Thetownend.com

Lucas

Amankwaah
Greer
Cuthbert
Rose

Mcgovern
Pruton
Douglas
O'Brien

Pericard
Austin


This could well be our starting line up V Brighton, looks pretty strong to me and not one loan player

Hopefully there might be a new striker in there, however I would like to Vince get a good run out. By the way, Greer will be suspended wont he? Wonder what the odds will be that either Vince or O'Brien will do in a hammy in the first match.

oh yeah forgot about greer's suspension, substitute for lescinel.

Oh, now that does look like a tasty team indeed. That team will tear a lot of teams a new arsehole next year, with or without GG at centre back.

O'Brien will probably be injured.

I think we will have different players at rb,lw, and maybe upfront

Who else do we have to play RB, who do we have that's better than our Big Kev?

We don't know yet do we.Surely it's no secret based on last year that wilson wouldn't mind trying another right back. Mullins,caddis,darby?

Caddis would be good, not going to hold my breath though. I thought Darby said that he wasnt going to come back, Im pretty sure I read that but not sure where though. :hmmm:

That's a fairly decent line up. The obvious concerns are the ongoing debate over JFL, and the fitness of O'Brien and Pericard. All three of those players could still turn out to be well worth having this season, but I'm not keen on resting any hopes on them at this stage. I'd definitely expect a new striker and left winger to be in the squad by then. If they're good enough to break into Danny's first XI for Brighton all the better!

Excuse my ignorance, have been away for a few weeks, who are Rose and Pruton?

Signings that are apparently imminent. According to the Adver Rose this week and Prutton on the 1/7

I'd imagine if they're going to sign they'll both do it on Thursday.

Just booked my flights for this game. Looking forward to it already!

1/7 is this week :) Snuck up quikly didn't it!

i hope there is a proper replacement for paynter, and not our version of emile heskey come august

Nimley?/A.N Other Man City striker?

Well added to that line up from what we have been told, I expect a liverpool, man city and celtic player to be there or there abouts. The point I was trying to make was we could now field a strong starting 11 without any loan players, if you look back to the team this time last year we are so much stronger, this was our team v gillingham last year

Lucas

cuthbert
greer
morrison
lescinel

amankwaah
douglas
timlin
O'Brien

Macnamee

Paynter

I think the players are back for the start of pre-season training tomorrow, also...

Dear Lord, that team is horrible compared to what we had at the end of last season.

exactly, so if we can start with a stronger line up and trust wilson to get it stronger as the season goes on just like last year we should be in for another corker.

A tad harsh.

First XI looks alright.

Would be a very weak bench though.

As Rich said, a tad harsh. Although the fact that we had Amankwaah in midfield, JFL at left back, Cuthbert totally unfit, O'Brien totally unfit and McNamee drifting in and out of games goes a long way to explaining the result of that match! We didn't have a lot on the bench either.

Yes but as we all know there will be 4 or 5 additions, who will either take up places on the bench or push members of that first XI out of the side, so discussing a lack of strength in depth is quite pointless.

It's a bare bones squad and as far as that's concerned, it's competitive. We've had far worse!

To be fair, discussing the team is just as pointless at this stage, but it's given us something else to think about.

It says that Rose is a LB, so surely he will become first choice and therefore Manky on the bench and someone else at RB. (Darby, Caddis?)

Manky is RB though BO, so replaces sheehan/KLF at LB.

I'm an idiot. I have no idea why I thought Manky was a LB! Too much summer sun methinks!

It's because you're a plastic and don't really know the team that well. ;)

 :cunt: :cunt: :cunt:

I think it must be it! I'm only happy when watching Swindon from the comfort of my pub with Jeff Stelling's score updates in tow! I hate having to drag myself across the English Channel to watch us play!

For Me...


Lucas

Amankwaah
Morrison
Cuthbert
Rose

Mcgovern
Pruton
Douglas
O'Brien

Pericard
Austin

Give Sean a chance, he's fucking insane on FM2010..

My ownly (slight) fault of Wilson is his reluctance to play youngsters but if he doesn't think they are ready then thats his call.

