Let's talk about the Wigan Athletic game

[selby]

   After the great result yesterday we look forward to a home game just as important to what we hope will be a recovery in form and again we are able to to obtain three much needed points.
  The late winner yesterday only added to the joy of getting the win with a tremendous jump and effort to head the ball home by our talisman team captain who keeps delivering goals like any seasoned striker, many like yesterdays shows his  athleticism with a jump and header that defies his standing, and shows his determination to get something on the ball when others would not.
   We were desperate for a break and we deserved it in a game that was not of a great standard with Wimbledon for a large portion of the game looking very poor going forward and pedestrian at the back, we will come up against much harder opposition in the remaining fixtures. having said that you can only play as well as the opposition let you and to those ends we defended much better, looked like we could score a goal and covered ground in midfield winning the ball back, a big improvement on past games where we have been very sloppy at times.
  Wigan have lost their last three games to local Preston and Bolton, and Cardiff all 1-0 and are not a big scoring team normally 1 or 2 goals usually the norm in close games and not giving a lot away so we can expect a challenge to overcome them.
  That's what is in front of us in our next challenge, a dogged side who have more or less come to settle at this level after the heady level they reached in the past with rich benefactors, and a club that has been a credit to the league since joining and deserve respect for it.
  Can we get the much needed points and continue the improvement? are we likely to have another addition to the playing staff to compliment the ones already here, who have made a difference to our quality? Can we look forward to better things to the end of the season?
  This game could well be a real pointer to where we could end up, even more so than the boost we got yesterday as just as important is our ability to be consistent and focussed on what is going to be a tough ask.
  What do you think? lots to Discuss, lots to mull over and look forward to, which is going to be a topsy turvy roller coaster of a ride to the end of the season, Please have your say.

[Chris Black come back]

They have poor away form in the league. Just 2 wins all season, at two terrible sides in AFC Wimbledon and Burton Albion. They’ve managed only a single clean sheet away from home all season in the league. Think if we can get at them, we’ve got a decent chance here. They concede in almost every away game. Let’s get right into them.

[graingrover]

We did not play much through midfield yesterday .That could be a reflection of Bailey’s absence there and of Clark’s extra long distributions .It is not a bad tactic as we play more down the flanks where we are good .I imagine Grant will not be instructing Clark to play everything out from the back as we do tehulsrly st home for some reason .A point against Wigan would be realistic and a win a pleasant surprise .

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

We are more than capable of a good win against these we should not be aiming for a draw. We're not that bad a side at all.

[Fal]

I think we will win the next two home games personally, Wigan have won the same amount of games all season as us, they don't score a lot however they dont concede a lot either.

[GazLaz]

How we balance out the midfield between now and May will be pretty key to our results. Gotts, Broadbent and (from what I’ve seen) Robinson want to do the same job. Clifton doesn’t bring enough to the party and if the plan is to play Bailey at CH we no longer have our best player in there. Broadbent as an 8 is just non existent, he needs the game in front of him.

We have the option of playing two lads sitting and Gibson as a 10, as we did against Saints, but can’t remember seeing that in a league match.

It’s all well and good having players that want to work but we need to get the ball to the forward players. Senior at LB isn’t a progressive passer so limits progression on that side, combine that with a midfield that’s unbalanced and lacks progression it will be tough to get the best out of the forwards.

Considering GM likes to play with two number 8s generally it’s weird we never really sign players with that profile. Crewe, Broadbent, Close, Robinson, Gotts, all want to sit in front of the back four. We need a player in there that want to take it on the back foot and can play 360 degrees.

[Chris Black come back]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

[GazLaz]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

Don’t need two holding midfielders doing the same job.

[Chris Black come back]

If you are playing someone like Gibson as the 10 or even Adelakun there, you are basically playing a front four. If you do that, then the two central midfielders have to be holding midfielders, surely. Less so if Clifton is playing there, granted.

