post match

JT : Is that a substitution you will make again in the future ?

PH : Absolutely yes.

God help us.

You couldnt make this excrement up

The thing is, he didn't stick up for his players anywhere in there, only himself

Absolute insult to all the fans who have come all the way to Chester in huge numbers, to have the day ruined by one stubborn blokes tactical ineptness. It's not the first time, it won't be the last and I don't think i'll ever see the day he admits he's actually wrong.

Losing 2 points today is nothing like as bad as "defeats at Gateshead, Newport, Burton and Cardiff".

It feels similar though.  That is how I feel at this minute. And it could easily have been different today.

PH: "it was like we went defensive after we made the sub.."

Errrr, no excrement.

I feel sorry for his wife he actually believes he's never wrong. How would we feel if we got to the playoff final and he made the same decision. I've gone from being in a great mood to feeling sick to death he has ruined my weekend.

Quoted from itsnotcoditshaddock

PH: "it was like we went defensive after we made the sub.."

Errrr, no excrement.

Blimey, what did he expect? The message must have been clear to the players when the sub was made "we are being asked to shut up shop" Also the message gave the initiative to Chester so we then HAD to defend.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

JT : Is that a substitution you will make again in the future ?

PH : Absolutely yes.

God help us.

Perfect answer as far as I am concerned. He plays the percentage game and that's why we consisently challenge for top places.

Will we get to a playoff final though, are his tactics, the way he chooses to win games, capable of winning over two legs, bearing in mind we often play like an away team At home, and aren't good enough at keeping possession to play out a 0-0 if needed

This has been the main frustration with hurst for the last 4 seasons , he never learns or listens

Quoted from GrimRob

Perfect answer as far as I am concerned. He plays the percentage game and that's why we consisently challenge for top places.

And why we'll probably fall short yet again this season!

Quoted from GrimRob

Perfect answer as far as I am concerned. He plays the percentage game and that's why we consisently challenge for top places.

Oh my flipping Lord.

Now I am seriously thinking you are trolling the fishy.

Because you cannot possibly mean any of that.

Quoted from GrimRob

Perfect answer as far as I am concerned. He plays the percentage game and that's why we consisently challenge for top places.

........... and don't get any further.

I personally have generally supported PH but today I have to admit I think he made the wrong call. It seemed we had dealt with Chester pressure early in the second half and Macca had had little to do. We needed a second goal and after some decent play we got it and had taken the sting out of the opposition. I feel sure if we had kept the formation going Chester would have folded, they must have felt they had lost at that point. The change just gave them the encouragement they needed to come at us and we caved in.

Quoted from GrimRob

Perfect answer as far as I am concerned. He plays the percentage game and that's why we consisently challenge for top places.

Are you his mother ????????

On a good day, Hurst is methodical, today he has reverted to type

If I was one of the players I would be more than fuming that the manager had just cost me my bonus.

We will never win the league now,

To win it now means,

We will have to win all remaining 8 games,

Barnet will have to lose at least 2 more games,

Plus Bristol Rovers will have to drop more points,

We need to attack every game and keep attacking until the final whistle,

Hurst is far too defensive minded to do that,

Prove me wrong Paul.

Does anyone have a link to the interview?

Quoted from GrimRob

Perfect answer as far as I am concerned. He plays the percentage game and that's why we consisently challenge for top places.

You don't believe that for a minute Rob   Just winding em all up I hope !

oldun don't waist your time it will only depress you and make you angry

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

oldun don't waist your time it will only depress you and make you angry

Really! Is that bad? I have to say that I feel like we have just lost and would like to wind the clock back about an hour and a half. Still in a few days time we will all be looking forward to the Eastleigh game and speculating whether Lenny will be back in.

JT - You said after the Braintree game you'd take the flak when things go wrong, will you take the flak for today?


PH - has it gone wrong?


I can only hope, and presume he's taking the flipping urine.

Will Lenny be needed though?