I'm more concerned about O'Brien being rubbish rather than his hammy going... new left winger and striker please.

I think in the few matches he played at the back end of last season, he definitely earnt himself another look. In all fairness, yes he was a little bit shit but if you can attribute that to lack of match fitness, then a decent run in the side may see him come good. On the other hand he may turn out to be another Ricky Shakes, another player with blistering pace but with no skill or anything between his ears.

He had a good game in the Charlton semi final home leg. They just couldnt handle our pace and he was a big part of that.

Our fans ought to be looking to support these players, rather than rubbish them.

But yes, his fitness is a real worry.

I won't abuse him or owt, i just fear he may be a weak link... obviously i hope he is decent!

Obrien, Smith and Pericard are going to be the boo boys victims this year.  Although JPM proves you can turn that section of the crowd around.
All Obrien has to do is pinpoint crossess every time and Pericard to score a couple of goals every game.

Couple of goals every game is a big ask mate. All i ask from all our boys is to give it their all and show passion for the shirt they are wearing.

trogladite's post was tongue in cheek Crispy!

I think part of the problem is people expect too much of our forward players. If they don't do special things they don't like them.

It's great to have your Charlie Austins, who excite you because every time they shoot you think they'll score, but it's equally important for people like Austin to have players who will disrupt the back line, peg the opposition back and come up with the goods on occasion themselves. It creates space, makes it hard for one player to be marked out of a game and takes the pressure of one or two players.

If O'Brien stays fit and works on his first touch he could be very effective in this division. And exciting.

I think O'Brien has something to offer, and totally agree with the rest of your post.

I think O'Brien has pace. Little footballing ability though. Willing to give him some leeway, but I may not be tolerant for too long.

I'd need to see more positional awareness and defensive ability before I warm to his presence in the team.

Can maybe see McGovern playing on the left for this. Got a feeling we may see a different formation this year aswell

Wilson does seems to be looking at a diamond midfield and a system with out and out wingers (well JPM on the right with O'Brien/Ball) so it looks like we'll be equipped to play in a number of different ways.

Just wondering if that does mean Prutton at the top with Douglas in front of the back four and Caddis and Rose allowed to really get forward, beyond the tucked in midfielders of Ferry and McGovern.

I liked the look of the Brazil formation in the WC, with two holding midfielders sat in front of the defence, due to the multitude of options it gives you. The full backs can get forward more knowing that there is cover. Putting three midfielders in front of the holding midfielders means you can easily revert to a four man midfield, or have the wide midfielders push forward as wingers. Plus the central midfielder can push forward more. Something like:

                Austin
        Ball - Ferry - JPM
        Prutton - Douglas
Rose - LJF - Cuthbert - Caddis
                Lucas

I would probably swap Prutton with Ferry.

Caddis or Ferry haven't signed yet...

Not criticsing that in theory, but don't we always come unstuck when we try playing fancy (basically anything other than 4-4-2/4-5-1) formations?

Would have to agree with Bobs Orange about swapping Prutton and ferry around. Mainly because Ferry is more defensive in his play than Prutton and Prutton is more attack minded.

Lucas, Caddis, Cuthbert, Lescinel, Rose, Prutton, Ferry, Douglas, McGovern, Ball, Austin

?

Maybe, but the difference now is that we might just have the right players to play something different. Having said that, the big problem I have with formations ending with a 1 is that you need midfielders and wingers that can score a lot of goals, not sure we are quite there yet.

But what I like about that formation is that it can quickly switch in to something else. You get a 4-5-1 with the midfielders dropping deep in with the holding players, or a 4-4-2 with the wide midfielders dropping back and the central midfielder pushing up. All without having to make any substitutions.

I always saw Ferry as the more attacking out of him and Douglas. With a bit more freedom to play an attacking role we could get the best out of him, plus he hasn't got the strength to play a defensive / holding role (though that will most likely improve over time).

That team doesn't look right at all...I mean for a start, why oh why would you play your best striker in goal. And Lucas up front? You're playing a left back on the right wing....I could go on all night ::)

He is a winger...fuck the defensive ability...thats the modern day disease.
Give him the ball and let him deliver it into the box,if he dosnt deliver drop him...dont not play him because of defensive shite.

