Just Back

Well, I am as did manage to get to the game. The highlights for me were 2 pints of Guinness in the Trust bar and 2 pies.

To sum up the game I saw a Hartlepool team come for a win and I saw a Grimsby team turn up on the pitch and attempt to play football. It reminded me of oloway's teams but not quite as bad as that.

No passion, no composure, little effort and lots of huff and puff. You would think it was Town who were 2nd from the bottom on that display. May the 8th cannot come quick enough to end these dismal home displays and I think based on today ST will be lucky to achieve 4,000 sales

I would guess that, unless there are a number of impressive signings in summer, ST sales will be significantly fewer than this season. Not great.

Alot of wailing and gnashing of teeth on here which I don’t intend to join in with. Don’t know what PH was trying with selection in the 1st half. Maybe he was trying to understand the scale of his squad building task in the summer by not starting with players who definitely won’t be here next season, with the exception, I hope, of Clifton? I can only assume he’s been carrying a knock - his minutes on the pitch has reduced a lot recently. Well clearly the task is large.

The changes at HT woke us up temporarily, thought we’d win it after the equaliser.
Once we’d conceded the pen it seemed the defence went to sleep en masse.

Surely we just go old school from now on - remember that? Just start with our best available players for each position in every game.

Yes it was bad but not sure how it could have been anything else with that initial team set up an ultra light weight upfront ( Lloyd) supported at some distance by another lightweight (Khan) and all the forward energy (Clifton and Mcatee ) removed. Not sure how the manager or anybody can seriously expect it to be any different . I wouldnt conflate this with inevitable  low season ticket sales next year . As I have said before in the three ingredients needed for a successful football club fans , team and owners the fans are two leagues above the other two currently

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0ffhrdx

I think John Tonduer is now scared to ask the right questions of Paul Hurst, he was trying to make the point but completely failed to ask

"why did you start a game at home against one of the poorest teams in the League with a lone striker who probably won't be here next season"

We may as well have started with a couple of juniors up front.

Yeah fair point

Fking ridiculous. One outright attacking player...Lloyd.....one attack minded player ...Khan in support...

Big home crowd...fanny of a selection...let's give a low end team thats not in terrible form plenty of ball and no pressure whatsoever let them settle in and feel comfortable and give them time to grow into the game.
Soooo pisssed off

We were poor for 75 minutes, and the starting system and selection was wrong, but we shouldn’t overlook that the capitulation came with us level and those glaring issues corrected.

We were briefly in the ascendancy, but let a potentially dodgy pen knock the stuffing out of us. We just can’t seem to stay on the front foot for a prolonged period, yet alone a full game or even a full half, and that needs to change. Granted, they needed the win more than we did, but we shouldn’t be losing 4-1 at home to teams well below us in the league.

I try not to get too high or too low following an exceptional result, but I do wonder whether today may raise some questions over who on the pitch today are fit to take us to the next level. Many of who played are contracted behind the summer, but those without guarantees may find themselves looking elsewhere, I suspect.

As for season tickets, I think a lot will come down to our early business. We are notoriously slow starters in transfer windows, and perhaps prudently so. But I think a lot of this season’s ST sales were buoyed not just by our miraculous play-off win, but the increasing sense of scarcity the initial strength of sales triggered.

Give fans a genuine reason to believe we can challenge next season, and sort our dismal home form out, and tickets will sell. If that means banging twenty or thirty grand on top of an offer to seal the deal for a potentially key player then so be it. Remember; ask “what would Fenty do?”, do the opposite, and you won’t go far wrong…

Quoted from Poojah

We were poor for 75 minutes, and the starting system and selection was wrong, but we shouldn’t overlook that the capitulation came with us level and those glaring issues corrected.

We were briefly in the ascendancy, but let a potentially dodgy pen knock the stuffing out of us. We just can’t seem to stay on the front foot for a prolonged period, yet alone a full game or even a full half, and that needs to change. Granted, they needed the win more than we did, but we shouldn’t be losing 4-1 at home to teams well below us in the league.

