Darlo Uncovered

Firstly, I am as chuffed as anyone that we won today, and what a goal to win the match by a player who TW has done incredibly well to bring to the club, even if for a short period.
However, this game again for me showed exactly why my negative view of him has not changed one bit. Let’s be honest we were pretty poor overall today and against a better team I think would have been well beaten. But 3 things summed him up again.
1. Our midfield 3 with Nicholson playing behind the front 2 was getting overrun in the first half, couldn’t keep the ball and looked really tired. So at half time he puts Nicholson wide right, Nelson Wide left and Saunders up front on his own. This left just 2 in an already tired midfield and guess what, we hardly got hold of the ball in midfield, even more so than first half. Crazy.
2. Even more crazy, let’s put our natural goal scorer out wide and ask him to play a more defensive role. (Ok he scored a worldly...) but became largely ineffective. Him and Harvey have caused mayhem playing close to each other upfront in last 3 games. Crazy decision again.
3. As above, our midfield two were just about knackered, 15 mins to play, 2-0 up, let’s just tighten up and see the game out, and tighten up midfield. Hey no, let’s bring 2 attack minded wingers on....!! Henshall even at 2-1 in injury time was still running at goal and shooting instead of closing the game down in the corner!

His tactics are just unbelievable at times and no wonder we keep giving away 2 goal leads.

Anyway, points are what matter at the moment and these 6 have been vital for sure.

Who would you bring on to tighten midfield?

Seems like our natural goal scorer has done pretty well operating on the left as he won a penalty against York and scored a 'worldy' today from a similar position.

Also wasn't it Thommo, one of TW's subs, who set Nelson up for his second goal today?

Wainy247 wrote:Seems like our natural goal scorer has done pretty well operating on the left as he won a penalty against York and scored a 'worldy' today from a similar position.

Also wasn't it Thommo, one of TW's subs, who set Nelson up for his second goal today?

A good ball from Thommo to put Nelson away but hardly a “set up”.Nelson still had a lot to do before he scored.Some strike though.

I must admit I am still a bit of a fan wanting TW to do well, but was confused by the subs, with neither Tommo or Henshall defensive minded or midfielders, although Ashton never really looked threatening even though they had lots of possession, Henshall with very little game time this year and Tommo lacking a bit of confidence, especially in front of goal. Saying that Henshall did end up getting plenty of room and the ball out wide so opportunities for him.

Plenty on this forum just wanted 3 points, didn't matter how ugly a 3 points it was, and this was 3 points so I for one am happy at the moment.

No problem with Thompson but would have played him in the centre alongside the other 2 like in a recent away game.
Bit of a stretch to say he set Nelson up though.....
No issue with the individuals just cannot fathom TW,s game management and tactics most of the time. He could have cost us today

Quakerlad wrote:No problem with Thompson but would have played him in the centre alongside the other 2 like in a recent away game.
Bit of a stretch to say he set Nelson up though.....
No issue with the individuals just cannot fathom TW,s game management and tactics most of the time. He could have cost us today

Elliott,Palmer and Nicholson really struggled today and lacked any spark and were over run in midfield.We were crying out for subs and could not believe why it took Tommy so long to bring Thommo on.Cannot understand why Kokolo and the young Leeds lad did not come on for Elliott and Palmer but the points were vital today and onto York on Tuesday.



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God TW can't win his team picks up 7 points out of 9 and he still getting tactic advice off wanna be managers , God just enjoy the wins... I'd take any wins I don't care how he sets up, the players all have to muck in and do there jobs correctly yes not pretty but we wonFFS.. And we can't play like the York game every week unfortunately we have to dig in and that's what happened

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HarrytheQuaker wrote:God TW can't win his team picks up 7 points out of 9 and he still getting tactic advice off wanna be managers , God just enjoy the wins... I'd take any wins I don't care how he sets up the player all have to muck in and do there jobs correctly yes not pretty but we won and we can't play like the York game every week unfortunately we have to dig in and that's what happened



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Couldn't agree more

I’m glad we won ugly, something we have failed to do this season, and something we must do if we have any aspiration of climbing the table.

It looks like TW wants Nelson and Saunders to play in a similar vein to Suarez and Sturridge at Liverpool in the sense he wants them to drive at the opposition with pace and offer width too, which brings in Nicholson as a third central attacker. However, neither Nelson or Saunders are effective or best utilised from the wing.

Playing with pacey forwards suits the players we have in other positions and the type of football we play best. We aren’t a big side, unlike many other teams in the division, and launching long balls to a target man isn’t effective as we don’t have the brutes to do it well. In this system, Thommo is far better as a striker or back-up to Nicholson; he is not and will never be a wing back.

If we can keep hold of the loanees we will have a decent second half of the season.


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HarrytheQuaker wrote:God TW can't win his team picks up 7 points out of 9 and he still getting tactic advice off wanna be managers , God just enjoy the wins... I'd take any wins I don't care how he sets up the player all have to muck in and do there jobs correctly yes not pretty but we won and we can't play like the York game every week unfortunately we have to dig in and that's what happened

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I notice Quakerlad and number one Wright hater Darlogramps couldn’t bring themselves to comment on the “Boxing day v York City” thread.

