It's the attacking wingback on one side, and the defensive wingback on the other that's a key part of Jacko's gameplan.
DJ on the right wing is principally an attacking winger, charged with certain defensive responsibilities. He's got the athletic and mobile Clare behind him to cover when he gets forward.
On the left side, Purrington is a solid and experienced left back playing further forward, and part of his remit is to drop back to be the additional defender to supplement the back 3 to make a back 4 when required.
He's also got license to get forward when safe to do so - and is showing the old Jacko trait of ghosting into the box unmarked with a late run.
What we are also seeing is Purrington's positional discipline and holding the team shape - plus his industry and timing as to when to get forward and when to get back. He's a vital part of the team's off-ball game, and often under-rated by many.
This feels like a post-hoc justification of what we've gone with so far this season rather than Jacko's ideal setup. You think he wouldn't snap your hand off if you offered someone who performs Purrington's defensive duties to a similar standard but also gets down the wing and threatens the box with ball at feet? You say it like Famewo ISN'T mobile, which he very much is.
I don't know about "a post-hoc justification", as it's more or less how Jacko himself has described it.
Jacko plays with one defensive wing back and Purrington has performed the role very well.
Jacko knows Purrington's limitations and capabilities. He knows also that Ben is dependable in the role given.
We're in League One and Purrington is what we have. If Jacko wants to change it, he has to go shopping. There other more urgent priorities.
I never mentioned Famewo, did I? In any case, Famewo is not there to play Purrington's role. He's got his own job to do.
Okay, well if it is, how do we mount attacks down our left? Does a forward come wide and work the space with Lee (as has often happened)? That means one less player in the box
No, we don’t because he doesn’t get forward well enough, or at least not to join in the attacks - he’s gets into good positions in the box. I’d imagine that’s a position that JJ is looking to strengthen .
I think we need the option of a more defensive player on each side. Would be interesting to see how we get on with two attacking wing backs though. He’s also an option as a left sided CB in a bank three.
Got to be a squad player fighting for his place if he stays, so if he does I hope it’s a 1 or 2 year deal and nothing more than that.
I think we need the option of a more defensive player on each side. Would be interesting to see how we get on with two attacking wing backs though. He’s also an option as a left sided CB in a bank three.
Got to be a squad player fighting for his place if he stays, so if he does I hope it’s a 1 or 2 year deal and nothing more than that.
When we know he’s not good enough for the championship, why would we keep him on ? Especially when he’s probably 4th choice
I think we need the option of a more defensive player on each side. Would be interesting to see how we get on with two attacking wing backs though. He’s also an option as a left sided CB in a bank three.
Got to be a squad player fighting for his place if he stays, so if he does I hope it’s a 1 or 2 year deal and nothing more than that.
When we know he’s not good enough for the championship, why would we keep him on ? Especially when he’s probably 4th choice
Because players good enough for the Championship tend to be in the Championship on 3 times what we pay, so we need a squad of good League One players to back up our first XI.
He covers left back when we play four, left wing back when we play five. He could also cover Famewo's position in a pinch - I'd much rather see him in there than Gunter.
Even though he's getting less starts recently, he's still an important piece of the puzzle for the next 18 months IMO.
Play off legend but I could have been carried in that team with the quality that was in it . He doesn’t look out of place in our worst ever side . move him on or back up that won’t be needed at best .
I like Purrington. Been a good player for us. And I think his solid history makes some difference. You earn credits for when your form drops.
He did not look out of place in a far superior (promoted) team to this one.
There are at least 15 other players in our squad whose place needs reviewing before we get to him.
He was the difference that day. His late attacking runs always caused problems, we've lost that ability with him in the 3 or the 5. In the 3 because it leaves us so exposed and the 5 because it's expected.
100% a confidence player. When things are going well he looks a good player. Not the type of player you need when in a bad run. Fully expecting him to get a new deal, purely because we are probably going to release almost 6 other defenders go and don’t see us signing 15+ players in the summer
But he's not a wingback or left-sided CB. Do we want another one playing out of position next season?
I'd love to see us bring in someone on the left who crosses the ball well from deep. Stockley is wasted up front, how often do we get good balls into him? Ben isn't much of a crosser, or a dribbler, for that matter. We are pretty flat on the left when he's out there.
Solid & reliable can be good in the full-back position but not wingback.
Play off legend but I could have been carried in that team with the quality that was in it. He doesn’t look out of place in our worst ever side. move him on or back up that won’t be needed at best.
Purrington carried? He got the equaliser to get us back into that game.
He should have been the back-up LB this season in a 433 but we didn't address the position properly. Now he's a bit stuck in the WB role but we have so much to do and I think people sometimes don't realise how much harder and more expensive it is to replace rather than renew players. We need a proper LWB next season but it'll do to keep him around as back up while we focus on plugging the more significant gaps
Play off legend but I could have been carried in that team with the quality that was in it. He doesn’t look out of place in our worst ever side. move him on or back up that won’t be needed at best.
Purrington carried? He got the equaliser to get us back into that game.
“Play off legend “ that team was so good I could have been carried in it , as in there was room for your Josh Parkers and Purringtons to be along for the ride . He is not good enough to be a starter for us , slow motion and lead boots are not what I’d want in a full back/wing back
He should have been the back-up LB this season in a 433 but we didn't address the position properly. Now he's a bit stuck in the WB role but we have so much to do and I think people sometimes don't realise how much harder and more expensive it is to replace rather than renew players. We need a proper LWB next season but it'll do to keep him around as back up while we focus on plugging the more significant gaps
Strongly disagree. He isn't a LWB so he shouldn't be a backup LWB.
