An Honest Appraisal On Today

[dickos1]

But any competent manager would understand that until he can build a squad to play his chosen way he needs to be pragmatic and play to the capabilities of the players he has at any given time.  Schofield has gone all in on Schofball from the off and is refusing to acknowledge that it isn't working.

I’ve said this before but sod was our best manager of all time and if we’d appointed him now he would’ve stuck by his beliefs he wouldn’t have started playing percentage football just because the squad wasn’t good enough yet.
And as I say he’s the greatest manager we’ve ever had so when you say any competent manager would be pragmatic, sod wouldn't

[i_ateallthepies]

But any competent manager would understand that until he can build a squad to play his chosen way he needs to be pragmatic and play to the capabilities of the players he has at any given time.  Schofield has gone all in on Schofball from the off and is refusing to acknowledge that it isn't working.

I’ve said this before but sod was our best manager of all time and if we’d appointed him now he would’ve stuck by his beliefs he wouldn’t have started playing percentage football just because the squad wasn’t good enough yet.
And as I say he’s the greatest manager we’ve ever had so when you say any competent manager would be pragmatic, sod wouldn't

Now you're just making things up because your argument is just plain wrong.  You don't have the remotest idea about whether SOD would be pragmatic in this situation.  Non at all.

[dickos1]

Well when he joined us he didn’t have the players to play the way he wanted but we still had Gary woods passing it around in his own 6 yard box. We still tried to pass pass pass, backwards, sidewards, the forum was awash with people complaining about how boring it was, bring back Penney, sod has no passion etc etc etc

So yes I do have an idea as that’s exactly what he did

[ncRover]

Dickos. The club is in a very very different place to when SOD took charge. It also does not have the financial backing of that era.

Look at Rochdale and Chesterfield recently. What makes you think that we are immune from something like that happening?

[Bentley Bullet]

I remember the "f**k off back to Bournemouth" chants from some of our "knowledgeable" fans, and that was with financial backing!

We can only thank God he didn't!

[MachoMadness]

But any competent manager would understand that until he can build a squad to play his chosen way he needs to be pragmatic and play to the capabilities of the players he has at any given time.  Schofield has gone all in on Schofball from the off and is refusing to acknowledge that it isn't working.

What ARE the capabilities of this group of players though? Seriously, I keep seeing this argument made, but no one ever says what style we should be playing. Direct? Hoofball? Pressing? Sit back and counter? What system would suit this group of players, and specifically what system would suit the players we've had available for the last month?

[dickos1]

Dickos. The club is in a very very different place to when SOD took charge. It also does not have the financial backing of that era.

Look at Rochdale and Chesterfield recently. What makes you think that we are immune from something like that happening?

I know but that’s not the point of this discussion,
Everyone keeps saying schofield is clueless because he can’t change how he wants to play.
But that’s not how it works, if you believe in something then you stick to it regardless of what league you’re in, we struggled for a long period under sod as he stuck to his beliefs.

[Cramby10]

Well when he joined us he didn’t have the players to play the way he wanted but we still had Gary woods passing it around in his own 6 yard box. We still tried to pass pass pass, backwards, sidewards, the forum was awash with people complaining about how boring it was, bring back Penney, sod has no passion etc etc etc

So yes I do have an idea as that’s exactly what he did

was Gary woods here under SOD??

[Cramby10]

That’s because everyone is looking at how we are now, not long ago we were playing well and creating many more chances.
Grimsby away, Carlisle home, Swindon away, even Mansfield away were all good performances.
The last month has been dreadful but that’s coincided with big injuries and our squad can’t cope

my god. You can only pull out 4 games out of 25 in which YOU believed we played well. One of which we conceded 4!! And most of those were earlier on in his tenure. Suggesting the longer his influence continues on the players, the worse we’ve got! No more questions yer honour.

[NickDRFC]

Well when he joined us he didn’t have the players to play the way he wanted but we still had Gary woods passing it around in his own 6 yard box. We still tried to pass pass pass, backwards, sidewards, the forum was awash with people complaining about how boring it was, bring back Penney, sod has no passion etc etc etc

So yes I do have an idea as that’s exactly what he did

Gary Woods signed several years after SOD took charge.