Either they didn’t attend, or they couldn’t bring themselves to write anything positive, or even say they enjoyed the game.

theoriginalfatcat wrote:

HarrytheQuaker wrote:God TW can't win his team picks up 7 points out of 9 and he still getting tactic advice off wanna be managers , God just enjoy the wins... I'd take any wins I don't care how he sets up the player all have to muck in and do there jobs correctly yes not pretty but we won and we can't play like the York game every week unfortunately we have to dig in and that's what happened

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I notice Quakerlad and number one Wright hater Darlogramps couldn’t bring themselves to comment on the “Boxing day v York City” thread.

Either they didn’t attend, or they couldn’t bring themselves to write anything positive, or even say they enjoyed the game.

That's true, Quakerlad just picks up on the negatives it's getting boring get behind the team instead of slating them constantly

theoriginalfatcat wrote:

HarrytheQuaker wrote:God TW can't win his team picks up 7 points out of 9 and he still getting tactic advice off wanna be managers , God just enjoy the wins... I'd take any wins I don't care how he sets up the player all have to muck in and do there jobs correctly yes not pretty but we won and we can't play like the York game every week unfortunately we have to dig in and that's what happened

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I notice Quakerlad and number one Wright hater Darlogramps couldn’t bring themselves to comment on the “Boxing day v York City” thread.

Either they didn’t attend, or they couldn’t bring themselves to write anything positive, or even say they enjoyed the game.

What a bizarre, hysterical personal cheapshot. Normally you're quite civilised but this is stepping over the line and uncalled for.

In case you weren't aware, it's been Christmas and some of us have been a bit busy with family, friends and looking after a sick pet to be commenting on Darlington FC's every single move.

Now kindly grow up and stop getting yourself upset over what people are/aren't saying on an internet forum.

HarrytheQuaker wrote:God TW can't win his team picks up 7 points out of 9 and he still getting tactic advice off wanna be managers , God just enjoy the wins... I'd take any wins I don't care how he sets up, the players all have to muck in and do there jobs correctly yes not pretty but we wonFFS.. And we can't play like the York game every week unfortunately we have to dig in and that's what happened

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People can talk about whatever they like, and can post whenever they like. None of Quakerlad's points are unfair.

It's amazing how some of Wright's most fervent supporters are so keen to shut down any criticism. They won't engage with it, just demand you shut up and be happy. Pretending today is all good because we got a win is at best naive.

I agree with him on how we were set up. I didn't really get what he was trying with Nelson and Saunders. Substitutes-wise, we're still not blessed with loads of options, but as others have said, it was fairly clear we were getting outnumbered in central midfield. He could have re-jigged the system in the second half to add Wollerton in (or even bring on Burn as a DM as he's tried in the past), to add support and numbers.

Yes we won today, and yes it's hopefully the start of a good run, but we were a long way from perfect.

Darlogramps wrote:

HarrytheQuaker wrote:God TW can't win his team picks up 7 points out of 9 and he still getting tactic advice off wanna be managers , God just enjoy the wins... I'd take any wins I don't care how he sets up, the players all have to muck in and do there jobs correctly yes not pretty but we wonFFS.. And we can't play like the York game every week unfortunately we have to dig in and that's what happened

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People can talk about whatever they like, and can post whenever they like. None of Quakerlad's points are unfair.

It's amazing how some of Wright's most fervent supporters are so keen to shut down any criticism. They won't engage with it, just demand you shut up and be happy. Pretending today is all good because we got a win is at best naive.

I agree with him on how we were set up. I didn't really get what he was trying with Nelson and Saunders. Substitutes-wise, we're still not blessed with loads of options, but as others have said, it was fairly clear we were getting outnumbered in central midfield. He could have re-jigged the system in the second half to add Wollerton in (or even bring on Burn as a DM as he's tried in the past), to add support and numbers.

Yes we won today, and yes it's hopefully the start of a good run, but we were a long way from perfect.

Yeah there's a lot of its and buts

We DID get overun in midfield far too easily, but... BUT

I'm not sure Maddo had a shot to save all game, he was certainly more occupied against Dork, yet I doubt many of us went home with the same ecstatic feeling today as we did on boxing Day...



But as I said earlier, that strike from Nelson !!1

Fuckin Hell, just Fuckin Hell

I went today with someone who is more used to Championship games and had never seen Darlo play before. At HT, I asked him if he could spot what system & tactics TW had used. He just shook his head, and it was only Nelson's goals which provided any positivity & got us the points, superb finishing!

For what it’s worth, not that I have to justify any of my comments, I thought we were excellent from start to finish against York, but some of us have other things to do on Boxing Day apart from check fans forums.

If I had seen the same closing down of players, winning nearly every second ball, energetic running etc etc that I saw against York then may be TW,s inept tactics would have been overlooked, but I didn’t. Reading other threads, I am certainly not alone in my frustration with the substitutions and game management either.

Winning ugly is fine, goodness knows we have seen plenty over the years, but playing your star goal scorer on the wing then bringing on two attack minded wingers when you need to manage the game out......please!

