Because we set up with a team of defensive midfielders doesn’t mean we should blame one of the defensive midfielders for our problems. We got the recruitment disastrously wrong this summer, that is down to NJ and Scott squabbling about who to get it, overseen by chief executive clown Methven.
Connor Coventry is an incredibly average league 1 football player.
In your opinion. Obviously managers and coaches who may have slightly more knowledge and experience than your own think differently.
If managers and coaches thought he was better than being in an average league one Charlton team, he wouldn’t be here. Alas he is, and even then he doesn’t stand out.
He's probably been our 2nd best midfielder this season but that's not saying much. He's not to blame for how poor our midfield is, but he is accountable for his own performances.
Remember this with Hector & Thomas last season: "You'll all be shocked how good our CBs look with a more combative midfield in front of them!"
It wasn't other people making them crap, they just weren't good enough. And I'm not saying Coventry is the same, the point is that players are accountable for their own performances and don't need excuses.
To a certain extent yes that's true but I would argue that this also holds him accountable for other's performances which is unfair.
His job is pretty clearly to win and recycle the ball and make the simple short passes to the likes of Campbell and Docherty who are supposed to be the more dynamic part. That they are so far terrible at doing so is a big problem but not one that Coventry can really compensate for.
If he starts going forwards more or trying to carry the ball then that leaves holes in the midfield and leaves us open to counter attacks. Taylor has been more dynamic but results haven't actually been considerably better so it's clearly a bigger problem.
No I'm definitely not saying he's accountable for other people's performances, just his own.
He's probably been our 2nd best midfielder this season but that's not saying much. He's not to blame for how poor our midfield is, but he is accountable for his own performances.
Remember this with Hector & Thomas last season: "You'll all be shocked how good our CBs look with a more combative midfield in front of them!"
It wasn't other people making them crap, they just weren't good enough. And I'm not saying Coventry is the same, the point is that players are accountable for their own performances and don't need excuses.
Curious to know who has been the best?
Based on forward runs and passes throughout the season so far…….Enslin 😬
He's a decent player in his own right. Comparing him to Dobson looks pretty brutal because he's currently not near that level.
He absolutely is. He does everything Dobson did, just about as well. Docherty was our Dobson replacement gone wrong and I won't let you forget it
I stand by my stance of not arguing about your heroes with you, just to say that while the fans might have seen Docherty as the Dobbo replacement, he was signed to play advanced so was not. Scott signed Coventry as the Dobbo replacement.
I think it's much more likely that no one was bought in as a replacement for anyone as such but that we signed certain profiles of players which are different to ones we had previously
I think it's much more likely that no one was bought in as a replacement for anyone as such but that we signed certain profiles of players which are different to ones we had previously
Agreed, Dobson's style was definitely more dynamic with lots of spectacular tackles and proper blood-and-thunder stuff and he was very good at it and very effective in his role. Coventry is more understated and focuses more on interceptions and cutting out passes, which again he actually does well.
I will say though that if we had exactly the same midfield except with Dobson instead of Coventry we wouldn't actually be much better off if at all. He's not THAT much better a player that he would singlehandedly make up for the crap he'd have to play with.
He's a decent player in his own right. Comparing him to Dobson looks pretty brutal because he's currently not near that level.
He absolutely is. He does everything Dobson did, just about as well. Docherty was our Dobson replacement gone wrong and I won't let you forget it
I stand by my stance of not arguing about your heroes with you, just to say that while the fans might have seen Docherty as the Dobbo replacement, he was signed to play advanced so was not. Scott signed Coventry as the Dobbo replacement.
No, Leuth is actually right. Scott may have signed Coventry as a Dobson replacement but Jones very quickly recognised that Dobson was a very good aggressive midfielder, perfect for what he wanted to do in that he's actually quite decent on the ball and a great presser, but not a great deepest midfielder. That's why last season we regularly saw Coventry deepest with Dobson shuttling back and forth and Anderson most advanced. This season we didn't go back in for Dobson when he cancelled his contract in Hungary because we'd moved on to Docherty, who has been a massive disappointment in that role. I would have been really interested to see where Dobson would fit into this box midfield, I suspect he'd be in the Allan Campbell role more than the Terry Taylor one but we'll never know. Coventry was signed before Jones came in and immediately Jones identified Dobson for a different role to the one he had been playing, and he did it very well.
