Time to drop Harding and Puncheon

[pele]

My title says it all. I know we should think twice about changing a winning side, but I really do feel that we have given these two enough time to get into thier stride this season. Adkins made a brave shout in putting Richardson in and I feel he has to follow that up with Dickson coming back in for Harding, who I feel has struggled (an example being the goal we let in against Oldham...his fault and the lack of marking at Notts County...his fault.) I do like Puncheon but at the moment it just isn't working, Oxo gives us pace and more direct action and can shoot straight!!!!

November is a huge month with both Posh and Brighton visiting, implement thses changes now and we will be firmly enconsed in 2nd place by December, ready to pounce for Champions position!!!

[fanimal]

Dan is the man sorry; Seaborne was at fault for Oldham goal and KD was blatantly fouled for Notts goal. AOC should be kept for last 25 minutes, so in conclusion if it aint broke dont fix it and dont change a winning team!

[corky morris]

I have been wondering this myself. Personally i would leave both in the side for Daggers, but let Oxo & Dickson loose on Shrewsbury.

[iansums]

Agree with Dickson coming in for Harding who for me has not been playing as well this season. I would keep Oxo on the bench as an impact player. I would like to see us play 4-5-1 away sometimes (against the better teams) with Chaplow coming in for Puncheon.

[Smirking_Saint]

Harding isn't having a bad season so far IMO, but i would like to see how Dickson does on a regular basis, but that is just for my own curiosity.

 

Puncheon in my eyes has done anything wrong and gives more to the overall performance of the team and Ox gives us a much much better option coming off of the bench towards the end.

[Saint Lindford]

Think you are being harsh on Harding there. His mistake against Oldham was magnified because they scored but for the most part this season he has been solid. Goal on Saturday should never have stood because Davis was fouled, if he had not have been then he would have saved the header and I think you will find that Harding was on the post so not down to him about the slack marking.

 

Agree with you about Puncheon though. Chamberlain should start tomorrow night in place of him.

[Thedelldays]

Maybe Nige will mix it up for the FA cup..

 

Maybe give....

 

Dickson

Holmes

Chamberlin

Martin

Bart

 

a start

[Window Cleaner]

My title says it all. I know we should think twice about changing a winning side, but I really do feel that we have given these two enough time to get into thier stride this season. Adkins made a brave shout in putting Richardson in and I feel he has to follow that up with Dickson coming back in for Harding, who I feel has struggled (an example being the goal we let in against Oldham...his fault and the lack of marking at Notts County...his fault.) I do like Puncheon but at the moment it just isn't working, Oxo gives us pace and more direct action and can shoot straight!!!!

November is a huge month with both Posh and Brighton visiting, implement thses changes now and we will be firmly enconsed in 2nd place by December, ready to pounce for Champions position!!!

 

Just one little point, the lack of marking for County's goal was down to Lallana and/or Barnard, they were there but too static, too small and insufficiently athletic. Harding was on the near post where he should have been.

[RonManager]

Harding also supplied the pass of the game (see highligfhts, 1st half), first time, fast, along the ground to AL on the left wing who then went close with a shot. As for the Oldham goal we had 3 chances to stop that, firstly with DS who let the guy go, then DH who reacted to that error and so nearly got the saving tackle in, and KD who still should have saved the somewhat weak shot.

[Saint_John]

... Adkins made a brave shout in putting Richardson in and I feel he has to follow that up .........

..

November is a huge month with both Posh and Brighton visiting, implement thses changes now and we will be firmly enconsed in 2nd place by December, ready to pounce for Champions position!!!

 

Firstly, Butterfield has a minor tear in either his calf (NA on Solent last Sat) or Hamstring (O/S) and therefore putting Richardson in was NOT a "brave shout".

Secondly, of the coming up fixtures at home I'm more concerned about Brentford in Dec (won last 3) than Posh (2-0-4 in last 6).

 

IMO there is no need to change the winning side.

