CJ... how is he starting

Everyone slagging off CJ particularly for the chest that pushed the ball a couple of yards in front of him… it lead to a great goal scoring opportunity… better finish and we could’ve had a different game.

He’s never been the same since his injury. Prior to that he was ripping this league apart. Now it seems like he has the pace but is afraid of challenges and can’t finish unfortunately :(
 
rememberlesshannon said:
We were truely f##King awful yesterday, how people can pick one player out from that disjointed mess beggars belief. Ekpiteta and Beesley were a million times worse than CJ yesterday. No he's probably not good enough, especially at right back, but let's have some balance.
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Exactly.
I can't actually remember Beesley touching the ball. CJ was on the ball and giving it away frequently. Which is worse, I'd actually say not being involved at all.
 
He isn't the greatest player on the pitch ,but from what I see ,he is the only player fast enough to get us chances on goal . Get rid of him and we will have even less attempts on goal and I would not have thought that possible.
 
CJ is what he is and what he is is an athlete. If he had the intelligence and technique we wish he had he’d of been playing Premier League football his entire career. I think every fan and clearly every coach (as they’ve all played him and even Ireland have him a call up) recognises he has the potential and ability to win games with the attributes he has - but in my eyes he’s currently a luxury we can’t afford to carry as his limitations are too great and his talents aren’t having the impact the likes of Bowler or even KaiKai had.
If the midfield was doing its job properly I believe CJ would be able to get away being that luxury player for us as we’d have threats from elsewhere and be both tougher to break down and tricker to defend against.

I can’t see CJ being first choice once Gabriel is fit. Gabriel was Critchleys ‘big’ signing and is a RWB who should offer everything we currently actually need.
 
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fcblackpool said:
He can offer a pacy counter attack when the game is stretched- see PNE.

To dismiss him out of hand is shortsighted.
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In fairness most players with any vision would have played the ball forward to Jerry Yates, who was sprinting down the middle. Looked good because it went in, but if we had needed the goal it could have been very different.
 
basilexile said:
In fairness most players with any vision would have played the ball forward to Jerry Yates, who was sprinting down the middle. Looked good because it went in, but if we had needed the goal it could have been very different.
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Had we needed that goal they wouldn't have had the keeper up. Plus it was probably harder to find the right weight of ball for Yates, although I'd have to see it again to see how many PNE tracked back and how close they were.

My post should be taken in context to the one I was replying to, which suggested that CJ had never done such a thing- ever.
 
rememberlesshannon said:
We were truely f##King awful yesterday, how people can pick one player out from that disjointed mess beggars belief. Ekpiteta and Beesley were a million times worse than CJ yesterday. No he's probably not good enough, especially at right back, but let's have some balance.
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It doesn't matter to some people. Sad fact of life but some folk need a scapegoat and cannot see the wood for the trees.
 
Wouldn’t be in my team if we still had Rogers, Bowler or Poveda, but let’s face it he’s one of the few players we have that creates chances so until we sign a replacement, I’d pick him every time.
But what do I know, I’m not a league manager so know feck all!
 
CAGU said:
Wouldn’t be in my team if we still had Rogers, Bowler or Poveda, but let’s face it he’s one of the few players we have that creates chances so until we sign a replacement, I’d pick him every time.
But what do I know, I’m not a league manager so know feck all!
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Don't worry you know more than you think. For what it's worth , I'm with you.
 
Until we sign someone else we are stuck with him, everything has been said re his ability. Kirk & Longman would
be a massive improvement but I wont hold my breath.
 
WIZARD OF TANGERINE said:
He isn't the greatest player on the pitch ,but from what I see ,he is the only player fast enough to get us chances on goal . Get rid of him and we will have even less attempts on goal and I would not have thought that possible.
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And precisely how many 'chances on goal' has he helped create this time round?
 
Paradiddle_01 said:
Unfortunately, C.J. is to footballing skill, what Bernard Manning was to plastering...!!
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I spilled my coffee when I read that ☝😁

Maybe we have pushed him too far too fast with the bag of cement trapping practice and he should get back to basics with the bag of Rough Cast Plaster.
Then build him up (no pun intended) to a smooth finish before going back up to cement.....
 
Razzledazzle53 said:
It doesn't matter to some people. Sad fact of life but some folk need a scapegoat and cannot see the wood for the trees.
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So if you worked with someone who could barley do the job they were asked to do, messed up in over 75% of the things they attempted lowered the value of the company and generally frustrated your customers/ suppliers to the point of desperation, you'd just shrug your shoulders and say "don't worry Chris, some folk are always looking for a scapegoat"!!
 
It's because we have a team of plodders who can't beat their man, CJ is the only one who can go past someone and get the ball in the box, that's why we are constantly trying to get the ball to him.

Drop CJ and what are our options at wingback? Lyons hasn't looked great (but will come good), Connolly is never a wingback, DomThom is a liability, Husband perhaps but he isn't going to stretch teams. We need more options in the wide areas or more creativity through the middle or else we're relying on CJ to make something happen and he isn't good enough to have that responsibility.
 
ElBurroSinNombre said:
Exactly.
I can't actually remember Beesley touching the ball. CJ was on the ball and giving it away frequently. Which is worse, I'd actually say not being involved at all.
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If CJ could cross a ball further than the first defender then we may see more of Beesley.
The one cross he did that actually found someone in a dangerous position still hit the first defender before landing at Connoliy's feet 🥴🤦‍♂️
 
CJ on the LHS & play to his strengths & he will get past his man Dale has done nothing for me who else have we got who can supply our forward players? Lyons probably but he's been off the boil in whatever this system is that Critchley's adopted, Apter looked to have something on the odd occasion I've seen him. but he's not even on the bench. Play our best players in the correct positions & in a 442 if that works, Chritchley farted about last time we were in this league then was forced to change to 442, seems like he's learned nothing.
Edit. We are weaker than the last time we were in this position.
 
