Just back

excrement. The same old excrement from a different team. I have no clue what jolley is trying to achieve. His formations are for want of a better word odd, i have no clue who is playing where and what we are doing. For intercourse sake stop this 1 up top, thomas didnt have a look in. Woolford, who had his best game in a town shirt on the right wing against lincoln, hasnt played there since, hessenthaler was there today? Why!? Vernam was everywhere except he needs to be. Play him up top it isnt hard. The centre backs words cant describe, they are hopeless. We dropped our best one. Collins is a good man a good pro, but he’s finished. He backs off and backs off and you know whats coming. Davis is crap. Famewo needs to play at CB as pacy cover for whitmore. Cant wait to get RHJ and fox back- no disrespect to hendrie who i quite like. Few nice touches from pringle but i question why we sign players who arent fit. I like Jolley, but i havent a flipping clue what he is tryinf to do and im sick of the same old excrement at town. Its season after season of nothing but dissapointment. And we’ve all had enough. Cant score, cant defend. Pass it about a bit and then give up when we concede 1st. Worried, fed up, angry. Typical town season

We didn't start with one up top... We started with Cook and Thomas in a front 2...Vernam dropped way too deep when he replaced Cook and left Thomas isolated. We started will and looked threnening but Cook going off injured killed us!

We're too 'nice'. Knock it around well in areas that don't matter, but we are as weak as p1ss at the back and toothless up front. Once we concede it's game over. We were arguably the better side for 60 mins and they didn't threaten much at all until their No9 came to life and ran us ragged for  a while. We just collapsed alarmingly and the only saving grace is that it's early in the season and we have time to change things. Whether we will remains to be seen, but at the moment, if we keep playing like that, there is only one way we are heading.

Glad i didn't buy a season ticket.

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

We did tau with one up top... We started with Cook and Thomas in a front 2...Vernam dropped way too deep when he replaced Cook and left Thomas isolated. We started will and looked threnening but Cook going off injured killed us!

You are not being serious are you? We were marginally second best till half time and f***ing clueless after. Collins backs off when the ball is on the deck and the midfield were second to every ball.

Garbage.
Can’t score and can’t defend.

If anyone can name a centre half that’s played for Town since we’ve been back in the league who is better than Shaun Pearson id be amazed. The defending for the goals was appalling and after the 2nd went in our players went hiding.

We’ve made some poor signings and the players are still strangers because we didn’t play any games preseason.

Thomas looks half decent but was isolated and is the only centre forward at the club.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

You are not being serious are you? We were marginally second best till half time and f***ing clueless after. Collins backs off when the ball is on the deck and the midfield were second to every ball.

I thought we played ok up 'till half time and then it all started going wrong. Collins was in a no-win situation for the first goal. All he could do was back off until he got support , which didn't come.

As we're too nice, probably we should have signed 11 large physical players, after all even they can control a ball and kick if up to a large target man who bullies defenders. ( eg: Matt Rhead)

Quoted from ginnywings

We're too 'nice'. Knock it around well in areas that don't matter, but we are as weak as p1ss at the back and toothless up front. Once we concede it's game over. We were arguably the better side for 60 mins and they didn't threaten much at all until their No9 came to life and ran us ragged for  a while. We just collapsed alarmingly and the only saving grace is that it's early in the season and we have time to change things. Whether we will remains to be seen, but at the moment, if we keep playing like that, there is only one way we are heading.

Glad i didn't buy a season ticket.

Agree with everything Ginny but I did buy a season ticket 😢😢

I  thought we played quite well first half, had the best chance which was well saved and i felt reasonably confident
of at least a point, but just what happens to us when we concede? Heads go down and we never look up for it again, just all very strange and a bit worrying, just feel for all our fans, who really do not deserve the pain another relegation battle.

I am sorry Mr Jolly, but the honeymoon period is over.  How can the defense get used to each other when you constantly change players.  You play one formation the first half, then change is the second one, and the players do not know if they are coming or going.  Add to that, the lack of a recognized striker, and you have the makings of a team for relegation.

Scored 0 goals in 4 games, and conceded 7 in past 2 games.  There were 4000 disgruntled supporters at full time calling for your head if you dont sort it out quickly.

The we are building for the future is an easy way out !

Up until an hour fans were generally positive. No Sladeball and some skilful football. If I have a criticism with that I think we tried to over play it even when we were inside their area. We restricted them to a few long range shots and the game was quite entertaining. Then it all went wrong defence backing off and once again an attacker cutting in from the left finishes clinically into the bottom corner. To make matters worse within a minute the same thing happens again. The last goal in injury time was a free header by their sub who ran 20yards into the area to get his head onto the cross. By then I think the stuffing had been knocked out of us. Clearly results are very poor and it is a results industry but I do believe we have some decent players and that MJ will find the right formula.

Started off fairly brightly, and dominated for half an hour, but once Embleton missed a 'golden' opportunity, it was a sense of Deja Vu, highlighted by the loss of our most influential player at the time (Cook), and as a result Oldham finished the half stronger. Never got going 2nd half, and once we conceded two quick soft goals there was no way back. Defensively we are very poor, and Collins is now the weak link, his 'leg's have gone' and he's constantly getting turned inside out. Vernam left Thomas isolated up front, and we completely lost our shape, and were well beaten in the end. Again another strange line-up particularly at the back , and it's going to be a long slog turning our current form around, as we seem mentally and physically 'weak', conceding too many goals and not scoring enough....UTM

Played well for an hour against a very good Oldham side in my opinion. Good passing and movement off the ball which led to us creating a few good chances. Their keeper makes a very good save to deny Embleton in what was an excellent piece of football. Not sure why people are saying we only had 1 up top, we had Cook and then Vernam buzzing around Thomas all game.

