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Did nothing, created nothing, deserved nothing and got nothing. Sladeball is alive and well and at BP.

It could be a long season if that is the way we are going to play and we will probably have more joy away from home than at home, which is pretty much what happened last time Slade was here. Wasn't a fan then and i'm not a fan now. Hitting the corners at every opportunity and mostly losing possession in the process. The two best players were Jones and Dembele. Unfortunately, Jones had way more of the ball than Dembele, who watched the ball constantly fly over his head. The only time he got it to feet, he looked very dangerous, but that was all too brief. Apart from a couple of Jones shots over the bar, we didn't have a serious shot at their keeper.

Hard to say at this early stage how good Coventry are, but they were well worth the points and could be heading straight back up, so hard to judge if we were just not good enough on the day, or we not good enough full stop.

Getting fairly cheesed off with our poor home form going back for seasons now and today doesn't fill me great hope for the rest of the season. Too disjointed, gave away possession cheaply time and again, and gave our obligatory gift goal. Much improvement needed if we are to challenge at the top end. Managers come and go, players come and go, but the erratic home form persists. Don't mind losing games but at least give us something to cheer about. Not a lot to get you out of your seat today and i hope it's just down to a slow start.

I thought Cardwell was out of his depth and got about 30 mins too long. Won absolutely nothing and caused zero problems.

Slade ball, hoof ball, call it what you like , it's here again. I thought after last week we were heading for a more constructive style of play but unfortunately not. Home game, we play a lone striker with no support within 25 yards of him. No support, defence just hoofing it upfield into empty spaces. Thought Rose was pretty effective in the first half, But like his name suggests, faded in the second half. Dumbele skilful again, But We Can't rely on just him. First goal was a joke, it shook us up but their second was a good goal. One plus point, Berret won't be available next week.

I thought it was an average performance until the first goal and then I thought we was pretty poor but nothing too worrying at this stage. Coventry are a good side, they have some decent players and they will certainly be up there at the end of the season. I think we are perhaps a couple of players short of being a really good side. this is how I saw individual performances

Macca 6-did ok like a few others.made a few routine saves

Davies 6-did ok, put a shift in so so

Clarke 6-did ok , won majority of headers, played the part in the first goal so lost marks

Collins-6-solid enough

Dixon 4-I thought he was probably our worst player. 2nd best against there number 11 all afternoon. Has to improve

Rose 6-solid, did fine, although Indeciseve a couple of times

Berrett 5-tried put a shift in but like a few was just 'ok' first yellow was silly though and ended up being sent off.

sunmerfield 6-put a shift in, did pretty well first half but performance dropped 2nd half

Dembele 7-worked hard, fracked back, moments of magic and looks an exceptional talent. Shame we couldn't get him involved more

Jones5-missed a couple of chances, particularly first half one, dallied on a couple of occasions and wasn't very effective overall. More to come

Cardwell 7-thought he put a real shift in and chased everything and defended well from the front

As far as I recall we didn't have a single shot on target although we had a couple of really good chances. Way too much hoofball, especially in the first half. Defensively really good for the most part, midfield bloody useless for the most part and, well, nothing up front at all...but blame that on the midfield and tactics. Dembele and Jones our best two players on the day.
I'm uninspired by that showing.

1st half even stevens.2nd half thought Coventry shaded it

Dembele cut above. Quick skilfull and tried to make things happen. Looked our most dangerous player. Rate him highly

Thought cardwell looked an upgrade on Vernon. Quick, chased everything, but playing long ball to a lone striker is never going to work and left him isolated. He's not a target man.
Biggest positive for me was the lad rose in the middle. Thought he was fantastic. Energetic, skillful, found a man and played it simple.
Berrett and Summerfield slow the game down too much for me. Won't be overly critical of either of them because thought they actually did alright but not sharp enough moving the ball about.
Biggest disappointment for me was Dixon at full back. He's not shite, but he's abit too slow in possession, looks like he has a mistake in him. Doesn't look athletic or quick enough to provide any kind of overlap with the wingers.

Agree with all that's been said, summerfield and berrett aren't good enough and probably wouldn't be playing if others were fit and available. Coventry showed everything that is wrong with football diving, moaning cheating and a very poor ref fell for it everytime, having said that they were better than us on the day and deserved the victory. Couldn't watch that every week though.

Sladey got it all wrong today and playing a 451 at home ain't going to do him any favours .

I don't know why he played through formation as if he wants to play a lone striker then surely a 4231 is better suited with the players we have ..

I like the thought of dembele Jones DJ as the 3 with hooper up as the lone striker if he wants like I said to only play one striker with rose and McAllister as the two midfielders.

Anyway back to the game and we just were set up completely wrong and I hope sladey never plays Jones out wide again.

Bring back Bignot. He was better than this clown. On this tactical/selection showing I might start going yo the Wheatsheaf again instead of BP

ADF

Dixon had a poor game because their No11 Jones ripped him a new one. Best player on the pitch IMO.

Absolutely shocking performance. The free kick? I've seen it again and words fail me, the ref was absolutely right to give the goal. What Collins is thinking of even passing the ball backwards to the keeper is beyond understanding. I was pulling my hair out watching the full backs punt the ball long to a centre forward isolated on his own against Coventry's three centre backs and tucked in full backs, especially when the central midfielders were showing and available.

It's going to be a long hard season if we continue in that vain, and we will under Slade. Ridiculous tactics against a poor side IMO, we have some good footballers at the club who will do nothing but see the ball flying over their heads. It isn't our way, but we'd best get used to it.

Quoted from 75

Absolutely shocking performance. The free kick? I've seen it again and words fail me, the ref was absolutely right to give the goal. What Collins is thinking of even passing the ball backwards to the keeper is beyond understanding. I was pulling my hair out watching the full backs punt the ball long to a centre forward isolated on his own against Coventry's three centre backs and tucked in full backs, especially when the central midfielders were showing and available.

It's going to be a long hard season if we continue in that vain, and we will under Slade. Ridiculous tactics against a poor side IMO, we have some good footballers at the club who will do nothing but see the ball flying over their heads. It isn't our way, but we'd best get used to it.

It was Clarke who gifted them the goal

All negative on here tonight. Up until the crazy first goal for them we were in the game. After that it went firmly in their favour. They are decent and in Jones 11 they have a real handful of a player. Nothing else to say.

Quoted from bigdavemariner

Biggest positive for me was the lad rose in the middle. Thought he was fantastic. Energetic, skillful, found a man and played it simple.
Berrett and Summerfield slow the game down too much for me. Won't be overly critical of either of them because thought they actually did alright but not sharp enough moving the ball about.
Biggest disappointment for me was Dixon at full back. He's not shite, but he's abit too slow in possession, looks like he has a mistake in him.

Strange how we can go to the game and see things so differently. I thought Rose and contrasting halves, he was excellent in the first half breaking up play, getting around the pitch and distributing the ball. He started the second half with a couple of errors losing posession and things got steadily worse for him. Berrett and Summerfield aren't good enough to play for us, Summerfield worries me in posession, he doesn't see the picture early enough and his passing is sometimes overly ambitious given his ability. Berrett is Mr Invisible, reasonable techinque but the game bypasses him. I doubt he'll see to many reds for getting his foot in either. Dixon, the jury is out but he has missed a huge portion of pre season and he looked leggy in the second half against the best player on the pitch (who should have been shown onto his weaker right foot but was allowed to go outside at will).

Quoted from bigdavemariner

Thought cardwell looked an upgrade on Vernon. Quick, chased everything, but playing long ball to a lone striker is never going to work and left him isolated. He's not a target man.
Biggest positive for me was the lad rose in the middle. Thought he was fantastic. Energetic, skillful, found a man and played it simple.
Berrett and Summerfield slow the game down too much for me. Won't be overly critical of either of them because thought they actually did alright but not sharp enough moving the ball about.
Biggest disappointment for me was Dixon at full back. He's not shite, but he's abit too slow in possession, looks like he has a mistake in him. Doesn't look athletic or quick enough to provide any kind of overlap with the wingers.

Cardwell out of his depth today did nothing

Quoted from Davec

It was Clarke who gifted them the goal

Ahh, was it? Apologies to Collins then. Maybe Clarke thought he was still playing for Coventry.

Proper shite today and a million miles away from last week. One striker (especially a young one) on his own up front at home is unacceptable. Defensive unit looked completely different to last week's despite only one, enforced change. Dixon was inhibited by his yellow as was facing one of this league's biggest young talents, granted. As predicted by many pre-season we looked slow at the back - evidentally in mind as well as physically.

The first goal is a horror show. The striker is completely within his rights to take it on and go on to score as the ref has had the ball placed where the freekick is supposed to be taken from - as soon as Clarke(?) knocks it backwards it is taken. Don't understand the uproar myself. Town just being Town. The second is similar to the goal on Tuesday - again completely different to how we were at Chesterfield.

There are positives from today believe it or not. We got that difficult first loss of the season out of the way and importantly the midfield has to be changed. I've no idea how Berrett gets a game - I can't think of single attribute he has that I'd look for in a footballer. A 4/10 in everything.

Amazed how confident Coventry fans are about League Two and I'd find it pretty funny if they came up short at the end of the season. My Mrs went to Coventry uni so I've spent a good deal of time in the city so I know full well which is the biggest shithole.

The first half was pretty even. Dembele's run and ball to Jones deserved the latter to at least get it on target. It's early days but I doubt very much whether our midfield will have their various shortcomings highlighted in such dramatic fashion all season. Coventry's midfield four had strength, pace and skill. Having said that I thought Rose did O.K.although he was caught on the ball a few times. I think the criticism of Summerfield is harsh (and if I'm honest smacks of scapegoating). In the first half he made two goal stopping interventions. One from a cross where he took it off their lads boot and the other with the ball bouncing around in the area that he thumped away for a corner. He gave it 100% and I'm not at all sure you can ask for more.
Agree with others about the decision to play Jones out wide, other than to say he had all of our best chances yet couldn't hit the target. Apparently Vernon was named in the original side so must have got an injury during the warm up so possibly that threw a spanner in the works for Slade's game plan-although that may be clutching at straws.
Second half we needed to step up a gear but couldn't. The first goal was beyond ridiculous but you got the feeling that once it went in there was little chance of a leveller. Their number 11 was the best player on the pitch for me but credit due to both central defenders for dealing positively with anything he created. I suspect both Collins and Clarke may question the second concession of a goal from a set piece free header for their second goal-although the scorer must have been about 6 foot 5.
Away from matters on the field it looked a good decision to keep their fans in. Peter's family would've been immensely comforted by a spectacularly good minutes applause. Fair play to the Coventry fans who joined in. For their turn out though I thought they were pretty quiet until the first goal went in.

