Colchester Utd v Swindon Town match day thread.

[RobertT]

100% this, play to a teams strengths not try to shoehorn players into a formation you prefer.

I am on a rant here.  What are those strengths though?  The only two players I see being able to offer more are Jephcott and Williams.  The latter has to be central amd become the focal point.

The former has to be in the six yard box to realise his ability, but we don't seem to have anyone around them that unleashes that.  Every other player is what they are.  They don't have much if anything else to offer.  We have nobody to play wide left, and even if we did, we do not have the physical midfielders you would need to allow two wingers.  That's Jephcott nullified.

We do not have players who stretch the game and make runs, so Williams looks good on the ball but is a man on an island.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

It would be one of those uncomfortable ones where he thinks the camera is somewhere over his shoulder.
I don’t think they will do anything about Lindsey this season and we will drift to mid table.  Question will then be whether they stick with him next season.  I suspect they will so potentially looking at two wasted seasons and more horrific football to watch

You maybe right but then Clem runs the risk of losing fans through the turnstiles.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

I am on a rant here.  What are those strengths though?  The only two players I see being able to offer more are Jephcott and Williams.  The latter has to be central amd become the focal point.

The former has to be in the six yard box to realise his ability, but we don't seem to have anyone around them that unleashes that.  Every other player is what they are.  They don't have much if anything else to offer.  We have nobody to play wide left, and even if we did, we do not have the physical midfielders you would need to allow two wingers.  That's Jephcott nullified.

We do not have players who stretch the game and make runs, so Williams looks good on the ball but is a man on an island.

But we keep hearing we have a large squad with bags of talent!

[RobertT]

But we keep hearing we have a large squad with bags of talent!

We have a large squad of same.  It's not a top 3 squad, nobody can convince me otherwise after seeing them play half a season.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

We have a large squad of same.  It's not a top 3 squad, nobody can convince me otherwise after seeing them play half a season.

I've said on a few occasions that I prefer quality over quantity!

[Tamworth Red Army]

442 is required all day long, give it Charlie rather than keep Lindsey too

[derbystfc]

We have a large squad of same.  It's not a top 3 squad, nobody can convince me otherwise after seeing them play half a season.

So who's to blame? Lindsey for not extracting a managers worth out the squad, or head of recruitment?

[Godd002]

442 is required all day long, give it Charlie rather than keep Lindsey too

I like that shape with the players we have currently and what we know is coming in. 

[RobertT]

It's pretty clear we made two big errors in recruitment.

We recruited for the 352, and nothing else.

We recruited for missed potential amd nothing else bar Jephcott I think.  We did not pay the needs of immediate results enough attention.

Both of these mean we have a squad that looks a bit lacking, in every department.  The 352 didn't work because we lack game changers, so we abandoned that and look a little awkward for any other formation.

Lindsey insists he was involved in recruitment, so he can take some of the shit for that.  He does also look a bit lost about how to change anything.

[theakston2k]

Something needs to change, Lindsey’s entire career was spent in the lower echelons of non-league and his only managerial experience was at Chatham and its showing. Maybe just maybe this a level way above his ability, he just needs to be put out of his misery.

[Batch]

I think we'll be 13th once games in hand have been played.

somebody on Twitter said we are 11th on PPG.
(edit must have been pre-game - I think you are right)

So about 8th or 9th in real terms as not everyone will win their games in hand.

Sounds about right

The position isn't the issue, though it's not ideal. The direction of travel is though

[derbystfc]

Something needs to change, Lindsey’s entire career was spent in the lower echelons of non-league and his only managerial experience was at Chatham and its showing. Maybe just maybe this a level way above his ability, he just needs to be put out of his misery.

I actually agree with this, nice guy and I did throughly hoped it would work out for him, but I see nothing in this.

I would also put some of this on Sandro too, he recruited for head coach/manager, maybe hes out of his depth too

[RobertT]

I actually agree with this, nice guy and I did throughly hoped it would work out for him, but I see nothing in this.

I would also put some of this on Sandro too, he recruited for head coach/manager, maybe hes out of his depth too

Without question.  An entire Management team new to their roles is not the ideal backbone if you want to recruit young talent.

[Batch]

@derbystfc Who came up with the 'develop young castoffs to flog on' plan? Sandro was recruited to implement it, so I'm assuming Rob Angus or Clem.

I don't think it's been given a chance to succeed or fail. I don't think it's a quick fix that works out the box.

The obvious question is what does "work" mean? In 2 years if we've made the club sustainable by selling 3 or 4 players is that success from a club perspective.

We know it isn't for us fans.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

But if you’re recruiting, primarily, for development and future sale Clem must have bought into it as well.

That’s why nobody else but Lindsey would take the job. With our budget, getting out of L2 should be fairly straightforward with a decent manager .