Very nice stuff on YouTube. However almost all of it was 3-5 seasons ago, which does weaken your argument. Is he still capable of that? I (indeed all of us) haven't seen enough to be sure.
For me, I think Luke is coming way too deep. His greatest strength is arriving in the 6 yard box at the right time to score tap-ins. Look at how many of his goals were like that in the first half of last season, it was staggering. Now, he's coming too deep and trying to set up Hardie with through balls. We all know that Hardie's strength is his pace and dribbling ability, so it makes sense for Luke to turn provider, but it means he won't score anywhere near as many as he's simply not in the right positions. He can't do both, and I feel for Luke, but I don't think he's suited to RL's style of play this season.
I don't know, he played a pretty effective role in Wigan's winner. How an experienced pro could allow themselves to be robbed of the ball when they have it shielded from an opponent is beyond me. If Lowe hadn't made his mind up about him before then that would have done it.
That second goal was an absolute mess but you're right - Agard didn't hold the ball at all well. That said, the midfield went completely to sleep and the defence was far too slow to react to the through ball. If the guy feared he couldn't beat Coops from that angle there was a very obvious square ball waiting to tap it in.
I had assumed that Jephcott was coming so deep because that was what he was being told/coached to do and that it was for this reason that he was picked over Garrick in the last couple of games. But Ryan Lowe's comments explaining Jephcott's early substitution on Saturday implied that it was Jephcott making this decision and not an instruction from the management team. I suspect that the truth lies somewhere in between - that Jephcott has been instructed/coached to come deep but perhaps he has followed that instruction too rigidly. I guess that if he was a more mobile (faster) player then he would be better able to drop deep when necessary but also get into advanced positions in the box more readily. Currently he's obviously able to do one or other role pretty well but he needs to find a way to do both if he is going to continue to develop and step up to the next level of performance.
Maybe Lowe has one eye on James Norwood, an Ipswich striker who has played only 22 minutes under Paul Cook and obviously doesn't sit in his plans.
The video gives a good indication of what he is capable of, but I'd like to see a video of his misses through the years before coming to a decision on his suitability.
Yes that is 'old fashioned' and 'out of date' in the modern game, or so I've been told on here!
!)
But he is playing deeper than last season, so maybe Lowe needs to tell Luke to generally play 5 yards further up the pitch..
King Tommy was told to play 5 yards further up the pitch. He had to carry a stanley knife to keep cutting himself out of the back of the net!
