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Starting eleven vs Hereford? Progression in JPT is even more important now given Fridays events and expect Malpass to pick strongest possible side. Brez will obviously get his place back - not before time - and I would like to see Amankwaah given a chance at right midfield. Would prefer to see Kanuka as partner for the Beast as I think they offer the most potential as a pairing in the long run. Also rest Nalis and stick with Peacock in central midfield. Would also bring Macca back in as in 2nd half in league game at Hereford put in some good work and looked dangerous. Also its a game we must look to attack in. Team = Brez, J Smith, Beast, Kanuka ,Casal, Amankwaah, Peacock,Timlin, Mcnamee, Cox, Painter. Subs P Smith, Morrison, Easton, Corr, Marshall

I wouldn't change the midfield or attack - I felt we were fine without McNamee going forward. To be honest we battled well defensively in large parts against Hartlepool. Jack Smith might be injured though.

In fact the only headache Malpas should have is the goalkeeper situation - does he drop Smith or not.

It's just the bread and butter we need to sort out. Simple but effective defending when getting the ball cleared etc.

I'd keep the same ten outfield. Probably bring in Brez... maybe.

Same team as friday bar smith. We have chopped and changed too much already this year we need a stable 11 imo

DRS speaks wisdom. Start with same outfield 10, solid side to try and impose ourselves on the game and Macca on bench to finish them off in the last 20-30 minutes

EDIT: forgot the most critical aspect is obviously not in the team selection but in the selection of musical accompaniment. I know drums are the obvious choice but as this is the JPT, I think we can afford to experiment. I'd like to see an old style folk band approach for Hereford, whole away section with fingers in ears and wearing big knit jumpers. And wellies

Will Jack Smith be fit after going off injured friday?

I'd put Brez back in and other than that keep it the same.

I would keep exactly the same team.

Brez is a goner, P Smith is our long term keeper and he needs to pick himself up and forget about it.

Hopefully J Smith is fit because Casal is a liability.

Fingers crossed they put out a weekened team as well.

Whether is Brez is a goner is accademic, at the moment we are struggling big time and need to use the best 11 available to us and at this moment in time Smith isn't in that bracket.

Drums made out of paint pots would be apt.

I agree, but if Hasney is OK I bet he walks into the team.

I bet he doesnt.

Does anyone really believe the 'illness'

Anyway we conceeded 3 without him, so defence wasnt exactly brilliant

Same team, but with Brez for Smith & Macca for Timlin on the left on the basis that Hereford are shite compared to Hartlepool and should be attacked more.

You are correct, from OS:

How can he even be considering Phil Smith??

No MacNamee either in a cup match??

What on earth .....

some good news at last

Yeah cos Macnamee's been fucking quality recently hasn't he?

I'd keep faith with Smithy in goal as well.

I wouldnt.

Herthab .. how many goals does Smith have to give away before you realise his confidence is shot and he needs a long reserve spell to get it back??

Brez simply HAS to play the next half a dozen games at least IMO ...

MacNamee has been as good as ever -- when selected -- and one of the best players we have - its a cup match to be decided on the night - no extra time - its a no brainer to start him on Tues

Id pick the following - bearing in mind we need to win to boost our morale

Brez

Amankwaah Ifil Morrison Smith

Easton Peacock Timlin
McNamee (either wing)

Cox Paynter

Subs Smith Kanyuka Nalis Corr Marshall

I wouldnt moan at that tbh

Dropping Smith to the reserves wont get his confidence back it'll destory it even more

McNamee hasnt had a good game since QPR in the cup. No problems with him being dropped my only problem is we dont have another left winger.

Dropping Smith isn't the answer. He's made a couple of howlers, but he's also pulled off some brilliant saves. You've got to have some faith in players sometimes and Smithy always puts a 100% in.

As for Macca, I like him when he's playing well but he's gone off the boil at home and has never been more than lukewarm away.

