A view from a neutral - Bradford game

[SEA Grecian]

Teams are also wise to his threat. Much more than earlier in the season. He's still been very good defensively though

Exactly. I think both the defensive contribution of both Key and Caprice is massively under-rated. Yes, the back 3 are playing incredibly well but you don't keep as many clean sheets as we have without support from the wing-backs.

 

[SEA Grecian]

Absolutely….he (and another keeper we have in Joe Wildsmith) suffered massively from not being Kieron Westwood……Westwood himself didn’t help matters by posting all over social media what he thought of things, various managers hung them both out to dry at various times and the crowd started to get at him for every mistake, big or small….leading to a goal or not.

today he did what he had to do….both saves were good while at the same time it would have been poor had they gone in. I’m a bit old school where keepers are concerned and want them to claim anything in the air in the 6 yard box but at the same time I’m aware that this isnt the modern way.

similarly “distribution“….I like to judge my keepers on how well they keep the ball out of the net yet more and more it’s seems that ability with the feet is becoming more important than with the hands.

Dawson got loads of grief for his kicking at Hillsborough and yet he was probably the most 2 footed player we had……ask a keeper to slam the ball down the middle of the pitch and they’ll do it all day long, probably further than any outfield player can. But that doesn’t happen often, centre forwards tend to go out wide these days and in aiming for them there will always be a percentage that go out of play….hence grief for the keeper.

Today I dont think he can be faulted at all for his distribution, kicks were all where you’d want them to go and there were a couple of early throw outs to release Caprice in the first half.

also worth remembering that the best keeper distributors cost around £50 million!

I think that's pretty spot-on but I also think Cam Dawson really helps guide the inexperienced players in front of him and provides great leadership for the team as a whole. This is starting to look like it could be the best team we've had since 16-17 and the one thing that team lacked was a Rob Edwards-style experienced player or two to lift the team when things were going against them. I know Cam is only in his mid-20's but he is still far more experienced than most of our team and hopefully he will be able to fulfil that role.

 

[SEA Grecian]

Think Josh Key is due a rest, he's played 2597/2610 minutes in the league so far this season. Last time he didn't play was the last 7 minutes at Rochdale at the end of November.

For the player like him who uses his pace he needs time to re-charge the batteries and don't think he's been given that chance recently!

Matt Taylor seems to be taking it in turns to rest players, so maybe it could be Josh's turn on Tuesday.

 

[SEA Grecian]

He tried that on Tuesday and sparkes was woeful.

No he wasn't - he just looked a bit rusty not having played much recently.

 

[Super Ronnie Jepson]

No he wasn't - he just looked a bit rusty not having played much recently.

Caprice always seems to see more of the ball than almost anyone when he's out on the left. Sparkes never really had much space / time in that particular match because of the way Orient were set up. Against other opposition if Sparkes gets as much ball as Caprice usually does then there'll be more end product for sure.

 

[Spanks]

No he wasn't - he just looked a bit rusty not having played much recently.

See, I can't agree with that. He needs game time for sure, but he was poor at the start, and you could see his head drop more and more by the minute, to the extent that by the end of the game, he'd completely gone. I felt incredibly sorry for the lad, and he should have been removed to protect him.

If Seymour had shown the form and awareness that Sparkes did on Tuesday evening, this place would have been in meltdown.

 

[Martin Lawrence]

See, I can't agree with that. He needs game time for sure, but he was poor at the start, and you could see his head drop more and more by the minute, to the extent that by the end of the game, he'd completely gone. I felt incredibly sorry for the lad, and he should have been removed to protect him.

If Seymour had shown the form and awareness that Sparkes did on Tuesday evening, this place would have been in meltdown.

The fact that there are people out there disagreeing that he was poor, lends some weight to their view. I think there were elements of his game that were frustrating and at times poor. However, he was neat and tidy in many other elements too. A 6/10 performance for me. Whether that us good, bad or indifferent, I will let others decide.

 

[Grecian Max]

Key has dropped his value this year, had some good games but I’m starting to wonder if the standout performances last season were because of the unknown factor. Teams seem to have wised up to his diagonal run into the box.

 

[Martin Lawrence]

Key has dropped his value this year, had some good games but I’m starting to wonder if the standout performances last season were because of the unknown factor. Teams seem to have wised up to his diagonal run into the box.

I think there is an element if this. However, the good thing with this us that it generally creates space for others.

I still think Josh has a great career ahead of him. I'm sure he will flourish in a team with better players.

 

[SEA Grecian]

Key has dropped his value this year, had some good games but I’m starting to wonder if the standout performances last season were because of the unknown factor. Teams seem to have wised up to his diagonal run into the box.

He hasn't stood out in the last couple of games but it's not that long ago that he was arguably the best player on the pitch when we played Forest Green.