Jon Mellish Signs - Central Defender

I don’t get this having a go at Mellish.
I only saw him for the first time yesterday but quite simply he was hung out to dry by his midfield.
Elliott has a more torrid time against his winger in the first half but no comment on here.
Mellish was targeted by their very fast and tricky winger on the right in the second half. Their manager probably saw what was obvious that Mellish got limited support from Bridge and none at all from McKirdy.
Mellish looks like he could lose a couple of pounds but in the circumstances did ok yesterday.
We had a LOT worse on the pitch.

One further point. We probably had 20 goal kicks, 18 of them were passed 15 yards to Mellish on the left. Why??? It got to the point of stupidity.
The Swindon forwards targeted this action putting both Mellish and Collin under pressure.
The manager must have insisted on this. It was ridiculous.
That again made Mellish look like the fall guy.

nobbyblue wrote: I think he'll turn out to be a decent centre half but it's frightening watching him play in his present position.

You wouldn't have played Jackie Ashurst or Kevin Gray at full back.

If Pressley continues to play him on the left he could ruin the lad's career before it's even started.

Mellish is being asked to play in a position he's never played before, at a higher standard than hes ever played before, and folk are already getting on his back.
It's ridiculous.

Musher.... Listen too Ian evatts post match analysis after barrow game yesterday. He said modern footballers should be able to slot in anywhere if asked to play there. They're professional footballers and not just a CB. It is easy enough to make the transition playing along back line from cb to lb, as alluded to my previous post though this lad isn't and wont and as said looks like a fish out of water. That's all their is too it. You can tell within 4/5 games if someone's gonna be half decent or not if you know the game and this lad isn't. He's got absolutely nothing about him at all to suggest that he's going to improve. Shame but it's a fact.

He played ok at centre back against Hibs.

I'll bow to your better knowledge on this one Dazzy.
You seen him play a lot more than me.
But if you're going to sign a centre-half to play at centre-half, then play him at centre-half.
If he's not as good as the 2 already in those positions then have him on the bench as back up.
Don't play him in an alien position in a higher standard of football to get torn to shreds game after game.
Fans turn on him, he loses confidence, and eventually he is out of the squad never to be seen again.
This is the way its heading, and will only destroy the lad.

Dazzyblue wrote: Musher.... Listen too Ian evatts post match analysis after barrow game yesterday. He said modern footballers should be able to slot in anywhere if asked to play there. They're professional footballers and not just a CB. It is easy enough to make the transition playing along back line from cb to lb, as alluded to my previous post though this lad isn't and wont and as said looks like a fish out of water. That's all their is too it. You can tell within 4/5 games if someone's gonna be half decent or not if you know the game and this lad isn't. He's got absolutely nothing about him at all to suggest that he's going to improve. Shame but it's a fact.

Mellish played 47 times for Gateshead last season and was voted 'Best Young Player’ in the National League.

He can't be as bad as you make out!

Dazzyblue wrote: Musher.... Listen too Ian evatts post match analysis after barrow game yesterday. He said modern footballers should be able to slot in anywhere if asked to play there. They're professional footballers and not just a CB. It is easy enough to make the transition playing along back line from cb to lb, as alluded to my previous post though this lad isn't and wont and as said looks like a fish out of water. That's all their is too it. You can tell within 4/5 games if someone's gonna be half decent or not if you know the game and this lad isn't. He's got absolutely nothing about him at all to suggest that he's going to improve. Shame but it's a fact.

I have to disagree with this Daz lad, I feel I know the game enough to give an opinion (just an opinion mind,I have been wrong a few times!), and I don’t believe it to be fact he is not upto it.

Had a great season for Gateshead last year,it’s a step up this year,I do think he needs taken out the firing line,but I do feel he will come good if used and nurtured correctly.

Never mind Mellish just seen the highlights and Webster looks well dodge.

Dazzy you think it's easy for a centre back to switch to full back ? I actually believe based on your post you've one never actually watched a game of football and noticed differnt attributes for differnt areas and two never actually played a football match.

