Just Back

Well....openly admit to skipping the last couple of games as the previous run and performances had me at my wits end....

however tonight i went with a sense of optimisim based on recent reports and commentary...

Tonight much more like what i think we all want from a Town team , hard work , commitment, diFficult for the opposition and some resemblance of football ..... and of course a result.

First half dominated, great pressing game ( i remember Jolly saying that was something he would implement when he first arrived) , energetic, no time for the opposition to rest....looked solid at the back as well....only shortfall being when we reached the box...to a man none of the players looked to drive at the heart of the defence or get a shot off...turning back or squaring the ball rather than cracking a shot off.

Macca saved us from what would have been an injustice when a shocking pass from Hall Johnson set their main man up but a great save from Macca.

Second half started slower and i thought here we go...the 2nd half pattern returns ...but we steadied, got the goal from great pressing again and looked relatively solid...last 10- 15 got a bit squeaky as we tired and sat deeper but some great blocks and stout defending saw us home.

Individual wise...more positives than negatives but ...Hooper looked really lethargic and flat footed when we had the ball....Thomas contributed very little overall during the game but did superb in that key moment ....Hall Johnson looked wobbly all night.. everyone else on their game.

Team play - put ourselves in more trouble than Col Utd caused us i thought...overplaying and playing backwards rather than taking the ball forward...reluctance to shoot as mentioned...quite a few different team tweaks in play as well....at one point first half we seemed to have four up front.  

Well deserved win on balance.  UTM

I’ve got a feeling tonight’s performance is exactly what you’ll have to come to expect of Thomas. He can make something happen out of nothing - which isn’t the worst way to operate as a striker.

Quoted from LH

I’ve got a feeling tonight’s performance is exactly what you’ll have to come to expect of Thomas. He can make something happen out of nothing - which isn’t the worst way to operate as a striker.

aye....i am old enough to have watched Kev Drinkell do fck all for 90 mins except score 2 or 3  

Thomas also worked hard during the game....as did the rest of the team: the preparedness to work and fight for the cause was very evident (to me).

Although there's a long way to go (individual technical and thinking ability, eliminating passing errors that lose possession, defensive concentration, shooting in non-perfect positions) this seems a team (squad) that is working flat out, is committed and is developing an understanding (full credit to all of them and the management staff) and as confidence continues to grow could develop into a team that is capable of making a promotion challenge in due course (not necessarily this season, and with well-managed strengthening of the squad).

Continuing to build confidence is key (results help!): it was a vital element contributing to the Buckley teams' successes. Without wanting to overstate the progress so far, nor underestimate how much has yet to be achieved, the direction is encouraging!

Enjoyable game.

First half thought we were good with and without the ball. Played some nice football at times. Embleton and Vernam seeing a lot of the ball which is key to us doing well. Rose calm in possession and very good at receiving it whilst shielding the ball from whichever side pressure is coming from. Hendrie got forward well and defended 1v1 against his winger very well.

Almost tragically have a goal away when RHJ was too slow in thought and gifted them a chance which Macca did well to save. RHJ went into his shell massively after this and didn't offer too much when we had the ball until his fantastic and determined run down the right in the 2nd half.

Thought we got into loads of great areas 1st half, but several of these instances probably wouldn't make the highlights as many of them didn't actually result in a shot. Players guilty of wanting an extra touch to set it or to try and get a clearer shot. Can't always engineer the perfect opportunity, sometimes if you get half a yard in the box you've just got to pull the trigger while you can.

We pressed well, picking moments to press hard and force them back to their goalkeeper (who kept shanking it out of play under pressure thus giving us possession), but also keeping a good compact shape and staying disciplined when Colchester had spells of possession. Embleton, Clifton and Vernam influential in the high press, and Rose instrumental in screening the back 4 and passing to a black and white shirt when he won it.

