Just back

After the Lord Mayor's show,  we were very poor from the start, Crewe had the measure of us and closed us down every minute of the game and gave us no time at all.
They played the ball on the ground and forced us to play long, Summerfield had a nightmare of a game but nobody else had any time at all on the ball.
Crewe thoroughly deserved the win after out playing and out thinking us.
Very surprised that Hurst didn't try something different in the second half because it was obvious that our tactics weren't working.
I thought for a very short period that Jackson and Bolarinwa might just do something when they came on but it was more wishful thinking than anything else.
UTM

Gowling wants a big kick up the backside, and fining for that hand ball.  Absolutely no reason to do it

The ref didn't help the game at all. after the pen save thought that might have kick started us. Crew played well and closed us down efficiently but i dont think they were better then us at all. Yet again mistakes cost us the game

Pretty poor display for the most part, probably the worst we've played so far. Didn't create much of note and Crewe deserved the win without being anything special. They didn't let us get the ball down and forced us to play direct, which just didn't work in the blustery conditions.

Onto the next one we go.

Regardless of some dubious decisions including not giving the most obvious penalty in the world for a rugby tackle in the box I think they looked a lot better than us on the day. Passed it around and moved well,kept the pressure on so we couldn't play or get an inch to move. They read the game well and picked up balls then just kept hold of it better. If we got a goal from the penalty that wasn't given and managed to keep them getting another I think we would have come out very lucky. We could have had one from Tuton but he's offside so much it's going to cost us more goals if that keeps up.

Gowling was back to being Gowling and Summerfield had another game like Morecambe I felt where he was dithering and giving the ball away cheaply with poor passes and indecision. Pearson also seemed to be struggling to cope under pressure and wasn't thinking where he hit the ball.

the best Team won , simple as that ..... We were slow on the ball , poor in the pass and offered little in front of goal .  Some times you get beat by the better team but our effort was poor

No pattern to our play. Overhitting the ball in the first half. No overlap from fullbacks where there should have been with the wind behind us. Instead of playing down the wings with ball on deck so ball could be played back just resorted to high balls down the middle to their goalkeeper. Bogle started off ok but then got frustrated with lack of service. If not for Macca and Pearson score would have been a lot worse. We can only live and learn so now is the time to get learning from the things we are doing wrong. There was plenty to learn from todays game. Crewe are a better team at the moment than we are,but we have to have patience and keep plugging away until consistency becomes the norm.

This is exactly the sort of team we struggle against, a well structured, do thr simple stuff well team. Give us an attacking team and we seem to do a lot better. And I think today highlights what will be our major issue this season, that we are relying heavily on our attack, and if theyre not on their game, the defense cant be relied upon to get us the result. We will see very few draws this season.

Up until the penalty Crewe were just probing and looking for soft free kicks hoping to get something from set plays. They were there for the taking by a high tempo game something we allowed them to close down far too easily. There was very little support for Vose who ended up doing to much and losing possession, Gowling was great heading the ball but no direction so we ended up being back on defensive duties and the least said about his handball the better. Summerfield should have been replaced at half time, the same for Tuton who seemed hapless.

The Ref gave them almost everything whilst denying us a stone wall penalty and in every 50/50 challenge blew up for them.

Crewe deserved their win because Town did nothing to really challenge them, poor display in front of over 5,000.

Can't blame Crewe today. They wasn't anything special and if we can play how I know we can we could of won today. They came and completely took Omar out the game. Omar himself seemed off par plus they got the REF onside. Proper smash and grab game and deserved to win. We looked slow in our build up play and struggled to create chances due to Crewes back four which I feel played superbly. On the other hand Macca was hot and cold all game. Made a brilliant save for the Penalty but was at fault for their second.

Never mind roll on next game.

We deserved to lose tbh. Crewe were very well organised and passed the ball nicely and closed us down.

Gowling was playing ok until that crazy decision to handball it. Pearson had a strong game defensively but his weakness at distribution was painfully evident on occasions. Summerfield gave away a second goal from a backpass in a few games. everyone was poor really. Changes should have been made before they were, when they came they did offer some livening to the game before it faded once more as crewe saw the game out well. Game was crying out for Disley to replace either of the two central midfielders in my opinion.

Jackson and Tuton not up to L2 standard leaving Omar with it all to do.
Disley should have replaced Summerfield second half, as he was having a mare, Vose stuck out on the left while play was concentrated one way down the right, too many passes wasted and long balls punted to Tuton and Jackson to use their pace which was matched by Crew.
We will win well next week because we are inconsistent at the moment

What can I say? It's League 2. It's not the conference, where nearly every team is cr@p. There are some good sides who understand the game, and can pass and press. You turn in a below par showing or make mistakes and you get turned over. That's what happened today. Hope we learn today's lessons.

