“When it clicks”

[NickDRFC]

I’ve read this a few times now, that we’re only operating in 3rd gear and when it comes together we’ll blow teams away.

Two questions for those who’ve said/think like this:

1. Why do you think we will suddenly go up a couple of levels? Is it based on our run last season? McCann being manager? The belief that our squad/starting eleven is that much better than everyone else?

2. Why haven’t we reached those levels yet when we’re halfway through November? Bad luck? Poor tactics/team selection? Team still getting to know each other?

I’ve been disappointed with us a fair bit this season, more with how we’ve played in games when I’ve seen us rather than our position, which I think is absolutely fine. But I’m not sure I share that optimism for any reason beyond hope so I’d be interested to hear why there’s that confidence there and what’s prevented us stepping up so far.

[Campsall rover]

I’ve read this a few times now, that we’re only operating in 3rd gear and when it comes together we’ll blow teams away.

Two questions for those who’ve said/think like this:

1. Why do you think we will suddenly go up a couple of levels? Is it based on our run last season? McCann being manager? The belief that our squad/starting eleven is that much better than everyone else?

2. Why haven’t we reached those levels yet when we’re halfway through November? Bad luck? Poor tactics/team selection? Team still getting to know each other?

I’ve been disappointed with us a fair bit this season, more with how we’ve played in games when I’ve seen us rather than our position, which I think is absolutely fine. But I’m not sure I share that optimism for any reason beyond hope so I’d be interested to hear why there’s that confidence there and what’s prevented us stepping up so far.

It’s simply about the end product. We create more than enough to win the vast majority of games.
Perfect example of that today. Gibson should have had a hat trick and Billy should have had 2 goals.

Oh and I thought Gibson was much more of a threat than Molly today. Was surprised he was subbed and not Molly.

[BobG]

I read some stats this week about the effectiveness (or lack of) of shooting. It was on BBC site, football pages, discussing the disappearance of screamers. It was very interesting. This is only a rough number cos I can't remember the detail, but if you shoot from 12 yards  (the penalty spot) about 1 in 7 or 8 will go in the net. Could do with someone finding that article though to firm up the numbers. So although we looked like we should have scored five Camps, statistically, we're about right. We need to shoot more....

BobG

[BobG]

Got it!

https://www.bbc.com/sport/extra/7ruba7shs4/the-slow-death-of-the-screamer

BobG

[ncRover]

They aren’t bad players but it’s all about balance and the system for me.

A McCann team normally has a ‘no.6’ who can dictate the tempo of the game. That role is currently falling on Owen Bailey. Which he doesn’t fit, despite being a good player.

The wide players are often relied on to be prolific by either running in behind or playing close to the centre forward. Then offering that consistent quality week on week. Think Wilks or Adelakun. I’ve said it for months I’m not convinced that Gibson fits that bill, despite being a good player.

I feel that the signing of Billy Sharp has created some awkwardness with regards to the consistency of team selection because he’s Billy Sharp. Also, a McCann centre forward is normally a physical presence with the energy to tirelessly press. (Ironside, Marquis, Magennis). That isn’t Billy and it was on show against Notts County, despite him being a good player. Billy and Joe front 2 is then too slow. Yeah he’ll get goals but it doesn’t matter if we don’t get promoted.

That being said, I do think Maxwell returning and staying fit can improve our attack.

[Campsall rover]

I read some stats this week about the effectiveness (or lack of) of shooting. It was on BBC site, football pages, discussing the disappearance of screamers. It was very interesting. This is only a rough number cos I can't remember the detail, but if you shoot from 12 yards  (the penalty spot) about 1 in 7 or 8 will go in the net. Could do with someone finding that article though to firm up the numbers. So although we looked like we should have scored five Camps, statistically, we're about right. We need to shoot more....

BobG

Yes we do need to shoot more. We try to score the perfect goal far too much.

[GazLaz]

Certainly a tactical issue at home. We are underperforming our underlying numbers so that is compounding things as well BUT the underlying numbers aren’t good enough.

Think I know what we need to improve and may have mentioned it before. I’ve seen the exact same issue before when Mansfield struggled to get promoted and I also know what/how they changed and how that allowed them to kick on.

[Alan Southstand]

GM has got some serious thinking to do over the next few weeks, leading up to January. Some decisions are easy and some just may be too costly for us, but one thing is for sure, we should be ‘clicking’ by now and we certainly are not. GM has already voiced his concern about our lack of goals and it’s obvious to most of us - we’re lacking in certain areas.