Danny Collins clearly can’t defend 1v1s anymore, he has no pace at all but even his positional sense let him down for their first and second, he didn’t know which way to turn. And that was that really, game over. He has to come out of the side for me and be replaced by either Whitmore or Famewo.

I thought both full back played well and Davis looked good despite the bit of stick he seems to get. I thought it was odd that Woolford played centrally and Hess wide, it didn’t really come off for either although Hess did cause them a few problems early on. Embleton played well, he’s a neat and tidy player with 2 very good feet and looks to play and create, does look like he lacks a yard of pace though. Thomas battled well but he’ll have better games than that today, there 2 centre halves handled him well. We missed Cook when he went off, I felt like him and Wes might be able to muster something for us but Vernam did ok when he replaced him, although I think he holds on to the ball a little too long sometimes. Pringle looked decent when he came on and has a good set piece delivery on him, he’ll improve us once he’s fully fit.

Didn’t feel like that was a 0-3 game at all, but obviously we need to improve. Having said that we’ve played a lot of good sides and I still think we’ll be fine against the lesser teams in the league.

Is to a coincidence that we've conceded 7 goals in 2 games since Collins returned to the side?

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

Is to a coincidence that we've conceded 7 goals in 2 games since Collins returned to the side?

No it isn't. Whitmore isn't fantastic but he wouldn't back off like that.

Disappointed I wasn't able to make it today, despite the result.

It would be nice to have an idea of the formation to be played and the team line-up before you reach the game because, this season, you'd have to say that the selections have been Bignot-esque. A different line-up and formation every game though obviously the line-up has to vary due to available players.

Not too difficult to see where the problems lie when you consider that we've conceded 10 league goals since we last scored one! In other words, we're missing the chances we do create but let them in too easily at the other end.

I think there is enough ability in the squad to start picking up some results but not until we select a formation and stick with it to give the players more of a chance to settle. Hopefully, the longer-term injured will be back soon and I'd be happy to see Cardwell bunged in straight away to provide some sort of a focal point up front.

Quoted from Maringer

Disappointed I wasn't able to make it today, despite the result.

It would be nice to have an idea of the formation to be played and the team line-up before you reach the game because, this season, you'd have to say that the selections have been Bignot-esque. A different line-up and formation every game though obviously the line-up has to vary due to available players.

Not too difficult to see where the problems lie when you consider that we've conceded 10 league goals since we last scored one! In other words, we're missing the chances we do create but let them in too easily at the other end.

I think there is enough ability in the squad to start picking up some results but not until we select a formation and stick with it to give the players more of a chance to settle. Hopefully, the longer-term injured will be back soon and I'd be happy to see Cardwell bunged in straight away to provide some sort of a focal point up front.

Side note to that - had a chat with Elliott Whitehouse before the game - all going to plan but not expecting to play this season. Nice bloke.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

No it isn't. Whitmore isn't fantastic but he wouldn't back off like that.

Well he did at Biry and that was nothing to do with Collins, both of them have the tendancy to back off.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

No it isn't. Whitmore isn't fantastic but he wouldn't back off like that.

Erm he did exactly that at Bury.

Most of us agree on one thing-we are worried not because we are crap but because we are getting crappier  .

Quoted from golfer

Most of us agree on one thing-we are worried not because we are crap but because we are getting crappier  .

We got fed up of listening Slade last season saying why we were not scoring and conceding so many goals,  every week.

Now we are fed up of listening to Jolley saying the same thing every week without any improvement coming.

This may not be much of a revelation but the only games we've got anything out of this season are where we score first.  
Cannot add much to what's been said other than I was really annoyed by the third goal.
On the positive side however small that may be I thought JJ did well when he came on other than fluffing a header late on.
Pretty fed up tonight.

The third goal just takes the pi$$. Just too easy. The overall quality in the squad is well short of the mark. That is now self evident. Two pastings in two games and no goals scored. If it isn't sorted immediately, two things are going to happen, rightly or wrongly. The home crowds will fall to 3000 and the atmosphere at BP is going to become really horrible. We should demand better. These results shame a proud club. If somebody doesn't do something we are going to fall apart catastrophically.

If we formed a women's team how long would it take to become as "good" as our present team

Said afterwards that I am getting increasingly concerned that Jolley is Bignot with brains!!

Agree strongly with a couple of earlier posts from Hagrid & Ginny 1) cannot for the life of me work out what tactics Jolley is trying to play and whilst we have had unfair share of injuries he has no consistency in either his formation or choice of personnel 2) we played 3 or 4 delightful moves and loaned should have scored from the first and second one saw Vernams shot deflected wide. Trouble is these are very isolated and at no time do we dominate possession or have periods of pressure.

Would like to see Famewo play in the centre but appreciate with Fox & Dixon out we may have to wait for that. First half thought Rose and Davis played welll but Rose started to see less and less of the ball and their number 9 started moving around and Davis just could not cope.

The other major weakness is we have nobody up front capable of winning an aerial challenge and whilst we would all prefer the game to be played on the floor inevitably there is a need to get on the end of crossses, long balls and even hoof balls and the 3 home games I have seen each of the opposition centre halves has totally dominated in the air, witnessed today in the first two minutes with 3 Rose long throws all cleared by the same guy.

