Alfie may....again.

[selby]

Agreed Dickos, I have not said he has played badly, he has been Ok. worked hard and  in good team performances.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Competition for those places and it's good to see.

What I like about Alfie May is how he has changed.  He has become a much better all round player, makes better runs, makes better decisions and has improved technically a lot. I wouldnt bet against him getting his goals soon and that really is all he is missing.

[RoversAlias]

He's literally been one of our best players through 4 league games.

"Done ok"

[selby]

 One of a number  of players RA, has he been better than Coppinger, Whiteman, John,Anderson, James, Sadlier, the team has played well, and some of those have given game  winning/ saving performances.
   Has he scored a winner? has he set up anyone with an assist? like some of the above. He has been busy, given everything his ability allows him to do, and nobody gives him more credit for that than myself.
   Would I start him next week? yes he deserves it, but if  he does not add goals to his game, and the team start to come under pressure for results, then the other front players have the advantage of being more clinical, and having more skill and strength in the penalty area.

[sedwardsdrfc]

Love Alfie to bits, if only for his 100% effort every game, but, once the side settles I cant see him in the starting 11. Will he get in before Sadlier, Sterling, Ennis, Taylor, or a new centre forward if he actually signs this week. Personally, I cant see it. I think Copps will start less games too. 

Agree but it seems our squad depth really isn’t as bad as everyone keeps saying. For me another striker and we’re in really good shape

[silent majority]

I like the guy, I really do, but there's never an end product, no assist, no goal, nothing.

And, looking at the way we set up, I would suggest he's not following any kind of game plan either.

[drfchound]

To be fair SM, our last three managers have had enough confidence in him to give him plenty of game time.

[RoversAlias]

My personal opinion Selby is that, if we were rating everyone on their individual displays so far, I'd only have one or two players above May. Sadlier, who wasn't actually as good as him yesterday, would be up there. Cameron John although he has only played twice I believe, and maybe Coppinger.

I'm not going to put down our other players, but May has been a really big part of our improved energy as an attacking unit, he has shown great ability with the ball at his feet, awareness and vision to bring others into play an awful lot, his pressing is superb. He just needs to start scoring goals, something plenty of forwards have struggled with in the Rovers shirt before.

I'm not sure SM how you can say he isn't following a game plan? Like he's going rogue on DM and not sticking to instructions. He's clearly following the edict to press, harry defenders, link up down the flanks and support the centre forward/s. As said above, he has been a big part of our developing playing style going forward.

[Chris Black come back]

I like the guy, I really do, but there's never an end product, no assist, no goal, nothing.

And, looking at the way we set up, I would suggest he's not following any kind of game plan either.

He does need to convert all the heat and light into something tangible. He is getting there but I doubt very much that something tangible is going to ever be a material number of goals. He lacks the attributes that could force a decent number (pace, height, power, etc) and he doesn’t seem to be able to finish when he is in decent positions, so I am not sure he has the lethal finish to make up for the lack of other attributes. 

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I was worried when Copps and May went off as both of them help us control possession.

Alfie is a better player now but time doesn't stand still for long in football. He needs to get a goal now and again.

[Padge_DRFC]

He's having his best time with us at the minute

[drfchound]

I was worried when Copps and May went off as both of them help us control possession.

Alfie is a better player now but time doesn't stand still for long in football. He needs to get a goal now and again.

Agreed DBR.
The midfield was being overrun after those two went off.
Lincoln had things their own way for a while.

[Bentley Bullet]

I wasn't at the game but my contacts told me Alfie was excellent (again) on Saturday.

 Isn't it great when you've got good, honest, knowledgeable, well-informed, modern thinking, football contacts who aren't past their Selby date!

[selby]

  It's agood job you don't dine out on his goals BB, you would have starved by now.

[dknward2]

I'm sure DM will be putting no pressure on him as with the rest of the team just go out enjoy it and do what needs to be done.

He had 3 half decent chances today
1st he tried to put to Ennis after beating his man on the wing when a shot may have been better but hindsight. 2nd keeper got down well and made good save. 3rd same area as the second but he tried to get it higher and hit it high and wide. Just needs to keep going he'll get a goal soon enough.

Keep giving DM selection problems

He was a foot away from another in the 2nd half hopefully he will get a goal soon, if he keeps getting in the right areas he will score cause unfortunately if he doesn’t whoever does come in and they do May will have to make do with a spot on the bench

[RedJ]

  It's agood job you don't dine out on his goals BB, you would have starved by now.

Mandeville got loads last season at a lower level didn't he?

