This is a slightly premature post, but I don’t often blog specifically with my opinions on the team when it comes to Boston United, despite being a big fan. As the title suggests, I’m looking to work out what needs to change for next season, or maybe even in the remaining time we have of this campaign.
Through my work with Carlton Town, I’ve not seen Boston as often as I would’ve liked (priorities and all that jazz), but a positive from that line of work with the Millers is that there’s a couple of things that have stood out for me this season when I have attended Boston games and listened online. First of all though, I’d like to run through the squad as it is right now (23rd March 2014).
THE CURRENT TEAM
Goalkeepers:
Absolutely nothing to complain about here. For the most part, all of our ‘keepers have been solid and dependable. I didn’t get to see Ashley Timms too often before he departed and I wasn’t there for our return to Brackley where he fought and failed against the conditions and was subbed off, but he looked solid and wasn’t short of confidence – something of paramount importance for a goalkeeper. He also knew how to run his mouth.
Lewis King has looked good since coming in, and Sam Vince looks like a real prospect. I’m genuinely excited to see how his career pans out!
Defenders:
It’s hard to know where to start here, as there’s been a good percentage of the defence made up of loanees, but we’ll start with Liam Marrs, who looked excellent before going back to Sunderland, a full back who gets his balance between defence and attack spot on. Equally as likely to see him snapping into the tackle as you are to seeing him marauding forward, looking to get balls into the box. I felt we had good balance at full back with him and Rene Steer on either side, something which is always important. I’d probably say Marrs was more of a complete full back than Rene though, which may go some way to explaining why he’s still at a Premier League club I suppose, considering the demands the modern game brings to that particular position. David Ferguson is the only other full back in the squad, which is a slight concern but with the budget Boston have (and actually keep to, unlike a few teams in the Conference North) they’re never going to have a wealth of options all over the pitch in all positions. It’s the reality of the situation. I don’t want to say too much on Ferguson as I’ve only personally seen him play once since he also joined on loan from Sunderland. I suppose Conor Marshall has the capabilities of playing at right back, but he’s been mainly used as a midfielder this season. Perhaps versatility is something United will look to next season, so they don’t find themselves too short in certain areas.
In terms of centre halves, this season I think it’d be hard to deny we have at least 2 of the best in the league in Scott Garner and Carl Piergianni. I’m not sure how likely it is that we’d get to keep hold of Garner but considering the season his parent club Cambridge United are having, do they need him? They’ve not recalled him, so you’d have to say no on this season’s evidence. He’s a top drawer defender at this level and when you consider that in recent seasons the defence has been the biggest issue, the partnership of Garns and Pidge has been a godsend. The pair of them would play on with fractured skulls if they were allowed to and they show absolutely no fear in any circumstance. I honestly can’t hype the two up enough, the amount of times they’ve got their bodies in the way of shots, won vital headers and last ditch tackles against the odds is mindblowing. Amidst the man love for those two, we mustn’t forget the sterling job Stefan Galinski has done when required. I feel a stroke sorry for the ex-Derby man this season as he’s not actually done anything wrong and based on performances he’s just as capable as Pidge and Garns, but he just isn’t getting the regular starts he would otherwise merit.
Midfielders:
The midfield is where things get interesting and in some ways quite frustrating. The Pilgrims as a creative force have a wealth of options with each player bringing their own set of qualities. The concerns lie with the lack of wingers and tough men in the centre of the park. Jamie McGhee has gone some way to plugging the gap on the flank but sadly there’s no balance as we have nobody on the opposite side. You can’t help but feel this may make us a little one-dimensional, but we’ll come back to that later.
Boston often look to attack from central areas and play through channels due to the lack of wide options, which means the likes of Ian Ross, Ben Milnes and now Liam Agnew (we like Sunderland, it appears) come into play. Whilst I like all 3 of them, the only one who looks even remotely capable of playing out wide is Agnew, and even he didn’t look comfortable when forced into those areas against Barrow, albeit on his weaker left foot.
Whilst on the subject of the central midfielders, we lack steel there. We’re good at maintaining pressure on the opposition when we have the ball, we pen them in well. We’ve got some technically adept players in there too, but what we lack is that man the opposition know is going to give them a fight for every ball. The best example I can think of in this role is Paul McKenna for Preston and Nottingham Forest. They don’t have to be the size of bouncers, it just needs to be someone who fights and scraps for possession and does the simple stuff to get play moving again. For me, that role takes a gritty and honest hard worker, I’m not convinced we have any player who can play that role for 90 minutes. Despite Indy Aujla being a predominantly defensive-minded player, he doesn’t strike me as that man and whilst nobody can fault his work rate and his heart, I’d be surprised if we see him at York Street next season.
