John Bostcrock

[5minstogo]

Out again.

[ColinDouglasHandshake]

I'm almost certain that he'd much prefer to be called John Bosscock.

[redwine]

I'm sure he's more suited to a contactless sport.

Maybe the ancient art of origami.

Although on his first outing he'd be out for a month with a paper cut.

[Draytonian III]

I’m coming to the conclusion the he likes being a footballer but doesn’t seem to like playing unless it’s on his terms, sort of thing you get with youngsters “ it’s my ball so I’m picking teams “

[karldew]

We might up the tempo a little more now then. He’s good at passing and retaining the ball but he slows play down, looks up, turns around and plays it to a CB 80% of the time. In the first half yesterday it seemed he was in the back 4 more than Anderson.

[ColinDouglasHandshake]

If we have forwards who are intelligent and make runs then John will find them. Our forwards however are as immobile and unaware as a cadaver.

[karldew]

IMO he’s too far back/slow to cause any splitting passes. He hardly ever carries a ball forward. We know Rowe and Taylor are 2 players who are good enough playing in front of him, why does his passes always seem to be to one of the back 4 or his partner in CDM. He looks for an easy ball, without looking his pass completion rate must be high.

You wonder why the second half was an improvement yesterday, it’s because Bostock got injured.

[Canadian Rover]

For our team to really turn a corner our midfield should be Close, Rowe & Galbraith.

[ColinDouglasHandshake]

I wasn't aware that we improved on Saturday after Bostock went off. We had a half decent 10 minute spell near the end but hardly as a direct result of John not being on the pitch.

[Metalmicky]

I think he is a good footballer - and playing in a continental style would suit him.  I went with two Lincoln lads on Saturday and they were relieved when he went off.  He was a bit unlucky as he got injured putting a block in - which is perhaps not his style. 

I can't help thinking that he would be better further up the pitch where he could pick out a pass or two.  I don't think that he did owt wrong playing in front of the back four, however, when your only options are sideways or backwards then you retain possession and look for gaps - which is what he did.

[Chris Black come back]

He’s a bit of an enigma but I can’t help feeling that we can put square pegs in square holes once we have people available. It would be hard not to make a decent midfield out of Close, Bostock, Galbraith, Rowe and Smith when they are all fit.

[Sammy Chung was King]

He is playing in a deep lying role linking play, so he is going to look unspectacular. He can’t give the ball to people further forward if they don’t make runs.
He is used to playing with higher standard players, they need to adapt to him not him to them, to get the best from him.
He could do a bit more off the ball though.

[steve@dcfd]

For our team to really turn a corner our midfield should be Close, Rowe & Galbraith.

For our team to really turn the corner we need the DM player we couldn’t afford in the summer that means paying wages that the club couldn’t find in the summer. Then add  2 out of 4 of Rowe, Galbraith ( if he’s still here) Close or Smith. For me Bostock could go in January if we get the DMid player. But like Bogle and Williams who want him.

[steve@dcfd]

He is playing in a deep lying role linking play, so he is going to look unspectacular. He can’t give the ball to people further forward if they don’t make runs.
He is used to playing with higher standard players, they need to adapt to him not him to them, to get the best from him.
He could do a bit more off the ball though.

Myth when was the last time he played at a higher class of football consistently.He hadn’t played for 19 month consistently before joining us.

[graingrover]

He seems to have played more than the opening post suggests .The latest injury is a twisted ankle .The opening post is a twisted sense of humour .

[Campsall rover]

He is playing in a deep lying role linking play, so he is going to look unspectacular. He can%u2019t give the ball to people further forward if they don%u2019t make runs.
He is used to playing with higher standard players, they need to adapt to him not him to them, to get the best from him.
He could do a bit more off the ball though.

He cannot give them the ball because to do so he needs to play a 30yd pass. He needs to get further forward to be able to feed the front players. From where he plays he is not going to effect the game unless he makes those long ball passes. That is not possible very often.
The opposition must love it seeing him stay so deep. Nothing for them to worry about there and it makes our wide players easy to mark because he is not drawing any one out of their defensive positions by making a run further forward and interchanging passes with our other midfielders further up the pitch.
I know i keep mentioning Whiteman but that is what he did without compromising his defensive duties.
I just do not think Bostock has either the legs to do it or the inclination to do it. One or the other, possibly it is both.
Just my take on it, others may disagree with me.
To me though it is as clear as daylight.

[scawsby steve]

He is playing in a deep lying role linking play, so he is going to look unspectacular. He can%u2019t give the ball to people further forward if they don%u2019t make runs.
He is used to playing with higher standard players, they need to adapt to him not him to them, to get the best from him.
He could do a bit more off the ball though.

