Just Back

I don’t think today was as bad as some think, yeah I know we lost the game but I still think the signs are there that we are better than last season. First half I thought we played really well and the clever Cook and Vernam were getting in behind and dragging their defence out of shape. Our only crime was not punishing them when we were on top. Second half Yeovil dropped deeper to stop us getting in behind and the longer the game went on we became desperate and tried to force the game by going long and straight down the throat of their huge centre halves.

Disappointing substitutions for me, I don’t get the idea of bringing on Fox, who was clearly well short of match fitness, to try and create something, and I don’t think Harry Clifton offered much on the other flank. I noticed that young Embleton was stripped off and ready to come on just before they scored, only to be sat back down so Mitch Rose could come on to launch throw ins into the box, again playing right into their hands.

Throw Thomas and Pringle into the equation and I think we’ll be a much better team.

From what I can see Walsh is now not a box to box player, with Whitehouse out, who according to reports was very athletic so could get into the oppositions box, are our current midfielders not assisting the attack enough, this might be why the 2 new lads have been brought in.

Quoted from jimgtfc

I don’t think Harry Clifton offered much on the other flank.

Well, he did put in an absolute peach of a cross which was begging to be netted. Unfortunately, Cook fluffed it completely.

I'd expect Embleton will start to get games when he has settled in a bit.

I’m a big supporter of Jolly but I’m very confused as to how he wants his team to play.
Pack the midfield?
Boot it up to any one who maybe near the opposition box?
Play out from the back?
I’m fooked if I know.
I still have confidence in M J but please make your mind up.
UTM

Really disappointed with today's game and performance and actually for the first time since he arrived MJ.

I thought once we settled and got to the middle period of the first half we looked o.k. and Cook and Verman in particular looked like they could do something providing that the supply from mid field came good. However it didn't as Hooper is not a wide player and in a 4 and Woolford is much less effective than when he's in a 5 man mid field hass he has more passing options to make the most of skill with the ball.      

In the second half we allowed our game to be broken up by a physical and savvy Yeovil and this is where MJ got it wrong as it was clear that we where not winning and retaining the ball in mid field in the second half and he failed to respond and when he did I think his subs where poor.

Bringing Foxy on for his first game after injury and expecting a full back to "provide crosses"as MJ said on RH was far too much  of a task. Then when we went 1 - 0 down sitting the new lad back down and bringing on Rose reeked of a "lets juts throw the ball in the box" mentality. I get if Rose had come on after 55 mins when we needed better retention and shape but Mitch is and IMHO will never be an impact sub. Max Wright has been on the bench for ages maybe it was time to throw him on in search of an equalizer but Mitch was the wrong option with a game to save.

So, disappointed to lose a game in which Macca didn't really have a save to make and also concerned with the following,    

- The poor decisions off the subs bench
- Players fitness, they looked knackered after 75 mins
- The ref, really poor fitness and either failed to deal with the big decisions or get them completely wrong.
- Our ball retention  
- Taking the Ariel route when we'd not won a header all day
- A quiet BP for most of the game.
- That the club didn't do something to fill an empty Osmond  
- The shop lost my shirt order and I still haven't got it ????

And........ that when JT did another interview in true "Dale Ladson style" MJ told us that he was unhappy with the players performance and had told them so (again!) before he took responsibility for the result, maybe it should have been the other way around?

All that said I'm sure things will get better as overall this season and in glimpses today I've seen enough to suggest a mid table finish but at the moment we are a big a "work in progress" one that might present us with a bit more pain in the coming weeks but will start to come good once MJ finds some balance and everyone is fit & available.

In MJ we (I) still trust..........

UTM!

Quoted from jonnyboy82

I think all this changing formation cant be helping the players , we go 433 one week then 442 then we change to 352 so i honestly dont know what we are trying to do.

We played our best football so far in a 433 so what do we do today ? change to a 442 .

We play with hooper on the left while a natural winger in max wright sits on the bench. We know hooper aint good enough so why not play max wright ?