Pre-season optimism completely gone and as we trundled back to the car we tried to recall the last season going to BP was actually enjoyable and we witnessed decent football, walk only took 20 minutes so we never did get back far enough to remember ☹️☹️☹️

This backing off lark, its a fairly modern part of the game, it's the same as jockeying a player instead of tackling, on the first goal Collins had the opportunity to make the tackle, take both ball and man into the touch line but chose to back off.

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Said afterwards that I am getting increasingly concerned that Jolley is Bignot with brains!!

Agree strongly with a couple of earlier posts from Hagrid & Ginny 1) cannot for the life of me work out what tactics Jolley is trying to play and whilst we have had unfair share of injuries he has no consistency in either his formation or choice of personnel 2) we played 3 or 4 delightful moves and loaned should have scored from the first and second one saw Vernams shot deflected wide. Trouble is these are very isolated and at no time do we dominate possession or have periods of pressure.

Would like to see Famewo play in the centre but appreciate with Fox & Dixon out we may have to wait for that. First half thought Rose and Davis played welll but Rose started to see less and less of the ball and their number 9 started moving around and Davis just could not cope.

The other major weakness is we have nobody up front capable of winning an aerial challenge and whilst we would all prefer the game to be played on the floor inevitably there is a need to get on the end of crossses, long balls and even hoof balls and the 3 home games I have seen each of the opposition centre halves has totally dominated in the air, witnessed today in the first two minutes with 3 Rose long throws all cleared by the same guy.

Pre-season optimism completely gone and as we trundled back to the car we tried to recall the last season going to BP was actually enjoyable and we witnessed decent football, walk only took 20 minutes so we never did get back far enough to remember ☹️☹️☹️

Agree with this, in particular Rose. Thought he had one of his best half's in a Town shirt but looked to have either thrown his toys out the pram when we conceded, gave up or lost interest! Totally lost his man for the third goal who managed to just jog past him into the box and get a free header.... May not have changed the result but he has to be more professional than that!!

Pearson covered up for Collins a lot hence we didn't see that Collins wasn't as good as we thought he was.

I'm going to be fair to some of our players even after the 3-0 defeat today. There were six or seven that put a shift in and did their jobs well. They don't pick the team, the formation or tactics. When three or four don't play well and are poor we're going to get turned over by what was a pretty average Oldham side.

Mckeown - Did ok, not at fault for the goals, couple of decent saves and looks like he's been working on his punching but forgot about his kicking drills

Hendrie - Played well did his job, I like him as a player

Famewo - Distribution poor first twenty minutes but did not let his man past him. Understand the change of formation when he was substituted but why him? Surely you keep your players that are playing better on the pitch. Should have been slotted into centre half

Davis - I know he has his detractors but he had quite a solid game. Won his headers and only got beat twice on the floor all game. At least he took responsibility for marking his man out of the game

Collins - So, we were looking quite tight at the back before MJ fast tracks him back into the team, then we concede seven in two games to two very average sides. Didn't like him playing for us last season, hate him playing for us this season. My heart sank when Whitmore was dropped and DC kept his place today. Yes, Whitmore made a couple of costly errors last week but he has been quite a solid, strong front foot defender for us this season. Collins makes several errors every few minutes. Now I don't mean just missing a header, or shanking a clearance, I mean his positional play, his unwillingness to get tight to a forward, his unwillingness to even mark a forward, his constant backing off and his constant setting of our line far too deep. At least today he stopped berating his fellow defenders because he knew deep down it was he who was culpable. He's finished, totally finished, his body has stopped working so much that he isn't even self confident enough to use his brain properly anymore. What's scary is that he's helping with the coaching and not leading by the example or standards on the pitch that he should be setting at Cheapside.

Rose - Battled valiantly today but a victim of Jolley's team selection. Our best player who looked all on his own in centre midfield as Hessenthaler was shifted wide for Woolford to play more centrally. WTF!!

Woolford - A couple of passes and a nice shot near the end. Contributed f all else in yet another ineffectual performance.

Hessenthaler - Much less effective out wide. Why?!!!

Embleton - A couple of nice touches and that was it. Didn't make too much of an impression on me on his debut. Far too early to form an opinion on him.

Cook - Did well in a pairing with Thomas before he was injured. A very industrious player, just don't know whether he's got the goal instinct in him

Thomas - Did his job really well. Was a handful for their defenders and tried to fashion himself a chance or two from very slim pickings. Starting to like him as a player

Vernam - Did well first half. faded like the team second half. Would like to see him take more responsibility in dragging the team forward when the going gets tough.

Pringle - Looked off the pace when he came on and I was past caring by then

Hooper - So Jolley still thinks he's got the ability to change a game? One nice turn and shot followed by crappping himself when he had a free header from six yards out near the end. Flinched and missed the ball completely because he thought he might get flattened by the keeper. Sums him up. Let's get him out to Boston and get Ahkeem back. Lets work with a pacy young player with an eye for goal that wants a career in football

And so to Jolley. I'm beginning to think he's all mouth and presentation. Tinkers more than Ranieri too. He's got decent players at his disposal but seems to undermine any chance of us progressing by poor team selection and tactics. I'm losing patience. Why he persists with Collins, Woolford and JJ Hooper I do not know. Why he plays players in different positions every week I do not know. How the hell can they form partnerships or patterns of play? He's either trying far too hard and overcomplicating things or he is a fast talking fraud. I haven't made my mind up yet.

Wholesale lack of movement and composure on the ball today, less so first half, but even then, still nowhere near good enough..