Smith

Smith
Smith
Smith
Smith

Smith
Smith
Smith
Smith

Smith
Smith

Subs:
Smith
Douglas
Smith
Smith
Smith

I am 99.99% certain that Ferry and Caddis will sign but I am assuming DW isn't going to throw them straight in on Saturday. If that assumption is correct (which of course it may not be), I think the team largely picks itself. The only question marks for me are who plays in Greer and Paynter's positions. So I am going for:

GK..Lucas

RB..Amankwah
CB..Cuthbert
CB..LJF (Couldn't decide between him and Morrison but based this on the positive comments on here about LJF's performance yesterday)
LB..Rose

RM..JPM
CM..Prutton
CM..Douglas
LM..Ball

ST..Austin
ST..Pericard (I think even if we sign Dossevi, DW will still start with big Vince up front and see how it goes)


Then subs will be Smith, Ferry, Caddis.......blah. blah, blah whatever

Completely in agreement.

Looks pretty close to me too.

I really can't wait for Saturday. I am so looking forward to it.

I didn't go yesterday for a couple of reasons, one of them was that I didn't want to start the season off with a soft friendly at the CG.

Bring on the queers!

How was the head this morning Alan?

Erm sensitive. I dunno. A month off the beer and seven pints over nine hours and Joy had to carry me upstairs to bed  ::)

What a lightweight.

Likewise. Ticket purchased last night.

I'd like to see Caddis & Ferry start.

Lucas
Caddis
Cuthbert
Lescinel
Rose
Prutton
Ferry
Douglas
McGovern
Austin
Ball

SUBS: Smith, Morrison, Timlin, Pericard, Dossevi, Amankwaah, O'Brien.

I think Big Kev has to foul up badly to lose his place tbh.

Yeah, we might have Caddis, but unless Danny is going to give them a half each game I don't think it fair for him not to start, particularly because of his link up play with JPM.

What TT said

You must be. Or Joy's stronger than she looks. My missus couldn't carry me up to bed, although she's been known to try kicking me up the stairs :)

up the arse more like

right my line up for saturday

lucas

amankwaah
cuthbert
lescinel
rose

mcgovern
prutton
douglas
ball

dossevi
austin

subs: smith, caddis,morrison,ferry,timlin,o brien,pericard.

You're allowed one more sub! Timlin?

agree with the line up Mex. Hope the Dossevi deal comes off to begin with, and guess it depends how fit he is as to if he or pericard start. Would be fantastic to have that bench full of options as well

Could have both Dossevi and Kandol on board by Saturday

Fittons resigning then?

:emo:

That's a strong line up, right through the starting XI and the bench.

Compare that to the team at Gills last year...

Lucas, Cuthbert (unfit), Gordon Greer, Sean Morrison, Lecsinel Jean-Francois; Kevin Amankwaah (on the wing), Jonathan Douglas, Michael Timlin, Alan O'Brien (unfit); Anthony McNamee (in the hole), Billy Paynter

Bench: Phil Smith, Callum Kennedy, Jerel Ifil, Craig Easton, Mark Marshall, Jon-Paul McGovern, Lloyd Macklin

No wonder we got smashed...we've progressed so far in the last 12 months

Shit yeah. I was under the impression we had a strong team against the pikeys. That doesn't look great and shows how far we've come.

Unless Pericard gets injured I can't see him not starting on saturday with Austin. Anyone we bring in now will be on the bench. Otherwise I think Mex's team is spot on.

Keep hearing somewhat unsettling rumours about Austin being in a rather sour mood. Privately rather than professionally. Hope he's in the right frame of mind for this.

IF that is true, maybe getting back to playing football is what's needed?

Got a feeling Ball wont start on Saturday...will go for abit more experience to begin with them put him on as the match goes on.

Walker
Calderon
Elphick
El-Abd
Painter
Bennett
Sparrow
Navarro
Kishishev
Smith
Barnes

Now THAT, ladies and gents, is a team. And that is without the impending signing of LuaLua, and some mystery "captain contender" we'll have signed before saturday.  :)

thought poke was in goal for you?