Certain physical attributes at centre back make it a lot hard to play full back, due to the power and size of a CB they often lose the crucial agility needed to play centre back .

Fully back is probably now the hardest physical position to play and learn, you have to be able to defend and attack and have tremendous stanima

Jon Mellish has potential but as a centre back not full back.

"If you're a full back you should be able to play centre back as they're the same"? Hilarious.

I think Mellish has been absolutely terrible in his first two games but if he's been played out of position then that's not how fault.

Never been a fan of Presley, want to give him a chance too but he's.starting to make me feel like my original opinion was on the money.

I agree that you can sometimes tell after 4 or 5 games if someone is going to be really shit, I could tell pretty much straight away that Bennett was.

But with Mellish I think there’s something there. I haven’t been impressed with him at LB, he’s definitely more suited to CB based on preseason and I’m sure if given the opportunity will look more comfortable there at this level. I’d like to see Iredale in at LB for the next game and perhaps even Branthwaite tried there as a back up as he looked useful at right back despite being a left footer.

Dazzyblue wrote: Musher.... Listen too Ian evatts post match analysis after barrow game yesterday. He said modern footballers should be able to slot in anywhere if asked to play there. They're professional footballers and not just a CB. It is easy enough to make the transition playing along back line from cb to lb, as alluded to my previous post though this lad isn't and wont and as said looks like a fish out of water. That's all their is too it. You can tell within 4/5 games if someone's gonna be half decent or not if you know the game and this lad isn't. He's got absolutely nothing about him at all to suggest that he's going to improve. Shame but it's a fact.

Well maybe that's why Evattt's managing in the Conference then, with football knowledge and an outlook like that.
Players adapting seamlessly from their natural position to another is an exception, not the norm.
How would Virgil Van Dyke or Vincent Kompany or Harry Maguire cope with being shoved out on to left-back/wing??
Not very well I'd think.
They'd probably struggle just much as Mellish is struggling.

And look what happened when Devitt was moved out of his best position last season- He was sh1t.

Dazzyblue wrote: Musher.... Listen too Ian evatts post match analysis after barrow game yesterday. He said modern footballers should be able to slot in anywhere if asked to play there. They're professional footballers and not just a CB. It is easy enough to make the transition playing along back line from cb to lb, as alluded to my previous post though this lad isn't and wont and as said looks like a fish out of water. That's all their is too it. You can tell within 4/5 games if someone's gonna be half decent or not if you know the game and this lad isn't. He's got absolutely nothing about him at all to suggest that he's going to improve. Shame but it's a fact.

It’s not a fact at all, it’s an opinion.

Reminds me very much of Abbott’s insistence on playing Potts at right-back a few year ago, a young inexperienced lad who’s still learning the game being asked to play out of position and it wasn’t doing the player or the team any good at all.

I honestly though Abbott was going to knacker Potts’s career before it’d even started, he never looked comfortable, he didn’t have the fitness to play there and as soon as he was skinned early on or made a mistake his head went down and his confidence was shot to bits. Mellish looked the same last week.

franksidebottom wrote: Reminds me very much of Abbott’s insistence on playing Potts at right-back a few year ago, a young inexperienced lad who’s still learning the game being asked to play out of position and it wasn’t doing the player or the team any good at all.

I honestly though Abbott was going to knacker Potts’s career before it’d even started, he never looked comfortable, he didn’t have the fitness to play there and as soon as he was skinned early on or made a mistake his head went down and his confidence was shot to bits. Mellish looked the same last week.

