Dumbarton V Morton

[gmfc23]

Back on league duty this saturday and hopefully another 3 points from a team just below us in the table a win moves us clear while defeat would close the gap with them having a game in hand.

 

 

Gaston

 

Kilday

Gasparotto

O'Ware

Russell

 

Barr

Miller

Forbes

Pepper

 

Scullion

 

Samuel

 

Morton to win it 2-1

[Rampage Nu Sport]

If we're guessing who Duffy will pick - then something like the above, except Johnstone in for Scullion, and possibly McCluskey in preference to Barr?

 

If we're stating who we'd like to see play, I'd drop Kilday and put Pepper in at RB with McCluskey at RM, and I'd still have Johnstone ahead of Scullion - actually thought he looked a better player on Tuesday after he got his goal, and hopefully that's the monkey off his back.

 

I'm assuming Lamie's out, by the way, as I'd have him ahead of O'Ware otherwise.

[Madton]

When we play teams who are on a poor run of form, we usually hand them the 3 points so that needs to change.

 

No point in guessing which 11 Duffy will put out and their positions as its practically impossible to get it right, but we know it will be 4-4-2 at least.

 

If we want to be comfortably mid table/possible 4th place challenge, we need to win this one and I think we will.

[shaddypeekey]

I think we'll horse them. 4  -1 after going one down. Get your mortgage on it!

[GiGi]

Gaston, Gasparotto, Tidser and Samuel. Spine of the team, work from there.

[BluebirdTon]

We're in the temporary stand behind the goal for this one. 

 

It's uncovered.

[IainMorton]

Why not play a sort of 3-5-2 formation, have three central defenders (Kilday, Luca, O' Ware) , three in midfield (Tidser, Miller, Forbes) and have Pepper and Russell play as wing backs. Means we are solid at the back and in midfield, and can also play with two strikers. Pepper and Russell certainly have the ability to play in that role, so why not?! Would be harsh on guys like Barr and McCluskey as I dunno where they would fit into that system, but they haven't really been effective recently.

 

I really need to stop playing FM so much... 

[vikingTON]

Because wing-backs are actually a specialised position that you can't just chuck players into on a whim.

 

Because playing with three centre-backs is a pointless exercise, especially when opponents regularly play with one striker with multiple players attacking from deep positions.

 

Because playing with two strikers isn't actually a priority, given how piss-poor our goalscoring record has been with that approach. Better service to one competent striker with sufficient support is key.

 

It's almost as all three of the above point to playing full-backs, two centre/backs and an extra midfielder in a 4-5-1.

[SpoonTon]

Why not play a sort of 3-5-2 formation, have three central defenders (Kilday, Luca, O' Ware) , three in midfield (Tidser, Miller, Forbes) and have Pepper and Russell play as wing backs. Means we are solid at the back and in midfield, and can also play with two strikers. Pepper and Russell certainly have the ability to play in that role, so why not?! Would be harsh on guys like Barr and McCluskey as I dunno where they would fit into that system, but they haven't really been effective recently.

 

I really need to stop playing FM so much...

Quite simply I think that a back 4 with a holding midfield player offers similar benefits but is a better, more flexible, system.

[Rampage Nu Sport]

Two genuine questions going through my mind:

 

1.  Are our current "problems" (not actually sure they are as big as perhaps being made out) caused by the system (ie we should be 4-5-1 to accommodate both Tidser and Forbes) or by the fact that we haven't quite managed to get the strike force sorted out.  Will finally getting someone to be a pest in the box like Samuel alongside Johnstone be a better solution than dropping a striker?

2.  Would we be better with Pepper at RB, RM or CM?  Personally I favour dropping Kilday and playing Pepper at RB, which still allows you to have a team with roles for Barr, McCluskey and/or Sabajo, and leaves Miller at CM wherehes been OK.  But we'll never know because I doubt Kilday will ever get dropped?

 

Actually a third:  will Duffy ever learn how ti make decent subs?

[Madton]

Two genuine questions going through my mind:

 

1.  Are our current "problems" (not actually sure they are as big as perhaps being made out) caused by the system (ie we should be 4-5-1 to accommodate both Tidser and Forbes) or by the fact that we haven't quite managed to get the strike force sorted out.  Will finally getting someone to be a pest in the box like Samuel alongside Johnstone be a better solution than dropping a striker?

2.  Would we be better with Pepper at RB, RM or CM?  Personally I favour dropping Kilday and playing Pepper at RB, which still allows you to have a team with roles for Barr, McCluskey and/or Sabajo, and leaves Miller at CM wherehes been OK.  But we'll never know because I doubt Kilday will ever get dropped?

 

Actually a third:  will Duffy ever learn how ti make decent subs?

 

The issue i have with Duffy is that he is not willing to change his system, regardless of who we are playing. I don't mind 442 especially if we have Samuel and Denny available and are playing a beatable team.  However if we are short up top, don't just stick McCluskey up there for the sake of it and if we are playing Rangers/St Johnstone/Hibs etc, change it so we are not over run in midfield. We have the players to play a variety of different formations, but he is simply not interested in changing things. He would rather play players out of position and stick with 442 which infuriates me.

 

It must be very easy for opposition managers to work us out as its always the same formation and tactics with only a few personnel changes.

[EanieMeany]

The issue i have with Duffy is that he is not willing to change his system, regardless of who we are playing. I don't mind 442 especially if we have Samuel and Denny available and are playing a beatable team.  However if we are short up top, don't just stick McCluskey up there for the sake of it and if we are playing Rangers/St Johnstone/Hibs etc, change it so we are not over run in midfield. We have the players to play a variety of different formations, but he is simply not interested in changing things. He would rather play players out of position and stick with 442 which infuriates me.

