County drubbing leaves more questions than answers

"It was not good enough" were the words of City boss Stuart McCall in the aftermath of City's 5-0 defeat at the hands of Notts County at Meadow Lane on Saturday.

All the resentment towards the players and the doubts over McCall's ability as a manager resurfaced only one game into the season and it is a result that has thrown up more questions than answers for McCall.

The fact we lost to the bookmakers favourites for the division we can live with - County appear to have strengthened well over the summer with Ben Davies and Lee Hughes two players probably capable of playing at a much higher level - however it was the manner and magnitude of the defeat that has been hard to stomach.

Having had the summer to re-group, one was hopeful that we may have gone to Meadow Lane and made a real fist of it. In reality, however, it was a game that we never got into and the defending for all of the goals (a reminder is here for those that want to suffer again http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/8192255.stm) was shambolic.

City's side lacked organisation and leadership and it threw up three questions for me, the first of which has been nagging me all summer....should City have appointed a third assistant?

One of the common criticisms of the current managerial team is that they lack an ability to change things during matches and adapt and react when City fall behind and are playing poorly. When McCall said he was staying on as manager I hoped that he would look to appoint someone with a bit of experience to give him a helping hand for this season, but such a signing never materialised, and it now seems to be a case of hoping its third time lucky with the current set up.

The second question the County thrashing posed is that of whether we should have released Rhys Evans?

Evans was a virtually ever present last season and was a steady keeper that was reliable and made very few mistakes. He was experienced and respected, and was not afraid of bawling at his defenders and getting them into position. By releasing him at the end of the season, citing financial reasons, City have for me, created an unnecessary problem. They have probably saved a few hundred quid a week in wages by replacing him with a loan rookie, and although it is far too early to draw conclusions on the ability of current stopper Simon Eastwood, it is questionable whether Valley Parade is a good place to learn your trade at present. There is a lot of frustration in the stands and the current players and management will not be given much time before the fans get on their backs. An experienced stopper like Evans would have been better equipped to shrug off such criticism and would be likely to be less fazed compared to a young lad who is likely to play off confidence.

Thirdly, is Peter Thorne the correct choice of team captain? I am a big fan of Thorne and think he is a very important player at City, but he is not a vocal player. Although respected in the dressing room, he can become isolated upfront in matches when things aren't going City's way and in playing upfront, he isn't involved in the action as much as someone like Lee Bullock would, who are positioned in the thick of things and perhaps in a better position to marshall the troops to weather the storm.

So, for me, it is a combination of those three factors that led to the on field chaos on Saturday. City cannot be as bad as they showed on Saturday as they committed basic errors that would not have looked out of place in Sunday League and things must surely get better hereon in?

All the pressure is on McCall once more, and even though changes are likely to be made in the cup game at Forest on Wednesday (the ageing Thorne for one likely to be rested) I think its imperitive that we sort out the lack of leadership and organisation on field otherwise we risk bumbling around like a set of lost sheep again and will make life difficult for outselves once more.