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well....
better result than expected....
zero goal threat from Vernon..Matt or Jones....
no width....
Davies..Clarke and Collins in particular solid for me..Dixon not so.
Woolford is the new Monkhouse, little attacking threat, unable to run his man and too deep for a winger of my liking....but definately a Slade favourite.
Front line offered very little service and threat especially first half.....
Summerfield was everywhere and backed up by Berrett....

We need width though...rarely got behind them and set piece delivery was awful.

7660 ...yeah...ok ....clearly room for another 1000 wasnt there?!?

Oh and...large home gate expected...i know lets only open two turnstiles in the Pontoon!!

Fairly even game, but nevertheless a poor game with very little quality. Any other form of entertainment and you'd be asking for your money back. Summerfield and Barrett did ok, although we're very pedestrian in our build up play. Defence was pretty solid, and very little for either keeper to do really, with Arnold having the only real chance for them in the 1st half, and Berretts run in the 2nd half, our only real chance. I thought Matt was very poor, for a big lad, he doesn't win anything in the air, can't hold the ball up, and has no pace. Everybody else was pretty poor, with Dembele and Woolford not on their games today.

On this evidence you're looking at two mid table sides at best, and for the casual supporter, they're hardly going to be coming back in their droves, so back to the 4000 gates again. Anyway a points a point, and on a plus point our next 4 games are against teams who appear to be even worse then us, Port Vale, Crawley, Cheltenham and Morecombe....UTM

Heard loads of comments along the lines of "this is awful, i won't be back in a hurry".

See Mansfield did the biz in the other early kick off against the league leaders.

Poor game with no quality from either side. Palmer and Green subdued and easily snuffed out and the same at the other end with Matt and Jones dominated.

Summerfield was excellent in winning he ball, intercepting and keeping us in possession. Just wanted someone to beat an opponent to create some space.

Neither side deserved all 3 points imo

PS Didn't think Raggett was particularly comfortable on the ball tbh

If today teaches us anything, it's that for all the money they've splashed and all the fanfare, Lincoln are at present no better than us. Lets get behind the team moving forward and hopefully we can improve on the pitch.

For a match between rivals it was poor, its up to us as the home team to show more intent, its a good job Lincoln were terrible as well, one long yawn fest and neither will make the playoffs or get relegated

My MOM was Summerfield

Pretty even. Both teams had a very similar style of place and cancelled each other out. Point is fair. I thought summerfield was superb. Won tackles, made the right decisions, some excellent long passes and worked his boll#%+$ off. Berrett also had a decent game. Another special mention for Paul Dixon as well who I thought was absolutely dreadful. First half was abysmal (being generous) clumsy, slow, sloppy, weak. Improved slightly second half but still not good enough. He was also poor against colchester. I wonder if there's anyone available on a free? Massive weak link.

Poor game,town looked good at the back but none existent attacking threat.
Thought the atmosphere was poor for a derby,town quiet until mid second half.
Decent attendance,plenty of space in the main.

Started brightly and were on top for 15-20 mins without creating a clear chance. Score in that period and we would have been in with a shout. Rest of the half was poor from both sides. Second half better with both teams trying to get a goal which would have settled it. When Slade sent Rose on for Summerfield with 20 mins to go then he had obviously decided to settle for a draw. Also he and Wilko were telling them to slow it down and take their time. However we did create a few half chances, but a draw was fair. Collins and Summerfield (who looked dejected when taken off) were the pick of the players for me. Dixon and Woolford pose little threat on the left. Matt? The message from his brain to his feet takes too long! Vernon held the ball up better. Dembele again showed flashes of skill but nothing to show for it. Jones worked hard but looks out of sorts. Pity we had not won on Tuesday as this would have been a better result. Lincoln were no better than town. Ref Boyeson did pretty well.

Was Summerfield really that good ? I thought he did a good job but the words outstanding and unbelievable are just a bit ott imo.

He stood out more than Berrett because berrett was rather anonymous really.

So So predictable. We start off well for 10 mins. or so then the other team susses our tactics -game over - no instructions to change tactics at half time when clearly our attack didn't win a thing. No service from the wings. Dixon is obviously colour blind. Sommerfield shaded it for star man- hope he's not too badly injured. A lot of effort all round. Ref. not too bad. Don't think the gate figures were correct as stated earlier. I think the crowd support was pretty good actually with plenty of banter between fans. Think it's about time Slade changes his opinion of who his favourite players are because some of them aren't the supporters.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Was Summerfield really that good ? I thought he did a good job but the words outstanding and unbelievable are just a bit ott imo.

He stood out more than Berrett because berrett was rather anonymous really.

Best game he`s had in a Town shirt, and then gets subbed :(

Why can't you leave Summerfield alone? He was head and shoulders above every other player on the pitch. What has he got to do for you to acknowledge he's done well?

Even when he has a really good game you still knock him.

It must be a Grimsby thing. Once a player is deemed not good enough then they automatically labelled rubbish no matter how well they played.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Was Summerfield really that good ? I thought he did a good job but the words outstanding and unbelievable are just a bit ott imo.

He stood out more than Berrett because berrett was rather anonymous really.

You really don't like Berrett, do you?

Really disappointed if I'm honest.

We started fairly well in the first 15 minutes but the rest of the half was just flat. Second half we never really had any sustained pressure in the final third or periods of possession. Hence the atmosphere of the first 15 minutes completely fizzling out. The longer the second half went on it just seemed like both teams had settled for not losing the game.

The reason I'm disappointed is that Lincoln were just as bang-average as us and it wouldn't have taken much quality to win the game. But we just didn't attempt to play any football at any stage.

I don't mind us going longer at times to mix it up and pose them a different problem, but all we appear to want to do us lump it up to the strikers in the air. And we don't even do that with much thought. It ends up being a floated ball with no pace just dropping out of the sky leaving it 50-50 between our CF and their CB (who has time to get across and challenge) as to who wins the header.

Throw ins. My word, why do we not take a throw in by throwing it to someone's feet? So what if the man has a defender behind/beside him, just throw the ball to his feet or safe-side and it can always go straight back to the thrower if need be. But again, we just chuck it up in the air and hope a striker can win the header.

It's frustrating because I think if we tried to play some football, we've got some players who'd flourish and we'd get a lot more out of them. Dembele, Jones, Woodford, Vernon, DJ, Summerfield all want the ball to their feet and can play football when it's on the floor.

Performances like this aren't going to bring the floating fans back.

Quoted from Garth

Best game he`s had in a Town shirt, and then gets subbed :(

He was our best player by a country mile. Bags of effort. He broke up a lot of their play then gets subbed. Baffled by Slades decision on that

I think Lincoln stayed deep and compact for the first 20. Classic away tactic of blunting the initial thrust from the home side and shutting the crowd up. It was noticeable that after 15/20 mins, they pushed up 10 yards and started to control the game as the half wore on. It was fairly even second half.