[ncRover]

But any competent manager would understand that until he can build a squad to play his chosen way he needs to be pragmatic and play to the capabilities of the players he has at any given time.  Schofield has gone all in on Schofball from the off and is refusing to acknowledge that it isn't working.

What ARE the capabilities of this group of players though? Seriously, I keep seeing this argument made, but no one ever says what style we should be playing. Direct? Hoofball? Pressing? Sit back and counter? What system would suit this group of players, and specifically what system would suit the players we've had available for the last month?

Not a great deal to be honest. I would say that sit back and counter is probably the best of a limited array of options for this group of players. The games where we have had less possession are the ones we have typically performed a bit better in.

[ncRover]

Dickos. The club is in a very very different place to when SOD took charge. It also does not have the financial backing of that era.

Look at Rochdale and Chesterfield recently. What makes you think that we are immune from something like that happening?

I know but that’s not the point of this discussion,
Everyone keeps saying schofield is clueless because he can’t change how he wants to play.
But that’s not how it works, if you believe in something then you stick to it regardless of what league you’re in, we struggled for a long period under sod as he stuck to his beliefs.

If he wants to play out from the back why is he offering Tom Anderson and Jonathan Mitchell new contracts? Straight answer please.

He’s making it up as he goes along and justifying it by calling it “a process”.

Our budget will be below average by August if he is still here. People don’t want to watch the back 3 struggling to pass around the opposition press and resort to hoofing it up to a diminutive lone striker no one near him. DS said he won’t change.

[MachoMadness]

But any competent manager would understand that until he can build a squad to play his chosen way he needs to be pragmatic and play to the capabilities of the players he has at any given time.  Schofield has gone all in on Schofball from the off and is refusing to acknowledge that it isn't working.

What ARE the capabilities of this group of players though? Seriously, I keep seeing this argument made, but no one ever says what style we should be playing. Direct? Hoofball? Pressing? Sit back and counter? What system would suit this group of players, and specifically what system would suit the players we've had available for the last month?

I would say that sit back and counter is probably the best option for this group of players. The games where we have had less possession are the ones we have typically performed a bit better in.

I'd tend to agree. However without Knoyle and Maxwell to drive us up the pitch, or Biggins to burst forwards, we don't have any players who can pose a threat on the counter currently. Hurst is potentially, but he's young, knackered after an intense first season, and isn't good enough defensively.

So we end up with the (mostly, apart from the laughable errors) solid defensive part of the counter, without the attacking threat at the other end, hence the absolutely shocking shite we're being served up at the minute. But then we're back to: what alternative is there? Go direct with a keeper who can't kick a ball and a midfield physically incapable of winning a second ball?

[ncRover]

Exactly MM, I have thought this myself previously. All this comes from a lack of a cohesive vision and recruitment strategy for the team. This season is a write off.

I think for next year we should aim to have a more combative, quicker and physical team. Perhaps one that can play some decent stuff whilst delivering the basics but one that is dangerous on the counter attack in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. That would be much easier to achieve at this level with our budget than this attempt at 3-4-3 total football (that’s his formation, he has said he isn’t changing).

Here’s why I think that:

We will have good solid defenders who will get stuck in but not necessarily a ball playing defence - Anderson, Faulkner, Olowu, Maxwell. For my hypothetical vision, this would just need adding a fast combative right back. It would also need a goalkeeper more up to the task than the current one who plays like Stevie Wonder’s torso.

Then a target man who can bring others in to play amongst the likes of Miller, Molyneux and Hurst. That will make them more effective and dangerous on the counter. They aren’t exactly crisp passing creative players are they?

Then add some bite in to midfield with Lakin and a proper defensive mid.

That’s 5 or 6 new solid league 2 players only needed for the starting XI. Whereas SchofieldBall would need 11 new hard to come by players.

[ravenrover]

Apart from keeper strong men required in Centre Back, Centre Midfield, Centre Forward get those 3 right and you can build a team around them including up and coming youngsters for not much money comparatively speaking

[MachoMadness]

Can't really disagree with any of that nc, but I just think we don't really have a fair reflection on what Schofieldball is yet. He doesn't have the resources available to get us playing any system, let alone his ideal one. That's why I think sacking him is the wrong call, because the new man will have the exact same issues but we're just starting from scratch again. Give him a pre-season, then judge Schofieldball. At the minute he's carrying two years of the club's failures on his shoulders.