He's a decent player in his own right. Comparing him to Dobson looks pretty brutal because he's currently not near that level.
He absolutely is. He does everything Dobson did, just about as well. Docherty was our Dobson replacement gone wrong and I won't let you forget it
I stand by my stance of not arguing about your heroes with you, just to say that while the fans might have seen Docherty as the Dobbo replacement, he was signed to play advanced so was not. Scott signed Coventry as the Dobbo replacement.
No, Leuth is actually right. Scott may have signed Coventry as a Dobson replacement but Jones very quickly recognised that Dobson was a very good aggressive midfielder, perfect for what he wanted to do in that he's actually quite decent on the ball and a great presser, but not a great deepest midfielder. That's why last season we regularly saw Coventry deepest with Dobson shuttling back and forth and Anderson most advanced. This season we didn't go back in for Dobson when he cancelled his contract in Hungary because we'd moved on to Docherty, who has been a massive disappointment in that role. I would have been really interested to see where Dobson would fit into this box midfield, I suspect he'd be in the Allan Campbell role more than the Terry Taylor one but we'll never know. Coventry was signed before Jones came in and immediately Jones identified Dobson for a different role to the one he had been playing, and he did it very well.
What we're playing now is moot... We're talking about what the intention was at the start of the season in the 352 we were building for.
Reading through the lines of your post, it's doing a lot of relying on the fact that when Dobbo became 'available' again, we went for Doc. But that could be down to anything - budget, Dobbo vs Scott, Jones prioritising a different kind of player... anything. We don't even know that Dobbo ever was available to us.
I think @fenaddick has probably called it right above.
But we do agree on one thing, for sure, Scott's intention was to sign Coventry as the Dobson replacement.
There is nothing wrong with Connor, does the job he's assigned to do extremely well. The problem is with the rest of the midfield that's been assembled to compliment him.
Will be interesting to see how he does against England if he gets minutes. He will have better players around him so I expect to see him shine and play some forward passes
He's a decent player in his own right. Comparing him to Dobson looks pretty brutal because he's currently not near that level.
He absolutely is. He does everything Dobson did, just about as well. Docherty was our Dobson replacement gone wrong and I won't let you forget it
Dobson was a higher tempo player; perhaps more erratic but also tried to do more on the ball and he was more inspirational .
Dobson mistimed tackles and was not a good reader of the game that why you always see him giving silly fouls on the edge of the box with a lunge .. Coventry reads the game much better and intercepts the play , all round better player
Coventry is a tidy holding midfielder who intercepts well, gets a few tackles in and keeps possession.
The biggest disappointment for me is he’s not shown a bigger range of passing. Taylor coming in has shown this isn’t entirely down to teammates lack of movement and quality. It’s one area an improvement in would help him take his game up another level.
Dobson’s passing was often underrated, and it was even something Curbs praised him for. You could create a video of Dobson’s best passes and make him look like a good all round midfielder. I think you’d struggle to do the same for Coventry. It is however something we saw more of from Dobson over time, and it’s still fairly early in Coventry’s time here (Jones too).
He's a decent player in his own right. Comparing him to Dobson looks pretty brutal because he's currently not near that level.
He absolutely is. He does everything Dobson did, just about as well. Docherty was our Dobson replacement gone wrong and I won't let you forget it
Dobson was a higher tempo player; perhaps more erratic but also tried to do more on the ball and he was more inspirational .
Dobson mistimed tackles and was not a good reader of the game that why you always see him giving silly fouls on the edge of the box with a lunge .. Coventry reads the game much better and intercepts the play , all round better player
Coventry is a tidy holding midfielder who intercepts well, gets a few tackles in and keeps possession.
The biggest disappointment for me is he’s not shown a bigger range of passing. Taylor coming in has shown this isn’t entirely down to teammates lack of movement and quality. It’s one area an improvement in would help him take his game up another level.
Dobson’s passing was often underrated, and it was even something Curbs praised him for. You could create a video of Dobson’s best passes and make him look like a good all round midfielder. I think you’d struggle to do the same for Coventry. It is however something we saw more of from Dobson over time, and it’s still fairly early in Coventry’s time here (Jones too).