Quoted from carrot top

He was our best player by a country mile. Bags of effort. He broke up a lot of their play then gets subbed. Baffled by Slades decision on that

Clearly wanted a clean sheet more than a win. Tightened up the midfield.

Heard there was a group of gimps trying to cause trouble at Steels restaurant, they got battered though.

Quoted from carrot top

He was our best player by a country mile. Bags of effort. He broke up a lot of their play then gets subbed. Baffled by Slades decision on that

He was limping around just before being subbed, think that was the reason.

Draw is a fair result although think the judges would have given Lincoln the win as they had better chances. They weren’t any better than us on that evidence as others have said.

Summerfield was excellent today in his best GTFC performance. I think if we utilised him better by playing more football we’d see those performances regularly as he is always looking to play a quick pass. Obviously he does have the odd mistake in him and he nearly gifted them a chance in the first half. Good game for McKeown today too with a good stop from a close range effort and making some difficult catches under pressure that he’d have tried punching in another game.

At half time all the talk was of Dixon and it was fully justified. A truly awful first half performance from him - he was obviously targeted by them as a weak link. He did improve a bit second half and won two or three tackles but it would have been difficult for him to have been much worse! Matt unimpressive too.

Boyeson’s still a daft twit.

Well I quite enjoyed it! Lincoln's attacking plan was easier to see than ours was. Defensively we were very good. Not sure what Dixon did wrong defensively to merit such negative comments. He isn't Andrew but that goes for 90% of the left backs I've seen this season. Neither him nor Davies give us what Andrew and the much missed Mills (today at least) give us going forward which might explain some of our attacking failings.
Hopefully Summerfield's performance will allow even his loudest critics to get off his back. Head and shoulders above the rest for MOM.
Town fans can usually forgive technical shortcomings. What they don't tend to forgive is lack of effort. There were at least two occasions in the second half where Matt just stood in the box watching the ball pinging around as though he had no idea what to do with himself. A bloke his size even if he hasn't got decent heading ability in his armoury should at least be worrying the life out of the opponents defence.
I didn't think Lincoln were better than us.
Heartwarmingly good reception for Nathan when he was subbed.
Atmosphere pretty decent especially when the Findus got involved.

Quoted from Sigone

He was limping around just before being subbed, think that was the reason.

Agree, once he was sat in the dugout he was handed an ice pack which he placed on his thigh.

Summerfield was an absolute warrior today digging deep for the team. He threaded some good passes to the forwards and wide players also. Hopefully some people will get off his back now.

I think they were slightly better in the final third in that they had more ideas but then they have a young and intelligent management duo behind them who will go far. Neither side deserved 3 points though.

Oh and we really need to work on our set pieces this week. For a side that struggles going forward we need to take advantage of them. Too many times Dixon and Woolford put rubbish floated balls in. Why not get Davies on them? One of the better deliveries in the league for me.

Didn't go today so cant comment on any performances but good to see players like summerfield getting recognition for 100% effort after being a scapegoat for so long .

They shaded it by creating a bit more but a point was fair enough as neither were great. Plenty of effort from us and we defended pretty well but very little quality as we all know. Assume both will be mid table.

Could've definitely been worse though so we move on.

Yep agree Summerfield was everywhere today and was easily man of the match. We started well and bossed the first quarter of an hour then faded a bit. Felt they had the best chances and went close on a couple of occasions.

The big Gypo had a chance has did Arnold flashing one just wide. Big Matt had a game to forget and looked lethargic hardly won anything in the air.

Best bit of banter was at half time when Rheed and company had a few verbals with the fans in the lower. I thought bet the fat slug comes on and scores ll he did take the banter in his stride even the moron that threw a pound coin at him.

Nice touch to give it to a young imp in the Osmond giving the thumbs up to the lower.

Big revolting fat slob in the Osmond "Tommy" might think he is a celeb but he just looked and acted like a twhat tbh.

Did not learn a lot from today except Summerfield is proving he can play the midfield role better than I thought and is improving game on game. Maybe Cardwells pace may have had a better late impact today.

Better performance than Tuesday and probably a fair result, the final third letting us down again.
Lincoln, although they shaded it with posession, were no better.
Best performers for me were Summerfield, Collins, Davies and Woolford.
Bags of effort from Jones and Vernon when he came on but Matt just offered nothing, and Dembele was better than his last game. I thought Dixon was woeful.
And just a word about Nicky Cowley, I sit behind the away dugout and what a moaning g** he is, never stopped all game.
UTM

Quoted from Ahh Sole

You really don't like Berrett, do you?

No.

Thought the ref was ok today however the linesman was not up to the job. Is it just me or do we seem to give a shed load of free kicks away most games today included?

Another point worth mentioning today our dead ball situations were very disappointing today have we not got anybody that can whip a cross in?

The floated crosses/corners are far to easy to deal with by the keeper or defenders, they on the other hand whipped some lovely balls in the box which our defence did well to deal with.

Our set piece balls weren't even floated In, they never beat the first man.

We created nothing all game. That's not really good enough at home as it's not as though Lincoln are runaway leaders.mckeown made a fine reflex save which kept us in the game, we could easily have lost as they had all the best chances. Matt and Dixon were awful. This season is a quest for 50 points, we just don't have a good enough squad to expect more. I don't think Jose mourinho could get promotion with this squad. Only question for me is whether slade should be given the next transfer window given how poor his recruitment was in the summer. Was interesting to note the Cowley brothers after the game. They looked like leaders coming off the pitch, hugging players even some of ours and milking their fans applause. If only......

A bit like the Colchester game in so far as I thought both teams were quite poor with Lincoln looking slightly more dangerous.

Agree with most of the comments about Summerfield easily our best player and just couldn't understand him being replaced by Rose unless he was injured as Rose was poor when he came on.

I thought Matt just didn't look like a professional footballer which was disappointing after his performance at Accrington. I also thought Dixon was very poor and would like to see us try for another left back in January.

Some sound comments above.  We have a lack of quality but could improve on the basics:

Corners usually very poor;
Freekicks (oh dear);
Throw-ins (I counted at 3 that went to Lincoln players);
Crosses made when in good positions;  (what crosses?);
Not using the space on the wings;
More movement needed up front.  It is easier to mark static players;
2 players going for the same ball;
defensive"clearances" going up in the air instead of away from danger; and
Players trying to do too much by taking on 2 or 3 players (and losing possession) when a pass was on:

The linesman in front of the Findus could be in the next SpecSavers advert. He missed 3 blatant offsides.

Jimmy Mac did okay when called on.