[dickos1]

Well when he joined us he didn’t have the players to play the way he wanted but we still had Gary woods passing it around in his own 6 yard box. We still tried to pass pass pass, backwards, sidewards, the forum was awash with people complaining about how boring it was, bring back Penney, sod has no passion etc etc etc

So yes I do have an idea as that’s exactly what he did

Gary Woods signed several years after SOD took charge.

I couldn’t remember if it was woods or smith, it must’ve been smith then

[Campsall rover]

Well when he joined us he didn’t have the players to play the way he wanted but we still had Gary woods passing it around in his own 6 yard box. We still tried to pass pass pass, backwards, sidewards, the forum was awash with people complaining about how boring it was, bring back Penney, sod has no passion etc etc etc

So yes I do have an idea as that’s exactly what he did

Dickos we had just finished 8th in League one the season before SoD took over.
We had some good payers in that team which he inherited.  Players who were very capable of passing a football. We also had a bit of steel in the team also.

This team is in no way capable of playing the way DS is asking them to.

We need to play with a flat back 4  There is no justification in playing 3 centre backs against teams who play only one central striker. The vast majority of teams play that way in League 2 this season.
We desperately need another body in the middle of the park. We are constantly outnumbered in the middle with our 2 v 3
All this does is create a situation where we have no control on the game.
Our wing backs ( that’s a joke ) are stifled and rarely get forward to build meaningful attacks.
So some say we pay a 3-4-3 formation. We don’t, we play a 5-2-3 formation which becomes more often a 5-4-1 without the ball and with it it should be a 3-4-3 but rarely is because we don’t keep the ball long enough.
We should be playing a 4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2 depending on the starting 11 with the players we have in our squad. That for me is standing out like a sore thumb.
Why DS can’t see it is one of the mysteries of the world. You don’t need coaching badges to see the obvious.

We could be very expansive and play 4-4-2 which becomes 4-2-4 when on the offensive.
That’s risky but we would be entertained and would see us score a lot more goals. Yes we would concede a few I suspect with this team.

Dickos this is league 2. Who do you think Copps and DS will sign in the summer that will be capable of playing his way. It is quite alarming that it seems Copps is allowing this to happen.

If our budget is 12th highest this summer then we will finish bottom 4 next season under this coach.
It could even be be worse than that. The unthinkable could be a reality.

[dickos1]

Well when he joined us he didn’t have the players to play the way he wanted but we still had Gary woods passing it around in his own 6 yard box. We still tried to pass pass pass, backwards, sidewards, the forum was awash with people complaining about how boring it was, bring back Penney, sod has no passion etc etc etc

So yes I do have an idea as that’s exactly what he did

Dickos we had just finished 8th in League one the season before SoD took over.
We had some good payers in that team which he inherited.  Players who were very capable of passing a football. We also had a bit of steel in the team also.

This team is in no way capable of playing the way DS is asking them to.

We need to play with a flat back 4  There is no justification in playing 3 centre backs against teams who play only one central striker. The vast majority of teams play that way in League 2 this season.
We desperately need another body in the middle of the park. We are constantly outnumbered in the middle with our 2 v 3
All this does is create a situation where we have no control on the game.
Our wing backs ( that’s a joke ) are stifled and rarely get forward to build meaningful attacks.
So some say we pay a 3-4-3 formation. We don’t, we play a 5-2-3 formation which becomes more often a 5-4-1 without the ball and with it it should be a 3-4-3 but rarely is because we don’t keep the ball long enough.
We should be playing a 4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2 depending on the starting 11 with the players we have in our squad. That for me is standing out like a sore thumb.
Why DS can’t see it is one of the mysteries of the world. You don’t need coaching badges to see the obvious.

We could be very expansive and play 4-4-2 which becomes 4-2-4 when on the offensive.
That’s risky but we would be entertained and would see us score a lot more goals. Yes we would concede a few I suspect with this team.

Dickos this is league 2. Who do you think Copps and DS will sign in the summer that will be capable of playing his way. It is quite alarming that it seems Copps is allowing this to happen.

If our budget is 12th highest this summer then we will finish bottom 4 next season under this coach.
It could even be be worse than that. The unthinkable could be a reality.