Agree with Bigdog's report, especially concerning JJ being our 'threat' from the bench. Either of the lads at Boston would have run their socks off to turn the Oldham defence. Collins looked in good nick in preseason but he stays too deep and the replay of the first goal shows why he should not be a regular now.
Vernam was unlucky to be excluded for Embleton and could have been a strong support for Cook and Thomas from the off.
If you can't be good be lucky they say. At this rate, Ahkeem or Max will get clobbered and join the walking wounded thus reducing options further. Bring them home.

The hunchback of Notre Dame has a healthier looking spine than us without Welsh. James McKeown - catch the flipping ball please, it’s a sign of a keeper low of confidence and that radiates to the rest of the defence. Collins was almost at Riby Square by the time their 9 got the shot off for the first goal and should’ve never been allowed to walk straight into a defence that had shown signs of developing.

Quoted from Bigdog

I'm going to be fair to some of our players even after the 3-0 defeat today. There were six or seven that put a shift in and did their jobs well. They don't pick the team, the formation or tactics. When three or four don't play well and are poor we're going to get turned over by what was a pretty average Oldham side.

Mckeown - Did ok, not at fault for the goals, couple of decent saves and looks like he's been working on his punching but forgot about his kicking drills

Hendrie - Played well did his job, I like him as a player

Famewo - Distribution poor first twenty minutes but did not let his man past him. Understand the change of formation when he was substituted but why him? Surely you keep your players that are playing better on the pitch. Should have been slotted into centre half

Davis - I know he has his detractors but he had quite a solid game. Won his headers and only got beat twice on the floor all game. At least he took responsibility for marking his man out of the game

Collins - So, we were looking quite tight at the back before MJ fast tracks him back into the team, then we concede seven in two games to two very average sides. Didn't like him playing for us last season, hate him playing for us this season. My heart sank when Whitmore was dropped and DC kept his place today. Yes, Whitmore made a couple of costly errors last week but he has been quite a solid, strong front foot defender for us this season. Collins makes several errors every few minutes. Now I don't mean just missing a header, or shanking a clearance, I mean his positional play, his unwillingness to get tight to a forward, his unwillingness to even mark a forward, his constant backing off and his constant setting of our line far too deep. At least today he stopped berating his fellow defenders because he knew deep down it was he who was culpable. He's finished, totally finished, his body has stopped working so much that he isn't even self confident enough to use his brain properly anymore. What's scary is that he's helping with the coaching and not leading by the example or standards on the pitch that he should be setting at Cheapside.

Rose - Battled valiantly today but a victim of Jolley's team selection. Our best player who looked all on his own in centre midfield as Hessenthaler was shifted wide for Woolford to play more centrally. WTF!!

Woolford - A couple of passes and a nice shot near the end. Contributed f all else in yet another ineffectual performance.

Hessenthaler - Much less effective out wide. Why?!!!

Embleton - A couple of nice touches and that was it. Didn't make too much of an impression on me on his debut. Far too early to form an opinion on him.

Cook - Did well in a pairing with Thomas before he was injured. A very industrious player, just don't know whether he's got the goal instinct in him

Thomas - Did his job really well. Was a handful for their defenders and tried to fashion himself a chance or two from very slim pickings. Starting to like him as a player

Vernam - Did well first half. faded like the team second half. Would like to see him take more responsibility in dragging the team forward when the going gets tough.

Pringle - Looked off the pace when he came on and I was past caring by then

Hooper - So Jolley still thinks he's got the ability to change a game? One nice turn and shot followed by crappping himself when he had a free header from six yards out near the end. Flinched and missed the ball completely because he thought he might get flattened by the keeper. Sums him up. Let's get him out to Boston and get Ahkeem back. Lets work with a pacy young player with an eye for goal that wants a career in football

And so to Jolley. I'm beginning to think he's all mouth and presentation. Tinkers more than Ranieri too. He's got decent players at his disposal but seems to undermine any chance of us progressing by poor team selection and tactics. I'm losing patience. Why he persists with Collins, Woolford and JJ Hooper I do not know. Why he plays players in different positions every week I do not know. How the hell can they form partnerships or patterns of play? He's either trying far too hard and overcomplicating things or he is a fast talking fraud. I haven't made my mind up yet.

Wholesale lack of movement and composure on the ball today, less so first half, but even then, still nowhere near good enough..

Pretty much on the button for me. Thanks for taking the time.

We are going backwards, 2 ,seasons back in the league and it's the same old same old, can't defend and can't score...
For as much as I thought bringing in a fresh, young, hungry manager was the right thing to do and that it is what we needed/wanted I'm genuinely thinking it was a mistake...
For as much h I so want MJ to succeed I don't think he will, his legacy is  keeping us out the conference yet in reality it's 2 wins in 17 league games...not that awe inspiring really is it??....

So not read anything above before posting but had a bit of thinking and disappointment time on the way home. First thing that springs to mind in over 40 years going to
BP I don't think I've seen a side that is so different on both half's. Is that a good thing? Maybe, at least we are getting something right and that was illustrated in the first half.

I thought the first 10 minutes was scrappy but Town appeared to settle first and looked promising with some decent cameo's of play and a couple of good chances after good interplay, passing and creativity, I also thought that going forward we used the space and channels better and looked to get the ball down and play it. Though from coming on to half time Verman looked very lively I think that when Cooke went off it did disrupt us a bit as Verman looked to play a bit deeper behind Thomas who BTW when fully fit might just come good.

In the second half it felt like recent weeks when things have gone to pot, we couldn't win or keep the ball the center mids disappeared and ultimately we invited them on which in the space of 5 minutes meant game over after some really poor organisation and technique on our right hand side. We never looked like scoring in this half and the lack of cohesion up front clearly leads to a lack of belief. Once again for the 2nd week in a row we where just going through the motions for the last quarter if the game which left me feeling short changed.

