Mcsheffrey

[balbyrover]

I genuinely don't feel that Mason is a defender.  I don't think playing there is doing him any favours.
The boy was on real Madrid books from a young age and viewed as a hot prospect.  Fergie rates him. He obviously has something about him. I hope he gets a chance as a holding midfielder.

[Campsall rover]

Mason is OK as a full back in a 4 but is not comfortable playing in a 3 as a centre back.
He was putting in some excellent performances a few weeks a go before DF went back to a 3
When Baudry is back I think he will go back to what was working as a flat back 4 with Mason at left back.

[graingrover]

I bet DF will play Baudry in the Houghton rôle ; an option he mentions  in the latest interview .

[Al4475]

Was just gonna say that!

[GazLaz]

I think that would be madness. He's been our best defender for me. He's needed more at the back than in midfield.

[idler]

We need to start well and get the confidence going.
An early goal would be a tonic. I wonder how much they will miss the lad that got sent off on Saturday?

[drfc1951]

We need to start well and get the confidence going.
An early goal would be a tonic. I wonder how much they will miss the lad that got sent off on Saturday?

Depends if its a one match ban or 3, they play tomorrow night.

[drfchound]

I think i am right in saying it was a straight red so it will be three games out.

[idler]

I thought that it said in the report that it was a straight red.

[IDM]

Baudry is a good enough ball player for the centre mid role, for when we have possession, and could drop back alongside butler and wright when we don't...?

[selby]

Only seen him once in something like a midfield position.It cost us a goal at Oldham and the chance to have a cup run.
   We have specialists in that position in Keegan and Middleton, or are we going to carry on trying to accomodate certain players and like Roe nullify their effectiveness.

[graingrover]

 DF he seems to understand quite a bit about how his squad can be moved around and to date has managed to replace injured players very well. I bet there will be a few more surprising positional switches before end of season  and  McSheffrey , May and Lund will get games.

[drfchound]

We do have a very strong squad grange and it is good that some of the players can fill various roles.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

It's vital that some players can play in a variety of positions as long as you don't have too many jack of all trades and not enough masters.

A player such as Mason has a future of a midfield player and this spell in defence will have given him great experience. I hope he does get more of a chance to show what he can do. What I saw of him and Houghton in tandem at Notts Co impressed me in a difficult game on a pudding of a pitch.

[Sammy Chung was King]

Grant coming in for us was like he was doing us a favour by pulling our shirt on the way the manager was going on about him. If anything i thought we were doing better in midfield before he joined him coming into the side just means Tommy Rowe getting put in an unnatural position when Rowe is the better player of the two.
I personally thought the midfield was spot on before he joined and though it's still a great midfield it isn't working as efficiently as it could be.
Tommy Rowe is a goal threat played centrally every week Grant for me isn't capable of doing the same for me it's a 'killing time' deal he won't join us permanently. The manager rates him far higher than i do.

[les@donr]

Sammy, it is the manager who picks the team not us, and its his opinion that ultimately matters. He rises or falls based on his decisions, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.

[Sammy Chung was King]

That's true no managers job is easy and it's nice to have options i just thought the balance was just right as it was Grant coming in hasn't improved us he hasn't quite produced the performances that justify Fergie's hyperbole about him.

[les@donr]

Maybe he thinks Grant will come into his own in L1, we wait to see.

[selby]

All of them are good players who will get better with games,I agree that as a team we were playing better with Roe more central,but would argue that Middleton has more to offer than Mason in midfield.I think he has a more expansive range of passing and plays with his head up than Mason who has not impressed me with his passing ability or distance he clears the ball,not aided with a right sided player playing on the left admitted.

[wing commander]

     Mcsheffrey did very well to say how long he has been out for and it was very risky playing him at all..Even DF said he couldn't have played longer than he did and he is a million miles away...That goes to show that our options are still limited in that area when he feels he has to take those risks..I agree on Grant to most on here,hasnt really shown a great deal and what weve gained for me we've lost more by shuffling others out of there positions...

[GazLaz]

McSheff is a couple of weeks away from being fit enough to start.

[wing commander]

   Then we have to be rushing him Gaz,a couple of weeks to start means he hasn't had much time from returning to training to playing bearing in mind the length of time he has been out...DF didn't give the impression he was that close either....I hope your right though as I didn't expect him to feature until the last knockings of the season but it's certainly a position we need to be addressing in the summer...

[GazLaz]

By that time I think he will have been back in training 6 weeks. 2 weeks pre training then 4 weeks full training. I may be wrong though.

[Filo]

That's true no managers job is easy and it's nice to have options i just thought the balance was just right as it was Grant coming in hasn't improved us he hasn't quite produced the performances that justify Fergie's hyperbole about him.

Grant joined on 1st January, we won every game in January, when was the last time we won every game in a Calender month?

Need I say anymore?

[Lifelong supporter]

I agree with Filo.
Grant is a quality player and I hope we sign him permanently at the end of the season.

[wing commander]

    Difficult one really,he's a good player but he needs to stand up a bit better in the face of the more physical teams...I did disagree when Fergie said we matched Luton physically I thought our defence did but our midfield were bullied for most of the game...I certainly wouldn't want to watch Luton every week..Not much of the beautiful game to enjoy with them...

[Bentley Bullet]

That's exactly the point I was going to make, Filo.

I think since Grant's been in the side we have looked like a top of the table team for probably the first time this season.

Our present drop in points corresponds with Boudry's absence.

[GazLaz]

Grant doesn't look the player he did last season. Everyone must agree with that, it's probably due to not playing many first team games up to January. Hopefully, if we do sign him in the summer, after a proper pre season he can produce his best form again.

[NickDRFC]

That's true no managers job is easy and it's nice to have options i just thought the balance was just right as it was Grant coming in hasn't improved us he hasn't quite produced the performances that justify Fergie's hyperbole about him.

Grant joined on 1st January, we won every game in January, when was the last time we won every game in a Calender month?

Need I say anymore?

I'll say some more - I would say that we won the games in January because Marquis was on fire rather than because Grant gave us a lift. There have been glimpses of his ability but I think he is yet to have anywhere near the impact he had in his first spell with us. Hopefully he will kick on for the rest of the season though and show his class.

[Jenny]

Grant is being played too deep, he has more of an impact in a more attacking role.