 

Tomorrow is all about continuing with the winning run, rather than making changes.

Just get Morgan booked and then make your changes plus a few others on Saturday (Bart,Jardi, +Chaplow and Bignell if allowed, Martin etc).

[beatlesaint]

Cant agree to the dropping of Harding. What exactly has he done wrong ?

Puncheon - yeah i can see that. Might be worthing putting him on the bench for the Cup game and letting Chamberlain stake a claim for his place.

[Wes Tender]

Well, although you are entitled to your opinion about both players, others have picked holes in the background reasons for your viewpoint. As stated, Butterfield was injured, so had to be replaced by Richardson. Also, Harding was not at fault for the County goal which should not have stood because of the foul against KD and in any event IMO it was Seabourne who was at fault for not marking Edwards. Although Merrington was scathing about how nobody had picked up Edwards, allowing him a free header, the replays don't show it as clearcut as all that.

 

Puncheon blows hot and cold, but for me, Harding has been his usual consistent self for most matches. I'm content that Chamberlain comes on for the last 20 minutes or so as an impact sub when opposition legs are tiring.

[Window Cleaner]

Well, although you are entitled to your opinion about both players, others have picked holes in the background reasons for your viewpoint. As stated, Butterfield was injured, so had to be replaced by Richardson. Also, Harding was not at fault for the County goal which should not have stood because of the foul against KD and in any event IMO it was Seabourne who was at fault for not marking Edwards. Although Merrington was scathing about how nobody had picked up Edwards, allowing him a free header, the replays don't show it as clearcut as all that.

 

Puncheon blows hot and cold, but for me, Harding has been his usual consistent self for most matches. I'm content that Chamberlain comes on for the last 20 minutes or so as an impact sub when opposition legs are tiring.

 

Doesn't look like a free header at all, Lallana jumps (if you can call it that) with Edwards but obviously has no chance of beating him in the air.I wouldn't even say it was down to Seaborne either, Lallana and Barnard had the job between them...why? who knows.Fonte on the other hand isn't marking anyone in particular.After looking at the video again I can't see where blaming Seaborne even comes from, he's the other side of the 6 yd box.

Edited 1 November, 2010 by Window Cleaner

[leftback]

Harding isn't having a bad season so far IMO, but i would like to see how Dickson does on a regular basis, but that is just for my own curiosity.

 

Puncheon in my eyes has done anything wrong and gives more to the overall performance of the team and Ox gives us a much much better option coming off of the bench towards the end.

 

puncheon dropped,aox playing......fallout with puncheon from now on,

[Window Cleaner]

puncheon dropped,aox playing......fallout with puncheon from now on,

 

what sort of fallout?

[hypochondriac]

Don't agree with getting rid of Harding at all. Puncheon is my least favourite first team player so I will be pleased if we look to replace him in January.

[Thedelldays]

puncheon dropped,aox playing......fallout with puncheon from now on,

 

what are you on about again..?

[wild-saint]

Agree with Dickson coming in for Harding who for me has not been playing as well this season. I would keep Oxo on the bench as an impact player. I would like to see us play 4-5-1 away sometimes (against the better teams) with Chaplow coming in for Puncheon.

 

Dickson to come in for Harding? I dont suppose you could provide some information on how dickson has been doing in training to justify your opinion on this one? Has anyone seen him play in the stiffs / developmetn side and would like to provide feedback?

[Mowgli]

Harding has barely put a foot wrong all season. His biggest sin being having a go at the ball boy! I like Dickson but he was brought in as cover and has not played enough to make a claim for the slot on the left side (back or midfield). Puncheon is a different player to Oxo and it fits perfectly with NA's game plan to play him first, winning balls and making link play before Oxo comes on late an annihilates a tired defence.

 

Nice to have compeition though. Any of those four will do a decent job i think.

[The Kraken]

Cant agree to the dropping of Harding. What exactly has he done wrong ?