He cannot give them the ball because to do so he needs to play a 30yd pass. He needs to get further forward to be able to feed the front players. From where he plays he is not going to effect the game unless he makes those long ball passes. That is not possible very often.
The opposition must love it seeing him stay so deep. Nothing for them to worry about there and it makes our wide players easy to mark because he is not drawing any one out of their defensive positions by making a run further forward and interchanging passes with our other midfielders further up the pitch.
I know i keep mentioning Whiteman but that is what he did without compromising his defensive duties.
I just do not think Bostock has either the legs to do it or the inclination to do it. One or the other possibly it is both.
Just my take on it, others may disagree with me. To me it is as clear as daylight.

Camps, have you ever thought he might be playing to orders?

[Campsall rover]

Well if he is I don’t understand RW at all.

[Spud]

I think it depends what we wanna do as to wether have Bozzie on the pitch. If we wanna try control the possession & tempo & nullify the opposition,yes great. When we wanna press on & force the game, then we need more energy in the team.
The amount of times on Saturday we had basically a back six (with Galbraith also flanking the centre halves) in possession was ridiculous. Maybe Ethan needs educating or maybe this is where we miss Close but anyone who could play actual centre mid would have been lonely tbf.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I think it depends what we wanna do as to wether have Bozzie on the pitch. If we wanna try control the possession & tempo & nullify the opposition,yes great. When we wanna press on & force the game, then we need more energy in the team.
The amount of times on Saturday we had basically a back six (with Galbraith also flanking the centre halves) in possession was ridiculous. Maybe Ethan needs educating or maybe this is where we miss Close but anyone who could play actual centre mid would have been lonely tbf.

Deffo would agree with that. Not sure why Galbraith felt it necessary to drop as deep at times, unless he took the responsibility to take it off the centre halves to get things moving, otherwise we'd be going side to side forever!

That's probs a bit harsh on Bostock as he does move the ball forward although maybe without the urgency we need at times. He's very one paced though and can be bypassed very easily when the opposition move the ball quickly. Their headed chance on Saturday highlighted that when their player waltzed in-between Bostock and Vilca, who both knew he was coming, to get on the end of the cross.

RW did say we weren't moving the ball quick enough and you do wonder whether he sees Bostock as the main culprit. That said, he's not the only one.

I think we'll see a difference when Close returns as he finds pockets of space all over the pitch however, I think it would be a waste if Galbraith purely played the anchor role, although he may have to with perhaps Close and Smith in front.

[Sammy Chung was King]

If you have Bostock in a midfield he must have players around him ,who can win the ball.
The players in front of him have to give him something to hit. We are too static and easy to read.

If we had him further forward he would change a few minds, he isn’t mobile but his passing ability is way beyond any of the others we have, with the exception of Galbraith.

His weaknesses are exposed by a team that is trying to find its way. He is playing out of position for the manager and team.
We are in desperate need of a guy who can win the ball. The team needs to work together to make up for us lacking that type of player.

We have started picking results up ,but we are going to need more from everybody in the side, to get results against better sides, than we have played recently.
Everybody needs to improve their game.

[DonnyOsmond]

Out for 3 months. Campsall will be happy.

[Metalmicky]

https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/sport/football/doncaster-rovers-suffer-another-injury-blow-as-midfielder-is-ruled-out-for-three-months-3472296

[drfchound]

Reading that link MM, I am thinking that the next longer term injury will be Vilca with a torn hamstring.
At least the pitch won’t be blamed for Bostocks injury.

[Filo]

We just can’t get a break can we, but at least we’ll see if the midfield improves or gets worse without him

[GazLaz]

We just can’t get a break can we, but at least we’ll see if the midfield improves or gets worse without him

Over the longer period it can’t improve anything.

[steve@dcfd]

It won’t improve it will get by. The only way to improve the midfield is to sign a good Defensive midfield player at the beginning of January.

[DonnyOsmond]

We just can’t get a break can we, but at least we’ll see if the midfield improves or gets worse without him

Surely the problem is we're getting too many breaks?

[sha66y]

It won’t improve it will get by. The only way to improve the midfield is to sign a good Defensive midfield player at the beginning of January.

What does that mean?
“ a good defensive midfield player”
What if we can’t afford a good one because of available funds ?

Should we just get what we can afford to fill the hole?

I think the ideal scenario would be for the manager to get the best players in every position plus a bench to die for ……alas! … that is just not real!

[Metalmicky]

I'm guessing that if the problems persist, the Board will either have to open the purse strings and see if we can clammer out of the relegation slots.......... or, we accept that we will be relegated this year and work towards next season...