Don't forget when we're cruising with three quarters of the game gone and if you put another forward on for one who's tiring, you could go on and lose rather than get a draw and a point

So so negative to do what he did today and the two points dropped, sorry given away, might mean the difference between us taking top spot next month or just hoping we can get through the play off hurdles

Hurst hates playing Pitman and Palmer , it was only Lennies baby being born that forced the pairing on him. he hates playing entertaining attcking football.he just couldnt wait to get them off and go back to his boring shut up shop game.
He's cost us any chance we ever had of this title and lets face it it was slim anyway due to all the other times this season he has been cautious

Quoted from oldun

Really! Is that bad? I have to say that I feel like we have just lost and would like to wind the clock back about an hour and a half. Still in a few days time we will all be looking forward to the Eastleigh game and speculating whether Lenny will be back in.

Yes it was normally I listen to Hurst's interviews when I can't sleep this time it just made my blood boil, he would only accept blame when it was forced on him and wouldn't accept his decision probably cost us the game

I'm pretty sure when Hurst (and Scott to be fair ) first came here they said they would not accept their players giving up two goal leads so easily and that such mental fragility would be addressed

So what's changed for him to be satisfied with the one point today?

His team, his tactics, his substitutions, his responsibility! No ifs, no buts... 2-0 up and he f***ed it up!

It's extremely frustrating. I get the impression PH is terrified of losing his job hence he will settle for a point from a position where you should win the game 90% of times and why he keeps making these substitutions that might work occasionally but never convincingly. Usually when he brings on Parslow for a striker we look shaky and only luck has stopped us conceding more late goals.

The problem is this attitude will not get us promoted. And even more worrying is that he doesn't seem to learn or even seem to realise that drawing after leading by two goals is the sign of things going wrong. His stubbornness as a manager will cost us promotion and him his job ultimately. It's alright Rob saying he plays the percentage game but how many great teams play it? How many successful teams play it? Not many. Off the top of my head, Greece are the only team I've known who have won something major doing it.

Quoted from GrimRob

Perfect answer as far as I am concerned. He plays the percentage game and that's why we consisently challenge for top places.

Here we go, the percentage game again, this is not a casino!

Jesus

Quoted from pontoonlew

Absolute insult to all the fans who have come all the way to Chester in huge numbers, to have the day ruined by one stubborn blokes tactical ineptness. It's not the first time, it won't be the last and I don't think i'll ever see the day he admits he's actually wrong.

So true! He just cannot admit to being wrong which frustrates me even more.

Mariner91: Totally agree with you.

Subs should be considered and made on an individual game basis.  Chester were poor at the back and could easily have conceded more goals.  As long as we pressured them.

Going forward, they carried a intermittent but a potential threat, if given any encouragement .Suicidal therefore, to give them the opportunity and invite them to attack more.  Just as it proved.  And all this in less than a quarter of the game.  Madness.  

Quoted from oldun

Does anyone have a link to the interview?

https://audioboom.com/boos/298.....p;utm_source=twitter

Just on the way back from the game, disappointed as I believe that substitution sucked us deeper by not having two men up top to hold the ball up and relieve pressure. Hurst played the game and unfortunately his decision cost us two points.

On 75 minutes, we were two up, 3 points off top with a game in hand over 2nd place.

I feel flipping sick tonight.

So much momentum, so much fantastic spirit and atmosphere around the place, all evaporated with one substitution. It's pretty heartbreaking, if I'm being honest (and slightly dramatic).

Quoted from ska face

On 75 minutes, we were two up, 3 points off top with a game in hand over 2nd place.

I feel flipping sick tonight.

So much momentum, so much fantastic spirit and atmosphere around the place, all evaporated with one substitution. It's pretty heartbreaking, if I'm being honest (and slightly dramatic).

2-0 up and Hurst says RETREAT!

God help us...

Am very annoyed at Hurst with his responses, making my blood boil tbh. But some criticism over the top. His team and selection got us playing so well and when we scraped through against Woking last week I and many others didn't complain.

That said I wish he would admit that today that was a poor substitution, I could take the negative tactics if he admitted his mistakes! We had the game under control, it was the wrong change. Just as he deserves praise for our run of form he deserves critcism for a bad decision. And Rob, I really do aadmire you for this site, putting up with a lot of s*** and generally calm analysis but seriously?!? That kind of change is why I doubt Hurst can take us up. I will just echo what Pete said; please please please prove me wrong!

Quoted from ska face

On 75 minutes, we were two up, 3 points off top with a game in hand over 2nd place.

