Kyle Hurst

[Butchers Red]

Getting some stick  - but Tuesday night, and the pre season games have shown Kyle is  potentially the best No 10 in our league, unplayable in that slot and seemingly lost out wide in either Gibson or Molyneux territory.

Grant will sort it.

[danumdon]

Hurst just needs a consistent run in the side to help him to settle, the goods will come after that.

Id be tempted to start him in front of Gibson going forward for the next few games.

[keith79]

I like him alot. It just shows the depth of the squad when he doesn't start. 

[StocksArmy]

Patience has ran out with him. Form in pre season is worth nothing. As for potentially being the best number 10 in the league you are talking tripe as he has only played there against Accrington where he may as well been sat with me! It’s like watching Rottweilers play with a cuddly toy.

[PDX_Rover]

Always has to be a scapegoat doesn’t there.

[Padge_DRFC]

There was a game at Mansfield he played that position. We lost 4v1 but he was the best player on the pitch that day. Since then he has got backwards a lot. Looks a bag of nerves every time he plays now.

[Tazemma]

Needs bulking up. Too light weight and runs down blind alleys and loses the ball

[Ryaldinhio]

I can't believe that 10minutes in a game yesterday against a team as physical as that with a ref who had pretty much lost control and we are jumping on Hursts back.

Personally I rate the kid highly, I think he could be one of our most saleable assets. He was the best of the bunch on preaseason then picked up an injury that meant he lost his place.

Talk of releasing him is short sighted when we have Grant and Cliff who can clearly get solid improvement from players.

[Copps is Magic]

I think it's his decision-making that is the problem - runs too long when he should pass, often struggles with awareness concerning what/who is around him.

He's hardly going to 'bulk up' is he? His game is running with the ball. Let's hope he's an Alfie May type - both in body stature and career trajectory.

[GazLaz]

Hard for him to develop when he’s not starting every week. He’s such a good player. We will have to shuffle the pack in the weeks we play Tues/Sat/Tues so hopefully he gets plenty of game time.

[RobTheRover]

I can't believe that 10minutes in a game yesterday against a team as physical as that with a ref who had pretty much lost control and we are jumping on Hursts back.

Personally I rate the kid highly, I think he could be one of our most saleable assets. He was the best of the bunch on preaseason then picked up an injury that meant he lost his place.

Talk of releasing him is short sighted when we have Grant and Cliff who can clearly get solid improvement from players.

Agreed 100%

Youd think some of those commenting here have never watched football before

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Many of us commented during pre season, he looked fitter and stronger. He was one of the standout players during pre season. We know he has plenty in the tank but just like many other footballers, confidence counts for alot so, if he's being kept out by Gibson, who is playing well, it's going to be more difficult to shine.

Yesterday was a difficult game for any sub to have a big impact. Writing him off is foolish. He will hopefully get some chances to play more minutes but quite rightly, competition is fierce.

[Plumbster]

Yesterday was a strange game with not a lot of flair and all the wide players seemed to struggle. I thought Gibson was poor as well. I have never been convinced on Kyle but Grant and others obviously see something.

[Chris Black come back]

Sbarra not getting huge amounts of game time either. Perhaps a similar victim this early in season. He’s high quality.

[GazLaz]

Sbarra not getting huge amounts of game time either. Perhaps a similar victim this early in season. He’s high quality.

Always likely to be the case when you have a big squad. I’m not sure Clifton is the answer in that advanced role, Sbarra may end up there, especially in the games against mug teams.

[andyst79]

Sbarra not getting huge amounts of game time either. Perhaps a similar victim this early in season. He’s high quality.

Always likely to be the case when you have a big squad. I’m not sure Clifton is the answer in that advanced role, Sbarra may end up there, especially in the games against mug teams.

Thought Clifton was disappointing & didn't really affect the game yesterday. Biggins in that position is a miss for us in those type of games but agree on Sbarra , he looks lively from what I've seen & will hopefully run riot against poorer sides

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Sbarra not getting huge amounts of game time either. Perhaps a similar victim this early in season. He’s high quality.

Always likely to be the case when you have a big squad. I’m not sure Clifton is the answer in that advanced role, Sbarra may end up there, especially in the games against mug teams.

Agree with you both. Clifton though in that first half, and in previous games, has led the press very well with his energy helping force the opposition into mistakes, and is trying to get into some goalscoring positions too. Whilst he might not have the same skill set as Sabara, or Hurst, or Gibson when they come inside, his workmate can't be ignored.

He became less effective from 60 mins when we got stuck in that twilight zone of wanting to protecting the lead thus not quite matching the pressing football we saw in the first 60. This tends to be the issue when we're only one goal to the good. We don't push up as quickly when teams then start 'having a go' so the gaps get bigger. Probably with a bigger lead, we would be more effective seeing   Sbarra, Moly, Gibson, Hurst come into their own whilst providing better support for Ironside. It's a bit of a catch 22 not quite knowing whether to stick or twist.