Is this coming from the same person who reckoned Ferry and Caddis were each on 9k a week? You're starting to get on my nerves.

I bloody hope not.  ;D

I've only heard of kissachef and Micheal Elphick, I thought he was dead though, and not particularly good at football.

Is that 45 year old ex Charlton player Radistin Kishishev?

Not impressed by your team at all. Think you are taking the piss playing Darts player Kevin Painter at RB.

Almost all your team are unheard of. So how can we appreciate that being a team? :shrug: On the other hand you've heard of Austin, Douglas, Prutton, Jon Paul McGovern, maybe Ferry and Cuthbert... We're coming for you, but you can beat us 5-0. :D

No, he's actually 49.

Not impressed by our team at all? You've not heard of Inigo Calderon, have you? You'll spot him on saturday, and then you'll be impressed. Not to mention Matthew Sparrow, who has signed from Scunthorpe in the Championship. Hopefully, we'll get Gary Dicker on before long in the second half, I'm sure you'll remember him from the CG in December.

As for your post, mr Scott, I have heard of all of your players. I know all the ins and outs of your club, I know a season ticket holder in the Arkells. I'm glad Cuthbert is still playing for you, I thought he was your weak link last season but got lucky with the brilliance of Greer next to him. Now, there's no Greer. Only our finishing cost us a draw against you at the CG in december, hopefully that won't be a problem this season.

No Nicky Forster to guarantee us a goal against you this season, though.  :hmmm:

hahaha ninja you dont have talk some shit :)

Cuthbert > Greer

Ingio Calderon, isnt he injured? didnt Saints withdraw his contract due to medical reasons?

I doubt your finishing will be any better with Ashley Barnes upfront.

Don't HALF talk some shit, actually.  :-[

I'm just confident. I think it's founded at the moment.

Cuthbert, weak link?

We beat you 2-1 and 1-0 and you can judge that Cuthbert is the weak link from that?

Its a shame Greer isn't playing as we could do with soft free kicks around the box.

Ah well, we'll just have to make do with scoring from open play and JPM's corners.

Think we'll win 3-1 on Saturday.

Haha, Cuthbert is better than Greer. Ok then.  :bye:

Calderon started against Aberdeen on saturday, he's back to full fitness. But there is a clause in his contract with us that if his hip breaks down within 3 months, his contract will be cancelled. But nothing to worry about, the guy is fully fit and raring to go. He'll keep your left hand side busy.

If you think our finishing won't be helped by Barnes, just wait until you see Holroyd!

How many one on ones did we miss at the CG though? Dickinson missed atleast 2, and Murray missed one aswell. It should have been 2-2, that would have been a fair result. We kept getting through your defence, but we were blunt. The result was indeed a loss, but we all know it was much closer than that.

At the Withdean, we just couldn't break down your 10 man defence and got punished on the break. That's how it goes, it was a very good performance by yourselves that day.

One word, Dossevi.

If he plays he will take the piss out of ephick and el abd.

Thank fuck. But we've still got to keep an eye out for that cunt at Brentford. :(

Oh yeah, heard of Calderon, but only because I heard him mentioned when Saints were gonna nab him.

And Cuthbert is, thank god, a better player than Greer. Always has been. Greer was great at leading, because although all of our centre halves are talented, they're all young and he controlled them.

Yep, and now so do we!  :( It's inevitable he'll score against us.

Southampton tried. They properly pissed off Poyet in doing so. But it's all water under the bridge now. Poyet has said that he expects us to have 3 new players before saturday, and hopefully LuaLua will be one of those. And don't forget, we already have Elliott Bennett.

I can't agree though, I may have only seen Cuthbert play twice, but both times he looked cumbersome, slow and clumsy. Obviously, you all know more about him than I do, and I respect that. But I hope Barnes targets him.

El-Abd, perhaps. Elphick? Never.

Ashley Barnes has 11 career league goals in 51 games.

Charlie Austin took a whole 16 games to score more.