So I get it was never going to work perfectly early in the season but I am concerned as this side is absolutely a split personality good one half poor the next. We have some encouraging talent in the shape of Verman, Famewo among others but my biggest concern is that at the back we don't know our @rse from our elbow and up front we are a jigsaw in that we go to pieces in the box.Though I don't want to admit it I'm not convinced that MJ knows how to use the meager talent he has at his disposal. The available players at the moment might not be the "first 11"but  I'm not 100% sure they're being utilized and set up in a way to make us "hard to beat" at least.    

My biggest worry is this, in the last couple of games we have gone behind and our in ability to score appears to have led to the players mentally buckling leading to a good hiding. This a real bad sign as in reality footballers never take accountability for anything instead you get the "lose the dressing room scenario" I hope this dons't happen as getting off the EFL canvas will be a huge challenge and MJ and each and every supporter deserves better than what the players and in reality the manager delivered today.      

  

Quoted from Bigdog

I'm going to be fair to some of our players even after the 3-0 defeat today. There were six or seven that put a shift in and did their jobs well. They don't pick the team, the formation or tactics. When three or four don't play well and are poor we're going to get turned over by what was a pretty average Oldham side.

Mckeown - Did ok, not at fault for the goals, couple of decent saves and looks like he's been working on his punching but forgot about his kicking drills

Hendrie - Played well did his job, I like him as a player

Famewo - Distribution poor first twenty minutes but did not let his man past him. Understand the change of formation when he was substituted but why him? Surely you keep your players that are playing better on the pitch. Should have been slotted into centre half

Davis - I know he has his detractors but he had quite a solid game. Won his headers and only got beat twice on the floor all game. At least he took responsibility for marking his man out of the game

Collins - So, we were looking quite tight at the back before MJ fast tracks him back into the team, then we concede seven in two games to two very average sides. Didn't like him playing for us last season, hate him playing for us this season. My heart sank when Whitmore was dropped and DC kept his place today. Yes, Whitmore made a couple of costly errors last week but he has been quite a solid, strong front foot defender for us this season. Collins makes several errors every few minutes. Now I don't mean just missing a header, or shanking a clearance, I mean his positional play, his unwillingness to get tight to a forward, his unwillingness to even mark a forward, his constant backing off and his constant setting of our line far too deep. At least today he stopped berating his fellow defenders because he knew deep down it was he who was culpable. He's finished, totally finished, his body has stopped working so much that he isn't even self confident enough to use his brain properly anymore. What's scary is that he's helping with the coaching and not leading by the example or standards on the pitch that he should be setting at Cheapside.

Rose - Battled valiantly today but a victim of Jolley's team selection. Our best player who looked all on his own in centre midfield as Hessenthaler was shifted wide for Woolford to play more centrally. WTF!!

Woolford - A couple of passes and a nice shot near the end. Contributed f all else in yet another ineffectual performance.

Hessenthaler - Much less effective out wide. Why?!!!

Embleton - A couple of nice touches and that was it. Didn't make too much of an impression on me on his debut. Far too early to form an opinion on him.

Cook - Did well in a pairing with Thomas before he was injured. A very industrious player, just don't know whether he's got the goal instinct in him

Thomas - Did his job really well. Was a handful for their defenders and tried to fashion himself a chance or two from very slim pickings. Starting to like him as a player

Vernam - Did well first half. faded like the team second half. Would like to see him take more responsibility in dragging the team forward when the going gets tough.

Pringle - Looked off the pace when he came on and I was past caring by then

Hooper - So Jolley still thinks he's got the ability to change a game? One nice turn and shot followed by crappping himself when he had a free header from six yards out near the end. Flinched and missed the ball completely because he thought he might get flattened by the keeper. Sums him up. Let's get him out to Boston and get Ahkeem back. Lets work with a pacy young player with an eye for goal that wants a career in football

And so to Jolley. I'm beginning to think he's all mouth and presentation. Tinkers more than Ranieri too. He's got decent players at his disposal but seems to undermine any chance of us progressing by poor team selection and tactics. I'm losing patience. Why he persists with Collins, Woolford and JJ Hooper I do not know. Why he plays players in different positions every week I do not know. How the hell can they form partnerships or patterns of play? He's either trying far too hard and overcomplicating things or he is a fast talking fraud. I haven't made my mind up yet.

Wholesale lack of movement and composure on the ball today, less so first half, but even then, still nowhere near good enough..

About right, but I think its hard to judge Oldham as once again a side has beaten us by sticking to a "get through the first half hour" game plan if we could put together a cohesive performance for more than half a game things might be different.  

Really like Jolley as he "gets it" but a combination of him (relative rookie) and the manager that got Woking relegated need to deliver quickly otherwise it will not end well.    

Really sad watching Collins perform currently. It was embarrassing how easily he got turned by a player who wasn’t even that quick.

Positives - Rose first half, most of the play first half (especially Embleton’s chance).

Negatives - the second half, Collins, Thomas’ tireless task, missed chances, weak defending, McKeown’s abilities other than shotstopping.

At the end of the day, if you can’t score (we can’t), then you have to defend (we aren’t). Sort it Jolley. I’d say you’ve got 3/4 more games like that and it’s curtains, I’m really sorry to say.