Credit to Crewe, they did what we did last week to Luton, pressed and stopped us playing and we/Hurst just didnt know what to do.  We barely created a chance and apart from a couple of long range efforts i dont remember their keeper having to earn his wages.
Found wanting when it came to Plan B, Tombola livened us up for a short period but we still didnt create enough to win the game.  Ref didnt help with his pretty poor performance but we cant hide behind that.

Quoted from chaos33

What can I say? It's League 2. It's not the conference, where nearly every team is cr@p. There are some good sides who understand the game, and can pass and press. You turn in a below pat showing or makes mistakes and you get turned over. That's what happened today. Hope we learn today's lessons.

Spot on, one slack pass today cost us the game, they pounced on it and punished us and from that moment the game looked beyond us.

Were going to have days like these in this league. We were off the pace and we didn't handle the blustery  conditions well. Mistakes cost us again, Summerfield has been threatening to gift wrap a goal for the opposition all season with wayward passes, Gowling misjudged his header which then meant it was going to his his lofted arm, and some really poor marking/defending let them in for the second. Could Mckeown have done better? I thought so at the time but I'd like to see it again. Having said all that you've got to credit Crewe who looked very solid at the back and had good options going forward with the lively Kiwomya, Lowe and Dagnall. They clearly had a game plan to stop Bogle and it worked, a very frustrating day for Omar. They didn't let us have a sniff going forward and apart from the shot Bogle had first half that was spilt out for the offside Tuton, I don't remember Ben Garrett making a save.

Disappointing day after a good run of form, but the best team won so I'm not too disheartened.

Too many had off days today but Gowling is one that is worrying me more than the rest. He's looked pretty poor everytime I've seen him this season which is a shame as I thought he was a class above last year. Onto Mansfield but might be worth looking at putting the new centre half in.

I thought we were very poor in the first half and thought Crewe looked very good. Second half, I was surprised how ineffective they were in attack and we were a good deal better though without really playing well at any point.

Ultimately, we'd have got at least a point but for the stupid goal conceded at the end of the first half. As it stood, they basically absorbed our attacks relatively comfortably in the second half. We really need to cut out the silly errors. Not convinced we will do so with Summerfield playing. Gowling played pretty well but for that daft handball so that needs to stop as well!

Quoted from Garth

Jackson and Tuton not up to L2 standard leaving Omar with it all to do.

Must have imagined Jackson's game changing/match winning cameo last week and Tuton's unfortunate substitution being the main reason Notts got back into the game then.

Cant win them all

I might be in a minority of one but I thought Crewe were pretty decent. A game where you are pressed from the opening whistle would see far better sides than Town make mistakes. I was speaking to a couple of Crewe fans before the game and they pointed out that a decent number of their first team have played together since academy days. Today you saw the benefits of that and to be in that position is something I firmly believe Town should aspire to. Not many teams will stop us from scoring this season.
We do seem to be getting punished for virtually every mistake though and although I'm loathe to use it as an excuse we definitely don't get the rub of the green decision wise. The lino on the Main Stand side second half saw every single marginal offside but had an attack of temporary blindness over the rugby tackle that went unpunished.
Macca's penalty save was top drawer but the block during the melee which followed pushed it close. Stand out players for me were Pearson (I know his distribution isn't great but you'd definitely want him in your corner if the chips were down) and Chambers who never stopped trying. This won't be popular but today we saw the worst of Bogle. My impression was though that he let the referee get to him rather than being pi**ed off at the lack of service. There are a lot of teams who will use experience to niggle away at less savvy opponents and I think Crewe did a job on him today. Once he starts muttering under his breath and making wild hand gestures then his value becomes limited. There were one or two flashes of brilliance from him. One turn and drag of the ball in the second half away from the defender was absolutely sublime.
On the positive side the players kept going throughout especially the much maligned Summerfield. My mind went back to the last time we played Crewe at home (the (in)famous Forecast debut) and the difference in the way the two Town teams acquitted themselves were light years apart.
We go on. Bring on The Mansfield.

I certainly think that Crewe looked the best team we've faced at BP this season though that's not saying much.

They did look a very good 'team', however. No real stand-out players but good cohesion all round and a good work ethic.

I was pretty disappointed by Comley and Tuton who didn't get into it at all in the first half (Comley improved a bit in the second). One of those days for Vose where nothing much goes right. I'd imagine we'll see quite a few of these this season, but hopefully without too many of the other players performing below-par at the same time as they did today.

Crews were a very well drilled in ye face side. We were beat by the better side today.
Don't want to criticise any of the players because I think they all tried hard but just were second best on the day.
UTM

Last week.....

Passed the ball really well
Closed down well with excellent energy
Kept the ball
Got the ball down at every opportunity
Doubled up loads in defence
Midfield played a strong diamond with Cormly at the base
Used the space well
Played with tempo when required
Stopped the opponent playing
Had some leadership evident from a few players

This week.......?