Same side as Friday for me. Hopefully the defence can start to gel............

A couple of howlers??

-MK away he comes out flapping like a madman, misses the ball and they score
-Hereford away he goes for a little slide allowing them to score dead easily
- Leeds and hartlepool of course.

If brez doesnt get a start tomorrow i will be flabbergasted

And Brezovan never makes mistakes, commands his area and is a fantastic communicator?

Prepare to be flabbergasted Dave.

If Brez is 100% off to another club then I can see why Smith would be in goal.

All things being equal it's time for Brez to come back (assuming he's put in the effort in training). There is no point in having competition for places if you can't ain't a place when the person holding it is out of form. It's unfortunate for Smith, but you play your best 11.

If you are arguing Smith is better than Brez, then fair enough. I don't agree but that is a different argument.

I've never seen brezovan go through a spell of bad form as worse as smith over the past month and a half

I would play Brez for one reason alone, he wants to go is putting himself in the shop window so if he plays well we get some cash

I think the Hereford one where he slid is a bit harsh...

I prefer Smith to Brez, don't think Brezovan is anything like the player he was before his injury.

If Malpas picks Brez, fair enough. I just hope we don't have people booing Smithy if he doesn't.

Brez and Smith have both been shit this season.

As odd as it sounds I think Smith has made much better saves than Brez has for a while but then has also made worse mistakes.

Brez deserved to be dropped and Smith deserved to have his chance, he hasnt taken it so its only fair Brez goes back in.

Although im not convinced Brez is any better than Smith and I'm also not convinced we'll be selling him any time soon. Any scouts who have watched him recently wouldnt have been impressed

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hereford_united/7650194.stm

 ???

that's it, we're screwed now.

This bit confuses me. How is it possible to be better equipped to be mid-table than in the relegation zone?

I can understand that, mid-table security is a lot easier than nail-biting 6-pointer relegation battles every week.

yes, but how are we more equipped to deal with it?

Same team as Hartlepool, Phil Smith is starting, Barry Corr in the squad though as only change

 I'd imagine it's the sort of thing which might apply to us, namely players with a bit of skill, who can play the odd very good game, but have next to no fighting spirit, for muck and nettles stuff, of a relegation battle.....

That's gonna just about destroy any confidence or future Brezovan has at the club now then. Malpas may as well pick up his P45 now as the critics are going to rip him to pieces for this especially if Smiths form (or lack of) continues.

For all we know Brezovan is as good as gone. No point playing him if he's going in January.

We don't know the full story with regard to Brezovan though, do we? We don't know what he's been like at training, what his agent's been saying to the board, nothing.

I hope we win, Smith plays a blinder and the CG is a bit more optimistic come Saturday...

I'd imagine that if Phil Smith is in goal,he'll be as nervous as a kitten.You can imagine Turner telling

his forwards to 'Shoot on sight'.There's always the danger that the fans could also turn on him,

if he were to make a mistake.Sometimes,in professional sport you have to take someone out of

firing line for their own sake.

True but based on our season so far Brez will be on the bench so appear fit and able to play and Smith will end up having a shocker. Come Saturday that'd mean a hostile crowd baying for blood, lets face it the last home game it wasn't just the odd person calling for the head of Malpas it was probably close to a thousand and the numbers have probably grown higher now. Smiths fuck ups have been the most obvious of all so are likely to rile the critics the most especially as it contradicts what Malpas used as the reasons for dropping Brez....

No we don't Herthab, I  have to think something has gone on behind the scenes or this is a shocking decision. Smith had a run in the side and blew it.

I have no desire to see him destroyed as a player, he seems a good bloke and I genuinely believe he is a good keeper in bad form. But Brez deserves the shirt now (if everything is OK behind the scenes).

Smith is going to be the man in the spotlight tomorrow/this weekend.

