This week ALS gathered together some of its regular writers to discuss the last few games as well as looking forward to the final run-in, promotion hopes and our midfield options.
Does the regular swapping of central midfield (any two from Power, Leadbitter, Scowen, Winchester, Gooch) keep the opposition on their toes or interrupt continuity?
SOBS:
From Sunday morning to international football, the more times you play alongside somebody, the better you understand them - left footed, right footed, likes to carry it, doesn't like to carry it, keeps it or gives it straight back - and therefore the more effective your partnership is. Unless you're Man City, where you have such good players it doesn't matter, or last season's Liverpool, where players were so drilled in their footballing philosophy that there anyone can drop in unnoticed, chopping and changing can have an adverse effect. I know injuries have robbed us of the O'9 option and forced Power to right back, but at times it's seemed like swapping for swapping's sake. My view is choose two and start with that pair as often as possible.
MICHAEL GLANCY:
You could make a case for both arguments, although I’d be tempted to give Johnson the benefit of the doubt given that two starters have had to play in defence because of injuries recently. As has been said for what feels like the past couple of decades, we do lack pace, creativity and a real goal threat in the centre of midfield, and unless O’Nein is freed up by other defenders coming back, I don’t see that problem being fixed before the summer. The midfielders we have should still be able to control and dictate a game, however, in the way that Winchester and Scowen did at Portsmouth a couple of months ago. The first half at Peterborough aside, we don’t seem to be able to control a game and dominate the ball in the way that you would want a promotion chasing side to do. Our counter-attacking doesn’t seem as threatening as it could do either, leaving Johnson with a real issue going into the next couple of matches when it comes to the middle.
THOMAS THORNTON:
It’s an interesting one to be honest, it’s good that we do have the options in the midfield, something we haven't always been blessed with, but continuity is a point worth making, although with how thick and fast fixtures are coming, I can only see rotation as a good thing. We have people like Leadbitter who obviously cannot play every game but he’s a good option to have, especially when we need a calm and controlled head in the middle of the park or even to bring off the bench to slow things down. The defensive crisis has showed how versatile both O’Nien and Power are, both having a taste of playing in defence this season, although I would like to, one day, see Luke O’Nien play higher up the pitch in a pressing role, I just don’t think he’s cut out to be a centre half, but needs must and with Sanderson supposedly injured, it doesn’t look like he’ll be moving up from the back line any time soon.
Does the use of 4/5 subs at once have a similar unsettling effect, or do you see it as a positive?
SOBS:
The new substitution rules have also worked both ways for us. There have been games where we've hoyed on a load of pace and won, and others where half the outfield has spent their twenty minutes trying to gel with the other half. In general, though, and unlike most of his predecessors, Lee Johnson's mass substitutions have been both timely and effective. It's a new facet to the game, and one that coaches are having to integrate into their training and footballing style. Some will naturally be better than others at doing that.
MICHAEL GLANCY:
It didn’t work at all against Wigan, and actively made us look worse. Whilst I don’t think he’s as bad as some seem to, Ross Stewart seems to have an effect on Johnson which means that if we’re losing or need a goal, he gets thrown on and we go full Pulis. Whilst I don’t think it’s necessarily the worst thing to do going into the last five minutes or so, it completely throws our shape off and seems to be the ideal scenario for most league one centre backs, who tend to be used to heading away hoof after hoof. Not having Stewart meant that Johnson had to be more creative in his substitutions or tactical changes, which seemed to give the opposition more of a problem when he made them. We need to have more of a coherent plan going forward in terms of shape and tactics when we make substitutions, because over the past couple of games it hasn’t worked.
THOMAS THORNTON:
It didn’t work against Wigan as Michael said but I do think that it has been a positive in the past, you can’t win them all, and the other day was one of those occasions. Phil Parkinson was rather fond of a treble substitution and more often than not, didn’t work for him but Lee Johnson seems to have mastered, to a point, the art of a multiple substitution with the key element of making a wholesale change at the right moment. We have a decent squad and it’s important players get game time, especially our forward players who have all been fairly impressive in spells this season - the pace off the bench against a tired defence seems to be one of the gaffer’s favourites I must say and why not?! We have plenty of pace to come off the bench, especially when people like Jack Diamond are on the bench and Chris Maguire to bring some grit and graft onto the pitch, when he can be arsed that is!
If we are to miss out on automatics, does LJ still deserve credit for the job he’s done?
SOBS:
Lee Johnson, whatever happens regarding automatic promotion, deserves credit for his influence this season. Quite simply, he's a positive and confident person - something that can't be said about the previous two managers. And he smiles a lot, he speaks well, and is probably the manager most open to new ideas - data, technology, whatever - we've had, just edging Big Sam in that respect. For being a suitable part of the KLD jigsaw, give him credit and he won us a trophy.
MICHAEL GLANCY:
Definitely, although, just like Jack Ross, the momentum will have stalled massively if we don’t go up given the position we were in. If the form we’ve produced had come in the last 15 or so games rather than the penultimate 15 games, we’d enter the play offs with a ton of momentum, which would mean that even if we lost them, there would still be a lot of goodwill towards Johnson and people would be more optimistic. If we fail to get promoted now though, the pressure on Johnson to get promoted and to start next season unbelievably well will be immense. Having said that, the progress that the club seems to have made off the pitch makes you at least confident that we could find a better set of players in League One than the last lot and put us in a good place to go up. This is assuming, of course, that we fail in the automatic race and then the play-offs, which we are still good enough to win.
THOMAS THORNTON:
I think so, he’s been massively influential on the upturn in form after the disastrous start we had under Parky, plus he’s made some quality recruitments in January and also got the lads playing well and, as a whole, winning well too. He’s injected a dose of optimism at the Stadium of Light which is something we haven’t had for a while, he actually seems enthusiastic and positive, unlike his two predecessors. As a coach, he’s getting the best out of players, Wyke has been on fire under him, Sanderson came into a league of his own, just to name a couple and not to mention, he guided us to EFL Trophy victory, which admittedly, isn’t the most prestigious award! His stint at the club, so far, has been a success in my eyes so he does deserve the credit, even if we only reach the play-offs.