Quakerlad wrote:For what it’s worth, not that I have to justify any of my comments, I thought we were excellent from start to finish against York, but some of us have other things to do on Boxing Day apart from check fans forums.

If I had seen the same closing down of players, winning nearly every second ball, energetic running etc etc that I saw against York then may be TW,s inept tactics would have been overlooked, but I didn’t. Reading other threads, I am certainly not alone in my frustration with the substitutions and game management either.

Winning ugly is fine, goodness knows we have seen plenty over the years, but playing your star goal scorer on the wing then bringing on two attack minded wingers when you need to manage the game out......please!

Can't say I'm a T.W fan (lets face it very few of the 1400 there today are)
BUT... we did restrict them to very few opportunities

We've been wanting us to win ugly, when the chips are down and we did that today

Our aim this season unfortunately is avoid relegation/ mid table mediocrity

Quakerlad wrote:For what it’s worth, not that I have to justify any of my comments, I thought we were excellent from start to finish against York, but some of us have other things to do on Boxing Day apart from check fans forums.

If I had seen the same closing down of players, winning nearly every second ball, energetic running etc etc that I saw against York then may be TW,s inept tactics would have been overlooked, but I didn’t. Reading other threads, I am certainly not alone in my frustration with the substitutions and game management either.

Winning ugly is fine, goodness knows we have seen plenty over the years, but playing your star goal scorer on the wing then bringing on two attack minded wingers when you need to manage the game out......please!

Did it work playing Nelson on the wing??

Well we got the win, so let’s give the team and the manager a bit of credit, that’s all I was trying to state in my post above, although i worded it clumsily and upset Darlogramps, which wasn’t my intention.

I’m not arguing that Wright is tactical genius or even a talented manager, I just feel that some of the criticism he’s received lately has been OTT. Criticism when he loses, criticism when he draws and criticism when he wins. It’s too much...

There's no upset here. I just can't understand why you went after me in the way you did. Just seems really unprovoked considering I have given TW credit when things have gone right, both this season and last.

If I was ignoring a 10-game winning run, you'd have a point. But it was one game over Christmas - even I've got better things to be doing in and around Christmas than posting about TW.

Sorry Tommo was very anonymous when he came on and certainly didn't shown anything that will force him back into the starting 11.

HarrytheQuaker wrote:

Quakerlad wrote:For what it’s worth, not that I have to justify any of my comments, I thought we were excellent from start to finish against York, but some of us have other things to do on Boxing Day apart from check fans forums.

If I had seen the same closing down of players, winning nearly every second ball, energetic running etc etc that I saw against York then may be TW,s inept tactics would have been overlooked, but I didn’t. Reading other threads, I am certainly not alone in my frustration with the substitutions and game management either.

Winning ugly is fine, goodness knows we have seen plenty over the years, but playing your star goal scorer on the wing then bringing on two attack minded wingers when you need to manage the game out......please!

Did it work playing Nelson on the wing??

Nothing new in that. Played Styche wide left at times for reasons only he knows.

Darlo_Pete wrote:Sorry Tommo was very anonymous when he came on and certainly didn't shown anything that will force him back into the starting 11.

A bit concerned if TW starts messing Thommo around and keeps him on the bench and using him sparingly like he has done lately.Far too good a player, but under the way TW has us set up I think this will just continue and cannot see Thommo being too chuffed about it.Hope our neighbours don’t start sniffing around.




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Thommo has been off form for a while, I would imagine that he knows this himself and will realise that he might have to wait a little while to work his way back into the team. This is how football normally works, with the competition for places keeping players on their toes.

Vague signs that TW is saving players for the York game, partly by use of loanees and partly by rotating through the bench, nearly costing us the game v Ashton. Still, given the part-time status of many players, we have to gamble at times and fitness may not be a luxury we can neglect.

HarrytheQuaker wrote:God TW can't win his team picks up 7 points out of 9 and he still getting tactic advice off wanna be managers , God just enjoy the wins... I'd take any wins I don't care how he sets up, the players all have to muck in and do there jobs correctly yes not pretty but we wonFFS.. And we can't play like the York game every week unfortunately we have to dig in and that's what happened

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Well, we don’t have any defensive midfielders who can keep hold of the ball, so it’s limited what he could do.

He does need to recognise that it’s a problem area, and bring a ball winning player in, or move Hughes just in front of 2 centre backs to do it. He was outstanding yesterday, and I thought probably MOTM rather than Nelson.

theoriginalfatcat wrote:Thommo has been off form for a while, I would imagine that he knows this himself and will realise that he might have to wait a little while to work his way back into the team. This is how football normally works, with the competition for places keeping players on their toes.

Agree that Thommo has had the occasional bad game, who hasn't,but he is still capable of pulling something out of the bag and he is unlucky to be on the bench IMO.We have 1 or 2 players that Tommy never seems to drop even when they have been off their game so he has to be consistent in his decisions.I hope Thommo is not the replacement for Nicholson which was the case yesterday as I cannot see him accepting that.

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Couldn't work out where the 5 minutes of injury time came from yesterday. Seemed excessive at the end.