Weird - just said something similar on another thread at the same time

Give the lad a chance, probably the worst player I've seen wear a Carlisle shirt on his debut was Danny Livesey he was horrendous must have taken him a good 10+ games to settle and he turned out all right

I really don't get this, 'lets have an absolute pop at somebody..... anybody, ah well it might as well be Mellish'
This is a young lad hasn't played league football before hes been thrown into a position which by all accounts isn't his natural one, and is suddenly expected (in some peoples weird expectations) to be some kind of world beater overnight.
Personally I didn't think he played that badly against Crawley, and he wasn't completely like a fish out of water in any of the friendly's.
It just seems to me that some people on here are absolutely desperate to have a go at somebody. For Christ sake give the lad a chance, try giving a bit of encouragement, sometimes it can work wonders..............honestly!!!!
He just needs a bit of time and patience, something some people round here seem in very short supply of.

I saw the Crawley game and thought he looked like a CB playing LB but was sure he'd be a good player at this level. Impressed by his strength, overall athleticism and attitude. He may have played LB in Conference but doubt he will for us unless he is being asked to fill in there, which my guess he is.

BelleVueBoy wrote: I saw the Crawley game and thought he looked like a CB playing LB but was sure he'd be a good player at this level. Impressed by his strength, overall athleticism and attitude. He may have played LB in Conference but doubt he will for us unless he is being asked to fill in there, which my guess he is.

That is because he is a centre back playing left back. Iredale has been injured and has not been ready to start a game.

Pre-season, the entire back 4 looked solid and I thought were an upgrade from the back 4 performances of the second half of last season.
Mellish had a superb game against Hibs, playing at centre back. He defended well, broke out from the back, carried it forward superbly and played, for me, with someone with the heart of a lion.
Pressley said that Mellish is a left sided centre half. To me, he looks like a real old fashioned blood and thunder central defender but with the added bonus of someone who can carry the ball out from the back.
One of the best centre half pairings I ever saw play was Hansen & Lawrenson. Almost peerless but move them to fullback and they would have struggled.
Anyone remember Gary Pallister playing at fullback for England? Such a classy player and a wonderful centre half. Looked like a giraffe on ice at fullback.
It’s a completely different position and more often than not you are facing a nippy wide man as opposed to a more solidly built centre forward.
You get dragged into areas you don’t want to be in and you have little or no cover. When it’s not your day, it’s a lonely position to play. No centre back alongside you to bail you out.
From when he got moved to LB his performances have suffered. The ball is rolling over or under his foot and 6 yard passes seem like advanced trigonometry. I’m sure most players have been there. Confidence is at a low ebb and he can’t do right for doing wrong.
Currently, we must have the most lopsided front 6 in the league. The 2 wider midfield players offer as much protection to Elliot and Mellish as a johnny with a hole in it. It’s no surprise that both fullbacks have had difficult starts and in fairness to Scougall & Bridge both are playing in positions that are also not their best.
Pressley can earn his corn here in how he manages Mellish.
For me, moving forward the issue is whether he considers playing 3 centre halves with our current lack of central midfield options.
Personally, I’d like to see Branthwaite starting a few games alongside the older heads and he’d get good protection, as Mellish would, with a couple of bodies alongside.
For me, he’s an exciting young player with great potential playing in his wrong position, with little cover in a side that barely knows one another. It’s no surprise he has looked all at sea at times.
He's only a handful of games into a league career in a brand new side. Let's see how he is a few months down the line.

The whole defence looked ropey against Crawley, though they did improve as the game went on. Knight-Percival was probably the best one. The full back situation may improve with young players being there.

Looks like we'll concede a lot of goals - as in many recent seasons.


Mellish looked raw but not without athleticism and strength.

We weren't looking too brilliant after a couple of games last year either, or for a long time.


More games will show whether we've just got a very poor shoestring squad, or whether they will improve and develop and be competitive.

Still hacks me off to this day - was it 86/87 or whenever and we played Middlesbrough, possibly a bank holiday league fixture and Pallister and Mowbray played and me and my pal went with our regular pocket money, around two pounds fifty to get in with an extra fifty pence each to grab a pasty in The Paddock.

The cheeky gets had upped the entrance fee to three pounds fifty because of who we were playing - we tried to offer three quid to get in and were told basically to [censored] off, we were probably only about fourteen.

We went and bought loads of goodies with the money we had, I think we lost 0-1 anyhow.