If Marvin ( our best defender) is to play…..

If he's that bad how come we kept 4 clean sheets in his 5 league games this season? And only 2 clean sheets in the 9 he didnt play in? 0.6 goals per game with Marv, 1.33 without him.

I get the feeling he's being judged on one thing, and not on his defending?
 
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Marv isn't a complete player.

His defending is excellent.

But his distribution isn't good, his decision making seems shaky and prone to dithering, and he isn't the quickest. I think the system we play needs a blend of those things; the defenders need to put the ball forward well and cover a lot of ground in a back three.

He played well in a back four. I don't know he'll get a look in this season unless Pennington or Casey absolutely collapse.
 
voyeur said:
If he's that bad how come we kept 4 clean sheets in his 5 league games this season? And only 2 clean sheets in the 9 he didnt play in? 0.6 goals per game with Marv, 1.33 without him.

I get the feeling he's being judged on one thing, and not on his defending?
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He’s a fantastic defender, but he can’t distribute the ball
 
cside said:
Marv isn't a complete player.

His defending is excellent.

But his distribution isn't good, his decision making seems shaky and prone to dithering, and he isn't the quickest. I think the system we play needs a blend of those things; the defenders need to put the ball forward well and cover a lot of ground in a back three.

He played well in a back four. I don't know he'll get a look in this season unless Pennington or Casey absolutely collapse.
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I suspect he is the quickest defender we have? I reckon he will be back..... We need to stem the goals against, 1.33 a game is not good enough. However well the 3 incumbents appear to be playing.

Cookie55 said:
He’s a fantastic defender, but he can’t distribute the ball
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We concede fewer goals when he plays. So we need to play him and work out the distribution issue. We will struggle to go up if we continue to concede like we are doing.
 
Dont think his distribution is anywhere near as bad as some on here make out. Pennington has a tendency for example for long crossfield balls straight into touch. I also think Marv got a lot of stick for the game against Lincoln where he was definitely compensating for Norburn having an absolute mare that day.

I cant see any reason to drop any of the three defenders at the moment, other than general rotation but we do miss Marv's recovery, when inevitable mistakes are made.

if the midfield is showing for the ball and moving it around including occasionally going back to the defenders of the keeper i wouldnt have any issues with Marv in the team, and he tends to pop up with the odd goal at corners as well
 
Well I still can’t forget Sheff U away. It’s like a mild form of PTSD and wakes me up at night in a cold sweat. I’d spent too long saying he had a howler per game in him and that just cemented it. And not much changed my view since. Shame cos the other stuff he can do right is as good as it gets in lge1.
 
The way Casey has been playing and his passing and control of the ball i can't see a way in for him cos he would need to play in the centre of the 3. Yes he's a good defender but how we play requires more than that and his distribution and dithering on the ball just doesn't suit how we want to play.
 
He'll no doubt get his chance and when he does he needs to prove that he should be a regular starter... So no different to anyone else I suppose. I can't say I've ever really creamed my pants over him like some... He had a great season whilst being baby-sat by Keogh. Looked lost in the games he played this season for me and it was no surprise that he was dropped....Hopefully we will see the very best of him at some point though and he'll make the doubters eat our words.
 
Costero Poderoso said:
Dont think his distribution is anywhere near as bad as some on here make out. Pennington has a tendency for example for long crossfield balls straight into touch. I also think Marv got a lot of stick for the game against Lincoln where he was definitely compensating for Norburn having an absolute mare that day.

I cant see any reason to drop any of the three defenders at the moment, other than general rotation but we do miss Marv's recovery, when inevitable mistakes are made.

if the midfield is showing for the ball and moving it around including occasionally going back to the defenders of the keeper i wouldnt have any issues with Marv in the team, and he tends to pop up with the odd goal at corners as well
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Agreed. Though maybe our poor defensive record since he was dropped is a reason to bring him back. People keep overlooking how many goals we are conceding for some reason. Why is it and what can be done about it? Would Cheltenham have scored twice if Marv has been playing? Who knows, but it was pretty poor defending by the three apparently better defenders.

Marv was supporters' and players' player of the season 2021/22. A division higher. I think we are wasting him.
 
voyeur said:
If he's that bad how come we kept 4 clean sheets in his 5 league games this season? And only 2 clean sheets in the 9 he didnt play in? 0.6 goals per game with Marv, 1.33 without him.

