Just back

Would most fans feel that going for a win but losing would be better than a draw ?

Just asking.

Dunno Pete. I'd expect a mixed bag of results but with us playing some football and attacking teams, especially at home.

Slade deserved to be booed, taking off your top scorer and the only player who looked like scoring for in my opinion the laziest no.9 I have seen in over 50 years and leaving Vernon on who wouldn't have scored if he was still on the pitch on his own. No wonder Jones looked drunk off.

Also taking off Town's most exciting player who had 2 shots at goal and one great run to the byline before putting in a very good cross while leaving on Woolford who did frig all no wonder the fans chanted "you don't know what you are doing"

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Couldn't agree more. And why did Davey B have to be accompanied around the pitch?

Possibly because JF got the frame thing on approval just in case Dave didn't like it, if purchases are damaged you can't get a refund....... joking apart it was great to see and well deserved.

Anyway enough of that on to the game, well I guess we are not losing and the basis of any half decent team is the defence and the ability to keep clean sheets, when you want to build a side you build from the back.

Until Jones created his first chance from nothing I thought I was watching a game in slow motion as neither side started with any intensity. The conditions did not help but in the first half I thought it was an open game which Town edged as we tested their keeper a  little more than recent weeks once we decided that in general football is played on the ground by passing the ball to a player in the same colour shirt and not punting it long and hoping for the best.

Really disappointed with the 2nd half as we lacked any real team cohesion and composure on the ball. We appear to get into decent space and take the wrong option far too often these days we look long when we should go short and we try a complicated pass when the easy pass will do. All that said some real heroics off the line from Davis and Collins a well as a couple of good saves from Macca ensure Town got a draw from a game they didn't deserve to lose but the type of one where we will have to do much better up front to win.

Despite the result being frustrating I thought all the players tried hard,

Macca - Really good game and his saves in the 2nd half kept us in the game.
Davies - Good game, worked hard and used his experience on a number of occasions.
Dixon - He's clearly trying hard but If I did not know how old he was I would think he was a rookie with his positional play
Clarke - Has been better but needs to take some credit for his part in a clean sheet
Collins - A warrior performance, really good game once he got to grips with their number 9
Berret - Decent but needs to shoot when he gets a sight of goal
Summerfield - Unrecognisable from the player who went out on loan to Macclesfield, at time he looked like the only one who wanted to pass the ball forward and his work rate and desire makes a real difference.
Woolford - If we are going t get any value from his ability we need an energetic full back who can overlap to play with him.
Dembelle - Great attitude and is getting stronger game by game, possibly the only Town player other than Jones that would have scored today.
Jones - Felt sorry for him when he came off and if Slade thinks replacing him with Hooper as he said on RH "changing the dynamic" he needs his head testing.
Vernon - Not a great day for him but I guess if people keep pumping balls up to you on a windy day then you getting really poor service to work with.

The subs, Cardwell should have come on for Vernon and not Hooper for Jones. it was too late fro DJ to make any impact and he should have replaced Woolford 15 mins earlier.

So how do we turn draws into wins? Amongst other things

- Keep the "none shall pass" defending going
- Get Osborne fit and in mid field with Summerfield for a bit.
- Give Woolford a FB partner who can overlap, Mills at LB?
- Or re the above start DJ instead of Woolford for a bit
- Take the ball into the box rather than trying to cross it to the invisible man.
- Give Cradwell some game time even if he doesn't start.
- Many say we need a pacey CB though I don't disagree some pace from FB is a bigger priority IMHO as our attacking threat out wide is in reality pretty average  
- Get a "fox in the box" striker in Jan

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY KEEP THE BLOODY BALL ON THE GROUND!



I know I'll get slaughtered but I actually believe that we are improving and if we can stay tight at the back some of these draws will turn into wins............eventually!

UTM!  
                    

      

If we’d tried hard to win a game but lost late on to a goal on the break I wouldn’t say I was happy to lose it but I’d feel a bit more optimistic about going to the next game. Tonight I feel like the game could have been won had we tried something different. Cambridge were happy with what they got and become the latest in a long line of teams over a few seasons to come to BP for a point and get one.

OK it's bloody boring to saw the least but a long unbeaten run of mostly draws does keep us just behind play-off places for if and when we do find the key to producing the wins.

Dembele looked as if he had sustained an injury - appeared to be holding his thigh when he came off - perhaps that is the reason he was subbed?

We just ain't that good. Doesn't mean we are that bad either.

It could have been a Hurst team playing in the conference this afternoon. There are more similarities between the two managers than some will accept. A lot of the same critism can be aim at both men (long balls, favourite players, odd subs, poor home form, dodgy rh interviews, irritation of supporters ).

Really enjoyed the first half, great going forward and solid defensively. Second half against the wind yet we tried the long ball? Don't get why. Also bemused (but didn't boo) at the two subs made. The 2 players who can make things happen taken off when Woolford looked shattered. Overall a point was fair as they dominated 2nd half, just wish we'd buried a couple 1st half. UTM

3rd 0-0 in a row at home but not quite groundhog day as there were a few chances today.

We could've had a few. Jones hitting the post and then another shot after cutting back inside. Vernon header forcing a save. 2nd half not a lot but Dembele flashed the ball wide after going round the keeper leaving a difficult angle.

But it wasn't all Town. Cambridge should've scored first half when their lad scuffed his shot and dragged it wide from dead centre of the goal. And 2nd half McKeown made 2 good saves low down, to add to the 2 we cleared off the line within 10 seconds of each other.

In my opinion the standard and the tactics at the moment are poor. Despite us having these few chances, they're not much to show for 90 minutes of football, where generally the game wasn't a great spectacle. We have a chance but then don't do anything else for another 20 minutes. We don't back it up with any periods of sustained pressure. Teams dont have any spells in a game when they're pinned in their own half against us.

Crazy crazy subs today from Slade. Jones wasn't particularly having a fantastic afternoon but he's our only finisher. Vernon, aside from his header 1st half, didn't offer anything and is as likely to not score again this season as he is to score again this season.
Dembele, again, his decision-making and end product wasn't always there but at 0-0 I'd leave him on as he might make something happen. Meanwhile Woolford on the other wing gets a full 90 again despite offering very little.(I do accept he'd offer more if we had more movement in the team and had spells of possession).

Summerfield was my MOM. Intercepted balls, won tackles, passed with a purpose, passed forwards and saw passes early. One great cushion volley pass to Dembele when the ball came at him from high up and he had to open his body up to direct it to Dembele.

Davies was also good. Defended well, won free-kicks (just about our only player who knows how to draw a foul or even make it look like you've been fouled), and put 2/3 great crosses in during the first half from open play.

McKeown, despite his poor kicking, deserves positive mention for his vital saves today.

Sadly that was about it. Collins and Clarke were ok but both sloppy at times too. Berrett and Vernon offered nothing. Woolford and Dixon aren't terrible players but suffer from being paired with each other down our left. Much like Gregor Robertson and Monkhouse, too one-paced as a partnership. Either would be better with a more athletic player on that side with them.

The unbeaten run is all well and good but it's the points return from these games that should be the overriding judge of success. And we've only actually won 2 in the last 8.