just back

Jaded toothless display, with some of the worst crossing known to man and yet another season fizzles out just like they always do.

Can't remember the last Town team who could get a charge on and rescue a game. Poor poor display. Artus was ok but then he hasn't played for months, so he should be.

Just no spark and goals in very short supply at the moment.

drunk off yet again.

Quoted from ginnywings

Jaded toothless display, with some of the worst crossing known to man and yet another season fizzles out just like they always do.

Can't remember the last Town team who could get a charge on and rescue a game. Poor poor display. Artus was ok but then he hasn't played for months, so he should be.

Just no spark and goals in very short supply at the moment.

drunk off yet again.

This is the third season in a row we have faded in the last third of the season,

Anybody know the reason why ?

PS.  I did not count the season we went down,

BECAUSE

We were poor all season.

Mate, hats off to you and the other 3,000 who pay to put up with that shite at Blunder Park. I don't know how you keep your patience. What is the answer though? Are there no great kids in the youth team who push up and earn a place and help rescue our season?

No desire in the team to get the ball, they wait for the pass to come to them then get rid ASAP.Nobody is willing to shout for the ball and come to attack it.One word terrible that's all folks

All players seemed afraid to shoot and tried to walk the ball in. Disley was a big miss today,may have to bite the bullet for two weeks get everyone fit and really give it a go in play offs if we Make them. Small squad starting to show up now to many loan signings too early should off signed a couple of perm signings in jan

Very poor again, devoid of ideas, just lump it up to Cooky who hardly won a header all game. Wingers who don't know how to send a proper cross into the box, keeper got the ball every time. it isn't till we are without a player that we realise how much we miss him (ie.Disley,Niven). MOM for me was Naylor despite his og, never stopped. Only plus point was that Liam got through his 30 minutes ok and should increase our options bit. Hope Pearsons ok or else we will be hanging on with our bootstraps with only one centre back for Wembley with Naylor being ineligable to play.

Very very drunk off by that performance, more so than the result. Will elaborate when I've chilled a bit!

Look very jaded today.
I actually thought Artus had a good game today although Disley and Niven have being a massive miss.
We just look so devoid of ideas.

I want to put post more but I actually dont know what to say, all abit downbeat at the minute.

Good to see Liam back on the fold.

FFS, yes we've lost 3 on the bounce, yet we're still in the playoffs, and still have a fantastic chance of getting promoted. Every team has a bad spell, look at Mansfield and Kidderminster at the start of the season, Newport were about 8 points clear at one point and now they're in 4th, and Wrexhams form of late hasn't been fantastic either. Our chance of auto promotion is looking slim now, but no one expected us to lose 3 in a row, so why can't Mansfield or Kiddy have a similar dip in form. I'm certain we'll finish in the playoffs, and if we can get a settled team with, Disley, Hearn, Hannah, Niven, Thanoj and Pearson all fit, there is no reason why we can't win the playoffs, as we showed before christmas when we have a settled team, we're good. There's is still a lot of things that will change, and regardless of what happens, it will still be our best season for years and a big step in the right direction.

As much as I want us to go up I still think we've got to build a stronger squad so we may have to have another summer of a few more signings and another year in the BSP to go up with a team that is strong enough for the football league .

Very tired performance short of ideas, getting really drunk off with the long ball stuff now, ever since Hannah went back to Bradford and we had the Cook/Brodie combo for a few matches we seemed to just lump it up and coincidentally Mansfield is the only game we've looked decent in since Christmas. We haven't looked back and have changed the football, we've shown at times this season we can get the ball down and play it and look good when we do so, so why we persist hoofing it to Cook I do not know. drunk off isn't the word.

Only positive was seeing Hearn back, breath of fresh air and Naylor only one to come out of today with any credit.

Also for the goal im blaming Macca. All it needed was a big shout from him and the ball would've ran through. Naylor was unlucky, he's the 1st man so he's got no idea who's running in behind him so he has to head it, just a shame it ends up in the net. Massively dissapointed tonight.

To much long ball against a team that are used to it, needed to play it on the floor more, possibly the worst match at Blundell park this season, watched about 70 mins of football and the rest time wasting, poor decision by the ref from where I was sat for the goal, thought we got the ball when we went in for the tackle, onwards and upwards

UTM!!

