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Your early impression of the new signings



Twinkle Toes

Growing old disgracefully
Apr 4, 2008
11,138
Hoveside
..I do a mean pakistani/welsh geordie accent though.

Nice, Mr B. I'm prob's being exceedingly fick here, but I'm having problems pinpointing the exact character you'll (obviously) be taking off to a tee. Any chance of giving me a lil' clue?
 




dougdeep

New member
May 9, 2004
37,732
SUNNY SEAFORD
I can do a Geordie John Wayne. :wave:
 




Gonzo

New member
Apr 7, 2007
932
Big Dick looks a good acquisition for me. I was very surprised when RS brought him off, but that could well have been fitness related. Big, strong, nice touch, and not afraid to shoot or run with the ball. I can see him hitting form and terrorising League 1 defenses this season.

Mark Wright looked good once he gained a bit of confidence. First half he was poor, often losing the ball and looking a bit off the pace. Second half, he looked a different player, running with the ball and trying tricks.

Jake Wright seemed a bit nervous and reluctant to take players on. Defensively looked solid enough.

I thought Navarro looked poor. Very vocal, but gave the ball away countless times in the middle, sometimes nearly costing us dear. I'm sure in time, his touch and fitness will improve, hopefully sooner rather than later.

All in all, despite the defeat, I'm not too downhearted about the result. I'm pretty confident that we can make a push for the Play Offs this season, providing we play like we did second half, 2 strikers. Forster proved that he still has a big part to play, the bloke just oozes class. Once our new signings have settled in, I'm sure we can make a good go of things this season.
 


kjgood

Well-known member
We looked like

Exactly what we are, a new group of players who introduced themselves to each other in the huddle before the game.

It will take time but there was in the second half, a bit of a come back in which we could have won the game, if we had scored halfway through the second half.

The first half really looked as though both teams had forgotton that pre season had ended and that there was actually points at stake.

Wright J for me looked nervous and slightly out of his depth in the first half, but it was the first game in a big step up for him and he didnt have a lot of cover in front of him, he improved slightly in the second half.

Center halves looked in control for most of the game, center midfield looked unfit and a bit disjointed to be honest, cox did well enough without doing anything special, dickinson well i'm yet to be convinced, at times he looked to have pace but at others looked lazy and a bit lightweight for a big guy, looked far better when forster came on and played off him.

Wright on the wing will be good when he gets match fit and a bit of confidence.

Disappointed we lost, but considering the number of players you would expect to start that didnt, in the second half we did enough to show we'll be at least a middle table side. We just didnt look fit in my eyes, must do better on tuesday or we'll get tanked.
 








warsaw

She's lost control
Jan 28, 2008
910
Thought all the new lads did OK for their first competitive outing, this team is potentially way better than last year's with a strong subs bench to give us options. For 25 minutes in the 2nd half I actually ENJOYED our football.

But I am concerned about Elphick and Virgs, not their defending which was fine yesterday, but their distribution from the back. Gotta say that neither are great passers of the ball and I get well nervous when they are passing it around the back. Maybe this is where Tunnicliffe may have an edge if he gets in the team.
 




The Large One

Who's Next?
Jul 7, 2003
52,343
97.2FM
But I am concerned about Elphick and Virgs, not their defending which was fine yesterday, but their distribution from the back. Gotta say that neither are great passers of the ball and I get well nervous when they are passing it around the back. Maybe this is where Tunnicliffe may have an edge if he gets in the team.

There was a fair whack of that, but in their (partial) defence, there was, especially in the first half, an over-cluttered, not-sure-what-to-do, midfield in front of them.

In the second half, where Walsall offered little, some composure on the ball would have been nice.
 


Icy Gull

Back on the rollercoaster
Jul 5, 2003
72,015
For 25 minutes in the 2nd half I actually ENJOYED our football.

Maybe this is where Tunnicliffe may have an edge if he gets in the team.

All I ask is that we don't get into a relegation scrap and that we play decent football, so it's good to hear from a few that some of the football in the 2nd half was good. We have played shit football for far too long now.

Is it not more a case of WHEN rather than IF for Tunnicliffe, given we paid decent money for him and he comes highly rated?
 


warsaw

She's lost control
Jan 28, 2008
910
There was a fair whack of that, but in their (partial) defence, there was, especially in the first half, an over-cluttered, not-sure-what-to-do, midfield in front of them.

Yeah in the first half they had few options. The midfield were dropping short to try to take passes from Elphick and Virgo but always with Walsall midfield up their respective asses. Result, no space. So they could either a) hoof it and crowd moans or b) pass it sideways and crowd moans. No wonder they seemed nervous.
 




