10-day gap but still so little time to tinker for Jimmy
JFH WANTS TO GIVE SQUAD A CHANCE BUT CAN’T WAIT FOR RESULTS TO IMPROVE
AS Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday, he had 10 days to fine tune his squad and plan the next stage of what we hope will be Burton Albion’s great escape.
There is no game on Saturday, with Doncaster Rovers playing in the FA Cup fourth round, so Shrewsbury Town are the next opponents, at the Pirelli Stadium a week tonight.
It is stating the obvious to say that the Brewers’ League One plight did not improve when they lost 1-0 to Ipswich Town on Saturday.
They are four points behind second-bottom Swindon Town, having played two more games, and the same behind Wigan Athletic, having played three more.
The gap to safety is six points and Burton have played more games than everyone else, since the Doncaster game will be their first postponement of the season. They will remain the only club in the division without a Covid-related postponement, although whether or not Covid-hit Shrewsbury will be able to play in time remains to be seen.
They plan to play their FA Cup tie against Southampton tonight but, as we have seen, the league and cup are two different entities when it comes to getting games played.
But back to Hasselbaink. It has been an interesting first fortnight – decisive and full of common sense.
The manager knows he is racing against time and walking a tightrope.
He wants to assess the players already at the club, perhaps especially those who were not getting a chance to prove themselves under Jake Buxton – left-back Owen Galchanges lacher being the prime example.
But he also knows he has little time for experimentation.
Three players came in and three went out inside a week, a fourth signing, goalkeeper Dillon Barnes, arrived yesterday.
Steven Lawless’s unhappy and unlucky spell ended with a move back to Scotland; Neal Eardley’s largely disappointing season will continue with the chance of a fresh start at Barrow in League Two; and Stephen Quinn will complete the season with Mansfield Town, playing for a third time in his career under Nigel Clough.
It was Quinn’s move which raised most eyebrows but it made perfect sense.
I doubt Hasselbaink would have wanted to be without the influential, seemingly tireless Quinn of the Irishman’s first two seasons with the club.
But Quinn had not matched that form this season and his frustration with the club’s plight had become evident.
A reckless challenge within the first five minutes against Oxford United earned him a yellow card and if Hasselbaink, watching from the stands after his appointment as manager, had thought “just what was that all about?” you could not have blamed him.
Quinn leaves owing the Brewers nothing but, probably, the time was right.
For Saturday’s game against Ipswich, Colin Daniel and Kieran Wallace were both injured, having played against Gillingham, and were replaced by Charles Vernam and Ciaran Gilligan.
It is tempting to think that Hasselbaink might have made those two
anyway, giving him the chance to assess both Vernam and Gilligan – both of whom he praised after the Ipswich game.
Gilligan, he will have seen is a classic “ratter”, as older players like to call them, buzzing around making challenges, looking to win the ball back for side. His aim is to give it to people like Joe Powell who can be more creative.
Vernam again showed how he can cruise past players and perhaps Hasselbaink will be talking to him about the end product after he has done so.
He was, nonetheless, unlucky not to score when Luke Chambers produced a sensational block to keep out his close-range volley.
Hasselbaink played Vernam and Gilligan while keeping two of his new signings, Sean Clare and Josh Parker on the bench until late in the game.
The first of his signings, Hayden Carter, has already shown that the manager need not worry about him. He has slotted in seamlessly and again looked a class act in the centre of defence.
Clare and Parker looked busy and eager when they came on. It was interesting that they both stood over the free kicks Burton had when they came on, exchanging a quick chat about them.
Joe Powell has delivered almost all of Burton’s set-pieces within range of the opposition penalty area this season, with mixed success.
A different option will be useful and Parker sent in one wicked free kick which might have borne fruit.
After more than a week of integration with the group, I would expect both to play against Shrewsbury.
But by then, I would also expect to have seen at least one more arrival and probably one more in the other direction.
Hasselbaink is not hanging around but, as we have said, he does not have time to.