Another frustrating afternoon. The own goal was a blow and it should have been the keepers ball. However that is not why we lost. Our play in the attacking third just was not good enough, 2 strikers trying to barge an opening and were too easy to defend against. Never got the ball in behind the defence. I think the biggest crime was the poor wing play whose job it is the create opportunities for the front 2 . They just never did it, the balls into the box were too late and generally poor. As for the crossing, least said the better. It is now 5 games since a starker scored which says it all really. Artus had a great first half but tired in the last 20 mins. Naylor is a skilful player and found the wingers regularly. Apart from a Devitt free kick their keeper never had a save to make. A Pearson header wide was the other closest effort. Although Macca did not have a save to make either, Cambridge missed a couple of good chances in the second half. We really have never found a way of opening up teams who come here and battle to close us down. Pearson's knee injury looks a worry, especially as Naylor cannot play at Wembley. Brave decision to throw Liam on and understandably he looked rusty, but he still managed to get  into threatening positions in the 20 mins he played. We definitely need him or Hannah as a goal scoring option.

Nervous feel from the start . We just seemed frightened of making mistakes . Very little to get the crowd going . It appears now that teams know how to play us , and stop us playing our own game .
If our keeper doesn't call for the ball and let our defenders know what he wants ! !
Neither keeper had much to do , alot of play acting by their number 11 , time wasting , spoiling tactics pushing and pulling . We looked like a mid table side .
Have we got Wembley on our minds?   Playing like this we are going to be demolished by Wrexham .
Every team goes through a poor spell , unfortunatly ours has come at the wrong time .
Bringing Liam on was more motiventional than tactical , Richard Brodie was the only one showing any sort of fight and passion and you could see his disappointment when he went off .
Crosses were awful , having seen that their keeper was collecting every high ball , why persist with it?
Need something from Tuesday night before the big one .

Oldun you missed the Brodie half volley which was straigh at the keeper, it's a shame naylor I think it was who didn't have much more belief to go around the keeper when he came charging out.

It's wierd really looking at last halves of seasons. Paul Cox (Mansfields Manager) has the best second half of the season record I have ever seen. So far for Mansfield his record after xmas stands at;

Played 37
Won 30
Drawn 3
Lost 4

93 points from 111.

S&H's record after Xmas for us?


Played 43

Won 16

Drawn 15

Lost 12

129 points available 63 points gained.

We was shite , Baylor mom   Good to see Hearn , also thought ref got free kick wrong our player ( can't remember who ) won the ball fairly , pi$$ed of big time .

UTN

One way or another we have get more points than FGR and Macclesfield  between now and the end of the season to make sure of a play off place. It would be tragic to let it slip now.

Quoted from oldun

Artus had a great first half but tired in the last 20 mins.

I know it's all about opinions but Artus is junk.  We may as well play with 10 than have him in the middle of the park.  He's slow and can't tackle - today showed why he has hardly played this season, he's sh!te.

Quoted from Quagmire

I know it's all about opinions but Artus is junk.  We may as well play with 10 than have him in the middle of the park.  He's slow and can't tackle - today showed why he has hardly played this season, he's sh!te.

What? He was probably our best player till the last 20. Used the ball well and made a good few recovery tackles.
If your expecting a player to come in and set the world alight after not playing for 6 months then your abit deluded.
Granted, most of the time he's crap, but today he played well.

Quoted from Quagmire

I know it's all about opinions but Artus is junk.  We may as well play with 10 than have him in the middle of the park.  He's slow and can't tackle - today showed why he has hardly played this season, he's sh!te.

Agree to disagree, he was everywhere in the first half, won plenty of good tackles, looked composed on the ball and generally found a team mate with his passes. Not so influential second half, but he as not played for ages. Definitely more suited to central mid than  on the wing.

Not sure what's going wrong (nerves?).  At one point I was focusing on possession, and I'd say Cambridge were running rings round us in that department - they had about 90% possession; we were chasing shadows and passing it back to them whenever they lost it.  Really not good enough.

Very disappointed.  Naylor looked good (unfortunate o.g. but still my M.O.M.).  He was the only one really who seemed able to control the ball and pass it to one of our own.  Frustrating when some of our players start to attack and end up losing the ball.  Brodie seemed to have two or three yellow shirts on his case every time he went near the ball - but none of our players really seemed able to get past Cambridge effectively.  Not sure how Cambridge managed to hound the ball off us like that again and again.  Are we too slow?

Three defeats on the trot is worrying.

3 successive defeats all without Niven. Maybe his boo boys have realised that they are wrong now.