Wish you hadn't posted/I hadn't read that, has taken me from down but not too disheartened to pretty devastated!

Just back and just listened to what Hurst had to say, I've heard some bullshit in my time and that is up there with the best of them.

If he hasn't got the balls to admit he fuckedup then I have no respect for the guy.

Quoted from wembley_double98

Here we go, the percentage game again, this is not a casino!

Jesus

If it was we'd have won a few quid. He gets it wrong sometimes but the table suggests he gets it right aswell. We're all frustrated but a draw away from home is not the end of the world. after the run we've been on we need to keep a bit of perspective

That decision today encapsulates everything that's wrong with the ethos of this club. F@cking Hurst and his small thinking, defensive obsession. Brings on an average full back for a striker to play centre mid, hands them the initiative and blows it. That decision could well cost us a shot at the title. Sorry to be so frank but this is why I'll never be behind him as a manager. I'm really fuming.

Sorry to say, but if you're mentioning percentages, the ratio of people who disagree with you is around 93%, I would say that's an overall - you are wrong!

[img]http://i.imgur.com/UWb3ao1.jpg[/img]

"Any point away from home is a good point."

That's what teams plodding about in mid-table say, not teams challenging for promotion.

Losing a two-goal lead when well set is bad enough, but not admitting that you were responsible makes it worse.

All he had to do was admit that the substitution and change in tactics was wrong. By doing so, it'd reassure the fans that he saw it like we did.

That's some consolation.

But by saying he'd make the same sub again in the same circumstances, well, he and the fans are going to grow further apart. The fans will doubt his future decisions even more, so he's not helping himself.

He's an intelligent bloke. I'm surprised he hasn't realised this.

I would have accepted a point if we were second best but as their crowd sang at us two nil up and you copulated it up

Are you saying its my fault,

I bet you would not say that to Rob Scott,

He did not say that but he might as well as,

Not listened to the interview but it seems to me as though Hurst has certainly developed a bit of a siege mentality. I suppose this is understandable to some degree as he's been getting it in the neck at various times over the past 18 months, even when he doesn't always deserve the amount of criticism coming his way.

It seems clear to most that the change in formation near the end was a mistake today, but he's obviously not going to admit that when pressed.

As a cautious manager, I don't think he'll change his viewpoint but it is surprising that he hasn't realised that we generally aren't good enough defensively to just shut up shop like this.

Who would be a manager? We battered them for most of the game and they didn't have a shot until the second half. Hurst got the tactics spot on. Did making the substitution lead directly to the two goals? No

Quoted from The Grim Reaper

Who would be a manager? We battered them for most of the game and they didn't have a shot until the second half. Hurst got the tactics spot on. Did making the substitution lead directly to the two goals? No

Have you not been reading, of course it did, playing a poor quality player who hardly touched the ball instead of an attacker who could put pressure on their defence led to us being under pressure for the remainder of the game until he pushed Jolley up front but by then it was too late.

You must be as daft as Hurst, unless you are him.

His answers to JT were not good enough for any one of the fans that went to the game and his boss should be telling  him that in no uncertain terms. If he really believes what he says then every single one of us should be very worried.

Quoted from The Grim Reaper

Who would be a manager? We battered them for most of the game and they didn't have a shot until the second half. Hurst got the tactics spot on. Did making the substitution lead directly to the two goals? No

You are right. Parslow did not put the ball in his own net twice.

But you have to realise he was not actually a substitute but a white flag in disguise.

Quoted from Tommy

"Any point away from home is a good point."

That's what teams plodding about in mid-table say, not teams challenging for promotion.

Exactly. Especially when you manage a side with as bad a home record as us.

PH is not in charge of a side in a division with 3 automatic promotion spots, but one.

Quoted from gaz57

I feel sorry for his wife he actually believes he's never wrong. How would we feel if we got to the playoff final and he made the same decision. I've gone from being in a great mood to feeling sick to death he has ruined my weekend.

I feel the same, 11pm, had a few pints and I am devastated at that perfromance in the second half against a bunch of mugs. We invited their pressure. A manager like Alan Buckley would have made sure we saw that game out. Huge two lost points, massive. Gutted, I feel so bad now.