The two CBs were solid against some big fellows, Davis okay, Dixon is the worst full back at this club for years.

Summerfield mom, Berrett, Dembelli okay Woolford good footballer but looks unfit

Attack non existent. Matt just doesnt do it for me and Jones is a massive disappointment.

Both teams as bad as each other. Lincoln are not all that, lots of the ball but like Town do fook all with it.
Rubbish game, rubbish tactics, rubbish substitutions.
We are stuck with Fentys pal so more of the same I'm afraid.

Nevermind UTM

Quoted from GrimRob

We created nothing all game. That's not really good enough at home as it's not as though Lincoln are runaway leaders.mckeown made a fine reflex save which kept us in the game, we could easily have lost as they had all the best chances. Matt and Dixon were awful. This season is a quest for 50 points, we just don't have a good enough squad to expect more. I don't think Jose mourinho could get promotion with this squad. Only question for me is whether slade should be given the next transfer window given how poor his recruitment was in the summer. Was interesting to note the Cowley brothers after the game. They looked like leaders coming off the pitch, hugging players even some of ours and milking their fans applause. If only......

I agree with your first sentence, and we do indeed look poor.

However, there is no way that team is Slade's preferred choice. As usual we have gone for the two for the price of one option on players - we have 4 centre forwards all of whom are shocking.

Unless we can get some new investment into the club we are just going to be supporters because we love the club, not because we expect any success.

I don't rate the Cowleys either, if that is the team they have put together after all the hype.

Summerfield looked knackered to me , run his legs off gave everything and was running on empty. Slade saw things most of you didn't cos you hate Slade . I call it good judgement

Quoted from barrattstandman

Summerfield looked knackered to me , run his legs off gave everything and was running on empty. Slade saw things most of you didn't cos you hate Slade . I call it good judgement

Okay Mrs Slade calm down 👜

Quoted from barrattstandman

Summerfield looked knackered to me , run his legs off gave everything and was running on empty. Slade saw things most of you didn't cos you hate Slade . I call it good judgement

I don't hate Slade. But he did sign Dixon and Matt who were dreadful today.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

However, there is no way that team is Slade's preferred choice. As usual we have gone for the two for the price of one option on players - we have 4 centre forwards all of whom are shocking.

Unless we can get some new investment into the club we are just going to be supporters because we love the club, not because we expect any success.

All the worst players are the ones Slade has brought in. We have just had in PH a manager that generally brought good players in for the sort of wages we offer. Even MB made a few reasonable signings. I don't accept our budget has suddenly become so poor we have had to drop to inferior signings - we'll get relegated if we continue to make such poor signings. I assume most of the pre-Slade players will be towards the end of their contracts and leave soon. It doesn't matter what way you play or how you line up, you need to have the players who have the ability to deliver your instructions on the pitch.

Weird Lincoln fans. Turning up to watch a big telly, reported as 2,000 fans in the seats. Really?

[img]http://i1.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/sport/football/article558909.ece/ALTERNATES/s458/Imps-big-screen-1.jpg[/img]

Even a Gimps fan in the Echo comments said 500. Pretty sure Donald Trump is behind all the hoo-hah surrounding their found mega status.
As for the comments, hilarious.

Steve Watson, 63, also a fan of the imps for as long as he can remember (about 8 months), added: “I think we should have won by at least three.
“I thought the ref was paid by Grimsby."

Lynn Richie, 53, an Imps fan of 35 years (but couldn't be arsed to queue for the actual tickets) said..
“I think we had the chances so we should have won.
“This is my first time in over thirty-five years getting to watch Lincoln a big screen. It was a good decision and I really enjoyed it.”

Ann Rudkin and her partner were critical of the screen, although were thankful to the club for affording them the opportunity to watch the game live.
“The sound and the picture was distorted – at one point the ball looked like a square.
We have travelled all the way from Grantham to watch this, but at least we didn’t lose the match.
We appreciate the effort from the club and liked the atmosphere but don’t think we would do it again...”" she said, keeping in the spirit of the neo-Lincoln-Cowley opportunist fan.

I don't get it when people say this team wasn't Slades preferred team, every manager misses out on players, therefore only rarely do manages get their preferred team. I remember Hurst saying once he went through 20 strikers on a list before landing one.

Matt was definitely Slades plan A, we were in for him early on, Hooper was plan B or C or D then plan A became available again. Clarke, Rose and Kelly were definitely plan A, as Dembele appears to be.

If you take the derby element out of it. Today was just two average mid table teams.

we never looked like scoring at any point, Matt and Dixon were poor. Summerfield stand out the best. Been bored senseless in all home games this season and if had not got a season ticket would not be there simple as that. Slade recruitment horrible I struggle to find one player that has improved us and a lot are worse. Lincoln play hoofball like us but have some better players. Cancelled other plans for early kick off. With this squad I will be very happy to get 50 points utm

Quoted from Zmariner

we never looked like scoring at any point, Matt and Dixon were poor. Summerfield stand out the best. Been bored senseless in all home games this season and if had not got a season ticket would not be there simple as that. Slade recruitment horrible I struggle to find one player that has improved us and a lot are worse. Lincoln play hoofball like us but have some better players. Cancelled other plans for early kick off. With this squad I will be very happy to get 50 points utm

Three very pertinent words. Clarke no better than Pearson, Rose no better than Summerfield/Berrett/Clements, Matt/Hooper dreadful, Dixon not fit to lace Danny Andrew's boots, Dembele/DJ no end product, Woolford unfit, Kelly worse than all of the above and the fact that Killip and Cardwell are perpetual bench warmers is probably beneficial to their careers.

I wonder what Slade could of done with John-Lewis ??)

Quoted from barrattstandman

Summerfield looked knackered to me , run his legs off gave everything and was running on empty. Slade saw things most of you didn't cos you hate Slade . I call it good judgement

He was injured FFS

Quoted from Freemoash88

I wonder what Slade could of done with John-Lewis ??)

Put him in goal ???

Quoted from GrimRob

All the worst players are the ones Slade has brought in. We have just had in PH a manager that generally brought good players in for the sort of wages we offer. Even MB made a few reasonable signings. I don't accept our budget has suddenly become so poor we have had to drop to inferior signings - we'll get relegated if we continue to make such poor signings. I assume most of the pre-Slade players will be towards the end of their contracts and leave soon. It doesn't matter what way you play or how you line up, you need to have the players who have the ability to deliver your instructions on the pitch.

Fair points but I still maintain if you do not pay the right money you will not get the men you want.

I would never knock Hurst but he was 5 or 6 years in building the team. I am a bit bemused by the lack of quality in Slade's signings but I cannot believe many were his first choice targets. If they were, then he should take some stick and there needs to be a lot of work done on the training ground to make any headway.