Puncheon - yeah i can see that. Might be worthing putting him on the bench for the Cup game and letting Chamberlain stake a claim for his place.

 

I wouldn't say Harding has really done too much wrong all season. However, I think it is telling that both of our full backs combined between them have contributed just one assist this season. It was well documented that we treied (and failed) to sign Inigo Calderon from Brighton, who scored his third goal in the last 3 games on Saturday. That is a dimension I think we just don't have at the moment, I see Butterfield as more safety first and I just don't see Harding getting forward quite as much as he did last season. Maybe its the way they're being asked to play, but just 1 assist combined is a very poor rate of return.

 

As for Puncheon, while he blows hot and cold I would be averse to relying completely on Chamberlain just now. At 17, and with the responsibility of being first choice, he will also have his ups and downs. For now at least I'd hope Puncheon can pick his game up while we continue to use Chamberlain as an impact and support player with the odd starting appearance thrown in.

[pele]

When Dickson played earlier in the season he looked good for us, although not quite in tune with a couple of passes going astray. A regular run in the team would do him the world of good.He imo just seems quicker and livelier than Harding has been of late. I love how everybody has a different take on the situation! I must admit I forgot about the FA Cup and that might be an ideal time as Thedelldays says to try them out then! I think as fans we forget how a squad is so more important than just the team nowadays and hopefully this will hold us in good stead when injuries/suspensions etc kick in!

[The Kraken]

puncheon dropped,aox playing......fallout with puncheon from now on,

 

I thought when I saw this pic from the OS that Punch looked particularly glum, but that I was probably looking too much into it.

 

 

Leftback's been spot on a few times before so let's see how this plays out. Watching Chamberlain rip it up against the Daggers could be a good move in itself.

[up and away]

Dan is the man sorry; Seaborne was at fault for Oldham goal and KD was blatantly fouled for Notts goal. AOC should be kept for last 25 minutes, so in conclusion if it aint broke dont fix it and dont change a winning team!

 

Kelvin was very naive in the manner he dealt with the Notts forward, he could have easily negated that problem without having to rely on the referee. He should have got a free kick, but by the time the ball brought them into focus, the forwards arm was no longer completely blocking Kelvin. Kelvin thought the referee should have seen that, but in all fairness I can understand why it was not picked up. That was a silly mistake by Kelvin. As for who should or should not play has seen all of us with egg on our faces at times. What I do believe is that Adkins appears by far the best judge we have had at Saints in a very long time ( Pearson possible exception ), so happy to leave everything to him.

 

What does appear an issue (by all reports) with the Huddersfield and Nott's game, is that our midfield has struggled. The Nott's 5 man midfield appeared to overwhelm our midfield to the extent we could not get that part going. Someone has mentioned 4-5-1 and that has it's possibilities, because it is one formation I have seen Morgan very effective within. I would love to see Fonte tried as the defensive midfielder, he has so much talent with bringing the ball out and reading the game that I feel we may get far more from him. I feel Fonte's minor weakness at present is that he tries to cover others and in so doing so leaves himself short positionally sometimes. As defensive midfielder he could do all of that and possibly improve the team considerably, even a 3-5-2 seems very workable with all the talent we have. All just a personal thought because we have some minor issues at present, but it's going to be interesting to see how Adkins sorts things out.

[Chez]

I'm a big fan of Dickson but since Bristol Rovers at SMS last season, I've yet to see anyone beat Dan Harding. How can you drop him?

In Des Walker style:

"You'll never beat Dan Harding,

You'll never beat Dan Harding"

[iansums]

Dickson to come in for Harding? I dont suppose you could provide some information on how dickson has been doing in training to justify your opinion on this one? Has anyone seen him play in the stiffs / developmetn side and would like to provide feedback?

 

No, I have no information, just my opinion. In the games I have seen this season Harding although by no means bad has not been playing as well as last season. I think Dickson may be a better player and would like to see him get a run starting in the cup game on Saturday.

