Progress...and the Dons squad. : Tue Jun 08, 2021 9:29 am  

Well things are going well and I am of a mind to wax lyrical.
Our coach is in a nice place to be at the moment, mainly because he has, and credit to him in recruitment, rather a tidy group of players at his disposal.
There are too few places available and there are generally two strong contenders for each slot.
It is a good place to be for rotation as work, suspensions and injuries start to reduce options.
Hence not all positions are god given rights, or to put it another way, you have got to be good to start every game...
I'm a stats man and think that stats have a lot to offer...overall stats and stats on each player...strengths and weaknesses.
I appreciate for example you might play a lowish scoring centre because he is great in defence and you might play a centre who is not so good in defence but a high scorer.
This is a coach's job and on that basis I have been happy with what Horne is doing, just when I think he is sticking with someone with poorish stats he changes them and livens things up.
I hope this is deliberate and not accidental...
And if deliberate, I hope he is putting special effort into those he drops and makes it clear why.
Was bored...sorry.

Re: Progress...and the Dons squad. : Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:51 pm  

Strange what competition for places does for a squad, but this current squad appears to have a breath of fresh air about it.

Also a factor that has yet to be mentioned is the impact of the new assistant coach.

[Jemmo]

Re: Progress...and the Dons squad. : Tue Jun 08, 2021 7:09 pm  

I think we have recruited really well this year, all the incoming players are offering something new or different

Re: Progress...and the Dons squad. : Tue Jun 08, 2021 8:48 pm  

I think we're starting to see the full benefits of being free from the DR arrangement with Hull. Having a bigger squad, competition for places, and being in control of our own destiny is much better.

As Jemmo says, the incoming players are all offering something new or different. The recruitment has been very good.

I still think there's more improvement to come as the team has only played together five times.

Five away games running is going to pose a challenge with potentially tricky games at Hunslet and Barrow included.

Re: Progress...and the Dons squad. : Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:05 pm  

1 down 4 to go .
Didn't expect such a big win today !

Re: Progress...and the Dons squad. : Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:48 pm  

Me neither Paul. Delighted though with the result. All things being equal I expect us to beat Hunslet. I will hold my hand up if I'm wrong but I think it'll be a very hard fought game with a narrow Dons win.

Re: Progress...and the Dons squad. : Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:17 pm  

Our defence wasn't seriously tested in the North Wales game. Quite how far we can go this season will depend on how well we defend against the better teams. I'm still concerned it could be our weakness. The players are still getting used to playing with each other so hopefully my worries may be unfounded.

Re: Progress...and the Dons squad. : Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:28 pm  

Do not know if the wind was a problem , Misi missed a couple of early high balls early on .

Re: Progress...and the Dons squad. : Sun Jun 13, 2021 9:16 pm  

weighman wrote:

Do not know if the wind was a problem , Misi missed a couple of early high balls early on .

I think the sun was in his eyes as well. The wind was blowing the ball away from him which probably made it hard to judge.

I was impressed with Sam Doherty's goal kicking.

Re: Progress...and the Dons squad. : Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:34 pm  

weighman wrote:

Do not know if the wind was a problem , Misi missed a couple of early high balls early on .

Aside from that Misi had an excellent game. Very pleased with him generally.