Sharp and Ironside

[DonnyBazR0ver]

It's not just down to Joe and Billy. Most have covered the reasons we weren't good enough in and around the box.

I think we'd agree that last night there was more left to hope than purpose.

There were two occasions, one in each half, when we did deliver decent balls into the box, and Ironside was no where near it. He made token runs outside of the sticks instead of where you want your centre forward to be. Now, if he's making a decoy run for someone to attack from deep, then fine, but we didn't.

There was some poor crossing but on the other hand, how can you find a player, if you don't know where they're going to be?

You can see from the highlights, we have players waiting to see where the cross goes. There's very little if no understanding between the players of what they're doing. Reactive not pro active.

By contrast, their goal summed that up. A pre planned move. Their player inside the box makes the run to the near post to receive the short ball, meanwhile, the goalscorer is already on the move to get in position for the lay back. We didn't look like we had planned anything.

We didn't seem to know how to drag their centre halves out of their comfort zone, as others have said, lacking imagination and quality. I remember how occasionally, SO'D used to send Mark McCammon out wide to mix things up a bit. We didn't even see much of Gibson or Molyneux taking up central positions, providing different angles for through balls etc.

It's not one of those where we can blame particular individuals, it's a collective problem which McCann knows we need to sort out. As said a while ago, teams are making it more difficult for us at home. That said, Bromley were quite open, but got back into shape very quickly.

[Michael Shaw]

It's not hard to find statements where McCann said he wanted us to finish top, but it's certainly not looking likely.

It's not my job to manage this squad or play in it and my opinion won't change anything.

The club doesn't pay me as a troubleshooter but I bet the manager and players are earning more than I ever did and most fans are paid. So far I think the results are disappointing and something is not working and needs changing.

As for where we finish ...  I hope we will reach the playoffs at the end of the season, but will probably have the same outcome as last season based on current performance.

[Michael Shaw]

"In my opinion I think we still have two strikers who can score goals. It's about how do we deliver them the balls to do that. But they need to put the work in too, particularly with Ironside."

I agree, 1 goal in 13 games is not good enough for a good striker. But there also has to be the delivery to our forwards.

[Barmby Rover]

The old fashioned tactics never fail, get to the by-line put the ball back towards your on-coming striker and the rest is for them to deal with. Our two wingers are too concentrated on cutting in from the wing and getting a shot for themselves instead of doing their job. Strikers can only score if they are given the ammunition.

[Scooter]

I lost count of the number of times where Molyneux cut inside to try and get it on his left foot to curl it to the far top corner. It is so obvious and teams have worked him out
I’d like to see him charge to the corner flag and whip some crosses in

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I lost count of the number of times where Molyneux cut inside to try and get it on his left foot to curl it to the far top corner. It is so obvious and teams have worked him out
I’d like to see him charge to the corner flag and whip some crosses in

He did try to get on the outside a few times but wasn't able to get any quality deliveries. Just wasn't his night.

[Surrey Rover]

He did try to get on the outside a few times but wasn't able to get any quality deliveries. Just wasn't his night.

A lot of that is down to the fact his right foot is the weaker of the two. Why Gibson and Molyneux don’t swap wings in situations like last night is frustrating, both would then have the opportunity to whip crosses in with a bit more urgency on their stronger foot.

[drfchound]

He did try to get on the outside a few times but wasn't able to get any quality deliveries. Just wasn't his night.

A lot of that is down to the fact his right foot is the weaker of the two. Why Gibson and Molyneux don’t swap wings in situations like last night is frustrating, both would then have the opportunity to whip crosses in with a bit more urgency on their stronger foot.

We were saying the same thing last night, about Mols and Gibbo swapping sides.
It would have been worth a try.

[Nudga]

Time to give Sharp and Ironside a run of games together.

[Draytonian III]

Time to give Sharp and Ironside a run of games together.

Well said that man

[Usher wide.]

It's not hard to find statements where McCann said he wanted us to finish top, but it's certainly not looking likely.

It's not my job to manage this squad or play in it and my opinion won't change anything.

The club doesn't pay me as a troubleshooter but I bet the manager and players are earning more than I ever did and most fans are paid. So far I think the results are disappointing and something is not working and needs changing.

As for where we finish ...  I hope we will reach the playoffs at the end of the season, but will probably have the same outcome as last season based on current performance.

So you “hope we make the playoffs……but will probably have the same outcome as last season….”

Which was of course a loss on penalties in the ‘semis’.

And of course you stick in the little caveat “based on current form” just to cover your arse for when we are automatically promoted.