Anyway, my bad for indulging a Brighton fan - should have know better, all worthless.

Fucking hell, if you thought Cuthbert was slow, you'll be able to have a kip when Greer runs up the pitch.

Charlie Austin was a superb find. Comparing him the vast majority of players at this level will always end up in him coming out best, I'm sure. But it's not relevant. Barnes is a good prospect and scored goals in our side at the end of last season, he might not be as prolific as Austin, but he's just as effective in our team.

I never said Greer was quick, for a very valid reason. One thing our defence does lack, is pace. But then, it looks like so does yours.

Opening day games can be very unpredictable (Just look at ours last season!) so I wouldn't be confident in saying who will win.

I'm more confident in saying we have a better squad and will be above you next May.

(Oh and by the way Cuthbert is a better player than Greer, although we will miss his leadership at the back. Unless Danny's got another trick up his sleeve)

I think you might have been getting Greer and Cuthbert mixed up. Cuthbert's the younger one - most notable for his ability to turn and run.

Cuthbert is actually fairly quick for a big lad, LJF however is quicker, have your forwards any pace?

Kevin Amankwaah can clear the width of the pitch in 3 strides!

---------------------------Lucas---------------------

Manks--------Cuthbert--------------LJF----------Rose

--------------------------Douglas---------------------

---------------------Ferry--------Prutton-------------

JPM------------------------------------------------Ball

--------------------------Austin-------------------------

My team.

No, but our game isn't based around pace. We'll be playing a lot of posession football trying to work the ball forward and work the opportunities. At the moment, our lack of pace is our main problem in my opinion and I think we'll look good up to the final third. In all honesty, I think we're going to lack goals because we're just not creative enough at the moment. But I don't think we'll lose on saturday, I can see a 1-1 draw.

Good luck you will need it!!

Same to you.  :girlgiggle:

If you play like us, and It sounds as though you will play the same game. It'll be tight and dull, 0-0 or 1-0 either way.

Mine is close to that, except I don't think he'll bring Ferry straight in and he will play two up front,  with Vince starting and (hopefully) Devossi to come off the bench.

I meant Dossevi... ::)

I can't see Danny playing one up front at home on Saturday. My team;
                          Lucas
      Amankwaah Cuthbert Lecs Rose
         J-P  Prutton    Douglas  Ball
                  Austin Pericard  

Ferry and Caddis to appear if we are winning, otherwise debuts will be in starting eleven on the Tuesday night cup game.

Regardless of common oppinion Danny clearly rates Pericard, if we sign Dossevi quickish then things might change but personally I doubt it.

Think we will win as

a) we are at home and had a decent record at home last season

b) if brighton lack pace then i think they may struggle will Ball's pace on the left, and mnks and jpms pace on the right.

c) Most of our team have played with eachother last year, whilst it sounds like most of Brightons players have not played with one another.

Should be a good game though !

Oh yeah and we will stroll it 3-1 Saturday, whats the betting Doglas scores in the first game after going all last season without a goal. Douglas, Austin (2).

 :girlgiggle: I'm glad you're so enthusiastic. I don't think DOGLAS will score though!

we will win 4-1

I'm a bit stunned that someone would think Greer was a better player than Cuthbert.  The latter has a bright future ahead of him, and I'd go as far as suggesting it would be hiw own fault if he never gets a Scotland cap.  Best proper defender at this club since Calderwood I think.

The Brighton line-up looks a bit average, probably get a few results at home, pinch a few points away from home in closely contested affairs.  That's not to say we couldn't be one of those results but on paper the team doesn't look a patch on ours.  I'd say our team is on a par with the team we had in the last 4 months of last season, which means it should be a play off/close to auto contender as it is.  There are few signs that we've lost any of our drive, so we should be a better team than the whole of last season averaged out.

I can honestly say I could not tell you anything about any of their players (the ones listed in this thread that is. Obviously I know something about Greer and Brez)..doesn't mean they're no good of course, I just aint heard of them!

Oooh! Sparrow came from Scunthorpe didn't he?

