Worst strike pairing in memory?

A few weeks back everyone was singing beesleys praises, saying we're finally seeing the player he can be. Now he's being called non-league. We've seen Lavery look good, those who watch other teams know Kyle Joseph can play and Kouassi is 20 years old.

True they all contribute little at the moment, but might perhaps that not be due to them all being suddenly useless? Could it be that there are other factors that affect strikers??
 
None of our strikers have any confidence. They are hardly been given a heap of chances either. That said they all seem flat-footed, struggle to control the ball and their movement is shocking. How many balls went to the front post in that first half, yet not once did any of the strikers think to make a run in that direction? I can only assume they look good against the cones down at Squires Gate because I doubt they would give any defender in L1 sleepless nights. I've said it before, Sadler is going to need deep pockets or pray his recruitment team can actually find some decent players. I won't hold my breath given how all of our summer permanent signings have done.
 
nothing against these guys, honest professionals and yes lack of service to a degree. However, Kouassi and Beesley together offer little skill, pace or know how in the box. League one players at an absolute push
 
zico_bamber said:
Thinking back, I can’t recall a more impotent strike pairing than Kouassi and Beesley. Probably have to go back to the 80s or 90s?
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You could have waited until the 70th minute to see a worse pairing. Joseph and Lavery nearly lost us that game by being incapable of anything like controlling a ball. Truly terrible from both of them.

In the first half they both had some decent touches, with Kouassi involved in the build up to the goal.
 
1966_and_all_that said:
But why? I've seen Lavery play well up front, Beesley too. No, the failure of these players is more to do with their coaching.
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I think bar a couple of months at the beginning Lavery has been largely poor. That's under Critch mark 1, Appleton, McCarthy and Dobbie and now Critch mark 2. Beesley just isn't at this level I don't think. Every dog has their day of course and he may well have a few good games but if we are to progress we need a consistently threatening striker.
 
Is it only me that thought them two did ok today. Their job wasn't to score as I saw it. It was to do the kind of job Madine used to do.

We actually played some ok football first half as we had a direct out ball and we need that. Critchball isn't actually tikataka as much as he'd like it to be.

Main takeaway here: Madine was so good it takes two players to replace him. 👍
 
Wizaard said:
You could have waited until the 70th minute to see a worse pairing. Joseph and Lavery nearly lost us that game by being incapable of anything like controlling a ball. Truly terrible from both of them.

In the first half they both had some decent touches, with Kouassi involved in the build up to the goal.
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Spot on. Beez was not great today but when the forwards were swapped we went badly downhill. This was also a consequence of the coach's baffling decision to hook Coulson who had been our most effective attacking threat, whilst swapping CJ across for another feeble cameo at left WB.
 
Compared to the shite upfront under Hendry these lot are like Man Utd 1999 strike force

Remember Matt Shaw?Andrew Barrowman?

Thought Kouassi did what was asked of him in being a physical target to drop diagonals into.Held his markers off and created space for others.I’m not convinced by him as I said earlier in the day but today I thought he used his physicality fairly well.
 
zico_bamber said:
Weirdly enough, that’s who I was thinking of when posting. Brook was pedestrian and not big enough for a target man. Hawkins - I can’t quite recall if he has any strengths!
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Apparently "The"Brian Clough was interested in signing Hawkins was the Gazette headline when we signed him from Bristol City!.
 
td53 said:
Is it only me that thought them two did ok today. Their job wasn't to score as I saw it. It was to do the kind of job Madine used to do.

We actually played some ok football first half as we had a direct out ball and we need that. Critchball isn't actually tikataka as much as he'd like it to be.

Main takeaway here: Madine was so good it takes two players to replace him. 👍
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Thought first half they did ok. Not great just ok. The problem for me is that when we attack we don't seem to know where players are going to be. The number of misplaced passes into and around the box is telling. Second half we sat back and weren't getting the players forward in the same way. Nadine would make a good coach for the strikers, positioning and awareness on particular
 
Costero Poderoso said:
Thought first half they did ok. Not great just ok. The problem for me is that when we attack we don't seem to know where players are going to be. The number of misplaced passes into and around the box is telling. Second half we sat back and weren't getting the players forward in the same way. Nadine would make a good coach for the strikers, positioning and awareness on particular
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Madine had a ** incredible ability to move the defence around and make the game change shape just by standing in different places and being the vocal point and then fighting like a cage fighter to win it. I think he'd be a very, very good coach. I also know he was well liked by some of the young lads who he looked after when they joined. I suspect he'll end up doing something in the game sooner or later as he's well regarded by many in football. It would certainly do us no harm at all to have some actual playing experience on the staff.
 
td53 said:
Madine had a ** incredible ability to move the defence around and make the game change shape just by standing in different places and being the vocal point and then fighting like a cage fighter to win it. I think he'd be a very, very good coach. I also know he was well liked by some of the young lads who he looked after when they joined. I suspect he'll end up doing something in the game sooner or later as he's well regarded by many in football. It would certainly do us no harm at all to have some actual playing experience on the staff.
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Madine would be an interesting choice of role model..so over rated by many on here as a player ..he was literally stealing a living from us in the last few seasons
 
Ormergod said:
Compared to the shite upfront under Hendry these lot are like Man Utd 1999 strike force

Remember Matt Shaw?Andrew Barrowman?