He got rid of almost all them though,
He knew they couldn’t play how he wanted, and they proved they couldn’t hence why everyone was going mad about the football.
But he built his own squad and succeeded.

People saying you can’t get league two players playing football how he wants are just talking rubbish, to get to a level of league 2 you’ve got to be an outstanding footballer, not all footballers excell in what Danny wants but there are plenty of footballers at that level that can comfortably achieve it

[ncRover]

Well when he joined us he didn’t have the players to play the way he wanted but we still had Gary woods passing it around in his own 6 yard box. We still tried to pass pass pass, backwards, sidewards, the forum was awash with people complaining about how boring it was, bring back Penney, sod has no passion etc etc etc

So yes I do have an idea as that’s exactly what he did

Dickos we had just finished 8th in League one the season before SoD took over.
We had some good payers in that team which he inherited.  Players who were very capable of passing a football. We also had a bit of steel in the team also.

This team is in no way capable of playing the way DS is asking them to.

We need to play with a flat back 4  There is no justification in playing 3 centre backs against teams who play only one central striker. The vast majority of teams play that way in League 2 this season.
We desperately need another body in the middle of the park. We are constantly outnumbered in the middle with our 2 v 3
All this does is create a situation where we have no control on the game.
Our wing backs ( that’s a joke ) are stifled and rarely get forward to build meaningful attacks.
So some say we pay a 3-4-3 formation. We don’t, we play a 5-2-3 formation which becomes more often a 5-4-1 without the ball and with it it should be a 3-4-3 but rarely is because we don’t keep the ball long enough.
We should be playing a 4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2 depending on the starting 11 with the players we have in our squad. That for me is standing out like a sore thumb.
Why DS can’t see it is one of the mysteries of the world. You don’t need coaching badges to see the obvious.

We could be very expansive and play 4-4-2 which becomes 4-2-4 when on the offensive.
That’s risky but we would be entertained and would see us score a lot more goals. Yes we would concede a few I suspect with this team.

Dickos this is league 2. Who do you think Copps and DS will sign in the summer that will be capable of playing his way. It is quite alarming that it seems Copps is allowing this to happen.

If our budget is 12th highest this summer then we will finish bottom 4 next season under this coach.
It could even be be worse than that. The unthinkable could be a reality.

He got rid of almost all them though,
He knew they couldn’t play how he wanted, and they proved they couldn’t hence why everyone was going mad about the football.
But he built his own squad and succeeded.

People saying you can’t get league two players playing football how he wants are just talking rubbish, to get to a level of league 2 you’ve got to be an outstanding footballer, not all footballers excell in what Danny wants but there are plenty of footballers at that level that can comfortably achieve it

Which of our players contracted for next season suit this system (if you can call it that)? I would say Olowu is the only one.

Close has the technique on the ball but is not physical enough to maintain intense pressing or  win the ball back.

We can’t afford to tear up the entire squad.

[sedwardsdrfc]

Point of Copps role is that he recruits for the club style. So the old argument of giving a head coach 2 windows doesn’t hold. Copps should sign players and coaches that play the way DRFC want long term. Thus avoiding the yearly start from scratch and wholesale change of direction when a new manager comes in.

Ok they’ll always be a player or two the manager won’t fancy when coming into the club but in theory there shouldn’t be wholesale change. We are doing the right thing in theory the execution is awful though

[ncRover]

Well when he joined us he didn’t have the players to play the way he wanted but we still had Gary woods passing it around in his own 6 yard box. We still tried to pass pass pass, backwards, sidewards, the forum was awash with people complaining about how boring it was, bring back Penney, sod has no passion etc etc etc

So yes I do have an idea as that’s exactly what he did

Dickos we had just finished 8th in League one the season before SoD took over.
We had some good payers in that team which he inherited.  Players who were very capable of passing a football. We also had a bit of steel in the team also.

This team is in no way capable of playing the way DS is asking them to.