First half not much in it. Second half gifted them a goal in a bizarre free kick mix up clearly Macca shouted something that confused the taker into thinking Macca was taking it either way the Cov player was alert and took full advantage. The goal knocked the stuffing out of us and we were under pressure after that.Their keeper hardly had a save to make in fact i cannot recall one. Dembelee looked a threat but he needs better service than a high hoof he's not the biggest needs a ball played low into space. Jones was so wasted today he is better than that but needs too be more central and direct. We really missed a Osbourne type play maker our midfield seemed non existent .

Played as eleven individuals today not good.

We were the only League 2 team without a shot on target, according to BBC Sport web site stats :(

Quoted from Grimbiggs

Tight game in the first half, in which Jones should of scored....bizarre free kick gifted them a soft goal, and they came on strong second half, and we were poor. A midfield of Berrett, Summerfield and Rose is to static, slow, and created nothing. Sam Jones virtually anonymous on left, i don't why he is played out wide, completely wasted out there. Only bright spark, was glimpses from Dembele again, and new lads came on when game was gone. Slade needs to set up more positivily at home, and we can't start with that midfield and an isolated striker upfront. A poor performance but onwards and upwards. UTM.

Great summary of the game.
The formation today is okay for away games but for home games no thanks. No shots on target says it all for me.
Really missing a trick not playing Jones up front, I think he would get plenty of goals playing up top.
Was so up for today I really thought we would go for it.
Nevermind every cloud has a silver lining Berrett is banned from the next game.
UTM

For all their football experience i really don't know what slade and wilko were thinking playing Jones out wide and playing one striker at home , if your going to do that at least do it properly.

Pretty poor spectacle with very little actual "play" from us. Berrett and Summerfield ..NO..they just dont have the tools, not quick, not strong and not technically good enough to run a game, just hope McAllister is genuinely close to a return.
Dembele didnt see enough of the ball to his feet, RS needs to make the team tactic "Pass to Demeble" and we will get chances.
Jones looked unhappy throughout, seemed to let the cr@p ref get to him after he didnt get a couple of fouls against him early on but he was our only goal threat today....was it 0 shots on target overall ??

RS got the starting 11 wrong IMO , we conceded too much of the pitch to Coventry but aside from Dembele and to a lesser degree Cardwell we had no pace to play the counter attack and only Dembele competent enough to carry the ball past players.

JJ & DJ ...JJ is a bigger unit than i thought, won a couple of headers, strong unit....DJ looks like he has a bag of tricks.

Overall disappointing result, didnt actually see how the free kick fluffed up but the second goal looked too easy as well. Early doors but i hope the alternative choices in midfield are available soon and please RS....No square pegs when we have wingers available.

Slade not brave enough with his selection at home. He had to have another of the quick lads starting. It's ok to get beat if you've had a go, but it's excrement if you've no ambition to do anything other than stifle the opposition. We played completely into their hands and should have tried to pin them back. Ref was garbage but right to give the goal.

Quoted from lee65

We were the only League 2 team without a shot on target, according to BBC Sport web site stats :(

That's correct. Zero shots on target.

Apparently Clarke didn't take the free kick, he was rolling it back to McKeown to take the free kick when their player nipped in and scored. The referee didn't see it that way.

Barralad has pretty much written what I would have so won't add too much, except to say that I thought it was significant the number of second balls we didn't win today. The game was tight up until the stupid first goal, but I thought we were pretty much second to everything throughout the game, and that was a decisive factor in losing in my opinion. Must do better or we'll lose more than we win.

Disappointing that we showed such little attacking intent throughout the game, but Coventry made it very difficult for us to impose ourselves on the game so fair play to them I guess.

Very disappointed in the contribution of Berrett who again showed he is not good enough to play in the centre of midfield for a team that expects to do anything in this league.

I suppose RS's options were limited by injuries a bit, and you could see he was trying to set up to be hard to beat against powerful opponents, but i thought the tactics were a bit unimaginative, and probably more suited to an away game. Cardwell was given 20 minutes too long and probably misused in that role anyway, and Jones needed to be pushed further forward before he finally was.

Bit disappointed but not unduly worried overall.

When Clarke kicks it the ball is in play I guess.

Well that was a long drive home,what to say!!!!
1st half started pretty even but as the half went on Coventry grew more into the game and dominated midfield, Berrett was a passenger today the game passed him by, Summerfield was better but not great(should not play both together ask York fans),Rose is a work horse but cant do it all on his own, Defence looked ok until the mix up ,Dixon didn't get to grips with there Tom daly impersonator, as for us as an attacking force well here words fail me, whats the point in having really exciting players like Dembele and jones when you play one out of position and play hoof ball to the other who's 5ft1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.And what the hell is playing a lone striker all about at home, felt for the lad Caldwell, he never stood a chance.Now for the Ref im not one for excuses but he is the most biased one sided ref I have witnessed for years,we got didley from him all game yet was so quick to punish us at every turn,diabolical.However you get what you desrve and today we deserved nothing.Now roll on Stevenage and lets learn from this,lets move the ball about on the floor and get our forward line using there pace because when we did today we caused a few problems.UTFM

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

First half not much in it. Second half gifted them a goal in a bizarre free kick mix up clearly Macca shouted something that confused the taker into thinking Macca was taking it either way the Cov player was alert and took full advantage. The goal knocked the stuffing out of us and we were under pressure after that.Their keeper hardly had a save to make in fact i cannot recall one. Dembelee looked a threat but he needs better service than a high hoof he's not the biggest needs a ball played low into space. Jones was so wasted today he is better than that but needs too be more central and direct. We really missed a Osbourne type play maker our midfield seemed non existent .

Played as eleven individuals today not good.

Absolute and totall bollox. You are not seriously trying to blame Macca for that. If and I mean IF Macca had said he was taking the kick why was it passed ? FFS

Quoted from barralad

The first half was pretty even. Dembele's run and ball to Jones deserved the latter to at least get it on target. It's early days but I doubt very much whether our midfield will have their various shortcomings highlighted in such dramatic fashion all season. Coventry's midfield four had strength, pace and skill. Having said that I thought Jones did O.K.although he was caught on the ball a few times. I think the criticism of Summerfield is harsh (and if I'm honest smacks of scapegoating). In the first half he made two goal stopping interventions. One from a cross where he took it off their lads boot and the other with the ball bouncing around in the area that he thumped away for a corner. He gave it 100% and I'm not at all sure you can ask for more.
Agree with others about the decision to play Jones out wide, other than to say he had all of our best chances yet couldn't hit the target. Apparently Vernon was named in the original side so must have got an injury during the warm up so possibly that threw a spanner in the works for Slade's game plan-although that may be clutching at straws.
Second half we needed to step up a gear but couldn't. The first goal was beyond ridiculous but you got the feeling that once it went in there was little chance of a leveller. Their number 11 was the best player on the pitch for me but credit due to both central defenders for dealing positively with anything he created. I suspect both Collins and Clarke may question the second concession of a goal from a set piece free header for their second goal-although the scorer must have been about 6 foot 5.
Away from matters on the field it looked a good decision to keep their fans in. Peter's family would've been immensely comforted by a spectacularly good minutes applause. Fair play to the Coventry fans who joined in. For their turn out though I thought they were pretty quiet until the first goal went in.

Good post IMHO. I doubt we'll see many better teams at BP this season. We need McAllister or Clements (or both) fit as soon as but let's remember that it took a farcical goal to break through and I'm sure we'd all have taken a 0-0 before kick-off. UTM

Quoted from fleabag1970

Hoof ball all game . Coventry came on to us on 40 mins and were in total control for the rest of the game . If you play hoof ball and lose it is an awful watch and that is as poor as I saw at any time last season .

Einstein definition of madness...... doing the same thing over again and hoping for a different outcome,what makes any of you happy clappers expect a different outcome?

Just watched the highlights and Berrett was lucky to not get a straight red for that challenge, so late and foot up. Hope the FA review it and give him a season long ban.

;D

Found myself muttering off off off quietly at that point. I wasn't alone and I wasn't the loudest.

Quoted from 75

Absolutely shocking performance. The free kick? I've seen it again and words fail me, the ref was absolutely right to give the goal. What Collins is thinking of even passing the ball backwards to the keeper is beyond understanding. I was pulling my hair out watching the full backs punt the ball long to a centre forward isolated on his own against Coventry's three centre backs and tucked in full backs, especially when the central midfielders were showing and available.

It's going to be a long hard season if we continue in that vain, and we will under Slade. Ridiculous tactics against a poor side IMO, we have some good footballers at the club who will do nothing but see the ball flying over their heads. It isn't our way, but we'd best get used to it.

The goal should not have stood as the player who scored was not 10 yards away when the ball was kicked.

We didn't deserve anything from the game though.

Didn't go go any of the pre-season games but didn't Slade try Jones out wide in some of them, if against non league players or friendlies he doesn't look comfortable there why is he persisting with this, also strikers at this level cannot t play up front on their own, such as Costa, Aguerra can, that's why their in the premier, get 2 up there with midfielders coming through also, why did we always get managers who appear to not have a clue or are too defensive?

Whoever got the first goal would go on to win a game like that, if Jones scored his chance the team would have relaxed into half-time. Needless to say Coventry were the better team, Macca kept us in it with two decent saves. Very unlucky with the incredibly soft goal, with the second I think Dixon slammed into Macca preventing a save. Overall I think Coventry were nothing special really since it took a mistake from Clarke-Macca's mis-communication that settled their side. 3pts from these two games is alright though and considering Clements, Osborne, Asante and McAllister were out injured.