January could make or break us, as I think we’re not quite good enough to be a top 3 side, but a couple or 3 inspired signings/loans could see us finishing strongly.

[andyst79]

Certainly a tactical issue at home. We are underperforming our underlying numbers so that is compounding things as well BUT the underlying numbers aren’t good enough.

Think I know what we need to improve and may have mentioned it before. I’ve seen the exact same issue before when Mansfield struggled to get promoted and I also know what/how they changed and how that allowed them to kick on.

The Oracle has spoken, please enlighten us!? I'm sure GM will benefit from your wisdom also

[monkeytennis]

I’ve read this a few times now, that we’re only operating in 3rd gear and when it comes together we’ll blow teams away.

Two questions for those who’ve said/think like this:

1. Why do you think we will suddenly go up a couple of levels? Is it based on our run last season? McCann being manager? The belief that our squad/starting eleven is that much better than everyone else?

2. Why haven’t we reached those levels yet when we’re halfway through November? Bad luck? Poor tactics/team selection? Team still getting to know each other?

I’ve been disappointed with us a fair bit this season, more with how we’ve played in games when I’ve seen us rather than our position, which I think is absolutely fine. But I’m not sure I share that optimism for any reason beyond hope so I’d be interested to hear why there’s that confidence there and what’s prevented us stepping up so far.

Been thinking this too. Also that people seemed to say at the start of the season ‘give it ten games’.

I try and be optimistic but well we’ve played sixteen so when exactly are we going to click?

We always seem to be on the back foot chasing the game. We always seem to go behind and give ourselves a task. One shot on target today against Salford simply isn’t good enough. With Joe and Billy in the squad plus the quality of some of the others we should be peppering the opposition’s keeper with shots and into double figures.

It’s getting frustrating to watch again.

[roversdude]

Wasn’t part of Grants first interview (for Rovers job) a summary of how often we didn’t shoot when getting in a good position, we still don’t seem to be testing the keeper often enough despite some cracking play to get us up the pitch. Kelly was exceptional today

[IDM]

Probably a result of falling short on the side of “fine margins”.

Just seen the short highlights clip - Gibson (?) hits the inside of the post and the ball rebounds just in front of the line.  If he hits the post a couple of cm to the left, then all bounces over the line.  Then the first chance they showed, ironside inches away from meeting the cross.

The other week, a couple of penalty shouts a.n.other ref might have given.

Flip those over, over a few more games and the goals for column and points looks much better.

[Spud]

Probably a result of falling short on the side of “fine margins”.

Just seen the short highlights clip - Gibson (?) hits the inside of the post and the ball rebounds just in front of the line.  If he hits the post a couple of cm to the left, then all bounces over the line.  Then the first chance they showed, ironside inches away from meeting the cross.

The other week, a couple of penalty shouts a.n.other ref might have given.

Flip those over, over a few more games and the goals for column and points looks much better.

That shot of Gibson's, it would have needed millimetres to drop straight back for Ironside a tap in tbf.
Yes, we were unlucky on a few counts, but again the keeper had nowhere near enough shots to save than what he should have, frustrating to say the least.

[ChrisBx]

Certainly a tactical issue at home. We are underperforming our underlying numbers so that is compounding things as well BUT the underlying numbers aren’t good enough.

Think I know what we need to improve and may have mentioned it before. I’ve seen the exact same issue before when Mansfield struggled to get promoted and I also know what/how they changed and how that allowed them to kick on.

Well, what is it?

[idler]

Probably a result of falling short on the side of “fine margins”.

Just seen the short highlights clip - Gibson (?) hits the inside of the post and the ball rebounds just in front of the line.  If he hits the post a couple of cm to the left, then all bounces over the line.  Then the first chance they showed, ironside inches away from meeting the cross.

The other week, a couple of penalty shouts a.n.other ref might have given.

Flip those over, over a few more games and the goals for column and points looks much better.

That shot of Gibson's, it would have needed millimetres to drop straight back for Ironside a tap in tbf.
Yes, we were unlucky on a few counts, but again the keeper had nowhere near enough shots to save than what he should have, frustrating to say the least.

I think that if Ironside had tapped it in he would have been offside.

[sf9944]

How many thought we'd 'click' in January?

Do people not think we are closer to 'clicking' now than we were in January and therefore more likely to do so?