The Large One

Who's Next?
Jul 7, 2003
52,343
97.2FM
Yeah in the first half they had few options. The midfield were dropping short to try to take passes from Elphick and Virgo but always with Walsall midfield up their respective asses. Result, no space. So they could either a) hoof it and crowd moans or b) pass it sideways and crowd moans. No wonder they seemed nervous.

The moaning regarding the point you make in your part b got on my wick.

'Get it forward, get it f***ing forward...' was the D Block moan. Fine, if we're 2-0 down with five minutes to go, and add a bit of urgency. I'd prefer 'keep possession', cos it's usually the best way to score.
 


warsaw

She's lost control
Jan 28, 2008
910
The moaning regarding the point you make in your part b got on my wick.

'Get it forward, get it f***ing forward...' was the D Block moan. Fine, if we're 2-0 down with five minutes to go, and add a bit of urgency. I'd prefer 'keep possession', cos it's usually the best way to score.

Nail on head. I seemed to be surrounded by idiots who demanded to get the ball forward when faced with a sea of 11 defenders and then bollocked Elphick and Virgo when they hoofed it. Never played the game I guess or missing some brain cells.
 


Silent Bob

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Dec 6, 2004
22,172
Does anyone on here who is slagging off the midfield yesterday and saying why pick them over Dicker actually remember what people were saying about Dicker after his first couple of games last season. He took a few games to come good as will all the new players probably.
Yes, but most people have said that he was poor with the caveat that he didn't seem to be fit. The difference I suppose is that when we brought Dicker in we didn't have an at least equally good player on the bench, I was very surprised Slade not only left him out but didn't bring him on at any point, since the dysfunctional midfield performance was the reason we lost the game.
 




BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
Having only seen Tunnicliffe against Crawley I am not really ina position to say he should or shouldnt be in the side but I thought in that game he didnt look to be as good as either Elphick or Virgo except of course for his very long throw. I know that I formed the opinion that Dickenson was poor in the air but this was reiterated yesterday although in fairness he was a lot better in the 2nd half on the ground than I had expected. I can see him having a good partnership with Forster, as NF reputation and ability draws players out of the middle and thus will allow Dickenson room to move. My major concern yesterday was that we still do not appear to have overcome the need for an attacking midfielder who can pass the ball through the centre of their defence to our strikers.
 






Brighton Breezy

New member
Jul 5, 2003
19,439
Sussex
Dickinson. Not that good.
Crofts. Anonymous.
Thornhill. Some nice touches but packed out of the congested midfield.
Mark Wright. Looked decent. Need to give him the ball in more dangerous areas.
Jake Wright. Not great but not terrible.
Navarro. Some will say calming influence. Some will say a bit off the pace and not very mobile. I will reserve judgement until he gets up to full fitness.
 




Behind Enemy Lines

Well-known member
Jul 18, 2003
4,844
London
I think Slade will have learned a lot from Saturday. It confirmed what I said last week about not playing one, lone striker at home. You simply must play 2 strikers against a poor side which Walsall are.

The formation was all the more baffling as after packing the midfield we then proceeded to play the long ball with Crofts and Thornhill running around like the proverbial headless chickens. Dickinson hardly had a kick. As a result we were dreadful in the first half. The second was better although the lack of chances created was disappointing. Apart from Forster's header, we never looked like scoring. But it's VERY early days, we're still re-building and already there are glimpses we'll play some nice stuff.

My overall verdict on the new boys was they did ok. Lots more to come from them and only an idiot would write them off after one game, yet obviously it only took a few minutes for that to happen.

Jake Wright, made a slightly nervous start but once settled down got forward well and looks like a footballer.

Mark Wright - quick and skilful, looks like a decent signing.

Crofts - had a very quiet debut.

Navarro - shocked at the critcism he's already received on here, we know he's not match fit but again looks like a player and made one great pass. I predict he'll turn out to be a key signing.

Dickinson - looked fast and lively in the second half. needs a goal.

I was surprised Dicker was left out. He'd be in my starting 11.
 


Couldn't Be Hyypia

We've come a long long way together
NSC Patron
Nov 12, 2006
15,994
Near Dorchester, Dorset
Agree with all of that Sneaky George. The shame is that we lost to a team that didn't have a legitimate shot on target. If we could have sneaked a win - and we easily could have with that performance - then a lot of the pressure would have been of the team. We'd be saying "need more time to gel, but lots of promise". The fact that we got no points is somewhat colouring the "despair or awesome and nothing in between" posters view of this.
 


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