I am reluctant to say anything negative about Town boss Kieran McKenna because he has been a breath of fresh air since he arrived on the scene in December, but on Saturday against Cambridge United, he picked the wrong team. Terry Hunt, writing in the EADT, said much the same thing, as did Mick Mills speaking on Radio Suffolk.
When quizzed about McKenna’s team selection Mills said that Tom Carroll was too lightweight to make an impact, and it clearly showed. Morsy and Bakinson were developing a good midfield partnership so why break it up? I know that Mckenna likes to employ horses for courses, but he got this one wrong. Carroll may be able to pick out a pass, but he was poor throughout, and so, too, was Dominic Thompson, who was hauled off by the manager after his own goal. Thompson has never really impressed me, to be honest. He has pace and energy in abundance but seems to lack the nous to go with it, so I don’t think he is the answer to our left-sided midfield slot. I ran out of fingers trying to count how many times he produced a misplaced pass, and that is perhaps why McKenna brought on Matt Penny. He is a far better prospect in my opinion, as is forgotten man Kane Vincent-Young! We still have a big squad, and as our season is effectively over, our manager has the chance to experiment a bit now.
Part of that experiment should be to play Macauley Bonne from the start. He won’t rekindle the kind of form of old that got him 11 goals in his first 16 games by being constantly benched. He needs more game time, and then, I feel, we will see the best of him again. The same could be said for Joe Pigott, but he is essentially a back to goal sort of forward and not equipped to deal with the lone striker role that McKenna prefers to play. Kayden Jackson is unlikely to play again this season, and James Norwood probably shouldn’t. He is always looking for a bust-up – either with match officials or opposition players. He seems incapable of focusing for long on the job he is paid to do, which is to score goals. He is a bit of a lost soul these days, it seems.
Our defence has performed very well since McKenna took charge, but our midfield and attack certainly need a bit of fine-tuning. Carroll won’t be around for too much longer. His contract ends in a few months and I cannot see the club keeping him. The same applies to Dominic Thompson, who will be sent back to his parent club Brentford, once his loan deal ends. He may be a product of the Arsenal academy, but it is easy to see why they got rid of him. Tyreeq Bakinson is, on the other hand, a player of some promise, and it would not surprise me if the Blues signed him. The other loan player on Town’s books is, of course, Macauley Bonne. His prolonged goal drought might have helped our cause. QPR might be more inclined to let him go cheaply, and we all know about his love of this club and the extraordinary start he made to the new campaign. What he needs perhaps most of all, is a bit more love. We all need an arm around the shoulder and encouragement when things are not going to plan. Some players need it a lot more than others. Paul Cook gave him lots and Kieran McKenna?