I try not to get too high or too low following an exceptional result, but I do wonder whether today may raise some questions over who on the pitch today are fit to take us to the next level. Many of who played are contracted behind the summer, but those without guarantees may find themselves looking elsewhere, I suspect.

As for season tickets, I think a lot will come down to our early business. We are notoriously slow starters in transfer windows, and perhaps prudently so. But I think a lot of this season’s ST sales were buoyed not just by our miraculous play-off win, but the increasing sense of scarcity the initial strength of sales triggered.

Give fans a genuine reason to believe we can challenge next season, and sort our dismal home form out, and tickets will sell. If that means banging twenty or thirty grand on top of an offer to seal the deal for a potentially key player then so be it. Remember; ask “what would Fenty do?”, do the opposite, and you won’t go far wrong…

One hundred per cent accept that we had a very short summer window last year but we have to look objectively at what we failed to do both last summer and in January. Both windows were poor and it’s hard to see where we improved, if at all.

The first half was a pretty much a non-event except the abysmal goal we conceded. The overlap was far too easy to create anf the pull back to a player who had no Town player within 5 yards of him was a real WTF moment. We looked much better at the start of the second half with the change of shape and personnel and to give Efete his dues, it was a really well taken goal. Then we were on top and Efete found himself free again in the box and really should have squared it but suddenly thought he was Messi, blazing it high/wide. Not long after, they go up the other end and a ridiculous challenge by Efete is met by an equally ridiculous decision to award a penalty when the challenge was clearly a yard outside. After that we fairly capitulated, conceded a carbon copy of the first and then our left back makes the sort of mistake you shouldn't ever see a professional defender make, letting the ball bounce when a head away was easy. Reminded me somewhat of his mistake against Swindon when he inexplicably let the ball run across him, leading to a foul and red card.

Weak physically- yes. Weak mentally- sadly also yes. We need players that can shoot accurately and defenders that can defend. And we need a big fornicator upfront like they had,.I thought Umerah was great. Hard to make a case for any of the out of contract players to be offered new contracts right now. Someone desperately needs to let Crocombe know he can kick quite far. Utterly infuriating to see him over-punt the ball with such consistency. Maybe take a bit off it next time Max, yeah?

Quoted from immariner

The first half was a pretty much a non-event except the abysmal goal we conceded. The overlap was far too easy to create anf the pull back to a player who had no Town player within 5 yards of him was a real WTF moment. We looked much better at the start of the second half with the change of shape and personnel and to give Efete his dues, it was a really well taken goal. Then we were on top and Efete found himself free again in the box and really should have squared it but suddenly thought he was Messi, blazing it high/wide. Not long after, they go up the other end and a ridiculous challenge by Efete is met by an equally ridiculous decision to award a penalty when the challenge was clearly a yard outside. After that we fairly capitulated, conceded a carbon copy of the first and then our left back makes the sort of mistake you shouldn't ever see a professional defender make, letting the ball bounce when a head away was easy. Reminded me somewhat of his mistake against Swindon when he inexplicably let the ball run across him, leading to a foul and red card.

Weak physically- yes. Weak mentally- sadly also yes. We need players that can shoot accurately and defenders that can defend. And we need a big fornicator upfront like they had,.I thought Umerah was great. Hard to make a case for any of the out of contract players to be offered new contracts right now. Someone desperately needs to let Crocombe know he can kick quite far. Utterly infuriating to see him over-punt the ball with such consistency. Maybe take a bit off it next time Max, yeah?

Accurate summary of the goals but not sure that Umerah was as good as we were terrible. If we do go for a big lad up front and Harry Smith get's mentioned again I hope due diligence is done. Spent a lot of time talking to JMD at Orient when they should have both been limbering up at half time.

As for Crocombe, he has really gone to pot. Spends too much time up the pitch giving it large when there's argy bargy, fails to spot where our taller players are and punts it back to the other team. Touch of arrogance about his persona.

