What does Lenihan bring to the party?

Yep.

Although Blackburn's wing back system was very defensive. I don't think their centre backs were stepping into midfield or anything fancy like that.

Like the rest of them, if you ask him to concentrate on defending he's probably a pretty decent player for the championship.
Asking defenders to concentrate on defending? Madness.
 
I stand corrected - the few times I saw Lenihan on TV last season was definitely in a back 4. Mogga must have *wow* mixed it up to suit who they were playing.
He's still looks as though he's struggling in that system though.
 
Personally think he’s ok but when we are struggling I notice every player comes under close scrutiny and hypercriticism. Don’t think there is one player in the squad at the moment who hasn’t been criticised. Fry got it with both barrels for Saturday’s performance as has McNair, Dijksteel and before them Clarke. Lenihan is nowhere near the biggest problem we have. He is certainly not the worst defender we have as suggested above in my opinion.
 
That for me in a nut shell is what has been wrong with our wing back system all season, neither Giles nor Jones offer any cover. For such attacking wing backs we need proper midfield cover, which since losing Tav we haven’t had.

Very much so. I was very much in the Wilder camp but a bit surprised he didn't change it. I'm sure he's said previously that he's not wedded to one system (despite evidence to the contrary). Only he'll know why he was so stubborn about it.

I think (maybe naively) that any half capable new manager coming in has a fairly easy job tactically because I don't see how moving to a back 4 and two midfielders protecting them doesn't immediately fix a lot of issues.

The harder part is going to be lifting the players.
 
Not sure Giles can be blamed. He played in the same Blackburn team last season. Lenihan and Clarke have both played in a back 5 so that's not the issue. It's the way we play. Under Wilder every players thought they were an attacking player except the CB so whoever plays that position is on a hiding to nothing. The other issue is our non-existent midfield which gives the CBs decisions to make they shouldn't have to.
 
There was a sense that it was a bit of a coup when we signed him.

He doesn’t look especially solid, doesn’t display any real organisation skills in a chaotic defence, doesn’t seem to offer much leadership on the pitch and offers little from set pieces in front of goal,

Not impressed really.
You can’t just criticise Lenihan.
What do any of them bring to the party?
 
Very much so. I was very much in the Wilder camp but a bit surprised he didn't change it. I'm sure he's said previously that he's not wedded to one system (despite evidence to the contrary). Only he'll know why he was so stubborn about it.

I think (maybe naively) that any half capable new manager coming in has a fairly easy job tactically because I don't see how moving to a back 4 and two midfielders protecting them doesn't immediately fix a lot of issues.

The harder part is going to be lifting the players.
Wilder tbf did try to rectify this at Coventry, but it was too little too late. I was very much a Wilder fan too, but it became clear relationships had broken down, which gave the players a ready made excuse for under performing, one they still have with our current caretaker limbo. We now just need some decisive action, even if it’s Leo until Christmas, so that the players can be managed and coached as professionals. This one game at a time approach with Leo and his cohorts wouldn’t even be tolerated in Sunday morning football!
 
The thing is we should be signing young players who futures are in the Premier league not bang average run of your mill championship players.
 
The thing is we should be signing young players who futures are in the Premier league not bang average run of your mill championship players.
No we should be signing players who know how to play a system of the coach and know how to win in the Championship. Look at Luton. No money and bought players who would not be premier league players but have put that team up into the playoffs yet again.
 
The point with any of our centre backs is the non-existent midfield offers them no projection whatsoever. And when you’re asking them to play out and carry it into midfield as well, increasing their responsibilities, it sort of compounds things. Especially when their collective confidence must surely be on the floor.
 
Lenihan is not the main problem. As many have said the midfield inadequacies compound the issues surrounding the defence. The complete lack of creativity in there forces both wing backs so high up the pitch to try and create something that we are wide open on the counter, add to the ZERO mobility from the midfield to get back and we are so easy to play against.

We all knew exactly what Blackburn were going to do with Gallagher and Brereton-Diaz with that ball into the channel between wingback and centre half but spectacularly failed to deal with
 
Back
Top