Never no mention of Wilkinson on here, Slade`s never played top class football Wilko has and been successful, you would have thought that he would be the best person to coach our strikers to at least move around the 18 yard area in a more threatening way.

Quoted from Garth

Never no mention of Wilkinson on here, Slade`s never played top class football Wilko has and been successful, you would have thought that he would be the best person to coach our strikers to at least move around the 18 yard area in a more threatening way.

Good point. Watching Matt today was like watching the kid in the playground who thought that he only had to move when he could score. Hooper is much the same - both are a waste of space (and contract).

Average game between 2 average teams, I thought they slightly edged it on chances created, especially that bit of a scramble at the end that saw Macca make a smart block, and to be honest I think if we were still playing we wouldn't have scored yet. Never looked like breaking them down especially Sean Raggett who had both Jones and Matt in his pocket. I thought we lacked any sort of width today, Dembele came inside every time he got the ball and Woolford only ever looks to play an early pass as he doesn't have the pace to beat his full back, and our full backs barely venture forward.

Summerfield had an excellent game, I'd like to see him make some late runs into the penalty area as I think he has the aggression to get on the end of something and grab a goal or 2.

Not really much else to say, 2 points from 2 winnable home games isn't what anyone hoped for and probably shows where this season will end up, mid table mediocrity... roll on next season?

Two mid table 4th Division teams for me. Thought Cowley got it wrong and tried to be far too clever with his shape as a simple 4-4-2 would have possibly caused us problems down the flanks and we never check runners from mid field so Bostwick would have had a bigger influence, I’ve seen him a few times over the years and he like to gohst forward. Also if their “training is championship level” it did not show today.

I thought overall Town tried to get hold of the game from the off and for the first 20 looked ok but they finished the half a bit stronger without either side really threatening.

The second half was a really good illustration of where we are, not sure if we’re a “footballing” or “direct” side and poor decision making whilst on the ball costs us momentum and sometimes possession. In addition to this both half’s exposed our lack of quality up front. To be fair they had a couple of spells in the 2nd half and possibly looked more likely to take a lead.

Special mention to Luke Summerfield who was excellent today, he was well backed up by Berret too, but they are a bit too similar so I guess it worked today as I’m sure the first objective was not to lose. Defence was decent and Macca delivered on his first objective - a clean sheet. Though they worked hard I am not sure what game plan we had for the 4 “offensive” players Jones, Matt, Dembele abd Woolford to get into and make a difference to the game. BTW Matt should not start ahead of Vernon from what I have seen and Cardwell should be given a start as he offers something different despite his age, oddly enough I thought Tombola would have caused them trouble today too.

So overall a fair result as neither side did enough to win the game.

Great to see the response Nathan Arnold got when he came off I don’t think I’ve seen anything like that since Super Clive destroyed us on that Friday night.

UTM!

Says a lot about what Slade thinks of Hooper bringing Vernon on to replace the totally ineffective Matt,Hooper was brought in at the time s our main striker,close season recruitment was a joke.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Two mid table 4th Division teams for me. Thought Cowley got it wrong and tried to be far too clever with his shape as a simple 4-4-2 would have possibly caused us problems down the flanks and we never check runners from mid field so Bostwick would have had a bigger influence, I’ve seen him a few times over the years and he like to gohst forward. Also if their “training is championship level” it did not show today.

I thought overall Town tried to get hold of the game from the off and for the first 20 looked ok but they finished the half a bit stronger without either side really threatening.

The second half was a really good illustration of where we are, not sure if we’re a “footballing” or “direct” side and poor decision making whilst on the ball costs us momentum and sometimes possession. In addition to this both half’s exposed our lack of quality up front. To be fair they had a couple of spells in the 2nd half and possibly looked more likely to take a lead.

Special mention to Luke Summerfield who was excellent today, he was well backed up by Berret too, but they are a bit too similar so I guess it worked today as I’m sure the first objective was not to lose. Defence was decent and Macca delivered on his first objective - a clean sheet. Though they worked hard I am not sure what game plan we had for the 4 “offensive” players Jones, Matt, Dembele abd Woolford to get into and make a difference to the game. BTW Matt should not start ahead of Vernon from what I have seen and Cardwell should be given a start as he offers something different despite his age, oddly enough I thought Tombola would have caused them trouble today too.

So overall a fair result as neither side did enough to win the game.

Great to see the response Nathan Arnold got when he came off I don’t think I’ve seen anything like that since Super Clive destroyed us on that Friday night.

UTM!

Amond had a similar response after scoring two goals and was then substituted last season.

If you've ever played in a decent team you give the ball to someone who can use it and you don't have centre halves taking throw-ins.
Hoofball is hope-ball, play it through the middle and you develop on the ball confidence which we as a football league club have always had but not now

Several good points there.

Not sure there's much more room left in this "midtable" at the end of the season.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Amond had a similar response after scoring two goals and was then substituted last season.

Matter of opinion, don’t remember too many people stood up when Amond went off but that might have been due to being 3 - 0 down.

What I do know is that this afternoon after the warm up Nathan went over to a load of Town fans in the main for a couple of minutes before getting his match shirt on, he didn’t have to do that.

Quoted from essexexile

If you've ever played in a decent team you give the ball to someone who can use it and you don't have centre halves taking throw-ins.
Hoofball is hope-ball, play it through the middle and you develop on the ball confidence which we as a football league club have always had but not now

Good points, Most teams play “hope ball” when a keeper clears a back pass

Quoted from Ahh Sole

Good point. Watching Matt today was like watching the kid in the playground who thought that he only had to move when he could score. Hooper is much the same - both are a waste of space (and contract).

You really don't like Matt do you ?

Quoted from jonnyboy82

You really don't like Matt do you ?

Along with most of Russell Fenty's signings? No.

Poor game in general. Much needed clean-sheet and not sure whether to look at it as 2 unbeaten or 3 without a win.

Attack and defense looking weak with no proven goalscorer and Dixon looking a big liability. Dixon needs to start sticking a foot in rather than trying to press the player into making a mistake.

Midfield looking strong. Would be nice to see a shot from Dembele at the end of his mazy runs - laying it off to others isn't working.

Finally, couldn't believe how many people were leaving in the 85th minute of a local derby at 0-0?! Grimsby road can be bad but it's hardly central London!

Macca was good when called upon, made a good reflex save, despite being reasonably straight forward, and generally caught crosses and corners well I thought.

Dixon was poor again today, not quite as shocking as has been previously but still pretty shaky. He's ok defensively but offers nothing going forward at all, his distribution is terrible and he is very slow.