2nd half was being played out quite evenly. We changed formation to 433 with Hessenthaler coming on for Hooper and joining Clifton ahead of M.Rose, with Vernam and Embleton wide of Thomas across the front line. Not too long after that, Rose plays a lovely ball over for Thomas who outmuscled the first defender, stayed on his feet despite possibly being fouled, dummied the next defender and finished really well.

Colchester made changes and upped their tempo. They ended up with a lot of pace on the pitch and broke forward really quickly at times. Yes we dropped deeper and allowed them more possession as the half wore on, but they upped their game and sometimes it just happens. I don't think it caused us problems as other than a couple of "heart in mouth" moments when the ball broke loose in the box and we had throw bodies around to block shots, Colchester didn't actually create really clear cut chances. Actually they hit the bar with one they should've scored so we got away with that one, but Macca didn't have a save to make apart from that 1v1 in the first half.

Welsh came on as a 2nd holding midfielder alongside M.Rose late on for a no-doubt knackered Vernam - who got a great ovation going off - and Famewo came on for a few minutes on the left of midfield just to shore things up.

Thought we managed the game quite well, and our organisation, discipline and tactical understanding when we don't have the ball have all come on massively - that's no doubt thanks to MJ and AL's work at Cheapside. Still work to do in the final third but I'm hopeful that'll come, especially as young players such as Vernam, Embleton and Clifton all develop their decision-making.

Hard to pick stand-out in a good solid team performance. Clifton's energy was fantastic, winning 2nd balls everywhere almost Bolland-style at times, but Rose was good and used the ball better. Hendrie impressed me again as well, and Embleton linked up well with other attacking players. Whitmore and Collins did well with aerial duels and biggest compliment you could pay them both tonight is that they were very rarely in positions were they were vulnerable or doing something last-ditch (the players in front of them also contributed towards this). Vernam was lively, positive and is developing a good understanding sit Embleton, and one of the few things I disagree with from Moosey's post was I thought Thomas offered a decent outlet until tiring after about 70/75mins.

MOM: Mitchell Rose.

Excellent perceptive analysis by Tommy!

Didn't go Sat.  Enjoyed the game tonight.  You can see the players gradually developing Jolley's hi-energy pressing and passing game.

We won despite Colchester probably having the best 2 chances in the game. (The bad pass from us and the open goal when they hit the bar).  For the top-scorers in the division, they left their shooting boots back in Essex.

We took a Spurs fan from York who has been to a few Town games.  He thought that Thomas was too isolated, especially in the second half.  He did not rate Hooper either.He took too long on the ball when attacking options were there.  Why does he think so much, being static, rather than running forward with the ball intelligently and at pace?

Overall, we are miles away from the team that lost 6 games on the bounce.  Need to get Cardwell back.  We can continue to make progress. 4 of the top 5 have not beaten us. We still lack a goal threat.   Great credit to the managers and players.  

Grinding out results at the moment , building a position for ourselves and climing the table , we are creating a strong base from which to mount a assult on the play offs I'm enjoying it.

Whats encouraging is, although we're only grinding out results at the minute, it feels like further improvement is always possible. Some of the play getting into their box last night was brilliant, and it just needs that last pass or shot at the minute which I'm sure will come. It was the potential that was never there when we were grinding out results at the beginning of last season.

I thought Thomas had a great game, turned his marker only to be fouled showing his class.
Mitch Rose was again awesome.
Whitmore is getting better with each game.
What a contrast in refereeing compared to Saturdays Ref.
Very poor ref.

Vernam should also get special praise.  He chased everything down and run his sock off.  Panicked the keeper into putting the ball out of play once.  He epitomised the excellent team spirit at the moment.  He has good ball-control and skill in tight positions and likes to make direct runs forward.

They are the top scorers in the division but we restricted them to only 2 clear chances.  We handed them one chance.  Macca did what he  is good at and saved it.  They also missed an open goal when they hit the bar.

For us, Embleton was close to goal and should have hit it with his left foot instead of taking a further touch and losing it.  We could have won 2-0 on another day (or even last night).

