I wonder if we can get Lavery back, he’s scoring for fun at the moment 
As I’ve said elsewhere I completely agree.
All of our successful sides have had a great number 4 in front of the back four. Goodwin, Bennett, Michael Dobson and Adam Chambers to name but four. But really importantly they’ve had a box to box number 8 alongside/in front of them and then that number 8 has either had a front two or a number 10 to link with.
Our best midfield ever in my opinion was Chambers in the 4, Evans in the 8 and Sawyers in the 10. That gave us everything we needed with Evans linking front to back and on occasion getting ahead of both Sawyers and Bradshaw whilst also knowing when to sit and support Chambers and the back four. For me, us missing out on promotion that season was because Evans left. We talk Smith, O’Driscoll etc but if Evans had stayed we’d have won the league. That’s how important that position is. When we won the league we are in now it was Dobson in the 4 and Keates in the 8. Think Keates scored double figures that season whilst also doing the body on the line thing in support of Dobson. A few seasons before, Keates did exactly the same for us in front of Tom Bennett.
The reason Buckley’s teams never won promotion is that all of our midfielders were 8s. Glorious at times and when going forward but it wasn’t until Goodwin replaced Childs under Coakley did we achieve the balance required to grind out results in the kind of pragmatic way required to be successful.
On Saturday we played with two 4s. Which is good to protect your back four and will probably be enough to eek out enough points to finish third bottom or a bit better.
But in doing so you don’t get those zone 14 chances or options. Think where Frank Lampard snaffled scores of goal or where Keates popped up on numerous occasions, or Shakespeare or Mantom.
So our 10 (Earing on Saturday) is either isolated and reduced to feeding off the scraps of second balls from our 9 or has to come far deeper than is productive. And your 10 coming deep isn’t necessarily a problem (Sawyers often came very deep) provided there is an 8 pivoting the other way and getting beyond him.
Our midfield dilemma at present is based around four players. Between Labadie, Kinsella, Perry and Bates do we have a really good 4 and a really good 8? Could Kinsella become a Keates and become far more of a marauding link than merely a shield? Or could Bates or Perry do that role whilst having the strength and discipline to do the ugly bits a good 8 has to do? The best 8s seamlessly revert from a last ditch tackle in their own box to popping up in the opposition box to score.
It is the engine room of the team. Part of the reason we aren’t quite functioning is because we are a tad uncalibrated in that area. Taylor caught between and betwixt his instinct (which is probably Ladabie and Perry) and the pragmatic reality that Kinsella has to be part of any fourth division side that isn’t quite humming but needs guts, legs, attitude and ugly points.
I get why some suggest that Ladabie and Kinsella could work in a 4231. But you still need to link, transition and switch between the 2 and the 3. The way we set up now with the personnel we have the reality isn’t 4231 it is 64. The four really detached from the six. So we end up attacking in a really predictable box shape. Centre half to full back with a hopeful ball into a channel with the hope the winger makes it and get it into the box with the lottery-Esque hope we find a player in the middle of the goal mouth. Whilst there is a Graydon-like approach in there you need to make that play with larger numbers and far more precision and quality. Graydon had two up top and wingers who burst lungs to be a third man in the box when we attacked down the opposite side (Wracks goal record speaks for itself). If that is the way we plan to score goals in this team then we need literally three times more people getting into the box. So I’m not sure it is the way we plan to score goals because we play a lone striker and a 10. Which suggests us trying to break lines which needs that box to box number 8.
Early days and the encouraging thing is that Taylor is showing signs of adaptability and working out the puzzle as he goes rather than sticking to a method that clearly wasn’t working.
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F**k me that was ace. I feel like pep guardiola now.
*doffs cap 
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You’re thinking of Shayne Lavery at Blackpool. He is scoring regularly this season and looks a good find for them.
“Our” Lavery, Caolan, has made two short substitute appearances for Bradford and, as you’d expect, hasn’t scored.
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She did. Upper tier. Only a few I reckon but def’ boos. Mindless…
Ahhh…I see…
As I said elsewhere too… put more eloquently than I 
But this is why I’ve had this seemingly negative impression of Kinsella over the years. It is his not him specifically - but the combination in the midfield which is the problem.
I think more and more people are seeing it now.
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Good post but I thought Labadie was more of a box to box midfielder than we have seen so far. The guy is recovering from an injury and we have yet to see what he can do when fully fit. If I am right on that then we should be ok. I also wonder about the youngster Willis. Perhaps try him alongside either Kins or Labs in the Papa Johns . I thought at one time Bates could do the job and if he can recover his form he is another option so we have a number of possibilities.
Hope you’re right.
Looking at Labadie’s stats he has scored 48 in 380 appearances. About one in eight or six/seven a season if he plays the majority of games. Which is far better than the 1 in 50 Kinsella grabs.
So you may well be right. Obviously players are liberated or stymied by the job their manager asks of them and certain game situations. On Saturday it was defo two 4’s but that maybe because we scored early and that was the “hold on” shape we planned. If it was I guess it worked but it was a long time out of possession and left the top of the pitch isolated.
I reckon we’ll adopt the same from the get go on Saturday.
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That’s really poor. I know it’s not his game, but….
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Kin’s game is to break up the opposing team threat, trust me there is enough there to keep anybody busy 
I think it’s actually worse - according to soccerbase its 2 goals in 148 league, fa cup and league cup appearances (and one of those in the league was as a right back).
That’s really, really poor.
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Not considering he goes into the opposition penalty area less than our keeper does.
His role means that he lays the ball off and stays back while others get into the box.
Adam Chambers scored 2 in 288 league games for us, but he wasn’t too shabby.
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I don’t think Labadie or Kinsella are 4s really. Both are better suited to up and down although Kinsella doesn’t offer the goal threat of a Mantom or Evans obviously. I just think he hasn’t got the passing range/intelligence or the tactical discipline to play that role. Our best performances last year (I know, I know!) came with Bates or Perry sitting and Kinsella free to hassle and press in front along with Osadabe or Holden to offer the more creative stuff. For whatever reason Perry and Bates seem out of sorts/favour and I think we look more competitive with Labadie in the team, although he does look like he’s a booking waiting to happen. Hopefully Taylor works out the balance of the side. I think pace out wide (ie Shade) would help if those two are playing together centrally.
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He was an actual holding player though - what is Kinsella ?
For reference - I said this back in February:
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He’s our most reliable player who gives 110% every time he steps on to the pitch, I’d always seen him as a defensive midfield, this season it looks like Taylor has told him to be more expressive I know see him as a box to box midfielder.
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Not the Kinsella debate again FFS ,
Like it or not he is our most reliable and consistent player , it’s about time he was given the credit he deserves, I’ll go as far as to say virtually any club in this division and a fair few from league 1 would welcome him with open arms , nobody is saying he’s outstanding but every club needs one .
Virtually always fit despite his style of play , always 100% committed to the cause .
A manager’s dream
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I think he is a holding player too - pretty good at it but not as good as Chambers.
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One bloke by me was shouting expletives at Taylor on the final whistle.
Weird behaviour.
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