Magilton’s Vision – Slowly But Surely

As mentioned in previous posts, I have never doubted Magilton’s ability to get us playing football the right way. My main concern was with personnel, especially in the goalscoring department.  The introduction of Jay Simpson from Arsenal has added an extra dimension, that’s for sure.  Rather surprisingly, Simpson is a real battler – working hard, chasing down lost causes and competing for headers when he is clearly four feet nothing.  He looks sharp, holds the ball up well and his link up play is excellent. His finishing needs more refining but he’s more than good enough for the Championship.

Over the last few weeks I’ve seen a vast imporvement in the way we play.  The squad is settling nicely and Magilton is finding out his strongest eleven – using a 4-4-2 system (gone are the days of 4-5-1 under Paulo Sousa).  The introduction of Ben Watson (on loan from Wigan) has balanced the side brilliantly. He’s a talented player who can score goals, tackle, has a full range of passing and compliments the excellent Martin Rowlands brilliantly.  Buzsaky, Watson, Rowlands and Routledge is the preferred choice and I totally agree.  There’s a great balance of pace (Routledge), passing (Watson and Rowlands) and finising/delivery (Buzsaky).

Borrowdale has done brilliantly at left back and fair play to him – Paulo Sousa didn’t give him a sniff when he was here. Initially, I was sceptical but he’s proved me wrong by being solid all season so far.  I love Matt Connolly. He’d be in my starting eleven, that’s for sure – but at the expense of who? That’s a tough one.  Both Stewart and Gorkss have done nothing wrong but I can’t help thinking that our defence would be all the stronger with Connolly’s inclusion.  Liegertwood has been playing right back recently – a position first explored for him under Gareth Ainsworth.  I think it’s his best position. Full backs are massively underrated in football. They’re the ones who start the move, have more time than any other player on the pitch and provide additional ‘poke’ with great overlapping.  I know he probably doesn’t want to play there all the time…but tough Mikele!

So, Magilton’s steering things in the right direction – well done sir. Long may it continue. Off to Newcastle tonight. Lets keep our run going. I have a sneaky feeling about tonight y’know…

C’mon you R’s!

RR