We have come a long way since those 6 horrible defeats.  Confidence is always vital in football.  Jolley was very unlucky with so many players out.   Let us hope that he has learnt from the mistakes that he made during that run.

On reflection I have to say the last 4 games (especially the last 2) have given me huge encouragement for the future.

TBH I had started to feel my interest waning after nearly 60 years attending BP but my frustration with the way in which the club is run, may have hurt like hell but I was kidding myself if the football in  front of me didn’t mean anything.

I genuinely feel there may be something to stirring amongst this team. Fully accept that we are a million miles away from the finished article and would stress there will certainly be defeats, set backs and dark days along the way, but there are signs of the sort of team I expected Jolley to produce.
Yes, it has taken us much longer than I expected but we are looking better organised, playing the ‘high press’ style and moving the ball quicker and with purpose.

I would love everyone to really get behind the team, follow the stripes and be loud and above all proud of our team.

Watch this space the playing side could yet take off despite of the board

The result was great but for me I was pretty frustrated with how we played, and I thought we were lucky to come out with all 3 points. Specifically some of my issues were
1. Uaually too slow in thought and deed when getting possession. What might have been opportunities in possession wasted by beung too slow. A general lack of movement.
2. This leading to frequent occasions when we get the ball in the middle of the pitch but lack of options means they press us and we quickly end up going backwards. This eventually leading to a pass back to macca and a hoof forward and inevitable loss of possession. If we r going to emd up hoofing it forward anyway we would be better off having the outfield player who first got the ball in the middle of the park playing it forward. Not the goalie from the edge of the box.
3. Compounding the loss of possession is the danger of screw ups inherent in this tactic, a perfect example of which happened but was well saved by Macca.
4. For all that our build-up play usually tends to be fairly slow and deliberate when we get a free kick in the middle of the park we suddenly always seemed to try and take it quickly side ways. Because we are not well equipped to play the quick game we didn't manage anything or worae we then conceded possession and were on the back foot.
5. We still look mostly toothless in front of goal.

There were some definite good points such as Thomas well taken goal, rose, vernhams running, Harry's energy, the central defence and defence/keeper in general looking well organised keeping  Colchester very restricted opportunities wise, apart from the RHJ moment of madness.

Brilliant turnaround resultwise over the last 4 games but still loads to work on I think.

Quoted from toontown

The result was great but for me I was pretty frustrated with how we played, and I thought we were lucky to come out with all 3 points. Specifically some of my issues were
1. Uaually too slow in thought and deed when getting possession. What might have been opportunities in possession wasted by beung too slow. A general lack of movement.
2. This leading to frequent occasions when we get the ball in the middle of the pitch but lack of options means they press us and we quickly end up going backwards. This eventually leading to a pass back to macca and a hoof forward and inevitable loss of possession. If we r going to emd up hoofing it forward anyway we would be better off having the outfield player who first got the ball in the middle of the park playing it forward. Not the goalie from the edge of the box.
3. Compounding the loss of possession is the danger of screw ups inherent in this tactic, a perfect example of which happened but was well saved by Macca.
4. For all that our build-up play usually tends to be fairly slow and deliberate when we get a free kick in the middle of the park we suddenly always seemed to try and take it quickly side ways. Because we are not well equipped to play the quick game we didn't manage anything or worae we then conceded possession and were on the back foot.
5. We still look mostly toothless in front of goal.

There were some definite good points such as Thomas well taken goal, rose, vernhams running, Harry's energy, the central defence and defence/keeper in general looking well organised keeping  Colchester very restricted opportunities wise, apart from the RHJ moment of madness.

Brilliant turnaround resultwise over the last 4 games but still loads to work on I think.

I am sure you are right in your assessment but I just wonder how important those things are just now. After 6 defeats, the manager’s first aim has to be to stop losing silly goals and so stop losing games. Clearly they have worked on that probably to the detriment of some of the other things you mention. I have been critical of the manager during that 6 game run but I do think he has learned a lesson and got his priorities right. Much like you, I would love to see some flowing football, swifter passing on the deck etc., but the first thing on the agenda is a clean sheet. No manager can sustain his job without points in the bag.