I want to see an attacking team against Stevenage with Dembele playing in the middle with no hoofballs to him out wide. Or perhaps two strikers? That dembele and Jones can play off from? This team has depth that Slade needs time to fully unlock, especially with DJ and JJ ready to make their marks.

300 mile round trip for that garbage hoofball, only positives from today Dembele, Rose, 2 centre halfs and I admit I cheered and clapped when Mr Nothing got himself sent off. Oh forgot Steels as good as ever and I finally beat Son Of at crazy golf after 4 defeats on the trot

2 games in and there are calls for Slade to go. Only on the fishy.

Where have all the happy clappers gone.

Quoted from friskneymariner

Where have all the happy clappers gone.

Not to Friskney

Quoted from nickmariners

Not to Friskney

In all honesty I can't blame them.

Absolutely DIRE-enough said

Today showed me the importance of being positive.

This is only my opinion but I personally felt that the midfield were far too deep today and this meant our Cardwell was isolated upfront. Not only that but it meant Coventry could control the game from midfield, yes at times especially in the first half; we had a good shape but we never won any second balls or pressured any kind of situation.

I was quite happy with the first 20 minutes and thought Jones should have put us 1-0 up but after that I didn't feel like we would score. There was not much build up play, I understand playing on the counter but we didn't have the space to exploit or the good possession to attack quickly. I also felt Rose was out of position quite a few times when we lost possession of the ball and they were able to pick the balls up in areas that he would usually cover.

Another main point for me from today is that Sam Jones is absolutely wasted on the wing, he is powerful, quite clever and not scared to have a go at goal. For me he must play behind the striker or as a striker, at least in a more central role.

Felt sorry for Dixon, their young lad gave him a torrid time.

It is early days, once we get settled I think we could still challenge for PO.

Was a bit more akin to what I expected at the start of the season than last week. Well organised and will still be hard to beat in most games but very little flair or goal threat other than Dembele.

There wasn't anything in it first half but they grew into it and were taking control before that goal. The referee was garbage all day and that was just the icing on the cake. Never looked like getting back into the game after that.

Expect Coventry to be up there though

We were beaten by a side that are just far better than us, it's that simple. They should have won by more IMO.

It's fine, we've had a tough start and got 3 points from two matches against relegated teams. We go again.

I honestly didn't think they were that special at all , it's just our formation played right into there hands ..

We were all set up wrong and the way we played today I honestly think we would have made anyone look half decent.

Quoted from sam gy

We were beaten by a side that are just far better than us, it's that simple. They should have won by more IMO.

It's fine, we've had a tough start and got 3 points from two matches against relegated teams. We go again.

It is that simple. The only way we were beating them today was by choking the game (which we did for nearly 70 minutes) and hoping for a one-off break which we nearly got. Teams that come down from the league above are better equipped both in terms of finance and infrastructure and always seem to get the rub of the ref's decisions, some of which today were frankly awful.

Had to go round to brother in law who is recovering from heart attack to give him update on todays game. I didn't want to upset him too much so just told him we were fcking shite instead of telling him the real truth

Exactly. I realise it's frustrating to not go all guns blazing at home, but they're obviously gonna be up there and containing them/hitting them on the break was our only hope today I think.

Thought once the first goal went in they started to really carve us open. Have no doubt that we can still be decent in this league though, today just was not our day.

Think a few have been a bit harsh on Cardwell - not saying he was fantastic by any means but he did flash a couple of great crosses across the box - one of which i'm pretty sure led to the Sam Jones chance when he blasted it over the bar. I'd like to see him and Jones together as a front 2 or with Jones behind him in the no.10 role.

Quoted from sam gy

Exactly. I realise it's frustrating to not go all guns blazing at home, but they're obviously gonna be up there and containing them/hitting them on the break was our only hope today I think.

Thought once the first goal went in they started to really carve us open. Have no doubt that we can still be decent in this league though, today just was not our day.

When did we hit them on the break, we just hoofed it onto 3 players heads who rarely had anyone within 20yards to try and give it to, Cardwell got away a couple of times went to cross the ball and no one in the area thats not breaking away that putting 9 players near your own box and hoping their keeper takes a goal kick into his own net at some point, thats how likely we were to score. If your playing on the break you need quick players we had 1 and a half, not enough.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

It is that simple. The only way we were beating them today was by choking the game (which we did for nearly 70 minutes) and hoping for a one-off break which we nearly got. Teams that come down from the league above are better equipped both in terms of finance and infrastructure and always seem to get the rub of the ref's decisions, some of which today were frankly awful.

Not quite sure how you thought there might be a chance of us winning when we couldn't manage an effort on target in 98 minutes.

Poor tactics by Russell Slade, felt sorry for Cardwell who I thought did all he could with the hoofballs and no support.

Berrett must be Slade's love child, no idea how he starts every game or why he wasn't taken off before the clown got himself sent off.

Quoted from nickmariners

Not to Friskney

Friskney never show anyhow, giving it large on the internet but more excuses than Lincoln on a school day.
They've never got over the shame of the pre arranged off with Croft womens institute at Wainfleet St Mary, a supposed neutral "venue".
Snidey sods mobbed up with Leake common side pigeon fanciers but still got ran all the way back to Wrangle when Mrs Snodgrass pulled her knitting needle out and gave it large.
Friskney?
Two bob outfit and no mistake.

I thought Coventry were the better side and deserved the win although the first goal was a farce and who knows what would have happened had that been ruled out? We'd contained them fairly well up until that point. I also think people are being harsh on Coventry. They're set up very solidly but have Jones going forward causing mayhem and a couple of decent centre forwards as well. They've scored 5 and not conceded in two games and I would imagine they'll be at least in the play offs come the end of the season. Dixon won't have a harder game all season either.

I think RS set up to neutralise Coventry but in doing so neutralised ourselves as well. The midfield was too deep and Summerfield and Berrett are just not up to playing regularly in a team that wants to finish in the top half. Summerfield worked hard and did a couple of really good defensive contributions in the first half. He also tries to get us playing a bit but I just don't think he's got it in him. Berrett was completely anonymous other than getting sent off. I don't know if The Old Codger will allow us to criticise him yet (he's only a season and 2 games in remember) but I just don't see what he brings to the team. Not physical enough to help out defensively but nowhere near good enough with the ball to get away with being a luxury type player. In fact, he moves the ball slowly and predictably which all of our midfield did today but at least Rose and Summerfield got stuck in and broke play up. Rose did really well defensively first half but he's not a creative midfielder and we need someone alongside him to be the one moving the ball quickly and smartly. Still think Rose will be a decent enough player and the best defensive midfielder we've had in a long time.

Sam Jones is completely wasted out wide and it left us off balance and with a congested middle because he kept cutting inside but Dixon isn't the type of player to overlap regularly. If he'd had Danny Andrew behind him that might have worked out better but he's gone so IMO you either play Jones centrally (ideally) or you get the best balance in the team by starting a natural winger and benching Jones.

I would have liked to have seen us be more positive and move the ball quicker, particularly in to the wide areas where we have got players who can create things. . We need to work on is moving the ball quickly and into Dembele's feet. They worked out he was the dangerman and crowded him out effectively because we either spent too long getting it to him or we punted the ball to his head. Ridiculous when he's about 5'6. I'd like to see us stop putting Jones out wide and actually utilise the skillful and athletic wide players we've got. I also think we'd have been much, much better going forward if we'd had Jones playing in the 10 role behind Cardwell so that he wasn't so isolated. Poor lad worked hard and did some half decent work but had a pretty thankless task with rubbish service and little support.

All in all, not a great performance but we were reasonably solid for large periods and I'm hoping with the re-introduction of McAllister and Clements that we'll start to offer more in midfield. I'm also hoping Slade will decide to take the initiative a bit more in home games and play to the strengths of our best players. Big thank you to Herts for the lift today, really appreciated despite the result.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Not quite sure how you thought there might be a chance of us winning when we couldn't manage an effort on target in 98 minutes.

Poor tactics by Russell Slade, felt sorry for Cardwell who I thought did all he could with the hoofballs and no support.

Berrett must be Slade's love child, no idea how he starts every game or why he wasn't taken off before the clown got himself sent off.

Love how they're poor tactics by Slade as they were pretty much the same as last week. Had we held on for 0-0 would they still have been poor? And regarding Berrett, he's not the best or the worst player ever to play for Town but why do we always have to have a scapegoat? He gets vilified when he doesn't tackle and the same when he does. We're missing 5 midfielders at present so we've got to make do with what we've got.

I posted a couple of weeks ago saying that I had confidence in Slade. At that time I fully expected him to sign another quality partner for Rose in centre midfield and ship Berrett and Summerfield out on loan to balance the books.

We need an addition because we've only got Clements in there otherwise. I know McAllister's coming back from injury but going on recent history, can we rely on him to stay fit or even be the player he was after such a long lay off at his age?

We may have numbers in centre mid, but does it match the quality we've got in other areas? Hopefully a game like today will push RS to wheel and deal a little more in the transfer market. I'm sure he's doing his best with a "competitive" budget..

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Love how they're poor tactics by Slade as they were pretty much the same as last week. Had we held on for 0-0 would they still have been poor? And regarding Berrett, he's not the best or the worst player ever to play for Town but why do we always have to have a scapegoat? He gets vilified when he doesn't tackle and the same when he does. We're missing 5 midfielders at present so we've got to make do with what we've got.

They are rubbish tactics at home if the other side dont come at you and attack which Cov didn't do, so very rubbish tactics on the day, especially when you only have 2 players in the team with any real pace.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Love how they're poor tactics by Slade as they were pretty much the same as last week. Had we held on for 0-0 would they still have been poor? And regarding Berrett, he's not the best or the worst player ever to play for Town but why do we always have to have a scapegoat? He gets vilified when he doesn't tackle and the same when he does. We're missing 5 midfielders at present so we've got to make do with what we've got.