How can any team within 20 minutes go from cruising 2-0 up to backs against the wall getting away with a 2-2? Doesn't make sense and that would worry me if I was in that side and that happened to me

Quoted from Vance Warner

If it was we'd have won a few quid. He gets it wrong sometimes but the table suggests he gets it right aswell. We're all frustrated but a draw away from home is not the end of the world. after the run we've been on we need to keep a bit of perspective

Oh really? Thanks Paul
Tell me that in League one

Quoted from wembley_double98

Here we go, the percentage game again, this is not a casino!

It is though! Football is substantially a game of chance, so much meaning is attributed to random events it astonishes me sometimes.

People are angry and annoyed that we threw away a two goal lead (me included) but in a few days time everyone will have a got a bit of perspective.

Quoted from wembley_double98

Oh really? Thanks Paul
Tell me that in League one

This is where I want to say be fair, he does get it right sometimes, I didn't see the howls of protest on here when he did the same thing last week and got away with it.

That said the point of this the thread is that not only did he make a poor decision in this game (surely no one that was there will disagree with that) but that he fails to acknowledge it was a mistake and we all fear this negativity will cost us. Can you disagree with that?

Quoted from wembley_double98

Oh really? Thanks Paul
Tell me that in League one

This is where I want to say be fair, he does get it right sometimes, I didn't see the howls of protest on here when he did the same thing last week and got away with it.

That said the point of this the thread is that not only did he make a poor decision in this game (surely no one that was there will disagree with that) but that he fails to acknowledge it was a mistake and we all fear this negativity will cost us. Can anyone really disagree with that?

Quoted from GrimRob

It is though! Football is substantially a game of chance, so much meaning is attributed to random events it astonishes me sometimes.

People are angry and annoyed that we threw away a two goal lead (me included) but in a few days time everyone will have a got a bit of perspective.

Rob, you constantly make these betting analogies. If you and Hurst are right I assume you are both multi-millionaires by now.

Quoted from Vance Warner

If it was we'd have won a few quid. He gets it wrong sometimes but the table suggests he gets it right aswell. We're all frustrated but a draw away from home is not the end of the world. after the run we've been on we need to keep a bit of perspective

Perspective. hmmm. After all the hard work Hurst and the team have put in to get themselves back into contention. So we could be 3 points off the top but the manager throws away the chance. That to me is under-performing. We could have won. We threw it away. Not beaten by the better side. Content with a draw?

Where we up against superior opposition or did we have very bad luck?

I don't think anyone has suggested it's the end of the world. Or did you read something different?

Quoted from GrimRob

It is though! Football is substantially a game of chance, so much meaning is attributed to random events it astonishes me sometimes.

People are angry and annoyed that we threw away a two goal lead (me included) but in a few days time everyone will have a got a bit of perspective.

Sorry Rob, I do not see it this way, to me it's more a game of Chess, educated decision making.
Chances are taken more when the chips are down, we sacrificed a Queen for a Pawn today unnecessarily.

UTM

Chess players who make sacrifices are often bold and fortune favours the brave.  Their decision-making has to be very carefully calculated to succeed against the odds.

Hurst made a bad decision when it was avoidable and paid the consequences.  As did the fans.  

Hurst may not have admitted his mistake verbally but he admitted it by his actions in bringing on Jolley and going back to 4-4-2. Too late by then, all momentum lost and maybe not just in that one game either. There was a general groundswell developing; the fans were starting to believe and buy into it.

It's almost like he has this little switch in his head that says it's the 70 minute mark, i need to show everyone i'm the manager and make a substitution. Just about every sub he makes in every game comes from 70 mins onwards. He never changes things early when it's not working and he never ever makes a change at half time. We never cruise through a game with the same 11 starting and finishing. If we are chasing the game, we get like for like subs with not much improvement. If we are slightly ahead, which is almost always the case, he looks to tighten up the game and yesterday he just went way too early and with the wrong man entirely. I have no idea why we even signed Parslow.

Quoted from ginnywings

Hurst may not have admitted his mistake verbally but he admitted it by his actions in bringing on Jolley and going back to 4-4-2. Too late by then, all momentum lost and maybe not just in that one game either. There was a general groundswell developing; the fans were starting to believe and buy into it.

