DAN THE FAN: Striker light - having no forwards can work

With first-choice striker Nile Ranger absent, the manager played a 4-6-0 formation, with no main centre forward, with Nicky Ajose and Dany N’Guessan playing as strikers when Town countered with the ball.

With the 4-4-2 being the default setting in the Football League for many years, that’s the formation I grew up watching at the County Ground.

From Steve McMahon to Andy King to Paul Sturrock, it’s been the same.

Managers had their own style of playing the game, but the formation hasn’t changed.

This is one of the main reasons why people are struggling to make sense of the striker-less formation.

I included myself in the group that thinks the “false number 9” is nonsense, but last weekend, it worked.

It isn’t just at the County Ground where 4-4-2 is becoming endangered, with games being won and lost on who controls the ball in midfield, it’s important to play three in that position instead of two.

This season we’ve also had to adapt to a 4-2-3-1 system that Cooper has brought into the club.

I was sceptical at first, but after watching us pass some teams off the park picking up win after win, I’ve been won over.

I’m less comfortable with the 5-1-2-1 formation which involves playing three centre backs and two wing backs, because we haven’t got the quality in the heart of the defence to make it work.

Thankfully, Ranger was back at the club and is ready to play this weekend.

I’ve mentioned how taking a gamble on Nile had paid off for him and the club, and this recent episode hasn’t changed my opinion.

The guy clearly has issues in his life, but he’s in the best place at the moment, away from Newcastle, and the life he built for himself in the North East.

Saturday sees the Football League’s biggest surprise package Leyton Orient at the County Ground.

When I watched Russell Slade’s side take on Paolo Di Canio’s Town in January, they looked nothing like promotion contenders, let alone battling at the top of the table.

But with the majority of the same side I saw that night, they have taken the division by storm and now sit second.

Former Yeovil boss Slade deserves great credit, although recently the wheels on the Orient Express have started to wobble slightly.

The ‘O’s have lost three out of their last six games in all competitions, two of those defeats coming away from Brisbane Road, and they lost their unbeaten home record last weekend to Preston.

It will undoubtedly be a tough afternoon for Town, but with Ranger back after his break, I can see Town adding to Orient’s recent woes.

Follow me on Twitter @danjohnson_stfc

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