I remember a few seasons ago in the conference Mansfield had a atrocious start but then stormed on to promotion , wouldn't it be just fantastic if we could emulate that sort of performance ?

Quoted from toontown

The result was great but for me I was pretty frustrated with how we played, and I thought we were lucky to come out with all 3 points. Specifically some of my issues were
1. Uaually too slow in thought and deed when getting possession. What might have been opportunities in possession wasted by beung too slow. A general lack of movement. We all see games differently but I thought the speed of thought and passing was light years away from anything we have seen since being back in the football league.
2. This leading to frequent occasions when we get the ball in the middle of the pitch but lack of options means they press us and we quickly end up going backwards. I would much rather see us at least TRY to retain possession by going from side to side , and sometimes backwards, to keep the ball moving and tire the opposition, this is how opportunities can be created This eventually leading to a pass back to macca and a hoof forward and inevitable loss of possession. If we r going to emd up hoofing it forward anyway we would be better off having the outfield player who first got the ball in the middle of the park playing it forward. Not the goalie from the edge of the box.
3. Compounding the loss of possession is the danger of screw ups inherent in this tactic, a perfect example of which happened but was well saved by Macca.
It is a price we have to pay if we want to play out from the back and a passing game. Mistakes WILL happen but I would much rather see us try and play a passing game than a boring route one hoof it forward. Each to there own I guess.
4. For all that our build-up play usually tends to be fairly slow (disagree)and deliberate when we get a free kick in the middle of the park we suddenly always seemed to try and take it quickly side ways. I was encouraged that we tried to take free kicks quickly, get the ball moving, trying to catch the opposition out. We have been done over by this many times over the years Because we are not well equipped to play the quick game we didn't manage anything or worae we then conceded possession and were on the back foot.
5. We still look mostly toothless in front of goal.  Patience is a virtue, we don’t yet look like scoring loads of goals but for me I see a solid platform, a willingness to play a quicker game, mostly along the ground, that will, as they get better gain more confidence create more opportunities. With encouragement I think we will improve in front of goal

There were some definite good points such as Thomas well taken goal, rose, vernhams running, Harry's energy, the central defence and defence/keeper in general looking well organised keeping  Colchester very restricted opportunities wise, apart from the RHJ moment of madness.

Brilliant turnaround resultwise over the last 4 games but still loads to work on I think.

Everyone agrees (I think?) that there is loads of work to do but we have gone from drowning to getting our heads above water in a short space of time. Games like Saturday and Tuesday are decided by fine margins, just like some of the earlier games that we lost or drew, we could/should have had more points v Lincoln for example.
Just think we, as fans need to try and buy into the football we are trying to play, it certainly wasn’t anything approaching hoof ball on Tuesday IMO, and not get on the backs when we try and retain possession by playing it sideways and backwards

Hope this isn't perceived as negative but against both Exeter & Colchester, there were a couple of opportunities to get a shot away that we didn't take - I'd like us to be a bit braver in the final third.

Quoted from toontown

The result was great but for me I was pretty frustrated with how we played, and I thought we were lucky to come out with all 3 points. Specifically some of my issues were
1. Uaually too slow in thought and deed when getting possession. What might have been opportunities in possession wasted by beung too slow. A general lack of movement.
2. This leading to frequent occasions when we get the ball in the middle of the pitch but lack of options means they press us and we quickly end up going backwards. This eventually leading to a pass back to macca and a hoof forward and inevitable loss of possession. If we r going to emd up hoofing it forward anyway we would be better off having the outfield player who first got the ball in the middle of the park playing it forward. Not the goalie from the edge of the box.
3. Compounding the loss of possession is the danger of screw ups inherent in this tactic, a perfect example of which happened but was well saved by Macca.
4. For all that our build-up play usually tends to be fairly slow and deliberate when we get a free kick in the middle of the park we suddenly always seemed to try and take it quickly side ways. Because we are not well equipped to play the quick game we didn't manage anything or worae we then conceded possession and were on the back foot.
5. We still look mostly toothless in front of goal.