It's almost like he has this little switch in his head that says it's the 70 minute mark, i need to show everyone i'm the manager and make a substitution. Just about every sub he makes in every game comes from 70 mins onwards. He never changes things early when it's not working and he never ever makes a change at half time. We never cruise through a game with the same 11 starting and finishing. If we are chasing the game, we get like for like subs with not much improvement. If we are slightly ahead, which is almost always the case, he looks to tighten up the game and yesterday he just went way too early and with the wrong man entirely. I have no idea why we even signed Parslow.

Sums it up for me. No problem going 451 if you put a genuine central midfielder on - especially as the one we had on the bench was our best central midfielder in the first half of the season. Parslow is a defender - and a not very good one at that.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Sums it up for me. No problem going 451 if you put a genuine central midfielder on - especially as the one we had on the bench was our best central midfielder in the first half of the season. Parslow is a defender - and a not very good one at that.

Exactly.

I mean if you want to hold on to what you got at least bring a player on who actually plays in that position in Scott Brown.

The more I slept on it the more it just doesn't make any sense at all.

Quoted from wembley_double98

Sorry Rob, I do not see it this way, to me it's more a game of Chess, educated decision making.
Chances are taken more when the chips are down, we sacrificed a Queen for a Pawn today unnecessarily.

UTM

If you want a chess analogy we were material up and tried to exchange down, common practice when you are up a piece or two. There were checkmate opportunities but we tried the less risky approach. Our opponent managed to construct some counterplay and developed an attack which nullified our material advantage. In the end we were forced to accept a draw.

I'm still baffled of the mentality that reaching the play offs is success.

How so, unless winning them? It's not like there is a financial bonus for doing so.

Macclesfield, if you look at their situation at the start of the season, can rightly feel play offs equal over achieving. But us...? No. Has to be won.

Not go out in a whimper like last two seasons. Sadly, I think if Bristol R don't win the league then we've had it anyway. Against the others we should be favourites, pending the approach in a two legged semi final

Just a thought, Chester might have scored three if we hadn't gone defensive. We were not the only team to lose a two goal lead yesterday (Halifax) And Halifax  didn't go defensive. in fact they put more strikers on!!!

Quoted from Doubled

Just a thought, Chester might have scored three if we hadn't gone defensive. We were not the only team to lose a two goal lead yesterday (Halifax) And Halifax  didn't go defensive. in fact they put more strikers on!!!

We're not Halifax and we weren't playing Bristol Rovers - we were in complete control of a game against Chester!

Lets accept one thing even if he wont Hurst  took away our winning position through ineptness it was clear for all to see and hear. If he does not learn from this then he is a bad manager and will never amount to anything.

If you have the momentum you go for the juggler until the game is nearly over you do not put your defence under pressure so early for christ's sake LEARN from YOUR MISTAKES.

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

Lets accept one thing even if he wont Hurst  took away our winning position through ineptness it was clear for all to see and hear. If he does not learn from this then he is a bad manager and will never amount to anything.

If you have the momentum you go for the juggler until the game is nearly over you do not put your defence under pressure so early for christ's sake LEARN from YOUR MISTAKES.

Your mistakes? Think you mean JUGULAR - apologies to all you jugglers out there!

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

Lets accept one thing even if he wont Hurst  took away our winning position through ineptness it was clear for all to see and hear. If he does not learn from this then he is a bad manager and will never amount to anything.

If you have the momentum you go for the juggler until the game is nearly over you do not put your defence under pressure so early for christ's sake LEARN from YOUR MISTAKES.

A juggler would have done a better job than Parslow did.

Quoted from GrimRob

If you want a chess analogy we were material up and tried to exchange down, common practice when you are up a piece or two. There were checkmate opportunities but we tried the less risky approach. Our opponent managed to construct some counterplay and developed an attack which nullified our material advantage. In the end we were forced to accept a draw.

Give me strength

Quoted from GrimRob

If you want a chess analogy we were material up and tried to exchange down, common practice when you are up a piece or two. There were checkmate opportunities but we tried the less risky approach. Our opponent managed to construct some counterplay and developed an attack which nullified our material advantage. In the end we were forced to accept a draw.