None of the above on a constant basis.

Crewe's back 4 did a good job on us and overall they broke our game up well too, but they where not world beaters and half of last week's performance would have got us a win or a draw at least today. They also must have had us scouted at Luton last week as they kept Chambers and Vose in places where they could not hurt them for most of the game. Also at 1 - 0 down we should just have focussed on passing the ball, keeping it and thus generating some rhythm. We needed leadership today when we where behind, I would not bet against Dis making his 600 game at Mansfield next week which would be quite apt.

Not nice to watch as we gave the game away with some ineptitude but a reality check all the same....... Take the learnings and move on.

Officials where poor today but we did not help ourselves either !

UTM!
!

Think Crewe are a very good side and certainly ahead of us at the moment. Well drilled, well organised and just had more nous than us. I don't think we played badly, they just never let us get into any rhythm at all. Bogle lost the plot for a while when things didn't go his way and that summed up the game really, as they just nullified us all over the pitch. We hardly got behind them all game and i don't think we got a corner until the second half. I don't think any change of formation or personnel would have made much difference and i'm struggling to remember the last time i saw us beat Crewe, possibly the 90's at their place? Having had some good performances in recent weeks, the crowd was back up over 5000 again and it's a shame we couldn't reward them and keep them coming back.

No complaints about the result and it was a decent game, far better than losing at home to Braintree or Dover, having seen them park the bus for 90 mins. Crewe deserved the win.

Started poor and should have been 3 nil down within 35 mins. Had a couple of minutes of playing football looked okay then resorted back to kicking the ball long! We get within a minute of half time and summerfield decides to what can only be described as a shocking game management, he plays a blind pass back to a cb that is 5 yards short and we concede. We are a minute away from half time and all we have done all half is lump the ball forward but no we change that plan which costs us. Gowling and Pearson both showed reason why they're football league players but then quickly showed why they won't be for long unless they change their game. Both think they're footballing gods and have forgot what they're good at DEFENDING!! Gowling could've been sent off 4 times today he was that bad/sluggish and rash decisions. I think Andrew is a massive weak point. He can't defend/gets caught out of position way too much like he did for the first goal today. The front two got annoyed at the lack of service and the ref and then stopped trying in my opinion. Vose is a class above but today only had a couple of opportunities to show it due to the midfield being bypassed at every opportunity. Worst thing for me today was that Crew are not much better than us but did the basics a lot better today. Never mind onto Mansfield and look for 3 points.  Utm

If ever a performance could be described as lacklustre that was it.

We weren't awful and Crewe weren't great either. But we never got our game going and gifted them 2 goals really, whilst they were solid and very well organised.

Howler from Summerfield for their first, and for the second they had a man over at the back post so could see it coming before the cross went in. Was a definite pen conceded by Gowling and I couldn't quite see our shout for a pen on Tuton but the whole Pontoon seemed up in arms so must have been a decent shout.

I'd have left Vose on since we needed to create something. Would have brought Chambers off who puts a shift in more so than any winger we've had in recent years but he doesn't look like he's going to score if he plays every game from now until May.

The front two's heads were gone after about an hour when Tuton was being constantly (correctly) flagged offside and Bogle was giving cheap fouls away and moaning like hell to the ref until he got booked.

People saying Disley could've come on for Summerfield but I'd have put Berrett on in there and get him on the ball centrally.

We keep learning and we'll keep moving forward as a team/squad.

Looking at the table, of the 8 games we've played, 6 have been against teams in the top half of the table and only 2 against teams in the bottom 12.

UTM.

Quoted from gb

Started poor and should have been 3 nil down within 35 mins. Had a couple of minutes of playing football looked okay then resorted back to kicking the ball long! We get within a minute of half time and summerfield decides to what can only be described as a shocking game management, he plays a blind pass back to a cb that is 5 yards short and we concede. We are a minute away from half time and all we have done all half is lump the ball forward but no we change that plan which costs us. Gowling and Pearson both showed reason why they're football league players but then quickly showed why they won't be for long unless they change their game. Both think they're footballing gods and have forgot what they're good at DEFENDING!! Gowling could've been sent off 4 times today he was that bad/sluggish and rash decisions. I think Andrew is a massive weak point. He can't defend/gets caught out of position way too much like he did for the first goal today. The front two got annoyed at the lack of service and the ref and then stopped trying in my opinion. Vose is a class above but today only had a couple of opportunities to show it due to the midfield being bypassed at every opportunity. Worst thing for me today was that Crew are not much better than us but did the basics a lot better today. Never mind onto Mansfield and look for 3 points.  Utm

Seems about right to me .......?