Don't know if you realize but most teams have different home and away tactics. Berrett may not be the worse player ever seen at B.P. but he is certainly one of the most anonymous

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Love how they're poor tactics by Slade as they were pretty much the same as last week. Had we held on for 0-0 would they still have been poor? And regarding Berrett, he's not the best or the worst player ever to play for Town but why do we always have to have a scapegoat? He gets vilified when he doesn't tackle and the same when he does. We're missing 5 midfielders at present so we've got to make do with what we've got.

Not sure if you are new to watching football but it is generally given that teams set up differently away from home but hey if you are happy watching us hoof the ball up to a young player new to this league with no support then great.

And I'm not making Berrett a scapegoat, I've always said I'm not impressed with him and he was a clown to make that challenge after already getting stupidly booked.

Quoted from golfer

Don't know if you realize but most teams have different home and away tactics. Berrett may not be the worse player ever seen at B.P. but he is certainly one of the most anonymous

I totally realise that and what you say proves beyond doubt that you don't understand football. From the kick off, Berrett followed Doyle and perhaps what you missed was that the only time you saw Doyle all game was when he was on the floor squealing like a girl after Luke Summerfield's challenge.

That said, I really don't want us to be negative at home and we possibly didn't push on far enough but, with the age of our back 4, we could have been easily exposed today. And, by the way, I thought Ben Davies was excellent today.

I thought Coventry were a decent team with a powerful and well-organised defence, a bit of skill here and there but I think we made them look a lot better than they actually are. I don't think they were a patch on, say Pompey or Donny last season for example. The number of times we just presented the ball back to them when under no real pressure was very poor today and it was no surprise that they were attacking time and again in the second half as we tired.

As for us, I'm in agreement with most that the peculiar formation we're using isn't the best, especially at home. Cardwell had a thankless task up front on his own (especially against their No. 4, a very good and athletic defender) and we had very little link up between midfield and the attackers.

My big worry is that, for a team playing with two holding midfielders, we were wide open at the back too often in the second half and in attack we just never really looked as though we would get a goal.

I didn't really see what happened with their first goal, just their forward rounding McKeown to score. Considering the way the referee was performing, we shouldn't have given him the opportunity to make an error in this situation.

Will be interesting to see what line-up/formation we end up with longer term as the team we started with today isn't going to be doing too much, even if we play a good deal better than that.

Not sure that I can add anything new to what has been posted so far but we did not play well in fact in the final 3rd we appeared totally clueless, we will never do anything with so little quality and so few decent shots on goal, 3 in total was it?

Thought RS was trying to be too clever with his selection & shape and why he did not start with 2 natural wide players or Jones up front when Vernon pulled up I will never know never know. Nobody ever told Bignot Sam Jones is not a wide player and clearly that message is not getting through to RS either..

After the break we clearly needed another outlet and also someone to get the ball to Dembelle who we will only see the best of when (if?) better players such as Clements, Osborne and McAllister come back as Berrett (garbage today) and Summerfield (o.k. today) did not have the class to bring him into the game. Robins changed their shape a bit and out thought Slade I feel and that gave them the ascendancy.

The first goal was a bit unprofessional by Town and arguably the ref and from their perspective a "low punch" of a goal, but a goal all the same..Really unhappy with the reaction after the first goal when our "leaders" possibly should have been focused on us and getting a good re-start than playing the blame game up until the 2nd. It says a lot when Dembelle was the one who grabbed the ball and wanted to get on with the game.

The 2nd was very similar to the Derby goal on Tuesday so clearly some work to be done on the training ground, after that both sides where going through the motions to be fair, us trying to look interested and them time wasting and being petulant at every opportunity.

Thought the ref was poor and did us a favor by sending Berrett off which will force change next week but like I say we where not good enough in too many departments to take anything from a game against a side who will probably be up there come the end of term.

I think the first 2 weeks will probably be like the rest of the season good one week poor the next with a mid table finish.

UTM!!!

No way around it we were just all wrong today.

Jones out wide ? When we have bolly and DJ , summerfield and Berrett were partnered together because we went with 3 central midfielders which again at home is just overly negative especially in a 451.

I like the idea of rose and maybe McAllister as a two with dembele DJ and Jones infront with then the lone striker if Slade insists with one striker , but like I say today we were just overly negative and although I still think Slade knows enough I just don't know why he set up like that at home.

I forgot to mention, I thought our players really failed to keep it simple at times today. Players such as Dembele and Jones have good skill but were too often trying to turn and take a man on when surrounded by defenders. It would generally have been more sensible to let the ball do more of the work and make a simple pass. The midfielders were just as guilty of trying to overplay as the previously mentioned pair and DJ was much the same when he came on.

In comparison, their lanky No. 7 rarely did anything too flashy but just kep the ball moving on, often with accurate first-time passes, something which we were mostly incapable of managing today.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Jones out wide ? When we have bolly and DJ , summerfield and Berrett were partnered together because we went with 3 central midfielders which again at home is just overly negative especially in a 451.

I like the idea of rose and maybe McAllister as a two with dembele DJ and Jones infront with then the lone striker if Slade insists with one striker , but like I say today we were just overly negative and although I still think Slade knows enough I just don't know why he set up like that at home.

I certainly agree that Jones shouldn't be starting in wide positions. I don't think he's done much at all in pre-season playing wide in the games I've seen and he needs to be more central to be most effective.

However, it was certainly supposed to be Slade's 4-2-3-1 today, not 4-5-1. If it had been 4-5-1 we might have been a bit tighter at the back though it obviously wouldn't have helped us in attack!

If McAllister can get fit and perform as he did in the Plymouth game last season, we'll be a lot better off, regardless of the formation. I'm yet to be fully convinced by Rose as well. More physical than our other midfielders, but I'm not sure yet whether he's good enough on the ball. As it stands, if we're playing a holding pair, my first choices would be McAllister and Clements.

Hopefully, we can become a bit more attack-minded at home in future and we won't see more than one holding midfielder starting. 4-1-3-2, perhaps?

Quoted from GYinScuntland

Friskney never show anyhow, giving it large on the internet but more excuses than Lincoln on a school day.
They've never got over the shame of the pre arranged off with Croft womens institute at Wainfleet St Mary, a supposed neutral "venue".
Snidey sods mobbed up with Leake common side pigeon fanciers but still got ran all the way back to Wrangle when Mrs Snodgrass pulled her knitting needle out and gave it large.
Friskney?
Two bob outfit and no mistake.

Weve got maw sense than to go reeking about the laynes,weve got to go hom to feed and water the bairns.

We were kinda hamstrung by the Vernon injury, but Slade needs his head read sticking a 20 year old up front on his own in his full league debut against one of the best teams in the league.

Without Vernon he should have shuffled the deck properly and gone with a different formation and commensurate personnel.

We seem to have found a way to nullify Sam Jones kudos on that.

Quoted from Maringer

I certainly agree that Jones shouldn't be starting in wide positions. I don't think he's done much at all in pre-season playing wide in the games I've seen and he needs to be more central to be most effective.

However, it was certainly supposed to be Slade's 4-2-3-1 today, not 4-5-1. If it had been 4-5-1 we might have been a bit tighter at the back though it obviously wouldn't have helped us in attack!

If McAllister can get fit and perform as he did in the Plymouth game last season, we'll be a lot better off, regardless of the formation. I'm yet to be fully convinced by Rose as well. More physical than our other midfielders, but I'm not sure yet whether he's good enough on the ball. As it stands, if we're playing a holding pair, my first choices would be McAllister and Clements.

Hopefully, we can become a bit more attack-minded at home in future and we won't see more than one holding midfielder starting. 4-1-3-2, perhaps?

I'm sure today was a 4141 with rose sitting in front of the defence which really turned into a 451 because we were just sitting back hoping dembele could turn the game for us.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

We were kinda hamstrung by the Vernon injury, but Slade needs his head read sticking a 20 year old up front on his own in his full league debut against one of the best teams in the league.

Without Vernon he should have shuffled the deck properly and gone with a different formation and commensurate personnel.

We seem to have found a way to nullify Sam Jones kudos on that.

What was he supposed to do? Vernon gets injured at most 20 mins before kick-off, is he supposed to change one player or the whole system with players who've never started before?

Quoted from friskneymariner

Weve got maw sense than to go reeking about the laynes,weve got to go hom to feed and water the bairns.

Pah! Even Lincoln never came out with that old chestnut. :)

Quoted from MuddyWaters

What was he supposed to do? Vernon gets injured at most 20 mins before kick-off, is he supposed to change one player or the whole system with players who've never started before?

Jones up top and a proper winger in his place. Sorted.

Quoted from ginnywings

Jones up top and a proper winger in his place. Sorted.

Exactly!

Dull dull dull.

We do have some decent attacking players so let's set up to attack from the start and hope our steady Eddies can hold out. Encourage them to get ball yo feet and give it a real go

Just back from "the Smuggs" and spoke to Josh Gowling......good man, we reminisced when he got his shirt pulled for the penalty at Braintree.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

What was he supposed to do? Vernon gets injured at most 20 mins before kick-off, is he supposed to change one player or the whole system with players who've never started before?

He's assembled a squad of 27 players, it Newellesque in size enough for a plan a, b, c d and z.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Not sure that I can add anything new to what has been posted so far but we did not play well in fact in the final 3rd we appeared totally clueless, we will never do anything with so little quality and so few decent shots on goal, 3 in total was it?

Thought RS was trying to be too clever with his selection & shape and why he did not start with 2 natural wide players or Jones up front when Vernon pulled up I will never know never know. Nobody ever told Bignot Sam Jones is not a wide player and clearly that message is not getting through to RS either..

After the break we clearly needed another outlet and also someone to get the ball to Dembelle who we will only see the best of when (if?) better players such as Clements, Osborne and McAllister come back as Berrett (garbage today) and Summerfield (o.k. today) did not have the class to bring him into the game. Robins changed their shape a bit and out thought Slade I feel and that gave them the ascendancy.