Quoted from Quagmire

I know it's all about opinions but Artus is junk.  We may as well play with 10 than have him in the middle of the park.  He's slow and can't tackle - today showed why he has hardly played this season, he's sh!te.

Harsh! he has not played for months, almost all of the players were poor today and they were all cream crackered,  we are short of bodies and I fear the worst for the playoffs unless we show some grit and determination.
Not sure I agree with the kick and run tactics that we are now using with the ball players we have

Totally dog excrement performance.

Noone wanted to be involved. Marshall and Brodie can intercourse off back to their clubs. Both useless today and offered as much as I did!!

Naylor is far too good for us. Too many times he looked to play an early ball and Marshall was too busy fingering his own anus to realise.

With Pearson going off injured it'll leave us short next weekend!

The only positive was a slim Hearn!

Quoted from Garth

Harsh! he has not played for months, almost all of the players were poor today and they were all cream crackered,  we are short of bodies and I fear the worst for the playoffs unless we show some grit and determination.
Not sure I agree with the kick and run tactics that we are now using with the ball players we have

You say the ball players we have but none of the attacking players today made any moves to create space to allow them to get it to feet. All it takes is a two yard check back away from your marker but it didn't happen. At times the forward four were completely static and I felt bad for Naylor who was trying to make things happen.

Quoted from grimsby pete

PS.  I did not count the season we went down,

BECAUSE

We were poor all season.

Also, we finished that season pretty well. It was the first 34 games that were the problem!

When's Niven back, more importantly?

Just not good enough today, especially in the final third.

Cambridge weren't anything amazing, they just got a bit of luck with the goal and we didn't ever really look like scoring. We did get the ball down quite a bit first half and were in the final third plenty of times but we tried too much at times and nobody seemed to want a shot. Second half was just a lot of huffing and puffing with very little end product.

Fantastic to see Hearn back though, he showed glimpses despite being out for so long and a half fit Hearn is probably better than half of our strikers to be honest.

Everyone should enjoy Wembley next week and then get back to grips with the league so that we've got a bit of momentum heading into the Play-Offs.

Defence looked poor, aswad thomas was defensively shambolic, crossing was total awful today, like it often is, it was a,brainless display today, MOTM was artus and naylor , no real tactics today apart from hoof, liam hearn looked good

Quoted from AndyGTFC

Just not good enough today, especially in the final third.

Cambridge weren't anything amazing, they just got a bit of luck with the goal and we didn't ever really look like scoring. We did get the ball down quite a bit first half and were in the final third plenty of times but we tried too much at times and nobody seemed to want a shot. Second half was just a lot of huffing and puffing with very little end product.

Fantastic to see Hearn back though, he showed glimpses despite being out for so long and a half fit Hearn is probably better than half of our strikers to be honest.

Everyone should enjoy Wembley next week and then get back to grips with the league so that we've got a bit of momentum heading into the Play-Offs.

Well said Andy.

Was actually quite impressed first half, Naylor and Artus linked up quite well, both are comfortable on the ball and do not panic. Thought we pretty much controlled the half, moved the ball well and were patient but a little shot shy and wasteful when in good wide positions.
Pearson and Marshall having good opportunities, Marshall's chance after professional work by Brodie who refused to accept a no contest drop ball and insisted on a contested one.
Their goal out of nothing really...Mckeown again failing to command his area, Naylor backpedalling towards his own 6 yd box with no real pressure....should have been a big shout and collect by Mckeown....lessons not learned from the Kiddy game first goal, that time Naylor didnt go for it as he expected Mckeown to collect so this time he had to go for it. Look at the difference in goalkeepers today, Pope for them came and took nearly every ball into the box and outside the box for that matter especially first half. Very impressed with him.
Second half we just didnt seem to get started, Artus tired understandably and i would have liked to have seen the centre mid change a little earlier as we lost the momentum in there.
Poor points....full backs pretty poor distribution from both, Brodie highly innefective, Devitt disappeared second half as did Marshall.
Miller, Pearson and Naylor pick of the bunch.

To say we were crap is being kind.

We are doing what we do best and that is cracking under pressure.

The managers have to take some of the blame with the selection and transfers over the past few weeks.

eg bringing in lenny henry lewis but was a waste of a wage as we have adequate cover up front, bringing in the lad from hull but playing artus in front of him today who has hardly played all season..

For me a few bizzare decisions from the management.