Thought DC had a good game, has that element of class about him that the other defenders lack, very comfortable in possession and his decision making is second to none. Thought Davies did pretty well also. Very solid, didn't get beaten at all but just isn't athletic enough (like Dixon) to offer anything going in the other direction, one of the problems with us going forward is our slow full backs. Clarke was ok again as well.

Berrett played well, very tidy player, keeps things ticking over nicely and seems more aggressive than last season, has a bit of steel. Admittedly, he was crap when played out wide left by Hurst and Bignot (probably one of the reasons I thought Andrew was poor) but in the centre he looks a good footballer. Summerfield was MOM by a mile, won it, passed it, got stuck in, didn't give it away. Saw him put some ice on his groin when he came off so that's probably why he was substituted.

Dembele was marginally better today but has no final ball and has seemingly lost all of his confidence so refuses to try and beat men all of a sudden, he has electric pace but doesn't seem to have the mind or the confidence to go with it currently. I think with a spell out of the team and that he'll understand the game more and more as the season goes on means he'll improve. I hope so at least, he's such a talent. Woolford was ok but was blowing by 60 minutes, like Dixon he hasn't got the pace anymore so can't beat men and whip a cross in, his set plays were poor as well. He did a job in helping out Dixon though.

Jones offered nothing for long periods but nearly scored when he worked that opening quite late on with his strength and skill, his shot wasn't quite powerful enough though. Needs to be more selfless for me. Matt was anonymous for large periods and couldn't win or keep hold of anything aerially or on the floor.

Ref gave us nothing in terms of 50/50s and was seemingly oblivious to all the gamesmanship and pushing and shoving by the Lincoln players (that the BBC failed to mention during their love in last season). He didn't get anything obviously wrong and there were no dreadful decisions but just generally a but whistle happy and more lenient towards them.

Overall it was 2 sides lacking in any great quality, nobody on their side stood out as particularly brilliant. Thought Raggett looked solid and I've always rated Habergham and Woodyard from the Braintree days. They also looked quite toothless and didn't create anything clear cut, a couple of threatening crosses and forced one fairly routine stop by Macca. 0-0 was a fair result.

Baring the signing of a genuinely top quality striker and defender during the January window and Jamey Osborne's return transforming our midfield to be more dynamic I expect we'll stay between 11th and 16th all season long. I'd have take that in June.

Dembele isn't actually that quick once he gets going - definitely not 'electric' page. He's got good acceleration from a standing start which is why he can often skip past bigger players and make them look cumbersome, but in a foot race he tends to get caught. We could do with him getting the ball a bit further up the field so, when he gets past a player, they don't have the space and time to catch up with him again.

That said, it would be useful overall if we got the ball out to our wingers much more often. They just don't get the chance to do anything much but defend the way we're playing at the moment.

Love how JJ Hooper is getting a load of excrement even though he didn't play today and had only played a handful of games for us. Keep on with that good support guys!

He's scored 2 goals in 4 starts.

Quoted from sam gy

Love how JJ Hooper is getting a load of excrement even though he didn't play today and had only played a handful of games for us. Keep on with that good support guys!

He's scored 2 goals in 4 starts.

Do you actually go to the games?

Quoted from sam gy

Love how JJ Hooper is getting a load of excrement even though he didn't play today and had only played a handful of games for us. Keep on with that good support guys!

He's scored 2 goals in 4 starts.

He's also one of the most work-shy players I've ever seen in a Town shirt - a real throw-back to the sort of players that got us relegated.

I do prefer Hooper to Matt, I think both are really poor players but Hooper looks the slightly goal threat to Matt.

[quote=228]Well I quite enjoyed it! Lincoln's attacking plan was easier to see than ours was. Defensively we were very good. Not sure what Dixon did wrong defensively to merit such negative comments.

First bit spot on but second bit about Dixon ffs he was awfull and that’s being nice to him, and more worryingly teams are clearly targeting him because he’s awfull

Quoted from Davec

I do prefer Hooper to Matt, I think both are really poor players but Hooper looks the slightly goal threat to Matt.

So it's a bit like saying you prefer piles to gout (if you're of a certain age).

Quoted from Ahh Sole

So it's a bit like saying you prefer piles to gout (if you're of a certain age).

Absolute agony is gout, my doctor prescribed Viagra for it,didn't cure it but kept the blankets off my foot.

Having watched Matt and Hooper's efforts the last few games it's
time young Cardwell is given a run of games. He'll give us a lot
more pace, movement off the ball and ability inside the the box
than either of the aforementioned two and will bring others around him
into the game much quicker than is happening at present.

We seem besotted with this ' must have a big man up front ' idea and
at present that 'big man' can't control and hold the ball and certainly can't
get off the ground and win the ball in the air and head it down to feet.

When Slade was appointed the one, perhaps redeeming factor for me,
was that he was bringing Paul Wilkinson with him. .I hoped that Paul
would bring some new attacking ideas to the table.

So far I've seen no evidence either in new signings or what's happening
on the field of this.

I don't forsee a great season ahead and I certainly don't enjoy #sladeball, however.

Perhaps we aren't that good. Neither are we that bad.

Perhaps the ridiculous claims on here that "player X" is..............

the worst ever/type that got us relegated/lazyiest/slowest/ugliest/most computer illiterate/stopping brexit/causing global warming/the reason the fishing industry declined/as bad as Vance Warner/a friend of Lennie Lawrence/once watched ITV digital/a regular at McDonald's with Danny North/having tackling practice with Peter Bore...

are just a bit over top?

Players can look good/bad depending on where and how they are played. Michael Reddy was though of as a headless chicken at other club's. More recently Danny Collins a carthorse before he joined us.

Just a thought. All aboard for defeat at Vale. Not sure the fishy will cope with that. Stand by for implosion.

Not sure I can say anything that hasn't been covered.

Dixon is the worst left back I've seen in a Town shirt bar none. Another example of how shite Scottish football really is.

Matt was urine poor but so was the service to him, not one of our crosses looked like they'd been delivered by a 'professional' and why is Woolford now on corner duties? For all his critics at least Berret can deliver a corner.

Summerfield very good, as was Collins. Dembele still better than most and for his weakness in delivery (which will come) he is vital for us when looking to take the pressure off. Great example yesterday when he won the ball in his own half and ended up winning a free kick 40 yards up the pitch in a matter of seconds.

I don't think we're as bad as we think, but there's still work to do and we need a better striker.

On a side note, good atmosphere yesterday. For all the negativity it was good to see everybody getting behind the team.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Not sure I can say anything that hasn't been covered.

Dixon is the worst left back I've seen in a Town shirt bar none. Another example of how shite Scottish football really is.

OVER REACTION ALERT......NEW PLAYER REPLACES SUMMERFIELD AS FISHY WHIPPING BOY.

Did you ever see Ronnie Bull? David Mulligan?

Think Ronnie Bull takes that award.

