I reckon you might be right, although I think Guthrie is an automatic selection when fit.
Itās not about whoās better itās about who looks sharper at the moment and deserves to start on Saturday. That without shadow of a doubt is Lavery.
We havenāt seen enough of him yet to say heās better. But we never will know if he doesnāt start.
Yeah so I think thereās a difference between generally crticizing Gordon and picking a player thatās in form.
If Lavery is match fit (big if) then he should start Saturday on current form. Although itās only one game.
That said, I think Josh has played well - but he needs to work on his positioning and runs in the box. Iād be more worried if he wasnāt getting any chances - the fact he is finding chances means heās not far off. Letās hope Stewart works his magic on him.
I donāt see Lavery starting Saturday, DC has said on numerous occasions now that heās not fit enough due to missing the majority of pre season.
I think Gordonās work rate will save him from the boo boys .
Lavery did look the better option, as everyone else has mentioned itās all about match fitness. I do feel for Flash though, minutes after he came off we get a penalty, if he had the chance to take and score that his luck could have changed! You just canāt take away the passion Flash shows for the club. If every Walsall player over the past 24 months had the same attitude as flash we wouldnāt be in league 2!
Still think Gordon will come good eventually, whether thatās being effective after coming on from the bench or being a starter I donāt know
His work rate alone will get him in positions at this level to score and he gives everything every game so I hope he gets that goal soon and can crack on from there
His finishing definitely needs to improve but the good thing about Gordon is he doesnāt appear to be the sort who will be happy to warm the bench, he will push who ever the striker is at that time all the way, this can only be good for the club.
I never thought Gordon would score 20 goals this season, he just doesnāt have that scorerās instinct of being in the right place at the right time. Gordonās best position is on the right of a forward 3, supporting the main striker. If he gets 8-10 goals this season then I think that is all we can reasonably expect.
I really feel for Josh, but heās just like a professional pilot who could take off, navigate, but for the life of him couldnāt land. How old is he now? Iām not sure this is a coaching or confidence thing (unless we could get hold of coach Smithy ).
From what Iāve seen of him, heās just simply not wired as an instinctive predator as we saw with the likes of Grigg or Bradshaw. Good players make the game look easy and his perceived work rate might not be necessary if the striking role was more natural to him. As has already been said, his runs make it hard for him to be picked out (unless he runs away from goal) and the way he attacks spaces is always just the wrong side of the defender. His work rate will create him chances, but then he needs to a least hit the target? Maybe occasionally score?
Lavery needs to start if fit. Gordonās had service and opportunities, heās not taken the chances unfortunately.
Thinking of Joshās good attributes (work rate, tackling, decent forward passing) would it be a mad thing to suggest he tried life playing as a central attacking midfielder?
Not a bad call in my opinion.
The attackers role no longer is just pure goals, our three attacking options in the squad over the last few games plus Holden, Hardy and McDonald mean we have options to change up. In my opinion this is far better than having one player you rely on who could hit bad form or get injured and leave you badly short so I donāt think itās who is better as such more a case of what suits us in the current match situation with changes available for once!
We had changes available last season, they were all rubbish but we had them.
Thatās the point we actually have changes now, not bringing Norman on as a right winger when chasing a game. Been a few seasons where the players on the bench can actually change things in a positive way.
2 seasons of proper football means he is still learning.
If I remember, Troy Deeney wasnāt super prolific with us - some players are just late developers.
That being said - we donāt have the luxury of waiting 2 more seasons for Josh to become more prolific
Sadly he will never be prolific, needs to be rested for a while, Lavery the perfect replacement for Crewe, we will need goals, Lavery may get them, Josh wonāt, simples.
Lovely lad who obviously wantās to play for us and give his best, but regrettably heās never going to be a prolific goalscorer.
Messiās goal scoring record for Argentina is exactly 1 in 2, but for Barcelona itās very close to 1 in 1 (especially if you discount his early years when he was still learning the ropes). Now Argentina arenāt too shabby (10th in the FIFA world rankings) but the obvious conclusion from these stats is that the way his club play to his strengths is better suited to him than the way his country does.
Not saying Flash is comparable to Lionel Messi (closer to Lionel Blair!) but being played to your best strength on a team and formation that supports you to do this will bring out the best in you. Thatās why some apparently decent looking players bomb when then move to a new club that plays in a different way, and conversely some dead losses suddenly become superstars.
The question is, have we got a squad and a way of playing that he can flourish in, or is he always going to be a nearly man here and need to move on in search of somewhere where he can?
Iād settle for 1 in 2 for Gordonā¦
Well so far heās missed 1 in 2. Unfortunately heās also missed the other one too.