Poor performance against a half decent Crewe side, who apart for 10 mins when the subs came on, pressed and outpassed us for most of the game. I'm sure they'll be play-off contenders, as they'll be hard to break down away from home and are well-drilled and organised. We're certainly going to has to adapt better to blustery conditions at home though, as theres going to be plenty more of these over the coming winter months.

The difference between us and Crewe is that they concede very few goals and don't have to score 2 to get anything from the game. At the moment, you feel we need to score a couple to get a point or three. Need to tighten up if we are to have a successful season and i wouldn't be surprised to see some defensive changes coming up.

Got what we deserved today,out worked and out passed,Crewe are a decent side.and the less said about the ref the better

Quoted from Tommy

I couldn't quite see our shout for a pen on Tuton but the whole Pontoon seemed up in arms so must have been a decent shout.

.

That was more than a decent shout that was about as much of a penalty you'll see without legs being broken lol. Can't wait for the replay of that one I was just a few rows back in the pontoon on that side of goal and the player wrapped his arms around Tuton and took him down like a Rugby tackle. How that was not given I don't know I'm pretty sure the linesman if not the ref had a perfectly good view.

Quoted from ginnywings

The difference between us and Crewe is that they concede very few goals and don't have to score 2 to get anything from the game. At the moment, you feel we need to score a couple to get a point or three. Need to tighten up if we are to have a successful season and i wouldn't be surprised to see some defensive changes coming up.

Agree but when we change the back 4 we need to stick with the change for half a dozen games or so for it to benefit.

I think this is what the season will hold for us in that we look good one week and struggle the next.

We are a club in transition and it shows!

I haven't seen the  joyous performances at Notts and Luton  but for me Summerfield looks very poor every time I have seen him. Not just his back pass today but generally VERY poor when the oppo have the ball.

Macca may have come for the first but could have also won MOM, IMO none of the forwards or the midfield played up to standard
We go again at Field mill

Quoted from Garth

Jackson and Tuton not up to L2 standard leaving Omar with it all to do.
Disley should have replaced Summerfield second half, as he was having a mare, Vose stuck out on the left while play was concentrated one way down the right, too many passes wasted and long balls punted to Tuton and Jackson to use their pace which was matched by Crew.
We will win well next week because we are inconsistent at the moment

Give over, Bogle was as poor as the rest today and it's about time he grew up and stopped his petty tantrums arguing with the officials.

I thought this was the poorest I have seen us play this season, (I didn't make the Colchester game).

Also disappointed Paul Hurst didn't change the centre midfield as I thought neither of them were up to scratch today also Vose was very poor as well. daft handball by Gowling but other that that I thought he and Pearson did well, as did Macca.

Still not overly impressed by Andrew, I would like to see their first goal again as he did seem to come from our left hand side.

Still onwards and upwards to Mansfield next week.

Quoted from gb

Started poor and should have been 3 nil down within 35 mins. Had a couple of minutes of playing football looked okay then resorted back to kicking the ball long! We get within a minute of half time and summerfield decides to what can only be described as a shocking game management, he plays a blind pass back to a cb that is 5 yards short and we concede. We are a minute away from half time and all we have done all half is lump the ball forward but no we change that plan which costs us. Gowling and Pearson both showed reason why they're football league players but then quickly showed why they won't be for long unless they change their game. Both think they're footballing gods and have forgot what they're good at DEFENDING!! Gowling could've been sent off 4 times today he was that bad/sluggish and rash decisions. I think Andrew is a massive weak point. He can't defend/gets caught out of position way too much like he did for the first goal today. The front two got annoyed at the lack of service and the ref and then stopped trying in my opinion. Vose is a class above but today only had a couple of opportunities to show it due to the midfield being bypassed at every opportunity. Worst thing for me today was that Crew are not much better than us but did the basics a lot better today. Never mind onto Mansfield and look for 3 points.  Utm

Nope. Right position to receive an easy ball from Summerfield, Summerfield under no pressure could have just kept the ball or made three easy passes but gives it away. In no way was Andrew at fault, entirely Summerfield's. Hate it when a player becomes an easy target for wrongful criticism..

Quoted from arryarryarry

Also disappointed Paul Hurst didn't change the centre midfield as I thought neither of them were up to scratch today also Vose was very poor as well. daft handball by Gowling but other that that I thought he and Pearson did well, as did Macca.

I dunno I felt like Vose was the only one trying to create something he just didn't have anyone moving for him apart from when we had the one goal for offside Vose did well to beat two players and make the pass. Seems a bit odd to say he was very poor and then praise Gowling and Pearson who constantly hoofed the ball to nowhere and misplaced passes all afternoon especially Pearson who while he is a scrapper who will get his body in the way of things and fight for headers really has no idea what to do with the ball at his feet going forward. Stands there with loads of space and two passes on and does a back pass for no reason and no idea what Gowling was doing with that handball even Ben Davies was looking at him like "why did you do that?". Between him and Pearson Macca was under tons of pressure that should have just been dealt with more effectively.