Quoted from Croxton

Accurate summary of the goals but not sure that Umerah was as good as we were terrible. If we do go for a big lad up front and Harry Smith get's mentioned again I hope due diligence is done. Spent a lot of time talking to JMD at Orient when they should have both been limbering up at half time.

As for Crocombe, he has really gone to pot. Spends too much time up the pitch giving it large when there's argy bargy, fails to spot where our taller players are and punts it back to the other team. Touch of arrogance about his persona.

Agree with all of this, Max is a bit of a nut job in reality and looks like he has trouble concentrating, when he is focused he’s great but we’ve not seen him in that space for a while.

Umerah finished his goal well but Max was pretty much on his backside, Amos had lost the plot and someone of Umerah’s size should be able to fend off a challenge from Hunt who has the physical presence of a 13 year old. People are raving about him just because we haven’t got a lump up front.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Agree with all of this, Max is a bit of a nut job in reality and looks like he has trouble concentrating, when he is focused he’s great but we’ve not seen him in that space for a while.

Umerah finished his goal well but Max was pretty much on his backside, Amos had lost the plot and someone of Umerah’s size should be able to fend off a challenge from Hunt who has the physical presence of a 13 year old. People are raving about him just because we haven’t got a lump up front.

Yeah agreed I didn't think umerah was particularly good, it's just he's better than having a relative lightweight like Lloyd up there. Why oh why does Hurst persist with playing lloyd up front on his own like he did first half, he is never in a million years a target man and he gets outmuscled as easily as you would expect he would playing against fellas twice his size. Concerning that Hurst is unable to recognise that.

Hate to say it as I like Amos, but he.has been frequently exposed this season and simply isn't good enough if we want to challenge next season.

The fact hunt is struggling to get in this side does not bode well for him and I think next season could well be make or break for him as an EFL player.

Quoted from toontown

Yeah agreed I didn't think umerah was particularly good, it's just he's better than having a relative lightweight like Lloyd up there. Why oh why does Hurst persist with playing lloyd up front on his own like he did first half, he is never in a million years a target man and he gets outmuscled as easily as you would expect he would playing against fellas twice his size. Concerning that Hurst is unable to recognise that.

Hate to say it as I like Amos, but he.has been frequently exposed this season and simply isn't good enough if we want to challenge next season.

The fact hunt is struggling to get in this side does not bode well for him and I think next season could well be make or break for him as an EFL player.

The thing for me is that we can’t seem to get the midfield balance right Hunt & Morris can pass the ball, Clifton is getting better and Green can scrap and find a pass. We pick Holohan who’s a good lad but can’t pass water and isnt a 10,  Khan who can hurt sides out on the left seems to be asked to do a different job each times he starts.

Both Lloyd & Orsi have energy and are willing runners into space, Lloyd can also finish so just get the midfield right and we can free the two front lads up a bit without relying on someone being the hold up man.

I like Taylor a lot but I think his race may be run and McAtee sadly has become all about McAtee which is a shame as he’s been one of my personal favourites since he arrived.

We don’t have enough to be truly competitive but we have enough to make the hard earned admission fee feel like it’s a bit more like value for money.

Quoted from toontown

Yeah agreed I didn't think umerah was particularly good, it's just he's better than having a relative lightweight like Lloyd up there.

I don't really know how you can say Umerah wasn't particularly good. He did exactly what was asked/expected of him as a target man, showed a good touch and barely lost a header. Lloyd being naff in a role he is wholly unsuited to doesn't change that. Bagged himself a 12th goal of the season in a struggling side. Not as good as Cook was for Bradford but we'd kill for a player like Umerah for next season, without question

Would have been interesting to have been a fly on the changing room wall when Hurst announced the team, bet there was one or two looking around thinking WTF.

Just watched the “highlights”, totally switched off for goals 1 and 3, but the pen wasn’t - look at Efete’s leg that he lunged with - it’s outside the box. Giving him the benefit of the doubt - maybe that’s way he lunged in because he knew he was outside the box.

As for the 4th, nothing to say other than Sunday League…

These complete black-out moments in defence have cost us numerous points - when otherwise we look solid. Not sure what the answer is. Even Taylor was clearly saying WTF are you doing after 4th.

