Views from the Sieve

ARNU wrote:Shouldn't be starting if he (Howells) is unfit. He did nothing yesterday night and was awful Saturday. He's not gonna be slimmer of the month by next Tuesday either. This is another of those Johny hoof signings that don't work. Makes me nostalgic about Kevin maher this one.

Literally played two games?

He's been dreadful, but give the guy a chance!

If he's that unfit though I'd be getting him in the behind closed doors games and picking Ling if he's fit for now.

Ling is also injured. i think its very impressive with all the injuries where we find ourselves right now.

Hang on a minute though, we had fitter better players on the bench last night, or were they even less fit? I doubt it.

ARNU wrote:Hang on a minute though, we had fitter better players on the bench last night, or were they even less fit? I doubt it.

Not who can play in that position other than the young lad and after Saturday Howells was the better option. Count the midfielders/attacking midfielders we have out and you can easily see why were struggling in that position.

What was most worrying, regardless of formation and chosen players, was the amount of needless give aways, especially in the first half. Although Bromley played well most of their breaks and counter attacks were off the back of lazy passing or aimless hoofs. The decision making when in possession can be embarrassing to watch.

Is it a case of the players feeling the pressure of being in a title race?

We shouldn't be moaning about anything when sat 2nd in the table, but last night was dreadful to watch.

Maybe Still has signed Howells without the intention of integrating him into the first team immediately. No different to Hawkins last season. However this time injuries and Whitely being a muppet has forced his hand into starting him.

May not be ready now but I wouldn't write him off completely just yet. Players tend to grow into a squad, strange concept I know.

Regardless of the poor performance last night and how well any individual did or didn't play we got 3 points!
Many comments about Shepard and yes he didn't have a good game and neither did most of the team but after watching his goal again on the highlights on YouTube you have to admit that his goal was a cracker and has to be a candidate for goal of the month, if a premier league player had scored that Gary Lineker would be drooling over it, one thing that does puzzle me though is how did they get 1 minute 7 seconds of highlights in the second half?

Mark wrote:
Thought Benson also helped as he moves more than Hawkins and has a bit more nous.

Benson was excellent. Hawkins was struggling for most of that 2nd half but Benson really came on and took the fight to them. His awareness is excellent and that's one aspect Ollie needs to work on a bit. Think Benno could have a key role during the run in. He's not really been properly fit all season but he's looking more like his old self now and we're undoubtedly going to need players who have been there and done it as the season draws to a close. Him and Guttridge will be vital over the last 10 games or so.

leewilson wrote:

Mark wrote:
Thought Benson also helped as he moves more than Hawkins and has a bit more nous.

Benson was excellent. Hawkins was struggling for most of that 2nd half but Benson really came on and took the fight to them. His awareness is excellent and that's one aspect Ollie needs to work on a bit. Think Benno could have a key role during the run in. He's not really been properly fit all season but he's looking more like his old self now and we're undoubtedly going to need players who have been there and done it as the season draws to a close. Him and Guttridge will be vital over the last 10 games or so.

I find it amazing how Hawkins is incapable of winning a header, for a boy of his height his timing is dreadful. Constantly leaning back in to a centre half and ending up on the deck is no way to go. I don't expect him to dominate centre halves, but it seems like he's rooted to the floor at times. Within seconds of him coming on last night Benno had won a couple of flick ons and we were up and running.
How Hawkins was motm last night beggars belief.

stanton101 wrote:

leewilson wrote:

Mark wrote:
Thought Benson also helped as he moves more than Hawkins and has a bit more nous.

Benson was excellent. Hawkins was struggling for most of that 2nd half but Benson really came on and took the fight to them. His awareness is excellent and that's one aspect Ollie needs to work on a bit. Think Benno could have a key role during the run in. He's not really been properly fit all season but he's looking more like his old self now and we're undoubtedly going to need players who have been there and done it as the season draws to a close. Him and Guttridge will be vital over the last 10 games or so.

I find it amazing how Hawkins is incapable of winning a header, for a boy of his height his timing is dreadful. Constantly leaning back in to a centre half and ending up on the deck is no way to go. I don't expect him to dominate centre halves, but it seems like he's rooted to the floor at times. Within seconds of him coming on last night Benno had won a couple of flick ons and we were up and running.
How Hawkins was motm last night beggars belief.

Last two games have been much harder for Hawkins because usually he can win flick ons for Guttridge and Whitely who are more attack minded players, but recently he's been a bit isolated up there. He might not have had his best game, but he is a great target man with superb work rate.

Have a look at the highlights from our last few games a goal in a few came from Hawkins flick ons. Too much moaning on here were second lap it up folks.

Diggerthedog wrote:Have a look at the highlights from our last few games a goal in a few came from Hawkins flick ons. Too much moaning on here were second lap it up folks.

Yeah ******** tell me about it.. the level of moaning on here paired with the absolute morgue like atmosphere at homes would have you believe we were enduring another relegation scrap. Quite absurd!!

Diggerthedog wrote:Have a look at the highlights from our last few games a goal in a few came from Hawkins flick ons. Too much moaning on here were second lap it up folks.

Mercifully that's all it is "highlights"
Put the other 80 odd minutes together and you'll see what I mean.
This constant leaning back in to a centre half only leads to a free kick to the opposition or a towering header from a centre half back in to our half of the pitch.
At one point last night I actually thought he was grazing!

stanton101 wrote:

Diggerthedog wrote:Have a look at the highlights from our last few games a goal in a few came from Hawkins flick ons. Too much moaning on here were second lap it up folks.

Mercifully that's all it is "highlights"
Put the other 80 odd minutes together and you'll see what I mean.
This constant leaning back in to a centre half only leads to a free kick to the opposition or a towering header from a centre half back in to our half of the pitch.
At one point last night I actually thought he was grazing!

Let's be honest, if he scored 10 goals a game you'd still find something to moan about with him - you'd written him off before the season and can't satnd that you were so wrong.
He isn't going to challenge for every header, let alone win every one - no player does. Part of having a target man is having players around him to pick up the ball. Guttridge is pretty good at it, but when he isn't playing there's much less around Hawkins.
If you watched every one of our players for 90 minutes you'd find they all spent a fair bit of time not doing everything we'd like them to do.