Naylor

[YorkshireSquare]

Biggest question regarding selection for me at the moment is Naylor, wasn't at his best last season and so far not looking too great this year. Got himself totally out of shape for their goal and his lack of pace is telling, now you dont need pace to be a centre half but his positional sense seems to have gone out the window and so doesnt compensate. Bruce looked fairly solid for the brief spell I saw him play against Wolves and he was vocal and organised well, is he worth a run in the team?

I know people may say dont change the team as its working, well it is up front but the back four have been suspect in all three games so far.

[Twiggster]

HMM - LUTV were raving about his brave defensive clearance at the end of the game, when wall really could have made it 2-2? And said post game that he was an inspiration today, despite his OG...
He is an old head in a young team that is finding its feet in this league....Replace him after we consolidate this autumn, maybe? I just think we need him in the team now.
Who else would you give the arm band to ATM?

[CSA]

HMM - LUTV were raving about his brave defensive clearance at the end of the game, when wall really could have made it 2-2? And said post game that he was an inspiration today, despite his OG...
He is an old head in a young team that is finding its feet in this league....Replace him after we consolidate this autumn, maybe? I just think we need him in the team now.
Who else would you give the arm band to ATM?

The arm band could go to Johnny Howson who is running himself to a standstill for the cause ATM.

[YorkshireSquare]

No pace at the back, the thought of Bellamy running out our defence scares me.

[CSA]

No pace at the back, the thought of Bellamy running out our defence scares me.

Look on the bright side though, Sam, Watt and Somma running at the opposition defences.

[scuudz]

I was just thinking about that a few minutes ago....Bellamy would fancy himself against our defense, but he would probably feel that way against every defense in this league. I'm sure Bromby and Bruce will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of getting a run in the team in place of RN though.

[MeeTa]

wtf id he doing on their goal

[revieboy]

He may have made a crucial tackle but there were a number of occasions where we were lucky to get away with some of his errors. A better team would punish us.

Naylors lack of pace and fitness lead to our defence losing shape. An example was when Naylor made a run out of defence with the ball in the 2nd half, almost to a quarter of a length of the pitch, now this was initially positive and was a good decision. But what happened when his misplaced pass lost us possession? Naylor had made the run and just stopped still, making no effort to make an immediate return to his position and leaving his defence vulnerable. I'm sure a younger Naylor would have made that run and immediately tracked back.

There are things that Naylor can still do well like reading situations, but even then he is vulnerable due to his pace.

What I have seen is a back four that is not a unit, I think Collins and Connolly can work together. But I see no partnership between Collins and Naylor, then we have Bessone. Despite Bessones poor performances, I feel he may feel more vulnerable because when hes the last man he just doesn't have back up from his centre back - Naylor.

[1964white]

HMM - LUTV were raving about his brave defensive clearance at the end of the game, when wall really could have made it 2-2? And said post game that he was an inspiration today, despite his OG...
He is an old head in a young team that is finding its feet in this league....Replace him after we consolidate this autumn, maybe? I just think we need him in the team now.
Who else would you give the arm band to ATM?

If you saw the whole games Twiggs you would be agreeing with Shieldsy, i haven't missed a minute of our first 4 games (Naylor didn't play v Lincoln) & i can assure you that our weak links are Naylor & Bessone. Everyone around me are nervous when these two looking like clowns when are asked to defend
Naylor looks slow, sluggish, is caught out of position too much, distribution is poor - a proper hoofer of the ball. Her should never have been made captain, Howson is the man for that job with Killa as vice-captain
We have paid transfer fees for Bruce & Bromby yet Larry continues to persist with an ageing. unfit, injury proned, sluggish centre back who would do okay at the likes of Oldham, Brentford or Yeovil
This situation reminds me of the Blackwell/Butler days & at the time i was angry about that especially as we had a young Kilgallon who was a far better option. Lost the play-off v Watford cos of Blackwell bringing back that peg-leg back into the team for the play-off final

[Silky]

Yep.. we all agreed after the first game that he looked average.. I couldnt care less what LUTV said, because i saw it with my own eyes.... Jason Crowe made one of the most important clearances of the year at Old Trafford last season, but it certainly doesnt make him a good fullback..

I think Bruce should start again against Leicester on Tuesday, and if we keep another clean sheet, he should be straight in the side for the trip to Watford.

As others have said, going forward yesterday we were great.. the best ive seen them play since ive been in the UK, but at the back, they still looked out of sorts, and revie-boy, i can remember that exact moment when Naylor went on his little run yesterday and i thought to myself "what the fook is he doing?"... he seriously looks like he doesnt know what he's doing half the time.. he's second guessing himself, but because he is our 'inspirational captain', no one else in the back four (except Kasper) has the bollocks to tell him he's not doing the right thing... he has a negative effect on the team, i honestly believe that. If it were Bruce in the side, they'd all be new boys, and they'd all be helping each other out, instead of just doing what Naylor tells them to do...

[CardiffWhite]

No pace at the back, the thought of Bellamy running out our defence scares me.

Bellamy is likely to be injured, suspended or banned from his club by the time they play us. Hopefully!

[Dr.Leeds]

Bellamy is likely to be injured, suspended or banned from his club by the time they play us. Hopefully!

If not he will be by the end of the match...

[dezzy]

Would at least like to see Bruce given a chance to start in a leauge game and see how he does must be very hard in the guy seeing somone in his position not playing well and still not getting a look in

[joluafc4eva]

If not he will be by the end of the match...

[ldj90]

It seems strange that Bruce has been brought in and been largely unused. Like has been said previous to this post Bruce should play against The Crisps and if the back four seem more relaxed and defend well he should be given a chance against watford. As for the captaincy, what about Kasper?? Best view of the whole game, he is a born winner and is already very vocal! Nothing against johnny, in fact the captaincy may bring the best out of him on a more consistent basis, just a thought about Kasper??

[weasel]

Schmeichel as captain is a no no as you have to be able to communicate with players without letting the opposition know your plans. As such captain should be central, ideally a central midfield or centre back.

Naylor is still feeling his way into the season after missing a lot of pre season. In addition the defense has a new left and right back - it all takes time to gel but there does seem to be signs that it is getting better (in fact if you take away the penalty conceded by Sam and the og we have only conceded 2 in 4 matches) and whilst we sometimes look at sixes and sevens we have to remember we are still lacking a midfield shield (and for all it seems Killa is getting better he still isn't a defensive shield).

Fully expect Bruce to get a run out on Tuesday and Somma and possibly Gradel too. It's a long season.

[Jason123]

Not sure to ommit him yet, try bruce instead on tuesday if it works keep him in for league

[Kepler]

I would question Bessone more than Naylor for the goal yesterday. He trew away the ball, when he shuld have had everything under control...

[Telepres]

Naylor duff. Just doping around the pitch while I have seen improvements from Connolly, Collins and Mr Bessone got better the longer the game went on yesterday.

Give Howson captaincy.

[Telepres]

Schmeichel as captain

He's got his dad's old style of going a bright shade of red in the face after giving his defence a verbal battering. I think Collins is scared of him :mrgreen: