With our defence we can afford to be

[ablueclaret]

BRAVER.

[Enola Gay]

BRAVER.

Not sure we have the quality in attack for that yet.

[TheFamilyCat]

Not sure we have the quality in attack for that yet.

Doesn't matter about quality, just be brave.

Play 4-1-5 (the 1 being Tarka/ Tarks/ Tarki-Baby, obviously), shout "TALLY-HO!" a lot and don't let any of the front 5 ever leave the opposition half.

[ablueclaret]

SD has retreated into the bunker mentality, thinking outside the box has been lost, to have such an awful away record without trying something different is appalling management.

[taio]

I know I am doing now, but please don't reply to this troll - didn't provoke the response he wanted from his first post so ups the ante with a follow-up

[ablueclaret]

How can I possibly be a troll when I have been saying the same thing all season, SD has many qualities but thinking outside the framework just is beyond him.

[minnieclaret]

I know I am doing now, but please don't reply to this troll - didn't provoke the response he wanted from his first post so ups the ante with a follow-up

Absolutely nothing troll like with the OP. Has a grain of truth to it as well. We could free up our MF a bit more and trust the back 4.

[cricketfieldclarets]

We have to try something different. For all of our hard work and close games we have still yielded the same points away in the second half of the season as we did the first. One.

It goes back to Coyles days though. We were poor away even then. Worse to be fair.

[Enola Gay]

According to a stat given out at the weekend we're currently giving up enough chances for Heaton to have faced more shots than any other keeper in the League this season, and that's with a pretty pragmatic style of play that prioritises the midfield being able to get back more than it gets forward.

Given that we don't keep the ball especially well in either midfield or attack, I'm not sure we can afford to get 'braver' until we've improved the personnel in front of the back four by quite a bit.

[CombatClaret]

So because we're not getting turned over 4-0 we should throw more men forward?

If you design a plane which flies you don't add a nice conservatory because 'Hey it flies now and it always will, so aerodynamics be damned'.

[CnBtruntru]

BRAVER.

Bravo and why are you shouting?

And you only need to wait for Saturday for our first away win and a big one, I can see another hat trick

[ablueclaret]

What is it we lack when it comes to away matches, power, pace and a little inventiveness, now Defour can provide some of those ingredients and Tarka most of them, neither are really framework players both bring risk, but the tried and tested players and model have not worked. Yes you can go on trying the same way in the hope that one day all will come well but the more prudent way must be to experiment with options that get two of your best players into the side.
At times SD is very straight-jacketed, I understand why he takes that approach but there was a brief point this season when he became a bit experimental and we benefitted from that.
Perhaps we are past the point of no return now and no matter how we do, the system is set in stone but for me he is missing a trick and we could easily fall away and experiment come to late.Sunday was for me the time to experiment instead he chose the safety first option which served the purpose of preventing a humiliating defeat but experiment as it turned out might have brought victory.
SD for me has always been a frustrating manager, organisational genius married with Neolithic tactical nous, a very strange combination, sometimes I hanker after a little more fragility if it goes hand in hand with skill and excitement.
I believe there is a better side within this squad which has yet to be given its head and that includes Defour and Tarka in midfield roles.