What I learned from that team selection / performance...

Hurst knows McAtee, Taylor, Orsi, Scannell, Morris, Cropper are not going to be here next season and has accepted we have no chance of signing Emmanuel, he is however not decided on Hunt and Amos yet, although yesterday did them no favours at all and I personally think we can do better on both. I also think we need to lose Battersby to bring in a keeper to challenge Crocombe.

Hartlepool had something to play for and had the extra spark to the performance. With seemingly nothing to play for although not mathematically safe we were outthought and out battled in key areas and times of the game and the last goal conceded summed our game up.

Credit to the Hartlepool fans for giving them a 12th man.

So to bring back some pride, get something from the game and to give us a stronger team I hope Clifton, Glennon, McAtee and Emmanuel start on Monday as see the season petering out to a disappointing finish if so and leave us harder to attract players next season.

Priority next season. Sort the home form, some creativity in midfield and 2 top strikers. Easier said than done.

Utm

I just watched the highlights, absolutely appalling defending by Town.

Wish I hadn't bothered.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Agree with all of this, Max is a bit of a nut job in reality and looks like he has trouble concentrating, when he is focused he’s great but we’ve not seen him in that space for a while.

Umerah finished his goal well but Max was pretty much on his backside, Amos had lost the plot and someone of Umerah’s size should be able to fend off a challenge from Hunt who has the physical presence of a 13 year old. People are raving about him just because we haven’t got a lump up front.

I think most of our defenders have trouble concentrating especially Efete.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

The thing for me is that we can’t seem to get the midfield balance right Hunt & Morris can pass the ball, Clifton is getting better and Green can scrap and find a pass. We pick Holohan who’s a good lad but can’t pass water and isnt a 10,  Khan who can hurt sides out on the left seems to be asked to do a different job each times he starts.

Both Lloyd & Orsi have energy and are willing runners into space, Lloyd can also finish so just get the midfield right and we can free the two front lads up a bit without relying on someone being the hold up man.

I like Taylor a lot but I think his race may be run and McAtee sadly has become all about McAtee which is a shame as he’s been one of my personal favourites since he arrived.

We don’t have enough to be truly competitive but we have enough to make the hard earned admission fee feel like it’s a bit more like value for money.

Have to disagree with most of that.

Morris has had a couple of decent games recently but for most of his games he has given the ball away quite a bit. Hunt is no where near the player he was when he was first on loan here.

I think Clifton has gone backwards towards the season end. Khan the times he has played hasn't hurt that many teams.

I just don't think Lloyd and Orsi are the answer to our goal scoring problems up front.

Not sure I agree about Clifton but I do on Morris and Hunt. Both failed to produce good standards consistently. Not only them either. Several others.

Quoted from chaos33

Not sure I agree about Clifton but I do on Morris and Hunt. Both failed to produce good standards consistently. Not only them either. Several others.

I’m likely to be wrong but I can’t remember us ever picking the same midfield for a run of games all season. Holohan, Green and Clifton seem to have been picked ahead of Morris and Hunt in the main which seems to suggest graft over guile.

I know I’m repeating myself but creative midfielders need movement ahead of them and our attackers are a bit like Subbuteo players and need the ball to land at their feet.

That then leads on to our attacking options, the capable ones have been injured and the loanees, with the exception of Lloyd and possibly Richardson, have been generally dreadful.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Have to disagree with most of that.

Morris has had a couple of decent games recently but for most of his games he has given the ball away quite a bit. Hunt is no where near the player he was when he was first on loan here.

I think Clifton has gone backwards towards the season end. Khan the times he has played hasn't hurt that many teams.

I just don't think Lloyd and Orsi are the answer to our goal scoring problems up front.

Yeah, Morris has picked up over the previous couple of games but doesn't change my mind, nowhere near consistently good enough to be in a promotion challenging side. We need better.