For me Macca kept us in it the best he could and Vose and Chambers at least tried to create something. Besides our dynamic defensive duo Tuton ran around chasing long balls but mostly got caught offside,Summerfield and Andrew misplaced passes,Comley and Davies were on the pitch. Bogle stomped his feet and swung his arms around after failing to score from the only real chance he got. Bolarinwa charged around when he came on and at least tried but didn't have the ability to make something happen, Jackson came on and couldn't get the ball .

Problem was when Vose got the ball he was surrounded by three opponents everytime, and had few options because of Crewe's impressive pressing game, and our lack of movement. I thought Summerfield was poor today, he should stick to the basics, one touch to many, and his awareness again was very poor, constantly playing the wrong ball, putting pressure on the back four. Macca can't really be blamed, because as indecisive as he can be at times, the arrival of Henderson seems to have spurred him on, because as well as the penalty, he made two other good saves.
As good as Bogles been recently, we saw his other side today, he's got to stop spitting his dummy out when things aren't going his way. Anyway a game best forgotten about, i doubt we'll play as badly as that again at home all season.

Well first of all credit to Crewe Alexandra they were extremely organised, they reminded me of Bristol Rovers when they beat us in the league here, they didn't give us a sniff, harried us, closed us down, put us under pressure, they certainly did their homework on Bogle and they nullified him effectively, and they also nullified us.

Mckeown kept us in it at times today, could have been 4 or 5 without him, I think it is harsh to apportion any blame to him for the first goal, he wasn't going to get it ahead of the attacker, he was either going to give away a penalty or he would have been simply skipped around.

Davies, I've yet to seen what all the fuss is about in all honesty, he's technically good and his crossing ability is generally excellent but he just doesn't seem effective to me

Gowling and Pearson were both poor I think, neither of them are comfortable on the ball, how can we play it out from the back when they both treat the ball as so it is a hot potato!

Andrew is certainly a weak link, defensively he's found wanting at times, most of the goals conceded this season is from his side, and I think generally his distribution is quite average.

Chambers tried but offered very little, again Crewe nullified him.

Comley I thought did well, I see not many people agree but I thought he did alright, he covers alot of ground!

Summerfield I've said before I don't think warrants a 2 year deal, I think he's a decent enough player but at times he's very slack with his passing, first half yesterday especially, for their goal i have no idea what he was doing, it looked as so he was trying to pass it to the referee!

Vose, tried but again an off day for him, they marshalled him very well.

Tuton I think is better on the counter attack, so as such more of an impact sub.

Bogle showed glimpses but he got very little service.

Subs.
Jackson tried but struggled today against the defence, never got a sniff.

Bolarinwa certainly added some pace and initially gave them something to think about but they quickly managed to work him out and limit him


I would have liked to see a change in formation today, give them something else to think about!

And for Mansfield I would like to see Collins in for Gowling.

I would now hope to see the new lad in centre back next week just so we can have some decent contribution from the left side of defense. Pearson either lumped it or, as he is uncomfortable on his left side, took ages to set himself for a pass which meant crewe were imnediately on top of us. I think it was incredibly hard for our midfield to get in the gsme because of this.

Quoted from Davec

Well first of all credit to Crewe Alexandra they were extremely organised, they reminded me of Bristol Rovers when they beat us in the league here, they didn't give us a sniff, harried us, closed us down, put us under pressure, they certainly did their homework on Bogle and they nullified him effectively, and they also nullified us.

Mckeown kept us in it at times today, could have been 4 or 5 without him, I think it is harsh to apportion any blame to him for the first goal, he wasn't going to get it ahead of the attacker, he was either going to give away a penalty or he would have been simply skipped around.

Davies, I've yet to seen what all the fuss is about in all honesty, he's technically good and his crossing ability is generally excellent but he just doesn't seem effective to me

Gowling and Pearson were both poor I think, neither of them are comfortable on the ball, how can we play it out from the back when they both treat the ball as so it is a hot potato!

Andrew is certainly a weak link, defensively he's found wanting at times, most of the goals conceded this season is from his side, and I think generally his distribution is quite average.

Chambers tried but offered very little, again Crewe nullified him.

Comley I thought did well, I see not many people agree but I thought he did alright, he covers alot of ground!

Summerfield I've said before I don't think warrants a 2 year deal, I think he's a decent enough player but at times he's very slack with his passing, first half yesterday especially, for their goal i have no idea what he was doing, it looked as so he was trying to pass it to the referee!

Vose, tried but again an off day for him, they marshalled him very well.

Tuton I think is better on the counter attack, so as such more of an impact sub.

Bogle showed glimpses but he got very little service.

