Viking Supporters Co-operative

Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: Jonathan on February 17, 2024, 05:18:16 pm

Title: Richard Wood
Post by: Jonathan on February 17, 2024, 05:18:16 pm
Has made a huge difference to the team. Leadership on the field breeds confidence throughout.

We need to be ruthless in the summer… but we also need to be sensible. Can we really afford a better central defender at this level? Can he still play enough games at this age? If he can then he is showing he can do a job.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: DonnyBazR0ver on February 17, 2024, 05:32:22 pm
Continuation of this thread...

https://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?topic=290132.30
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Jonathan on February 17, 2024, 05:34:17 pm
I’d not seen that. Happy for admin to merge / delete this.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Branton Rover on February 17, 2024, 05:34:37 pm
Great minds think alike Jonathan
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: mushRTID on February 17, 2024, 05:35:58 pm
The goalkeeper has been just as important. So, so frustrating it wasn’t addressed properly in the summer.

But yes Wood has been excellent, we look a different side with them both on the pitch.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Jonathan on February 17, 2024, 05:38:59 pm
The goalkeeper has been just as important. So, so frustrating it wasn’t addressed properly in the summer.

But yes Wood has been excellent, we look a different side with them both on the pitch.

Agreed. Such a shame we didn’t sort the goalkeeping position when all were out of contract.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: The Dav on February 17, 2024, 05:43:19 pm
Craig in midfield has firmed things up no end, tenacious and hungry and really works the ball well !
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: mushRTID on February 17, 2024, 05:46:17 pm
Agreed the loan signings have all improved us.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Filo on February 17, 2024, 05:48:41 pm
Craig in midfield has firmed things up no end, tenacious and hungry and really works the ball well !

He looked a bit lost at the beginning, but he’s really got to grips with the mens game at this level, and makes a big difference to our centre midfield
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: ncRover on February 17, 2024, 06:23:58 pm
It helps that for the first time in years, a mistake hasn’t been made in the transfer window.

Well done to the recruitment team.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Canadian Rover on February 17, 2024, 06:43:27 pm
Craig in midfield has firmed things up no end, tenacious and hungry and really works the ball well !

Always wants the ball...he's a player for sure.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Pancho Regan on February 17, 2024, 07:20:28 pm
It helps that for the first time in years, a mistake hasn’t been made in the transfer window.

Well done to the recruitment team.

Agreed ncRover.

There has been lots of criticism of our recruitment, some of it justified.
But I feel Grant has done a great job in strengthening the squad in January.

Lo-Tutala, Adelakun and Craig have all made an immediate impact.

Credit due to GM and the recruitment team; let’s hope it is forthcoming from certain quarters.

Taking up Jonathan’s point, the return of Wood has also been a game-changer (literally).
I haven’t seen today’s game but Wood was excellent in the previous couple of fixtures.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Spilsby Red on February 17, 2024, 07:22:03 pm
Credit today. That starting eleven were magnificent. The fans were awesome. No negatives. Great 12th man
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Campsall rover on February 17, 2024, 08:12:22 pm
I did say we had no leader on the pitch and now Wood is playing we do.
What a massive difference he has made.
He might be 38 yrs old but that is only a number.
He can definitely do a job for us next season in this league.
He will help McGrath and Faulkner massively if he stays.

Adalukin has been a massive signing for us.
Thank you Mo Faal for going because if you had stayed we would not of got Adalukin.
I know which one is the better player.

Mathew Craig is growing as a player week on week and has made a big difference to our midfield.
Him and Bailey have given us some solidity and we look much harder to break down with these 2 in the team.

The Keeper is what we needed all season.
Confident, decisive and verbal
We need to sign him if we can because he is in a different league to Lawlor & Jones.

Some seriously good recruitment in January and the return of Richard Wood has completely turned our season round.

If we maintain this level of performance then top half is a realistic final placing for us this season.
4 weeks ago I would have laughed at that suggestion.

Onwards and upwards we go.
I genuinely feel we have got our real DRFC back again.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: DonnyBazR0ver on February 17, 2024, 08:21:20 pm
We now have that so important spine we were craving for. Trouble is three of them are loans and we can't be sure any of them are gettable.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: drfchound on February 17, 2024, 08:22:23 pm
It is looking like we will need about 60 points to get a top half finish.
Hard to imagine we can achieve that.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: DonnyBazR0ver on February 17, 2024, 08:27:13 pm
It is looking like we will need about 60 points to get a top half finish.
Hard to imagine we can achieve that.

We've seen with results today, things can easily change. 

Let's just enjoy the ride.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Campsall rover on February 17, 2024, 08:28:07 pm
It is looking like we will need about 60 points to get a top half finish.
Hard to imagine we can achieve that.
24 points from 14 games.
7 wins 3 draws 4 defeats
Why not hound?
Think that’s achievable.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: drfchound on February 17, 2024, 08:28:28 pm
It is looking like we will need about 60 points to get a top half finish.
Hard to imagine we can achieve that.

We've seen with results today, things can easily change. 

Let's just enjoy the ride.

Absolutely mate.
I haven’t given up on my bet just yet.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: drfchound on February 17, 2024, 08:29:33 pm
It is looking like we will need about 60 points to get a top half finish.
Hard to imagine we can achieve that.
24 points from 14 games.
7 wins 3 draws 4 defeats
Why not hound?
Think that’s achievable.

I hope it happens for many reasons mate.
If we carry on as we have the last four games, why not indeed.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: GazLaz on February 18, 2024, 08:55:17 am
I think in our current situation it would be easy to throw the baby out with the bath water, that said, I’d still release Wood. He wasn’t great yesterday was he? I thought Anderson was head and shoulders above him.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Alan Southstand on February 18, 2024, 09:10:58 am
But it could also be said that Wood brings the best out of him. That’s probably the best Anderson has played this season. How many times has he played alongside Wood?
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: dickos1 on February 18, 2024, 09:17:09 am
The upturn in form is down to a few things
Having the new gk
Having 2 commanding physical centre halves
Having a new cm with legs and bags of quality
Having adelekum in the final 3rd

Keep Anderson and wood fit all next season and we get promoted
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Jonathan on February 18, 2024, 09:46:00 am
That’s the thing about Wood, I totally get the point that at 38 he may not look that great when you watch him in isolation. But he definitely brings out the best of others. That certainly includes Anderson and likely the goalkeeper too.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Bills view on February 18, 2024, 09:51:05 am
We have to take a realistic view though. Age, recent injury records and also performances. Many have criticised Anderson in recent times.

Two or three performances/results is not enough.

We need to look forward.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: dickos1 on February 18, 2024, 10:09:04 am
In league 2 they’re exactly the centre halves u need, like mccombe and jones. Neither could trap a bag of sand but they were proper defenders and what we built our promotion on.
We can do the same again with these two
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: danumdon on February 18, 2024, 10:13:43 am
“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

If we can get 25 games from him next season that should see us on the right path.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: Chris Black come back on February 18, 2024, 10:28:15 am
We should not be giving another deal to Wood, however influential he has been in the last few games.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: dickos1 on February 18, 2024, 03:32:52 pm
We should not be giving another deal to Wood, however influential he has been in the last few games.

In your opinion.
Title: Re: Richard Wood
Post by: selby on February 18, 2024, 04:29:53 pm
  CBcb, if we had played Wood and Faulkner earlier in the season when they were available for games instead of the players making the same mistakes week in week out we could well have been a lot better off points wise now, which would have not been hard to do.
   We were crying out for strong basic defending, and is all the changes we have made the last few weeks. We made the game hard for ourselves.