Quoted from immariner

I don't really know how you can say Umerah wasn't particularly good. He did exactly what was asked/expected of him as a target man, showed a good touch and barely lost a header. Lloyd being naff in a role he is wholly unsuited to doesn't change that. Bagged himself a 12th goal of the season in a struggling side. Not as good as Cook was for Bradford but we'd kill for a player like Umerah for next season, without question

He was decent but not great in my view, better than what we have though.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Have to disagree with most of that.

Morris has had a couple of decent games recently but for most of his games he has given the ball away quite a bit. Hunt is no where near the player he was when he was first on loan here.

I think Clifton has gone backwards towards the season end. Khan the times he has played hasn't hurt that many teams.

I just don't think Lloyd and Orsi are the answer to our goal scoring problems up front.

I’d have to disagree on the assessment of Hunt. He’s a creative player but we have no outlet for him to put the ball. Last season he had Sousa wide right, Clifton left and McAtee in front, all giving him out balls. This season McAtee has either been injured or not played, we have played central midfielders and not natural wide men, and asked wing backs to provide width, but their starting positions have been behind rather than in front of him. In essence, we haven’t played to his strengths.

Quoted from blundellpork

I’d have to disagree on the assessment of Hunt. He’s a creative player but we have no outlet for him to put the ball. Last season he had Sousa wide right, Clifton left and McAtee in front, all giving him out balls. This season McAtee has either been injured or not played, we have played central midfielders and not natural wide men, and asked wing backs to provide width, but their starting positions have been behind rather than in front of him. In essence, we haven’t played to his strengths.

I wasn't having a go at Hunt particularly just saying he wasn't as effective and you basically agree🤔

I will argue until the day I day, give Lloyd service and support he will be a top player in this division.
We definitely need atleast 5 players in if we are to aim for the top 7.

*edit 5 players that'll improve and are better than we have in those positions.

Truth be told, I don't think Hunt was as effective last season as many think. He had a brief purple patch which coincided with McAtee and Bapaga playing well and looked a good player then, but dropped off badly towards the end of his loan spell and I wasn't overly bothered when he left. Given his complete lack of an impact at Oldham, I was surprised that we went back in for him and paid a fee and he's barely put in a decent performance since then.

I see many comments that he's our most creative player, but is he really? At his best, he moves the ball forward quickly and accurately but it isn't really incisive passing (though admittedly, our forwards aren't the most dynamic to get into good attacking positions often enough). I've not seen Hunt have a definitively good performance since his return, though I have missed several home games in 2023 for one reason or another and haven't been able to get to an away game this season.

If Hunt is going to have an impact next season, he needs to improve a lot. First thing to do, for me, would be hit the gym and put on a few pounds of muscle. He's always going to be slight due to his build but doesn't look strong enough to me at the moment. A little bit more upper body bulk could go a long way to help him hold his own physically which might help him find some consistency. If your main attribute is accurate passing, flipping well make sure you pass accurately. He was really poor in this regard against Southampton, though the same could be said for the rest of our passing during that game.

The Cup run disguised what a poor team we can be at times as the passing through midfield is often absolutely shocking as often as not. I like Holohan as he's had a positive impact with his ability to nick a goal here and there and put in a real shift, but his passing is often very poor. Green another who has looked useful when fit, but not one who exactly has a silky touch.

With those two in the middle alongside Hunt against Hartlepool, I can't really see how we could expect to hold possession well enough to do anything, especially without any sort of a focal point up front.

Lots of work for Hurst to do in the summer to try and get that midfield sorted out. I don't think we even have a basis in there for a strong team at the moment.

Quoted from arryarryarry

I wasn't having a go at Hunt particularly just saying he wasn't as effective and you basically agree🤔

For Hunt....two very recent examples of how and how not to use him..
Hartlepool - absolutely no width , no runners from midfield and one striker to aim at...result....he struggles.  

Crawley - three up top ahead of him,  width  runners and he was central to what I think was probably our best League 90 mins of the season.

He can be key but if the manager isn't picking players in front of him then what's the point in having the best picker  of a pass and passer of a ball if he is only going to be passing it to sideways targets.