Culverhouse

calderon is decent, as is sparrow, they have nothing up top, murray is fucking useless, unfortunately he is suspended, bennet has a shot on him and a decent cross, elphick is ok at the back but i can see us winning comfortably.

All this confidence if making me nervous about Saturday.  Opening games can always throw up odd results (as we and Norwich know from last season) so I'll be happy with just not losing. 

No it wasn't.

You think I give a shit? lolz

Our defence lacks pace?

Have you seen Lescinel run? Have you seen how fast Amankwaah is?

Do you ever consider what you're about to type?

One possible formation out of the many our versatile players might be used for?

-----------------------Lucas-------------------
------------------------------------------------
---------Cuthbert---Morrison----LJF----------
------------------------------------------------
--Caddis--------------------------------Rose--
-----\/-------------------/\-----------------\/---
---------Prutton------Dougie----Ferry--------
------------\/-----------------------\/---------
------------------------JPM--------------------
-----------------------------------------------
------------------------Austin-----------------

Austin in goal with JPM as some sort of sweeper? Surely that's suicide!

:)

[url width=297 height=221]http://i28.tinypic.com/2j1x1jn.png[/url]

Best to have JPM on the wing.

He's a Brighton fan mate, and was speaking about the bummers back 4

This.

In fairness, he did mention our team as well, b3nny quoted the wrong bit. (or he might not have realised what you pointed out)

Go with

Lucas

Caddis LJF Cuthbert Rose

McGovern Prutton Douglas Ferry Ball

Austin

Subs Smith Amankwaah Morrison Pericard Dossevi Timlin Bodin

Nah. Two strikers at home please. Plus we have done the Big Kev to start discussion to death.

Since he first came here Wilson has pretty rigidly stuck with a 4-4-2. This season it looks like we'll have the squad to make other formations viable so it will be interesting to see what Wilson goes with when he has the choice. I'm hoping we will see something different, with some of those fancy European formations given a go.

before austin signed we were playing 4-5-1 a lot too.

i think we could play this again too.

                 Lucas
Caddis   Cuth   LJF   Rose

JPM   Douglas   Ferry   Ball

              Prutton

               Austin

That wasn't so much through choice, it was forced on Wilson as we didn't have two strikers at the time.

lucas
caddis cuthbert lescinel rose
jpm douglas Prutton Ball
dossevi austin

subs: smith, amankwaah, Morrison, Ferry,Timlin, Obrien, Pericard.

i think we should go three at the back.

seeing ferry on the bench seems a waste of talent.

Lucas
Caddis Cuthbert Rose
Douglas
JPM Ferry Prutton Ball
Dossevi Austin

With that formation, using 2 attacking fullbacks as part of a back 3 and only on centre half, the score would be 7-6 or something! :D It would be an interesting game.

Provided its not 0-5, anything is an improvement on last seasons start!





Although I'm expecting us to win of course.

0-4 then

We have the personnel in place to be able to adapt Spain's formation, and we all know how Danny Wilson admires the 'tika taka' style of football.

Douglas and Prutton can sit in front of the defence, ala Alonso & Busquets, with Ferry in advance of them in the Xavi role.

Austin will act as the David Villa 'spearhead' with Ball supporting him in the Iniesta role coming in from the left, McGovern on the other side ala Pedro.

Ole.

Good shout this. 4-2-3-1

Lucas

Caddis
Cuthbert
Lecs
Rose

Douglas
Ferry

JPM
Prutton
Ball

Austin

I, however, would agree with Mex.

Smith
amankwaah Morrison ? Kennedy
Evans Ferry Timlin O brien
Pericard  Bodin

Not a bad second 11 is it, just one short. I reckon that team would be mid table.

There's no guarantee of goals there, but an alright centre back would make it a team capable of staying in League One for sure.

Isn't Evans a centre Half?

I find the idea of Ferry being second choice doesn't sit right with me. I can't believe we'll be allowing his quality to warm a bench, surely Prutton, Dougie and Ferry will continually rotate as a central 2 or something? I think I'd rather bench Prutton than Ferry if push came to shove. What a dilemma Danny has with those 3 gems.

He played CM against Ciren last week. Looked half decent as well.

