I agree , I think we expect and demand too much from Robertson. Whyte shouldn’t be in the squad and Devlin is still gaining experience. Personally I’d like to see Lane on the right, Scully on the left and Kamara in the 10 role.
Whyte is like this year's Dale, a player the manager persists with but never delivers. Dale was a headless chicken but at least he put in a shift.
(31-12-2023, 10:30 AM)Gerry Hatrick Wrote: [ -> ]Whyte is like this year's Dale, a player the manager persists with but never delivers. Dale was a headless chicken but at least he put in a shift.
can't disagree with that. A player who we really wanted to do well as he put in the effort.
Whyte is a funny one for me... He did well coming off the bench vs Bolton and Fleetwood Town, creating chances and injecting some much needed pace into the team.
Then he got a starting spot vs Bristol Rovers by dropping Lane. I must say before the game I was looking forward to someone offering us the same as we have on the other side via Kamara. But for the whole game he kept drifting inside leaving Sparks on the left on his own, and a great big whole beyond him on the left hand side that Lane would normally fill. That someone on the other team would have to defend leaving more space in the middle of the park to find those through balls.
We are all trying to find someone too blame for our slip in form.... And for me dropping Yengi when he was showing great form was the biggest mistake, compounded by then leaving him on the bench till 8mins to go!.
We also don't seem to have a back-up plan for when 11 men just say we ant going to press you, we are just going to sit as Exeter did..... All we did is went long, we looked devoid of ideas in ways to break them down.
I think Whyte drifting in is a big problem if we persist in playing him wide, unless Raffs can get up and overlap onto a pass from Whyte. To me he always looks much more comfortable in the middle, so why not try him at number ten, at least he will have fresh legs.
Devlin does not look ready for more than a subs role as yet.
Against teams who funnel back we should shift to the old way, run at them, make them tackle and pick up cards. Don't let Morrell take the free kick if he is going to pass back to the keeper! Play like Oxford used to at the Manor gorund and as we used to attacking the Fratton End. and tell all the wingers to stop cutting in and narrowing the pitch, round the outside and stretch the parked bus that way.
Mix for once I agree with you. Whyte is not a winger or even a traditional wide player, he’s more of an old fashioned inside right, which is why I’d like to see him retrained/ coached into playing the number 10 role and play Lane and Scully on the wings.
I think many of us forget how many new faces we added to the squad over the summer, and because we have flown this season. If you don't hit the ground running when you are given a starting spot and the game goes badly, like the last few it's easy to point the finger.
Anyway who wants to win the league before 20th April!.... It would be boring to win it before then so we have to keep it interesting.
Lets hope 2024 is our Year!.
Hope you all enjoy.
So if we could win it on the last day, which opponent and manager would we most like to snatch it away from? As we did with Argyle and Adams!
(31-12-2023, 05:22 PM)Hammie Wrote: [ -> ]So if we could win it on the last day, which opponent and manager would we most like to snatch it away from? As we did with Argyle and Adams!
Don’t know, don’t care, I just want us to start playing like we did when Bishop was injured again
Has he touched the ball yet?
Only going on radio and News reports, but once more he seems to have failed to influence a game.
Sees time to find him a move up north so we can bring in someone who does not appear depressed to be here.
Is Mousinho's persistence with Whyte to be his undoing. (As with Cowley, Dale and Scarlett.) He had Saydee and Devlin available today.
I could understand not wanting to push Saydee too hard today, presumable his face must sting at least a bit, that was a really nasty moment.
Devlin is going to need rebuilding from the disastrous cup performance. But he looks to have the attitude that we Pompey types expect.
Going on his last outing for us, there wasn’t any rebuilding to do, he instantly injected a life into the team. Still young but Devlin shows promise.
Whyte did nothing wrong yesterday every thing he did was tidy. Put that ball in that rafferty knocked back and should have scored from also had a shoot blocked. I understand saying stuff on other games but he did ok yesterday.
Pack and bishop both missed sitters and Shaughnessy got caught at the back but let’s forget that and go at Whyte again!!
I think Whyte has more in him. A settled position would be good. I didn’t think he did anything wrong, he just needed to do more. He went largely unnoticed, which is sometimes a good sign. I’d like to notice him a lot for the things he does right (and he is capable).
Interesting to see some positive comments about Whyte, I can only go on the radio commentary.
Right now we could do with a couple of midweek cup games to play him at ten and see if he can do it.
Difficult, as chopping and changing is no good for players as we saw with Cowley once things started falling apart.
But will our fans stick with Whyte if he is given a run at ten?
(07-01-2024, 11:17 AM)Hammie Wrote: [ -> ]Interesting to see some positive comments about Whyte, I can only go on the radio commentary.
Right now we could do with a couple of midweek cup games to play him at ten and see if he can do it.
Difficult, as chopping and changing is no good for players as we saw with Cowley once things started falling apart.
But will our fans stick with Whyte if he is given a run at ten?
Thing is I’m not sure he’s a winger or a 10 personally think him and scully were brought in to play 433 and play narrow to bishop
(06-01-2024, 08:41 PM)TBP Wrote: [ -> ]Is Mousinho's persistence with Whyte to be his undoing. (As with Cowley, Dale and Scarlett.) He had Saydee and Devlin available today.
He's hardly persisted with Whyte ... he hasn't started many games (less than half of them) and was left out of the squad altogether in most of October & November. He has been patient with him and knows there is a decent player somewhere in there, we just need to encourage him to get the best out of him. In his home appearances recently he has shown glimmers of improvement.
In a recent interview JM used the words 'having issues' in relation to Whyte so I suspect there is some off field problem with him. It may just be that he has had problems adjusting to the move down here, but IMO he looks a bit depressed when we see him, and that is a bigger problem in the game than most think.
I agree. If you look at the footage after he supplied the cross for Yengi (v Bolton i think?) he doesn't look pleased / excited just down-in-the-mouth as we used to say. If he/family are unhappy down here then there is probably no chance of things improving and he will leave end of season. It happens, but he does need to put in a shift when called upon this season.
(07-01-2024, 01:20 PM)DeepBlue Wrote: [ -> ] (06-01-2024, 08:41 PM)TBP Wrote: [ -> ]Is Mousinho's persistence with Whyte to be his undoing. (As with Cowley, Dale and Scarlett.) He had Saydee and Devlin available today.
He's hardly persisted with Whyte ... he hasn't started many games (less than half of them) and was left out of the squad altogether in most of October & November. He has been patient with him and knows there is a decent player somewhere in there, we just need to encourage him to get the best out of him. In his home appearances recently he has shown glimmers of improvement.
In a recent interview JM used the words 'having issues' in relation to Whyte so I suspect there is some off field problem with him. It may just be that he has had problems adjusting to the move down here, but IMO he looks a bit depressed when we see him, and that is a bigger problem in the game than most think.
Persisted isn't necessarily playing every game, it can be continuing to bring him back when he never seems to deliver. A depressed player is hardly an ideal addition to the team.
We need to offload him asap. Probably not going to happen in January but he needs the old heave-ho in the summer
(07-01-2024, 04:39 PM)bluetagagain Wrote: [ -> ]We need to offload him asap. Probably not going to happen in January but he needs the old heave-ho in the summer
It's 2024 ... clubs can't give players the heave-ho if they are under contract, which Whyte is till Summer 2026.