Lack of quality and depth of squad to blame...
Chris Coleman is at a loss to explain why we have performed so poorly in the last few games, well I might give you a few ideas.
In goal and in the centre of defence we are fine.
At fullback Wright has no pace and left back Cranie is playing out of position. Hussey looks good going forward but defensively is short. I read we are giving him extra coaching on defending, why sign a defender who can't defend?
His brief performances this season have showed this up. Might be better trying him on the left wing as he has pace and can cross a ball?
In midfield, if Clingan is fit he plays. His partner in the centre is either the out of form Gunnarsson or the new boy Deegan. Neither has shown Championship quality levels of performance this season.
On the wings we have Bell, McIndoe and Baker, forget Eastwood he looks lost or uninterested in playing there, unsurprisingly. None of these players has pace to cause opposing defences problems. Baker has the skills to go past a player and cause the opposition problems.
Up front Morrison works hard but will only get you 10-13 goals a season, check his statistics, he has only once scored 20 plus goals in one season. Eastwood had a little purple patch around Christmas but has gone off the boil. Stead is on loan along with Sears and won't be here for very long.
Not many names there to compete for the outfield positions, which is the other problem, a lack of squad depth. If any of these players are injured, or out of form, we have no cover. We are forced to either play them or have to play other players out of position to cover.
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I don't normally like reading negative articles, preferring to pretend it's not happening. Unfortunately you have hit the nail on the head. We have one of the smallest squads in the league, even that is only bolstered by youth players who aren't ready yet.
Burnley went up on a small squad last year due to the quality of that small squad, a great deal of luck with lack of injuries and a tenacity at home that made them near-unbeatable. We just look like jelly at the moment.
CC and RR: shopping list summer '10:
GK: If Westwood goes, maybe Joe Lewis?
LB & RB: Hussey should be on the wing, and Wright is a liability
LW: we need pace and skill, not a step-over merchant.
RW: Bell is ok, but not really a winger, again. We've been ripped apart by wide men this year, i don't recall us doing that to anyone since Peter Ndlovu and Sean Flynn!!!
CM: Gunnarsson has obviously suffered second season syndrome, I'm not sure what the personal issues were he was struggling earlier in the season, but I hope he gets back to his previous form. We need more options, Forest's Majewski or Boyd, Reading's Sigurdsson, Cardiff's Burke.
FW: Bloody well give Eastwood an extended run as a striker, he's wasted on the wing and thrives on confidence, we need two more really decent forwards too. I don't think Stead or Sears are right for us, or even good enough.
Just looking at that it reminds me that all of these players make me seriously worry when they're on the ball, unlike ours, who seem lacking in confidence, out of position, and often out of their depth.
I hope CC can do something about it, I am proud to see he's already the 5th longest-serving championship manager, but worried that might be as far as he gets should we not get at least three wins from the remaining fixtures.
Hi Joe
I don't normally write negative articles but when the manager says he doesn't know why we are performing so badly, you have to offer some thoughts.
I liked your response, it is constructive and says what a lot of fans think about the current situation. There are some good suggestions too about possible targets which would improve the team.
I agree entirely with the comments you both make. I think West End Boy hit the nail on the head as to the main thing we lack - pace! We donâÂÂt have anyone who can beat a man (other than Baker but teams seem to have wised up to his threat and double up on him which, as he is not that quick, means he struggles to get clear and gets bogged down by defenders)
Coleman seems reluctant to give Eastwood a run up front, even though when he did play a run of games as sticker he scored goals. Morrison works hard and is leading scorer but he has played much more games than Eastwood and a lot of Eastwoods starts are as a wide man (and he is certainly not a good winger!.
We need some quick, creative players. The suggestions Joe made are great, but I canâÂÂt see how we will be able to get leading performers from sides that are stronger than us such as Forest, Reading and Cardiff. I would have gone for Boyd when he was at Peterborough as they were clearly going down and he wanted out. We could have offered a starring role rather than a squad role at Forest. Anyway, we missed the boat there. Still, there must surely be some decent players in the lower leagues with pace and ambition who would want to come to Cov? Is this not what scouts are for??
I was just about to pen a blog myself but having read your comments West End Boy you've kind of covered most of my points and Simon and Joe have added to them well. What worries me is that we can all see this but our manager can't or won't.
I've backed Coleman throughout but I'm at the point now where I have to question him on 3 key areas, his selection, his tactics and critically his power of motivation.
This season is dying on its' backside just like last season did which is totally unacceptable. I really fear for season ticket sales if these last 4 games continue to carry on in the same vein.
Couldn't agree more; it's pace that we're desperately lacking. At championship level, a quick winger can make all the difference. Look at Carlos Edwards at Ipswich; he's got pace and skill and manages to cause full-backs problems umpteen times per game.
However, I think deep down Chris Coleman is aware of this. He's no fool, and if it's plain for us to see there's no doubt that he's picked up on it.
nice to know the welsh wizard has picked up on something then?