James Vaughan - Pivotal to our success

http://www.htfconline.co.uk/pages/blog/blog-articles/Vaughan.html

Since arriving on loan from Norwich City, James Vaughan has been an instant success for Town. Below are our opening ten league results with added detail of whether or not the former Everton trainee was in the team for each game:

Cardiff (away) - WITHOUT Vaughan - lost 1-0.
Forest (home) - WITHOUT Vaughan - drew 1-1.
Burnley (home) - WITH Vaughan - won 2-0.
Ipswich (away) - WITH Vaughan - drew 2-2.
Derby (home) - WITH Vaughan - won 1-0.
Sheff Weds (away) - WITH Vaughan - won 3-1.
Blackpool (away) - WITH Vaughan - won 3-1.
Watford (home) - WITHOUT Vaughan - lost 3-2.
Leicester (home) - WITHOUT Vaughan - lost 2-0.
Birmingham (away) - WITH Vaughan - won 1-0.

We’ve played six matches with James Vaughan in the team and are yet to experience defeat; out of a possible 18 points we’ve accumulated a total of 16. We’ve played four matches without James Vaughan in the team and are yet to experience a victory; out of a possible four points we’ve accumulated a total of one.

They’re pretty convincing statistics and they mean one thing - we’re doomed when James Vaughan isn’t in the team. To be more precise, we’re a much better when he is in the team.

Out of our whole squad of players I think we have two who are genuinely irreplaceable. The first is Keith Southern who has taken over the Damien Johnson role of commanding the midfield, stalking down the opposition to win the ball back and retaining possession. The second is Vaughan, who has taken on a whole new role of a deep lying, hard-working and effective centre forward.

That might not sound like the most glamorous of roles but it is of pivotal important to our season. We are no doubt a much better team than we were last season - we no longer depend on one player for goals and are a much more cohesive unit with a good spine. However, we are a small fish in a big pond and will be on the back foot more often than we have been in recent years.

In order to stay in games when we are constantly under pressure, and in order to stay on top of games when we’re the better team, we have to be able to defend from the front. Good teams do this - win the ball back as far up the pitch as possible and keep the ball in the opposition half.

Vaughan is the player who does this for us, he epitomises the work-ethic needed to succeed at this level. This past weekend at Birmingham he was clearly exhausted but made a lung-busting run across the width of the pitch, then back into our own half to regain possession, before being substituted moments later.

His movement is always intelligent, pulling defenders away to make room for a teammate or running the channels in order to offer an outlet when we’re under pressure. Then when he’s on the ball he makes it stick, either holding it up to bring someone else into play or running it forward to buy us a throw-in, free-kick or corner.

Two goals in six is not a brilliant return for a centre forward but is in no way poor. Jermaine Beckford has been brought in to provide goals and there were signs of a promising strike force on Saturday where the two linked up well on quite a few occasions. Vaughan has to be appreciated for what he brings to the team, which is a lot more than goals.

More importantly, when he is not available for selection we struggle. Lee Novak, Alan Lee and Jimmy Spencer are the alternatives and unfortunately none come close to possessing the same level of ability. Vaughan is an integral part of the way we play and when he isn’t in the team we are no longer able to play that way. As seen recently, performances suffer without him.

Stats don’t lie, and 16 points from a possible 18 with James Vaughan in the team show that we will do just fine this season, as long as he remains fit.