Hunt in

[Clyde1998]

Two points to raise when it comes to our start to the season.

First of all, based on the league position of the sides everyone has played, we've had the seventh hardest start and are grouped among sides who've had relatively slow starts compared to expectations (Peterborough; Blackpool; Plymouth; Rotherham).

Also of note is how of the five sides who've played the lowest position teams, four are in the top seven - might stick a couple of quid on Exeter to get relegated. May also consider Wimbledon to be a bit of a dark horse too at this early stage.

League One sides by average of current position of teams played ranked by 'ease' (first eight matches)
An asterisk (*) by the position indicates a game in hand

1. Exeter (16th) - 17.13
2. Stevenage (4th*) - 16.29
3. Barnsley (3rd*) - 16.14
4. Cardiff (1st*) - 15.29
5. Lincoln (7th) - 14.88
6. Mansfield (13th) - 13.75
7. Bolton (12th) - 13.25
8. Wigan (8th) - 12.75
9. Doncaster (5th) - 12.75
10. Port Vale (20th) - 12.63
11. Leyton Orient (14th) - 12.63
12. Bradford (2nd) - 12.38
13. Luton (9th*) - 12.14
14. Huddersfield (6th) - 12.00
15. Stockport (10th) - 11.88
16. Wycombe (19th) - 11.88
17. Blackpool (23th*) - 11.86
18. Reading (21st*) - 11.14
19. Northampton (15th*) - 10.57
20. Burton (22nd**) - 10.33
21. Plymouth (18th) - 9.88
22. Rotherham (17th*) - 9.57
23. Wimbledon (11th) - 9.13
24. Peterborough (24th) - 8.00

Our league games:

1. Lincoln (7th) - Lost
2. Huddersfield (6th) - Lost
3. Wimbledon (11th) - Lost
4. Bolton (12th) - Drawn
5. Wycombe (19th) - Drawn
6. Port Vale (20th) - Won
7. Barnsley (3rd) - Lost

One concern is adding in the next eight league games would put us as having the hardest sixteen match start (on top of having the second hardest next eight matches):

League One sides by average of current position of teams played ranked by 'ease' (first sixteen matches)
An asterisk (*) by the position indicates a game in hand; figure in brackets indicates average position of next eight opponents

1. Mansfield (13th) - 15.13 (16.50)
2. Stevenage (4th*) - 14.60 (13.13)
3. Barnsley (3rd*) - 14.40 (12.88)
4. Exeter (16th) - 14.00 (10.88)
5. Cardiff (1st*) - 13.87 (12.63)
6. Wigan (8th) - 13.81 (14.88)
7. Stockport (10th) - 13.69 (15.50)
8. Wimbledon (11th) - 13.31 (17.50)
9. Lincoln (7th) - 13.19 (11.50)
10. Bolton (12th) - 12.88 (12.50)
11. Doncaster (5th) - 12.75 (12.75)
12. Huddersfield (6th) - 12.63 (13.25)
13. Wycombe (19th) - 12.19 (12.50)
14. Bradford (2nd) - 12.13 (11.88)
15. Leyton Orient (14th) - 12.00 (11.38)
16. Port Vale (20th) - 12.00 (11.38)
17. Northampton (15th*) - 11.53 (12.38)
18. Plymouth (18th*) - 11.31 (12.75)
19. Burton (22nd**) - 11.14 (11.75)
20. Luton (9th*) - 11.00 (10.00)
21. Peterborough (24th) - 10.81 (13.63)
22. Blackpool (23th*) - 10.67 (9.63)
23. Rotherham (17th*) - 10.53 (11.38)
24. Reading (21st*) - 10.40 (9.75)

One point to consider is we play sides who may be in elevated positions compared to their actual ability based on the sides they've started the season playing, notably Stevenage and Doncaster at the end of that run, so the run could well be easier than these figures make out.

Second: I think the club have failed to properly replace a key figure who left in the summer - Nigel Gibbs. Not only is he a defensive specialist coach, he'd've been providing much needed experience to a very inexperienced coaching set up at the club.

Scott Marshall doesn't have anywhere near the same level of experience in first team football and likely isn't as good a coach as Nigel Gibbs (at this stage) based on the clubs the two have been at in recent years (Swindon; Charlton; Colchester vs Portsmouth; Tottenham; Asteras Tripolis).

What we're seeing defensively may be similar to the situation we saw when Steven Reid left the club at the start of the 2017-18 season in levels of impact.

[Snowflake Royal]

Bold 1: There was a great interview with Ruben about his tactical and coaching 'vision' and, based on that interview, that first line really isn't true. He adapted, sure, but he clearly explained the continuity and how the 'new' tactics kept the essential parts of his approach.

It's here: https://learning.coachesvoice.com/cv/ru ... s-reading/

So we arrived at a point in the season where we said: “We have the PPDA, the high-pressure statistics and all the transitions we need. We just need to make some adjustments to allow us to win.”

First, to be more compact. Second, more aggressive on the second ball, probably with extra players in that situation and at the same time. Sometimes the first pressure is not about winning the ball in the first, second or third movement. It is about modifying the kick from the goalkeeper or from the centre-back.

As soon as we identified those things and changed to a 4-3-3, we ended up having two or three players in the press. But now our back four and the three midfielders were always in place to win the second action.


There's a bit where he admits his initial plan just couldn't work in League 1.

