Joel Lynch for Left Back

Joel Lynch

As the sun goes down on a manic few days at the City Ground, the show must go on.

First on the agenda is how we go about that troublesome left back role for the next 4 months…well at least until a potential loanee comes in.

I have a simple solution; give the task to Joel Lynch.

So far this season, Cohen and Gunter have shared the role as Forest begin their third season of putting round pegs in square left back holes. This is not ideal at all.

When we play Gunter at LB, we effectively weaken both full back roles.

Gunter is easily the best RB in the squad and when we move him to the left, we bring in Brendan Maloney; a much weaker player. Now Maloney is merely average in my eyes – harsh maybe but he’s nothing more than a player for the bench. When he has played this season, some clubs target Brendan as a weakness in the backline - Donny and Leicester for example channelled most of their attacks at him.

Gunts is one of the bright sparks in our team and not playing him in his strongest area shunts his progress – something which we’ll obviously benefit from. After all, Football is all about playing your best team with players in their best positions.

Cohen on the other hand is the engine of our midfield. Why we ever thought playing him at LB would work on the basis of him being left footedr, has always been barmy to me. Chris isn’t the greatest tackler after all and when faced with the best wingers in this league, he seems to be a walking yellow card.

Our midfield has also missed Chris’ presence. While Boateng and Greening will do all the grafting, neither has the work rate in them to turn defence into attack - and vice versa. We all know Cohen does, and as said earlier it’s all about your best team.

Bringing Lynch back into the team for me is a no brainer. After all, he is the best left back in the club.

Most of our fans slate Lynch for reasons I can’t quite understand. If you actually ask these people why they don’t rate him, you get the same generic response…”He’s sh#t!”

When he first came to the club, granted he did look very poor. Over time he’s blossomed into a competent enough member of our team.

He’s strong in the air, has magnificent pace and can whip in a great cross too – he set up Findley’s goal last week. When Lynch plays, the team also looks more balanced; something that we desperately need at the moment.

When I see Lynch, I never feel he has much of a weakness bar his concentration and injury record. Joel has a knack of doing novice like errors; giving away the penalty at Wycombe the other week being one. Now

Wes Morgan used to have a concentration issue a few years ago, yet with time has overcome this. I believe Joel can too provided we give him the chance.

For the good of the team at the moment, Lynch is the best choice. He'll free up Cohen and Gunter to play in their best positions and give us short term stability in the role until we identify a replacement.

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