Subs.
Jackson tried but struggled today against the defence, never got a sniff.

Bolarinwa certainly added some pace and initially gave them something to think about but they quickly managed to work him out and limit him


I would have liked to see a change in formation today, give them something else to think about!

And for Mansfield I would like to see Collins in for Gowling.

Agree with that pretty much aaron, thought comley was poor though, game passed our midfield by. Credit to crewe, they did a job on us and fully deserved the 3 points

Only my second game (after morecambe) and the one main positive I took from it was how good Vose was. Absolute class on the ball.

I did not enjoy that game. Not because we lost but for the lack of quality on the pitch from both teams. Crewe were less bad than we were. They did the basics much better, did a job on Bogle and Vose and generally closed us down quickly. Then to cap it all we gift wrap them goals to take the points. This will not live long in my memory and it is a shame as over 5000 expectant fans witnessed a dire game.

The big difference for me between the two sides was pace. I thought their defence in particular closed us down with ease

Quoted from oldun

I did not enjoy that game. Not because we lost but for the lack of quality on the pitch from both teams. Crewe were less bad than we were. They did the basics much better, did a job on Bogle and Vose and generally closed us down quickly. Then to cap it all we gift wrap them goals to take the points. This will not live long in my memory and it is a shame as over 5000 expectant fans witnessed a dire game.

It's strange, the differing opinions. I enjoyed the game and although it was more tactical than technical, it was way more enjoyable than the standard from the previous 6 seasons. Dire, it wasn't.

Quoted from ginnywings

It's strange, the differing opinions. I enjoyed the game and although it was more tactical than technical, it was way more enjoyable than the standard from the previous 6 seasons. Dire, it wasn't.

Exactly. I'd rather see us get shut down and beat by a proper football team than see us win against some Sunday league part timers from somewhere I've never heard of who just lump the ball around and park the bus.

Quoted from psgmariner

Only my second game (after morecambe) and the one main positive I took from it was how good Vose was. Absolute class on the ball.

He played a long cross field pass to Omar just before the disallowed goal which absolutely picked a hole in their defence, not only did he have the skill to do it he also had the vision and brains, similar pass made to Chambers in the 2nd half which could have resulted in something really good. Next week I would put Vose and Cormley in the middle and have Chambers and Bolarinwas out wide.  

Because were so weak defensively would go with 4231 vose in the middle of the three with Jackson/Tom  and chambers wide and bogle up top in the 2 defensive midfield comley and davies back 4 of mills , Collins and Pearson and Andrews

Quoted from ginnywings

It's strange, the differing opinions. I enjoyed the game and although it was more tactical than technical, it was way more enjoyable than the standard from the previous 6 seasons. Dire, it wasn't.

Agree.
I know we lost but I did enjoy the game.
Crewe did there homework on the likes of Vose and played us out of the game.
Sometimes you can give it all you have but then you come up against a better side then you just have to brush yeself down and get ready for the next match.

I agree that Crewe were very well organised and played the ball on the ground with confidence but for the gift of a goal in 1st half injury time and the mix up for the second goal with failing to clear the ball then a draw could have been on the cards. Having said that I think that Town didn't play that well but they were not total rubbish.

I thought to myself on the way home that it was a bit of a reality check and then read later that others felt the same. We won the 1st game, then lost three on the trot before the good form in the last three. Many, including myself, were feeling a little more comfortable. This game shows that you have to be on the 'ball' all the time and not to expect things to happen. Just feel, like many, if the defence could tighten up so that we don't have to score so many goals to get anything out of the game would be a big step forward.

Quoted from MarinerRob

I agree that Crewe were very well organised and played the ball on the ground with confidence but for the gift of a goal in 1st half injury time and the mix up for the second goal with failing to clear the ball then a draw could have been on the cards. Having said that I think that Town didn't play that well but they were not total rubbish.

I thought to myself on the way home that it was a bit of a reality check and then read later that others felt the same. We won the 1st game, then lost three on the trot before the good form in the last three. Many, including myself, were feeling a little more comfortable. This game shows that you have to be on the 'ball' all the time and not to expect things to happen. Just feel, like many, if the defence could tighten up so that we don't have to score so many goals to get anything out of the game would be a big step forward.

Have there been many that said we were "total rubbish"? I said it was the poorest we have played and Paul Hurst said the same.

As for the defence, I feel we are tightening up, yes the second goal was sloppy but I felt there was a foul on Summerfield when the first cross came in, as for the first you can't blame the defence when we give away sloppy passes like that in the middle of the park.

