Jephcott's form | PASOTI
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Jephcott's form

Oct 5, 2013
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It's clear that Jephcott has currently lost form, he looks less sharp in front of goal compared to a month ago.
Is there anything that accounts for this?
To me he's being asked to do too much work: he sprints crossfield and back down the side whenever their defence is playing it out, drops deep for little interplays to create spaces when we're going forward, is brought back into our penalty area for every corner and free-kick, and is then expected to sprint sometimes 80-90 yards to get on the end of our breaks!
I'd love to know what his pitch coverage stats are compared to our other players, must be double what it is for some of them. As he frequently gets subbed off after 65-70 minutes, is his loss of form in part due to tiredness through being asked to do too much work?
There might be other reasons too, like better marking, but is this one of the reasons he's lost form?
 
Aug 17, 2005
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I alluded to this on the prematch thread that jephcotts lack of goals seems to have coincided with having ennis up front with him instead of hardie
 
Mar 22, 2020
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The Jephcott/Hardie partnership should be restored ASAP. It was working fine and didn't need fixing. Ennis is a very good player and should be an impact sub for now whilst training had to be the next goal getter when we inevitably lose Jephcott in the summer. We just don't create enough without Hardie making runs. People may be rightly critical of his finishing at the moment but his movement is top notch. No coincidence for me why Jephcotts goals have dried up.
 
Oct 5, 2013
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Green Painter":kq3deami said:
The Jephcott/Hardie partnership should be restored ASAP. It was working fine and didn't need fixing. Ennis is a very good player and should be an impact sub for now whilst training had to be the next goal getter when we inevitably lose Jephcott in the summer. We just don't create enough without Hardie making runs. People may be rightly critical of his finishing at the moment but his movement is top notch. No coincidence for me why Jephcotts goals have dried up.

Will certainly be interesting to see who starts Saturday, and we finished with all three on pitch yesterday of course, looked like RL might have been trying to assess his best combination.
 

Forest of Dean Green

✅ Evergreen
Mar 5, 2009
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I have to say I was surprised (and said so) that Ennis was moved so quickly to start. Hardie does a hell of a lot of running and pressing so that Jephcott doesn’t need to and can keep his sharpness in the box. Whilst Ennis may be a better finisher Hardie creates space. We had a very settled team with that pairing up front and Edwards on the right and I see no reason not to go back to it if Edwards is fit. As someone else said, Lowe was looking for a solution to a problem that wasn’t there. Ennis was impacting off the bench, and now Jephcott is out of goals.
 
Sep 2, 2008
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TinTin":2oyu9c8n said:
Why not try Hardie and Ennis , IF Jephcott needs a rest/lost form !!

Hardie and Ennis should be the front two. Jephcott looked average at best last night. He was hesitant on the ball, first touch was woeful and he had to keep falling over to draw the foul to make up for it and his shooting was weak. Thing is, I think Lowe feels he has to play Jephcott even though that isn't the best thing for the team or results. Jephcott has a very slim chance of being in the Wales squad but if he isn't playing then he can kiss that chance goodbye and his value will be far less than that of someone who has an international cap. Also, if Jephcott isn't on the pitch then he won't have the opportunity to score more goals and increase his monetary value even more. I think Lowe will keep Jephcott on in the hope that he can start scoring again and increase his value to then sell him on. I think starting Jephcott is to the detriment of the team though and we can definitely say goodbye to the mega slim playoff chance but keeping him playing may not be detrimental to the club if he can start scoring again which i don't think he will. Its a difficult one for Lowe.
 

Emu

Oct 3, 2003
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Agree with a lot of the responses on this. As well as a loss of form I have thought he has looked jaded in the last few matches.
I wonder if he could do with a rest. We have to remember this is his first proper full season in professional football as a regular starter and he has just turned 21.
 
Jul 12, 2016
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Green Painter":36zy10ht said:
The Jephcott/Hardie partnership should be restored ASAP. It was working fine and didn't need fixing. Ennis is a very good player and should be an impact sub for now whilst training had to be the next goal getter when we inevitably lose Jephcott in the summer. We just don't create enough without Hardie making runs. People may be rightly critical of his finishing at the moment but his movement is top notch. No coincidence for me why Jephcotts goals have dried up.
Spot on. If it ain't broke why fix it? Jephcott needs Hardie as they have developed an understanding.
 
Mar 15, 2007
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Emu":3j3sm6dq said:
Agree with a lot of the responses on this. As well as a loss of form I have thought he has looked jaded in the last few matches.
I wonder if he could do with a rest. We have to remember this is his first proper full season in professional football as a regular starter and he has just turned 21.

Bingo. Yet everyone was slating Ryan Lowe for subbing him in previous weeks. Can't have it both ways!
 