[Barmby Rover]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

Don’t need two holding midfielders doing the same job.

With Gotts and Broadbent it provides extra cover for our defence, but both are quite capable of moving forward, the cover it gives both enables them to move forward as well without losing that base at the back. Just look at what it did yesterday, Gotts was popping up all over the place feeding the front line, and Broadbent had two good attempts on goal. I will be happy to see both playing there for the rest of the season.

[GazLaz]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

Don’t need two holding midfielders doing the same job.

With Gotts and Broadbent it provides extra cover for our defence, but both are quite capable of moving forward, the cover it gives both enables them to move forward as well without losing that base at the back. Just look at what it did yesterday, Gotts was popping up all over the place feeding the front line, and Broadbent had two good attempts on goal. I will be happy to see both playing there for the rest of the season.

Broadbent played in the more advanced (Bailey) no8 role and, for me, the game passed him by. We generally play one pivot which was Gotts yesterday.

[Chris Black come back]

I think at home I would go for this, all being fit:

Clark

Sterry
McGrath
Bailey
Senior

Gotts
Broadbent

Gibson

Adelakun
Francis
Molyneux

Then you have Middleton and Hanlan as the two wide players who can come on, with Adelakun potentially then replacing Gibson in that switch. Sharp is your switch from Francis. Away from home you could have Clifton as the third midfielder.

[Ian Nimmo]

Would agree with this starting eleven, except there is no way we should be starting Francis, we need to start Billy. Francis has not shown anything yet to keep the master on the bench.

[Jersey Rover]

Don’t change the team or set up.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

Don’t need two holding midfielders doing the same job.

With Gotts and Broadbent it provides extra cover for our defence, but both are quite capable of moving forward, the cover it gives both enables them to move forward as well without losing that base at the back. Just look at what it did yesterday, Gotts was popping up all over the place feeding the front line, and Broadbent had two good attempts on goal. I will be happy to see both playing there for the rest of the season.

I agree with that. They can work in tandem while providing a solid base. Broadbent is more of a straight line player while Gotts is more flexible. We should be happy we now have two players (plus Robinson) who can compliment each other. Any example of a pair who I think played similar roles were Whiteman and Sheaf.

The more they play together the better that'll understand each others games and boy do we need some consistency in there. 

[Alan Southstand]

Not Gibson in midfield please - disaster.

Wigan ran us ragged at their place and I’d hate to watch that again. After Clifton went off injured, we didn’t have a clue (and Gibson stepped in for Clifton, if memory serves).
It looks like Hanlan will have to do the donkey work up top and our 2 wide men need to be disciplined to cover back when they have the ball. They had handy lads on both wings.
I hope we’ve learned something from that away game!

[Sammy Chung was King]

Though we beat Wimbledon, we were abysmal, especially in the midfield, a few changes are needed in there. I would have two holding midfielders in there, allowing our forward thinking players to go do their jobs. We didn’t really get Molyneux much of the ball, which we need to, to win games.

Either Hanlan or Billy up front in my opinion, Robinson should be one of those midfielders to start. I would prefer Bailey in midfield but our other options aren’t as good as him at the back. I think Maxwell would give us more threat down the left hand side.

Senior is solid and does nothing wrong, just think we need our best players on the pitch. We need to be much better against Wigan, if we are we will win the game.

[GazLaz]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

Don’t need two holding midfielders doing the same job.

With Gotts and Broadbent it provides extra cover for our defence, but both are quite capable of moving forward, the cover it gives both enables them to move forward as well without losing that base at the back. Just look at what it did yesterday, Gotts was popping up all over the place feeding the front line, and Broadbent had two good attempts on goal. I will be happy to see both playing there for the rest of the season.

Gotts has been tried in the “popping up all over the place role” lots this season and has looked poor. As soon as the moved into “the Broadbent” role, he’s looked ok.