I honestly believed Hursty's plan vis a vis the centre halves was to re-sign Toto and then sign someone else to play alongside him. Therefore Hursty has had to make do with a partnership that wasn't first choice in the Conference. Gowling had played ok yesterday until that mindless handball which he got away with. I suspect Collins will come in for him because despite his lack of footballing ability and mobility Pearson has looked much more comfortable than Gowling. I predicted yesterday as we were going along too nicely and I think the recent publicity got to Omar's head so hopefully yesterday acted as a wake up call to him as well. Hoping McAllister will be fit next week, Comley looks capable but I thought he too often pressed the ball and sold himself too easily maybe McAllister next to him and Omar up front by himself will help everybody. I thought Tuton was good at Notts County but quite poor yesterday. He was always offside and got himself aerated after the non penalty all this culminated in him being substituted.

However, having studied him more closely, Andrew seems increasingly suspect to me, gets caught of position and loses his man too regularly and also plays lots of aimless cross field balls. Looks like a Conference player.

I thought Vose looked pretty on the ball but lacked quality in the final third and too often seemed to forget how to pass. Chambers was our most effective out field player yesterday he had a bit of quality and ran at his man causing a small amoung of indecision every now and then.

McKeown, I'm not sure where this criticism is cominh from, he kept us in it for periods, he also controlled his area better and saved a penalty, two things he's been correctly critised for in the past in my opinion. We'd struggle to find better at this level with a non ridiculous budget.

Summerfield was poor, he couldn't pass wind and could easily have given special gift wrap on more occasions. Looked good in the past month but poor yesterday expecting better next week.

Tombola and Jackson looked lively and effective yesterday, Tombola even showed some willingness to beat a man and guile, something we lacked bar Chambers yesterday.

Davies was solid if unspectacular which is what I expected of him from the word go.

Thought Hursty gave a very honest and considered interview so he should expect a good response next week.

Crewe - good, organised side who has quality going forward when necessary too, wouldn't be surprised if they were promoted.

I felt that playing with a back four albeit Andrew nd Davies pushing forward may have worked. Maybe a 3-5-2 would of worked better with Collins,person and gowling. Andrew and Davies pushing forward a bit. I rate Tuton as a player however just wasn't quick enough against quick back line like there was on sat. Jackson would may have been a better choice than Tuton against quicker defence. Still an enjoyable game though. UTM

Crewe were as good as we'll see this season.  They came here and did a proper number on us.  More energy, better organised, effective use of the ball in possession and two very experienced league strikers who ripped our relatively inexperienced defence apart with their cute movement.

On the occasions they did lose possession and we tried to hit them on the break, they were back in formation and shape before we blinked.

Mistakes cost us but we never really looked like doing anything all game.  Penalty shout was a good one but I don't think we even deserved a goal, such was the gulf between the sides.

Biggest complaint was that we persisted with the ball over the top tactic for either Bogle or Tuton to chase onto.  Very obvious from the early minutes that their back four were more than quick enough to deal with that.  Yet our only variation to that was to include Chambers in options to chase down.  For me we never got Vose involved enough, he was the only player out there who was a little bit different to the out-and-out speed.  Would liked to have seen him brought further inside to hurt them with his creativity.   Bolinarwa made a a difference when he came on on because he ran at them rather than trying to chase loose balls down but he came on for the wrong man in my opinion.

Defensively we need to sharpen up quickly.  Gowling is having a nightmare at the minute and could have little complaint if his place is taken by Collins next week.  Weakest performance I've seen so far from Danny Andrew too, very under par.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Crewe were as good as we'll see this season.  They came here and did a proper number on us.  More energy, better organised, effective use of the ball in possession and two very experienced league strikers who ripped our relatively inexperienced defence apart with their cute movement.

On the occasions they did lose possession and we tried to hit them on the break, they were back in formation and shape before we blinked.

Mistakes cost us but we never really looked like doing anything all game.  Penalty shout was a good one but I don't think we even deserved a goal, such was the gulf between the sides.

Biggest complaint was that we persisted with the ball over the top tactic for either Bogle or Tuton to chase onto.  Very obvious from the early minutes that their back four were more than quick enough to deal with that.  Yet our only variation to that was to include Chambers in options to chase down.  For me we never got Vose involved enough, he was the only player out there who was a little bit different to the out-and-out speed.  Would liked to have seen him brought further inside to hurt them with his creativity.   Bolinarwa made a a difference when he came on on because he ran at them rather than trying to chase loose balls down but he came on for the wrong man in my opinion.

Defensively we need to sharpen up quickly.  Gowling is having a nightmare at the minute and could have little complaint if his place is taken by Collins next week.  Weakest performance I've seen so far from Danny Andrew too, very under par.

I thought Crewe were decent BUT i think there will be better sides than them in this league. Yes they beat us fair and square but I am not convinced they are the all conquering side you are making out.

As stated Crewe weren't good I think we played into there hands with the long ball over the top I believe if we had tried to play out to the wings we would have had some joy not sure Andrews is good enough doesn't want to build up play hits it long far to much which takes vose out of the game where I believe they could build up some good combination if he tried

We didn't do the basics. Poor performances in midfield against a solid but unspectacular crewe side.  Ball over the top over used and Vose not utilised well.

