I have played a lot of Poker in my time and made a bit of money out of it and Town's start to the season has got me thinking about some parallells between the two.
In a poker tournament there are those who play cautious and tight who often make it through to the later stages of the tournament even sneaking on to the final table to give them a chance to win the main prize.
Others play more aggressively and often crash and burn early but if they do get through to the later stages often have a big chip lead which gives them a much better chance of winning.
In the long run the aggressive players (if they are any good) will win more money picking up fewer bigger prizes than the tight players picking up a lot of lesser winnings.
I would like Town to be more aggressive - we should have the players in place now to do this against most teams in this division. Ok we'll lose a few but in the long run I feel we'll pick up more points.
It is not neccesarily about systems either its about how we play whichever way we set up.
I think it comes down to self belief and confidence - sometimes the players seem unsure when they step out onto the pitch. Shanks always said that he sent out his teams making them believe that they were superior in each and every position to the opposition. I never get the impression that we look confident and we started slowly each half yesterday.
Some people quote our unbeaten run as an achievement whereas some others call it a millstone around our neck. Well it IS an achievement but it has got us nowhere so far. It wouldn't be a problem if the number of draws was the same or less than the number of wins as that would surely get us auto - but so far this ain't happening this season.
What does everybody else think - are we gonna sneak onto the final table again but miss out on the main prize or will we get it all together and start bashing teams?
I really hope it is the latter as judging by attendances and yesterdays away support some peoples mojo appears to be waning.
Town,Poker and Mojo
posted on 4/9/11
its all a confidence thing in my opinion, great player who are capable of ripping other teams apart but sadly as lc they dont believe how good they really are. sooner they start walking into the pitch with the attitude theyre the best in the league we wont be that good!
posted on 4/9/11
lc said^^
posted on 4/9/11
I just want to see them come out with confidence and play with authority and a swagger and dominate games - we should be able to do that in this division with the players we have.
posted on 4/9/11
definately
posted on 4/9/11
I'm hoping that as the new players settle in, and our injured players come back LC will start to be more adventurous.
His basic instinct is one of ultra safety, and I'm sure he'd play 4-6-0 if he thought he could get away with it. Picking up points from every match is ok as a base to build on, but not the key to auto promotion as we found with Southamptons run last season where they went for it in every game, losing a few but winning more than Town did.
Lessons need to be learned from this.
LC has assembled a decent squad of fit and skillfull players and at some stage I would like to see them 'cut loose' to assert themselves rather than having to follow what are basically defensive tactics.
Confidence is they keyword, and if LC can instill this in his players, and allow himself to trust the players he has brought in, then he can show that by playing 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 in every game. Otherwise it just seems LC doesn't trust his players ability, which in itself reveals he doesn't trust his own judgement.
posted on 5/9/11
bruisedbananas I think you have missed an important consideration with your poker analogy one that in my eyes is far more important the power of position, I would suggest Clark is cautious and rightly so away from home when we are in effect out of position and nobody can seriously knock our 2011 away record however at home when 'on the button' as such we are not being aggressive enough, but like yourself I play a lot of poker and I find it much easier against the good players than the bad ones bit like Town at home again, my suggestion is that town are like an AK at home expected to win most hands/games, but sadly doesn't always work out like that.