hurst

For me, the problem is that we've never managed to sort out the central midfield area and we can't compete well enough against the best clubs in the middle of the park. The home defeats against Bristol Rovers and Macclesfield were a case in point as we were second to pretty much every ball throughout both of those games, not to mention the almost unmentionable results against Lincoln who were too big and aggressive for us! Reading the Barnet fans' comments about our victory the other week, they were bemoaning the lack of pace and strength in their midfield which perhaps helps to explain why we were able to match up against them more easily. I think Akinde's goals are most of the reason they are up at the top, not the overall quality of their team.

For us, I think our central midfielders are badly lacking in pace and physicality in comparison to some teams and agree with Chaos that we will probably need to have a bit of luck to win promotion through the play-offs as we don't play well consistently enough to overcome our general weaknesses.

Of course, I'd love to be proved wrong.  

Quoted from Vance Warner

This. People put far too much emphasis on post match interviews. I'd be far more worried if he came out and slated the team after a defeat.

Amen to that.  

You seldom hear much passion or surprising insights from many successful managers - Morinho, Wegner, Rodgers etc - even Richard Money at Cambridge was downbeat on TV after their great Cup home match versus Manchester Red Devils Sox Inc.  

I'm sure we would all like to hear PH be a bit more cheery on occasion, but this fans' preoccupation with Hurst's low-key pronouncements is more than a bit unreasonable, and seemed to start right at the beginning of the season, after the GOOD draw away at Bristol.

UTM

Quoted from BIGChris

Over recent seasons many of us, including myself, have expressed concerns that we drew too many games. Turning draws into wins would have resulted in higher finishes and maybe even put serious pressure on the eventual title winners.

Interestingly we haven't drawn a league game since Nov. We have certainly suffered too many defeats, especially at home, but if we could have drawn a couple of those we would be much better off

So that's done it - a draw today is inevitable!

Really interesting day today. As long as we win it certainly then worth looking at the other teams. We could do some good today.

Quoted from ginnywings

There's only Bristol who are on an upward trajectory, which they are timing to perfection. We have been stuck in 4th spot for months now because every time we have a chance to make ground we blow it. There isn't much movement at all among the other contenders.

As with last season, i have never thought at any stage that we could win the league as we just don't have enough goals in us. Interestingly, Bristol have scored fewer and only better our defence by 3 but crucially have only lost 4 games all season and without checking, they are obviously not losing the 6 pointers.

Our inability to finish off the opposition is again costing us and will continue to do so. Last seasons home play off game against Gateshead being a prime example of not being ruthless enough. Nothing has changed for me. Play offs beckon and if we don't bring our shooting boots, then we'll still be a Conference side next year.

Macclesfield too.

I agree completely with the rest. Some interesting stats on here: http://www.soccerstats.com/table.asp?league=england5&tid=f

Interesting to note that we score more than one per game in only 33% of games, whereas Bristol Rovers (likely champions) score more than one in 40% of games.

Dont panic.....normal service resumed in todays paper...... i would take 1-0 wins for the rest of the season......if you would have offered 1-0 before the Telford game i would have taken it.......we should have just put the ball in the corners on Tuesday instead of continuing to play pretty football...

Some sensibility in what he is saying about being professional and ensuring the win by killing off the game in the final minutes but i would have taken a 1-0 win against the rock bottom team who have conceded an average of 2+ goals per game, c'mon Paul inspire us FFS.