Quoted from friskneymariner

Think Ronnie Bull takes that award.

Not Tom Newey? Although I never thought he was THAT bad.

Quoted from Ahh Sole

Not Tom Newey? Although I never thought he was THAT bad.

I always thought Newey should of been played as a winger, he liked going forward and could cross the ball well, he couldn't defend for excrement though

Dixon looks nervous to me. I think he must be a solid pro to have played at the level he has and it may just be a case of him settling into the club and team. Danny Andrew got better as the season wore on.

For me, October to December is when the league starts to settle down and the runners and riders start to jostle for position. Admittedly, we haven't looked great, but we haven't looked terrible either. Some teams just take time to evolve. There is always the possibility that we go the other way and sink, but that's football, you just never know how a team and season is going to shape up.

Whatever we think of Slade and the squad, we need a bit of stability after our crazy first season back when we had four different people in charge. I'm still reserving judgement yet and am eager to see what happens this month when we have a few games among the teams around us.

Quoted from lowerfindus

OVER REACTION ALERT......NEW PLAYER REPLACES SUMMERFIELD AS FISHY WHIPPING BOY.

Did you ever see Ronnie Bull? David Mulligan?

Oh Christ I take it back, Ronnie Bull takes that one.

It's not a case of Dixon being a 'whipping boy', he's just a very poor footballer player, I'm not sure what else you'd expect people to say if you saw him play yesterday.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Oh Christ I take it back, Ronnie Bull takes that one.

It's not a case of Dixon being a 'whipping boy', he's just a very poor footballer player, I'm not sure what else you'd expect people to say if you saw him play yesterday.

He had a bad game?

Ronnie Bull was absolutely legendary gash. I feared Dixon was an Alan Neilson -esk signing, looks to be the case.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I agree with your first sentence, and we do indeed look poor.

However, there is no way that team is Slade's preferred choice. As usual we have gone for the two for the price of one option on players - we have 4 centre forwards all of whom are shocking.

Unless we can get some new investment into the club we are just going to be supporters because we love the club, not because we expect any success.

I don't rate the Cowleys either, if that is the team they have put together after all the hype.

But surely that is down to Slade! He could have signed 6 or 7 quality players on the money he has utilised on 11. He may not have got the signings he originally targeted in the summer ( what managers do ) but just to sign players for the sake of it seems crazy to me. Over the summer Slade has signed ineffective strikers and run-of-the-mill wingers. He brought in Clarke who, up to now , is no better than Pearson and probably on a lot more money. All managers are given a playing budget and how they spend it is down to them. So far, since he came here, Slade doesn't appear to have used it wisely.

Quoted from Ahh Sole

Along with most of Russell Fenty's signings? No.

Surely you mean Russell' signings. Slade finds the players he wants within his budget.

Quoted from rancido

Surely you mean Russell' signings. Slade finds the players he wants within his budget.

Who sets the budget?

Quoted from Ahh Sole

Who sets the budget?

The Board , including JF, and the Chief Executive of course but that is for the whole squad. How the manager utilises that budget is down to him. There is no way that Slade had to bring in so many players this summer. Fewer better signings would have cost no more and would have been beneficial to the team in general. Slade has got nearly all of his signings wrong this summer and that has nothing to do with JF.

Quoted from Ahh Sole

Not Tom Newey? Although I never thought he was THAT bad.

Newey went on to be a first team regular with several teams after us,but must be a close second.

Quoted from ginnywings

He had a bad game?

He had a bad game. Exactly!!!!!

Not the only one I'm afraid. Benefits from having Woolford infront.

We have a lot of players low on confidence. It's far too early just to write them off. Much like our form most GTFC players are very up and down at the moment.

That's what the manager needs to sort!

2 points from 9 pretty cr@p really considering 2 of them were at home to poor teams :(

Quoted from rancido

But surely that is down to Slade! He could have signed 6 or 7 quality players on the money he has utilised on 11. He may not have got the signings he originally targeted in the summer ( what managers do ) but just to sign players for the sake of it seems crazy to me. Over the summer Slade has signed ineffective strikers and run-of-the-mill wingers. He brought in Clarke who, up to now , is no better than Pearson and probably on a lot more money. All managers are given a playing budget and how they spend it is down to them. So far, since he came here, Slade doesn't appear to have used it wisely.

In hindsight I agree we should have spent the budget on fewer, better quality players, but we don't know how it pans out in the boardroom do we? If Slade had his eye on a couple of top targets and takes them to the board and they say, sorry Russell we cannot pay £x in wages for that player, it is outside of our wage structure then what does he do? He has to make do with lesser players.

Every new manager wants his own players, as is always the case, and even if they cannot get their first targets they always seem to want to get new players in rather than take what they have inherited. It looks to me like Slade will be prepared to be patient till he gets quite a few players off the wage bill and have another go to get the players he really wants when he has more budget to play with.

Bignot only needed a couple of quality players to improve an already decent team but chose to dismantle it. I just wish managers would take more stock of who is already on the books before pulling the team apart so readily. The team we had when Hurst left is certainly better than the current one in my opinion.

I suppose the opposite is true as well - players like to play for managers who sign them and have faith in them so it means a huge upheaval every time we change the manager. But you have to change the manager if things aren't going to plan... What a conundrum.

If you count Vernon who came on as sub, there were 7 players on the pitch yesterday that were here before Slade came.

Macca
Davies
Collins
Summerfield
Berrett
Jones
Vernon

Not really a massive upheaval is it? Granted that we could put out a side of all new Slade signings if we wished, but the team still has a familiar look to it.

We lack a clear plan.

Sladeball mk 1 was 343 but with a clear plan. We actually tried to play football and murdered some teams. 1st day of the season at darlo, but we got beat. Story of the season as we ended up mid table.

Sladeball mk2 was sit deep, press hard use reddy/cohen to get in behind at pace backed up with a bit of Gary Jones and Parky. Very successful but missed out on promotion.

Sladeball mk3. I don't have a clue. Answers on a post card to JSF and RS, The Board Room, Blunder Park.

Quoted from ginnywings

If you count Vernon who came on as sub, there were 7 players on the pitch yesterday that were here before Slade came.

Macca
Davies
Collins
Summerfield
Berrett
Jones
Vernon

Not really a massive upheaval is it? Granted that we could put out a side of all new Slade signings if we wished, but the team still has a familiar look to it.

But would we want to

Quoted from ginnywings

If you count Vernon who came on as sub, there were 7 players on the pitch yesterday that were here before Slade came.

Macca
Davies
Collins
Summerfield
Berrett
Jones
Vernon

Not really a massive upheaval is it? Granted that we could put out a side of all new Slade signings if we wished, but the team still has a familiar look to it.