 

It must be very easy for opposition managers to work us out as its always the same formation and tactics with only a few personnel changes.

 

To be honest, I think this maybe over-complicates the issue a bit - it seems to me that Duffy simply isn't remotely capable of doing anything else rather than any sort of stubborness as is the case with some managers (I'm thinking of Gordon Strachan here). He doesn't appear capable of properly organising a bog-standard 4-4-2, so the prospect of him trying to deal with something a bit more nuanced isn't exactly inspiring.

 

On the subject of having players to play in a variety of systems, I'd disagree with that too. We simply don't have the midfielders to play with just two in the middle; you mention playing with two forwards against teams we're expected to beat, but to date we've only won against Livingston and Alloa (with the two wins against the latter by a single goal), so it's quite clear that that system isn't working particularly well in those situations either.

 

It's quite remarkable how (relatively) unanimous it is on here that we should be playing some variant of a 4-5-1; usually there's almost as many opinions as there are posters on how we should play, so the fact that it's so broadly accepted that that is the way to go makes it even more incredulous that Duffy keeps failing to do so.

 

Guys like Duffy are dinosaurs that found their natural places in the modern game at clubs like Clyde. We're going nowhere until we realise what every other full-time club in the country did over a decade ago and punt him right back to that level.

[Madton]

To be honest, I think this maybe over-complicates the issue a bit - it seems to me that Duffy simply isn't remotely capable of doing anything else rather than any sort of stubborness as is the case with some managers (I'm thinking of Gordon Strachan here). He doesn't appear capable of properly organising a bog-standard 4-4-2, so the prospect of him trying to deal with something a bit more nuanced isn't exactly inspiring.

 

On the subject of having players to play in a variety of systems, I'd disagree with that too. We simply don't have the midfielders to play with just two in the middle; you mention playing with two forwards against teams we're expected to beat, but to date we've only won against Livingston and Alloa (with the two wins against the latter by a single goal), so it's quite clear that that system isn't working particularly well in those situations either.

 

It's quite remarkable how (relatively) unanimous it is on here that we should be playing some variant of a 4-5-1; usually there's almost as many opinions as there are posters on how we should play, so the fact that it's so broadly accepted that that is the way to go makes it even more incredulous that Duffy keeps failing to do so.

 

Guys like Duffy are dinosaurs that found their natural places in the modern game at clubs like Clyde. We're going nowhere until we realise what every other full-time club in the country did over a decade ago and punt him right back to that level.

 

I wouldn't quite go as far as saying we don't have the players for a midfield 2 as we have matched just about every team in this league apart from Rangers and are sitting mid table, but i think most agree that some sort of 451 would be more beneficial and could see us picking up more points moving forward.

[garymcc1874]

We haven't matched them though..

[Ed de Ball]

All of this paper pseudo team manager guff is pretty meaningless without some assessment of how Dumbarton will set themselves up and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

[Flyerton]

We're in the temporary stand behind the goal for this one. 

 

It's uncovered.

 

P!shing the first half of Saturday but dry / sunny by kick off.

[TRVMP]

All of this paper pseudo team manager guff is pretty meaningless without some assessment of how Dumbarton will set themselves up and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Not really. Jim always plays 4-4-2 regardless of opposition and bases individual instruction around that, so it's fine for others to select the formation they feel best accommodates our players. In the meantime you've been asked on numerous occasions how nullifying the opposition determined our lineup against, say, Alloa, and you've yet to provide a post of substance in response.

 

Face facts: for whatever reason, you don't like people questioning Duffy, and anything you come out with is just a rationalization of that point.

[dunning1874]

We haven't matched them though..

 

Indeed. There's a big difference between competing closely for 92 minutes out of 95 and being gallant losers at the end of games, and actually competing in terms of effectiveness as a team and ability to pick up results.

 

I'm aware that I'm sounding like a broken record in banging on about our inability to beat sides other than Alloa & Livingston, but in the nine games we've played against sides other than them we've won four points: that's a desperately low return that will guarantee being in the bottom two if we fail to improve on it throughout the season. Clearly something has to change if we're to start taking more points, and the system is the obvious thing to change.

[EanieMeany]

The outcome of Duffy's "analysis" of other teams is a bit like the drinks machine on the Heart of Gold spaceship.

 

One for the 80's sci-fi fans, there.

[Ed de Ball]

.

Not really. Jim always plays 4-4-2 regardless of opposition and bases individual instruction around that, so it's fine for others to select the formation they feel best accommodates our players. In the meantime you've been asked on numerous occasions how nullifying the opposition determined our lineup against, say, Alloa, and you've yet to provide a post of substance in response.

Face facts: for whatever reason, you don't like people questioning Duffy, and anything you come out with is just a rationalization of that point.

Not really! Well that's a new one on me, wonder if Pep Guardiola has heard of it? Never mind who we are playing, just go on an Internet website, download a 4-3-3 template and fill some names in without any regard to what the opposition is going to put up.

 

This ain't fantasy football it's actually about eleven blokes v eleven blokes,of various shapes sizes, abilities etc on a surface, in weather conditions.. I have no problems with people advocating changes in our system, tactics etc but mostly the cosy cabal here are simply blinded by their dislike of JD. If it's about giving advice to JD it might help if the cosy cabal stopped talking out of their arses and did a decent sort of analysis with a game plan etc instead of this endless juvenile whining.