by AustrianAndyGull » 04 Dec 2012, 21:56
PL21gull wrote:If nothing else we need Lee Mansell's energy and desire on the pitch, and we need Nathan Craig to be able to make the incisive passes he is obviously capable of (although not in evidence against Dagenham as he was mostly on defensive duties).
No-one seems to be thinking the apparently unthinkable of dropping Billy Bodin - was it my imagination, or was there a reluctance among some of our players on Saturday to even give Billy the ball (presumably because they did not expect him to retain the ball/beat his marker/pass it back to them). Billy evidently has potential, but it is notable that he often has to be told by Rene where to move - surely he should be more aware by now (20 games in, and an apparently automatic choice despite not providing many goals or assists) of team tactics/his role?
If he needs more confidence, get him out on loan, then we can give more opportunities to our other youngsters to gain experience and to impress?
I have made it quite clear that i would like to see this very thing although it is highly unlikely due to the fact we have nobody to replace him with of any note PLUS the fact that he is Martin's 'big buy' and Martin doesn't want us to think he has made an error in signing him. Also it must be on Lings' mind that a benefactor gave him £50k of their own cash to enable Martin to bring Billy to Torquay. He is more or less undroppable.
My reasons for dropping Billy are purely that he has had 20 odd games now, has been fairly poor in many of them ( certainly in every one i've seen bar York ) and i don't believe the team is particularly benefitting from Billy being a regular. He is also a target for increasing critcism and vocal abuse from certain sections of fans and whilst my opinion is he's a grown man so he needs to deal with it, i do have some degree of sympathy for him despite my opinion of Billy as a footballer. In any case, the constant abuse is having the opposite effect to what those fans want and i don't believe Billy has the strength of character to come through this and so he isn't going to improve greatly even given a continual starting berth IMO. Some people think Billy will eventually somehow 'play himself into form' but for that to happen a whole range of scenarios need to occur and i just can't see it.
What the answer is to get that bit of confidence and assuredness back in the lad again i don't confess to knowing but like Jonny says, it certainly wouldn't do him any good whatsoever farming him out on loan where he will feel unsupported by the club. It will hammer his confidence even more turning out for some Cornish or Devon pub team and playing with mostly rednecks and this is not the way to go at all. I do strongly feel though that a spell out of the side will do him the world of good and perhaps, with the right support from Ling and the backroom staff and other players he will come back into the team without the expectation that he has to do something special hanging over him.
[quote="PL21gull"]If nothing else we need Lee Mansell's energy and desire on the pitch, and we need Nathan Craig to be able to make the incisive passes he is obviously capable of (although not in evidence against Dagenham as he was mostly on defensive duties).
[color=#FF0000]No-one seems to be thinking the apparently unthinkable of dropping Billy Bodin -[/color] was it my imagination, or was there a reluctance among some of our players on Saturday to even give Billy the ball (presumably because they did not expect him to retain the ball/beat his marker/pass it back to them). Billy evidently has potential, but it is notable that he often has to be told by Rene where to move - surely he should be more aware by now (20 games in, and an apparently automatic choice despite not providing many goals or assists) of team tactics/his role?
If he needs more confidence, get him out on loan, then we can give more opportunities to our other youngsters to gain experience and to impress?[/quote]
I have made it quite clear that i would like to see this very thing although it is highly unlikely due to the fact we have nobody to replace him with of any note PLUS the fact that he is Martin's 'big buy' and Martin doesn't want us to think he has made an error in signing him. Also it must be on Lings' mind that a benefactor gave him £50k of their own cash to enable Martin to bring Billy to Torquay. He is more or less undroppable.
My reasons for dropping Billy are purely that he has had 20 odd games now, has been fairly poor in many of them ( certainly in every one i've seen bar York ) and i don't believe the team is particularly benefitting from Billy being a regular. He is also a target for increasing critcism and vocal abuse from certain sections of fans and whilst my opinion is he's a grown man so he needs to deal with it, i do have some degree of sympathy for him despite my opinion of Billy as a footballer. In any case, the constant abuse is having the opposite effect to what those fans want and i don't believe Billy has the strength of character to come through this and so he isn't going to improve greatly even given a continual starting berth IMO. Some people think Billy will eventually somehow 'play himself into form' but for that to happen a whole range of scenarios need to occur and i just can't see it.
What the answer is to get that bit of confidence and assuredness back in the lad again i don't confess to knowing but like Jonny says, it certainly wouldn't do him any good whatsoever farming him out on loan where he will feel unsupported by the club. It will hammer his confidence even more turning out for some Cornish or Devon pub team and playing with mostly rednecks and this is not the way to go at all. I do strongly feel though that a spell out of the side will do him the world of good and perhaps, with the right support from Ling and the backroom staff and other players he will come back into the team without the expectation that he has to do something special hanging over him.