The first goal was a bit unprofessional by Town and arguably the ref and from their perspective a "low punch" of a goal, but a goal all the same..Really unhappy with the reaction after the first goal when our "leaders" possibly should have been focused on us and getting a good re-start than playing the blame game up until the 2nd. It says a lot when Dembelle was the one who grabbed the ball and wanted to get on with the game.

The 2nd was very similar to the Derby goal on Tuesday so clearly some work to be done on the training ground, after that both sides where going through the motions to be fair, us trying to look interested and them time wasting and being petulant at every opportunity.

Thought the ref was poor and did us a favor by sending Berrett off which will force change next week but like I say we where not good enough in too many departments to take anything from a game against a side who will probably be up there come the end of term.

I think the first 2 weeks will probably be like the rest of the season good one week poor the next with a mid table finish.

UTM!!!

You mean like Bignot.

Many of you saw the game as I did. But you shouldn't be too harsh on your players. They can only do as Slade instructs them. And like I said before the game our defence is quite solid and the midfield play well together. We have a good mix of very experienced players and young players that are coming good. But the young players will be sold as soon as an offer.comes in. Another one went this week to Swansea.

You actually dealt with Jones better than Notts County did last week. He scored 3 good goals against them. He is a young player in his first full season and should improve. So he will be sold soon.

We are not expecting to win this Division. Our hedge fund owners prefer to sell our players in the next transfer window than go for a good finish. Then we fall down the table. Oh the fun of being a football supporter.

Quoted from gytone

Agree with all that's been said, summerfield and berrett aren't good enough and probably wouldn't be playing if others were fit and available. Coventry showed everything that is wrong with football diving, moaning cheating and a very poor ref fell for it everytime, having said that they were better than us on the day and deserved the victory. Couldn't watch that every week though.

Before the game I thought Coventry would be more dangerous and look a better outfit considering the size and history of the club

They werent that much better than us I thought.All in all like you thought it was a poor game but I did think we started ok but for what ever reason fitness/lack of ability we started to do go downhill and there was not enough concerted creativity. To disjointed for me as the game wore on and particular in the 2nd half we created little

Reasonable first half but too much hoofball and poor second half. On that performance the " Nearly Man " has nearly got a team. We nearly have a defence but with three players over thirty and considerable experience at a higher level than this then why do we concede from a " schoolboy error " and failing to deal with a " bread and butter " set piece corner? We nearly have a mid-field but why do we need one when we play hoof ball ? A year ago PH took a lot of stick on here( and rightly so ) for signing and playing two mediocre midfielders from a team that had just been relegated from the League. MB , if nothing else , realised their limitations and brought better mid-fielders in. Summerfield in particular was loaned out and the best he could manage to attract was non-league Macclesfield. The Nearly Man comes back and these same two seem to be a part of his plans to get promoted- it will never happen. Both these players should have been transfer listed in the summer - cut your losses and replace with better.
Admittedly this was the first time that I have seen town this season but nothing I saw altered my opinion of where we will be with this manager and that is League 2.

Quoted from Rick12

Before the game I thought Coventry would be more dangerous and look a better outfit considering the size and history of the club and considering this was the first time they were playing in the 4th tier of English football

They werent that much better than us I thought.All in all like you thought it was a poor game but I did think we started ok but for what ever reason fitness/lack of ability we started to do go downhill and there was not enough concerted creativity. To disjointed for me as the game wore on and particular in the 2nd half we created little

Coventry City.....
Football League Fourth Division (now Football League Two)
Runners-up: 1958–59

Quoted from promotion plaice

Coventry City.....
Football League Fourth Division (now Football League Two)
Runners-up: 1958–59

Fair enough.Must of read it wrong as it was a article posted sometime ago on the internet

Slade got the set up very wrong, admittedly not helped with Vernon getting injured very late on but either way he got his set up wrong, 4-1-4-1 away from home is crazy, he could have easily done 4-4-2 with Berrett shoved out wide and Jones up top with Cardwell, I know Berrett would have been in an un-natural position but Jones is more effective up front and Cardwell isn't a loan striker. And playing direct to Cardwell and at times a pint size Dembele won't get you anywhere, many at the game noticed this as have posters on here so why didn't Slade and Wilkinson who are very experienced? It didn't even need noticing as it was obvious even before kick off it wouldn't work.

Davies I thought had a decent game today, didn't deliver many, if any crosses but then he didn't have chance to go forward with Jones out wide, Clarke and Collins won most headers I thought, what is Clarke thinking with the free kick? Legitimate goal in my opinion and very unprofessional seeing our players chasing the ref around and delaying the kick off to argue with him. Dixon got raped by Jodi Jones down the left. When Dembele got the ball he looked dangerous but we hardly got the ball to his feet! Summerfield and Berrett, Summerfield was the better of the 2 in my opinion and it shows how light we are in central mid at the minute with these 2 playing together. I haven't seeked permission by The Old Codger to criticise Berrett yet so I better go to church this morning and ask God for forgiveness, I've never rated Berrett, I've said this before last season and I'll say it again now, he's technically good but to what effect?? Doesn't create enough, doesn't score enough or doesn't assist enough, too slow in thought and deed and ask any Carlisle Yeovil and York fans and they will say he is anonymous during games. I'm sorry Old Codger, I know James Berrett is a relative to you but he's not good enough. Jones is wasted on the wing, the much maligned Marcus Bignot never played him on the wing so why is Slade??

If yesterday is anything to go by then we are still too short to be promotion contenders, Central midfield has quantity but not enough quality, the wingers department is very very inexperienced, I think we lack experience in that area and up front we still lack in my opinion.

Quoted from Davec

Slade got the set up very wrong, admittedly not helped with Vernon getting injured very late on but either way he got his set up wrong, 4-1-4-1 away from home is crazy, he could have easily done 4-4-2 with Berrett shoved out wide and Jones up top with Cardwell, I know Berrett would have been in an un-natural position but Jones is more effective up front and Cardwell isn't a loan striker. And playing direct to Cardwell and at times a pint size Dembele won't get you anywhere, many at the game noticed this as have posters on here so why didn't Slade and Wilkinson who are very experienced? It didn't even need noticing as it was obvious even before kick off it wouldn't work.

Davies I thought had a decent game today, didn't deliver many, if any crosses but then he didn't have chance to go forward with Jones out wide, Clarke and Collins won most headers I thought, what is Clarke thinking with the free kick? Legitimate goal in my opinion and very unprofessional seeing our players chasing the ref around and delaying the kick off to argue with him. Dixon got raped by Jodi Jones down the left. When Dembele got the ball he looked dangerous but we hardly got the ball to his feet! Summerfield and Berrett, Summerfield was the better of the 2 in my opinion and it shows how light we are in central mid at the minute with these 2 playing together. I haven't seeked permission by The Old Codger to criticise Berrett yet so I better go to church this morning and ask God for forgiveness, I've never rated Berrett, I've said this before last season and I'll say it again now, he's technically good but to what effect?? Doesn't create enough, doesn't score enough or doesn't assist enough, too slow in thought and deed and ask any Carlisle Yeovil and York fans and they will say he is anonymous during games. I'm sorry Old Codger, I know James Berrett is a relative to you but he's not good enough. Jones is wasted on the wing, the much maligned Marcus Bignot never played him on the wing so why is Slade??

If yesterday is anything to go by then we are still too short to be promotion contenders, Central midfield has quantity but not enough quality, the wingers department is very very inexperienced, I think we lack experience in that area and up front we still lack in my opinion.

Let's get this straight - Berrett isn't a relative nor would he be in my first choice starting 11 but, in light of our lack of fit central midfielders, he's the only option. Slade seems to like him and, until McAlister and Clements are fit, we should get off his back. Thanks.

Pretty much agree with all the comments made.

Teams with a poor midfield don't win many games and don't get promoted, in fact such teams invariably get relegated.

If Slade continues to setup this team with a second-rate midfield, concede space and possession for 90 mins, the only way we're going to get out of this league is via the trap-door.

Let's be clear here, Coventry are not a great team, there will be other teams in this division who will make much better use of all the possession and space we seem prepared to allow them. Pumping long, high balls to isolated forward players incapable of holding up the ball will result in the ball constantly coming straight back at us.

Slade needs to have a long hard look at the style of play and start by building around a quality midfield, playing the ball to feet and controlling possession better.

Continue to play like yesterday and results will go backwards and so will the fans' support.

UTM

Quoted from Bradford Mariner

Pretty much agree with all the comments made.

Teams with a poor midfield don't win many games and don't get promoted, in fact such teams invariably get relegated.

If Slade continues to setup this team with a second-rate midfield, concede space and possession for 90 mins, the only way we're going to get out of this league is via the trap-door.

Let's be clear here, Coventry are not a great team, there will be other teams in this division who will make much better use of all the possession and space we seem prepared to allow them. Pumping long, high balls to isolated forward players incapable of holding up the ball will result in the ball constantly coming straight back at us.

Slade needs to have a long hard look at the style of play and start by building around a quality midfield, playing the ball to feet and controlling possession better.

Continue to play like yesterday and results will go backwards and so will the fans' support.

UTM

Don't disagree with what your saying and certainly the shape & balance was wrong yesterday but with the likes of McAllister, Osborne and Clements injured we are a position where the 2nd rate mid field is the only option. If everyone was fit then I doubt Berrett and Summerfield (who did o.k. yesterday) would get a start.

The fact that Berrett has the No. 7 shirt and played most of the time in pre-season makes me think he's going to in the team a lot this year. Wouldn't be my choice, but then I'm not the manager.

I thought Hooper looked faster and stronger than Cardwell albeit he was only on for a short while. Maybe Cardell was just knackered being the lone ranger up front.

Quoted from friskneymariner

You mean like Bignot.

No not really, especially considering Bignot won 4 out of his last 15 games and we shipped 5 on 2 occasions. Under Bignot we where heading for a relegation fight this season.Oh yeah add to that things like selecting Gunning regardless,f&^%$ing up the keeper situation, dropping Collins and Pearson for our local Derby at home versus the free scoring league leaders, picking a "self harming" selection away at Portsmouth and disengaging a large proportion of the squad............. we will be mediocre this season for sure but at least it will be organised mediocrity .