We were playing football - quite well at it happens - not frickin chess. And Parslow was unable to de-construct their counterplay, maybe he should watch a video of Mr Fenty and a flag?

Not being funny, but in games this season Hurst has been criticised for not changing things.

If he didn't make the changes yesterday, & they came back from two down, the torrent of abuse would be exactly the same as it is today "he should have changed it when two up"

The fact is that we threw away a two goal lead, but was the substitutions to blame, or are we just using it as an excuse to have a go at Hurst?

Hee, hee cheers lads a lot of jokers there yesterday but Hurst decision was a real show stopper at least our sense of humour is still alive

[quote=156]Not being funny, but in games this season Hurst has been criticised for not changing things.


The problem has been that he never changes when we are losing or drawing at home but is quick to make changes when we are running away with a game

Interesting to see GrimRob's use of chess analogies, without realising his own striking resemblance to Deep Blue.

Utterly mechanical, reducing the sport to a series of equations, spreadsheets, stats and percentages.

Sorry Rob, but football isn't a flipping equation - there's no way of quantifying the influence of 1000 away fans cheering a team on, you can't put a figure on the emotional impact of having a striker removed for no good reason and you certainly can't reduce the value of momentum to a percentage.

Quoted from mimma

Not being funny, but in games this season Hurst has been criticised for not changing things.

If he didn't make the changes yesterday, & they came back from two down, the torrent of abuse would be exactly the same as it is today "he should have changed it when two up"

The fact is that we threw away a two goal lead, but was the substitutions to blame, or are we just using it as an excuse to have a go at Hurst?

This:- The defending for their goals was appalling and the first one certainly didn't come from a period of sustained Chester pressure because of the change in formation. There is no strong evidence to suggest that we wouldn't have conceded the goal if the substitution hadn't taken place...

The problem is that, despite generally having a decent defence (still the second best in the division), the goals we concede do seem to be very poor ones much of the time. It seems there is always a stupid mistake in us somewhere and this means we don't look very solid when we try to shut up shop.

In comparison, I think back to Bristol Rovers' victory at BP the other month. Now, we didn't play at all well on the day, but they decided to shut down the game in the second half to defend their one goal lead and they managed it very effectively as we didn't couldn't create any really good chances.

I understand why Hurst does it - he's a cautious manager - but I don't think we're nearly as good as this as Rovers so perhaps he needs to rethink things a bit?

Did they start lumping it long before Hurst made the changes? If so, this would certainly explain why Parslow was preferred to Brown who is no use in the air.

Hurst told Parslow to get ready to come on before the second goal went in. When we scored the second, they delayed the substitution. With Mahon running the midfield, the decision to replace him for Palmer was made. Can see his thought processes as the midfield was getting overrun but Palmer was an outlet for long balls over the midfield and was a handful for their defenders. He had to do something but unless Palmer was injured his absence allowed their defence to play further forward.

Quoted from barralad

This:- The defending for their goals was appalling and the first one certainly didn't come from a period of sustained Chester pressure because of the change in formation. There is no strong evidence to suggest that we wouldn't have conceded the goal if the substitution hadn't taken place...

But doesn't the opposition take the clear signal on board that they could come and attack us for the last quarter of the game as we thought our defence would be good enough to keep them at bay? Sort of come and have a go if you think you're good enough....and they were!!

Call that being naive or arrogant or a bit of both but if we had carried on taking the game to them instead of conceding territory maybe there'd have been more chance of us seeing the game out?

Quoted from FishOutOfWater

But doesn't the opposition take the clear signal on board that they could come and attack us for the last quarter of the game as we thought our defence would be good enough to keep them at bay? Sort of come and have a go if you think you're good enough....and they were!!

Call that being naive or arrogant or a bit of both but if we had carried on taking the game to them instead of conceding territory maybe there'd have been more chance of us seeing the game out?

All teams playing us now will try and keep the score down until the last 20 mins,

Then Hurst makes his change which is a signal for the opponents to attack

Hurst said we have a good defence,

Maybe our defence has been good because the ball is at the other end of the pitch,

If we invite teams to attack us we ask for all we get.( well Hurst does )

Interesting that the Chester fans on their forum think that the substitutions that they made, was the difference in the change. Not our substitutions.

