Paul Hurst

Quoted from Grimsby2012

Just goes to show the people who lacked faith in him and now suddenly think he's a god...... I got messages telling me i'm crazy to still support him, well up yours people lol. I've said from the beginning that even great managers have bad patches and they also have purple patches. What makes a good manager is when they stick to their tactics and prove people wrong without quitting. I am a big believer in supporting a manager for the long term, even if things aren't always going to plan. We have changed managers way too often over the year's, and how has that worked out for us? Relegation, relegation and more relegation. Paul is a Young/new manager, give him time to perfect his logic and idea's, I have no doubt he has very good potential to go far in Football

Who said that?

Quoted from fleabag1970

All the talk of Hurst not being able to set up a team at home to beat lower teams is a load of tosh IMO .

Well for me, it's not the issue at all  !
It's more teams who come to defend en masse round their own box and just personally, wouldn't be placing Dartford into that category.
Not least because (ironically) we got the early goal...

Our 1st goal was a (lucky) own goal from a set piece corner.
So we didn't have to work the ball through, around (or into if we had a tall striker) a packed defence.
My concern over breaking packed and stubborn defences (to find the first goal) in open play remains.
The good news is it may prove easier to overcome in the future with a full squad, improved confidence, work on the training ground and better understanding between players.

If you ask me, even the great John Tondeur asked a somewhat irrelevant question post match...
"Earlier in the season side struggled against sides near the bottom here at Blundell Park to break them down but never really seemed in doubt today ?"

[I agree we were generally comfortable after the 1st went in (in JT's defence what else could he have asked ?!)]

Hurst's response:
"It didn't but having said that I don't think the game in truth was that dissimilar to some of the others, it's just about the ball going in the net"

appears (at least to me) to be:  
a) a simple acknowledgement that leading the game (thus opening it up more) always means the opposition aren't ever gonna defend in numbers when they're behind.
b) hinting at the fact that we've created chances but players have ultimately missed them in some of those other games.

Now b) is fair enough and certainly tells part of the story.
But comments like "all fizz no bang" (just back) and "We can't find a way through" on MP v Altrincham tells it's own story too.

Southport was an interesting one because they DID pack the defence but also hit us on the attack.
In my opinion we couldn't "unlock" or break Altrincham or Southport down.
There was a general fan feeling Chester (hardly a big player in this league) "came to play" so there was no issue in that victory before the Southport game.

Attacking or defensive, all opposition teams defend their own goal.
But there's defend and there's "5 at the back" and "stick everyone behind the ball".  

Near the bottom or not, not everyone who comes to BP tries to frustrate for long periods...
What would have happened (and whether Dartford would have got progressively more defensive or tried to "shut up shop") had we not got the early goal is speculation. I guess we would have won but ultimately we don't know for sure.

Put it this way, I'll be suprised if those (including myself) who were thinking e.g. "0-0 or 4-0" for the Dartford game aren't also gonna be wondering about our creative guile WHEN FACED WITH A BRICK WALL DEFENCE  at some point in the future.

There were certainly genuine early season excuses (injuries, players missing good chances).
But at the end of the day with promotion at stake, I've no desire to kid myself that overcoming packed and stubborn defences isn't a tough challenge (that will still need to be overcome during the season).

Tbf to any manager in any game, isn't it always tough ?!

One thing is for sure a Draw at Braintree isnt a disaster  and  our "new" system should make that happen at the very least . It is going to be a rough bumpy ride with not too much Flair but we will achieve promotion this season with the players we have now got playing the system that suits Hurst and the players !! IMO  433 , 41311 ,4 1 2 2 1,  or what ever it is ........lol

Quoted from fleabag1970

It is going to be a rough bumpy ride with not too much Flair

Agree about a draw not being a disaster but wouldn't be over confident about the flair bit.
We've already seen what can happen...

I don't think Dartford parked the bus at all. They were reasonably adventurous - and maybe that's been their downfall. We got lucky with the first goal, and according to Tony Butcher in the CA match report lucky to get a pen (I couldn't see so clearly from the far end of the main stand  but it looked like a push).

It was a foul for the penalty. Very soft - but a foul all the same.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

I don't think Dartford parked the bus at all. They were reasonably adventurous - and maybe that's been their downfall. We got lucky with the first goal, and according to Tony Butcher in the CA match report lucky to get a pen (I couldn't see so clearly from the far end of the main stand  but it looked like a push).

Clearly the defender pulled him back by the shirt. Lucky? Not in my eyes, a clear foul

Quoted from KingstonMariner

I don't think Dartford parked the bus at all. They were reasonably adventurous - and maybe that's been their downfall. We got lucky with the first goal, and according to Tony Butcher in the CA match report lucky to get a pen (I couldn't see so clearly from the far end of the main stand but it looked like a push).

He thought it was the end of the match and tried to exchange shirts early, def a pen

Quoted from Garth

He thought it was the end of the match and tried to exchange shirts early, def a pen

He was booked too, so the ref, who I thought had a decent game, must have seen something significant and did not hesitate.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

I don't think Dartford parked the bus at all. They were reasonably adventurous - and maybe that's been their downfall. We got lucky with the first goal, and according to Tony Butcher in the CA match report lucky to get a pen (I couldn't see so clearly from the far end of the main stand  but it looked like a push).

They didn't have time to park the bus because we scored early. Generally in our home games against the lesser teams if we have scored early we have won comfortably.