| The elephant in the room 08:12 - Nov 24 with 2680 views | The_Romford_Blue |
Bailey Clements.. he just shouldn’t be anywhere near a first team spot at this level.
Yes he’s young and an academy player so the fanbase will push him to play and perhaps be unduly lenient if not up to the level (Kenlock, Hyam, Emmanuel being three examples in recent years) but he’s just not good enough yet at all.
Nothing in the three games suggests he’s anywhere near the level right now to be starting. I don’t think Penney did much when coming on but he’s still a better option for me.
Don’t mean to pick on Clements because they were all sh*te last night but I just don’t see much mention of Clements on here in the three games he’s played and wonder why because it looks obvious to me he was scared sh**less to have the ball last night. And his positioning defensively is not good enough. Early doors yesterday you could see a conscious effort from Rotherham to attack down that side. And they were getting a lot of joy from it too. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 08:19 - Nov 24 with 2220 views | GlasgowBlue |
We are weak on both flanks. Doncien was Mr consistent for the first few months of the season but has been very bland over the last month.
With no natural wingers in front if Donacien and Clements, we had no threat from the flanks.
In an ideal world we would see Cookson/Edwards on the right and KVY/Burns on the right, we would terrorise defences with those four in the team. But have all 4 been available for selection at the same time? |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 08:20 - Nov 24 with 2208 views | textbackup |
hes alright to play in the pizza cup, or fill in occasionally, but miles off it. penny everyday over him |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 08:24 - Nov 24 with 2160 views | Dennyx4 |
With the systems both teams played, our spare men were both full backs and neither did enough.
KVY was on the bench too, and played LB for Colchester, so plenty of options even with Coulson out injured. |  | | |
| The elephant in the room on 08:24 - Nov 24 with 2155 views | Lightworker |
Agreed, ridiculous decision to start him for four games on the bounce and especially last night against a team that would obviously exploit the weakness.
Penny made a bad error against Plymouth but really should be ahead of Clements in the pecking order and should have started last night, not that it would have effected the outcome in any way. |  | | |
| The elephant in the room on 08:26 - Nov 24 with 2134 views | chrismakin |
Makes the Kenlock exclusion from the season squad even more bizarre tbh
Why would you have him at the club but exclude him when he's had championship and league 1 experience.
Then using Kenlock at LB in cups when you could have played others there to get them ready for situations like this. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 08:27 - Nov 24 with 2118 views | chicoazul |
| The elephant in the room on 08:19 - Nov 24 by GlasgowBlue |
We are weak on both flanks. Doncien was Mr consistent for the first few months of the season but has been very bland over the last month.
With no natural wingers in front if Donacien and Clements, we had no threat from the flanks.
In an ideal world we would see Cookson/Edwards on the right and KVY/Burns on the right, we would terrorise defences with those four in the team. But have all 4 been available for selection at the same time? |
I’m really worried Janoi has caught a case of the New Contracts. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 08:28 - Nov 24 with 2101 views | chrismakin |
| The elephant in the room on 08:27 - Nov 24 by chicoazul |
I’m really worried Janoi has caught a case of the New Contracts. |
It's a case of losing his best team mate
He and Burns compliment each other so well, Burns knows when to drop and Donacien knows when he needed to get forward
Last night you could tell Donacien had 0 trust in his midfield team mates. | |
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| The elephant in the room on 08:29 - Nov 24 with 2093 views | pointofblue |
I thought he had an excellent game against Oxford but I think that was the case of them being caught out by the unknown. Having Fraser in front of him during the final 30 minutes of the Sunderland game and last night didn’t help but he isn’t ready yet. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 08:29 - Nov 24 with 2090 views | blueboyd |
Don't mean to pick on Clements, although starting a thread about how he shouldn't be playing in Division 3.
there is a reason KVY is not playing, he has had no form this season at all and has no fitness, there is no point playing him loads of times as his body will breakdown.
