have out performed Flem in Shacks, Charlie and Doc (criminally blamed for the blackburn result in my eyes)  Charlie has been our most consistent player (who also struggled at left back when exposed by Worthys tactic of playing Hux wide left) and deserves to return to his PREFERRED position.  Who to choose between Shacks (impressive last night but still a novice) or Doc (improving but has more experience) for the rest of the season?    Personally I would stick with Shacks alongside Charlie, if we have been relegated I would see how Doc and Shacks do together - a young partnership with height strength and pace,who could build an understanding in the fizzy pop league in readiness for a hopefully glorius return to the prem... 

OTBC

[Saint Canary 0]

[quote]I do think we should have looked to sign an aging experinced defender but that chance has been lost - at the start of the season too. However I do think we have a back 4 that can succeed in the prem....[/quote]

Agree with you again Zipper.

To me, using a simple process of elimination it''s clear Flem has to go.  We have tried several central defensive pairings and Flem has been the player who is a permanent fixture whist we have conceded so many goals.  NW is dropping the wrong players.  Charlton, Shackell and the Doc have been better than Flem.  I can''t believe that the Doc didn''t even make the bench considering he can cover two positions.  Was the Blackburn result entirely down to him?

I would like to point out the our midfield don''t do enough to help the defence.  They are either too deep, not closing down and pushing our back four further towards our goal line and inviting the opposition on to us OR letting the opposition midfield run though them into space between our midfield and defence then chasing after them.  The amount of energy Holt wastes chasing after people because he has allowed players to just drift past him, it''s like watching a retriever puppy sometimes.  "Go on Gary, good boy, chase the ball".  Our players get pulled out of position far too much and we have no shape when defending and I''m talking about the whole team, not just the back four.

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

I have to say I agree.  I think all we need to stay up is just have some basic organisation at the back.  Man city''s first goal was something you expect from a sunday league side.  Organisation and concentration have got a lot to do with where we are now

[whoareyou? 0]

My back four would be:

Helveg  Doc  Shackell  Charlton. We seem so disorganised there which is surprising considering Worthy was a good defender and he was part of a solid Leeds back four.

I do think our midfield have to take some of the blame tho especially the central two who dont seem to want to pick up players running thru. I dont think Francis has been the same player since he came back from injury, he had a particulalry poor game last nite i thought and didnt look very interested.

I would like to see Safri given a run and being allowed to play in front of the back four. It seemed very harsh to leave Doc out altogether tho for one bad game.

[Tacklebury 0]

Saint, you read my mind - whilst the defence is to blame, the lack of protection offered by Holt and Francis wasn''t good enough last night. The problem lies in that the defence starts sitting deeper and deeper and deeper - have they forgotten that Green is an England keeper? I don''t understand why they don''t trust him more. Anyway, as a consequence of the defence never pushing up, the midfield fails to fall back to offer protection. Between them they should be pushing up - we''re at home and they should be taking the game to our opponents. As long as the defence sits deep, we invite pressure and it becomes more difficult for us to attack.

I say we give Shackell a run for the rest of the season, preferably whilst building a partnership with Doc, and as soon as Charlton and Helveg are ready to go they come in as fullbacks. We order them to hold a high line, but also warn the midfield to be prepared to drop off and offer more protection should the need arise.

[First Wizard 0]

[quote]Surely the biggest mistake happened during the transfer window when absolutely zilch was done to strengthen the defence Why did we spend 3 million quid on a striker rather than invest in the defence ...[/quote]

If Worthy done well last year, then he''s been a liability this year!.

He''s got to go in the summer, at this level he''s totally clueless!.

Bring back Walker, and quickly.

[rich 0]

sheded I''m not sure how you can blame green for any of that, in fact if it wasn''t for green the result would have been much worse.  he is still very much england class.

The defence in front of him is awful and the blame does lie firmly at worthington, they look badly organised, and he bought ins tuart when we blatantly needed a defender not another aging midfielder.

 Doc isn''t the answer, fleming looks out of his depth, my solution would be charlton alongside shackell and helveg instead of holt as holding midfielder.  But in the end that''s still not ideal, just the best we''ve got and that sadly isn''t much.