Tomlinson "surprise"

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

In spite of what I have said elsewhere about Bogle & Amond, I am not craving that they are picked as a partnership tomorrow.

Tomlinson is a certain type of player and he's good at what he does like LJL. If he had a better goals potential he might even be playing in the FL instead of on loan to us. My point has always been that Tomlinson is a symptom of how Hurst wants his side to play. He is quite prepared to give up the goalscoring talent of Amond and Bogle for the non-stop running and tracking back of Tomlinson and rely on a clean sheet for a result.

The other side of this of course is that Bogle and Amond are a waste of money. What did he sign them for? He could have got six Tomlinsons for one Bogle if that's the way he wants the team to play.

Ron , tomlinson is a paul hurst ideal signing and fits into what he wants and how he wants to play at the minute.

The ball out the back launched up to monkhouse and looking for tomlinson to use his physical side and hope for something to happen , if im being honest amond and bogle do not fit into it.

They both like the ball into feet and to turn there man and run at the defence ,amond is also a great poacher and is it any coincidence they both scored goals when we were actually trying to play football.

Paul then did what paul does and reverted to type and then came the launch ball of a sudden, so frustrating as we are lucky to have amond and bogle and they needed sticking by and showing some faith in them but no they were out the team as soon as paul had a whiff of a longball.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Ron , tomlinson is a paul hurst ideal signing and fits into what he wants and how he wants to play at the minute.

The ball out the back launched up to monkhouse and looking for tomlinson to use his physical side and hope for something to happen , if im being honest amond and bogle do not fit into it.

They both like the ball into feet and to turn there man and run at the defence ,amond is also a great poacher and is it any coincidence they both scored goals when we were actually trying to play football.

Paul then did what paul does and reverted to type and then came the launch ball of a sudden, so frustrating as we are lucky to have amond and bogle and they needed sticking by and showing some faith in them but no they were out the team as soon as paul had a whiff of a longball.

Does he like the long ball game though? Iam sure if you asked him one on one he would like us playing football thats mixed up ie short,long ,quick slow.However you can only work with whats at your disposal.Money talks at the end of the day and players are at this level(no disrespect) for a reason

No goals,no assists, two yellow cards, moans alot, works hard, helps us keep a clean sheet..........that would look ace on his C.V if he was a centre back.

With Pittman injured we'd only have 2 strikers if he wasn't re-signed, so it makes sense. I still want him on the bench tomorrow though.

If we have ambition to come top of this table we have to play with some ambition. Plenty of teams can do the long ball tactics better than we can and to suggest we don't have the talent does Arnold, Dis, Amond, Clay etc a disservice.  Paul might not realise this but he works in the entertainment industry and at the moment there are a large numbers of fans who are not entertained.  I am certainly not travelling from Leeds to see us hoof the ballup to Monkhouse and hope Tomlinson picks up the scraps. Stop being such a dour, negative misery Paul and let the players play like we know they can.

Loads of good teams over the past 20years never had a big lump up front with little to no footballing ability so why do we have to have one?
Is it purely because the manager wants his team to hoof it down the middle or is there another reason - please enlighten me

Arsenal are the masters of defensive football,

Yes they try and play attractive football but defence is the key,

Now let me think, when did they last win the championship ?

The most successful teams attack and have goal scorers in their team,

Come on Mr Hurst we would rather win 4 -2 than 1-0.

Play a more attacking team.

Quoted from Maringer

Tomlinson is the new Robinson. Regardless of how he plays, he's the figurehead to those who want rid of the manager so he can never do any right. Against Gateshead, there were moans and groans among the crowd when he miscontrolled the ball early on that our other strikers wouldn't have received. He's not been brilliant for us but I understand that he was apparently a lot more involved than Bogle against Braintree. He was a lot more involved than JPP against Gateshead and FGR (though Pittman did obviously score a nice goal in that one), so he's not an empty shirt.

For me, Tomlinson looks a decent enough player at this level but his lack of goals so far is obviously disappointing. I'm surprised he's not been tried with Amond just yet. Wonder if we'll see that tomorrow?

Those who criticise Tomlinson's lack of goals so far should remember that Hearn didn't score until his 11th appearance for the club - I don't remember too many people getting on his back so quickly!

If Tomlinson is going to stay, he will hopefully bag a goal tomorrow (assuming he plays) to silence the doubters, then more after that.

Disagree that Tomlinson is 'the figurehead to those who want rid of the manager' I'm in the Hurst out camp but I'm glad he may be staying
He's not the new Robinson because Robinson is the outfield equivalent of Tommy Forecast and he's nowhere near as bad as that.
I do agree that Tomlinson does look 'a decent enough player at this level' and think he's done ok and given his all for Town. If he stays for a bit longer the goals will come.

Quoted from Rick12

Does he like the long ball game though? Iam sure if you asked him one on one he would like us playing football thats mixed up ie short,long ,quick slow.However you can only work with whats at your disposal.Money talks at the end of the day and players are at this level(no disrespect) for a reason

Actions speak louder than words Rick.

Quoted from TAGG

Disagree that Tomlinson is 'the figurehead to those who want rid of the manager' I'm in the Hurst out camp but I'm glad he may be staying
He's not the new Robinson because Robinson is the outfield equivalent of Tommy Forecast and he's nowhere near as bad as that.
I do agree that Tomlinson does look 'a decent enough player at this level' and think he's done ok and given his all for Town. If he stays for a bit longer the goals will come.

The statement, "Robinson is the outfield equivalent of Tommy Forecast" is just ridiculous. He did OK during his spell with us - not spectacularly well, by any means, but OK. Some took against him from the very start because they thought Clay had been dropped to bring him into the team, which we now know wasn't the case. This is a player, lest we forget, who made 27 appearances for Luton Town in their dominant promotion season when he was just a teenager so comparing him with Tommy Forecast (total career appearances: 13) is nonsense. The Kiddy fans spoke very highly of him from his loan spell, as I recall.

However, regardless of your comments about Robinson, I'm pleased that you agree Tomlinson is a decent enough loan signing. I do have to say that I'm not sure he's what we need longer-term because I think we still need somebody who is capable in the air to give us a different option and Tomlinson is not a target man. I reckon Hurst was caught out here because thought that Bogle would be able to challenge decently in the air due to his size. However, we've seen that this isn't the case so it is something we really lack. Almost certainly why Monkhouse is almost the first name on the team sheet as we need somebody who can win some headers in attack.