You should be a politician.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

He did try to get on the outside a few times but wasn't able to get any quality deliveries. Just wasn't his night.

A lot of that is down to the fact his right foot is the weaker of the two. Why Gibson and Molyneux don’t swap wings in situations like last night is frustrating, both would then have the opportunity to whip crosses in with a bit more urgency on their stronger foot.

We were saying the same thing last night, about Mols and Gibbo swapping sides.
It would have been worth a try.

They actually did, but it was hard to notice.

[Cramby10]

He did try to get on the outside a few times but wasn't able to get any quality deliveries. Just wasn't his night.

A lot of that is down to the fact his right foot is the weaker of the two. Why Gibson and Molyneux don’t swap wings in situations like last night is frustrating, both would then have the opportunity to whip crosses in with a bit more urgency on their stronger foot.

We were saying the same thing last night, about Mols and Gibbo swapping sides.
It would have been worth a try.

They actually did, but it was hard to notice.

ye they did. On 88 mins!!! And straight away Mols found space down the outside with a terrific chance to whip in a dangerous cross with his wand of a left foot. But inexplicably he cut back on to his weaker right and floated in dross once more. That for me, summed up how brainless we played last night.

[drfchound]

He did try to get on the outside a few times but wasn't able to get any quality deliveries. Just wasn't his night.

A lot of that is down to the fact his right foot is the weaker of the two. Why Gibson and Molyneux don’t swap wings in situations like last night is frustrating, both would then have the opportunity to whip crosses in with a bit more urgency on their stronger foot.

We were saying the same thing last night, about Mols and Gibbo swapping sides.
It would have been worth a try.

They actually did, but it was hard to notice.

They did, yes, but only for a few minutes then went back to where they started.
In the last few minutes there were players all over the place and it appeared that there was very little in the way of positional discipline.
One of the worst decisions was not letting Gibson try a shot from that free kick.

[Campsall rover]

Molly and Gibbo swopped sides at Swindon for large parts of the game and it worked quite well.
I agree they need to play on their natural sides a lot more.
Got to get the opposition guessing and be less predictable than we were last night.

[ForsolongaRover]

This forum has such short memories.

One good result and we're going to win the league, wouldn't trade our strikers for any others in league 2 blah blah blah.

One bad result, we need to sell both of them and the world is falling in.

In my opinion I think we still have two strikers who can score goals. It's about how do we deliver them the balls to do that. But they need to put the work in too, particularly with Ironside.

We're just a few points off first. This is not a disaster.

Maybe not, but when McCann secured Sharp’s services it was a reasonable assumption that we were adding significantly to our goal-scoring potential. Perhaps not doubling it, but it was a supercharging move.

McCann’s must have had a strategy in mind to achieve this. Initially it was to have them both play in every game, but not together. One, usually Ironside, would replace Sharp in the second half.

Sharp prospered initially, but success diminished and he reversed the “batting order” but that did not work very well either. So now he is trying the final option of starting with both of them.

I won’t try and suggest why this is failing, but the point is that as things stand, we are worse off than we were. It is possible that Ironside’s has largely lost his form, but in 2023/24 he was operating within a fairly well-defined template. Now the changes and the adjustments brought about by servicing Sharp are close to a state of flux. There were voices on here which warned of this.

McCann created the problem and he needs to find a solution

[DonnyBazR0ver]

This forum has such short memories.

One good result and we're going to win the league, wouldn't trade our strikers for any others in league 2 blah blah blah.

One bad result, we need to sell both of them and the world is falling in.

In my opinion I think we still have two strikers who can score goals. It's about how do we deliver them the balls to do that. But they need to put the work in too, particularly with Ironside.

We're just a few points off first. This is not a disaster.

Maybe not, but when McCann secured Sharp’s services it was a reasonable assumption that we were adding significantly to our goal-scoring potential. Perhaps not doubling it, but it was a supercharging move.

McCann’s must have had a strategy in mind to achieve this. Initially it was to have them both play in every game, but not together. One, usually Ironside, would replace Sharp in the second half.

Sharp prospered initially, but success diminished and he reversed the “batting order” but that did not work very well either. So now he is trying the final option of starting with both of them.

I won’t try and suggest why this is failing, but the point is that as things stand, we are worse off than we were. It is possible that Ironside’s has largely lost his form, but in 2023/24 he was operating within a fairly well-defined template. Now the changes and the adjustments brought about by servicing Sharp are close to a state of flux. There were voices on here which warned of this.

McCann created the problem and he needs to find a solution

We have to trust that a manager who's worked with bigger squads with some success, knows strategies to get the best out of them.