Positives & Negatives

[GBJ]

What are your positives and negatives so far this season?

Positives;

- The football being played is brilliant to watch & a complete contrast to the last few seasons. I applaud what Sturrock did, but the entertainment factor was missing from his style of football, whereas so far it's been very enjoyable to watch free-flowing, quick, passing football. To me the feel-good factor has come back & I'm actually looking forward to going to games instead of seeing it as a chore. Please keep it up Brown.

- The return of Eastwood. If he stays fit he will score 20-25 this season. Easy.

- The team look confident & committed. Something that had been missing over the last few years IMO.

Negatives;

- The strength in depth. Some of the youngsters seem to be out of their depth at the moment. Feels like we need a bit of experience in the middle. Obviously, financial woes have probably hindered this.

- Goal scoring. Fred had been excellent in my eyes, but he's not a 1-man-team, and unless we can start keeping clean sheets, we need more goals to see us over the line.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I'll add the emergence of a fit and fully functioning Ryan Leonard into the positives. I know he came in as a Sturrock player but this young man is proving a very valuable and versatile asset under Brown.

I'd also say the improvement in Straker's performance on the left wing, I know yesterday was a let down, but on the whole, he's been a revelation.

The injuries are a huge negative - Phillips needed to have a healthy season with the lack of depth, and the serious injuries to Bennett and Laird are both massive factors, without which we'd have Bennett available for the defence and Laird shoring up in midfield and playing his part in helping defend set pieces (where I think he's quite under-rated).

 

[Harry Bullocks]

+ ; The on-going, brilliant adventures of Chocolate Orange, Ryan Leonard, Freddy finding his goal scoring boots again and actually playing football.:excellent:

- ; I get this is a forum etc, etc...but why oh why do we always need to have a "scapegoat of the month" competition almost without fail throughout the season????

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

Good thread.

Positives:

-Eastwood back to his 2005 best.

-Leonard's form and fitness. Like a new signing.

-The Coker/Straker partnership on the left.

-We haven't conceded a goal from open play yet.

-Better football than under Sturrock. Brown has won the fans over early on which he needed to.

Negatives:

-Defending from set-pieces appears to be a weakness.

-Early long-term injuries to Laird and Bennett, plus more injury problems for Phillips.

-Linked to that, the lack of depth in defence.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Positives

- I'd go as far as saying Freddy now looks better than ever! Looking as sharp in front of goal as he was in 2005 but also a much harder worker, which we didn't always get before.

- The improvement of Ryan Leonard and Anthony Straker have been like new signings.

- The general play is very good. Entertaining and very easy on the eye. Even coming away from a defeat now, I'm encouraged by our performance.

- The general youthfulness of Phil Brown's signings. I think most, myself included where expecting the Northern journeymen looking for that one last payday before retirement, but it's been the complete opposite.

Negatives

- Set piece defending

- Strength in depth. With no Laird or Phillips in the side, we've started shipping goals.

 

[Jam_Man]

Freddy Eastwood without a doubt.

Plus the improvement in the style.

No real negatives. Yes the defending in the last 2 games on set pieces has been disappointing, but on the other hand we havent conceded a goal from open play.

 

[Shrimper2thecore]

I'd add getting Dan Bentley a new contract to the positives.

 

[WightShrimper]

+ ; The on-going, brilliant adventures of Chocolate Orange, Ryan Leonard, Freddy finding his goal scoring boots again and actually playing football.:excellent:

- ; I get this is a forum etc, etc...but why oh why do we always need to have a "scapegoat of the month" competition almost without fail throughout the season????

Because it's the British way......we never say 'Had a great holiday, the sun shone for six of the seven days we were away', we always say'Bloody rained on the day we arrived'. I think it's some sort of mental defence thing whereby we never want to be totally satisfied because then things can only get worse; this way we can always look for another improvement. It's just a shame for whoever gets the short straw this month!

 

[Shrimpersfan]

I'd add getting Dan Bentley a new contract to the positives.

great shout

 

[wally4pm]

Positive should include work starting on new ground within another 5 years. :winking:

 

[Swiss Tony]

Really enjoying the football this season,just hope we get some reward for it,settle for play-offs,the negative for me is that away kit,bloody awful imo.

 

[chelmo]

the only down side is we cant defend from set plays YET but im sure that will be sorted out this week other wise im enjoying the football this year

 

[sjw1968]

Another Positive for me is Coker - like his commitment and gets forward.

 

[SU BLUE]

I just wonder with our defensive injuries were we a little premature in releasing Chris Barker?
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