Sven said:
It's because we have a team of plodders who can't beat their man, CJ is the only one who can go past someone and get the ball in the box, that's why we are constantly trying to get the ball to him.

Drop CJ and what are our options at wingback? Lyons hasn't looked great (but will come good), Connolly is never a wingback, DomThom is a liability, Husband perhaps but he isn't going to stretch teams. We need more options in the wide areas or more creativity through the middle or else we're relying on CJ to make something happen and he isn't good enough to have that responsibility.
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If you drop CJ then you gain an actual football player whoever that may be but one thing that would improve is the passing/crossing accuracy.
 
Simonized said:
If you drop CJ then you gain an actual football player whoever that may be but one thing that would improve is the passing/crossing accuracy.
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I think we need more options in the wide areas because I don't think the current replacements would make us a better team.
 
Wizzerboy said:
So if you worked with someone who could barley do the job they were asked to do, messed up in over 75% of the things they attempted lowered the value of the company and generally frustrated your customers/ suppliers to the point of desperation, you'd just shrug your shoulders and say "don't worry Chris, some folk are always looking for a scapegoat"!!
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We don't all share that opinion of his performances though do we?
 
I like CJ. I want him to shine. Saturday tested even my patience where he is concerned. For now I’m prepared to cut him some slack, but only because the so-called manager is persistently playing his squad out of position.
 
WIZARD OF TANGERINE said:
There were two good crosses against Lincoln before they scored for starters ,but nobody is mentioned to get rid of Connely because of his poor finish.
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Many fans would have Callum Conolly nowhere near the starting lineup. We have a better right back, better centre half and a better defensive midfield. A good bench option because of his versatility, but no more.
 
basilexile said:
Many fans would have Callum Conolly nowhere near the starting lineup. We have a better right back, better centre half and a better defensive midfield. A good bench option because of his versatility, but no more.
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Even so ,it was CJ that provided a good chance for us to take the lead.
 
Wizzerboy said:
You honestly think he's a good player 🤪
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I've said it time after time that he is 1 of our most dangerous players purely for his pace. He's also underrated in defence as well as he gets back in a flash and wingers rarely get behind him.
If he had a better touch and a pinpoint cross in him he'd be playing at a higher level.
I also think he's very much a confidence player so I hope to God he doesn't read this site 🤣.
Pro managers and coaches over the last few years would appear to think similarly as he either starts or is involved in virtually every game when fit.
All about opinions I guess 🤷.
 
Razzledazzle53 said:
I've said it time after time that he is 1 of our most dangerous players purely for his pace. He's also underrated in defence as well as he gets back in a flash and wingers rarely get behind him.
If he had a better touch and a pinpoint cross in him he'd be playing at a higher level.
I also think he's very much a confidence player so I hope to God he doesn't read this site 🤣.
Pro managers and coaches over the last few years would appear to think similarly as he either starts or is involved in virtually every game when fit.
All about opinions I guess 🤷.
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How can you be a dangerous player if you have so little end product?
Jan Molby (if you are of a certain age and can remember) had NO pace whatsoever but what a player with the ball at his feet.!!
I would much prefer a player in CJ's position to be able to take a player on, a la Bowler Mk1.
Yeh, I guess it is all about opinions and I personally think CJ is being highlighted because even though we have players in the squad who are pants 3 or 4 times out of ten games CJ is pants 6 or 7 times.
I don't dislike the lad, I've never met him but I have seen him play football and I don't rate him as a footballer whatsoever. 🤷 opinion👍🏻
 
Wizzerboy said:
How can you be a dangerous player if you have so little end product?
Jan Molby (if you are of a certain age and can remember) had NO pace whatsoever but what a player with the ball at his feet.!!
I would much prefer a player in CJ's position to be able to take a player on, a la Bowler Mk1.
Yeh, I guess it is all about opinions and I personally think CJ is being highlighted because even though we have players in the squad who are pants 3 or 4 times out of ten games CJ is pants 6 or 7 times.
I don't dislike the lad, I've never met him but I have seen him play football and I don't rate him as a footballer whatsoever. 🤷 opinion👍🏻
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Yeah no problem with that and unfortunately I am of the age to know that Jan Molby was pure class and barely needed to leave the centre circle to dominate a game.... for a fantastic world class team however.

CJ often has his opposition full back on toast and flies past them. Agree though that the end product is lacking consistency but I also think lots of L1 full backs won't relish playing against him.

Pretty certain we're not going to agree on this haha.
 
CJs limitations are obvious and not needed to be gone into again.

But if he is playing then firstly please as an attacking winger only. But even more, let's get back to giving him the ball how he'd like it, to run on to. Since the start of the season we've increasingly used the long diagonal over the full back, which reached its worst point on the graph at Lincoln.

In that situation he is dead meat. Having to go from a stationary start, and any half decent FB will only need it to happen once before they adjust position and shut him down. Yes ok, pulling the FB wider should create more central gaps, but we're not using those anyway. The likes of Jensen Weir could push forward into them, but he needs to be playing and given the ball, not bypassed.
 
And also, he's getting double even treble teamed. Better players than CJ would struggle with some of the attention he got at Lincoln (accepting that when he did get a little space, his first touch was a clearance on more than one occasion).

If we get Dembele, or someone else, on the other wing it might just create him a bit more room, and he could be more effective.
 
Razzledazzle53 said:
We don't all share that opinion of his performances though do we?
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Maybe not 'all', but I would make a calculated estimate that somewhere in the region of 90% hold to precisely that opinion. Still, R-d53, I'm sure the hardcore making up the minority 10% will take great heart from that showing ...
 
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