I think that’s fair. Dobson definitely improved with first team experience and I think (hope) we see that too with Coventry. He’s doing well enough to be a first XI pick every week so hopefully that helps give him the experience needed to develop.
Conor Coventry occupies an interesting role in the team. Yes he is not the problem, but he is not the solution either. George Dobson is far closer to a player that solves you a problem than Coventry. Our team is crying out for a talisman or a leader, the closest we seem to have for that sort of player is Lloyd Jones, Alex Mitchell, Zach Mitchell, Kayne Ramsey (defenders) and it sticks in my throat to say it, Danny Hylton!
Docherty, Ahadme, A Campbell, Taylor, Coventry are not the kind of players to take a game by the scruff of the neck.
Coventry is a tidy holding midfielder who intercepts well, gets a few tackles in and keeps possession.
The biggest disappointment for me is he’s not shown a bigger range of passing. Taylor coming in has shown this isn’t entirely down to teammates lack of movement and quality. It’s one area an improvement in would help him take his game up another level.
Dobson’s passing was often underrated, and it was even something Curbs praised him for. You could create a video of Dobson’s best passes and make him look like a good all round midfielder. I think you’d struggle to do the same for Coventry. It is however something we saw more of from Dobson over time, and it’s still fairly early in Coventry’s time here (Jones too).
100% agree plus his attacking skills were developing fast at the end of his time with us.
It's a slight copout to say that a player isn't performing up to expectation, due to the shortcomings of the players around him, as the same could be said of any player.
The best players stand out even if their teammates aren't at his level. Or indeed when the team is notably worse when they are absent, as is the case with Lloyd Jones, where both Mitchell and Mannion have looked less assured.
It's a slight copout to say that a player isn't performing up to expectation, due to the shortcomings of the players around him, as the same could be said of any player.
The best players stand out even if their teammates aren't at his level. Or indeed when the team is notably worse when they are absent, as is the case with Lloyd Jones, where both Mitchell and Mannion have looked less assured.
I think different positions and play styles allow that. Dobson stood out because he made big tackles, Ramsay the same and Jones is dominant in the air. When your job is to make tidy passes to help maintain possession it’s much harder to stand out
I like Coventry and think he is a decent player at what he does. I’m sure he will have a good career. He is being scapegoated imo for other shortcomings in our midfield. Which by the way would look so much better with Dobson still in it unfortunately whatever went on at the club has cost us without doubt and people saying the replacements are a step up are putting a new meaning to SPIN 😂
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I will say though that if we had exactly the same midfield except with Dobson instead of Coventry we wouldn't actually be much better off if at all. He's not THAT much better a player that he would singlehandedly make up for the crap he'd have to play with.
Reading through the lines of your post, it's doing a lot of relying on the fact that when Dobbo became 'available' again, we went for Doc. But that could be down to anything - budget, Dobbo vs Scott, Jones prioritising a different kind of player... anything. We don't even know that Dobbo ever was available to us.
I think @fenaddick has probably called it right above.
But we do agree on one thing, for sure, Scott's intention was to sign Coventry as the Dobson replacement.
The biggest disappointment for me is he’s not shown a bigger range of passing. Taylor coming in has shown this isn’t entirely down to teammates lack of movement and quality. It’s one area an improvement in would help him take his game up another level.
Dobson’s passing was often underrated, and it was even something Curbs praised him for. You could create a video of Dobson’s best passes and make him look like a good all round midfielder. I think you’d struggle to do the same for Coventry. It is however something we saw more of from Dobson over time, and it’s still fairly early in Coventry’s time here (Jones too).
George Dobson is far closer to a player that solves you a problem than Coventry.
Our team is crying out for a talisman or a leader, the closest we seem to have for that sort of player is Lloyd Jones, Alex Mitchell, Zach Mitchell, Kayne Ramsey (defenders) and it sticks in my throat to say it, Danny Hylton!
Taylor is another year younger than him as well, and tbh I still think Taylor has the higher ceiling with his passing and set piece taking.
Coventry and Dobson play in roughly the same position, but they play the same game in a different manner.
The best players stand out even if their teammates aren't at his level. Or indeed when the team is notably worse when they are absent, as is the case with Lloyd Jones, where both Mitchell and Mannion have looked less assured.