It's looking increasingly that way.I wouldn't even be surprised if he went on loan somewhere,

with the chance of a deal being done in january.It's a developing trend as we saw last week

with Brian Howard initially joining Sheff Utd on loan,but signing in the january transfer window.

If you were Brez,wouldn't you weigh up all of your options?

If I were Brez id be shocked if I had any options he hasnt been good for nearly two years now. Who would be interested in buying him? When would the scouts have been impressed with him?

If he was that intent on leaving he'd be gone by now. On his day hes a brilliant keeper but he really hasnt had a day since he got injured and now seems to be terribly over rated. I'd be amazed if we sold him

If I can still be bothered, I'm going on a scouting mission tomorrow to watch 'uddersfield play at Darlington in the Northern Section of the JPT.

I say scouting mission, I mean I want to see Darlo's Liechtensteiner Franz Burgmeier in action :D

DV I normally agree with your posts you talk a lot of sense and obviously have football knowledge.
Re: Your opinion of Brez I must disagree, without doubt one of the best goalkeepers in Division One, would have no problem with a move to the Championship where he would have a semblance of a defence in front of him.
There will be plenty of parties interested in gaining his signature.

Dv brezovans confidence is shot to fuck. He has a manager who does not like him and wants to drop him at the first drop of the hat. Tell me what glaring cock ups he has made by that i mean throwin the ball in the net, enough teams rate brez and he will be gone.

Don Rogers Shop, quite recently you said 3 or 4 teams were already speaking to him..?

If enough teams rated him he'd be gone by now.

The transfer window is so easy to get past it might as well not exist. If Brez really wanted out and there were clubs interested in him wouldnt he have gone on loan with a view to a permenant deal by now?

Our whole teams confidence is shot to fuck, Im not disagreeing with that and I personally think he should be back in the team.

His early season form was poor and a number of goals he could and probably should have done better with. He deserved to be dropped and now so does Smith.

They have both been shit this season so I cant see why anyone let alone a Championship club would want Brez right now.

Hence why i said he will be gone michael,does that make sense? Dv if brez goes and smith gets injured what happens then?

 Quite right....there does seem to be a lot of shit keepers at the moment.

 Apparently the best England have to offer after James, are Rob Green who threw in a couple at the weekend, which could have been straight out of the Brez/Phil Smith manual, and Scott Carson who cost us an appearance in the summer.

 

DV,

the point that i was trying to make was that if the speculation is correct, that Smith will start in goal at

Hereford,this would be the final straw for Brez.You're quite correct that both keepers have been shit this

season,for whatever reason.Brez would have options,because he could ask to go in january, sit out his

contract until next summer,or if he regained his place,to 'play to get away.


There has been speculation in the past about Swansea.Martinez signed a reserve keeper from Birmingham

on a 3 month loan.Suppose Brez was made available in jan for transfer or on loan,would he be interested?

Who knows? Brez did impress Chris Woods (Everton goalkeeping coach) when he had a trial at Everton earlier

this year.Everton weren't in the market for a keeper,but wanted to have a look.

Agreed Dell...Brez hasnt been great this season but its time for MM to put him in and keep him in.
Smith is a very good number two(no pun intended!)...one howler v leeds is forgetable,two is unforgetable.....oh and if you watch Smith he dives much too early on shots and goes to ground on soft shots that i could stop with my boots,ive also got a feeling Cox will be on the bench tomorow and braught on if we need him.

I think you're right about Cox leefer. We can't afford for him to get injured.

its the same team mate, Barry Corr added to the squad in place of Chrissy Allen is the only change

So on the long range forecast, who will be in goal on Saturday?
I can understand the manager playing Smith tomorrow if you drop him now his confidence what is left of it will be shot to pieces.

Saturday is the main game with your info I ask again who will be in goal for the game against Uddersfield?