The two sitting with a front four looked ok at times against Saints because we had two players in there, Gotts and Bailey, that want to do different things.

Wigan are a low possession counter attacking side. They killed us wide in transition at their place. A decent number of their wins have come against teams that are inefficient in possession (Burton, Wimb, Us) when they have forced them to have the ball and countered on them efficiently. Matching them up and play 3 centre halves is an option. Remember at their place it was the lads in the two advanced midfield/ no10 positions that caused us no end of problems. Interesting game…

I’d potentially play..


Clark



Bailey
McGrath
Senior

Maxwell
Robinson
Gotts
Sterry

Mols (narrow)
Gibson (narrow)

Hanlan

Maybe change Gibson for Clifton if you want to be cautious.

Interesting game. The performance at their place worries me. That’s the best form line we have for how the game may play out, and that was horrid.


Molyneux and Clifton narrow behind the strikers.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

Don’t need two holding midfielders doing the same job.

With Gotts and Broadbent it provides extra cover for our defence, but both are quite capable of moving forward, the cover it gives both enables them to move forward as well without losing that base at the back. Just look at what it did yesterday, Gotts was popping up all over the place feeding the front line, and Broadbent had two good attempts on goal. I will be happy to see both playing there for the rest of the season.

Gotts has been tried in the “popping up all over the place role” lots this season and has looked poor. As soon as the moved into “the Broadbent” role, he’s looked ok.

The two sitting with a front four looked ok at times against Saints because we had two players in there, Gotts and Bailey, that want to do different things.

Wigan are a low possession counter attacking side. They killed us wide in transition at their place. A decent number of their wins have come against teams that are inefficient in possession (Burton, Wimb, Us) when they have forced them to have the ball and countered on them efficiently. Matching them up and play 3 centre halves is an option. Remember at their place it was the lads in the two advanced midfield/ no10 positions that caused us no end of problems. Interesting game…

I’d potentially play..


Clark



Bailey
McGrath
Senior

Maxwell
Robinson
Gotts
Sterry

Mols (narrow)
Gibson (narrow)

Hanlan

Maybe change Gibson for Clifton if you want to be cautious.

Interesting game. The performance at their place worries me. That’s the best form line we have for how the game may play out, and that was horrid.


Molyneux and Clifton narrow behind the strikers.

If GM put that team out I think we'd be comfortable with it. Just a personal preference would be Haks instead of Gibson but generally agree with the more narrow positioning with width from the wing backs.

[Ian Nimmo]

Haks before Gibson for any game. (Sorry except games against Bradford)

[GazLaz]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

Don’t need two holding midfielders doing the same job.

With Gotts and Broadbent it provides extra cover for our defence, but both are quite capable of moving forward, the cover it gives both enables them to move forward as well without losing that base at the back. Just look at what it did yesterday, Gotts was popping up all over the place feeding the front line, and Broadbent had two good attempts on goal. I will be happy to see both playing there for the rest of the season.

Gotts has been tried in the “popping up all over the place role” lots this season and has looked poor. As soon as the moved into “the Broadbent” role, he’s looked ok.

The two sitting with a front four looked ok at times against Saints because we had two players in there, Gotts and Bailey, that want to do different things.

Wigan are a low possession counter attacking side. They killed us wide in transition at their place. A decent number of their wins have come against teams that are inefficient in possession (Burton, Wimb, Us) when they have forced them to have the ball and countered on them efficiently. Matching them up and play 3 centre halves is an option. Remember at their place it was the lads in the two advanced midfield/ no10 positions that caused us no end of problems. Interesting game…

I’d potentially play..


Clark



Bailey
McGrath
Senior

Maxwell
Robinson
Gotts
Sterry

Mols (narrow)
Gibson (narrow)

Hanlan

Maybe change Gibson for Clifton if you want to be cautious.

Interesting game. The performance at their place worries me. That’s the best form line we have for how the game may play out, and that was horrid.


Molyneux and Clifton narrow behind the strikers.

