Both Rafferty and Lowery back in contention, apparently. Even if they don't start, our bench looks immensely stronger.
If Rafferty does start, it begs the question of how to accommodate Conner Ogilvie. He is a must start, for me. He offers a tremendous amount down that left side and I wouldn't worry about him replacing anyone because he is the complete player. He is staunch in defence and he can put crosses into dangerous areas. I would love to see him overlap with Koroma. Options to go inside and down the flank. It would frighten the living daylights out of Charlton's right hand side.
Hopefully, Dale will be back to his best, after a rather lame performance against Fleetwood. If Rafferty is there to support him then it should take the pressure off him to defend as much.
Looking forward to this one. We need to get back to winning ways.
Ogilvie can also score. I’d put him left back, put Raggers with Robertson and leave Morrison on the bench.
If Rafferty plays then I would be very surprised if Ogilive wasn’t at left back. Until Rafferty injury Ogilive probably was one of the first names on the team sheet. If Rafferty is not fit which is probably the case I would be very surprised if Cowley still plays Ogilive at right back when it is obvious to anyone it really upset the balance of the team. For me when fit I would go Rafferty Raggett Robinson Ogilive for my back 4.
Which of the other defenders are naturally right footed?
The obvious solution would be to put one of them at right back, or one of the right footed midfielders even?
Charlton are a bogey side so will take a point and we move on
I seem to be in a minority but I think Ogilvie has done OK at right back .... I can't remember any bad mistakes that he has made.
It's not ideal and it does upset the balance of the team going forward but I don't think it has been the disaster everyone is assuming just because the results have not been as good - there are other reasons for that too.
And Robertson has been pretty good at left back too, but I'm not surprised at that because he is a class player.
Yes, we will be better when they are both back to their normal positions, but neither has let the side down playing out of position.
(16-10-2022, 06:20 PM)scumslayer Wrote: [ -> ]Charlton are a bogey side so will take a point and we move on
Agreed. Charlton have won 5 out of the last 7 meetings between us. Only suffering one defeat and one draw. Plus they have an excellent home record this season.
With our defence we are likely to conceed at least one tomorrow. This team don't do clean sheets.
(16-10-2022, 08:24 AM)Cunninglinguist Wrote: [ -> ]Both Rafferty and Lowery back in contention, apparently. Even if they don't start, our bench looks immensely stronger.
If Rafferty does start, it begs the question of how to accommodate Conner Ogilvie. He is a must start, for me. He offers a tremendous amount down that left side and I wouldn't worry about him replacing anyone because he is the complete player. He is staunch in defence and he can put crosses into dangerous areas. I would love to see him overlap with Koroma. Options to go inside and down the flank. It would frighten the living daylights out of Charlton's right hand side.
Hopefully, Dale will be back to his best, after a rather lame performance against Fleetwood. If Rafferty is there to support him then it should take the pressure off him to defend as much.
Looking forward to this one. We need to get back to winning ways.
That's what I read as well from the D.C. interview. But to me the news that Jacobs looks fit again is just as important after a mystery muscular problem which has to be carefully managed. We appeared to miss him greatly against Fleetwood as we tried 3 different dead ball kickers& they were all pretty useless. He may only play 45 minutes but can do enough to put us in the driving seat + he scores goals from open play as well.
Jacobs, on song, is great to watch but he's too inconsistent. I'd prefer Koroma's pace or Curtis's aggression.
I'm not so sure we can't do without Robertson or Morrison. I'd be happy for either to be benched.
The sooner we get last season's successful partnership of Raggett & Robertson back together the better. Morrison was signed as backup, and vastly experienced backup at that, but can't be expected to play as much as he has had to at his age without some cracks showing.
There cannot be many better back fours in the division than Rafferty,Raggett,Robertson & Ogilvie.
(16-10-2022, 07:48 PM)DeepBlue Wrote: [ -> ]The sooner we get last season's successful partnership of Raggett & Robertson back together the better. Morrison was signed as backup, and vastly experienced backup at that, but can't be expected to play as much as he has had to at his age without some cracks showing.
There cannot be many better back fours in the division than Rafferty,Raggett,Robertson & Ogilvie.
"There cannot be many better back fours in the division than Rafferty,Raggett,Robertson & Ogilvie"
Yes there are. At least 7 l1 teams with a better defence than us that will show come May.
(16-10-2022, 07:48 PM)DeepBlue Wrote: [ -> ]The sooner we get last season's successful partnership of Raggett & Robertson back together the better. Morrison was signed as backup, and vastly experienced backup at that, but can't be expected to play as much as he has had to at his age without some cracks showing.
There cannot be many better back fours in the division than Rafferty,Raggett,Robertson & Ogilvie.
I haven't noticed any particular cracks in Morrisons play and he's only 34. Hardly advanced in years. He might struggle in the top two flights but it's only league one.
Responsible for several goals last three games
Could say the same about Ogilvie, Raggett and Robertson but it's a team game and when they don't get enough support using 442, there's always a danger.