Francis - what's up with him?

[Southend_Lady]

He was terrible at Bristol Rovers but hes not a left back... he was much better last night and although I would love their to be more competition I've no worries about him... he will get back to his best!!!

My question is when will the idiots at the back of the West stop telling screaming at him to mark Beckford on the touchline when the balls over the other side of the pitch???

These people clearly know nothing about defending!!! When they play is spread to that side the defence moves with it - he should not be hugging the touchline with Beckford and leaving a hole in our defence...

You want someone marking him then its Grant you should have been screaming at!!!

He was getting done by beckford every time though and when the ball was near, he wasn't marking anywhere near tight enough and he was giving him far too much space. On another night we'd have been punished for that.

I think people are getting the wrong end of the stick here. I'm not a Francis hater and I've no intention of gettin on his back, I was just intrigued to see what others thought about him and then gave my opinion. I'm sure most people including me, are behind him but he certainly needs to step it up a gear. Playing his best for 50-60 mins isn't enough. He has no reason to not be match fit so it would be nice to see him give a bit more on Saturday. Saying all this though, and like I said earlier, its hard for him to be motivated into playing out his skin when he has no one competing for his place.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

He was terrible at Bristol Rovers but hes not a left back... he was much better last night and although I would love their to be more competition I've no worries about him... he will get back to his best!!!

My question is when will the idiots at the back of the West stop telling screaming at him to mark Beckford on the touchline when the balls over the other side of the pitch???

These people clearly know nothing about defending!!! When they play is spread to that side the defence moves with it - he should not be hugging the touchline with Beckford and leaving a hole in our defence...

You want someone marking him then its Grant you should have been screaming at!!!

One of the main complaints about Hunt as well.

 

[ShrimplyTheBest]

He was getting done by beckford every time though and when the ball was near, he wasn't marking anywhere near tight enough and he was giving him far too much space. On another night we'd have been punished for that.

The point is he is not supposed to be marking him... this is what people don't seem to understand! lol. If he followed him he would have been out of position and left a hole in the middle which is exactly what Leeds were trying to do all night! At what point did Beckford ever worry us?! When he got the ball Franno dealt with him well enough... hes far from on top of his game but hes a top player - don't worry I've no doubt he will be back to his best in the not so distant future :)

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

The point is he is not supposed to be marking him... this is what people don't seem to understand! lol. If he followed him he would have been out of position and left a hole in the middle which is exactly what Leeds were trying to do all night! At what point did Beckford ever worry us?! When he got the ball Franno dealt with him well enough... hes far from on top of his game but hes a top player - don't worry I've no doubt he will be back to his best in the not so distant future :)

ShrimplyTheBest is completely right. You DO NOT mark a player whose hugging the touchline when the ball is the otherside of the pitch.

What would happen if he did......Any ball played down the left middle side Beckford would of had the advantage and been one on one with the keeper had he got past Francis.

Anyone who was moaning at Francis for not marking him clearly havnt got a shred of tactical defending knowledge.

 

[DTS]

Few things I would add here.

1) I think he was decent until he switched to left back which in fairness was for the good of the team. He is OK on his left foot but I would question why we dont have any one better to go to left back.

2) I thought he was decent last night. His attacking was pretty decent and we won a couple of corners when we didnt have the right too. Poor form needs to be played through and dropping him is not the answer IMHO especially when we have no-one else.

3) If the play is over the other side of the field the right back job is to tuck in and cover the immediate danger (the centre). He only goes back to right back if the play switches sides in my book. At least as someone who has played right back a fair bit that was what I was always told.

 

[dashman]

Few things I would add here.

1) I think he was decent until he switched to left back which in fairness was for the good of the team. He is OK on his left foot but I would question why we dont have any one better to go to left back.

2) I thought he was decent last night. His attacking was pretty decent and we won a couple of corners when we didnt have the right too. Poor form needs to be played through and dropping him is not the answer IMHO especially when we have no-one else.

3) If the play is over the other side of the field the right back job is to tuck in and cover the immediate danger (the centre). He only goes back to right back if the play switches sides in my book. At least as someone who has played right back a fair bit that was what I was always told.

Spot on!

:clap:

 

[Scottish_Shrimpers]

I think its a confidence problem.

haha no chance! hes just plain lazy.. he knows he will be starting no matter what because sankofa is just as bad as him...

im fed up of watching francis buddle his way through a WHOLE 90 mins... his lack of keeping tight to his man his beyond the point of ridiculous.. admittedly i missed leeds game but going on the rest of the seson so far hes been dire... he needs to be dropped and taught a lesson that he should nowhere near be a first tea regular unless he bucks up his ideas and gets anywhere near the form he was in at the tail end of last season. i say getanthong grant playing right back, hes proved he can do more than a job at playing full back!

 

[Scottish_Shrimpers]

ShrimplyTheBest is completely right. You DO NOT mark a player whose hugging the touchline when the ball is the otherside of the pitch.

What would happen if he did......Any ball played down the left middle side Beckford would of had the advantage and been one on one with the keeper had he got past Francis.

Anyone who was moaning at Francis for not marking him clearly havnt got a shred of tactical defending knowledge.

agreed! but he doesnt mark his man in the penalty box, and when he does mark hes very rarely goal side anyway!!!

the thing that really got to me, and this was clearly seen at bristol last saturday, think it was the 3rd goal.. but it was his fault, the whole lead up came from his side, he was the one that let his man go.. and he has the audacity to start shouting and blaming the rest of the backline for his mistake... thats shocking teamwork.. if you make a mistake he should put his hand up, go sorry lads... but he never does... its always someone elses fault!