First half Clements did OK I thought, better than other players. Watch Celina for a whole game and for 95% of the game we are carrying him, £20,000 a week for a 5% player. I will take a young ITFC player every day of the week. | | | |
| The elephant in the room on 08:31 - Nov 24 with 2062 views | homer_123 |
I like Penney, I really do but....
Matt Penney by homer_123 23 Nov 2021 22:06Is that a record for misplaced passes in the time he was on the pitch?
Clements is still learning the game - should he has started four in a row - no unless Penney isn't 100% fit. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 08:33 - Nov 24 with 2038 views | Oldboy |
He should have been left out by the manager at Sunderland and last night against Rotherham. The manager should have protected him. Not Clements fault. |  | | |
| The elephant in the room on 08:34 - Nov 24 with 2038 views | RegencyBlue |
Completely agree.
I said before the game that if I were Rotherhams manager I would put pressure on Clements from the off and they did.
Not his fault we lost as it was a dreadful performance all round but Penney is the better option in the absence of Coulson, who unfortunately seems to be made of glass, for me. |  | | |
| The elephant in the room on 08:40 - Nov 24 with 1996 views | Steve_M |
Merely one of many problems last night, poor management from Cook to play him four times in 10 days. He had a decent debut against Oxford and has now been set back. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 08:47 - Nov 24 with 1956 views | norfsufblue |
| The elephant in the room on 08:34 - Nov 24 by RegencyBlue |
Completely agree.
I said before the game that if I were Rotherhams manager I would put pressure on Clements from the off and they did.
Not his fault we lost as it was a dreadful performance all round but Penney is the better option in the absence of Coulson, who unfortunately seems to be made of glass, for me. |
It was not Bailey Clements that allowed their player to run straight at our midfield and shoot for goal that resulted in the first goal... it was Bailey Clements that produced the only threatening ball behind their full back I think for Chaplin in the first half.
He was not the reason we were outclassed ... there was more than enough experience in that team to protect him.... it was just the awful system we played (AGAIN)
We are not anywhere near the competence of Chelsea to pull it off...
Imo we should find an 11 to play a consistent and successful 442 and adapt from there when we have nailed it! |  | | |
| The elephant in the room on 09:32 - Nov 24 with 1797 views | clive_baker |
Not keen on digging out a rookie, there's no way he should've started at Sunderland on Saturday and even less way he should've last night. I still think KVY is a better shout at LB, he's played there before and if you're playing a narrower 3 behind Bonne who will tuck in, then you rely on a full back who can bomb forward.
Clements will be dropped now I'm sure, but why Cook felt it appropriate to put him in to these 2 massive games I will never know, especailly when there are alternatives. It's not fair on him, and good management is about foresight. Barrow or Oldham in the FA Cup is one thing, but it was ridiculous to put him into these 2 games. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 09:33 - Nov 24 with 1787 views | Guthrum |
| The elephant in the room on 08:26 - Nov 24 by chrismakin |
Makes the Kenlock exclusion from the season squad even more bizarre tbh
Why would you have him at the club but exclude him when he's had championship and league 1 experience.
Then using Kenlock at LB in cups when you could have played others there to get them ready for situations like this. |
It's more disappointing that it was forced by the inclusion of Jackson (who has only made bit-part appearances in the League) and Norwood (who has fallen out of the picture altogether and been transfer-listed).
With the latter case, don't know why the club haven't applied for his name to be removed from the 22 and replaced with Kenlock's.
Clements doesn't count towards numbers, as he is classed as an U21. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 09:45 - Nov 24 with 1708 views | LeoMuff |
| The elephant in the room on 08:28 - Nov 24 by chrismakin |
It's a case of losing his best team mate
He and Burns compliment each other so well, Burns knows when to drop and Donacien knows when he needed to get forward
Last night you could tell Donacien had 0 trust in his midfield team mates. |
Also this is not the system for Janoi , good defender, but you need to get forward in 4231 regularly and link up or the midfield will not work. Burns suits his game as you say. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 09:47 - Nov 24 with 1694 views | TractorJack |
He may not have the ability to get up and down but I've no doubt Burgess would have prevented that second goal. |  | | |
| The elephant in the room on 09:50 - Nov 24 with 1661 views | itfcserbia |
Cook overplayed Clements over a period of 10 days and strong opponent games and after a very promising debut probably set him back miles with that idiotic substitution. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 09:51 - Nov 24 with 1661 views | IPSWICHFANITFC |
I personally feel Clements has done ok. The biggest issue is Coulson can't stay fit and Cook isn't a fan of Penney. LB will be what it is until January when they can sort it out.
