Just back

What a thoroughly enjoyable game. Genuinely the most if enjoyed watching a Town game for a long time. And I was thinking that at half-time too, despite us being behind.

There was plenty of comments on here after last Sunday criticising Shaun & Ben for not doing anything different (which seemed to ignore the early part of the game when we tried to play out from the back again like earlier in the season) but there were many noticeable differences with our approach yesterday.

You could sum it up as just being far more positive. The shackles were off and the attacking players didn't have leashes on when we had the ball to keep them not far from our defensive shape.

For starters, it looked a clear 433. Green holding with Andrew and Holohan either side both playing as "no.8's". Pyke on the right of Rose and Khan to the left of him. But the way we played this 433 was different to the way we did it under Hurst by a country mile. Khan and Pyke played much higher up the pitch so it actually a 433 rather than 451. And playing the attack-minded Pyke on one side worked well because he also drifted inside and got close to Rose.
Our two no.8's took up high starting positions when we were building play up, as did both full backs (who were playing like wingers at times). We were very open/expansive in possession which allowed us to play some really good stuff and find better incisive passes and be less predictable.

Khan was so much more effective receiving the ball higher up the pitch.
Pyke was so much more effective coming from wide rather than playing as a focal point centrally.
Glennon was fantastic, defended well and was one of our most creative players going forward. That cross for the 3rd goal was absolutely excellent.
Rose remains a touch of class but is so much more effective with support around him.
Green did his job superbly with the bonus of a well-taken goal.
Cartwright was superb too, claimed everything that he could in the air.

It was noticeable first half that we put them under sustained pressure. Plenty of corners, shots and penning them in. This rarely happened under PH late in games let alone in a first half. I enjoyed the first half apart from giving away a weak goal and was pretty confident we'd get back in the game if we maintained our level of performance second half.

With our subs, I couldn't really disagree with any of them. People were flagging, particularly Glennon who had run himself into the ground.

It's only one game so not getting carried away, but I thought it was an excellent performance. Not without faults, that we can tweak, but a massive step forward in my eyes, helped hugely by the positive mentality clearly instilled in the tactics and mentality by Pearson and Davies this week.

Missed yesterday, I’ve only missed Salford & Gillingham before that so you could easily conclude that I’m a curse, especially when you consider the Barrow game felt like a loss.

3 things don’t surprise me reading this thread, Glennon playing well, Green playing well and this set of players playing with freedom resulting in a much improved performance. My frustration with Hurst was always that I felt we were being robbed of entertainment value every week, great to see that it may well not be a case of these players just being excrement.

Plenty to improve on still I’m sure but I’m convinced that the next manager ought to be excited by what he’s walking into.

I think last Tuesday at Slough we saw the end of a Hurst era. Davies and Pearson tried out the old Hurst formula and it doesn't work, never has done really this season. It was mentioned after the game that they worked on a few new things, some of which worked etc.

Yesterday we saw 6 changes and a complete change. Wow, what a difference and a good result. I think this Tuesday Slough will see a different Town and hopefully a net full of goals at the Slough end.

Just one other point from yesterday deserves a mention.

The pre-match minute of silence impeccably observed.

Well done you fans.

Made me feel very proud !

Quoted from diehardmariner

Anyway.... Rather than digging up he said, she said etc. how about we just enjoy a great win from a very entertaining game in which I thought everyone was excellent?

Started off shaky as hell and I feared the worst at 1 down when thru continued to waltz through our defence.  Rodgers went from a horrible first ten minutes to something like his early season form for the other 80.

Cartwright was magnificent and his command of the area was a joy to watch. I cannot believe the difference in him from the FL Trophy games. Glennon was my MOTM, best from in over a year. Looked 2 yards quicker and with genuine fire in his belly.

Midfield was spot on.  Markers laid down from Clifton and Conteh if they want to get back in.  Don't think Hunt was anonymous when he came on, was a few times he broke their defensive line with his runs but wasn't picked out.  Loved seeing more proactive subs but at the time he came on the balance of the side had gone a bit, left hand side was completely changed with Glennon and Khan exhausted.

Loads better seeing Rose not isolated, bet he's forgotten how it felt to win a header and not have to chase it down yourself.

It's very, very early days and I'm not advocating the decision. But Davies and Pearson have certainly made a good start, with that I'm sure added themselves to the thoughts of any decisions.

While I'm not advocating keeping the interim managers as permanent appointments, I think their input could be invaluable to a new manager.

Phew ,sigh of relief and joy at a win Saturday preoccupied with day out booked in Spring. I raised a glass of Vietnamese beer to GTFC as i turned on phone to get a sneaky  look at score.
Lets see if we can build on this win / change of team sheet/ interim managers etc , bring on Tuesday for FA Cup Replay  next Saturday  against FGR.
UTM2023--24

Quoted from rancido

While I'm not advocating keeping the interim managers as permanent appointments, I think their input could be invaluable to a new manager.

What it does do is keep the pressure off the board while the search for a manager goes on. If we can do well in the next 3 or 4 games, it allows us to take our time without panic stations setting in.

I don't know if there were issues behind the scenes but the players seemed so much more together yesterday.
They were constantly fist pumping and reassuring each other.
As mentioned previously all of the subs and coaches were involved after the game and in some of the goal celebrations.
Look how many players are there celebrating straight away, guess that shows how many of them were in attacking positions.
The fight and determination had been what we were missing, not yesterday though.
Credit must go to Shaun and Ben.
If we carry on like that we will be fine.

Quoted from Caveman

Just one other point from yesterday deserves a mention.

The pre-match minute of silence impeccably observed.

Well done you fans.

Made me feel very proud !

Agreed enjoyed that. I really like that the club got a piper in before the silence and the three people playing the last post.
The club has always done this well in recent years though.

Quoted from CSLM

I don't know if there were issues behind the scenes but the players seemed so much more together yesterday.
They were constantly fist pumping and reassuring each other.
As mentioned previously all of the subs and coaches were involved after the game and in some of the goal celebrations.
Look how many players are there celebrating straight away, guess that shows how many of them were in attacking positions.
The fight and determination had been what we were missing, not yesterday though.
Credit must go to Shaun and Ben.
If we carry on like that we will be fine.

I've always got the impression that both Pearson and Davies are positively mind people, full of enthusiasm and this is bound to influence the squad. This might be poo hooed by many posters but psychology and mind-set plays a huge part in how players perform.