 

[ShrimplyTheBest]

Few things I would add here.

1) I think he was decent until he switched to left back which in fairness was for the good of the team. He is OK on his left foot but I would question why we dont have any one better to go to left back.

2) I thought he was decent last night. His attacking was pretty decent and we won a couple of corners when we didnt have the right too. Poor form needs to be played through and dropping him is not the answer IMHO especially when we have no-one else.

3) If the play is over the other side of the field the right back job is to tuck in and cover the immediate danger (the centre). He only goes back to right back if the play switches sides in my book. At least as someone who has played right back a fair bit that was what I was always told.

Well said as always Dave... went to give you some positive rep but apparently I can't give you anymore! lol. Why are you always right???

 

[graysblue]

i fuly understand why full backs want to remain central as opposed to getting tight on their man,yet at times both FBs simply do not cover their wing.

against leeds there was an incredibly large distance between FB and oppo,any flighted ball over the top and the FB will be skinned.

of course maybe others should drop in to assist.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

The guys is just going through the motions , his body language is of can't be bothered mode , he rarely busts a gut at getting back goal side and tuesday night was no exception .

Yes he was better than in previous weeks , but thats not hard now is it .

Agreed you do not go out and mark the winger/ forward who is hugging the touchline , but what yuo do do is try and stay in line with the other 3 of your defenders , he is honestly 3 yards off the pace all the time .

Did anyone see when Clarke bollocked him big style mid way through the 2nd half , it was toatlly justified as clarke could sense that Francis was never in line with him , a job of the full backs is to cover round your CB's when cross field balls are coming over , something Harding does brilliantly , and Francis never does .

Until he gets serious competition for his place he will continue to go through the motions and be a liability IMO

 

[Southend_Lady]

The guys is just going through the motions , his body language is of can't be bothered mode , he rarely busts a gut at getting back goal side and tuesday night was no exception .

Yes he was better than in previous weeks , but thats not hard now is it .

Agreed you do not go out and mark the winger/ forward who is hugging the touchline , but what yuo do do is try and stay in line with the other 3 of your defenders , he is honestly 3 yards off the pace all the time .

Did anyone see when Clarke bollocked him big style mid way through the 2nd half , it was toatlly justified as clarke could sense that Francis was never in line with him , a job of the full backs is to cover round your CB's when cross field balls are coming over , something Harding does brilliantly , and Francis never does .

Until he gets serious competition for his place he will continue to go through the motions and be a liability IMO

Yep - exactly my points too. Get some competition in pronto. I only he hope he doesn't make some outrageous error on Saturday, then we will see what people think!

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Yep - exactly my points too. Get some competition in pronto. I only he hope he doesn't make some outrageous error on Saturday, then we will see what people think!

We had some competition for Francis, and they let him go to Wycombe. And I DON'T mean Matt Harrold.

 

[Southend_Lady]

We had some competition for Francis, and they let him go to Wycombe. And I DON'T mean Matt Harrold.

Lewis hunt as competition? You have to be kidding.

Perhaps competing for most shocking performances.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Lewis hunt as competition? You have to be kidding.

Perhaps competing for most shocking performances.

Well he was getting picked ahead of Francis quite often - and it seemed to give Francis the kick up the arse that he needed.

 

[Kris]

Hunt was underrated. He may not have had the dynamism of Francis going forward but defensively he was superior.

 

[ShrimplyTheBest]

Lewis hunt as competition? You have to be kidding.

Perhaps competing for most shocking performances.

Are you trying to wind people up?! Lewis Hunt was a solid player... and if he was here now he would undoubtably be in the side if Franno wasn't performing. Sankofa is miles behind Hunt which is why Tilly doesn't trust him to be thrown in even if Franno has had a bad game.

What was wrong with Lewis... did he not mark players on the touchline either?! lol.

 

[Southend_Lady]

Are you trying to wind people up?! Lewis Hunt was a solid player... and if he was here now he would undoubtably be in the side if Franno wasn't performing. Sankofa is miles behind Hunt which is why Tilly doesn't trust him to be thrown in even if Franno has had a bad game.

What was wrong with Lewis... did he not mark players on the touchline either?! lol.

Don't get me wrong, I thought Lewis Hunt was a good utility player - nothing more. Silly point even mentioning Hunt really as he isn't around now so it's a moot point. So to say that Sankofa is miles behind Hunt aswell - not applicable.

All Francis needs is some real competition and I think it would help bring him back to his best. A kick up the ar*e and a bit of motivation and no doubt he will be back to playing well.

As for you comment about marking players on the touchline - I never said that he shouldv'e been doing exactly that, he just gave Beckford far too much space and didn't hassle him enough. My main point of the thread was to talk competition and that he has been off form. Yet I see this turning into a Hunt appreciation thread which is ridiculous.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

My main point of the thread was to talk competition and that he has been off form. Yet I see this turning into a Hunt appreciation thread which is ridiculous.

There's nothing ridiculous about appreciating a player who filled in capably at numerous positions where we find ourselves very thin on the ground at the moment, and who seemed to keep Mr Francis on his toes.

 

[Southend_Lady]

There's nothing ridiculous about appreciating a player who filled in capably at numerous positions where we find ourselves very thin on the ground at the moment, and who seemed to keep Mr Francis on his toes.

Fair point about keeping him on his toes, my argument is that we need someone like this - hope he will come in the January window.