Gallagher

[Jacnah]

If he was brave he'd be an excellent player. He has good technique, and he gets into some decent positions, and he should score plenty more goals than he does. Unfortunately, he's a massive wuss, and invariably bottles any shooting chance where there's a chance he'll get clattered by a tackle. Time after time you'll see him blaze a shot over the bar because he's leaned back when a defender closed in.

Gallagher's a good player, but will invariably polarize opinions because people can see that potentially he could be a much better player. It's the unfufilled potential that gets some people's goat. I like him, but he frustrates as much as he delights.

i agree with this.

[marbelladave]

I'm siding with those who think he's best played as a number 10 in the hole but if he does play higher up as a head of a midfield 3 then (as has been pointed out) we have to drop abe/king/wellens.

If this ever did occur I think it would have to come down to svens decision making with regards to our opposition. Against teams with less dominant midfields i reckon he could have a job to play in front of wellens and king (dropping abe as i feel he would be the most wasted talent in this scenario).

This gives him the opportunity to actually play a bit where he seems to prefer whist wellens continues to play as a ball carrier a bit deeper and king is still allowed his roaming role. Obviously there is the proviso that he is used against weaker midfields and i think this is unfortunately key.

Don't believe things are gonna change too extremely though, these are just a few thoughts

I know we have made a lot of goal scoring chances this season so that in the main the blame for our lack of goals falls mainly on the strikers but I feel it is more complex than that.

Using Gallagher as a striker is, for me, just plain wrong. He does not have the instincts to make anything of the sharp chances that fall to him in the box, so as we saw on saturday decent chances go begging. In addition I feel that although we create chances, not many of them are really that clear cut, we rarely if ever create the kind of good chances that a somewhat out of form striker can knock in with ease to give his confidence a boost.

That I feel is a midfield problem, King, despite his goal scoring exploits does not create much for his team mates, Abe does not seem to want to play balls into the strikers and despite a recent improvement Wellens takes way too long to pick his pass with the result that the defence is usually well set and able to clear.

It is entirely possible that Sven is planning drastic surgery on our midfield come January but in the meantime we need to be beating teams like Watford and Bristol if we are to have any hope of pushing for a playoff spot in the second half of the season. To make this happen we need to be better all over the pitch, so if that means making changes in midfield as well as up front, then that is fine by me.

[harpendenfox]

I don't for a moment suppose that Sven will drop Vassell or Bednar at the moment, but picking up on this theme of a) trying to keep it tight b) scoring more goals, I wonder if this formation would work for us? As others have said lets forget about hoping Gally will a) put in a tackle b) travel the hard yards, but lets try and exploit his creativity to feed Dyer and Fryatt and let them run at defenders. In the formation below Yuki would sit in front of the defence, and Naughton and Cunningham would need to put in a shift in the wing back roles.

I feel that of all the strikers at our disposal, if you were to give each of them a guaranteed ten games on the trot, I'd back Fryatt to get four goals, and Dyer two

Weale

Naughton Vitor Davis Cunningham

Yuki

King Wellens

Gallagher

Fryatt Dyer

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

People keep saying he does nothing but score free kicks, followed by the phrases 'he missed a sitter on Saturday' and 'he can't tackle'. Criticisms duly noted but those aren't the only things you can do for the team. Many great players are useless at defending and aren't great finishers. Some players are great tacklersnd can finish but aren't creative. Every player has their strengths and weaknesses. If you ask me Gallagher's strengths are important, it's not his job to defend, and he's not a striker, it's his job to create.

I don't agree that he's lazy, not nearly as lazy as Vassell, he's slow and a rubbish tackler, he hasn't got a clue how to jockey or time his tackles but not lazy.

I wouldnt say Gallagher is lazy, he jsut isnt as good as he thinks he is.

And no way is Vassell slower than Gallagher, granted Darius does run like Forrest Gump and looks liek he is always going to fall over but he actually doesw take the time to sprint now and again unlike Gallagher.

[marbelladave]

I don't for a moment suppose that Sven will drop Vassell or Bednar at the moment, but picking up on this theme of a) trying to keep it tight b) scoring more goals, I wonder if this formation would work for us? As others have said lets forget about hoping Gally will a) put in a tackle b) travel the hard yards, but lets try and exploit his creativity to feed Dyer and Fryatt and let them run at defenders. In the formation below Yuki would sit in front of the defence, and Naughton and Cunningham would need to put in a shift in the wing back roles.