Why did we drop Whitmore who has been our best defender at the start of the season. Davis was terrible. One move in particular in the second half when he just let a man run past him into the box in the second half to be saved by a last ditch Hendrie block (the ONLY man to come out of this performance with any credit).
1st half we matched them and should arguably been in front had their keeper not saved point blank from Embleton. With 2 up top we looked a threat then cook goes off injured then we glue Vernum and Hess to the wings again and leave Thomas chasing shadows.
2nd half they go into 2nd gear and we fold at the back. Defenders back off and in a blink of an eye we are 2 down.
We huff and puff but the 3rd is just embarrasing. A free header on the edge of the 6 yard box with neitger goalkeeper or defender present. Another blank, another 3 shipped.
We need to find our best 11, best formation and quick as we will be adrift by october and IF like Jolley says we have reinforcements lined up in January (Swedish?) we have to make sure that A) he still has a job here by then and b) we are in a reasonable position to attract them here in the first place.
We need to end this run quickly or this can AGAIN be a very uncomfortable season for town fans

Quoted from Stew0_0

Why did we drop Whitmore who has been our best defender at the start of the season. Davis was terrible. One move in particular in the second half when he just let a man run past him into the box in the second half to be saved by a last ditch Hendrie block (the ONLY man to come out of this performance with any credit).
1st half we matched them and should arguably been in front had their keeper not saved point blank from Embleton. With 2 up top we looked a threat then cook goes off injured then we glue Vernum and Hess to the wings again and leave Thomas chasing shadows.
2nd half they go into 2nd gear and we fold at the back. Defenders back off and in a blink of an eye we are 2 down.
We huff and puff but the 3rd is just embarrasing. A free header on the edge of the 6 yard box with neitger goalkeeper or defender present. Another blank, another 3 shipped.
We need to find our best 11, best formation and quick as we will be adrift by october and IF like Jolley says we have reinforcements lined up in January (Swedish?) we have to make sure that A) he still has a job here by then and b) we are in a reasonable position to attract them here in the first place.
We need to end this run quickly or this can AGAIN be a very uncomfortable season for town fans

He wasn't..

Quoted from Stew0_0

Why did we drop Whitmore who has been our best defender at the start of the season. Davis was terrible. One move in particular in the second half when he just let a man run past him into the box in the second half to be saved by a last ditch Hendrie block (the ONLY man to come out of this performance with any credit).
1st half we matched them and should arguably been in front had their keeper not saved point blank from Embleton. With 2 up top we looked a threat then cook goes off injured then we glue Vernum and Hess to the wings again and leave Thomas chasing shadows.
2nd half they go into 2nd gear and we fold at the back. Defenders back off and in a blink of an eye we are 2 down.
We huff and puff but the 3rd is just embarrasing. A free header on the edge of the 6 yard box with neitger goalkeeper or defender present. Another blank, another 3 shipped.
We need to find our best 11, best formation and quick as we will be adrift by october and IF like Jolley says we have reinforcements lined up in January (Swedish?) we have to make sure that A) he still has a job here by then and b) we are in a reasonable position to attract them here in the first place.
We need to end this run quickly or this can AGAIN be a very uncomfortable season for town fans

Why was Whitmore dropped? Probably because he was at fault for two goals last week.

Quoted from golfer

Pearson covered up for Collins a lot hence we didn't see that Collins wasn't as good as we thought he was.

Absolute balderdash ..Collins legs have gone now but at that time when playing with Pearson Collins was the dominant centre half

True Collins stood out then.

Pearson forced his way back in the side but even then he was never a constant first player on the team sheet.

Teams do their homework on every player if they have players with the pace they know our weakness watch videos of our previous games and exploit them.

Let's face it at the moment watching GTFC play must be mouthwatering to any side wanting easy points at home or away sadly.

The amount of goals we are shipping in is becoming alarming again.

The only time we have come back from a goal down and win at home is the checkashit cup and lets face it not many fans saw that.

Whitemore best defender?did you not watch Bury game.

Whitmore is a new player at the club and has had more ok games than bad I think. Collins has been here a few years and just has not been good this season and did not deserve to walk straight back into the team.

In the second half Hendrie certainly was not impressed with his central defensive partners and told them so in a prolonged rant.

Quoted from sam gy

Whitmore is a new player at the club and has had more ok games than bad I think. Collins has been here a few years and just has not been good this season and did not deserve to walk straight back into the team.

Whitmore and Collins have played together or as part of a three in 5 league games and we've conceded 12 goals in those games, getting hammered in 3. Most of those goals have come from them backing off and letting players into the box to shoot, free headers a few yards out, and individual mistakes from these two. Collins and Mckeown have been the constants under the last 3 managers and we've been letting in soft goals for that entire time.

For me, the defence and keeper have been a weakness for a long time, and no manager has addressed it. Signing players that got relegated the season before has rarely worked well for us, yet every bloody manager seems to want to do it.

Quoted from pen penfras

Whitmore and Collins have played together or as part of a three in 5 league games and we've conceded 12 goals in those games, getting hammered in 3. Most of those goals have come from them backing off and letting players into the box to shoot, free headers a few yards out, and individual mistakes from these two. Collins and Mckeown have been the constants under the last 3 managers and we've been letting in soft goals for that entire time.

For me, the defence and keeper have been a weakness for a long time, and no manager has addressed it. Signing players that got relegated the season before has rarely worked well for us, yet every bloody manager seems to want to do it.