That didn’t work, though, because of the specifics of League One, among some other factors.

Formations are always in line with principles and the idea, which in this case was to be a high-pressing, energetic team that could make quick transitions to attack. What we found was that there were some teams against whom we could not apply high pressure.

It is a remarkable interview, very open and very reflective.

Bold 2: Ain't that the truth! I can't think of anything worse right now. We've just recycled the whole squad. A new manager keeps us up and then we do it all over again.

So yeah, Hunt in. Because (a) we all know we had a tough start (b) it should improve as the team work together more and (c) cutting and running now would be a disaster.

He changed his tactical approach while maintaining his philosophical approach. He created a more compact team by playing a higher line with three forwards to harry the opposition when they were in possession. Pressing in this way not only increases the opportunity to win the ball back high, but also limits the time players have to get their heads up and find a pass. The issue i have with Noel is that i don’t know what it is he is trying to do. It might be me, but I feel confused as to what we are trying to do when in possession.

Its not just you....

It is confusing...

Someone asked a very pertinent question on here somewhere, which was, "what kind of goals are we looking to score?"

Wing wonder goals, gifts from goalies, & worldies aren't sustainable....

I see this a lot, but to me, I think Hunt's aim is much the same as last year.

He wants his wide players to mix up getting in behind and crossing low across the face of the goal, and cutting inside to shoot or cross high to the opposite winger/midfielder at the far post.

He wants to use Wing's ability to pick up the ball from defence and feed the wide players, or the forward players often going straight back to front to get at a defence before its set in depth.

And when a defence is set in deprh, he wants us to probe around the edges to enable one of our many players who can strike from range to find some space try a screamer.

We've had the most joy with the later so far. Crossing to the far post has tended to be overhit and poor. But there's been several good chances from the lower crosses that just haven't come off.... a couple for MOM certainly.

And he wants us to press high and hard to turn over in dangerous areas to create chances where a defence won't be set. That's been pretty patchy so far.

[Millsy]

Again, just too early to comment really.

Let's just flip a coin.

[Esteban]

He changed his tactical approach while maintaining his philosophical approach. He created a more compact team by playing a higher line with three forwards to harry the opposition when they were in possession. Pressing in this way not only increases the opportunity to win the ball back high, but also limits the time players have to get their heads up and find a pass. The issue i have with Noel is that i don’t know what it is he is trying to do. It might be me, but I feel confused as to what we are trying to do when in possession.

Its not just you....

It is confusing...

Someone asked a very pertinent question on here somewhere, which was, "what kind of goals are we looking to score?"

Wing wonder goals, gifts from goalies, & worldies aren't sustainable....

I see this a lot, but to me, I think Hunt's aim is much the same as last year.

He wants his wide players to mix up getting in behind and crossing low across the face of the goal, and cutting inside to shoot or cross high to the opposite winger/midfielder at the far post.

He wants to use Wing's ability to pick up the ball from defence and feed the wide players, or the forward players often going straight back to front to get at a defence before its set in depth.

And when a defence is set in deprh, he wants us to probe around the edges to enable one of our many players who can strike from range to find some space try a screamer.

We've had the most joy with the later so far. Crossing to the far post has tended to be overhit and poor. But there's been several good chances from the lower crosses that just haven't come off.... a couple for MOM certainly.

And he wants us to press high and hard to turn over in dangerous areas to create chances where a defence won't be set. That's been pretty patchy so far.

This is the way I see it too.

And on the point about finding space to score screamers, I think he's also looking for us to play quick one-twos around the top of the box, to get someone in on goal. We scored a couple like that at the very end of last season - I think Wing got them both, one away at Bristol Rovers and one at home against Barnsley on the final day.

[Snowflake Royal]

Its not just you....

It is confusing...

Someone asked a very pertinent question on here somewhere, which was, "what kind of goals are we looking to score?"

Wing wonder goals, gifts from goalies, & worldies aren't sustainable....

I see this a lot, but to me, I think Hunt's aim is much the same as last year.

He wants his wide players to mix up getting in behind and crossing low across the face of the goal, and cutting inside to shoot or cross high to the opposite winger/midfielder at the far post.

He wants to use Wing's ability to pick up the ball from defence and feed the wide players, or the forward players often going straight back to front to get at a defence before its set in depth.

And when a defence is set in deprh, he wants us to probe around the edges to enable one of our many players who can strike from range to find some space try a screamer.

We've had the most joy with the later so far. Crossing to the far post has tended to be overhit and poor. But there's been several good chances from the lower crosses that just haven't come off.... a couple for MOM certainly.

And he wants us to press high and hard to turn over in dangerous areas to create chances where a defence won't be set. That's been pretty patchy so far.

This is the way I see it too.

And on the point about finding space to score screamers, I think he's also looking for us to play quick one-twos around the top of the box, to get someone in on goal. We scored a couple like that at the very end of last season - I think Wing got them both, one away at Bristol Rovers and one at home against Barnsley on the final day.

Yes, definitely been some 1-2 and through ball attempts...

Basically, his primary goal is to try to get at a defence before it is set, hence to quick back to front, Hollywood balls and high press. We've got quite a lot of pace to attack in Lane, Kyerewaa, Ehibhatiomhan, Savage, Doyle etc.

And if it is set, work some space to break through or hit a screamer. With the actual how to up to the players based on the circumstances.