Corr for Cox then?

i duno who is in goal saturday cos the team hasnt been told to the team yet

no, ill say it again SAME TEAM

You can be sure Brez will know if he is playing Saturday .... your network not working well at the moment, there is no way he would select Smith again before Brez for a HOME league game, that would be professional suicide on his part if Smith cocked-up again.

Perhaps Malpas is trying to get sacked so he gets some compensation.

Dell none of them know the teams til thursday

You mean none of us knows the team til Thursday .... Brez I'm sure would have been knocking on the managers door this morning.
He'll know the position if he is in or out at the weekend dont be so naive.

I do not mean that rudely DRS.

I know u dont but malpas reveals the team on a thursday not to anyone a day before.

Sure he does, but I'm sure Brez will know.
Sort of conversation I would expect:
Brez: I'm feeling good boss
Malpas: You'll get your chance, training has been going well.
Brez: Never felt better, confidence and fitness is back
Malpas: I'm making changes on Saturday
Brez: I'm ready if you need me
Malpas: You are in my plans for Saturday you are in the squad.

Sounds like a load of bollocks, but I've heard the old shit so many times in my limited days as a player.

Sort of conversation i expect. 10am 'morning petre' 1pm 'see you tomorow petre'

Great logic Dell.

So Smithy plays a blinder tonight but will still be dropped for Saturday?

Wait to Saturday and we will see!!

Looks as if the same starting XI as at Hartlepool last friday,if Jack Smith recovers from his ankle injury.

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/display.var.2457824.0.malpas_backs_goalkeeper_smith.php

oh my god breaking news

Trouble is Smith will be hounded by the boo boys now ... and he doesnt deserve that kind of treatment ... Brez should play ... after all Brez and Ifil never got a second or third chance - they were dropped immediately

Indeed as you stated yesterday JPC,just confirmation that's all.What's the score with Brez and MM?

I agree with fatbury on this one. Its wrong, but i can see some of our more mongish fans turning on smith now.

i know alot of the players arnt happy playing for Malpas, but what i dont know is if Malpas has decided Brez is going to be number 1 and so is playing Smith cos its a cup game or Smith is his number 1 and Brezovan is leaving in january

Why aren't they happy playing for Malpas, their avergae players, he's an average manager, a match made in heaven. 

Seriously though it's not like Malpas comes across as an arrogant rude wnaker, who's up himself (although I could be wrong).  Surely as professionals they can just get on with it an d play as they should, with a bit of pride and passion.

They seem happy to play for the bloke away from home too.

(not having a go - just my thoughts)

Jpc, who do you talk to? You've said in the past it's the youth teamers mainly.

I can understand the youth teamers not being happy, as TCP has said before, MM just ignores them.  But first teamers need to be more professional, I'd be amazed if it were true that some of them don't want to play for MM.

I Agree with DV about Brez.  He's very over rated currently.

He could play at championship level if he showed his top form, but we've not seen that since his injury.

I'd honestly think about selling him in Jan if we could get decent money and bring another keeper in.  How long are we going to wait for Brezovan to realise his potential here?

How will we get decent money for him if he's not playing?

Players who aint playing get sold.  I also didnt define what decent money would be . although with 6 months on his contract and some shit form behind him theres no doubt it would be a lot less than it could have been, but thats life.

Devils advocate, but if he's being kept out of the team by somone who throws the ball into the net every other match why would anyone feel an urge to buy him in januray? Surely they'd just wait untill the summer?

Depends on a lot of things we cant quantify I suppose, how much money they have, how much we want for him and how much they want / need a keeper

If they have money to spend on a goalkeeper though wouldnt it make more sense to buy one that is playing well constantly?

If I was Brez I'd sit out my contract and get a nice big signing on fee when a Championship club comes in for me. When he 1st came he was the best keeper we had since Digby. Post injury he's not been the same - but better than Smith.
I can't see him commanding a big fee. In the early days he was a £1m player. As an asset to the club he has been spectacularly mismanaged.

Yes, but that keeper would probably cost more.