I know McAllister was put on the bench yesterday. Was that purely because Vernon got injured in the warm up, or is he close to being fit? I'd love to see him back in the side. Berret and Summerfield is such a weak pairing in the midfield!

Slades insistence on playing a sole centre forward is going to get us in real trouble this season. I cannot understand why he doesn't see what we see, it's so bloody negative & will eventually cut crowds.
Playing Jones on the wing is a waste, I reckon that he is best just behind the centre forward.
Regarding substitutions, why did he take Summerfield off, whilst keeping Berrett on ? I used to be not exactly the greatest fan of Summerfield, but he is a different player so far this season. Berrett on the other hand is the same & most irritatingly, backs out of challenges 5 yards early. Taking Cardwell off did zero, as replacing like for like & leaving the sub in the same isolated position is just plain stupid.
Bolarinwa should have started for sure & at least we would have had 2 wingers & just maybe, the penetration could have led to a meaningful cross should we actually have had anyone in the box.
I thought Rose had a poor game yesterday, probably just to the lack of tactics.
The one 'compensation' was the two centre backs, that is other than the flashes of Dembele.
Boring defensive, one man up front at home bores me stupid. It has never worked for any Town manager. Remember Paul Groves wrecking Darren Mansaram, playing him as an 18 year old against ex Premier League defenders for instance.

To say Berrett is the only option at the moment isn't entirely true, Clements isn't injured he just needs game time, which he isn't getting even as a sub.

He should have played against Wigan having been available the game before and he should have had some time yesterday to continue his integration into the team. Hopefully with the closed doors game and Berretts ban he can now move into contention.

Quoted from Maringer

The fact that Berrett has the No. 7 shirt and played most of the time in pre-season makes me think he's going to in the team a lot this year. Wouldn't be my choice, but then I'm not the manager.

That's what concerns me. He absolutely must not be a regular starter if we want to finish anywhere near the play offs.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

To say Berrett is the only option at the moment isn't entirely true, Clements isn't injured he just needs game time, which he isn't getting even as a sub.

He should have played against Wigan having been available the game before and he should have had some time yesterday to continue his integration into the team. Hopefully with the closed doors game and Berretts ban he can now move into contention.

There is a "behind closed doors" on Tuesday which may help. Berrett appears up until now to be the only "match fit" player available, the bonus from yesterday is that the ref sending him off will force change next weekend.

Still very frustrated about yesterday. Such a soft first goal to give. Jones is not a winger. He needs to be played central in the number 10 role. Linking up midfield and striker (vernon,hooper) spreading the ball out wide to our talented wingers, running at defenders with his power. Making runs into the box for when crosses come in. Out wide he is totally ineffective. At home we have to be more positive and play ball to feet! We have players who can play.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Don't disagree with what your saying and certainly the shape & balance was wrong yesterday but with the likes of McAllister, Osborne and Clements injured we are a position where the 2nd rate mid field is the only option. If everyone was fit then I doubt Berrett and Summerfield (who did o.k. yesterday) would get a start.

As others have said Berrett is number 7, why give him that if he won't play much.

Quoted from Davec

As others have said Berrett is number 7, why give him that if he won't play much.

Ask Russel Slade not me.These days I'm not convinced that just because you wear 1 - 11 you are considered to be the starting line up for every game.

There are an awful lot of people drawing some very firm and very premature conclusions and then making pronouncements based on what? Seeing one league game? Maybe two? We are gonna do this, this season, or that. It's just daft. You can't do that with any credibility. Take a look around the leagues yesterday as some of the scores. You notice Villa took a beating? Promotion favourites Blackburn lose at home? Luton lose to unfancied Barnet. My Luton supporting mate texting me and saying 'nothing has changed and Jones should go! Chesterfield lose again. They are gone! Port vale beaten at home etc etc....
There are tons of teams who are in for a bleak season of struggles and misery based on that. If you've been watching football a few years you'll wait a bit....

If you could work out what's going to unfold in a season from seeing 90 minutes of your boys against a team with some very useful players indeed then you're a modern day visionary. I think some folk need to get real. We are back in the league again now. Lots of teams have many good players. It's not like the conference when you're playing a shower of sh1te pretty much every week and not playing well. We are going to lose a few games, and draw some. Whilst the game was still in the balance I thought we competed well. Yeah we can see where it's going wrong.Yes we can spot weaknesses and yes it is frustrating, but let's see how things transpire and give new players a chance. Every club in every league will be debating stuff like this at the moment.

Quoted from chaos33

There are an awful lot of people drawing some very firm and very premature conclusions and then making pronouncements based on what? Seeing one league game? Maybe two? We are gonna do this, this season, or that. It's just daft. You can't do that with any credibility. Take a look around the leagues yesterday as some of the scores. You notice Villa took a beating? Promotion favourites Blackburn lose at home? Luton lose to unfancied Barnet. My Luton supporting mate texting me and saying 'nothing has changed and Jones should go! Chesterfield lose again. They are gone! Port vale beaten at home etc etc....
The are tons of teams who are in for a bleak season of struggles and misery based on that. If you've been watching football a few years you'll wait a bit....

If you could work out what's going to unfold in a season from seeing 90 minutes of your boys against a team with some very useful players indeed then you're a modern day visionary. I think some folk need to get real. We are back in the league again now. Lots of teams have many good players. It's not like the conference when you're playing a shower of sh1te pretty much every week and not playing well. We are going to lose a few games, and draw some. Whilst the game was still in the balance I thought we competed well. Let's see how things transpire and give new players a chance.

Well said. Teams who come down will always have better/better paid players and Robins is a decent manager at L1/L2 level. We were missing Vernon, Asante, Mills, Osbourne, Clements, McAlister, Kelly & Clifton yesterday and we were still in the game up to 68 minutes. Then we concede a soft goal and Slade becomes the Devil Incarnate because he dares to set up solid against a team with better players than ours. One up front with three supporting behind is potentially more attacking than a 442 and I suspect that Mourinho will set ManU up the same today with 3 behind Lukaku.

4-2-3-1 got Huddersfield Town to the Premier League.
Yesterday the same formation took them to the top of the Premiershite, and got them 3 goals.

Its not about the formation, its about the ability and motivation of the players and the organisation of the Management.

I could be wrong but it looked like we'd lined up with a 4-3-3 yesterday because none of the central midfielders looked to get anywhere near Cardwell or the wide players at any time so it definitely wasn't a 4-2-3-1. The fact that Dembele and Jones were often in line with Cardwell when we lumped it to them is what makes me think that the intention was a front three, the effectiveness of that tactic is clearly highly questionable though. The issue with 4-3-3 is that if you're too negative in your approach it quickly becomes a 4-5-1 and as we had no spells of possession and never really tried to get the ball to the feet of the forward men, Dembele and Jones were coming back more than they were going forward.

In my opinion there are two main issues to work on in home games. We need to get someone around the striker because no matter which striker we play, if they're as isolated as yesterday we aren't going to cause many problems. I don't necessarily think we need two out and out strikers but if we're starting with just one we need to have someone just behind them. Be it Dembele or Jones or whoever but we need someone in there to offer support but also to win any knockdowns and second balls in that dangerous area. I actually thought Cardwell did okay given his thankless task and he put the Coventry defence under a lot of pressure when clearing it but I can't recall a single time when we had someone in a more advanced position who won the second ball when it went there.

We also need to push the midfield on a bit more and actually try to use the ball quicker and more positively, yesterday was slow and predictable and it made getting the ball to our dangerous players really difficult which is possibly why we ended up booting it to them to no avail. Once we get players back fit I'm hoping this will improve naturally as Clements and McAllister are certainly better players than Summerfield and Berrett who should only be back up at best.

People are saying lets give the players a chance-they dont have one if all we do is hoof it to a lone striker a central attacking midfielder played on the wing and a 5ft kid. The manager needs to sort it out, He picks the team and the tactics, More negative displays like yesterday and we will be down to crowds below 5000.

Quoted from SteveHessle

Slades insistence on playing a sole centre forward is going to get us in real trouble this season. I cannot understand why he doesn't see what we see, it's so bloody negative & will eventually cut crowds.
Playing Jones on the wing is a waste, I reckon that he is best just behind the centre forward.
Regarding substitutions, why did he take Summerfield off, whilst keeping Berrett on ? I used to be not exactly the greatest fan of Summerfield, but he is a different player so far this season. Berrett on the other hand is the same & most irritatingly, backs out of challenges 5 yards early. Taking Cardwell off did zero, as replacing like for like & leaving the sub in the same isolated position is just plain stupid.
Bolarinwa should have started for sure & at least we would have had 2 wingers & just maybe, the penetration could have led to a meaningful cross should we actually have had anyone in the box.
I thought Rose had a poor game yesterday, probably just to the lack of tactics.
The one 'compensation' was the two centre backs, that is other than the flashes of Dembele.
Boring defensive, one man up front at home bores me stupid. It has never worked for any Town manager. Remember Paul Groves wrecking Darren Mansaram, playing him as an 18 year old against ex Premier League defenders for instance.

Agree with most of that and glad I'm not the only one who has concerns about Rose.

I would add though that I still have worries about our two centre backs, still not convinced they will do a job seeing as we conceded again with a free header from a corner.

Regarding Mitch Rose he certainly adds more energy to midfield but technically he looks rather poor

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Well said. Teams who come down will always have better/better paid players and Robins is a decent manager at L1/L2 level. We were missing Vernon, Asante, Mills, Osbourne, Clements, McAlister, Kelly & Clifton yesterday and we were still in the game up to 68 minutes. Then we concede a soft goal and Slade becomes the Devil Incarnate because he dares to set up solid against a team with better players than ours. One up front with three supporting behind is potentially more attacking than a 442 and I suspect that Mourinho will set ManU up the same today with 3 behind Lukaku.