Getting ross hannah back then dropping him after a game but lenny henry comes in ahead of him.

The whole feeling at the minute seems to me we are short in quality and we certainly need some more craig disleys and derek nivens as these two have now shown how bad we miss them.

It's been headless chicken time from Itchy and Scratchy ever since New Year when Pond and Nielson went and the January signings / loans have been a joke

Frustrating day.

Goal was arguably unlucky (wasn't a free kick IMO) but getting a little tired of lethargic starts and seeing Town only get their tails up when they go a goal down.

To be fair I thought some of the passing play was fairly good ealy doors but generally, I haven't got a clue what the tactics were.

While he didn't have a great one, Brodie can hold the ball up and made a few things happen but just don't see any point in lumping it up to him in the air.

Cook won a few flicks on but was generally disappointing as hell.
I hope he bounces back but given the dillema of who now plays on Tuesday I think the managers have dropped a small bollock.

Thought we were crying out for someone like John-Lewis to hold the ball up.

Pretty amazed when Hearn came on.
Is he the answer for Tuesday ? God knows...

Now the pitch didn't help matters (we showed a general lack of ball control and were sloppy all day).
But Cambridge had the right idea - kept it simple RUN, PASS and MOVE.

We were don't run much, PASS and watch.
What hacked me off today was a massive lack of support from the midfield (and even defence) when we went forward.
2 or 3 players would break and the others would just look on offering no support.
Fact Pearson tried to dribble and take on players himself sums where we are.
Not really good enough !

Cambridge were a lot more fluent in their running too.

Thought Artus had a good game and was one of the few who used skill to RUN, and turn to give himself options.

Say what you like about Wood and Colbeck but we were crying out for some drive forward.

Without much outlet 1st half could see Cambridge were edging us backward more and more.

Marshall looks low on confidence had a poor one and piddled about.
While Hatton was a mixed bag and not a huge deal better IMO, sloppily giving the ball away too much + putting his crosses too near the keeper.
I'm starting to wonder how much more he really offers that Brad doesn't.

Devitt probably my MOM and the centre backs did well too but even Aswad didn't look on song today.

To be fair I think it was just one of those days where nothing FELL right (again) but while it wasn't a good performance we looked devoid of gameplan.

A days training on ball skills and a good think about what our tactics actually are wouldn't go amiss IMO.

Normally I wouldn't "take a point" but if you asked me for Tuesday, I'd be half tempted to !

I'm not Frankie Artus's number one fan but he was a class above anything else in a black and white shirt in the first half. I hope Thanoj was watching and takes note of how to find with unerring accuracy someone wearing the same colour shirt. Add the tackling (particularly the two on the edge of our box to snuff out imminent danger) and you are left with the feeling that maybe the forgotten man should have been considered three or four games ago.
Other than that and Naylor's all-action performance there isn't very much positive which can be said about the whole 94 minutes.

Cambridge wouldn't have scored a goal of their own making if we'd still been playing now. It does show what decent delivery into the box can do though. Ours as with all of the matches I've seen since Christmas was woefully shocking. The number of times players with the ball throughout the team chose the wrong option was nothing short of remarkable.
Brodie's ball control skills were about the same as those exhibited by a squash court wall.

The main problem-as has been alluded to by lots of posters over the season-is that we don't have anyone on the bench with the ability to change the game or even take it by the scruff of the neck. All you get is more of the same which makes it extremely frustrating. I'm sure someone will be able to correct me but I cannot remember us winning a game after going behind this season.

The sad fact is that the Gods haven't smiled on us regarding injuries to key players at the wrong time.

Fantastic to see Liam Hearn return but thought that the decision to play him smacked of a measure of desperation.

No spirit or quality today.  When not giving passes away, or crosses straight to their keeper, we spent the time trying (unsuccessfully) to keep the ball in play.  Colbeck came on and removed all doubt - by letting the ball run out of play most times when he got it.

Naylor MOM despite scoring an own goal and missing our best chance. An old head on young shoulders. He was always organising play or encouraging others  The fact that he is only 20, a loanee and making his home debut says everything about today.

Many of us have posted about the lack of quality and experienced cover for CM.  Why though have the forwards and wide players gone so far off the boil?

Welcome back Liam. He should have one or 2 goals in him this season.  No one else seems to.

We need Disley and Niven back very quickly.  Their stock will have risen considerably during their absence.