[Blandford saint]

I'd play Dickson in the cup, but not drop Harding for the League. Dickson had a very dodgy first half against Bournemouth in the League Cup and got taken off at half time. Harding has never been dominated by the guy he was marking in the same way. To strengthen the midfield in away games, we could always drop Puncheon, put Lallana on the right and Dickson on the left in front of Harding.

[corsacar saint]

What does Dickson have to do,to get a game,and while we are on the subject,perhaps it is time Seaborne is given a rest,for Jaidi to come back in,for a game or two.

[S-Clarke]

Not sure what Harding has done wrong?

 

Same as last season - steady eady, doesn't put a foot wrong and does his job.

 

You need people like him in the team.

[RonManager]

Not sure what Harding has done wrong?

 

Same as last season - steady eady, doesn't put a foot wrong and does his job.

 

You need people like him in the team.

 

Exactly - the answer to your question is 'nothing'.

[corsacar saint]

Was it not Harding who was the wrong side of the player[summerfield],who scored the winner for Plymouth on day one of the season.

[Thedelldays]

player in division 3 making a few mistakes....shock... horror

[Lighthouse]

Don't see what Dan has done to deserve dropping, but I'd have Dickson in at LM with Lallana on the right tomorrow.

[RonManager]

Was it not Harding who was the wrong side of the player[summerfield],who scored the winner for Plymouth on day one of the season.

 

Just watched it and no, the ball is deflected at the last moment and drops kindly, DH turns and is goal side of him as he should be. KD makes it easy by commiting when there was no need.

[shurlock]

Agree with the others - Harding has had a very good season.

 

Why not Dickson in for Puncheon and play him left midfield and move Lallana to the right (he's equally capable on both sides - indeed got his goal on Sat from the right).

[benjii]

No.

[RonManager]

Agree with the others - Harding has had a very good season.

 

Why not Dickson in for Puncheon and play him left midfield and move Lallana to the right (he's equally capable on both sides - indeed got his goal on Sat from the right).

 

That's what I would do. DH and RD played very well together at Bristol Rovers when AL had to go off, combining to create the penalty foul on LB.

[RonManager]

No.

 

Oh, right, sorry. If only I'd seen that I wouldn't have made my post.

[Shroppie]

Agree with the others - Harding has had a very good season.

 

Why not Dickson in for Puncheon and play him left midfield and move Lallana to the right (he's equally capable on both sides - indeed got his goal on Sat from the right).

 

I'm not sure I'd make either change. Puncheon's finishing is woeful at the moment but he still contributes a lot. Certainly not drop Harding - I seem to be seeing a different player to the one some posters are describing. But if anything's worth considering, Dickson for Puncheon could be.

[pele]

'No, I have no information, just my opinion. In the games I have seen this season Harding although by no means bad has not been playing as well as last season. I think Dickson may be a better player and would like to see him get a run starting in the cup game on Saturday '.........

Totally agree!

[doddisalegend]

Quite frankly if we were to drop Harding (and I see no reason to do so) it would be to replace him with Mills who by all accounts is doing a good job in a team in a league higher than ours. Dickson hasn't done much to convince me yet that he deserves a place in the starting 11. Puncheon for Oxo maybe, but despite showing some good skills Oxo is still young and can go missing for periods of a match, you can't say the same for Puncheon as frustrating as he is he always sees a lot of the ball and tries (wish we could replace him with Antonio though Sigh)

[georgeweahscousin]

I am a Harding fan. Can't see why people would want him dropped. He is consistently steady. From what I have seen of Dickson, he seems like a strange signing to me.

 

Puncheon though, I can see the possible benefits of giving him a rest against D&R so Alex OC can start. Puncheon is a good player, but he hasn't looked right for a while.

[rooney]

I am a Harding fan. Can't see why people would want him dropped. He is consistently steady. From what I have seen of Dickson, he seems like a strange signing to me.