[Cramby10]

In my opinion our crossing and set piece delivery is disgustingly poor of late.
Think about our goal last week. A simple ball, a simple goal. We don’t do it anywhere near enough.
 How many balls did Joe, one of the best headers of a ball in the division, get to attack in the opposition box yesterday. I would say none!
This leads me to a bee in my bonnet about players playing on the wrong side of the pitch. When it works it’s great. Moly has proved that in spells.
Moly and Gibson were bang average yesterday. They looked like they had no clue what to do with the ball and their weaker feet are really quite poor. Hence their crossing was dreadful on the outside.
So when it’s not working, why not mix it up and switch flanks and just go simple for a period of time with the instructions of ‘get to the byline and cross the ball in the box’ on their stronger foot? We have two of the best finishers in the div. They aren’t players that are going to run in behind very often.
Hopefully the return of Maxwell will help this situation. He overlaps so much better. He’s arguably our best player and we miss him so much.
We’re not at crisis point yet but its just frustration as we can see we’re so much better than what we’re showing against some very average teams. This league is poor and we could win it at a canter.

[Chris Black come back]

Our set pieces are definitely not an asset. Corners or either direct or indirect dead balls are usually very poor. We get a fair amount of wide set pieces because we play so much down the wings and we have decent players who draw fouls. We almost always totally waste these though. That seems the easiest thing to fix at present. It’s not like McGrath, Ironside and Olowu are without a threat.

[NickDRFC]

Our set pieces are definitely not an assets. Corners or either direct or indirect dead balls are usually very poor. We get a fair amount of wide set pieces because we play so much down the wings and we have decent players who draw fouls. We almost always totally waste these though. That seems the easiest thing to fix at present. It’s not like McGrath, Ironside and Olowu are without a threat.

I’m not sure why Sterry doesn’t take corners. His delivery in open play is arguably the best in the team.

[Reg of the Rovers]

It feels like we've had more than our share of shithouse teams, and dogcrap referees which hasn't helped - bad refereeing has cost us 4points in the last 2 games.

But we are really underwhelming at the moment, their keeper could have sent his gloves back to the shop as new yesterday. We keep going behind in games and giving teams a foothold, and that goal yesterday was criminal, Sterry can't clear his lines, no one commits to their player and stop him getting the shot off.

Subs were also terrible yesterday - dragging Hurst, Gibson and Kelly was a mistake. And don't get me started with Yeboah.

I can't see it clicking any time soon, even if we do go and put three past a team like Grimsby, we'll likely lose the next game.

BUT, we're still in touch, still up there fighting, so if we can shuffle the pack a bit in Jan and add a couple of players with an impact Adulaken-like, we'll be up there at the end of the season.

[GazLaz]

Out swinging corners should be banned. Much less chance of scoring from them than in swingers.

[monkeytennis]

How and why have other teams managed to ‘click’ I wonder.

[IDM]

All those 21 teams currently below us in the table.?

[Lesonthewest]

In my opinion our crossing and set piece delivery is disgustingly poor of late.
Think about our goal last week. A simple ball, a simple goal. We don’t do it anywhere near enough.
 How many balls did Joe, one of the best headers of a ball in the division, get to attack in the opposition box yesterday. I would say none!
This leads me to a bee in my bonnet about players playing on the wrong side of the pitch. When it works it’s great. Moly has proved that in spells.
Moly and Gibson were bang average yesterday. They looked like they had no clue what to do with the ball and their weaker feet are really quite poor. Hence their crossing was dreadful on the outside.
So when it’s not working, why not mix it up and switch flanks and just go simple for a period of time with the instructions of ‘get to the byline and cross the ball in the box’ on their stronger foot? We have two of the best finishers in the div. They aren’t players that are going to run in behind very often.
Hopefully the return of Maxwell will help this situation. He overlaps so much better. He’s arguably our best player and we miss him so much.
We’re not at crisis point yet but its just frustration as we can see we’re so much better than what we’re showing against some very average teams. This league is poor and we could win it at a canter.

Agreed, been saying this for a while, we don't get anywhere near enough crosses into the box for Sharp/Ironside, & when we do, they are, in the main, very very poor.  We are doing well in the league, but there's still loads to work on, & I'm sure Grant will sort it.