We need to ensure that we get the third or fourth playoff spot.

Ultimately, if none of your attacking players (strikers and wingers) do anything, you're going to struggle to get any kind of result.

That said, I was very disappointed by our response in the second half especially when they looked the more likely to score, despite their limitations. I was impressed by their No. 17 who covered masses of ground and won plenty in the air, linking play decently. Also, their keeper was rock solid, catching pretty much every cross that came his way.

The obvious difference between the two teams today was the delivery of crosses and set pieces. Their No. 11 whipped in some excellent balls (when he wasn't rolling around on the floor), and they scored from one of these and came close from one or two others. On the other hand, too many (i.e. practically all of them) of our crosses/corners/free-kicks were lofted into the box for their tall keeper to catch with ease.

A distinct lack of nouse on show today and the injury to Pearson was really the nail in the coffin of any automatic promotion hopes.

Regardless of next week's result (which I'm not hopeful about), I only hope we can drag ourselves back into some half-decent form so we firstly can make it into the play-offs and secondly have some momentum when we do.

Incidentally, I'm not too sure why so many people are having a go at Colbeck. He did OK when he came on, winning a few corners and did a damn sight more than Marshall managed when he was on the pitch.

That one occasion where the ball ran out of play (after he'd made an interception), there was a clear bobble which led to it being run out.

Quoted from Maringer

Incidentally, I'm not too sure why so many people are having a go at Colbeck. He did OK when he came on, winning a few corners and did a damn sight more than Marshall managed when he was on the pitch.

That one occasion where the ball ran out of play (after he'd made an interception), there was a clear bobble which led to it being run out.

Colbeck can run around as much as he likes, winning corners and throw-ins. Until he does what he is there to do-i.e. deliver decent corners, crosses, and even free kicks into dangerous areas then I'm afraid he's going to continue to get (deserved) stick.

We've just massively gone off the boil. Cookie looks knackered, he needs a rest.
McKeown seems to have developed a habit of kicking the ball out or on the head of the smallest striker.
Hattons distribution was poor and why for the life of me does he not go past his winger on the overlap is beyond me, it's all him dropping of to collect but the move just fizzles out usually.
Devitt is showing flashes of his old self but Marshall looks a lost soul at the minute.

Sooner we get Disley, Niven and Hannah back the better.

Quoted from barralad

Colbeck can run around as much as he likes, winning corners and throw-ins. Until he does what he is there to do-i.e. deliver decent corners, crosses, and even free kicks into dangerous areas then I'm afraid he's going to continue to get (deserved) stick.

I just dislike the way Colbeck is getting singled out when Marshall was less effective and Devitt did pretty much Sweet F.A. (once again) without facing any specific criticism. On that performance today, I'd rather have Colbeck in the team as at least he's a trier, something which Marshall and Devitt couldn't be accused of at the moment.

Devitt had masses of ability when he played for us in our relegation season and I thought he'd be a cracking signing. What has happened to him?

Marshall was in great form, full of pace and looked a real threat earlier this season. Recently? Utterly ineffective, drifting out of games, rarely taking on the defenders, giving the ball away frequently.

Ultimately, one of our main problems remains the lack of pace in our midfield/forwards. Marshall is quick, Colbeck is quick-ish. The rest of them? No pace, I'm afraid. I hope nobody tries to claim Hearn is quick, by the way, because he isn't. Plenty of other good attributes but pace isn't one of them.

How many times have I read on here that Marshall and Devitt have disappeared in the 2nd half of matches

I can understand why Devitt gets tired after his long lay off,

BUT

Marshall should not be doing , if he wants a contract next season either with us or anybody else.

Quoted from barralad

The main problem-as has been alluded to by lots of posters over the season-is that we don't have anyone on the bench with the ability to change the game or even take it by the scruff of the neck.

Don't agree here - Colbeck didn't do superbly but made a difference with his energy and Brad's drive would have done too IMO.

Quoted from barralad

I'm sure someone will be able to correct me but I cannot remember us winning a game after going behind this season.

Hmmm well you keep making this point but teams generally don't come back to win too often if they're behind.
That said, Woking is one and I'm 100% sure I've heard the Ponny sing "One nil up you f*cked it up" from the Upper on another occasion this season.

If there's any issue (and I'm not convinced there is), I would guess it comes from being unable to dominate possession.
Direct/long ball tends to be less effective against men behind the ball than passing build up play (which isn't our greatest strength by any means).
A lot of teams able to perform comebacks are those keeping the ball camped outside the oppositions box.

