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I was not a fan of Goodwin’s appointment and nothing I have seen so far has eased any of my concerns. Not a fan of zonal marking at corners that he has brought in and he has religiously stuck to a lone central striker even when the players we have do not suit that system. Good manager adapts his tactics to suit players he has at his disposal. Goodwin has not done that in the slightest. That said he should get the window to bring in his own players in and time to work with them.

I wish I had your confidence. I don't think you're completely right about the "shit ahead of them", but I do agree that the lack of scoring has heaped extra pressure on the defence to get everything right, and their lack of confidence has led to a spiralling mess. It's more than that though. The defence was so much better in the first half yesterday with a recognised left centre half and Bates on his right foot. Considine did something I expected Gallagher to be really good at (and something both Taylor and McKenna were great at too), in that he attacked everything and defended on the front foot. He was aggressive and in the face of the attacker, who hated it. That brought us further up the pitch, and Polvara was able to pick up the inevitable loose balls that the attacker was pressured into giving away. It was genuinely night and day. When Gallagher came on, we defended deeper and waited on the second balls. Bates became shakey again on his wrong side, culminating on his atrocious attempt at a challenge resulting in his booking. I'm mystified why Gallagher wasn't taken on as left centre half in a direct replacement, but perhaps it's not as obvious an issue when you're looking side on to the game. From behind the goals, you could see the difference between Bates' first half body position and his second half one, where his body becomes flat to the play, the ball in between his feet ready to switch to his good side at the first opportunity (hence an extra touch every time), rather than comfortably strolling out with it on his right foot as was the case in the first half. I'd go as far as to say that Bates looked decent in that first half, which is the first time I could say that since Goodwin arrived. This isn't an advert for Andy Considine, just that an aggressive left sided centre half is an absolute priority (I have a feeling it might be Joe Shug, which I'd be happy with). The pairing of Gallagher and Bates has without question failed in my mind, and it goes deeper than confidence. Personally, I wouldn't like to see someone like Gallagher sitting on our bench for a whole season, as I think (probably harshly) that he's the type that would happily pick up a wage, but if it's the pragmatic thing to do with the turnover in the summer then fair enough. It would be an absolute mistake to have those two as first choice centre backs next season (although I realise that you're not actually suggesting that). I think that if we have Gallagher on the bench, we'll actually need another cover for left centre half too, which adds further to the recruitment process.

There's something not quite right about the F.A Cup final being played before the league season finishes in my view