There were some definite good points such as Thomas well taken goal, rose, vernhams running, Harry's energy, the central defence and defence/keeper in general looking well organised keeping  Colchester very restricted opportunities wise, apart from the RHJ moment of madness.

Brilliant turnaround resultwise over the last 4 games but still loads to work on I think.

I think you're getting far too caught up in what we did and not looking at the opposition too. We were playing a team that even after beating them are in the top 5. They passed well, had pace and power in their team, they pressed as hard as we did, defended well and looked to have a bit more quality on the ball than us. Yet we still beat them and restricted them to only 2 clear chances which is the same as what we created.

A draw would have been a fair result, but we lost or drew plenty that we deserved to win earlier on in the season. I don't see how you can complain about the performance when we beat a team near the top of the league and every player is clearly giving everything during the games.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Hope this isn't perceived as negative but against both Exeter & Colchester, there were a couple of opportunities to get a shot away that we didn't take - I'd like us to be a bit braver in the final third.

Personally I would rather focus on what we did do rather than our shortcomings.
That is for the training ground😜

Quoted from pen penfras

I think you're getting far too caught up in what we did and not looking at the opposition too. We were playing a team that even after beating them are in the top 5. They passed well, had pace and power in their team, they pressed as hard as we did, defended well and looked to have a bit more quality on the ball than us. Yet we still beat them and restricted them to only 2 clear chances which is the same as what we created.

A draw would have been a fair result, but we lost or drew plenty that we deserved to win earlier on in the season. I don't see how you can complain about the performance when we beat a team near the top of the league and every player is clearly giving everything during the games.

Yes a good battling performance rewarded with the 3 points.I will take that all season . Have to give special praise firstly to Macca for that save and the penalty save Saturday and also Collins who since his 2-3 poor games has been back to his best and Tuesday night he was at times almost Futcheresque with his reading of the game.I still worry about our lack of goals and efforts on goals from decent positions but pretty sure it will come with time.UTM

Cloudy I think u misunderstood one part of my post. I would rather we retain possession than hoof it which is why I had the problem with how we played. So often the end result of us going backwards was a rushed welly from Macca aimlessly up the pitch, which they then won. Far better to either have movement further up the pitch to give the guy in the middle an option in the first place. Even failing that I would rather see the guy in the middle chance it with a pass into the final 3rd that is going to be a 50-50 ball rather than Macca hoof it into the air landing in the middle of the pitch.

It's League 2. Players will make mistakes and take the wrong option sometimes, but so will the opposition. There are no outstanding teams at this level, and we have already held our own against most of those at the top end of the league, including the league leaders who we easily outplayed, while not getting the win we deserved.

I've said before that all you need to prosper in this league is to graft, be compact, and make less mistakes than the others. If we can then find a few more goals from somewhere, we will be at the right end of the league. I think the turnaround in the last four games hasn't been a massive improvement in what we were doing before, just the right tweaks in the right places, finding and sticking to a settled team, and having a bit of the rub of the green. I don't think we were dire before, and i don't think we are world beaters now. As stated by many, it takes 10 to 12 games to settle down, and we are now finding our feet. Consistency is the key to climbing the table. This side is good enough for the top ten, possibly top seven, if we maintain that level of consistency.

Quoted from ginnywings

It's League 2. Players will make mistakes and take the wrong option sometimes, but so will the opposition. .

Exactly!

Fine margins, RHJ makes a poor pass under pressure, Norris gets put through but McKeown saves, then their right back does virtually the same from the same position, Thomas gets in on goal and scores.

We are " work in progress " and the last four results show we are progressing compared to the previous six.