The Fleck substitution

[Gribz 743]

What happened here? Fleck was stripped and ready to come on for Daily but it didnt happen??? Surely he had to be thrown on as another attacking option!

 

Isnt this about the 3rd time we have waited 10 mins for a sub, but on this occasion it didnt happen??

[John Barr 0]

Yes, i wondered where he got too to.

 

Another amazing decision from Walter.

 

I think he was ready tio go on when Nacho scored. Walter probably felt ok we don't need to be overly offensive with 4 or 5 strikers on the park whilst drawing as we now only needed 1 goal.

 

I did notice Bougherra came forward much more after the Gers goal. Maybe he went with him instead of putting Fleck on.

 

Whatever it was, it was crap. He should have thrown the boy on as he is probably the best finisher we have, he is a set piece threat too with his free kicks and his speed and dribbling could have caused a lot of trouble for the HIVs defence.

 

I would have thrown him on and taken Dailly off.

[craig 5,195]

Novo had just scored.

 

WS was preparing to go 3-3-4 by the looks of things. But having equalised he went against it.

 

Sorry guys, but I disagree with you. Bringing Fleck on for Dailly would not have been the smart move. We had just equalised and, yes we needed a goal, but we were MURDERING Hibs. We were creating chances all over the place.

 

Getting the equaliser meant we could continue to bombard them the way we were. I don't think that bringing Fleck on for Dailly would have been the right move as we were already creating lots of chances.

[ian1964 10,410]

3-3-4.................formation for sheep game

[Hurlock 0]

Agreed Ian, I would like to see Novo, Boyd and Lafferty all up front, did anyone notice how many chances fell Novo's way last night, more match practice and he could've scored five last night easily !!

 

Lafferty looks like he's going to give 110% in these last two games.

 

We need a 3-0 over Aberdeen and hope Hibs hold them !!!

 

Keep believing !!

 

[calscot 0]

Novo's finishing has NEVER been that great no matter how much practice he gets. Most of his goals that I remember are mishits and deflections. I've always said if he had Boyd's instinct for goal he'd be some player - although probably for a richer team than us.

[John Barr 0]

Novo had just scored.

 

WS was preparing to go 3-3-4 by the looks of things. But having equalised he went against it.

 

Sorry guys, but I disagree with you. Bringing Fleck on for Dailly would not have been the smart move. We had just equalised and, yes we needed a goal, but we were MURDERING Hibs. We were creating chances all over the place.

 

Getting the equaliser meant we could continue to bombard them the way we were. I don't think that bringing Fleck on for Dailly would have been the right move as we were already creating lots of chances.

 

Sorry Craig, i disagree with yourself.

 

You said we were murdering Hibs. Only on possesion and chances did we murder them.

 

 

We weren't scoring and the game was nearly finished. And that is why we needed a good finisher on the park and a set piece taker to try something different, as it seemed like everything else had been tried.

 

Aleague title was at stake and 1 goal would have swung it our way and it was a gamble Smith was prepared to take. Unfortunately he had the right idea initially, but then bottled it to leave a thin defensive line.

 

This short move just typifies the Smith ethos. He is almost satisfied to have the draw in the bag and attack looking for the winner with 4 defenders and a defensive midfielder on the park, instead of opting for 3 defenders and 4 attackers.

 

We obviously will never know, but i feel if he had went with wee Fleck it may have swung for us that night!

[craig 5,195]

Sorry Craig, i disagree with yourself.

 

You said we were murdering Hibs. Only on possesion and chances did we murder them.

 

 

We weren't scoring and the game was nearly finished. And that is why we needed a good finisher on the park and a set piece taker to try something different, as it seemed like everything else had been tried.

 

Aleague title was at stake and 1 goal would have swung it our way and it was a gamble Smith was prepared to take. Unfortunately he had the right idea initially, but then bottled it to leave a thin defensive line.

 

This short move just typifies the Smith ethos. He is almost satisfied to have the draw in the bag and attack looking for the winner with 4 defenders and a defensive midfielder on the park, instead of opting for 3 defenders and 4 attackers.

 

We obviously will never know, but i feel if he had went with wee Fleck it may have swung for us that night!

 

What other way can you be murdering a team John ? The only way to score goals is to create chances, right ? And you have just admitted we were creating plenty of chances.

 

There is no guarantee that bringing Fleck on would have given us any more of a chance of scoring.

 

We were doing all the right things i.e. creating chances and having lots of possession. The only thing lacking was the finishing touch. Bringing Dailly off and bringing Fleck on might have actually been worse for us as we would have changed formation which could just as easily have led to fewer chances.

 

I think it is a stretch to say that "A league title was at stake and 1 goal would have swung it our way and it was a gamble Smith was prepared to take. Unfortunately he had the right idea initially" - the only reason Smith was preparing to being Fleck on was because we were a goal down, not because we were level.

 

WS is at fault for a few of our failings this season that is for sure. But I cannot honestly see how he could be at fault last night for not bringing Fleck on.

 

As I said, we were murdering Hibs (yes, by way of possession and chances being created) and that is as much as we could do aside from scoring. But bringing a defender off and putting a forward on doesn't necessarily bring you goals. I would almost go as far as saying that bringin Fleck on wouldn't have resulted in any more chances for us, for a couple of reasons 1) we were already creating chance after chance after chance and 2) the Hibs penalty box was very crowded as it was and to throw another body in there makes it even more congested.

 

Obviously we will never know but personally I felt we created enough chances to win 3 games in the 2nd half last night - we just didnt take those chances. And I don't see how the manager failed by not bringing on Fleck. The chances were being created, just not being stuck away.

 

If Fleck was to come on because he is a "natural finisher" or "good at set pieces" then IMO it should have been for another forward - but Novo and Lafferty were already doing well and when you need a goal you cant really yank Boyd - so it would have had to have been Mendes (WS would never do that), Edu (could have been) or Davis (again, WS Wouldnt do that).