Quoted from barralad

The sad fact is that the Gods haven't smiled on us regarding injuries to key players at the wrong time.

Fantastic to see Liam Hearn return but thought that the decision to play him smacked of a measure of desperation.

I tend to agree here !

Disappointing performance, but it seemed (to me at least) that we could have strolled to victory if we could have put a decent cross into the box that could have evaded the keeper. Surely if their keeper was catching every cross (impressively it has to be said) we should have changed tactics, perhaps attempting to get to the byline and pull it back to someone in the middle along the floor? Marshall was completely ineffective, Devitt was also for large periods of the game but he did at least come close twice from range - particularly the free kick at the end.

Such a frustrating goal to concede, McKeown was giving Naylor an earful after the goal so I can only assume that he did call for it only for Naylor to head it in anyway. Until they had a few dangerous crosses into the box after about an hour, they never looked like getting near our goal which makes the defeat even more annoying.

What has happened to Aswad Thomas by the way? He still looks defensively solid, but he no longer attacks as much as before and even when he does it's not as effective as before!

Great to see Liam Hearn back, despite lacking match sharpness he still looks a class act - his 1st/2nd touch was to poke it through the legs of a defender. I would agree though that he was more brought on to motivate the crowd, although his inclusion did have me worried a little after Scott's interview with the GET saying that he could possibly get through 20 minutes, and that he wouldn't definitely be on the bench for Wembley! Luckily he came through unscathed though!

And in response to the previous question about us coming from behind, we went 1-0 down against Alfreton at home early on and then came back to win 4-2, and we went 1-0 down away to Welling in the trophy and won 2-1 - it is possible!

Quoted from moosey_club

Artus tired understandably and i would have liked to have seen the centre mid change a little earlier

Mckeown again failing to command his area, Naylor backpedalling towards his own 6 yd box with no real pressure....should have been a big shout and collect by Mckeown....lessons not learned from the Kiddy game first goal

Spot on IMO.

I seem to remember it wasn't the only lack of communication between GK and defence today too.
Perhaps we shouldn't be too harsh with new boy Naylor.
But think you're right, Macca needs to sort out his defenders and area.

Quoted from moosey_club

Devitt disappeared second half

Hit the bar though !
tbh it felt like they all disappeared (apart from the subs)

Quoted from Maringer

Incidentally, I'm not too sure why so many people are having a go at Colbeck. He did OK when he came on, winning a few corners and did a damn sight more than Marshall managed when he was on the pitch.

Absolutely !

Quoted from barralad

Colbeck can run around as much as he likes, winning corners and throw-ins. Until he does what he is there to do-i.e. deliver decent corners, crosses, and even free kicks into dangerous areas then I'm afraid he's going to continue to get (deserved) stick.

Then so will Hatton.
The odd good pass apart, he's rapidly turning into a liability offering nothing.
urine poor delivery too.
tbh I'm very suprised the managers didn't go with Wood today - was always gonna be a game where you need a bit of voooommf.

Yes very frustrating. Wheres the desire, teamwork and performance that we showed at Mansfield. There I was driving half way across the country again thinking do what you did on Tuesday and it'll happen. Oh know the famous slow start and players either tired or have something else on their mind. I wonder what?? Not good enough. Managers that are asking the fans to get behind the team, umm! wonder how many will be at the next home match? Funny how people moan about loanees and yet I thought Naylor was definately m.o.m just a shame we didn't have another 10 like him. Thought some played well actually Artus one of them considering he's had very little football. But Brodie, oh Brodie, attitude, look in the mirror mate, new he was going off and then all he did was moan about it. To patchy for me and not the player I thought he was. Not convinced he's got many mates in the team either?

Just have to accept this week and move on quick.

I agree with Buckley on RH - we are playing like we are mentally jaded.
No spark, no bite, overcomplicating things, lacklustre, jaded, workmanlike and uninspired
This all started when we were in top two and flying! Why?
Pressure?
If Pearson's injury is a bad one and he misses Wembley (haven't heard anything post match) do we recall Ford or play Bradley at centre back? Niven can play there
It's all going belly up
Hearn one bright spot - looks lean, mean and will score goals again soon
Let's not forget - back in August we would have settled for play off spot and TWO Wembley appearnaces

Scotty said that Pearsons injury is a stiff hip which he's been carrying for a bit but hopes he will be ok. Not the knee which I thought it was when he walked very slowly off the pitch. All in his interview
on Mariner player.