I get the feeling he's being judged on one thing, and not on his defending?
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Not as simple as those stats. You need to look at how many we scored, the shape and defensive cover etc.

A good defender, but does get sucked oop when the RB isn't the best, as his S/O's and pens against show.

I can't remember who I was have a discussion with about his value. I had it at 300k I think and they had him at a mill+. I think I was about right then.

He'll get his chance and hopefully in a defence where they all know what they are doing.
 
fcblackpool said:
Not as simple as those stats. You need to look at how many we scored, the shape and defensive cover etc.

A good defender, but does get sucked oop when the RB isn't the best, as his S/O's and pens against show.

I can't remember who I was have a discussion with about his value. I had it at 300k I think and they had him at a mill+. I think I was about right then.

He'll get his chance and hopefully in a defence where they all know what they are doing.
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His s/o and pens stats are not that bad I bet, and you have to consider how many times in those situations he has made goal saving tackles that nobosy else would make. Hence why we are concvding so many at the moment! He's another victim of the mob. Someone as always being called out for not being perfect. Kenny had a long spell. Hubby did. Both back in favour. I never lost faith in either. Strengths and weaknesses. All of them.
 
The problem with Marv was that the tactic Critch is going for just didn’t work with him in the middle of the 3, as it requires somebody to either dribble the ball forward or pick a quick pass. Marv was not great at either. Testament to his defensive ability that despite this, and the inevitable pressure it invited upon us repeatedly when he lost the ball, we barely conceded.
 
voyeur said:
His s/o and pens stats are not that bad I bet, and you have to consider how many times in those situations he has made goal saving tackles that nobosy else would make. Hence why we are concvding so many at the moment! He's another victim of the mob. Someone as always being called out for not being perfect. Kenny had a long spell. Hubby did. Both back in favour. I never lost faith in either. Strengths and weaknesses. All of them.
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I'd say that the s/o and pens were pretty much all committed in the same area of the pitch, obvs. a bit I know, but all in the RB area. The lad had no cover in the RB berth. As for the goal saving tackles I agree, but that's what you'd hope for. Bifty mentions PC who in a way was that type of player and in a way he made those tackles/blocks as a result of his error.

I agree about Hubby. I've always had confidence in the lad. Dougall, less so, but he's stepped up (again) and is a very good foil for Norburn. Both fit, both play.
 
voyeur said:
Last season was a bit of a shambles and everyone under performed.
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under Appleton the team played fairly often with Carey and Patino as defensive mids, or certainly as the deep mid players, which consistently left the defence exposed because a) neither of them are not that type of player and b) one position where you might want the most experience and we had two very young players.

That might go some way to explaining Marvs, and some of the other defensive howler performances from last year.
 
Costero Poderoso said:
under Appleton the team played fairly often with Carey and Patino as defensive mids, or certainly as the deep mid players, which consistently left the defence exposed because a) neither of them are not that type of player and b) one position where you might want the most experience and we had two very young players.

That might go some way to explaining Marvs, and some of the other defensive howler performances from last year.
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Just a bit.
 
problem he's got is. His feet are like they are controlled by a puppet master who's dropped a few strings. Cant play the stupid long diagonals and is like a rabbit in the headlights when the balls at his feet. Good at defending but for someone who panics like he does on the ball shouldnt be in the starting team anymore.
 
People are forgetting how good he is. Our fans voted him player of the season in our good championship season. And so did the players. And fans gave now written him off. Like they wrote Husband and Dougall off. Same old ignorance!
 
Burnnazzer said:
No until he regains confidence in reserves. If he was our best defender he would be playing. When he does get chance, which he will he has to perform.
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The problem is it was how we set up in the first 3/4 games that shattered his confidence - what Grimmy was doing constantly giving him the ball still baffles me!
 
abt1835 said:
He is a very good defender. Just don't give him the ball in our half.
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It wasn't such a big problem in the Championship when he won player of the season.

Perhaps, maybe, he was a victim of a new system bedding in? Norburn was flapping about a fair bit back then. Marv was caught between Grimmy and Norburn, and it wasn't working. Yes, we solved it by taking Marv out. But we also lost something, and we started actually conceding twice as many goals.

But everybody seems ok with that! As long as they don't have to see Marv losing possession ever again.
 
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