[GazLaz]

In my opinion our crossing and set piece delivery is disgustingly poor of late.
Think about our goal last week. A simple ball, a simple goal. We don’t do it anywhere near enough.
 How many balls did Joe, one of the best headers of a ball in the division, get to attack in the opposition box yesterday. I would say none!
This leads me to a bee in my bonnet about players playing on the wrong side of the pitch. When it works it’s great. Moly has proved that in spells.
Moly and Gibson were bang average yesterday. They looked like they had no clue what to do with the ball and their weaker feet are really quite poor. Hence their crossing was dreadful on the outside.
So when it’s not working, why not mix it up and switch flanks and just go simple for a period of time with the instructions of ‘get to the byline and cross the ball in the box’ on their stronger foot? We have two of the best finishers in the div. They aren’t players that are going to run in behind very often.
Hopefully the return of Maxwell will help this situation. He overlaps so much better. He’s arguably our best player and we miss him so much.
We’re not at crisis point yet but its just frustration as we can see we’re so much better than what we’re showing against some very average teams. This league is poor and we could win it at a canter.

Agreed, been saying this for a while, we don't get anywhere near enough crosses into the box for Sharp/Ironside, & when we do, they are, in the main, very very poor.  We are doing well in the league, but there's still loads to work on, & I'm sure Grant will sort it.

We’ve put more crosses onto the box than any other team this season.

[steve@dcfd]

In my opinion our crossing and set piece delivery is disgustingly poor of late.
Think about our goal last week. A simple ball, a simple goal. We don’t do it anywhere near enough.
 How many balls did Joe, one of the best headers of a ball in the division, get to attack in the opposition box yesterday. I would say none!
This leads me to a bee in my bonnet about players playing on the wrong side of the pitch. When it works it’s great. Moly has proved that in spells.
Moly and Gibson were bang average yesterday. They looked like they had no clue what to do with the ball and their weaker feet are really quite poor. Hence their crossing was dreadful on the outside.
So when it’s not working, why not mix it up and switch flanks and just go simple for a period of time with the instructions of ‘get to the byline and cross the ball in the box’ on their stronger foot? We have two of the best finishers in the div. They aren’t players that are going to run in behind very often.
Hopefully the return of Maxwell will help this situation. He overlaps so much better. He’s arguably our best player and we miss him so much.
We’re not at crisis point yet but its just frustration as we can see we’re so much better than what we’re showing against some very average teams. This league is poor and we could win it at a canter.

Agreed, been saying this for a while, we don't get anywhere near enough crosses into the box for Sharp/Ironside, & when we do, they are, in the main, very very poor.  We are doing well in the league, but there's still loads to work on, & I'm sure Grant will sort it.

We’ve put more crosses onto the box than any other team this season.

Are they effective crosses or crosses that go above players in the box or get blocked before they get to any of our players. Do our wide attacking forwards get to the by line to cross.

[GazLaz]

In my opinion our crossing and set piece delivery is disgustingly poor of late.
Think about our goal last week. A simple ball, a simple goal. We don’t do it anywhere near enough.
 How many balls did Joe, one of the best headers of a ball in the division, get to attack in the opposition box yesterday. I would say none!
This leads me to a bee in my bonnet about players playing on the wrong side of the pitch. When it works it’s great. Moly has proved that in spells.
Moly and Gibson were bang average yesterday. They looked like they had no clue what to do with the ball and their weaker feet are really quite poor. Hence their crossing was dreadful on the outside.
So when it’s not working, why not mix it up and switch flanks and just go simple for a period of time with the instructions of ‘get to the byline and cross the ball in the box’ on their stronger foot? We have two of the best finishers in the div. They aren’t players that are going to run in behind very often.
Hopefully the return of Maxwell will help this situation. He overlaps so much better. He’s arguably our best player and we miss him so much.
We’re not at crisis point yet but its just frustration as we can see we’re so much better than what we’re showing against some very average teams. This league is poor and we could win it at a canter.

Agreed, been saying this for a while, we don't get anywhere near enough crosses into the box for Sharp/Ironside, & when we do, they are, in the main, very very poor.  We are doing well in the league, but there's still loads to work on, & I'm sure Grant will sort it.

We’ve put more crosses onto the box than any other team this season.

Are they effective crosses or crosses that go above players in the box or get blocked before they get to any of our players. Do our wide attacking forwards get to the by line to cross.

That’s a different question.

[Plumbster]

We might put plenty of crosses in but for me the service is too often poor because we don’t make space for our wide players so everything they do is under pressure. Luke for instance is a top, top player when he is attacking with pace but how many times have we seen him double marked and trying to step inside a couple of defenders at walking pace and have the ball nipped off him and a break on, how many times are we trying to thread a cross through a wall of defenders, how many times are we asking one of the central defenders to play a wonder pass that  rarely comes off. The big difference with last year for me is that, in different ways, Adelakun and Craig were masters at creating space and others flourished as a result: Joe benefited from improved service and central midfield became a threat rather than ball shufflers- Owen was developing into a real goal threat and Biggins became transformed.  It’s perplexing because I really rate our squad and results show we are more than competitive but atm I think we are too predictable and don’t create enough genuine goal threats to be confident of top 3. Grant has proven that he can find a way but it will be fascinating to see what he thinks we need in January.

