THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

I for one and pleased that a player isnt happy being a sub and only getting a few minutes. I want the players to be not happy not being selected to start. Either a player can do something about it and push themselves into the starting 11 or push the current post holder to elevate themselves to keep the place or they can sulk and get binned off. Win win either way.

Excellent observation.
That's one of the principles by which I try to lead my life. (Seriously! )

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Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment

Max Dean is going to be hard to displace. He is improving rapidly and his non stop running and physicality up front is creating a lot of space for the rest of the team. Most importantly his finishing is really improving as well.
I like Mo Eisa a lot but he will need to really knuckle down if he is going to get a starting shirt ahead of Max Dean.
Thinking back to Saturday it really was an excellent performance. Tucker at one point was like Beckenbauer, just strode out of defence with perfect timing right between their two forwards. Gilbey and Payne were sensational in midfield and Max Dean ran himself ragged up front and was a handful the whole game. We looked really, really good. We also looked super fit. I am hopeful the one legacy of Alexander’s miserable reign is that he has left a legacy of high fitness , which combined with the new tactics and approach of MW is a winning combination.

There’s no way on current form, combined with application and desire, will Mo Eisa displace Max Dean currently. The club would be better off looking to sell Eisa in January before his contract expires (next summer I think?) and find a replacement that far better suits MW’s style of play.

Agree entirely with this.

Dean really has come on quite a lot, a good pre season in the gym and he is a real handful now. There's a lot of purpose to what he does now.

Isn't our present style similarto that under Martin and Manning and didn't Eisa score lots of goals ? I certainly remember one against Barnsley.
Why wouldn't he fit into the team now?

I think he scored 12 and 11 goals respectively but did have a lengthy injury layoff.

an ok return but hardly prolific. Eisa's biggest issue in my opinion is that is literally all he offers. He eithers scores or its nothing. No hold up, no working the centre halfs, no winning of headers and his first touch outside the box is none too special.

I dont rate him much but i know others on here do so he must have something. For me, the style that MW wants to play looks like it starts up top so it needs hustling forwards who can also score. They are pretty rare at this level which is why we are relying on a kid and why he wont be with us for too long if he carries on the way he is currently playing. Sadly, thats not Eisas game.

Yeah, good point. Eisa arguably didn't suit GA's more physical style but still banged a few in.

People don't like Eisa because he's languid for a lot of the play but he does still put a shift in. He's also very, very sharp and fast and finds space well. Once we start getting some cutbacks to him he'll start scoring again. Also see the through pass Conor Grant gave Max Dean at the weekend. Get Eisa in the channel there between centre half and full back and he'll produce with even more regularity than Max does.

MW's exploitation of space over physically competing for loose balls suits Mo, although as Magpie says he doesn't win an awful lot during a higher press.

Yup, agree with you both. Eisa has suited a similar style before, so if anything should improve under MW. Has he ever been the same since his injury though? I know he had a good start to this season, but he just doesn't seem quite as sharp ever since coming back last season.

I suspect he'll start against Reading, so that'll be a good opportunity to see how he gets on. In the last 2 games, he's come on at a time where the game is pretty much done anyway. As you say, Eisa thrives of the type of ball Grant played into Dean but his confidence has been shot recently.

I had him down as one I'm not entirely convinced will regain his form for us, but I'm not 100% sold on that and I hope he proves me wrong. I'm not expecting him to put himself about like Dean, he's just not that type of player but I want to see the player of old who was excellent at getting into goal scoring positions and most importantly, finding the back of the net.

His goal against Wrexham wouldn't have looked out of place two leagues higher. Also he scored a poacher's special against Barnet in pre season which I don't think any of our other players would have scored.

I wouldn't be surprised to discover he was a wantaway in the summer though. Hopefully he thrives under MW.