Forwards:
If there’s one area of the pitch that other teams envy Boston on, it’s probably in the forward positions. The return of Ricky Miller has proved to be a sterling piece of business. The man’s in great form and has 19 league goals thus far. Within that, his fair share of hat-tricks. His goals have won him player of the month awards and seen him soar up the goalscoring charts at an ideal time, really, as the main man Marc Newsham has been a tad quiet on the goal front lately – stuck on 20. Bloody rubbish, eh? If that’s not enough, we’re still waiting for Spencer Weir-Daley to get over his injuries and hit form once again, whilst there’s also the option of Ben Fairclough, who has looked bright in spells this season.
The Pilgrims have never really struggled for goalscorers, but something that needs looking into for next season is another option up top. When I say ‘another option’ I don’t just mean another striker generally, I mean a different type of striker. I’ve said it time and time again throughout this season but I feel we’re missing someone like Mark Jones. We need a big man up there to lead the line occasionally. Miller will chase and challenge for the ball all afternoon but it’s incredibly frustrating to watch as the ball constantly changes hands whilst we try to hoof the ball to him when things aren’t going our way. All good teams have options, and we’re lacking that option up there. Obviously the budget is what it is and we can’t just go out and get Jones back, as I’m sure Spalding are giving him a pretty handy pay packet, but in the summer this is something that will need addressing, I think. I know I’m not the only one of this opinion either.
TACTICS FOR THIS SEASON
Looking at the Boston squad, from a tactical point of view, I would personally like to see them utilise a 4-3-3 more often. Dennis Greene used it a few times at the start of the season and I was impressed with the expansive nature of the play. The only problem you have with that formation at Boston is the choice in personnel, as you end up leaving players out that you may prefer to have on the pitch. It becomes a balancing act really. But I’ve drawn out my selection below.
Yes, you really are seeing Marc Newsham on the right-hand side. Why? Because he can play there and it’s not as an out-and-out wideman anyway. Allow me to explain the roles here:
Lewis King – Goalkeeper: Self-explanatory.
Conor Marshall – Right Back: Yes, he’s played mainly in midfield this season, but he’s a right back. That’s where he played for Brigg, before joining The Pilgrims and he’s always looked assured when playing there for Boston. He’s solid, is well-disciplined in his attacking nature and isn’t afraid to get stuck in, he’s fine there.
Scott Garner – Centre Back: His performances speak for him.
Carl Piergianni – Centre Back: See above.
Rene Steer – Left Back: Good player to watch and on the whole, knows when to get back and forward. It’s important to have continuity in the team and if he’s tied to the club either on non-contract terms or to a contract, he’s still there for the haul as far as I’m concerned. Slight bias due to the fact I’m yet to see Ferguson play more than once. In reality, I don’t mind which of the two play there. This is more about system than it is about individuals. I just like the fact Steer knows how to get forward. In this system he has a defensive midfielder who can cover for him too.
Indy Aujla – Defensive Midfielder: The only true defensive-minded midfielder we have, and I feel somebody needs to be in front of the back four. I liked the idea at Barrow where Dennis put a man there, but I just feel Ross isn’t a player you want in that position, you need him in the middle of the park picking passes. Indy isn’t the biggest player, but then again we don’t have a big squad in terms of numbers, let alone build. It’d also be good to see him get games, as I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him. He strikes me as the type of player who can do the simple things well and won’t shirk responsibility. His versatility is key too.
Ian Ross – Central Midfielder: Most will know what Rossy’s game is about, he loves a pass and fancies himself as a bit of a playmaker. This role in the centre would ideally allow him the opportunity to play his passes and find options all around him. The good thing about this system is that there are triangles all over the pitch. Boston are suited to a pass and move system because of the type of players they have. Providing they all remain in their roles and don’t go overly fluid with their positioning, the options should always be there to pass the ball. Ross, as part of the line between defensive midfield and attack would have a field day. He has options literally everywhere he turns, even out wide.