We need to play with a flat back 4  There is no justification in playing 3 centre backs against teams who play only one central striker. The vast majority of teams play that way in League 2 this season.
We desperately need another body in the middle of the park. We are constantly outnumbered in the middle with our 2 v 3
All this does is create a situation where we have no control on the game.
Our wing backs ( that’s a joke ) are stifled and rarely get forward to build meaningful attacks.
So some say we pay a 3-4-3 formation. We don’t, we play a 5-2-3 formation which becomes more often a 5-4-1 without the ball and with it it should be a 3-4-3 but rarely is because we don’t keep the ball long enough.
We should be playing a 4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2 depending on the starting 11 with the players we have in our squad. That for me is standing out like a sore thumb.
Why DS can’t see it is one of the mysteries of the world. You don’t need coaching badges to see the obvious.

We could be very expansive and play 4-4-2 which becomes 4-2-4 when on the offensive.
That’s risky but we would be entertained and would see us score a lot more goals. Yes we would concede a few I suspect with this team.

Dickos this is league 2. Who do you think Copps and DS will sign in the summer that will be capable of playing his way. It is quite alarming that it seems Copps is allowing this to happen.

If our budget is 12th highest this summer then we will finish bottom 4 next season under this coach.
It could even be be worse than that. The unthinkable could be a reality.

He got rid of almost all them though,
He knew they couldn’t play how he wanted, and they proved they couldn’t hence why everyone was going mad about the football.
But he built his own squad and succeeded.

People saying you can’t get league two players playing football how he wants are just talking rubbish, to get to a level of league 2 you’ve got to be an outstanding footballer, not all footballers excell in what Danny wants but there are plenty of footballers at that level that can comfortably achieve it

Which of our players contracted for next season suit this system (if you can call it that)? I would say Olowu is the only one.

Close has the technique on the ball but is not physical enough to maintain intense pressing or  win the ball back.

We can’t afford to tear up the entire squad.

Just Olowu then Dickos? That’s quite the rebuild with our budget.

[dickos1]

No, not just olowu
Anderson, Rowe, Maxwell, biggins, close, hurst, miller, molyneux,

Get 4/5 players that schofield wants around them and that’s when we can see.
Sod had mcgammon, Lockwood, oster players of that ilk who were proper journeymen but he transformed them playing them with players that suited how sod wanted to play.

[ncRover]

Schofield wants to play a 3-4-3 with players controlling possession and applying intense pressing off the ball. This requires players to be both technical and athletic enough.

Anderson - Not comfortable enough with the ball at his feet for this system.

Rowe - Love him but his legs have gone. Can’t play any major part in this system because of that.

Maxwell - I’ll give you that one.

Biggins - Not enough technical ability to control the midfield in a 2. For me, he only works as a 3rd midfielder to offer goal threat. Not physically outstanding either.

Close - Again his lack of pace, stamina and toughness mean he only works as a 3rd midfielder. DS’ formation has only 2 midfielders in there.

Hurst - Not ready to compete week in week out in the first XI but a talented player. Has regressed under Schofield. Dangerous on the counter.

Miller - Not a lone striker. Neither aerially good enough or technically good enough to hold the ball up. His style would also work well in a counter attack though. Or with runs in behind playing off a big man but he won’t change formation.

Molyneux - No particularly outstanding technical or physical qualities but has history as a goal threat. This hasn’t been tapped in to with this never-changing system. Gives the ball away too much to play possession football.
 

[dickos1]

We don’t know what system schofield wants to play once he’s got the players he wants. Maxwell said the other day that the plan is to play a different formation last season.

Anyhow you asked me a question and I gave my opinion

[ncRover]

We don’t know what system schofield wants to play once he’s got the players he wants. Maxwell said the other day that the plan is to play a different formation last season.

Anyhow you asked me a question and I gave my opinion

Sorry got carried away. I hope you’re right, I’ve tried to stay optimistic for 2 years now and it’s worn me down.

[sedwardsdrfc]

We don’t know what system schofield wants to play once he’s got the players he wants. Maxwell said the other day that the plan is to play a different formation last season.

Anyhow you asked me a question and I gave my opinion

Why on earth would he persist with 343, despite us not remotely having the players, if that isn’t how he wants us to play long term. You’ve heard him talk it’s the process and nothing else. So it is this way until it works no matter what.

I agree on the general point that we should have a squad where 6 or so good signings make us decent. But the midfield needs a total overhaul to play 343. So with a pragmatic manager 5 or 6 signings would do it. With DS it’s close to 11 new players of a quality that’s not affordable.