Dec 30, 2020
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signalspast":3a922gvk said:
I alluded to this on the prematch thread that jephcotts lack of goals seems to have coincided with having ennis up front with him instead of hardie

Tbf Ennis put Jephcott's last two goals on a plate for him v Portsmouth.

I think we've struggle to create chances more generally in the last 3 or 4 games. Feels like Mayor hasn't been able to get on the ball as much, and the final pass from Moore and Grant has been too frequently poor. Camara's passing is also a bit erratic, although he adds so much with his running and tackling that it's more forgivable.

Can see why Lowe stuck with a team that was grinding out results, but feel we need a few changes now.
 

JannerinCardiff

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Jul 16, 2018
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For me whilst Ennis is a really good player he plays a bit differently from Hardie. Ennis quite often drops deeper to link play and takes a man on. Hardie runs the channels and quite often plays on the shoulder of the last defender... this is where he is very effectual when played with Jephcott - Hardie makes the runs so that Jephcott can use his ability to beat the defender to the ball when in a scoring opportunity and he is clinical... the most clinical of all our strikers. Hardie and Jephcott are also our best pairing when considering pressing the opposition defenders into making a mistake, which needs to happen as a pair rather than only 1 forward doing it. We really need to play to our strengths and the Hardie/Jephcott partnership is our best - we certainly create a lot more scoring opportunities when these two start matches. Ennis will make a great impact sub, but right now we are diminishing Jephcotts prowess in the box by not playing Hardie.

Hardie and Jephcott must start the next match against Lincoln.
 
May 27, 2019
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EXETER/OWLERTON
All good strikers have lean spells. You don’t just drop them if the goals dry up for a few games. The certainty is that he will start scoring again. I’ve never believed all the multi million pound hype around him, but he’s a good striker at this level, who will probably move to a championship club in the summer. Maybe he’s feeling a bit of pressure too.
 
Apr 1, 2009
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As always on here people feel the need to see a situation as either black or white, and have difficulty accepting that it's probably somewhere in between.

Even a week ago everything about Jephcott on here was positive. Posters were speculating about the Euros, out-bidding one another in their transfer valuations, making comparisons to the likes of Harry Kane, and certain extremists were demanding that LJ start every game and never be subbed. Suddenly he's had a short run without goals and there's an inquest into what has gone wrong, and what needs to be done to get him scoring again.

The main diagnosis seems to be that he is happier playing with Hardie than with Ennis. I'd be pretty sure that's the case given that he's partnered Hardie far more than anyone else. Yet he has to learn to play with different partners, as any club needs their strikers to be able to perform successfully in different combinations. I'm sure there's far more too it than that though.

When a team is on a good run, future opposition will study video footage and work out how to stop them. In simplistic terms , to stop Jephcott scoring, you stop him getting chances, by closing off supply lines. Defenders are instructed to push Danny Mayor into blind alleys down the left hand side of the penalty area, to block out low crosses into the box from the likes of Conor Grant, and to negate Camara's forward runs. Suddenly the goals dry up, chances become a rarity, and when they do come there's more pressure due to there being so few opportunities.

Late in January a number of posters speculated nervously about the February fixture list. It looked hard, with a number of top teams to play. In terms of results it had gone well up until last night, but better opposition has nevertheless reduced our goal threat.

People have to remember that Luke Jephcott is human. For all the potential, and for all the impressive stats, he's not (certainly not yet) a superstar. 15 months ago he was a teenager on loan to Truro who had previously had the odd opportunity on the wing for Argyle. He's played a lot of minutes at a time when the fixture list is unusually congested. At a young age he's had to get used to being relied on for goals, as well as the adulation of fans ever eager to welcome a new star, banging on endlessly about huge valuations and international caps. I'd be very surprised if he isn't physically tired, and mentally probably exhausted.

In most aspects of life, you learn most through a bit of adversity. LJ has had it pretty good. If things are a little more difficult now (and it's certainly no crisis yet), he'll learn and come back stronger. I rate him highly, though struggle with some of the more extreme hype,, and am sure the current blip (if there is one) will soon be overcome.
 

JannerinCardiff

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Jul 16, 2018
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Just done a bit of research. Jephcott and Hardie have started 17 games this season, 15 in the league and in 2 FA cup matches against Championship and Premier league opponents. Of the those 17 matches only 7 were at home (where we are much better statistically) and 10 were away from home.

Our record over those 17 matches is

PLd W D L
17 8 5 4 +6 GD

.. so if this had been converted into our league form we would be getting 1.71 points per match and after the 30 matches we've played already we could predict that based on that form were it be for 30 matches (and might even be better as we would include playing at home more often than away..) we would sit right now on 51 points and would probably be somewhere around 5th or 6th spot.

Interesting also that all of Ryan Hardies goals have come in the matches where both Jephcott and Hardie have started, with the two of them combining for 14 goals in total during the 17 matches they've started.