Im gonna be honest one week jolley impresses me the next  i wonder what is he trying ? Today lumping the ball agains 7ft defenders wont work but we constantly did it.

Frustrsted is the word so far and we need to stop all this changing about formations and please stop playing hoope for intercourse sake.

Sums it up for me. Sheer frustration. Lincoln game showed how we could play. Appreciate we'll have lesser performances and may need to mix it up at times, but the constant chopping and changing isn't helping anyone. Pick a system, stick with it and only adjust when necessary - not every five minutes.

Too much shunting players into a system that doesn't suit. Our whole recruitment was based on a 3 man central midfield, why we're trying to now play 4-4-2 ,is beyond me.

Yeovil got their subs spot on. We couldn't have got ours any worse if we tried. Lack of ideas summed up when Embleton was about to come on, they score and Rose gets the nod instead. Bizarre.

We need to improve and start picking points up sharpish.  

We miss Collins' composure at the back, Davis and Whitmore too similar to each other. Famewo probably better off partnering one of them in the meantime. Rough and smooth combo.  Revert back to a 3 man midfield where Welsh anchors and runs the game. Cook or Thomas up top as the focal point in attack. Woolford giving licence to do what he did against Lincoln. Energy, energy and more energy making up the rest of the side.

I'd like to think we could eventually line up with something like:

Macca
(Back 4)
Welsh Hessenthaler
Vernam Embleton Pringle
Thomas

The 3 behind the CF could be capable of alternating positions.
Then you've got Cook to come in too either in place of Thomas or one of the three supporting. Woolford not in there but this is a system that could suit him playing where I've got Vernam (where he's had his better games this season).

As the other thread says though it's a transition and I doubt any team starts the season with the XI that will end up being the strongest XI come December. It will evolve with trial and error and while we find the right system and the right blend in different areas of the pitch.

Quoted from Tommy

I'd like to think we could eventually line up with something like:

Macca
(Back 4)
Welsh Hessenthaler
Vernam Embleton Pringle
Thomas

The 3 behind the CF could be capable of alternating positions.
Then you've got Cook to come in too either in place of Thomas or one of the three supporting. Woolford not in there but this is a system that could suit him playing where I've got Vernam (where he's had his better games this season).

As the other thread says though it's a transition and I doubt any team starts the season with the XI that will end up being the strongest XI come December. It will evolve with trial and error and while we find the right system and the right blend in different areas of the pitch.

In that formation Tommy would you expect the full backs to bomb on and Hess or Welsh to drop into a defensive role?  

Quoted from Maringer

Hooper was OK today. Worked hard, had one or two decent touches (Vernam should have played him through after their one-two instead of shooting). Didn't achieve anything less than our other attacking players, but he's the boo boy at present. I'm not claiming he was brilliant or anything but was OK.

I think Jolley brought on Fox for him because their big 'winger' who was good in the air (No. 16?) had moved across that side and we were theoretically moving to a back three. Fox competed decently in the air against him. The back three didn't amount to anything, of course.

I played four leagues lower than Town are playing in and in all seriousness there were loads of wide players in that division that could have performed like Hooper has this season and quite a few would be ashamed of his output. Don't know what's up with him. I've watched him closely this season. He's got the heart of a mouse, as threatening as a koala bear with one arm and no teeth, the work rate of a sloth and a footballing brain the size of a pea. God knows what's up with him. It's like his heart really isn't in it. There's thousands of lads who'd love to play in League Two, they'd give their right arm to have the chance. Hooper doesn't look like he's bothered enough to put a real shift in. Maybe I'm being harsh and he's simply just not good enough. It's like we've started with 10 and a half players every week and that's just not going to get us the results or performances we require. Time for him to have a spell out of the squad and decide whether he really wants to be a pro footballer or not..

Hooper, to me, looks like the player we used to have in the really dark times. Wants the wage but not the work - you've got to be really good to carry that off - sadly, he isn't.