[Lesonthewest]

In my opinion our crossing and set piece delivery is disgustingly poor of late.
Think about our goal last week. A simple ball, a simple goal. We don’t do it anywhere near enough.
 How many balls did Joe, one of the best headers of a ball in the division, get to attack in the opposition box yesterday. I would say none!
This leads me to a bee in my bonnet about players playing on the wrong side of the pitch. When it works it’s great. Moly has proved that in spells.
Moly and Gibson were bang average yesterday. They looked like they had no clue what to do with the ball and their weaker feet are really quite poor. Hence their crossing was dreadful on the outside.
So when it’s not working, why not mix it up and switch flanks and just go simple for a period of time with the instructions of ‘get to the byline and cross the ball in the box’ on their stronger foot? We have two of the best finishers in the div. They aren’t players that are going to run in behind very often.
Hopefully the return of Maxwell will help this situation. He overlaps so much better. He’s arguably our best player and we miss him so much.
We’re not at crisis point yet but its just frustration as we can see we’re so much better than what we’re showing against some very average teams. This league is poor and we could win it at a canter.

Agreed, been saying this for a while, we don't get anywhere near enough crosses into the box for Sharp/Ironside, & when we do, they are, in the main, very very poor.  We are doing well in the league, but there's still loads to work on, & I'm sure Grant will sort it.

We’ve put more crosses onto the box than any other team this season.

In my opinion our crossing and set piece delivery is disgustingly poor of late.
Think about our goal last week. A simple ball, a simple goal. We don’t do it anywhere near enough.
 How many balls did Joe, one of the best headers of a ball in the division, get to attack in the opposition box yesterday. I would say none!
This leads me to a bee in my bonnet about players playing on the wrong side of the pitch. When it works it’s great. Moly has proved that in spells.
Moly and Gibson were bang average yesterday. They looked like they had no clue what to do with the ball and their weaker feet are really quite poor. Hence their crossing was dreadful on the outside.
So when it’s not working, why not mix it up and switch flanks and just go simple for a period of time with the instructions of ‘get to the byline and cross the ball in the box’ on their stronger foot? We have two of the best finishers in the div. They aren’t players that are going to run in behind very often.
Hopefully the return of Maxwell will help this situation. He overlaps so much better. He’s arguably our best player and we miss him so much.
We’re not at crisis point yet but its just frustration as we can see we’re so much better than what we’re showing against some very average teams. This league is poor and we could win it at a canter.

Agreed, been saying this for a while, we don't get anywhere near enough crosses into the box for Sharp/Ironside, & when we do, they are, in the main, very very poor.  We are doing well in the league, but there's still loads to work on, & I'm sure Grant will sort it.

We’ve put more crosses onto the box than any other team this season.

I stand corrected, then the crosses are even worse than I thought. We overplay at times on the flanks, & the crosses don't come in until the opponents are set, couple that with the poor quality, Sterry aside, & it's no wonder the strikers are fed on scraps.

[drfchound]

We might put plenty of crosses in but for me the service is too often poor because we don’t make space for our wide players so everything they do is under pressure. Luke for instance is a top, top player when he is attacking with pace but how many times have we seen him double marked and trying to step inside a couple of defenders at walking pace and have the ball nipped off him and a break on, how many times are we trying to thread a cross through a wall of defenders, how many times are we asking one of the central defenders to play a wonder pass that  rarely comes off. The big difference with last year for me is that, in different ways, Adelakun and Craig were masters at creating space and others flourished as a result: Joe benefited from improved service and central midfield became a threat rather than ball shufflers- Owen was developing into a real goal threat and Biggins became transformed.  It’s perplexing because I really rate our squad and results show we are more than competitive but atm I think we are too predictable and don’t create enough genuine goal threats to be confident of top 3. Grant has proven that he can find a way but it will be fascinating to see what he thinks we need in January.

If we are talking about home  games then it is inevitable that we are trying to play a ball through a wall of defenders because teams more often than not set up to play ten men behind the ball against us.
There is very little space when we are attacking.
Away from home it is different and is shown by the number of wins we are getting as opposed to home wins.
However, I have noticed in the last few home games that we are getting players in behind defenders more often but sadly we have been unable to pick out players in the middle with the final ball.
It is the quality of crosses which needs to improve.