We were poor last night against a very workmanlike, yet average Barrow side. Anybody who seems to think that just because we have won 2 on the bounce then everything is rosy, I'm sorry but you don't have a clue what you are talking about. The problems were there for all to see last night.
James Lawrie, as much as I like him, is not a winger. No matter which wing he was on he kept getting drawn inside, losing the ball and then being out of position. Didn't think he was terrible last night but we need to play him in a more central role upfront.
Kyle Perry played well last night, and as Jamie says we get drawn into playing long ball football when he is upfront. Against a big and physical barrow side I wouldn't expect anything else, and I think the manager got that call spot on. Walshaw and Lawrie would have been manhandled out of the game and we wouldnt have had the breaks we did without the bigman upfront. It's what we were crying out for last year in certain games and now we've got it. I don't expect he will start upfront every game.
We certainly miss the energy of Simon Richman in our midfield and he brings such a sense of balance to the side that you can see the problems we've had without him. I would have thought that he would start games on the right of midfield, then, as we saw last year, with about 30 minutes left he will be moved inside and Smikle will be brought on to give us the fresh, pacy attacking threat we know he has. Without Richman we have had nobody to play on the right so a half fit Smikle with no real pre-season has had to start.
Our back four were superb last night and I think having Havern and the left-footed Williams at CB works an absolute treat. They look so balanced and natural. However, with so many games at the start of the season I would expect to see a combination of Havern-Leather with Williams at left back at least 1 game in 3 so that Matty and Nicky don't pick up niggles and knocks so early in the season.
No, of course we haven't played particularly well, but at least we have won. Our only problem is that nobody in the midfield seems to know where each other are or what they are supposed to be doing. That will come with time especially when you have 2 new players starting there and somebody playing out of position.
Sorry for the length of the post, but I don;t understand how anybody can think there's nothing to moan about because we've won, and also how people that are quite knowledgeable about football are saying we're woeful because of the circumstances we are in.
Anyway, onwards to Saturday and here's to another 3 points. COME ON YOU REDS!