Well Vernon didn't start but surely that also shows that some of the summer signings have already been deemed not good enough. Kelly being a prime example.

Quoted from lowerfindus

OVER REACTION ALERT......NEW PLAYER REPLACES SUMMERFIELD AS FISHY WHIPPING BOY.

Did you ever see Ronnie Bull? David Mulligan?

don't dis da BULL he was quality and had a right bit of treacle

The players still needs to stop giving away needless freekicks. Especially with a fussy referee yesterday. Lincoln did not make the most of these freekicks gifted to them. Other teams will.

Analyse the match afterwards and fine the £10 for every unnecessary free kick given away,that would cut them down.Said this over year a go and problem has not been fixed,not just a Slade problem matter of discipline.

great ^^idea that would work a treat

my dead dad always said we should sign a winger like Stanley Mathews as well . must remember to text that over to sladey

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

great ^^idea that would work a treat

Well it is obvious nothing else has,this has been an issues for years any suggestions?

Personally for me Summerfield and Mckeown where joint man of the match, where a really poor side with manager who plays football that should have been abolished 500 years ago, Dembele needs on the pitch coaching Ben Davies needs to tell him to get wide because he offers no output to him when he on the ball spends to much central so Davies has to go long the guy Dembele is very raw.

No passing, no movement, nobody wide to get crosses in, aimless balls to no one, Matt doesn't get of the ground expect better but he's not fully match fit yet, thought Berret was poor most of the games he plays he goes missing to much on the pitch his set pieces was poor today he normally whips in a good corner.

Sam Jones needs to play in a number 10 role, forwards live and die on crosses, and we don't get down the line to get crosses into Jones and Matt, Woolford had an off game never did much.

I know i might get a lot of dislikes but I'm bored to tears of watching rubbish week in week out, Slade football is absolutely abysmal, Slade still living off that 2005/06 season when he took us to the play off final we had an awful budget that season but he got players on free who did an excellent job, like Bolland, Reddy, Jones x2, Woodhouse, Cohen worked hard gave his all similar to what Summerfield does now, but free transfers and no ambition rarely work.

Quoted from friskneymariner

Well it is obvious nothing else has,this has been an issues for years any suggestions?

take all the aimless 50 yard boots in training to hone our preferred tactic of hoofball ?

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

[quote=228]Well I quite enjoyed it! Lincoln's attacking plan was easier to see than ours was. Defensively we were very good. Not sure what Dixon did wrong defensively to merit such negative comments.

First bit spot on but second bit about Dixon ffs he was awfull and that’s being nice to him, and more worryingly teams are clearly targeting him because he’s awfull

I agree he is not my favorite cup of tea but our right back gets a lot of support from Summerfield whereas Dixon is often isolated

Are you better of having a squad of 22 quality players rather than 29 where you’ve got 3 quality players, 12 average ones and 14 rubbish ones.

Quoted from fiveallive

Personally for me Summerfield and Mckeown where joint man of the match, where a really poor side with manager who plays football that should have been abolished 500 years ago, Dembele needs on the pitch coaching Ben Davies needs to tell him to get wide because he offers no output to him when he on the ball spends to much central so Davies has to go long the guy Dembele is very raw.

No passing, no movement, nobody wide to get crosses in, aimless balls to no one, Matt doesn't get of the ground expect better but he's not fully match fit yet, thought Berret was poor most of the games he plays he goes missing to much on the pitch his set pieces was poor today he normally whips in a good corner.

Sam Jones needs to play in a number 10 role, forwards live and die on crosses, and we don't get down the line to get crosses into Jones and Matt, Woolford had an off game never did much.

.

Pretty strange that - most around me thought Berrett was good yesterday and we all wondered why Woolford was taking all the corners because Berrett's set pieces had been so good on Tuesday?

Quoted from Ahh Sole

Pretty strange that - most around me thought Berrett was good yesterday and we all wondered why Woolford was taking all the corners because Berrett's set pieces had been so good on Tuesday?

Agreed, bizarre why Woolford was on corners after so many good ones from Berrett on Tuesday!

Quoted from itsnotcoditshaddock

Agreed, bizarre why Woolford was on corners after so many good ones from Berrett on Tuesday!

Because if he didnt take the corners he would have done absolutely zilch in terms of attacking play.

Berret whips in lot meaner corner imho

Like the ones that Collins and Clarke have already scored from this season, yes I agree he looks a completely different player to what he was last season and I think that’s mainly to do with being given a run in the side in his favoured position. He has no pace but is a good footballer who moves the ball efficiently and quickly and seems to be more combative this season as well.

A couple of points based on the comments here.

Firstly, let's not write Matt off after a handful of performances. He was certainly poor yesterday but his record shows he has done a good job at this level in the past. Sometimes, strikers just get totally dominated by defenders as he was yesterday but it's only the other week when he have the Yeovil defence a difficult time. We've seen much better players than Matt do absolutely nothing in certain games and he's only been here for five minutes, so let's give him a proper chance.

Secondly, Dixon. He had a tough game yesterday but it was against the right-winger who I reckon was Lincoln's quickest and most threatening player. He's not been the best for us as yet but let's not forget he was playing Championship football just a couple of seasons ago and made not far off a hundred appearances for Huddersfield at that level. He's certainly lacking a bit of pace (as are the rest of our defenders) but his record would indicate he ought to be capable enough at this level so hopefully he'll settle down soon. I think it looked a bit worse for Dixon yesterday because Woolford was poor for much of the game and didn't do enough defending to help out. The wingers certainly aren't sitting back to help the defenders out in quite the same way that they generally did under Hurst. Either way, he's certainly far from the worst full-back I've seen at the club in recent years, but that doesn't mean that we don't need him to improve.

Obviously, rather than individual performances, the biggest worry at the moment is that we're not looking like we have an effective shape or style of play. Set pieces were pretty much rubbish and we've got the usual conveyor belt of experienced and capable players coming in who suddenly seem completely unable to put a decent ball into the box. Lincoln were a good bit stronger than us in the air so just chipping the ball in again and again seemed a ridiculous idea as that gave them time to get lined up and win the challenges. If we're playing a sort of percentage game (as seems to be the case), we've just got to improve out set piece delivery. Thinking back to Slades' previous time in charge, we did tend to loft balls into the box (mainly Woodhouse), but let's not forget that we had two 6'7" defenders to stick in there back then! Clarke and Collins are relatively diminutive in comparison to so many of todays massive defenders so we need much better delivery. Also, McKeown should stop taking attacking set pieces right now. His kicking and clearances have improved over the years, but his set piece delivery is still rubbish and you just know he's going to punt the ball straight to their keeper if he takes a free-kick near the half way line. Near his own box, then fair enough because it's generally just going to be a whack upfield in any case, but he doesn't have the accuracy to do anything else.

