Luke Thomas

Going forward, I never saw what others did. Never had the last pass or shot in him.

What has been noticeable is his effort. Against Northampton, his tracking back and putting a shift in for his team mates was noticeable. That seems to have fallen away somewhat.

Has anyone considered that Luke Thomas not finding form may not be down to Luke Thomas?

What does Luke Thomas do well?

1. He dribbles past payers
2. He plays risky passes that beat opponents defensive lines

What does Luke Thomas need to play well and to do those things?

1. Confidence?
2. Fitness? (Games not just fit fit)
3. Reassurance that taking the risks he requires to succeed will not be criticised so that there is fear in failure?
4. A position that puts him in positions where that is worth the risk?
5. The ball?

Who’s giving him the things above or providing the opportunity to do the things above?

We’re a long ball team, where he’s playing intermittently, in a position that’s often too deep, with a manager who is critical of all types of failure.

Odd that he’s not playing well really.

Copy and paste for a few other players if you like. 👍

It’s not nonsense at all.

Confidence in sport is literally the biggest requirement to perform. Without it players in all sports cannot commit to the things they need to do to succeed.

Confidence comes in many forms, it can come from success which breeds confidence, it can come from practices which gives you confidence knowing you’ve done all you can and have reduced the chance of errors….it most likely comes from someone exuding confidence in you and making you believe in your talents and giving you belief that it’s ok to get it wrong because you believe they’ll get it right when it matters.

If you play for a manager / coach who is the antithesis of this you’re stuffed!

Players can feel it when a coach says the right things publicly but has no real belief in you, just as they can sense a manager who displays dissent publicly but also exudes that confidence in you despite this.

We have a manager at the moment who is gripped by fear.

“I gave my players that confort blanket if you like, to just put the ball further away from our goal” screams desperate lack of belief.

It’s spread through lots of players but it’s always going to affect the guy who heads and boots it with little risk, less than a player who is required to get the ball under control and be constructive with it, take risks with it in order to break down defences.

It’s why you see and hear managers alleviating players of blame when they’ve made mistakes over playing by taking the responsibility themselves and publicly saying “I’ve asked them to play this way”.

This fella does the opposite of that and tries to ensure he’s not getting the blame by shifting it on to his players….young ones…new signings…attacking players….. it never his old heads who head and boot it….

He’s a coward

His style of play needs players on a similar wavelength who make smart runs and make themselves available for a pass. When we’ve got a team where movement is awful even Paul Scholes would struggle to pick a decisive pass when he’s got a bunch of statues wearing the same shirt - it takes two to tango! 

Winger, but to say Taylor has destroyed him is ridiculous, and you know it. Only one person stops Thomas from taking on him man when he’s outside the box: Thomas. Thomas has also played well at times at LWB, especially last season.

Taylor, rightly or wrongly, wants to play 3-5-2. So should he base his entire team entirely around Thomas? Where would you play Thomas in a 3-5-2? You seem to think the answer is simple: play him LW. But there’s more to it than that.

I don’t think it’s the position he’s asked to play that has destroyed him, although there’s no question that contributes.

But in the main it’s how he’s asked to play and the manner in which he’s managed that determines how he plays and how he feels.

As you say no one stops him from taking his man on on the edge of the box other than Thomas himself, but the position he plays limits how often he has possession of the ball in those areas, how we play limits how often he has the ball at his feet and there’s absolutely no question how the manager treats him or other players of his ilk that determines how confident he feels in doing that - which in turn affects the success he has or how well he does it.

I think the manager is in the process of destroying every single naturally talented footballer we have, by his manner, his criticism, his insistence that players have to be reliable and the approach to not taking risks.

Talented / creative players simply have to take risks. They have to put the ball at risk. Their success rate will always be lower than their failure rate but it’s the bravery to fail that gives them the chance to be successful and it’s those times they create or score or win you games.

Without risk there is no reward and of course the higher the level, the better the individual, the more a team can get the ball to you and the less mistakes in decision making that player makes…..but in our system we don’t dominate the ball, so opportunities are rare, failures more highlighted and the manger is less tolerant of it….wicked circle.

I want to see players take risks and I have to accept mistakes will happen. Just like when a manager takes risks selecting players or gambling on throwing men forward….we accept there will be mistakes but it’s what excites us and makes us want to watch.

I don’t want to see a 0-0 where I gave my defenders a comfort blanket of being able to kick it as far away from my goal as possible to avoid the chance of a mistake.

Perhaps Barton was right about him being an "Idiotic young boy" or maybe he just fancied living near Cinderford again?

JB probably felt guilty and gave him a massive weekly wage.

Oh hang on, JB doesn't have the self realisation to feel guilty about anything.

We really do need that LOL button for some of your posts.

I read something really interesting today about Aaron Collins. Do you remember that it took 19 games for AC to score his first goal.

What I do remember of JB is sitting on his hands with about 5 games to go in our relegation season, sulking like a 5 year old.

It's hilarious how for the last 7 years, the EFL Trophy has been referred to as 'The Scab cup' and then suddenly, to fit the narrative of some it becomes the most important game ever. What's more embarrassing? Losing to Swindon or losing to an under 21 team? We have done both in this competition.

I'm sure I can find a comment from you over the years saying the EFL Cup is a waste of time.