Has Clifton been signed now? I'd missed that, how long for a year?

I get that we could be considered as being "in the game" before the first but with so few attempts on goal I never thought we could take 3 points. When everyone is fit we have a decent squad but we do need someone playing off the lead forward. Playing 1 up front definitely works for a lot of teams but until all our best players are fit and available it does not look that great and appears to encourage players trying to hit longer balls into to find them, you can be a lone striker without being a target man.

Early days in reality but my initial view on Rose is that he appears to start games well and then fades a bit, yesterday he actually had little influence on the game after half time but hat could have been more about their extra body in mid field rather than anything he did wrong, give him time I think alongside Osborne and/or Clements he will come good.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Has Clifton been signed now? I'd missed that, how long for a year?

I get that we could be considered as being "in the game" before the first but with so few attempts on goal I never thought we could take 3 points. When everyone is fit we have a decent squad but we do need someone playing off the lead forward. Playing 1 up front definitely works for a lot of teams but until all our best players are fit and available it does not look that great and appears to encourage players trying to hit longer balls into to find them, you can be a lone striker without being a target man.

Early days in reality but my initial view on Rose is that he appears to start games well and then fades a bit, yesterday he actually had little influence on the game after half time but hat could have been more about their extra body in mid field rather than anything he did wrong, give him time I think alongside Osborne and/or Clements he will come good.

Signed a one year contract extension. Heard last week that he starts full training this week after his foot injury.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Well said. Teams who come down will always have better/better paid players and Robins is a decent manager at L1/L2 level. We were missing Vernon, Asante, Mills, Osbourne, Clements, McAlister, Kelly & Clifton yesterday and we were still in the game up to 68 minutes. Then we concede a soft goal and Slade becomes the Devil Incarnate because he dares to set up solid against a team with better players than ours. One up front with three supporting behind is potentially more attacking than a 442 and I suspect that Mourinho will set ManU up the same today with 3 behind Lukaku.

But Slade appears to have reverted to " hoofball " judging by the first half so surely two players up front would have been more constructive. I doubt Mourinho will set up Manure to play " hoofball".

Chaos makes some good points and they are similar to my thoughts on things. Everybody has their ideas on who and what we should be playing but there is no evidence that we would have done any better with Vernon or Jones up front and a winger on the side Jones occupied. You can rant and rave all you like about the merits, or otherwise of Berrett and Summerfield but those are the players we have available and Slade is the man to make the decisions, whether we agree or not. Basically, we have the budget we've got, the players we've got and the management team we've got. Sometimes the other team just has better or performs better on the day. We could play the same players in the same formation next home game and win 3-0, that's football.

I'm not a big fan of the way Slade sets up his teams and the way he has them play, but he is the manager and you have to trust that after 800 odd games, he knows a bit about how to gather the most points with the players he has at his disposal. We can all say after the event that he should have done this that or the other, but do we really believe that we know more about tactics and players capabilities than he and Wilko do?

We will lose games, it's a given. What we hope is that we win enough to first be safe from battling at the wrong end, and second that we get enough to trouble the top 7. It's way too early to judge at the moment and when players are all fit, or we have another signing or two, things could look completely different. We may have an entirely different starting 11 in a months time. McAllister, Vernon, Osborne, Asante, Clements all unavailable yesterday, two players making their debuts as subs, Dembele playing in only his second full time game. Cardwell, who is 20 years old and has little experience thrown in at the last minute. It was too much too soon for him and he struggled against a decent back line; not his fault.

Quoted from ginnywings

Chaos makes some good points and they are similar to my thoughts on things. Everybody has their ideas on who and what we should be playing but there is no evidence that we would have done any better with Vernon or Jones up front and a winger on the side Jones occupied. You can rant and rave all you like about the merits, or otherwise of Berrett and Summerfield but those are the players we have available and Slade is the man to make the decisions, whether we agree or not. Basically, we have the budget we've got, the players we've got and the management team we've got. Sometimes the other team just has better or performs better on the day. We could play the same players in the same formation next home game and win 3-0, that's football.

I'm not a big fan of the way Slade sets up his teams and the way he has them play, but he is the manager and you have to trust that after 800 odd games, he knows a bit about how to gather the most points with the players he has at his disposal. We can all say after the event that he should have done this that or the other, but do we really believe that we know more about tactics and players capabilities than he and Wilko do?

We will lose games, it's a given. What we hope is that we win enough to first be safe from battling at the wrong end, and second that we get enough to trouble the top 7. It's way too early to judge at the moment and when players are all fit, or we have another signing or two, things could look completely different. We may have an entirely different starting 11 in a months time. McAllister, Vernon, Osborne, Asante, Clements all unavailable yesterday, two players making their debuts as subs, Dembele playing in only his second full time game. Cardwell, who is 20 years old and has little experience thrown in at the last minute. It was too much too soon for him and he struggled against a decent back line; not his fault.

Everybody sat around me was saying that 15 mins before kick off and even more so 10 mins into the game we could all see how it would pan out when we saw the line up and then how we set up.

Just watched extended highlights,confirmed just how ineffective we were.

Quoted from Madeleymariner

Everybody sat around me was saying that 15 mins before kick off and even more so 10 mins into the game we could all see how it would pan out when we saw the line up and then how we set up.

Best get your CV into John Fenty then.

Clifton was one of the first to sign a new contract if I recall.

Real shame he's been injured as I think he would've finally got his chance. Not sure we'll ever see McAllister play a run of games for us, Osborne is out and although I like Clements, im not sure he is a Slade type player..

Why is it that the management can't see that Jones doesn't work out wide? Why can't they put him in the middle and put Bolarinwa out wide?

What I also noticed yesterday was that when their defence won headers, there was a massive gap between our midfield and defence. Against a slow defence like ours, that's suicide.

Had a gander at the Cov forum too; noticed that the Astute fellow is relaying all his info back to his mates, keeping with his 'I'm right, you're wrong' schtick. Obviously their whole board thinks there's nothing with the free kick. Having a go at our players for some heavy challenges but later saying that they hoped their players were horrible to play against and it was good to have some fight for a change ::). Thought that they should have had about 3 penalties (I've checked, they only have a case for one). Finally, they're in ecstasy at winning two games in a row.

Having thought about yesterday, in my mind it comes down to one thing. We didn't start with the players that suited the formation we were playing - that are able to get us up the pitch. We had no genuine width or pace down the flanks. Jones isn't a wide player and as good as dembele is, we can't rely on him because he will soon get isolated and marked out the game.

Slade wants pace and power in a 4231 formation, but he didn't pick the players to suit this?? We shouldn't have started with Rose, Berrett AND summerfield. We only have space for two of these to sit in front of the back four. Jones should have been played behind the striker (in this natural position) in the middle of the 3, with any two of Kelly/Dembele/Bolarinwa/DJ who are all genuine wide players either side of him.

Slade bottled it by going too defensive and putting square pegs in round holes which completely cut off our attacking threat. We've finally established balance within the team and he never made use of it.

Quoted from Davec

Regarding Mitch Rose he certainly adds more energy to midfield but technically he looks rather poor

I like Mitch Rose. I think some fans misunderstand the role he is being asked to play which is holding midfielder in front of the back 4 to frustrate opposition attacks and he is doing this well. He is fairly quick and physically strong. Think of the good old fashioned shoulder charge he did to win us the ball or the countless times he closed players down and nicked the ball. We have not had someone like him for ages. Key player in my eyes. Only criticism he sometimes gets too deep and ends up on top of our central defenders going for the same ball. Otherwise get off his case!!

Quoted from oldun

I like Mitch Rose. I think some fans misunderstand the role he is being asked to play which is holding midfielder in front of the back 4 to frustrate opposition attacks and he is doing this well. He is fairly quick and physically strong. Think of the good old fashioned shoulder charge he did to win us the ball or the countless times he closed players down and nicked the ball. We have not had someone like him for ages. Key player in my eyes. Only criticism he sometimes gets too deep and ends up on top of our central defenders going for the same ball. Otherwise get off his case!!

Pointing out a strength then a weakness in his game is hardly me being on his case?

Quoted from oldun

I like Mitch Rose. I think some fans misunderstand the role he is being asked to play which is holding midfielder in front of the back 4 to frustrate opposition attacks and he is doing this well. He is fairly quick and physically strong. Think of the good old fashioned shoulder charge he did to win us the ball or the countless times he closed players down and nicked the ball. We have not had someone like him for ages. Key player in my eyes. Only criticism he sometimes gets too deep and ends up on top of our central defenders going for the same ball. Otherwise get off his case!!

I like Mitch Rose. Alongside McAllister as the defensive midfield, he will fit nicely, Kelly, Jones & Dembele as the attacking 3.

I'd play Osborne ahead of Kelly when he's fit as well.

Just reading this on Coventry's website. Didn't realise you couldn't get between the player and the ball and have to allow the shot.

It happened right in front of the away end so most City fans there had a really clear view. It was a stonewall penalty. The ball was in front of Vincenti who had a clear sight for a shot on goal and would almost certainly have scored. As he went to strike the ball a Grimsby defender put his foot between Vincenti's foot and the ball. Vincenti therefore kicked the defender's foot and went over. I was certain the referee would give the pen as he was right on the spot. I couldn't believe it when he waved play on. If there was an injustice with the first goal (and I don't think there was), his decision to allow it only made up for the terrible decision with the penalty.

Quoted from NorthseaMariner

Just reading this on Coventry's website. Didn't realise you couldn't get between the player and the ball and have to allow the shot.

It happened right in front of the away end so most City fans there had a really clear view. It was a stonewall penalty. The ball was in front of Vincenti who had a clear sight for a shot on goal and would almost certainly have scored. As he went to strike the ball a Grimsby defender put his foot between Vincenti's foot and the ball. Vincenti therefore kicked the defender's foot and went over. I was certain the referee would give the pen as he was right on the spot. I couldn't believe it when he waved play on. If there was an injustice with the first goal (and I don't think there was), his decision to allow it only made up for the terrible decision with the penalty.