Liam Agnew – Central Midfielder: I’ve not seen much of Agnew, but from the performance at Barrow, I’ve assumed he’s the type of player who likes to create his own space and look for opportunities to play balls through channels. He’s not exactly lacking options here, and the fact he’ll have a man outside him means he won’t have to drag himself out wide to keep the play moving. My only concern about him is that he’s very slight in terms of build, and it doesn’t take much to shrug him off the ball. He’s a player who needs to be given the ball in space, which makes him a good partner for Ian Ross – a player with vision and who is adept at finding players in that kind of space. You would probably want Liam in behind strikers, but he’s only young and versatility is a part of his game that will come with time. Alternatively, Ben Milnes could play this same role.
Marc Newsham – Right Inside Forward: You thought I was going to play him as a winger before reading this, didn’t you? Well, I sort of am… but I’m using him to some of his strengths. I’m not convinced Newsham could play as a right winger, as I genuinely can’t imagine him crossing a ball or attacking full backs with pace and trickery, he’s a fairly simple striker. He reminds me in many, many ways of Michael Owen, but he has other facets to his game. Newsh started as an attacking midfielder at Rotherham, whether he enjoys the role now, I’m not sure. As an inside forward, he won’t necessarily stay out wide, he’ll act almost as a trequartista, making runs through channels and finding space in the areas of the box that count. We already know he’s great at that, look at his goal record. I don’t care what anyone on any forum says about him, he IS good enough. He’s one of the finest forwards in the Conference setup, let alone the Conference North. However, he does go quiet in games a lot. As an inside forward, it provides him with a more prevalent role that I feel he would thrive in.
As an alternative to Newsham, Ben Fairclough sits around waiting for an opportunity too often. Ben is a player I could imagine as a winger. He has genuine pace and is pretty powerful. Not powerful in the way a target man is, but when he gets on his bike, you wouldn’t fancy getting in his way. Again, I’m not sure I’d trust him in a role that requires him to put crosses in all the time, but I’d trust him to bring a direct approach to either side of the front line and cause problems. He’s not a bad finisher, given the chance either.
Ricky Miller – Centre Forward: With the form he’s in this season, why wouldn’t you? You’ll have noticed the team around him and the system I’ve selected in this post is based around passing, movement and space. The latter two of which are encompassed within Ricky’s game. He’s another striker who looks for the space in behind defenders and makes runs. He’s quick, has a terrific work rate and is an excellent finisher. There would be no point setting up a system that requires frequent long balls forward, and it frustrates Boston fans to no end when we see long balls punted up from the back to the likes of Miller. He’s happy to put himself about and do just about anything for the team, but he’s not big enough to pose a great challenge to centre halves like that. This is where the argument for a Mark Jones-type striker becomes more relevant, as it’d give us the option to mix play up if needs must. It’s OK putting Garner up front for the last 10 minutes, but we need a big striker.
You could also put a case forward for Weir-Daley when he’s fit, to play in Miller’s role.
Jamie McGhee – Left/Right Winger: Just because we have an inside forward on the right, doesn’t mean we can’t have a winger on the left. McGhee tends to play on the right though, and it could be an option to play him there on his comfortable side, with Newsham cutting in from the left on his right foot… *argues with self*
In fact, let’s go with that and ignore my drawing; the same rules would apply to Newsh as were specified earlier anyway. So, McGhee on the right provides us with genuine width. He’s capable of playing central midfield but I feel it’d be a waste to have him there when we can have some width in our setup. Unlike Newsham and Fairclough, this man can cross a ball and he’s the type of player Boston have needed for a while this season. If you watched us against Barrow on the 22nd March, you would have noticed that the only consistent wide play came from the right-hand side, the side McGhee was manning. This may become predictable, so why not shuffle a bit? There’s nothing wrong with swapping sides. You could even put Miller on the left, McGhee on the right and Newsham through the middle if you wanted to keep the defence guessing. There’s plenty of options, even with the similarities the strikers have.
NEXT SEASON
It’ll be vital to try and keep hold of both Garner and Piergianni, they’re two of the finest centre halves Boston have had for a few years. Keeping Miller and Newsham for obvious reasons will also be crucial. The big requirement from my point-of-view though is that we get a big striker in and add some steel to the midfield. It’s definitely lacking, and needs addressing regardless of which league we find ourselves in next season.
What happens remains to be seen. What I don’t want to do is make it look as if I’m undermining Dennis Greene. We all have different opinions on the game, but what I do think is that Dennis has done a marvellous job this season. Particularly when you compare it to the lows of the previous campaign. I’m personally delighted he’s going to be here for the forseeable future and I look forward to seeing where he takes Boston United in his tenure at York Street and perhaps even the new ground.
Up The Pilgrims!
Under The Floodlights 