Thought Kouassi did what was asked of him in being a physical target to drop diagonals into.Held his markers off and created space for others.I’m not convinced by him as I said earlier in the day but today I thought he used his physicality fairly well.
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I played with Matt Shaw as a kid, could never understand why he was on the books other than he was fit as a fiddle. Didnt stand out technically
 
Costero Poderoso said:
Thought first half they did ok. Not great just ok. The problem for me is that when we attack we don't seem to know where players are going to be. The number of misplaced passes into and around the box is telling. Second half we sat back and weren't getting the players forward in the same way. Nadine would make a good coach for the strikers, positioning and awareness on particular
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That is a consequence of his constant messing with the personnel. There is a ridiculous level of swapping and changing. The only thing that never, ever changes significantly is the crappy set up.
 
Ormergod said:
Compared to the shite upfront under Hendry these lot are like Man Utd 1999 strike force

Remember Matt Shaw?Andrew Barrowman?

Thought Kouassi did what was asked of him in being a physical target to drop diagonals into.Held his markers off and created space for others.I’m not convinced by him as I said earlier in the day but today I thought he used his physicality fairly well.
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Zarco Grabovic!
 
Wizaard said:
You could have waited until the 70th minute to see a worse pairing. Joseph and Lavery nearly lost us that game by being incapable of anything like controlling a ball. Truly terrible from both of them.

In the first half they both had some decent touches, with Kouassi involved in the build up to the goal.
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Those two are both devoid of any confidence. Bees and Kouassi played a different game - they were all about basically being a nuisance, getting to the ball. Hold up play is underrated and when you've got Kaddy, Carey and Byers, all of whom can hit a shot, it's actually pretty useful.

Both Joseph and Lavs looked like they'd be better off taking a breath and slowing down a bit in a weird way. They lurched around and rushed everything. I feel for them both tbh. We need to persevere with Joseph. He's got real potential, but he looks shot at the moment. He's never really got a run of games either. Lavs, I love but I wonder if his time is up. He's just not stayed fit for long enough to recapture his form. He's perpetually playing himself back from injury and for the way he plays, that's a nightmare.
 
td53 said:
Those two are both devoid of any confidence. Bees and Kouassi played a different game - they were all about basically being a nuisance, getting to the ball. Hold up play is underrated and when you've got Kaddy, Carey and Byers, all of whom can hit a shot, it's actually pretty useful.

Both Joseph and Lavs looked like they'd be better off taking a breath and slowing down a bit in a weird way. They lurched around and rushed everything. I feel for them both tbh. We need to persevere with Joseph. He's got real potential, but he looks shot at the moment. He's never really got a run of games either. Lavs, I love but I wonder if his time is up. He's just not stayed fit for long enough to recapture his form. He's perpetually playing himself back from injury and for the way he plays, that's a nightmare.
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Yep. We actually looked like we could get something in that first half because of the work of Kouassi and Beesley. I don't get the slating.
 
I don’t like to berate our players but Kouassi is very slow & Beesley not a world beater but they caused a nuisance of themselves which is more than be said of their replacements. Bloody Hell Laverys first touch was like a pass & Joseph looks like another Nuttall. It’s ok trying to do things on a budget & taking a punt on some up & coming talent but for every successful one there are several flops. I want all these players to prove me wrong but I’m starting to run out of excuses. Whether it’s all down to Critchley I really don’t know but he’s not helping IMHO. I spoke to 3 people who went today when I was out tonight & all said we won but it felt like a loss.
 
I said it last week but would a better pairing be one of Kouassi or Beesley with one of Lavery or Joseph?
None of the 4 will be in demand from any other club but Critchley isn't helping with his team selections.
 
Costero Poderoso said:
Thought first half they did ok. Not great just ok. The problem for me is that when we attack we don't seem to know where players are going to be. The number of misplaced passes into and around the box is telling. Second half we sat back and weren't getting the players forward in the same way. Nadine would make a good coach for the strikers, positioning and awareness on particular
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He was a prolific striker, a natural born killer when it came to goal scoring and setting up others to score
 
NewburyOne said:
None of our strikers have any confidence. They are hardly been given a heap of chances either. That said they all seem flat-footed, struggle to control the ball and their movement is shocking. How many balls went to the front post in that first half, yet not once did any of the strikers think to make a run in that direction? I can only assume they look good against the cones down at Squires Gate because I doubt they would give any defender in L1 sleepless nights. I've said it before, Sadler is going to need deep pockets or pray his recruitment team can actually find some decent players. I won't hold my breath given how all of our summer permanent signings have done.
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Yep, the lack of runs/attacking the ball was very frustrating to watch. Bees seemed to move a bit more but first touch wasn’t there. I think crosses from more central positions to kouassi at the back post would’ve been better than byline. Seemed more likely to attack a knock down rather than quick flashes across goal.
 
Lavery is absolutely horrendous. Pass him the ball and you are flipping a coin as to whether Blackpool will ha possession or the opposition will. Terrible first touch and can't weight a pass to save his life.

He was like this in his first season too.
 
I can understand the o/p headline but all i have to do is think back to last week and how ineffective we were against Wycombe with Joseph and Lavery and we weren't a threat till he brought Kouassi on after gone 80 minutes to partner Beesley who had come on ten minutes or so earlier.
 
Tango1953 said:
Lavery is absolutely horrendous. Pass him the ball and you are flipping a coin as to whether Blackpool will ha possession or the opposition will. Terrible first touch and can't weight a pass to save his life.

He was like this in his first season too.
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I agree. And balls that go up to him, he never wins a header. He has a little girly jump but there is no physicality. Shouldn’t be played to him like that though. He’s had a few seasons and unfortunately he’s not progressed.
Tango1953 said:
Lavery is absolutely horrendous. Pass him the ball and you are flipping a coin as to whether Blackpool will ha possession or the opposition will. Terrible first touch and can't weight a pass to save his life.

He was like this in his first season too.
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