If GM put that team out I think we'd be comfortable with it. Just a personal preference would be Haks instead of Gibson but generally agree with the more narrow positioning with width from the wing backs.

Gibson offers more without the ball than Haks. Horses for courses in this situation.

[Metalmicky]

Gibson offers more without the ball than Haks. Horses for courses in this situation.

TBH, I would personally always take Haks above Gibson.  I think he offers more threat and is more aware of what's around him.... mainly because Gibson runs down so many alleys and doesn't lift his head... 

[steve@dcfd]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

Don’t need two holding midfielders doing the same job.

With Gotts and Broadbent it provides extra cover for our defence, but both are quite capable of moving forward, the cover it gives both enables them to move forward as well without losing that base at the back. Just look at what it did yesterday, Gotts was popping up all over the place feeding the front line, and Broadbent had two good attempts on goal. I will be happy to see both playing there for the rest of the season.

Broadbent played in the more advanced (Bailey) no8 role and, for me, the game passed him by. We generally play one pivot which was Gotts yesterday.

If Bailey is going to be centre half for the rest of the season then we need another central midfield player who can play the attacking role

[graingrover]

We were not abysmal but showed a lack of confidence with the exception of certain individuals , Bailey and Sterry mainly .Self confidence is vital before you can start playing with the aggressive ,front- foot style that Grant prefers .Fans have a big role to play at this juncture ..many need to come out of their shells !

[RugbyRover]

Don't Gotts and Broadbent both sit and play deep? Isn't that the obvious pair there and then the third more advanced player can be Clifton, or Gibson.

Don’t need two holding midfielders doing the same job.

With Gotts and Broadbent it provides extra cover for our defence, but both are quite capable of moving forward, the cover it gives both enables them to move forward as well without losing that base at the back. Just look at what it did yesterday, Gotts was popping up all over the place feeding the front line, and Broadbent had two good attempts on goal. I will be happy to see both playing there for the rest of the season.

Broadbent played in the more advanced (Bailey) no8 role and, for me, the game passed him by. We generally play one pivot which was Gotts yesterday.

If Bailey is going to be centre half for the rest of the season then we need another central midfield player who can play the attacking role

Bailey is a very good L1 midfielder but I believe he's a championship centre back. If he plays at the back the goalkeeper improves as does the other centre back. We are a lot stronger when he plays there.

As for the midfield. McCann has bought Gotts, Clifton, Broadbent and Robinson (and Close, though injured) into the club. If he can't find a decent combination from those then it doesn't say much about him tbh.

I think the more options he has the more McCann get confused. A case of can't see the wood for the trees. 

[graingrover]

Stick to Rugby mate ! You need to be able to discern a pass forward from a forward pass and a coach from a Prefect .

[steve@dcfd]

When we played Wigan away and lost 3.  0 and it could and should have been more the team was

Doncaster: Lo-Tutala, Nixon (Crew 67'), O'Riordan, Pearson (Grehan 59'), Maxwell (Senior 45'), Broadbent, Bailey, Molyneux, Clifton (Middleton 31'), Gibson (Olusanya 59'), Sharp

The defence should be better on Saturday
That will depend who is selected and whether we play 4 or 3. Bailey looks like he play central defence again although in the interview after Wimbledon he said it was not his favourite position but he would play any where to help the team. We have Sterry available now. Then choice comes if it's going to be Mc grath and Senior to complete the back four. Grant may choose to play 3421 as suggested by Gaz but I doubt he will do that although it would match them up.

[jmt23]

This fixture at their place was one of two poor (really poor) performances with the other Plymouth.
We’ve been as good as most teams in every other game, but unfortunate either with the finishing or silly mistakes they wouldn’t normally make in defence/ goal.

The one glimmer of hope from that 3-0 score was we created chances most strikers would put away, and I’m not saying we would have won as we were poor, but they can also be got at quite easily.