Slough Town v Folkestone Invicta: MATCH THREAD

[budman13]

I still feel he does alright for a player playing out of position. How many times did Haddow play out of position. I think it's unfair to always compare the two. Michael Murphy played in the position Woody is playing in and the few times Haddow did I don't remember him being brilliant.

[Ian]

I wasn't comparing Woody with Haddow, Budman. Several people commented, correctly, that he wasn't the best defender in the world but suggested he offered us something going forward. Personally, I don't think he does and was just using Haddow as a comparison of how many decent crosses we now get, i.e. very few.

 

Alex played out of position at Eastleigh, as an out and out left back, which is why they never got the best out of him like we did.

[GarySTFC]

Whilst Woody let himself down on Saturday, I'm sure he'll be fully aware of this and there has been some over-reaction on here to a stupid sending off. Now, I'm not the greatest Woody fan as I don't like players who backchat, particularly to officials, but he does add some much needed pace into our back line and does offer us a useful outlet going forwards down the left.

 

As with Haddow, I think Woody is more suited to a wing back role, but was disappointed with his work rate on Saturday and his desire to chase back when he'd lost the ball. Seemed quite happy to trot back and let Leigh Mason cover for him.

 

On that note, being as though its not been mentioned on here, thought Leigh had a good game on Saturday. Solid, if unspectacular, but slowly returning to form despite playing out of position. As with Carbon though, Mason is proving his versatility and desire to play for the team by getting on with it and trying to do a job for the team without moaning about it.

[Ian]

Not sure it's over reaction, Gaz. Just a combination of criticism that has been due for some time.

 

I very rarely criticise players on here except where they let themselves down. Woodruffe could be a much better player than he is showing for us.

[Reading Rebel]

Here lies a problem that Eddie knows we have and has tried unsuccessfully to solve this season.

 

We have two full backs who most people accept are not the best defenders mainly because they are not conventional full backs who see their job as man marking and stopping the ball from being crossed into the box.

 

They like to get forward and when the move breaks down are seen struggling to get back.

 

On the surface you would say they look better going forward so lets stick them in mid-field wide left/right and capitalise on their attacking capabilities but as most people will know playing in midfield requires a completely different skill/mindset, you've got to have the energy/mobility to get up and down the pitch.

 

I think trying to turn this type of defender into an attacking midfielder very rarely works.

[Guest]

One would think he'd been sent of several times this season the way he's been slated on this thread.

[A Rebel and a Saint]

i thought woody looked very bright during the first part of the season playing left wing back, but never seemed to properly recover from a spell on the sidelines when mccleary was playing down the left. think he is a good player but he can be a little slow to retreat when needed, but he has been slicing it out a lot too playing in his new left back position.

[Matt]

Quote:

Reading Rebel said:
Here lies a problem that Eddie knows we have and has tried unsuccessfully to solve this season.

We have two full backs who most people accept are not the best defenders mainly because they are not conventional full backs who see their job as man marking and stopping the ball from being crossed into the box.

They like to get forward and when the move breaks down are seen struggling to get back.

Makes me wonder why Slough haven't played 3-5-2 more often recently, with Daly, Avery and Steele in the centre and Carbon and Woodruffe as wing-backs.

Steele might not be an out-and-out centre-half, but he's done very well there on more than one occasion.

[A Rebel and a Saint]

agreed matt, thats what i would like to see us try again, it may put less defensive pressure on woody and allow carbon to return to his natural attacking position. would also allow mason to return to his natural central position, possibly alongside wilko/alexis and harris.

[Martin]

I don't think the fact that the majority of the posters on here stood down the touchline on Saturday has helped Woody's cause. It was obvious to everyone that he was not calming down and he was going to get sent off. Even if he was somehow provoked that does not provide an excuse for the first booking which was mindless.

 

The other thing that stood out for me was his lack of committment to some challenges and I don't like that.

 

I don't know where his best position would be really and I think that is part of the problem. He is pacy though and that is something we sorely lack.

 

But at the end of the day it doesn't matter because the others put in an excellent battling performance without him. We were helped by the fact that Folestone were woeful on the day.

 

Clearly for next season Eddie has to work on the defence. Just a quick glance at the for and against column shows why we have struggled. As an attacking unit we are not far off the top teams but have conceded too many goals.

[Reading Rebel]

Steele is definately not a centre half and I don't think Eddie has ever played him as one.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but when Steele first came to the club Eddie played 5 at the back with Avery and Steele along side Daly.

 

Then Eddie decided to push Carbon forward leaving a flat back four with Steele virtually playing at right back.

 

Then after a number of games where Steele's lack of pace made him vulnerable to being attacked on the outside, he was dropped and Carbon brought back into his normal right back position.

 

Now Steele is back in his more natural position alongside Daly he has looked more comfortable and has played exceptionally well.

[Crazy Fool]

Thought Steele was outstanding. suprised he had been dropped recently. Mason was far better in the second half.

Now for Woody. I am not his biggest fan, In fact I call him 'end of break'. BUT. Most of our players back chat, Hodges is always doing it. OK woody lost it, It was stupid, but I'm sure If hodgie had done that there would not be half of the gumpf on here. He made a mistake, and something obviously got to him. Getting on his back about it will not make it, or him any better.

As far as saturday goes, I went to watch a Slough Team picked, and run By eddie. End of.

[budman13]

Quote:

Ian said:

Alex played out of position at Eastleigh, as an out and out left back, which is why they never got the best out of him like we did.

My point exactly. Woody is exactly the same. If he had a run of games on the left side of midfield, I'm sure we'd see a completely different player.

[Reading Rebel]

I wasn't surprised that Steele was dropped, I've been saying for a few weeks now that imo his form had declined.

 

I do agree that saying Woody shouldn't play for us again is a tad over the top and if say Hodgey, Chopper or Daly had done it we wouldn't be saying the same things.

[Guest]

Yeah I agree

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

Hodgey Chopper and Daly have been 100% committed for between 150-300 games though, and therin lies the difference, woody has played what? 30?35? Im guessing thats where the difference lies, i think if this was Woody's 3rd season for us, it would be a different matter, also disagree about Steele think hes been very solid.

[Martin]

It seems pretty clear to me that Chopper, Hodgey and Daly would NEVER get sent off for two bookings for dissent in the space of about twenty minutes. That level of indiscipline is disgraceful. Woody is lucky that we still claimed all three points otherwise I think the criticism would be much worse. But for as long as he remains a Slough player we should get behind him when he plays and try to keep the justifiable criticism to a minimum.

[Guest]

I agree with you Martin lets get behind all the players and concentrate on Friday's game now. Afterall look at Jarvis he must hold the record in the Ryman league for being sent off, now that is a liability !!!!

 

 

Sue