I like Purrington. Been a good player for us. And I think his solid history makes some difference. You earn credits for when your form drops.
He did not look out of place in a far superior (promoted) team to this one.
There are at least 15 other players in our squad whose place needs reviewing before we get to him.
He was the difference that day. His late attacking runs always caused problems, we've lost that ability with him in the 3 or the 5. In the 3 because it leaves us so exposed and the 5 because it's expected.
Does his best in a 4 man defence.
Don't think i've ever seen an attacking run from Purrington....
He had a great run at being a Johnny on the spot in the penalty area where he got a few goals but to me defensively he doesn’t offer enough or attacking wise when he’s not scoring . Decent left foot and all a bit Grant Basey for me
When we embarked on our wingback formation, he was actually getting up and down, putting in some decent crosses. That's all gone now. All a bit too familiar. That can happen when the purple patch period of playing in another position has faded.
Purrington Pearce Gilbey DJ McG Morgan Washy
All our own players who have 5-8 good games then decide to have a self imposed break from performing.
Play off legend but I could have been carried in that team with the quality that was in it. He doesn’t look out of place in our worst ever side. move him on or back up that won’t be needed at best.
Purrington carried? He got the equaliser to get us back into that game.
“Play off legend “ that team was so good I could have been carried in it , as in there was room for your Josh Parkers and Purringtons to be along for the ride . He is not good enough to be a starter for us , slow motion and lead boots are not what I’d want in a full back/wing back
I think you're remembering it a little differently than it was. The team wasn't so good that we could afford to play just anyone (though I'm sure you're a brilliant left back on your day) as shown by the fact that a combination of Page, Solly, Sarr and Stevenson netted us a total of 8 losses in 27 games. After Purrington came in it was 1 in 18 - we also lost the one game he didn't play in over that period - and a successful Play-Off campaign, and a lot of our problems came from not finishing games off and getting draws rather than defensive issues. That was the effect of Parker who truly wasn't good enough despite his effort. Sure, you can argue that Purrington looks better because the players who played in that position were mostly not left backs or were youth but we lost 2 of the 10 games Page played in (I'm not counting the loss where he went off after 5 minutes injured). Twice as many in nearly half the time. That improvement isn't all down to Purrington but he gave us balance, allowed our more creative players like Aribo to have a bit more freedom and was solid in every game he played. We didn't carry Purrington at all, he was an essential bit of stability at the back that allowed us to build up the steam we did to go through the Play-Offs. He's no genius but he was definitely more than a placeholder in that 18/19 season.
When we embarked on our wingback formation, he was actually getting up and down, putting in some decent crosses. That's all gone now. All a bit too familiar. That can happen when the purple patch period of playing in another position has faded.
Purrington Pearce Gilbey DJ McG Morgan Washy
All our own players who have 5-8 good games then decide to have a self imposed break from performing.
Poor Washington puts in a shift in every week! Although he does get injured every 10 or so games so I guess he could still count
When we embarked on our wingback formation, he was actually getting up and down, putting in some decent crosses. That's all gone now. All a bit too familiar. That can happen when the purple patch period of playing in another position has faded.
Purrington Pearce Gilbey DJ McG Morgan Washy
All our own players who have 5-8 good games then decide to have a self imposed break from performing.
Poor Washington puts in a shift in every week! Although he does get injured every 10 or so games so I guess he could still count
Not debating that. I think it's just fair to say that he scores/delivers the goods in patches, while maintaining his work rate consistently.
Comments
Jacko plays with one defensive wing back and Purrington has performed the role very well.
Jacko knows Purrington's limitations and capabilities.
He knows also that Ben is dependable in the role given.
We're in League One and Purrington is what we have.
If Jacko wants to change it, he has to go shopping. There other more urgent priorities.
I never mentioned Famewo, did I?
In any case, Famewo is not there to play Purrington's role. He's got his own job to do.
He's slipped to 3rd choice atm and maybe 4th soon!
Got to be a squad player fighting for his place if he stays, so if he does I hope it’s a 1 or 2 year deal and nothing more than that.
I thought he was playing ok before being dropped funnily enough.
He did not look out of place in a far superior (promoted) team to this one.
There are at least 15 other players in our squad whose place needs reviewing before we get to him.
He doesn’t look out of place in our worst ever side .
move him on or back up that won’t be needed at best .
Does his best in a 4 man defence.
I'd love to see us bring in someone on the left who crosses the ball well from deep. Stockley is wasted up front, how often do we get good balls into him? Ben isn't much of a crosser, or a dribbler, for that matter. We are pretty flat on the left when he's out there.
Solid & reliable can be good in the full-back position but not wingback.
that team was so good I could have been carried in it , as in there was room for your Josh Parkers and Purringtons to be along for the ride .
He is not good enough to be a starter for us , slow motion and lead boots are not what I’d want in a full back/wing back
Decent left foot and all a bit Grant Basey for me
Purrington
Pearce
Gilbey
DJ
McG
Morgan
Washy
All our own players who have 5-8 good games then decide to have a self imposed break from performing.