Goodbye Hargreaves

Kit_robin · Post by **Kit_robin** » 22 Mar 2015, 10:18

From my comments I was obviously not one of the people who wanted Bowman dropped. He is by far and away our best striker, and it completely baffles me how anyone could consider leaving him out considering our 'replacements' .

I am always willing to give credit where it's due, however I didn't see much yesterday that was about Hargreaves. Most people on here seem to have noticed months ago that Briscoe and Bowman is the best CF pairing we have, for example (as shown yesterday), but CH won't settle on one pairing and it only happened yesterday due to fate.

There were some improved performances yesterday - young and Dawson, for example - but there were plenty of average ones too. Credit to Ajala for keeping going but his end product was poor for most of the game, Cameron may as well not have played.

The biggest difference was having a player up front who could hold the ball and take the pressure of the centre midfield. I am not going to give CH credit for a masterstroke of tactical genius when he is the last person in Torquay to see that it was the right thing to do.

taxilady · Post by **taxilady** » 22 Mar 2015, 10:24

'The biggest difference was having a player up front who could hold the ball and take the pressure of the centre midfield. I am not going to give CH credit for a masterstroke of tactical genius when he is the last person in Torquay to see that it was the right thing to do.'

eddyh · Post by **eddyh** » 22 Mar 2015, 10:51

But lately Bowman has not been holding the ball up and performing like he did yesterday. I'm not putting it down as some sort of managerial master stroke but it does feel that CH is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't at the moment. He picked Cambell after Tuesday's debacle as he was better than Bowman on the night. That seems reasonable to me. You may not be one of them, but there are plenty iof people in the Plainmoor crowd who seem to have a real problem with Bowmen as he is a frustrating character. Whatever the reason, he looked back to his best yesterday and for that both he and the manager deserve some credit if they are to both get slaughtered when performances dip.
I'm just trying to ask for fairness as lately CH seems to be taking all the blame for the state of the club which I think is over the top.

tommyg · Post by **tommyg** » 22 Mar 2015, 11:12

Bowman has been absolutely woeful lately - it doesn't matter if he's our best striker. You're picked on form and he deserved to be dropped. Maybe that was the kick up the backside that he needed. By all accounts, Campbell did ok against Braintree and scored our goal so I think Hargreaves made the right selection. I actually think our best partnership is Bowman and O'Achie - they were a handful earlier in the season. Hopefully O'Achie will come back into the fold soon after his recent family bereavement. And let's hope this is a turning point for Bowman. I've criticised Hargreaves in recent weeks but will give credit where it's due and yesterday he did well.

Kit_robin · Post by **Kit_robin** » 22 Mar 2015, 18:36

Campbell scored on Tuesday but I actually thought his overal contribution was very poor. I would have subbed him, not bowman.

We constantly ask bowman to be a complete striker, when really he is more a decent goal scorer. He needs someone physical with him which is why, in my opinion, he looked good yesterday - he was allowed to do what he's good at.

Anyway, back to the point of not giving CH praise. I was actually a latecomer to the CH is crap bandwagon. Early in the season I was derided by others for my excuse making and saying how he needs more time. However he has continued to make strange decisions and inadequately manage the team. It took me well over 40 games (including last season) for ,e to get to the point where I think he is not good enough to manage our football club. I think you will agree that is a considered position. Therefore, excuse me when I don't change my mind after ONE GAME.

I congratulate Chris and his squad, and I enjoyed winning and supported my team throughout the game, but one win will not make me suddenly change my mind about all the evidence I have seen over a seasons worth of games. Chris will have to now oversee a marked improvement between now and the end of the season for me to get to reconsider. I think that's perfectly fair.

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