Perhaps Comely, who looked excellent in his first couple of games was suffering a little from the illness reported this week.

Frustrating but nothing on those terrible home performances against part time hoofers in the conference.  

We are obviously playing against better players this season. This league will have teams with better organised set-ups and game plans. In the Conference most of the teams came to BP and parked the bus - players with limited ability can easily follow that kind of approach. In this league we will see more closing down and sides better able to keep their shape. We have seen us doing this as well and the more this squad trains and plays together, the easier it will be for them to counteract opposition tactics.
I fully expected to see town suffer a few more home defeats this season, but I have not seen us completely outplayed. Most of the goals I have seen us concede so far have been the result of us " shooting ourselves in the foot " and not down to opposing teams completely outplaying us. At this stage of the season I would have liked to have seen 3 or 4 more points on the board but I think we are in a fairly decent position and the game against Luton showed that we are more than capable of doing well at this level.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

He played a long cross field pass to Omar just before the disallowed goal which absolutely picked a hole in their defence, not only did he have the skill to do it he also had the vision and brains, similar pass made to Chambers in the 2nd half which could have resulted in something really good. Next week I would put Vose and Cormley in the middle and have Chambers and Bolarinwas out wide.  

F.A.O. Grammar Nerds: Isn't this called the Grimbarian Superfluous Plural Indicator? See Woods, Bradley, Cummings,Bobby.  

Quoted from KingstonMariner

F.A.O. Grammar Nerds: Isn't this called the Grimbarian Superfluous Plural Indicator? See Woods, Bradley, Cummings,Bobby.  

WTF are you talking about.........?

Yes WTF are you talking about?

Quoted from KingstonMariner

F.A.O. Grammar Nerds: Isn't this called the Grimbarian Superfluous Plural Indicator? See Woods, Bradley, Cummings,Bobby.  

Seen Danny Andrews frequently on here too..

Peter Handysides was a common one too.

Oh god is this brilliant insight what we have to put up with until Saturday? Last week was full of discussions about how we'll make the playoffs, sell Bogle for 2 million along with praise for various team members and management.

Quoted from Tommy

Peter Handysides was a common one too.

Hearns missed out though I`m afraid

Quoted from HertsGTFC

WTF are you talking about.........?

The 's' added at the end of a Town player's (and the odd manager's) surname when it doesn't have one.

Sort it Hertses!

actually enjoy the 'just back' threads this year, even when we lose. some good honest opinions and views from everyone which is nice for people like me who don't get to many games anymore

Might be a bit controversial here but i would leave gowling out on saturday and give him the kick up the backside he needs , been very hard for him imo up to now and he might just need a bit of time out to get it together, i like him alot but this is league footy and he needs to get switched on.

Danny collins lets see if you can calm it all down back their.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Might be a bit controversial here but i would leave gowling out on saturday and give him the kick up the backside he needs , been very hard for him imo up to now and he might just need a bit of time out to get it together, i like him alot but this is league footy and he needs to get switched on.

Danny collins lets see if you can calm it all down back their.

Don't think that's controversial Jonny. I agree and would do the same.

I would worry that we'll be too slow at the back with a Pearson/Collins partnership. I realise that 90% of defending is being in the right place at the right time, but every now and again you do get tested by pace. We know Shaun isn't the quickest and I'd imagine that Collins isn't these days, either.

I'm Not sure the pace argument is a fair one . For example players like John Terry , Andy Todd and 'Handysides ' were not exactly blessed in that department .  However their reading of the game , positioning and leadership more than made up for it .Hopefully Collins will bring similiar qualities .

Terry, Todd and Handyside are/were actually pretty nimble for central defenders if not exactly pacy. Similarly, players like Pallister back in the day who were big and strong but also did get around the pitch relatively well.

It's the players like Raven and Heywood who I'm thinking of when I worry about a lack of pace! Pearson isn't quite in their category, but he isn't exactly nippy. To be fair, we don't really know anything about Collins as we haven't seen him play. It wouldn't be too much of a surprise if a player judged too slow in the Championship last season turned out to be perfectly quick enough two divisions lower.

If Collins isn't suitable to play why is he here. Get him in to organise the back four, we need someone back there to take control.

I don't reckon there's actually much in it, pace-wise, between Pearson and Gowling.

Pearson appears slow but I think his long gangly strides make him look a bit slower than he actually is, and once he gets going he isn't quite the slouch he's made out to be.

I watched him closely on Saturday whenever his pace was tested and I don't think he's as slow as I previously thought. Probably is with a turn and the first few yards but after that I'd bet he'd match Gowling, who is definitely not quick.