Subs and the bench

[51/84]

So with changes to the team on Saturday and the return of an injured striker we appeared to have a much stronger bench
Roberts McGlashan Vincent Jombati Innis Harrison and Kotwica (and no Jones)
so based on that we have when all are fit 19 1st team pros
Also I have not noticed any comments about MYs use of subs.
Were they too late , too early, the wrong ones etc
This board is quick to criticise ( or at least some are) when Yates gets it wrong.
Did MY get it right on Saturday?

[C.V]

The only ones who can fairly comment on that would be the ones at the game they saw what players were doing off/on the ball.With only 115 being there l doubt many of them come on here hence the lack of comments on the game.

[51/84]

I agree with what you say about the 115 but there are plenty who passed comment about the bench last week and those on it.
The perception of looking at the bench is it was stronger and I think management said if players like McGlashan are on the bench.......

[CS85]

If we had gone to one of the better teams and fought out a hard 1-0 win MY would have got his tactics right,but we werent playing a good side and we struggled past them,a wins a win but come on anyone who thinks this team is going to achieve something needs the old head testing.

[51/84]

so the team that a month ago were going to get atop 3 place are now not going to get a top 10 finish
So its all on Curetons comeback and staying fit
So what is the problem , whats changed , there must be an explaination

[thetonga]

Having seen the game, the subs were relatively uneffective and McGlashan and Harrison didn't change the game as such. I do not enjoy the diamond as there is a real lack of width and not much creativity coming from the centre of the park. We've got Ashley Vincent sat on the bench, he got a player of the month playing wide last year, get him and McGlashan on the wings to give Gornell, Gillespie and Cureton the ammunition to get some goals.

[51/84]

The problem, tonga, is if you have 2 wingers and 2 in the middle it does not work, or at least not currently as our wingers are out of form. If you have 3 in midfield and 2 wingers then you only have one striker. Now perhaps if AV comes into form he would be the extra striker the way spenser or duffy were 2 seasons ago, but will the robins public accept 3 strikers - Gillespie, Gornell and Harrison on the bench
The problem is the mid field needs a strong 4 and we dont have that. A LM in the Milton style and corresponding RM but we have wingers. Sammy is not a winger and he is proving he is not a left or right mid, he needs as he says to play in the hole

[Admin]

but will the robins public accept 3 strikers - Gillespie, Gornell and Harrison on the bench

I expect that when Cureton is fit, then other than an overlapping game or two, we will not keep Gillespie on loan and he will return.

[thetonga]

The problem, tonga, is if you have 2 wingers and 2 in the middle it does not work, or at least not currently as our wingers are out of form. If you have 3 in midfield and 2 wingers then you only have one striker. Now perhaps if AV comes into form he would be the extra striker the way spenser or duffy were 2 seasons ago, but will the robins public accept 3 strikers - Gillespie, Gornell and Harrison on the bench
The problem is the mid field needs a strong 4 and we dont have that. A LM in the Milton style and corresponding RM but we have wingers. Sammy is not a winger and he is proving he is not a left or right mid, he needs as he says to play in the hole

How is Vincent out of form? We haven't seen him play on the wing to judge his form! I disagree about the need for 3 central midfielders, that used to be the case when Pack was here as he needed the protection but Penn and Richards are more all round midfielders. A midfielder of McGlashan, Penn, Richards, Vincent with Cureton and Gornell up top would be ideal, Port Vale played Myrie-Williams and Vincent wide with Pope and Hughes/Williamson up front and got promoted so I don't see how you can say it doesn't work. We shouldn't have to create a formation to accommodate Deering, he's nothing out of the ordinary.

[51/84]

AV has totally failed to show anything when he has come on and even in the reserve friendlies he has been poor. He admits it himself in one of JPs videos. He claims he wants to play as a stiker - and that was the problem at PV. I think there may be a problem but I dont know what it is
McGlashan is totally out of form perhaps the West Ham match will allow him to show us what he is capable of
As to Gillespie, I think if MY can get the finance then he will stay on loan

Tonga if the 2 midfielders are much better then why did we go 3 on Saturday a 3-1 which changed to a diamond, or what happened to the 2 against plymouth. Was it the 2 wide men were out of form or in the wrong positions. MY has tried things in matches that have not worked is he anywhere nearer getting it right time will tell

I agree on paper it looks good on the park it hasnt worked

[thetonga]

But Vincent has been playing up front in these league games so I don't see what you're expecting him to show. He is a good wide player at league two level as was shown by his player of the month, he doesn't choose where he plays and if Yates is too scared to tell him that he has got to play wide then there is a problem with the manager. He gave the impression in the interviews I saw that he'd play anyway for the benefit of the team.

Mcglashan has been playing left which isn't his usual position and needs time to get an understanding with CBB and Richards inside him. I thought the left side looked great against Burton. You have to give it time, the Plymouth performance was poor by all players, not just the midfield. Deering can't play wide as he drifts inside and doesn't stick to his role.

If you we're there at Stanley you'd have seen just how narrow it was and the fact that nothing was coming through midfield and our two strikers, who for this level are good strikers, had nothing to play with. A better team would have punished us in the same way Plymouth did, Stanley were awful.