Glad to see the back of Duberry

[Focher]

I think the young Gilkes' crossing was far better than Kebe', Gilkes' only made step 7 of the Tilehurst end on most occasions

[Millsy]

without being one who wants to single out a player for our disastrous run of form at home, i am in this case.

Yeah because Duberry only played at home.

To single out any one player/thing as being at fault is unfair: almost everyone, from manager to coaches to players to fans to pitch were rubbish.

Indirectly though though I kind of agree as I think losin Ingi had the biggest impact on our form.

Plus... noone seems to have mentioned this yet but Burnley's first goal at The Plastic Morgue was because due to a major f*ckup by Doobs - he came out to the halfway line, committed to a tackle on the ground, totally messed up by not winning the ball, and they attacked. IIRC

[facaldaqui]

All theories that blame a single player are manifestly wrong. All of them played in a winning team before the team became a losing one. It was a team thing. Also, we didn't really let in that many goals, if you look at the figures, and he was part of the defence away as well, don't forget. The only reason Doobs is a target for the one-man-to-blame school of analysis is that he was about the only player Copps never dropped. (It is no longer possible to blame Harper, for example, because he wasn't in the starting line up in the end.)

[SteveRoyal]

the vast majority of the blame for our poor end to the season rests on his shoulders.

If you'd said he was our most culpable player I would accept it, albeit disagree with it. But to say he should shoulder the 'vast majority of the blame' strikes me as letting the likes of Shunt off very lightly indeed.

yeah Hunt has been woeful of late, but i can't help but think that our disgraceful aimless distribution from the back made him worse than he was, he was being bypassed from games.

Good point.
I also think Hahnemann was showing how old he was come the end of the season, we missed Murty's leadership and Lita was either injured or off oxf*rd some whore.

[Focher]

All theories that blame a single player are manifestly wrong. All of them played in a winning team before the team became a losing one. It was a team thing. Also, we didn't really let in that many goals, if you look at the figures, and he was part of the defence away as well, don't forget. The only reason Doobs is a target for the one-man-to-blame school of analysis is that he was about the only player Copps never dropped. (It is no longer possible to blame Harper, for example, because he wasn't in the starting line up in the end.)

Doobs was not part of that winning team that was hammering teams week in week out. He played in the Birm away game which granted we were very good in, and since then we gradually got worse. We were lucky to beat Watford, let alone 4-0. Duberry away was not actually that bad, so i shall retract my one man hate campaign stance and only apply it to him at home, which is where promotion was lost.

[facaldaqui]

We weren't lucky to beat Watford. We hammered them 4 0 with lethal strikes. However, that game did expose the risks we were taking. We stood back and let the Watford midfield have free rein and depended too much on clinical breaks. When the clinical breaks dried up in subsequent matches, that became a problem, but that was not Duberry's fault.

[peterroyal76]

the vast majority of the blame for our poor end to the season rests on his shoulders.

If you'd said he was our most culpable player I would accept it, albeit disagree with it. But to say he should shoulder the 'vast majority of the blame' strikes me as letting the likes of Shunt off very lightly indeed.

I couldn't agree more, good post!

[specialjon]

Doobs is a good honest pro who i hoped would be around to help develop a young defence if Ivar doesn't recover. I reckon doobs will sign for another champ team and will be a good solid defender for a couple of years. His experience at the top level is something we will miss. I was thinking the other day that the possible reason for our long ball tactics at home was the pitch because away we seemed to play good football and then at home it was rubbish.

[Baines]

Glad to see the back of Duberry

^ gay.

[Focher]

Glad to see the back of Duberry

^ gay.

[rabidbee]

Duberry himself would probably admit he wasn't the best passer of the ball. So it's our fault for allowing too many teams to shut out our midfield, and force us to play the ball back to him as an out-let. Since November, we have suffered because we do not have a Plan B when teams close down our midfield.

[bigshaka'away']

What a stupid post. No he couldnt pass, but then as a centre back he is not supposed to be the best passer of the ball.

He is a good defender and saved us on occasions.

We need better players than him to go up perhaps, and his leaving the club does not upset me greatly, but to blame him with such venom is over the top and sad.

The attack let us down over the final period of the season, not the defense (bar USA's mistake against Brum)

[Royalee]

Delighted he's gone to be fair, he's held us back.

[specialjon]

Delighted he's gone to be fair, he's held us back.

Indeed, it's his fault we failed to score against Burnley. Not a single goal, i blame our center back

[Royalee]

It's no coincidence that we've started playing crap football since he's come back into the side.

[specialjon]

He can't be blamed for our lack of goals. Thats the midfield and strikers fault.

[Royalee]

He can't be blamed for our lack of goals. Thats the midfield and strikers fault.

Indeed, but if your defenders are hoofing the ball clear of the midfield every time then it has some effect on your ball retention.

[IceRoyalsandKDoyles]

without hardly ever agreeing to Focher's posts... I would like to say +1 to the Duberry related part of his opening post. A captain is supposed to be a leader and a motivator when morale and confidence are low - Duberry was not.

And sorry for having to restate it again but it really showed how much we missed Ingimarsson

On a different note thanks Doobs and I can still remember being really pleased when we signed him (a big name player)

[Handsome Man]

If you are going to blame Duberry, then you must also blame Armstrong. They were equal partners in the hoofball disaster that spoilt the second half of the season. The performances picked up a little at the end of the season, remember.

I prefer not to blame anybody. The whole team went shit.

[Focher]

It's no coincidence that we've started playing crap football since he's come back into the side.

at last someone talking some sense.