Quoted from 1600

Devitt probably my MOM and the centre backs did well too but even Aswad didn't look on song today.

Why?

Quoted from 1600

Don't agree here - Colbeck didn't do superbly but made a difference with his energy and Brad's drive would have done too IMO.

Hmmm well you keep making this point but teams generally don't come back to win too often if they're behind.
That said, Woking is one and I'm 100% sure I've heard the Ponny sing "One nil up you f*cked it up" from the Upper on another occasion this season.

If there's any issue (and I'm not convinced there is), I would guess it comes from being unable to dominate possession.
Direct/long ball tends to be less effective against men behind the ball than passing build up play (which isn't our greatest strength by any means).
A lot of teams able to perform comebacks are those keeping the ball camped outside the oppositions box.

I tend to agree here !

I'm not talking about energy-I'd expect ANY sub. to have that quality. I'm talking about coming on and doing something different. The players we have tend to have the same attributes so all we get is more of the same. Today was a prime example of us needing to test the oppositions defence with a change of tactic/personnel. We simply do not have anyone. Colbeck did OK but had he changed the game it's hard to imagine we'd have had the same score as we did when the substitution took place.

I'd venture to suggest that a lot of good teams have the ability to come back from a losing position in their armour. In the last few games Mansfield have done so. Wrexham did (at Lincoln) and Kidderminster did today.

As I said-someone would be able to correct me. Just looked at the results and cannot see another game where we conceded first and went on to win. The best tries appear to have been at Barrow and Hyde. The former was drawn-the latter lost.

Think it's a good point you make about impact/substitutions mate, but we seem, all of a sudden, to be short of available players. Once again it comes down to quality and not having as much of it as our promotion rivals. Our apparent inability to do simple things like win second balls, pass, and cross are more fundamental I think. The number of games where our crossing/set-piece delivery has been poor - it must have cost us a heap of points this season and last. This is unforgiveable in pro's in my opinion. Talking of 'impact subs' - didn't Fleetwood use Brodie to that effect?

Quoted from barralad

As I said-someone would be able to correct me. Just looked at the results and cannot see another game where we conceded first and went on to win. The best tries appear to have been at Barrow and Hyde. The former was drawn-the latter lost.

On a similar note, I was thinking today about how many late goals our rivals have scored in recent weeks. I can't recall us getting any vital goals in the last 5 minutes of a game all season. Obviously this isn't relevant if we're 3-0 up, but in games like today the lack of late goal threat wasn't really a surprise.

Quoted from barralad

I'm not talking about energy-I'd expect ANY sub. to have that quality. I'm talking about coming on and doing something different. The players we have tend to have the same attributes so all we get is more of the same. Today was a prime example of us needing to test the oppositions defence with a change of tactic/personnel. We simply do not have anyone. Colbeck did OK but had he changed the game it's hard to imagine we'd have had the same score as we did when the substitution took place.

I'd venture to suggest that a lot of good teams have the ability to come back from a losing position in their armour. In the last few games Mansfield have done so. Wrexham did (at Lincoln) and Kidderminster did today.

Well yeah you're right.
I suppose the injury situation doesn't help - we brought on an 18 year old and a player returning from a serious injury.
Albeit did well but sure you see my point....

Quoted from barralad

As I said-someone would be able to correct me. Just looked at the results and cannot see another game where we conceded first and went on to win. The best tries appear to have been at Barrow and Hyde. The former was drawn-the latter lost.

Woking and Alfteton ?
Not trying to belittle your point though, you may be right.
I just think we're having trouble for a number of reasons, injuries, luck etc

Quoted from mariner91

Why?

Thought he did very well 1st half and looked our most dangerous player.
2nd half few came out with too much credit.

Quoted from 1600

Thought he did very well 1st half and looked our most dangerous player.
2nd half few came out with too much credit.

Personally I thought he offered little threat all game though not as little as Marshall. Neither of them put any good balls in all game.

Well let's be honest there wasn't really a stand our performer today.
Who was you MOM ? Naylor ?
And out of interest who did the sponsors pick ?

Quoted from 1600

Well let's be honest there wasn't really a stand our performer today.
Who was you MOM ? Naylor ?
And out of interest who did the sponsors pick ?

