Well......what a disaster!!!
Stanley turn up at "Rodney Parade" and come away looking like total plonkers !!!
Although I haven't been to the game, it sounds like we had our trollies ripped down and given a proper good spanking.
We probably have the strongest looking defence ( on paper ) that we've had in recent years, but we got ripped to shreds. Maybe they were pumped up with adrenalin, first game back in league, bigger than normal crowd.
I think we're lacking three, four, or even five players to really compete this season.
Goalkeeper. Although Bavs relatively shone up until getting injured, Sadly I think his better days are behind him. To me, he doesn't command his area, though he is a good shot stopper. As somebody who played in goal myself ( albeit at a much lower level) I really question his positioning at times; and he doesn't seem to communicate and yell at the lads in front of him. I used to tear strips of the lads who played in front of me. I don't recall seeing Bavs do that.
My personal opinion, a good and solid goalkeeper gives the lads playing at the back an extra 20-30% of confidence.
We lack a "midfield general". Joyce to me has to aspire to step up to the mark required. Don't get me wrong, I think Luke has the potential to play that role ( eventually ) but the time is now. Quite simply, the lad goes missing at times and we need somebody who will bust his guts out for 90+ minutes.
Murphy is also another trier, though unless he can up his game, he's another who can only be classed as a bit part or back up player.
We need one or even two wide players, possibly one on either flank. Let's forget playing fancy formations a.l.a. 4-2-3-1, 4-1-3-2 , the basics often suffice.
Two good wide men with pace, who can cross a ball and provide a decent supply to the forwards. Two good wide players.....who can drop crosses into areas which torture the opposition and have forwards salivating at the prospect of said crosses......
Which brings me onto the business end....forwards. I believe Webber will be good for 15-20 goals this season. Though, when I look at what we lost from last season ( 30 goals ), I still think we're going to be short of goals. I think we really need a big strong target man who Webber can play off.
The late, great, Brian Clough ( and Peter Taylor ) worked on the basics of the game. Finding players to slot into positions and play set roles. Beattie has to try and emulate that on probably the worst budget in the league!!
Hopefully we can utilise the loan market and bring in players to plug gaps.
For me, that defeat must be a real kick in the teeth for Beattie ; and although he talked diplomatically in the post match interview, I hope in private he's tearing strips off the squad to make them sure that level of performance is not acceptable.