[sha66y]

Not too sure what all the palaver is about regarding what May brings to the game...
It’s bloody obvious, he creates a lot of havoc for the opposing teams defence and midfield...

and whilst all this is happening, our goal getters are afforded space they would have had to work bloody hard to get themselves,

For SM to say he brings “ NOTHING” is absolutely ridiculous, ..

So try not to think inside the box at what Alfie brings to that position but outside the box at what he inspires our attacking players to do ..

We are becoming a complete unit which has many cogs and wheels that do many different things....some might not look important,.....but are!

The hands on the clock are not effective without that little cog that sets the timing .....

[drfchound]

That will come.

Not sure it will hound. Just don’t think he is a goal scorer at this level.
His first touch and awareness has improved this season.

He was only denied a goal on Saturday by a fantastic save.

[elmsallrover]

Copps doesn’t score many either but his contribution isn’t overlooked.

the big difference is copps is a match winning may is not

[Chris Black come back]

Not too sure what all the palaver is about regarding what May brings to the game...
It’s bloody obvious, he creates a lot of havoc for the opposing teams defence and midfield...

and whilst all this is happening, our goal getters are afforded space they would have had to work bloody hard to get themselves,

For SM to say he brings “ NOTHING” is absolutely ridiculous, ..

So try not to think inside the box at what Alfie brings to that position but outside the box at what he inspires our attacking players to do ..

We are becoming a complete unit which has many cogs and wheels that do many different things....some might not look important,.....but are!

The hands on the clock are not effective without that little cog that sets the timing .....

If you read the post I think he was referring to the end product ie Alfie does a lot of pressing, hassling, harrying but that is only one small part of his job - he needs to be delivering something at the end in terms of goal-related activity as he is not a defensive midfielder or a defensive screen.

[silent majority]

Not too sure what all the palaver is about regarding what May brings to the game...
It’s bloody obvious, he creates a lot of havoc for the opposing teams defence and midfield...

and whilst all this is happening, our goal getters are afforded space they would have had to work bloody hard to get themselves,

For SM to say he brings “ NOTHING” is absolutely ridiculous, ..

So try not to think inside the box at what Alfie brings to that position but outside the box at what he inspires our attacking players to do ..

We are becoming a complete unit which has many cogs and wheels that do many different things....some might not look important,.....but are!

The hands on the clock are not effective without that little cog that sets the timing .....

If you read the post I think he was referring to the end product ie Alfie does a lot of pressing, hassling, harrying but that is only one small part of his job - he needs to be delivering something at the end in terms of goal-related activity as he is not a defensive midfielder or a defensive screen.

That's exactly right CBcb.

sha66y, I didn't say he brings "NOTHING", and nor did I put it in capital letters or use parentheses, I said that there's no end result, simple.

[Jonathan]

I feel the reality lies somewhere in the middle of the argument. It’s clear that May will struggle to get a word of praise from certain people, and that’s unfair.

He’s done well, and he’s working very hard, but at the same time I think it’s stretching things a bit to say he’s been one of our best players. He’s been part of a team that’s started well, but we have players that have made more telling contributions.

[Donnybax]

Not too sure what all the palaver is about regarding what May brings to the game...
It’s bloody obvious, he creates a lot of havoc for the opposing teams defence and midfield...

and whilst all this is happening, our goal getters are afforded space they would have had to work bloody hard to get themselves,

For SM to say he brings “ NOTHING” is absolutely ridiculous, ..

So try not to think inside the box at what Alfie brings to that position but outside the box at what he inspires our attacking players to do ..

We are becoming a complete unit which has many cogs and wheels that do many different things....some might not look important,.....but are!

The hands on the clock are not effective without that little cog that sets the timing .....

If you read the post I think he was referring to the end product ie Alfie does a lot of pressing, hassling, harrying but that is only one small part of his job - he needs to be delivering something at the end in terms of goal-related activity as he is not a defensive midfielder or a defensive screen.

That's exactly right CBcb.

sha66y, I didn't say he brings "NOTHING", and nor did I put it in capital letters or use parentheses, I said that there's no end result, simple.

and in fairness it’s true.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Talking about individual end product is often silly.

Last season, folk used to say that Marquis didn't have many assists to his name, therefore he was only scoring goals.

That ignored his tireless work up front.

Similarly with May this year. He is doing a job, regardless of how many goals he scores himself.

[NickDRFC]

We’ve only played 3 league games. Seems a little churlish to be focussing on end product now. If, after 10 games, May hasn’t scored or assisted, and Taylor has 2 or 3 goals off the bench then maybe there would be a bit more to talk about but I don’t really see the point right now.