The Robins Nest Forum

No.PositionPlayer
1   GK    Russell Griffiths (on loan from Everton)
2   DF    Jack Barthram
3   DF    James Jennings (out on loan)
4   MF    Kyle Storer (vice-captain) - suspended
5   DF    Aaron Downes (captain) - not played yet
6   DF    Danny Parslow
7   MF   Harry Pell
8   FW    Billy Waters
9   FW    Danny Wright
10 FW    Amari Morgan-Smith
11 MFJ   Jack Munns - not played yet
12 GK    Calum Kitscha
14 MF   Asa Hall
15 MF   Koby Arthur (on loan from Birmingham City) - not the player he was
17 DF   Jordan Cranston
18 MF   James Rowe
20 DF   Jordan Lymn (Youth)
21 MF   James Dayton (injury prone)
22 GK   Rhys Lovett (3rd choice keeper)
23 MF   Danny Whitehead (on loan from Wigan Athletic)
24 DF   Daniel O'Shaughnessy
25 DF   Matt Bower (Youth)
26 DF   Easah Suliman (on loan from Aston Villa) - not even on bench
27 MF   Jonny Smith (on loan from Bristol City) - not had chance yet
28 DF    Robert Dickie (on loan from Reading)
29 MF   Josh Thomas (Youth)
30 FW   Dan Holman (out for 4 weks)

highlighted - fit, ours and up to the job
and the good loan players

is is any wonder we are struggling?

In my opinion your dismissing of so many of the squad is harsh, and over the top, and will do nothing to help boost the confidence of the players or positive support from the fans.

Notwithstanding potential inaccuracies and contradictions. Two examples:
1. I think Suliman was initially out the squad due to being called up for England.

2. More questionable is that you have put Holman in bold, despite the fact he is not fit so does not meet your own criteria for highlighting, and is as unproven and lacking in chances at this level as several of the players you have not highlighted, such as Munns, Storer, Smith, etc.

In my view your post falls into the 'knee-jerk' category, verging on looking like you actually want the team to fail to prove a point.

Sorry Nesty, but I think RCS is spot-on with his assessment.

Hindsight's a wonderful thing but what GJ hasn't done is supplemented his unproven squad with
players with experience of competing at a reasonable level in league 2. Jennings was a case in point.
He's got a squad full of players with no league experience and then signs a 28 year old player (Jennings)
who has reached his late twenties having never made it in the league. Now he's out on loan after a handful
of games. I think we need a few proven players now not fringe players from bigger clubs.

I accept the inconsistency with Holman - but he has been fit and shown he is up to the job. The only other one I could/should have highlighted was Dayton.
Maybe the highlighted should have been triggered by a few "and/ors" ie fit and or up to it ....

its not knee jerk - I have had my concerns for weeks, Doing the player profiles made me think how many of the 27 were either kids and or on loan and or injured.

you are way out of line in thinking I want us to fail - the hope is that Munns, Storer, Downes etc show that they are up to it and get highlighted

Only thing I'd say is Suliman "not even on the bench" - he was away with England U20's at the weekend, so kind of out of our hands. Having said that, when everyone is fit I wouldn't have him on the bench.

The thing frustrating me and GJ im sure is there are signs we have the ability to be a top 7 team and go on a run after adjusting to the division. The key is not losing too much ground on the top 7 and as GJ said he wanted to be near the top 7 after 10 games I think he will be expecting a couple of wins in the next few games.

Lets remember we have been missing both our captain and vice captain as well as arguably our two best players Dayton and Holman. If we win our next couple of games and with them returning suddenly it all looks rosy and who would bet against us climbing the league we know the squad has the mental toughness to do it. There's no need to panic.

Yup, I still believe we will go up.

bump

few of those decisions strange Griffiths has conceded plenty so far in his short time here so not sure he cuts it, Barthram has hardly played, Parslow is so far part of a very dodgy defense leaking goals and is too slow, Waters,Wright,Morgan Smith have hardly proven their worth goals from free play are virtually non existent same with Holman.

The only one who has proved he can play at this level is Harry Pell.

I-Love-CTFC wrote:The only one who has proved he can play at this level is Harry Pell.

Impossible to disagree.

We are in a relegation dog fight and it doesn't appear, at the moment, that we have enough quality to get out of it. Our best hope is that there will be two worse teams

You've got to be kidding, there is no chance we will go down, I'm still confident we will finish top half. Three bad games and the worlds falling apart according to some...

Robin wrote:You've got to be kidding, there is no chance we will go down, I'm still confident we will finish top half. Three bad games and the worlds falling apart according to some...

Agree with that.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:

Robin wrote:You've got to be kidding, there is no chance we will go down, I'm still confident we will finish top half. Three bad games and the worlds falling apart according to some...

Agree with that.

At this moment in time, it is difficult to see where a win is going to come from. What the evidence shows, is that no matter who we play, we struggle.

Agree with Confused and lots of others.

cheltsaxon wrote:few of those decisions strange Griffiths has conceded plenty so far in his short time here so not sure he cuts it, Barthram has hardly played, Parslow is so far part of a very dodgy defense leaking goals and is too slow, Waters,Wright,Morgan Smith have hardly proven their worth goals from free play are virtually non existent same with Holman.

Not sure about Griffiths,i know the defence has been woefull but he hasn`t saved many goals ?

confused.com wrote:

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:

Robin wrote:You've got to be kidding, there is no chance we will go down, I'm still confident we will finish top half. Three bad games and the worlds falling apart according to some...

Agree with that.

At this moment in time, it is difficult to see where a win is going to come from. What the evidence shows, is that no matter who we play, we struggle.

This may come back to bite but I would be surprised if we don't bounce back with a win tomorrow against Stevenage, I'm hoping GJ drops one of Pars or Downes though and Suliman is not starting as he's simply not ready/good enough at this moment.

Exactly, we're not exactly at the stage where we go into a game expecting to lose, are we! I expect a reaction tomorrow night. These are still mostly the same players that reacted so well to adversity last season, following the odd defeat or draws with wins, grabbing late winners or equalisers. I do expect either Downes or Parslow to be sat on the bench, though.