[ncRover]

Always has to be a scapegoat doesn’t there.

Zain must have had a really good game!

[drfchound]

He did.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Hurst hasn't really quite done enough but incredibly harsh to judge him on the minutes he's had. Let's not forget he was about the only positive when Schofield was in charge. He does need a run and he needs to impact when he gets a chance.

Always has to be a scapegoat doesn’t there.

Zain must have had a really good game!

Thought Zain in that deeper role was very good. We've almost gone the opposite of traditional midfield. The deeper player being the less combative and the two in front bringing the energy.  Westbrook and Close have the best passing ability in our team and it suits them.

I wonder what Broadbent is thinking, didn't make the bench after being the starter against Accrington.

What Mccann has is massive competition. Under perform and you're out. Even performing doesn't get you in (Senior, Ironside for example).

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Hurst hasn't really quite done enough but incredibly harsh to judge him on the minutes he's had. Let's not forget he was about the only positive when Schofield was in charge. He does need a run and he needs to impact when he gets a chance.

Always has to be a scapegoat doesn’t there.

Zain must have had a really good game!

Thought Zain in that deeper role was very good. We've almost gone the opposite of traditional midfield. The deeper player being the less combative and the two in front bringing the energy.  Westbrook and Close have the best passing ability in our team and it suits them.

I wonder what Broadbent is thinking, didn't make the bench after being the starter against Accrington.

What Mccann has is massive competition. Under perform and you're out. Even performing doesn't get you in (Senior, Ironside for example).

A very good observation that. Yesterday confirmed to me McCann is applying some unconventional tactics. Second half, Bailey took up a normal midfield position but a couple of times McCann waved him forward.

He pushed right up on their back line. You may recall a ball sent up which Bailey (where you expect Ironside to be) won the flick on but Moly had gone too soon so was offside (he may have put the ball in the net, not sure?) This shows he's taking risks to create an overload on their defence, not too dissimilar to Blades 'overlapping centre halves'

Now I get a bit frustrated when our midfield gets disjointed but this is part of that risk taking I guess and with us top at the moment, McCann is assessing that risk better than I.

The more we practice, the better we should get at it, but we need to be patient as we're not going to get it right everytime.

[Butchers Red]

For me Sbarra showed very little playing in the No 10 behind Joe on Tuesday, similarly Kyle didn't exactly fill Mollys boots out wide left - but when he was switched into that slot he did more in 10 minutes than Sbarra had in 70 mins - that slot is just made for Hursty in this side. When running at central defenders from that slot he can square them up and breeze past either side, that's playing right into his strengths and I'm sure Grant will see this

[GazLaz]

Hurst hasn't really quite done enough but incredibly harsh to judge him on the minutes he's had. Let's not forget he was about the only positive when Schofield was in charge. He does need a run and he needs to impact when he gets a chance.

Always has to be a scapegoat doesn’t there.

Zain must have had a really good game!

Thought Zain in that deeper role was very good. We've almost gone the opposite of traditional midfield. The deeper player being the less combative and the two in front bringing the energy.  Westbrook and Close have the best passing ability in our team and it suits them.

I wonder what Broadbent is thinking, didn't make the bench after being the starter against Accrington.

What Mccann has is massive competition. Under perform and you're out. Even performing doesn't get you in (Senior, Ironside for example).

A very good observation that. Yesterday confirmed to me McCann is applying some unconventional tactics. Second half, Bailey took up a normal midfield position but a couple of times McCann waved him forward.

He pushed right up on their back line. You may recall a ball sent up which Bailey (where you expect Ironside to be) won the flick on but Moly had gone too soon so was offside (he may have put the ball in the net, not sure?) This shows he's taking risks to create an overload on their defence, not too dissimilar to Blades 'overlapping centre halves'

Now I get a bit frustrated when our midfield gets disjointed but this is part of that risk taking I guess and with us top at the moment, McCann is assessing that risk better than I.

The more we practice, the better we should get at it, but we need to be patient as we're not going to get it right everytime.

We essentially play with Zain sitting and Bailey and Clifton as two box to box 8s. All the sites have us as playing 4231 but it’s not really. Clifton and Bailey are good pressers so that really helps out of possession.

[Alan Southstand]

It was more a 4-1-4-1 yesterday and Clifton and Bailey were the press gang!

It looked good for 60 minutes.

[DearneValleyRover]

Not sure why people need to look for negatives or to find a scapegoat, Moly, Gibson, Clifton and Bailey were all guilty of not lifting their heads to see if alternatives were available as well as Hurst but as alluded we are still looking for our best eleven, still gelling and players at this level will always make mistakes.

[drfchound]

Players at all levels make mistakes.