Quoted from mimma

Interesting that the Chester fans on their forum think that the substitutions that they made, was the difference in the change. Not our substitutions.

Impossible!! An opposing manager cannot possibly be given the credit for trying substitutions to improve his team, who were up until that point pretty awful.
I would have preferred to see Brown in there but the change probably did have to be made...

Quoted from FishOutOfWater

But doesn't the opposition take the clear signal on board that they could come and attack us for the last quarter of the game as we thought our defence would be good enough to keep them at bay? Sort of come and have a go if you think you're good enough....and they were!!

Call that being naive or arrogant or a bit of both but if we had carried on taking the game to them instead of conceding territory maybe there'd have been more chance of us seeing the game out?

There were FOUR minutes(ish) between the substitution and their first goal. During that four minutes there wasn't a spell of concerted Chester pressure. When you take into account the fact that they were by then losing 2-0 and had nothing to lose by attacking-especially with two fresh subs of their own the argument doesn't hold water for me.

Why didn't he being Brown on? Why sign him and put him in the squad if you don't trust him to go on and play?! I just don't understand Hurst. Just like McLaughlin, it's a waste of 2 far superior footballers - to bring on a loanee playing out of position.

Quoted from chestermariner

Hurst told Parslow to get ready to come on before the second goal went in. When we scored the second, they delayed the substitution. With Mahon running the midfield, the decision to replace him for Palmer was made. Can see his thought processes as the midfield was getting overrun but Palmer was an outlet for long balls over the midfield and was a handful for their defenders. He had to do something but unless Palmer was injured his absence allowed their defence to play further forward.

I'm not at all sure Palmer is 100% fit yet. He looked pretty tired before he was substituted. I'd rather see him for 70 minutes than risk losing him altogether for the next/last few games. Hurst's problem then was that he didn't have anyone who could play that role on the bench due to LJLs continuing absence. I strongly suspect you wouldn't have many takers on here for Jolley playing that central role given the reaction to his recent foray in that position.

Quoted from chaos33

Why didn't he being Brown on? Why sign him and put him in the squad if you don't trust him to go on and play?! I just don't understand Hurst. Just like McLaughlin, it's a waste of 2 far superior footballers - to bring on a loanee playing out of position.

It's a strange one granted....

Quoted from mimma

Interesting that the Chester fans on their forum think that the substitutions that they made, was the difference in the change. Not our substitutions.

Do you have selective vision as there are a number that were glad we (or should I say Hurst) made that substitution.

Quoted from chaos33

Why didn't he being Brown on? Why sign him and put him in the squad if you don't trust him to go on and play?! I just don't understand Hurst. Just like McLaughlin, it's a waste of 2 far superior footballers - to bring on a loanee playing out of position.

I've been saying this for months mate, why sign players yet doesn't  play them.

Quoted from barralad

There were FOUR minutes(ish) between the substitution and their first goal. During that four minutes there wasn't a spell of concerted Chester pressure. When you take into account the fact that they were by then losing 2-0 and had nothing to lose by attacking-especially with two fresh subs of their own the argument doesn't hold water for me.

As I mentioned elsewhere, Hurst has made this substitution twice in consecutive away games for a total of 25 minutes and we have conceded three goals, only God knows why you cannot accept he made an error when all the journalists, 99% of Town fans and some Chester fans can see that he did.

Quoted from chaos33

Why didn't he being Brown on? Why sign him and put him in the squad if you don't trust him to go on and play?! I just don't understand Hurst. Just like McLaughlin, it's a waste of 2 far superior footballers - to bring on a loanee playing out of position.

This is what infuriates me about Hurst. Paddy and Scott Brown are infinitely better footballers than Parslow, who is a mediocre defender, never mind a midfielder. Two signed players, one on the bench and the other loaned out to Harrogate, yet he plays an on loan, very average player out of position in the heart of the team.

And did Parslow contribute anything at all? Was it worth it? Did it work? No, no and no. In fact, he barely touched the ball. We didn't gain or retain any posession in midfield, we left our striker isolated and the the rest of the team imbalanced, and completely handed them the impetus. Utterly needless, small-thinking, over cautious, unimaginative, gutless, reactive waste of time and points. And probably very costly indeed.