I would say to stick with a simple 4-4-2 for the start of the season, there is plenty time to play around for the rest of the season, i would be suprised to see ferry, caddis or dossevi start but for them to play at least some part. The spanish style of 4-2-3-1 is interesting and could definetely be an option for tough away games against the higher placed clubs.

Buzzing for sat!!

Will Evans is a CB by trade.

I think Douglas will get a few more breathers this season..not dropped of course but he did look jaded at the seasons end...his style of play is non stop and some of his defensive work last year was brilliant...also with Prutton and Douglas the bookings will come...so those three gems will be needed.

Agreed.  I think they will rotate a bit - we got quite lucky with very few injuries and suspensions last year but there is no guarantee that will happen again. This gives us great strength in depth.  It also gives us the flexibility to go with a fancy, frilly diamond formation.  We're like Spain, but with cooler accents.

Ooh Aahle!

If you're playing a 3 man defence it needs to be centre backs, ideally with full backs in the wide midfield positions.

We'd get ripped to shreds playing that team and formation.

On a side note, I see on the Brighton website that Gordon Greer has been named club captain. Not surprising really

Yeah, bizarrely there's already a thread on here.

my bad!

Will Evans actually used to play in midfield but we've moved him back to centre half.

Nice little article here where Jonathan Wilson ponders whether 4-2-1-3 is the future of football:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/aug/04/the-question-is-4-2-1-3-the-future

I had previously cited this formation as one we could adopt.

surely that's 4-2-3-1? like barca, Arsenal, Chels et al

What's the difference in practice between 4-2-1-3 and 4-2-3-1?

Doesn't it just depend on where the wingers are standing when you look?

I'd love to see us giving it a go as we've got the players to do it and could rip other teams up that are behind the times. But unfortunately I can't see Wilson risking it, he'll most likely stick with the 4-4-2 that worked well last season.

Very much so.  I think part of our problem in this country is our obsession with formations based on lines.  Watching Spain in the World Cup, their fluidity meant it was often difficult to tell what formation they were playing.  In fact, it would be fair to say that they had four at the back, two sitting midfielders, and then four further forward.  Unpredictability and flexibility are the antithesis of the rigid 4-4-2, 4-3-3 arguments.

The good news is that with the sqaud we now have we can play so many different formations and at the drop of a hat as well. A lot will depend on Wilson's ability to out think the opposition manager and change a game. I'm not sure this is one of his finer skills but he has assembled a bloody good squad. 

You've got to be very careful asking players of somewhat limited ability to play sexy football. Without wishing to be derogatory to our boys, they are playing in the third tier of English football for a reason.

Ardiles turned us into a sexy football machine, but he did have 2 up front, and 4 at the back.

Hoddle had us playing something sexy, but it relied on him as the libero, and he was probably the most gifted English player of his generation.

The availabilty of a raft of substitutes provides opportunity, to alter formation within a game, and hence why a decent bench is important.

We can put out a decent 18 man set up...without injuries etc.

Anyone else starting to get more than a little excited about saturday?  :nod:

I didn't realise Glenn Murray was out as well, Although he's not prolific, he's certainly their main goalscorer, so it's brilliant news for us.

4-2-3-1 is a possession-based formation. You need to have, and keep the ball, to play it. At our level - and in so much of English football 442 works because you get given the ball back so you can attack again, lose it, fight to get it again and start over. With 4-2-3-1 you have to be able to give the ball to anyone and expect them to lay off a pass and be ready to  get it back again and again. And as much as I admire Douglas, he isn't Busquets and O'Brien certainly isn't David Villa.

I'm struggling to get excited about Saturday to be honest, it's probably the disappointment of Wembley and the World Cup still lingering over me, but i'm sure as soon as I leave to go to the game I will forget all about that.

Wilson has put together a great squad over the summer and we're already looking stronger than last year imo, just a centre back and left winger short of being complete really.

As much as I would like to see Dossevi, Ferry & Caddis start I think they will all be on the bench and we will go with the same team that started vs Forest, but with Charlie in for Dossevi.