Quoted from Maringer

Truth be told, I don't think Hunt was as effective last season as many think. He had a brief purple patch which coincided with McAtee and Bapaga playing well and looked a good player then, but dropped off badly towards the end of his loan spell and I wasn't overly bothered when he left. Given his complete lack of an impact at Oldham, I was surprised that we went back in for him and paid a fee and he's barely put in a decent performance since then.

I see many comments that he's our most creative player, but is he really? At his best, he moves the ball forward quickly and accurately but it isn't really incisive passing (though admittedly, our forwards aren't the most dynamic to get into good attacking positions often enough). I've not seen Hunt have a definitively good performance since his return, though I have missed several home games in 2023 for one reason or another and haven't been able to get to an away game this season.

If Hunt is going to have an impact next season, he needs to improve a lot. First thing to do, for me, would be hit the gym and put on a few pounds of muscle. He's always going to be slight due to his build but doesn't look strong enough to me at the moment. A little bit more upper body bulk could go a long way to help him hold his own physically which might help him find some consistency. If your main attribute is accurate passing, flipping well make sure you pass accurately. He was really poor in this regard against Southampton, though the same could be said for the rest of our passing during that game.

The Cup run disguised what a poor team we can be at times as the passing through midfield is often absolutely shocking as often as not. I like Holohan as he's had a positive impact with his ability to nick a goal here and there and put in a real shift, but his passing is often very poor. Green another who has looked useful when fit, but not one who exactly has a silky touch.

With those two in the middle alongside Hunt against Hartlepool, I can't really see how we could expect to hold possession well enough to do anything, especially without any sort of a focal point up front.

Lots of work for Hurst to do in the summer to try and get that midfield sorted out. I don't think we even have a basis in there for a strong team at the moment.

No doubt our conditioning team will be working hard on Hunt pre-season; he's worth persisting with but at 22 next season is a massive one for him. It was age 23 when Harry really kicked on. Hunt has to break through as a regular starter at League 2 level otherwise he'll be drift to fringe League 2 / National League level.  There is potential for him to form a great combination with Harry at the core of our midfield next season, let's hope we see it fulfilled

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

No doubt our conditioning team will be working hard on Hunt pre-season; he's worth persisting with but at 22 next season is a massive one for him. It was age 23 when Harry really kicked on. Hunt has to break through as a regular starter at League 2 level otherwise he'll be drift to fringe League 2 / National League level.  There is potential for him to form a great combination with Harry at the core of our midfield next season, let's hope we see it fulfilled

Personally don’t think Clifton has the range of passing and quality of touch to be a stand out central midfield player and is much better suited to playing, as he normally does, on the left hand side. Hunt suffers, as others have said from a lack of forward movement and availability with our starting line up on Friday being a perfect example of this.

Speaking of midfield players I am slightly surprised to see that Khouri has not been afforded more game time as he’s always looked pretty useful in the cameo performances he’s had. No doubt it’s an area we need to strengthen in the summer as it’s hard to recollect too many home games where we have won the midfield battle.

Quoted from moosey_club

For Hunt....two very recent examples of how and how not to use him..
Hartlepool - absolutely no width , no runners from midfield and one striker to aim at...result....he struggles.  

Crawley - three up top ahead of him,  width  runners and he was central to what I think was probably our best League 90 mins of the season.

He can be key but if the manager isn't picking players in front of him then what's the point in having the best picker  of a pass and passer of a ball if he is only going to be passing it to sideways targets.

This.

He was excellent in the Rochdale game and again at Crawley but Hurst then drops him against ‘bigger’ teams.

Has he shrunk since Hurst paid a fee for him?

Quoted from moosey_club

For Hunt....two very recent examples of how and how not to use him..
Hartlepool - absolutely no width , no runners from midfield and one striker to aim at...result....he struggles.  

Crawley - three up top ahead of him,  width  runners and he was central to what I think was probably our best League 90 mins of the season.

He can be key but if the manager isn't picking players in front of him then what's the point in having the best picker  of a pass and passer of a ball if he is only going to be passing it to sideways targets.