I feel that of all the strikers at our disposal, if you were to give each of them a guaranteed ten games on the trot, I'd back Fryatt to get four goals, and Dyer two

Weale

Naughton Vitor Davis Cunningham

Yuki

King Wellens

Gallagher

Fryatt Dyer

Formations like this rely heavily on the full backs getting forward to provide the width, otherwise we end up playing very narrow. This brings up the issue of cover for their forward runs and the requirement for a holding midfielder. So far I have seen little to suggest that Abe can play that role, since coming into the side he performs primarily as a hard running 'spoiler', getting into the opposition all over the pitch. Effective though this may be he rarely holds position in front of the back 4 so is hardly in position to cover for the fullbacks getting forward.

I have talked about this many times this season but there is usually acres of space in front of our back 4 for the opposition to play in and it has cost us. Maybe Abe is playing to instruction and perhaps he could play a 'proper' holding role but as yet we have seen no evidence of this.

King was as near as we got to a holding player last season but now he is playing further forward, an error in my view. Saturday was a case in point, playing well forward he was easily picked up and marked by the Watford defence to the point that he had one of his worst games of the season, the other was against Burnley where something very similar happened.

Generally he is much better playing deeper where he can help out defensively, a strong part of his game, yet still make those runs that bring him late into the box to score his goals.

Personally I would like to see a pairing of King and Abe in front of the back 4, neither are purely defensive players but they will do enough to cover the fullbacks whilst getting forward enough to support our attacks. With the solidity this should give us you can deploy the front 4 players pretty much any way you wish.

[l444ry]

There seems to be an almighty panic for Sven to sort out the attacking side of the game based on Saturday's performance, hence Bednar and Gallagher being made scapegoats.

Surely, despite the shoddy first half performance, it was individual sloppy defending that cost City the game. And that's what really needs addressing.

[muzzy1981]

Paul Gallagher started his life at Blackburn as a Striker. This is obvious by the way he isn't scared to have a pop. After numerous unsettled loan spells his main position moved to the wing.

Like many have said he doesn't possess the quality to be play wide, isn't effective when running at defenders and not a great crosser of the ball. Never the less he is a quality footballer, a good passer with creative insinct and can strike a ball well. So I have to agree that an attacking midfielder could be a better position for him, hes only 26 so its not to late.

Notably when he scored his Hat-Trick last season against Scunny he was playing up front with Waghorn, so the potential is there. Can't see him ousting Kingy out that position though

[Kitchandro]

I wouldnt say Gallagher is lazy, he jsut isnt as good as he thinks he is.

And no way is Vassell slower than Gallagher, granted Darius does run like Forrest Gump and looks liek he is always going to fall over but he actually doesw take the time to sprint now and again unlike Gallagher.

In the first half against Forest Vassell barely tried. Against Derby the same. Maybe he's not fit I dunno but apart from a good second half against Forest he's not really done much. Dyer was on fire before he got injured and I would prefer him at this time.

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Regardless on what we think of Vassell or Gallagher, lets face it, they are going to keep getting played, its obvious they are two of Sven's favourites.

[Haydos]

Using Gallagher as a striker is, for me, just plain wrong.

Sorry, didn't make myself too clear at the start. That little snippet of speculation was meant to suggest we play him in a 4-3-3 but as a central midfielder, pushing forward ahead of king and wellens.

I agree with what you said about chance creation and this was basically regarding that.

[The Year Of The Fox]

Its hard to say mate.. but i think its comes down to weather you like him or hate.. hit and miss! But i really like Gallagher and cannot understand why people rate him so low!

Don't dislike the bloke, and fair play for his 2 goals in the second half. However he shouldve scored one of at least two more chances to get his hat trick (and I feel to have won us the game- it was 2-2 at the time) The header which had it been weither side of the keepr wouldve been a goal, and his tame shot from the edge of the 6 yard box that was straight at the keeper. Glad he silenced some critics, but would still have put Dyer on at half time.

In general though, as already said, he seems to go missing and can also be too fancy in his flicks and tricks when a simpler pass is required. I reckon thats why fans were singing for Dyer, as Dyer is far more direct and Gallagher can sometimes disrupt the tempo of an attack