I'm going to back Whitmore up a bit. Collins is the common deniminator in the central defence backing off and us shipping a lot of goals. Centre halves play as pairs and if your partner backs off all the time what can you do? Play a different line to him? The backing off didn't happen when Collins was out the team and we started looking quite secure at the back with either Whitmore and Davis or Whitmore and Famewo. To be honest I think Whitmore is more of a front foot player despite the goal at Bury. Collins, his lack of pace and playing characteristics of an old man is spooking our defence evey time he goes on the pitch. I don't think we should write Whitmore off yet or put him in the same bracket as Collins. Said it at the time that it was a mistake to resign Collins and Jolley should have drilled and coached a younger back line with more pace, yet Collins is part of the coaching team and playing crapp in games too, tell me how that's going to work out in the heads of the other players! Scratched my head when Jolley said he wanted to play a high tempo front foot high energy style of football and then he went and signed Collins and Woolford and also probably ddn't try to offload Hooper and Dixon. We've ended up with a contradictory blend of squad that cannot seem to master a single playing style, especially when he keeps picking these players..

I feel like an empty crisp packet that has been blown up then burst FFS

I always thought we would start slow and then get better but we seriously look like relegation fodder AGAIN!!!

We need to see fast starts at home to get the fan`s onside and were not seeing anything positive at all just some odd team selection`s.

Danny Collins has been a decent servant for us but his performance on Saturday should be his last as a starter in a League game in my opinion.

needs to work out his best team ASAP and start playing it and we need to start getting shots on goal were just not doing enough to threaten the opposition goal.

A very disappointing start to the Season I still think it will get better but the way we are shipping goals is very alarming.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

I feel like an empty crisp packet that has been blown up then burst FFS

I always thought we would start slow and then get better but we seriously look like relegation fodder AGAIN!!!

We need to see fast starts at home to get the fan`s onside and were not seeing anything positive at all just some odd team selection`s.

Danny Collins has been a decent servant for us but his performance on Saturday should be his last as a starter in a League game in my opinion.

needs to work out his best team ASAP and start playing it and we need to start getting shots on goal were just not doing enough to threaten the opposition goal.

A very disappointing start to the Season I still think it will get better but the way we are shipping goals is very alarming.

That wouldn't be difficult at the moment. Losing 2-1 would be an improvement on the current situation. Drawing 0-0 would be a massive improvement.  

The ball is never played through the channels. Either revert back to an old system or forget that and try to play to the modern game. It seems that nobody can decide between new and old. You can't mix the two unless one is a backup i.e. Plan B

Quoted from 1mickylyons

I feel like an empty crisp packet that has been blown up then burst FFS

I always thought we would start slow and then get better but we seriously look like relegation fodder AGAIN!!!

We need to see fast starts at home to get the fan`s onside and were not seeing anything positive at all just some odd team selection`s.

Danny Collins has been a decent servant for us but his performance on Saturday should be his last as a starter in a League game in my opinion.

needs to work out his best team ASAP and start playing it and we need to start getting shots on goal were just not doing enough to threaten the opposition goal.

A very disappointing start to the Season I still think it will get better but the way we are shipping goals is very alarming.

What flavour crisp would you be Mickey? I see you as Salt n Vinegar. Salt for a salt of the Earth bloke with a bit of a vinegar bite.

Quoted from golfer

The ball is never played through the channels. Either revert back to an old system or forget that and try to play to the modern game. It seems that nobody can decide between new and old. You can't mix the two unless one is a backup i.e. Plan B

At the moment, we seem to want to play out from the back but then get fed up and hoof it. The fans see no progress, go quiet and BP turns into a library.

The best support comes when they see a Town team play with a high tempo and force the opposition back. Only once (Lincoln) have we done that at home this season - the rest has been an attempt to create this new style which appears to not be working. Is it that the players aren't up to the new system, don't like the new system or the opposition have sussed the new system?

I'll go back to a point I made elsewhere - football isn't played in a classroom.

Personally i think we have technically better players this season.....i just don't think they know what they are supposed to be doing. Every game i have seen to date i have struggled to figure out our shape/ positions....in just about every game we have lacked any attacking width and defensively we seem to vulnerable in the channels as well.

Macclesfield away we had more of a distinct 4-5-1 and looked good....as it turns out that may be as Macc are poor but we definately looked much improved on our previous game and the players looked comfortable in that shape and in their positions.

Says it all about Collins when a whipper snapper(Hendrie) is screaming and balling at him telling him where to be, how to react and how to f@cking defend...to say Collins day has been and gone is an understatement, time to hang up the boots Danny, give the young guns a chance and save yourself from ending what has undoubtedly been a good career in a raft of embarrassing mistakes...

Talk of Saturday being Collins last game is if I might venture an opinion well premature.
This is a player who a month ago played 87 minutes with a broken arm in what was unarguably our best 90 minutes of the season. When we are talking about needing players with the guts to get us out of the poor run we are in then Collins has them in spades. Whether he should've been rushed straight back after that injury is a moot point.
I know it was poor on Saturday but sometimes it's like the Salem witch(warlock) trials on here...

Quoted from barralad

Talk of Saturday being Collins last game is if I might venture an opinion well premature.
This is a player who a month ago played 87 minutes with a broken arm in what was unarguably our best 90 minutes of the season. When we are talking about needing players with the guts to get us out of the poor run we are in then Collins has them in spades. Whether he should've been rushed straight back after that injury is a moot point.
I know it was poor on Saturday but sometimes it's like the Salem witch(warlock) trials on here...