Must admit from the Upper Findus looked like nailed on pen to me, which I believe it was Berrett, would probably have meant he received his second yellow much earlier in the game.

Ref was poor all game & can't remember last time we had a"homer" assail seem anti Grimsby to me!!!

But surely you don't have to allow the attacker a free hit at the ball? Or have I got it wrong again.😔

Watching on I follow I was certain it was a penalty. I was in shock when the ref didn't give it. But I think the balance in the middle was poor yesterday. Berrett and Summerfield offer neith adequate defensive cover or attacking impetus. I like the idea of McAllister and rose in there with jones giving more of an attacking midfield role. But the way we set up yesterday was too negative, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who could foresee the game after seeing the team sheet.

I had a great view, just behind the ref and I thought he got the penalty decision right, although I certainly wouldn't have been surprised if he had given it.

Quoted from NorthseaMariner

But surely you don't have to allow the attacker a free hit at the ball? Or have I got it wrong again.😔

Looked a penalty to me as Berrett looked to tackle the man rather than the ball.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I like Mitch Rose. Alongside McAllister as the defensive midfield, he will fit nicely, Kelly, Jones & Dembele as the attacking 3.

Not sure what people have seen in McAllister, many on here are suggesting we shouldn't make assumptions based on one game this season yet some seem to think that McAllister is the answer to our midfield problems based on 4 games 3 of which were a year ago.

Let's hope he is what we are missing.

Hmmm. If you put your foot in front of the ball to stop a shot, are you guilty of obstruction? Given how much leeway defenders are given in obstructing forwards when letting the ball run out of play, perhaps not. Looked a penalty to me it must be said and the chance came after some pretty shambolic organisation and defending.

As an aside about Rose, I think he did well in patches but attempted to overplay at times as well. He needs to get his challenges in and win tackles then control the ball and move it on as quickly as possible to our ball players rather than trying anything too clever himself.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Not sure what people have seen in McAllister, many on here are suggesting we shouldn't make assumptions based on one game this season yet some seem to think that McAllister is the answer to our midfield problems based on 4 games 3 of which were a year ago.

Let's hope he is what we are missing.

Well he made a real difference in the last game last season against Plymouth.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Not sure what people have seen in McAllister, many on here are suggesting we shouldn't make assumptions based on one game this season yet some seem to think that McAllister is the answer to our midfield problems based on 4 games 3 of which were a year ago.

Let's hope he is what we are missing.

Will he ever be fit again to play a handful of games for us, seems to me to be another Hearn and will finish his career with us unfortunately, I can`t understand why everyone on here is thinking that he will step up to the plate as the Messiah of our midfield problems, I hope he does but my faith goes more into young Harry Clifton if he ever gets a chance

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I like Mitch Rose. Alongside McAllister as the defensive midfield, he will fit nicely, Kelly, Jones & Dembele as the attacking 3.

Let's hope we see McAllister soon, although the evidence suggests he won't play 30+ games. I too would like to see Harry Clifton given an opportunity, he was the divisional player of the season at Grantham, albeit a much lower league. I think he's injured at the moment?

The five you mention though, look good. Sam Jones is wasted out wide, I don't want to see him there again - he is a dangerman through the middle and will terrify oponents.

IMO the change of shape killed us.

Going from the 4231 at Chesterfield to a 433 on Saturday with Summerfield coming in for Kelly was the wrong choice. Should've brought in one of the two available wide players (Bolarinwa/Jaiyesimi) to take Kelly's place and kept the same shape as last week.

The change of shape meant we just had the two wingers trying to support the striker as opposed to three attacking players supporting Cardwell. And we didn't keep the ball long enough or build up play through the team to be able to get us up the pitch and get people close to Cardwell.

The midfield of Rose just behind Berrett and Summerfield held a decent enough shape but weren't as effective in possession. And I was very disappointed in the distribution of Clarke and Collins, who just seem to float high lofted balls forward in the air. Even when they were attempting a switch it diagonal pass they lofted it high with no pace,rather than a driven ball that might have not given the defender time to go across and challenge a header as if dropped from the sky.

I thought the much-criticised Summerfield did alright, including a couple of vital interceptions in our own box. Rose did alright in the first half but in the second he was caught in possession a few times, failing to turn away from the pressure or release the ball earlier.

Berrett gave a typical Berrett performance. He's not a bad player, he's decent enough technically and he doesn't have terrible games where he makes mistake after mistake. He just doesn't have any physical attributes, doesn't make quick decisions and is never in the right place at the right time when we don't have the ball.

Jones is pretty ineffective out wide (despite scoring his goal at Chesterfield when out wide right). But he also made poor decisions on the ball and repeatedly played high balls trying to force the switch to Dembele, leaving him to challenge their full back in the air for it.

Cardwell was on a hiding to nothing battling on his own against their back 4 with little or no support. I wouldn't discard him after that, I still think he'll be useful with more players around him.

As disappointing as we were, the game was heading for a 0-0 I'm sure, until we gift them a stupid goal. Because Coventry were well organised but looked pretty average apart from that. Concerning to concede another from a set piece. I thought we looked fairly strong defending the endless corners at Chesterfield, but including the goal that came indirectly coming from a corner that day, we've conceded 3 in the 3 games from corners.

We're not a million miles away. I think we need Clements to get back and I'd also think Slade will want more quality in central midfield anyway. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a new signing come in soon in that area. We should trust players like Jones and Dembele a bit more to give them the ball when they've got a man behind them - they're asking for the ball and are good enough go receive it under pressure, trust them and give them it.

Reading everyone moaning about playing 1 up front is boring. Teams do it up and down the country. Football isn't just 442 any more. It doesn't make you defensive having 1 up top. It's about how we play the system to support attacks and balance it with defending out of possession. We played 442 under Hurst but were hardly attacking were we. It'll take a few weeks I'd imagine for Slade to tinker and find the right blend for his attacking players - where to fit Jones in, where can Dembele be most effective, who to play up front, which 3 players behind the striker if 4231 -.as friendlies don't really allow you to find these things out.

Just watched the 10 minute highlights and the 3 half chances we had where because we played the ball on the deck.. I trust everyone on here who was at the game who said we played long ball all game. So surely even just in these short highlights it shows we create our best chances keeping the ball down.
Move in to Stevenage now

Quoted from lukeo

Just watched the 10 minute highlights and the 3 half chances we had where because we played the ball on the deck.. I trust everyone on here who was at the game who said we played long ball all game. So surely even just in these short highlights it shows we create our best chances keeping the ball down.
Move in to Stevenage now

You certainly move around a bit Luke! ;D

Quoted from lukeo

Just watched the 10 minute highlights and the 3 half chances we had where because we played the ball on the deck.. I trust everyone on here who was at the game who said we played long ball all game. So surely even just in these short highlights it shows we create our best chances keeping the ball down.
Move in to Stevenage now

We certainly played an interesting number of long balls towards our 5'8" winger who, oddly enough, didn't win much in the air against their 6'1" full-back.

Quoted from Tommy

IMO the change of shape killed us.

Going from the 4231 at Chesterfield to a 433 on Saturday with Summerfield coming in for Kelly was the wrong choice. Should've brought in one of the two available wide players (Bolarinwa/Jaiyesimi) to take Kelly's place and kept the same shape as last week.

The change of shape meant we just had the two wingers trying to support the striker as opposed to three attacking players supporting Cardwell. And we didn't keep the ball long enough or build up play through the team to be able to get us up the pitch and get people close to Cardwell.

The midfield of Rose just behind Berrett and Summerfield held a decent enough shape but weren't as effective in possession. And I was very disappointed in the distribution of Clarke and Collins, who just seem to float high lofted balls forward in the air. Even when they were attempting a switch it diagonal pass they lofted it high with no pace,rather than a driven ball that might have not given the defender time to go across and challenge a header as if dropped from the sky.

I thought the much-criticised Summerfield did alright, including a couple of vital interceptions in our own box. Rose did alright in the first half but in the second he was caught in possession a few times, failing to turn away from the pressure or release the ball earlier.

Berrett gave a typical Berrett performance. He's not a bad player, he's decent enough technically and he doesn't have terrible games where he makes mistake after mistake. He just doesn't have any physical attributes, doesn't make quick decisions and is never in the right place at the right time when we don't have the ball.

Jones is pretty ineffective out wide (despite scoring his goal at Chesterfield when out wide right). But he also made poor decisions on the ball and repeatedly played high balls trying to force the switch to Dembele, leaving him to challenge their full back in the air for it.

Cardwell was on a hiding to nothing battling on his own against their back 4 with little or no support. I wouldn't discard him after that, I still think he'll be useful with more players around him.

As disappointing as we were, the game was heading for a 0-0 I'm sure, until we gift them a stupid goal. Because Coventry were well organised but looked pretty average apart from that. Concerning to concede another from a set piece. I thought we looked fairly strong defending the endless corners at Chesterfield, but including the goal that came indirectly coming from a corner that day, we've conceded 3 in the 3 games from corners.

We're not a million miles away. I think we need Clements to get back and I'd also think Slade will want more quality in central midfield anyway. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a new signing come in soon in that area. We should trust players like Jones and Dembele a bit more to give them the ball when they've got a man behind them - they're asking for the ball and are good enough go receive it under pressure, trust them and give them it.

Reading everyone moaning about playing 1 up front is boring. Teams do it up and down the country. Football isn't just 442 any more. It doesn't make you defensive having 1 up top. It's about how we play the system to support attacks and balance it with defending out of possession. We played 442 under Hurst but we're hardly attacking were we. It'll take a few weeks I'd imagine for Hurst to tinker and find the right blend for his attacking players - where to fit Jones in, where can Dembele be most effective, who to play up front, which 3 players behind the striker if 4231 -.as friendlies don't really allow you to find these things out.

4 - 2 - 3 - 1 for me for the time being at least. Jones in the middle of the 3 behind a striker with 2 players who can play wide when required.The 2 ahead of the back 4 should be 2 from Rose, Clements and McAlsiter if fit until Osborne comes back and gives us real options.

We have a decent squad and will get the blend right I'm sure.