 

Puncheon though, I can see the possible benefits of giving him a rest against D&R so Alex OC can start. Puncheon is a good player, but he hasn't looked right for a while.

 

This seems a sensible post

[lambertsrightleg]

What does Dickson have to do,to get a game,and while we are on the subject,perhaps it is time Seaborne is given a rest,for Jaidi to come back in,for a game or two.

 

Are you mental? Seabourne's in his best run of form since he arrived. Why would we take him out now and knock his confidence?

[Lighthouse]

I am a Harding fan. Can't see why people would want him dropped. He is consistently steady. From what I have seen of Dickson, he seems like a strange signing to me.

 

Puncheon though, I can see the possible benefits of giving him a rest against D&R so Alex OC can start. Puncheon is a good player, but he hasn't looked right for a while.

 

I thought that too. I'm sure he's pretty tallented, but we already had more than enough cover on the left. Now we've got Mills, Holmes and Dickson all not getting near the pitch. Can see at least one of them leaving in January.

[SuperMikey]

I'm not a huge fan of Puncheon tbh, but we should keep the winning side as intact as possible. Would love to see Chamberlain start, but he's more of an impact player at the moment while he's still developing. When his stamina, strength and technical skills improve, he should start every time. As for Harding, not sure why he'd be dropped. All players make mistakes, and Harding is one of our most consistent performers and is vital to the way that we attack down the left flank. Dickson has been hard done by though with his lack of chances, but he's in the pecking order behind a quality LB in Harding.

[Village Saint]

Dan is the man sorry; Seaborne was at fault for Oldham goal and KD was blatantly fouled for Notts goal. AOC should be kept for last 25 minutes, so in conclusion if it aint broke dont fix it and dont change a winning team!

 

Indeed also probably these are the same people clamouring for Ricky to be dropped;he wasn't and on Saturday we saw why - a sublime performance worth every single penny of the cost of getting there and getting in. Harding did make a couple of mistakes very early in the season but not since and I have seen no reason at all to prefer Dickson. It would be stupid beyond measure to ruin a potential gem like Chamberlain. How he is being used at present is just right.

[Wade Garrett]

I don't like Harding that much, but it would be madness to replace him at the moment unless he is injured. We are quite settled at the back, and Dickson will get his chance at some point during the season. When he does, it will be up to him to make the most of it.

 

I still can't forget Mills game against Ipswich last season though. He was superb.

[Andy_Porter]

It's ridiculous to suggest we drop Harding. Every time I've seen Dickson at left back he's looked poor, Harding has and always will be dependable.

[SNSUN]

Harding is one of my favourite current players, but it has to be said he hasn't been the player he was last season so far. With such strong competition for the position in Dickson, it's fair to say perhaps Dickson should be given a run. However Harding is a pro, any knocks he takes in form he will bounce back from, and currently the team is winning their games, so Harding shouldn't be changed just yet.

 

As for Punch, whilst The OC is a great little player, he shouldn't be in the starting line up just yet. Punch hasn't been as effective as last season yet, but is currently the best option for his position. (Though I would still start Lallana and him on the opposite flanks but that's just my opinion.) He's recently upped his workrate too, and that will prove dividends for him in the long run.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

I would say that Puncheon & Harding just don't work effectively together as a left side pairing - just my opinion but looking at their mutual body language I don't think there's any real understanding or rapport between them. Naturally playing JP on the right side solves that problem easily enough. The odd mistake aside (no one's perfect) Dan Harding has been a outstanding success here. Perversely, I sometimes wish he wasn't quite as good as he undoubtedly is because I'd love to see young Mills given a proper run of games.

 

If Jason Puncheon is starting to feel the pressure of Alex Chamberlain maybe taking his place off him then that is actually a good thing. All our players (irrespective of their reputation) should feel the heat of competition for their place - I include the likes Ricky Lambert, Kelvin Davies & Dean Hammond in that.