How great is it to have the luxury of leaving players of that quality out of the side though? It won't be long before Dossevi and Caddis are first choice, but I do think Ferry will have to play second fiddle to Douglas & Prutton.

What's a bummers back four?   Squirting on?

Lucas
Caddis Cuthbert LJF Rose
Douglas
Prutton Ferry
McGovern
Austin Dossevi

4-4-2 with a diamond midfield would do nicely imo.

Strangely in spite of Wembley Im really optimistic about this season - Im hoping we can make the kind of start we made when we won this division under Steve McMahon and set a bit of an early pace ... Brighton will be a toughie to begin with but at least Greer and Brez wont be there to stop us (suspension and injury!)

Bit off topic - anyone know what time the ticket office closes?

5pm normally

Well for those of you who would like to know a little more about the Brighton team.

We'll line up 4-5-1/4-3-3:

---------------Ankergren---------------
Calderon - Elphick - El-Abd - Painter
-----------------Navarro----------------
-------Kishishev------Sparrow--------
Bennett--------------------------Smith
-----------------Barnes-----------------

Ankergren: You know as much as me as we only signed him today. Has been a regular at Leeds for the past few years but certainly has his faults. Probabily a solid enough L1 keeper though.

Calderon: We would argue he's the best right back in the league. He was captain of his second tier Spanish side before Gus signed him last season. Excellent defender and also loves to get forward.

Elphick: Young but reasonably experienced center back. Excelled in the past next to the experienced Guy Butters but has struggled a bit in recent years without a more senior partner. Greer will be the perfect partner for him but he'll be with El-Abd today.

El-Abd: Another local lad. In the past he's had a tendency to make the odd massive fuck up with a short back pass etc but he really stepped up a level last season and removed them from his game. Formed a decent partnership with Elphick at the back end of last season.

Painter: Very solid left back we signed from Swansea. Won promotion from this league with the Swans and massively improved our defence when he signed last season.

Navarro: Breaks up play and keeps the ball moving. Reads the game very well and an intelligent passer of the ball.

Kishishev: Made his name with Charlton in the Premier League. 35 now but has looked superb in pre-season. Hopefully that translates into the league.

Sparrow: Former Scunthorpe captain, scored twice in their play-off final a couple of years back. Excellent midfielder at this level.

Bennett: Excellent winger who chips in with a number of goals and assists.

Smith: Left Wing is our problem area and it was supposed to be LuaLua but that hasn’t happened. Smith is a young lad, technically good and had a great game against Aberdeen last week.

Barnes: Scored 4 goals in 8 games on loan to us last season before signing this summer. Works hard and has a good touch. Still some doubts as to whether he’s really a top striker at this level though.

Our defence was very solid at the end of last season although Elphick/El-Abd still have a few question marks over them. If they continue as they left off they’ll do great but who knows. Midfield is excellent bar the gapping problem on the left and still question marks over Barnes. Although we’re not reliant on Barnes for goals as the midfield can help out too.

Less question marks over your side so I’d have you as slight favourites but if we continue as we finished last season, we’ll keep the ball well and be pretty solid. We’ll be relying on a moment of magic to get a goal though. If we play well I think we’ll nick it 1-0 but if our question mark players get exposed I can see you winning by a couple of goals. Hard to call, it’ll be interesting that’s for sure.

Not enough firepower to worry our defence...Sparrow is a good player but surely would be better on the wing!
Wont be easy but fancy us to win by the odd goal.

Nice write up Seagull. As I said before, I honestly don't know much about your current squad but I imagine you'll come out and have a bit of a go and won't just sit back and defend. That should suit us and make it a decent game as well. I like the way our squad has shaped up over the summer and I can see us just knicking this one.

Lucas

Amankwaah Cuthbert Lescinel Rose
McGovern Douglas Prutton Ball
Dossevi Austin


S: Morrison, Caddis, Ferry, Timlin, O'Brien, Peri Peri, Smith

Was there any intention of a pun there Leefer?

Starting XI....

Smith, Amankwah, LJF, Cuthbert, Rose, JPM, Douglas, Prutton, Ball, Dossevi Austin