Didn't hear the sponsors cause I thought the tannoy sounded worse than ever today. And yes my man of the match would have been Naylor although I don't think the centre backs did anything particularly wrong either. Thought Naylor looked classy and the only one who was trying to get us passing and moving with any urgency.

Sponsors picked Naylor, not that it matters, they always pick the goalscorer anyway.

Quoted from brad_gtfc

Sponsors picked Naylor, not that matters, they always picks the goalscorer anyway.

liked that one....

Quoted from mariner91

Didn't hear the sponsors cause I thought the tannoy sounded worse than ever today. And yes my man of the match would have been Naylor although I don't think the centre backs did anything particularly wrong either. Thought Naylor looked classy and the only one who was trying to get us passing and moving with any urgency.

Agree with all that.

One questions just occurred to me too...
Was Devitt fouled in the area and should it have been a pen ?
I thought so but not 100% sure.
Whaddayareckon ?

Quoted from brad_gtfc

Sponsors picked Naylor, not that it matters, they always pick the goalscorer anyway.

I tipped Naylor on here for 1st goalscorer at 25/1 !  
Own goals don't count.  

Quoted from 1600

Agree with all that.

One questions just occurred to me too...
Was Devitt fouled in the area and should it have been a pen ?
I thought so but not 100% sure.
Whaddayareckon ?


I tipped Naylor on here for 1st goalscorer at 25/1 !  
Own goals don't count.  

I think he was fouled but I also think it started just outside the box. He certainly had his excrement tugged as soon as he got the ball.

For me, devitt looks a shadow of his former self, he looks far too lightweight and doesn't seem confident enough to run at players.

Hearn and Hannah frontline is what we need pace and movement playing the ball into feet will get past most CH in this division .

Quoted from 1600

Agree with all that.

One questions just occurred to me too...
Was Devitt fouled in the area and should it have been a pen ?
I thought so but not 100% sure.
Whaddayareckon ?

I think he was fouled but the ref seemed reluctant to give free kicks all game except the one they scored from which definitely wasn't a foul.

Quoted from topuphere666

. He certainly had his excrement tugged as soon as he got the ball.

How embarrassing for the lad in front of 3500 people !!  

Quoted from moosey_club

How embarrassing for the lad in front of 3500 people !!  

Least he didn't have something else tugged!

Quoted from moosey_club

How embarrassing for the lad in front of 3500 people !!  

Hahaha error!! Blame the iPad and an early Sunday morning post!

He might have been more effective if he had his brown stuff tugged!

I actually thought we started quite brightly yesterday with Naylor trying to knock the ball about, I did think we where massively undergunned in the middle of the park with Artus, who is alright on the ball but not up to competing in the middle, he went several long periods without touching the ball or getting near enough to anyone to put a tackle in. The goal killed us and we just looked devoid of ideas. I think losing our first choice midfield has killed our title hopes, I do however think I would have taken the play offs and an FA Trophy final at the start of the season if offered.

Quoted from Maringer

Incidentally, I'm not too sure why so many people are having a go at Colbeck. He did OK when he came on, winning a few corners and did a damn sight more than Marshall managed when he was on the pitch.

That one occasion where the ball ran out of play (after he'd made an interception), there was a clear bobble which led to it being run out.

I wouldn't mind some of what you are smoking, Colbeck was complete gash, his crosses free kicks and corners were hopeless. I would agree that Marshall was crap again though.

I said Colbeck was OK and did more than Marshall during his time on the pitch, not that he was good. None of the forwards or wingers put in a good performance.

Singling a player out for an average performance and calling him 'complete gash' is just ridiculous when he was no worse than anyone else.

I'm not too surprised, however, as I struggle to think of any of your posts which aren't spite-filled. Don't see the point myself, but each to his own.  

Quoted from Maringer

I said Colbeck was OK and did more than Marshall during his time on the pitch, not that he was good. None of the forwards or wingers put in a good performance.

Singling a player out for an average performance and calling him 'complete gash' is just ridiculous when he was no worse than anyone else.

I'm not too surprised, however, as I struggle to think of any of your posts which aren't spite-filled. Don't see the point myself, but each to his own.  

You said OK I said gash, it's all about opinions, I pays my money I'm entitled to an opinion whether you like it or not.

I wish Colbeck was Gash - he scored two f@cking goals yesterday!

Quoted from chaos33

I wish Colbeck was Gash - he scored two f@cking goals yesterday!

Very good!!