The only mistake I think Clements made last night was getting done on the one-two which led to their second goal. |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 09:52 - Nov 24 with 1648 views | abracaDOBRA_ |
Oxford he was ok but Sunderland and Rotherham games were way too big for him. Don't like to slate youngsters but he was dragged out of positions too much. He looked worried every time the ball came near him. Sooner Coulson back the better. |  | | |
| The elephant in the room on 09:57 - Nov 24 with 1606 views | clive_baker |
| The elephant in the room on 09:52 - Nov 24 by abracaDOBRA_ |
Oxford he was ok but Sunderland and Rotherham games were way too big for him. Don't like to slate youngsters but he was dragged out of positions too much. He looked worried every time the ball came near him. Sooner Coulson back the better. |
Let's be honest, they have their merits but 3/4 of our back 4 aren't great on the ball, and against a team like Rotherham that press so high it was always going to be an issue. Once they cut off the ball into Morsy we're left with little choice but to go a bit longer to an isolated Bonne, which was mostly bread and butter for Rotherham. They're so well set up, they know their jobs and when they do have the ball they've got that bit of confidence and quality to create too. It was literally a carbon copy of the game against them in 2019. | |
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| The elephant in the room on 09:59 - Nov 24 with 1598 views | Pilgrimblue |
| The elephant in the room on 09:33 - Nov 24 by Guthrum |
It's more disappointing that it was forced by the inclusion of Jackson (who has only made bit-part appearances in the League) and Norwood (who has fallen out of the picture altogether and been transfer-listed).
With the latter case, don't know why the club haven't applied for his name to be removed from the 22 and replaced with Kenlock's.
Clements doesn't count towards numbers, as he is classed as an U21. |
I thought that Kenlock had some really good games last season and he's certainly no worse than Donacian. As has been said Coulson appears to be very fragile but Penny should play and give time for Clements to develop.
For me it's Cook's system that is the issue. His width is reliant on two wing-backs so we end up giving opponents all the space they need to attack down the flanks. Take the no.17 last night and the same from Bolton they enjoyed all the space.
Time for Cook to hold his hand up and be bold and accept that 442 is the way for the players he has. |  | | |
| The elephant in the room on 10:02 - Nov 24 with 1558 views | C_HealyIsAPleasure |
| The elephant in the room on 09:57 - Nov 24 by clive_baker |
Let's be honest, they have their merits but 3/4 of our back 4 aren't great on the ball, and against a team like Rotherham that press so high it was always going to be an issue. Once they cut off the ball into Morsy we're left with little choice but to go a bit longer to an isolated Bonne, which was mostly bread and butter for Rotherham. They're so well set up, they know their jobs and when they do have the ball they've got that bit of confidence and quality to create too. It was literally a carbon copy of the game against them in 2019. |
Was amazed to see we’d had 61% possession in the first half. Presumably 95% of that was Clements/Morsy/Edmundson, Rotherham were happy to sit off with them on the ball and then as soon as it came across to Toto/Janoi on the right pressed in the knowledge they wouldn’t be able to play and the ball would either be lumped up or rushed back to Walton to do the same. And as you say it was bread and butter at that point
Absolutely baffled at how Cook could watch 45 minutes of that and then send us out again for more of the same |  |
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| The elephant in the room on 10:37 - Nov 24 with 1459 views | itfcjoe |
I don't think Penney is even an upgrade on Kenlock either - had he been registered to play he'd be in the team currently |  |
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