Don't agree Barra. No witch hunt from me. He's had the odd good game in him last season and one this. It's been coming a long time. He was very erratic and a big part of the problem last season with some really bad habits creeping in and even worse this season. Guts alone won't get us out of this mess. He's too slow, too vulnerable and unsettles what could be quite a sound defence for this level. When everyone is available, Davis, Hendrie, RHJ, Whitmore, Fox and Famewo, he should be nowhere near the team if we want to be progressive. I've been through it myself playing at centre half longer than I should and I know all of the signs and the movements. At his age, however fit you may feel, your body just lets you down and you try to compromise as any forward can push it five yards to the side or past you and you can't get there unless it's a last ditch lunge or block, and by doing that it compromises the whole defence. Amazing that you can post about something that's been as clear as day for the past eighteen months, the results back it up as do the performances and it's described as a witch hunt. The guy is too old, too slow, has one good game in ten in him and shouldn't form part of our defence, end of..

I want us to start winning games and being nice, kind or loyal isn't going to get us three points on a Saturday..

Quoted from barralad

Talk of Saturday being Collins last game is if I might venture an opinion well premature.
This is a player who a month ago played 87 minutes with a broken arm in what was unarguably our best 90 minutes of the season. When we are talking about needing players with the guts to get us out of the poor run we are in then Collins has them in spades. Whether he should've been rushed straight back after that injury is a moot point.
I know it was poor on Saturday but sometimes it's like the Salem witch(warlock) trials on here...

We've had one good performance out of 4 at home & one and a half out of 4 away - I'd say that's enough reason for fans to raise concerns.

Regarding DC, I watched him warm up on Saturday and I just don't think he's at it. Whether it's confidence or age, I just think Father Time has caught up with him.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

We've had one good performance out of 4 at home & one and a half out of 4 away - I'd say that's enough reason for fans to raise concerns.

Regarding DC, I watched him warm up on Saturday and I just don't think he's at it. Whether it's confidence or age, I just think Father Time has caught up with him.

You'll have to point out for me where I've said anywhere that we shouldn't be concerned. There's a wealth of difference between concern and scapegoating individual players.
I've read in this thread that Hendrie was having to tell Collins how to defend. I watched the back four pretty closely and the only person I saw Hendrie screaming at was Famewo when he was caught ball-watching and in no-mans land allowing his wide player to get in a dangerous cross.

Quoted from Bigdog

Don't agree Barra. No witch hunt from me. He's had the odd good game in him last season and one this. It's been coming a long time. He was very erratic and a big part of the problem last season with some really bad habits creeping in and even worse this season. Guts alone won't get us out of this mess. He's too slow, too vulnerable and unsettles what could be quite a sound defence for this level. When everyone is available, Davis, Hendrie, RHJ, Whitmore, Fox and Famewo, he should be nowhere near the team if we want to be progressive. I've been through it myself playing at centre half longer than I should and I know all of the signs and the movements. At his age, however fit you may feel, your body just lets you down and you try to compromise as any forward can push it five yards to the side or past you and you can't get there unless it's a last ditch lunge or block, and by doing that it compromises the whole defence. Amazing that you can post about something that's been as clear as day for the past eighteen months, the results back it up as do the performances and it's described as a witch hunt. The guy is too old, too slow, has one good game in ten in him and shouldn't form part of our defence, end of..

I want us to start winning games and being nice, kind or loyal isn't going to get us three points on a Saturday..

How many games do you attend a season?

Quoted from barralad

Talk of Saturday being Collins last game is if I might venture an opinion well premature.
This is a player who a month ago played 87 minutes with a broken arm in what was unarguably our best 90 minutes of the season. When we are talking about needing players with the guts to get us out of the poor run we are in then Collins has them in spades. Whether he should've been rushed straight back after that injury is a moot point.
I know it was poor on Saturday but sometimes it's like the Salem witch(warlock) trials on here...

I always find posters on here have different views on how certain players have performed,

Going on just watching the video's time and time again I find that certain players do make the same mistakes in each game they play.

As for Collins been passed his best is not a argument but has he finished and should he step down is the question Jolley should be asking.

It's true his pace has gone and he backs off most of the time so I think he should be doing more coaching than playing.

.Getting everybody fit and playing in their proper positions would not leave a place for Collins.

BUT

Lets not call the man for getting to the end of a great carrear let him step down with dignity and spent the twilight of his carrear coaching our younger defenders because they can learn a lot from him.

Quoted from barralad

You'll have to point out for me where I've said anywhere that we shouldn't be concerned. There's a wealth of difference between concern and scapegoating individual players.
I've read in this thread that Hendrie was having to tell Collins how to defend. I watched the back four pretty closely and the only person I saw Hendrie screaming at was Famewo when he was caught ball-watching and in no-mans land allowing his wide player to get in a dangerous cross.

Completely disagree, I was sat in the pontoon, behind the right back position,  and hendrie gave it big style to DC, he was at him continually through the match and getting increasingly frustrated with him...
I agree he may have a good game once in a while but we have better, faster and more mobile centre halves in the squad now....nobody is looking to make a scapegoat out of Collins, it's just so obvious, whereas the mind is still willing, the body ain't...

Quoted from Cloudy

How many games do you attend a season?

46 on i-Follow, so what's your point?

The prime example re Collins dropping deep, a few mins before the end of the game, their player has it wide left 10 yrds short of level with pen area., Nice defensive line 2 yards further back, their striker who is level with Collins goes to run into the box  if Collins stays where he is the guy is about 5 yards offside, instead, Collins goes with him and stands on 6 yrd box rest of defence in a line edge of area ,their striker steps out again leaving Collins to clear a cross virtually out of Maccas hands into the stand on edge of 6 yard box, their player nowhere near as he had dropped off hoping for the ball on penalty spot, its really basic stuff and Collins isn't doing it, I assume because of his lack of pace.

Quoted from Bigdog

46 on i-Follow, so what's your point?

I just hold the opinion that it is a different game watching live, weere you see the whole pitch rather than on TV