jonno_2004 Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Probably my main gripe to date with RDM. Why insist on playing a donkey up front? Desperately need another striker if he doesn't trust Ayew to play ahead of McCormack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Because it's effective. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted August 21, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted August 21, 2016 (edited) 5 minutes ago, jonno_2004 said: Probably my main gripe to date with RDM. Why insist on playing a donkey up front? Desperately need another striker if he doesn't trust Ayew to play ahead of McCormack. ? Kozak only went on for Gestede because of his hamstring, and he subbed him off before the end of the game. He was poor but around 65mins (?) doesn't sound like 'insistence' from RDM. If you mean Rudy, last year I would've agreed with you but the first four games Rudy has looked dangerous with good movement. I still think we need another striker, but I don't think after four games and the window still open you can criticise RDM for insisting on playing a donkey. Wait until he's played Kozak three more games and I'll agree with you Edited August 21, 2016 by alreadyexists Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno_2004 Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 My point was is that I'd have sooner rejigged the front line than swapping Gestede (who, to be fair, has looked a lot better in recent games) for Kozak (who was awful). We shouldn't have to resort to that tactically - Gayle is on fire leading the line for Newcastle and he isn't a classic 'target man'. And as for Kozak being 'effective'..well, let's just say at least dictionaries are cheap nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted August 21, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted August 21, 2016 I know what you mean. I think RDM is working with the tools he has though, Xia has indicated we're aiming on signing a striker so hopefully that will give us more options. Totally agree re Kozak, and I'm really disappointed. I had been thinking that we should give him a chance, but he looked so far off the mark yesterday it's scary. As I said in the Trans Spec thread Hernandez would've been brilliant to play along side Gestede, but I think that ship has sailed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno_2004 Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Just now, alreadyexists said: I know what you mean. I think RDM is working with the tools he has though, Xia has indicated we're aiming on signing a striker so hopefully that will give us more options. Totally agree re Kozak, and I'm really disappointed. I had been thinking that we should give him a chance, but he looked so far off the mark yesterday it's scary. As I said in the Trans Spec thread Hernandez would've been brilliant to play along side Gestede, but I think that ship has sailed. Don't get me wrong, I've been perfectly happy with RDM so far but think we have enough talent in the team that tactically he can set us up to not just be reliant on someone over the height of 6"2 up top. Anyway, I'll suppose we'll see next week depending on Gestede fitness/signings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted August 21, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted August 21, 2016 Agree. I think Hepburn-Murphy could be near the first team soon too, so that would add further depth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 (edited) It was a mistake to put him on because he's the closest thing to a like-for-like swap for Gestede. He hasn't played football consistently for years and even if he had some quality he wouldn't have been effective due to his severe lack of match fitness and sharpness. I don't like this target man system. I don't think Gestede has been good at all barring Rotherham, and that was mainly down to the terrible opposition in my eyes. If you're going to play with a tall target man, play wingers rather than two second strikers. We don't have them, however, so stick with the second strikers and buy an out and out finisher who makes intelligent runs for the second strikers to link up with and gets in the right place at the right time. A Jermaine Defoe-type. What we're currently doing is combining the two systems and, unsurpringly, its proving ineffective against half-decent defences. Combine that with a weak midfield who neither consistently win the ball back nor keep possession and you find yourself on the back foot like we were for large parts of the second half against Derby. That puts enormous pressure on the defence and keeper and it only takes one silly mistake and it costs us points. It's already happened twice. If we get things sorted further up the pitch it'll not only relieve pressure off the back line but we'll bury a lot of the chances we're already creating and create even more to boot. Edited August 21, 2016 by Ginko 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 the lad was really poor, he tried but he just never really been up to it the chance he missed as well was a big opportunity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 4 minutes ago, Zatman said: the lad was really poor, he tried but he just never really been up to it the chance he missed as well was a big opportunity In (slight) defence, if you watch that chance again, there wasn't much goal to aim at and even if he had got it on target it would almost certainly have hit defender or goalkeeper. Nevertheless, a striker getting a free header in the box should really be hitting the target 90% of the time, especially with as much freedom to shape his body as he had yesterday. If he'd looked decent apart from that miss we wouldn't be harping on about it. He's been out for a long time, but nobody ever said football was fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 I mean, I knew he was bad before yesterday. But I didn't realise he was THAT bad. An embarrassment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunnski Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 He was bad but that was his first competitive game for 6 months so he needs more game time to get upto match fitness. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Anyone that is considered a back up to Rudy Gestede isn't good enough for a team aiming for promotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 24 minutes ago, Bunnski said: He was bad but that was his first competitive game for 6 months so he needs more game time to get upto match fitness. You could give this bloke all the games/time in the world and he still wouldn't be good enough for a League 1 side. He doesn't even win headers. Utterly abysmal. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HanoiVillan Posted August 21, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted August 21, 2016 30 minutes ago, Bunnski said: He was bad but that was his first competitive game for 6 months so he needs more game time to get upto match fitness. I sincerely hope he isn't given it. We're a club aiming for promotion, not a charity for down-on-their-luck footballers. Sorry, but no. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 More games. That's been the go to argument from day one. More games has just led to more evidence at how poor he is. He should never play for this club again. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 No offense to the guy but I totally forgot he was still at Villa. I think he needs to move on and for us to write this one off. Was very unlucky with that nasty leg break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Only ha sone year left on his deal so he will be released in summer anyways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, Demitri_C said: Only has one year left on his deal so he will be released in summer anyways Thank Christ. Yet another terrible terrible signing that leads to zero return on investment. Edited August 22, 2016 by villa89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy_Lion Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 20 hours ago, Zatman said: the lad was really poor, he tried but he just never really been up to it the chance he missed as well was a big opportunity I fully agree, i thought it was a shame as it was a good opportunity for him to show he can do it but he failed. He just looked so off the pace and lacked any real ability to do anything. That moment when he picked the ball up on the half way line and tried to run about summed the poor lad up for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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