I guess you’ve put my point across much more articulately, we have a handful of players who can pass or play for the team without having the ball by moving into space.

Hurst just can’t seem to get the blend right and doesn’t seem interested in sticking with a combination for a bit to make it work.

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Personally don’t think Clifton has the range of passing and quality of touch to be a stand out central midfield player and is much better suited to playing, as he normally does, on the left hand side. Hunt suffers, as others have said from a lack of forward movement and availability with our starting line up on Friday being a perfect example of this.

Speaking of midfield players I am slightly surprised to see that Khouri has not been afforded more game time as he’s always looked pretty useful in the cameo performances he’s had. No doubt it’s an area we need to strengthen in the summer as it’s hard to recollect too many home games where we have won the midfield battle.

Khouri is 20 - plenty of time yet. He'll get his big opportunity to shine next season. Midfield have done better away form home as the team has. We've strangled the opposition really well on the road.

We've 4 home games left; PH needs to just play the best eleven every game now, we've just two Tuesday nighters left and don't need to rotate, we can still can realistically finish 11th - that's the target.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Khouri is 20 - plenty of time yet. He'll get his big opportunity to shine next season. Midfield have done better away form home as the team has. We've strangled the opposition really well on the road.

We've 4 home games left; PH needs to just play the best eleven every game now, we've just two Tuesday nighters left and don't need to rotate, we can still can realistically finish 11th - that's the target.

I agree with you completely on playing the best 11, let’s just hope the manager knows who they are as he’s not been too sure for a while.

Quoted from moosey_club

For Hunt....two very recent examples of how and how not to use him..
Hartlepool - absolutely no width , no runners from midfield and one striker to aim at...result....he struggles.  

Crawley - three up top ahead of him,  width  runners and he was central to what I think was probably our best League 90 mins of the season.

He can be key but if the manager isn't picking players in front of him then what's the point in having the best picker  of a pass and passer of a ball if he is only going to be passing it to sideways targets.

100% this. Gold star from me.

I've always thought that Hunt would struggle in this current side, because of the reasons mentioned by others.

Those around him and in front of him don't make the movements needed for him to shine. We were like statues against Hartlepool and often only had one player in a forward position, with the others slowly making their way up the pitch. Efete and Amos were the ones who were supposed to provide the width, but very rarely do they get well ahead of the ball and often receive it from a squared pass instead of on the move like their left back did for their first goal. The few times they do get into a good forward position, the cross is abysmal. Not that there is much in the box to aim for if they did get in a good one.

They seem to be playing with the brakes on all the time and never seem to fully commit, even though we have three centre backs to cover for them. That's the whole point of having 5 at the back. It can be attacking, or it can be defensive, depending on the mind set of those in the team.

I desperately want to see us go out and put a team on the back front from the off, but it never happens. We are reactive, not proactive, and when we do get a goal, we seem to go back to wariness, instead of ramping up the pressure to get a second or third. It's so frustrating.

Quoted from ginnywings

I've always thought that Hunt would struggle in this current side, because of the reasons mentioned by others.

Those around him and in front of him don't make the movements needed for him to shine. We were like statues against Hartlepool and often only had one player in a forward position, with the others slowly making their way up the pitch. Efete and Amos were the ones who were supposed to provide the width, but very rarely do they get well ahead of the ball and often receive it from a squared pass instead of on the move like their left back did for their first goal. The few times they do get into a good forward position, the cross is abysmal. Not that there is much in the box to aim for if they did get in a good one.

They seem to be playing with the brakes on all the time and never seem to fully commit, even though we have three centre backs to cover for them. That's the whole point of having 5 at the back. It can be attacking, or it can be defensive, depending on the mind set of those in the team.

I desperately want to see us go out and put a team on the back front from the off, but it never happens. We are reactive, not proactive, and when we do get a goal, we seem to go back to wariness, instead of ramping up the pressure to get a second or third. It's so frustrating.

To be fair to Danny Amos, I have lost count the number of times he has found acres of space on the left and he has been ignored in favour of the right wing.