Next Season

town supporter wrote:

OllieRiley wrote:

town supporter wrote:

OllieRiley wrote:North Ferriby, who have been the standout team this year, have two good strikers in Jarman and Ant Wilson, that's it. The rest of their team are pretty average in my opinion. If we can learn from them and just sign two prolific goal scorers then we can get promoted easily next year, especially if we can keep Bolder and if possible Woodsy. We smashed 5 past North Ferriby and they stilled looked a threat. I would like to see a player who is proven to score goals in THIS league come in e.g Reeves or Newsham. If we bring in someone from a higher league then it would take them a while to adjust.  

It's a good point Ollie.  Earlier in the season I posted a link to an article from the North Ferriby manager who was adamant that their wage bill wasn't as big as many people thought as they'd invested in quality rather than quantity.  When Aspin was manager at Town he opted to invest in quality over quantity, perhaps taking the approach too far, as we lacked strength and depth towards the end of the season.  

Personally, I would hope Simon demonstrates a bit more imagination than simply signing Jarman, Reeves or Newsham, who will command some of the biggest wages in the league and drain the playing budget.  

Yeah but thinking about it, do we actually need amazing star players in our squad? Isn't our squad good enough all ready? I just pose the question because beating the top teams hasn't been an issue, but playing the poor, mid to lower teams in the league, we've haven't been able to produce results.

I definitely think this squad is good enough to have won the league this year if we had been more consistent. It doesn't take a bunch of superstars to beat sides like Worcester or Gloucester or Stalybridge or Vaxhaul Motors or Eccleshill for that matter! So that makes me more confident for next year, if we can shut out the mistakes and win when expected, then we can do really well next year.

Take Boston for example, they haven't done well at all against the top teams, but have made no mistakes against the others.

A few changes are needed to compete for promotion.  A couple of decent wingers and defensive support for Heath and Killock.  Personally, I’d prefer someone like Dom Roma to Dwyane Samuels as he offers more defensive stability.  A proven goalscorer to play alongside Ash is also required.  

But it doesn't stop there and the more fundamental issues as i see it go beyond the playing squad.  This is about Simon getting the best from his players, saying the right things at the right time and getting the players fired up and motivated.  Making the ones that aren’t playing still feel important because good team spirit is essential.  Instilling a feeling that they’re all in it together. Perfecting the art of playing badly, but doing enough to come away with a victory.  Having a clear idea about the strongest starting XI so that the team can develop some consistency.  When we do get a poor result, not singling out particular players or dropping them to the bench, especially attacking players who thrive on goals and where confidence is such an important part of their game.  Moving the ball with greater pace and hitting the opposition on the break with far greater urgency and intent.   Improving how we defend leads and shutting up shop.  Anyone remember Aspin bringing on Phillpot for the last 10 min whenever we went a goal up?  More often than not we’d see out the game.  Under Weaver I’m never convinced that will happen.  So there you go, more work to be done other than just signing a few star individuals.

town supporter wrote:

At the forum session earlier in the season, management said they were looking to achieve top 8.  Maybe they've achieved everything they set out to this season?

Big Lundy wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Our home record has been better this season but we might have to change our style of play if we really want to have a go at the title!
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You simply won’t get out of this league by trying to keep the ball on the ground all the time!
The pitches are not good enough!
We might have to become bigger & more direct @ times as well as playing football because that seems to be a proven formula for Liam Watson’s sides!
It might also give you a better chance of staying up if you do get promoted!
If you don’t score from or defend well at set pieces in this league you have no chance of promotion!
Most of the sides above us play a more direct game & although it might not be as good to watch it gets results!

town supporter wrote:For the most part, Beckham couldn’t get past the full back and he did ok. He hit first time balls into the box so that opposition defenders didn’t have time to organise themselves. The point I’m trying to make is that we need better delivery from wide areas. Only Mallory is capable of providing quality deliveries into the box even if he's better utilised elsewhere. I stand by my point that we need to bring in a couple of quality wide players. None of the wide players we have at present are good enough or consistent enough.

trevdee wrote:Samuels would make the perfect winger...I do like Mallory for his delivery but he has been poor on too many occasions......Perhaps a lack of consistent games and formation or perhaps a lack of hunger. For me wingers don't need to be able to beat a full back, just as long as they are wise and are able to get up and down that field to help defensively just as much as they like to attack - engine and an eye for the right ball in are the key ingredients!