I'd also say that there is little point in playing two wingers if you hardly ever get the ball to their feet. On Tuesday night in particular, Woolford barely touched the ball in the first half and I wouldn't necessarily put any of the blame for this on him - the ball just didn't go to him! Dembele needs to stay wider as well because he often drifts infield and, truth be told, our passing just isn't accurate enough to find a man in the middle with players around him.

I hope they slog their guts out on the training field this week because there is a lot of improvement required.

To echo Mariner's comments on Matt. He played a blinder (in the second half at least) at Accy. A veritable 'beast' in the making.

Matt was excellent when he first got into the side, but was all over the place yesterday. Let's hope it was a one off bad game.

Quoted from Mariner_09

Are you better of having a squad of 22 quality players rather than 29 where you’ve got 3 quality players, 12 average ones and 14 rubbish ones.

You are never going to get 100% quality players. A lot of the best players are quality partly because they have been overlooked by other clubs or we have taken a gamble on someone from a lower division. You are never going to get that lucky every time. But I agree and I'd rather bye fewer. I put a thread on a couple of weeks ago saying slade had got nearly as big a squad as MB. I don't see the point of having senior pros who hardly play.

Except it's a long season and suspensions and injuries can quickly mount up especially in the new year. So to that extent a big squad of 'meh' players should at least allow you to be consistent and have cover on a like for like basis. In theory that should be mid 20s though not high 20s or 30. Smaller squads would mean more chance of replacements being played out of position.

I genuinely don't know the answer, but what's better a good square peg in a round hole or a mediocre round peg in a round hole?

Personally speaking I would still marginally favour fewer higher quality players (especially if they were intelligent) than higher numbers of less good players. But I can see the other side. There's probably some risk modelling you could do around this (Rob that's probably your field isn't it?).

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Except it's a long season and suspensions and injuries can quickly mount up especially in the new year. So to that extent a big squad of 'meh' players should at least allow you to be consistent and have cover on a like for like basis. In theory that should be mid 20s though not high 20s or 30. Smaller squads would mean more chance of replacements being played out of position.

I genuinely don't know the answer, but what's better a good square peg in a round hole or a mediocre round peg in a round hole?

Personally speaking I would still marginally favour fewer higher quality players (especially if they were intelligent) than higher numbers of less good players. But I can see the other side. There's probably some risk modelling you could do around this (Rob that's probably your field isn't it?).

It is a direct result of the abolition of the emergency loan system that the squad size is bigger. Couple of bad injuries, a suspension or two and you are easily cut to the bone. Personally I would rather be relying on the occasional appearance of a Clifton, Sawyer or Wright ( had he not been loaned out) but understand managers reluctance to do so.

Agree with a couple of others that although Matt was poor and ineffective on Saturday he has been the opposite in other games. It was only a fortnight ago that most were saying how good he looked. Those at Accrington will know what he is capable of bringing to the side.

Dixon seemed to find the stand rather than the pitch in the first half on Saturday but his record indicates he is capable of much better. I was impressed with him at Chesterfield ( very solid defensively) so maybe he needs a bit longer to settle down. Only time will tell

Similar to Vernon and Hooper if you give Matt the ball to his feet he's probably going to do better, when will we learn route 1 does us no favors?

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Similar to Vernon and Hooper if you give Matt the ball to his feet he's probably going to do better, when will we learn route 1 does us no favors?

Slade claims he does not instruct his players to play longball,if he does not they are disregarding his instructions,who do you believe?

Quoted from friskneymariner

Slade claims he does not instruct his players to play longball,if he does not they are disregarding his instructions,who do you believe?

Who do you?

Keeping the ball on the deck would probably favour Dembele, Berrett, Woolford, Hooper, Vernon and Jones does suggest we should do just that!

Quoted from Garth

Who do you?

Have not got a clue.If you believe Slade then he has a problem.

Quoted from Mariner_09

Keeping the ball on the deck would probably favour Dembele, Berrett, Woolford, Hooper, Vernon and Jones does suggest we should do just that!

Dembele in particular needs the ball to his feet, not into the space in front of him, he comes to the ball every time looking for it but often it sails over his head into the channel for Matt/Vernon/whoever to chase down.
I am beginning to think what is the point of him being in the team when tactics/ his team mates dont play to his strengths, we are clearly set up to play narrow with ageing full backs who struggle to push on and support and then Woolford on one wing who also cant be effective as an attacking winger...Dembele in his current role wont be as effective as he potentially can be....would love to see him picking the ball up 30 yds from their goal and running at their last line of defence more often.

Quoted from lowerfindus

He had a bad game. Exactly!!!!!

Not the only one I'm afraid. Benefits from having Woolford infront.

We have a lot of players low on confidence. It's far too early just to write them off. Much like our form most GTFC players are very up and down at the moment.

That's what the manager needs to sort!

Or the players should stop reading the Fishy,

If they was a little low on confidence before they will be after reading this.

Quoted from friskneymariner

Slade claims he does not instruct his players to play longball,if he does not they are disregarding his instructions,who do you believe?

The ability to play along the ground depends on the rest of the team moving into space to make themselves available. There is a shortage of attackers at GTFC who do that - I honestly thought that would be something that Woolford would be better at but him, Matt & Jones were all culpable of a lot of ball-watching on Saturday.

Here's my take on the game, or from what I remember about it as a whole.

- 2 poor teams with absolutely no end product.
- Seemed like Dembele could be a very good player if he plays to his strengths. Very quick and looks like he could be useful, needs to be track back more.
- Jaiyesimi looked like he spent more time on his bottom than out else when he come on. How many times did he slip over?
- Was expecting more from Lincoln, poor overall.
- Why was Summerfield taken off? He looked the best player on the pitch.
- Good turnout from both sets of fans too.

Still, my run continues. Haven't seen Town lose in a long time ;)

I'll be back! #UpTheMariners

I think you're getting Jaiyesimi mixed up with Rose who slipped onto his arris about three or four times after coming on! I suppose Jaiyesimi did slip over once or twice but he was mostly turning down the opportunity to go down the line because he wanted to keep it on his right foot. Lots of left foot kicking practice required for that lad!

Quoted from rancido

The Board , including JF, and the Chief Executive of course but that is for the whole squad. How the manager utilises that budget is down to him. There is no way that Slade had to bring in so many players this summer. Fewer better signings would have cost no more and would have been beneficial to the team in general. Slade has got nearly all of his signings wrong this summer and that has nothing to do with JF.

In your blind detestation of slade you've conveniently forgotten the injuries we had and still have and all the suspensions we've had to cope with, which means we've had to use almost the whole squad already. If we only had 22 we'd have been struggling to put a bench out at times