Just Back

On the train…

Better side, especially in the second half, Great debut by Curtis Thompson, and fair play to Harry who had great energy and helped us dominate the final quarter. Would have been fair enough on Accy if Danny Rose had snatched it with the header at the death. Both full backs had competent debuts defensively and broke forward well at times. Thought Rodger had a good game. I’m hoping we see better from him if he has more confidence in the defending out wide.

Not sure what the Accy game plan was as they offered little - maybe it was keep it tight and wait for the inevitable Gy blunder.

I can say with all genuine honesty that is the best performance under DA .

Good performance that we were unlucky to walk away from without 3 points.

Thompson & Smith were massive improvements, Hume also recovered from a shaky start.

The passing out from the back in the first half was borderline suicidal but we came away unscathed and definitely our most solid defensive performance of the season.

Eisa needs a run out of the side, a couple of times he stood & moaned about a wayward pass whilst Accrington broke away, he offered absolutely nothing all game and Vernam deserves a start.

Everybody else I thought had good games, Arthur & Gav certainly made us look better and Clifton contributed well.

It’s hard to see this squad going down and I feel today has proven that again.

Solid performance today. Thompson was really a class above and showed what we've been missing in the middle of the park. Supported the defence, broke up play and was an outlet forward from our playing out the back. Hume was very rusty in the first half, failed to get his foot on the ball a few times and had 0 chemistry with Eisa but hopefully that's something that can be worked on in training. We shouldve won was the better team but will take a point and a clean sheet. Hopefully a sign of improvement in the coming weeks. UTM

A very good point on the road with, as others have said decent debuts from all three new signings. Thompson looks a real find. Hume although a bit rusty is bloody quick. His speed getting forward surprised Accrington and unfortunately our own players weren't prepared for it either-failing to give him the ball on several occasions in the second half when we were on top. Of the "old school" Arthur looked very lively first half.  If Rose stays here any length of time he will almost certainly attain "legend" status. His workrate ia absolutely phenomenal and was so unlucky not to win the game late on.

Not surprisingly there were still some negatives-the persistence in playing out from the back nearly cost us and one or two seem to lack the cahones for the fight we find ourselves in with an unwillingness to put themselves about when things don't quite happen for them.

If we can keep this midfield together there wont be any chance of us going down. Best Town performance for a long time. I think the tide is turning

All three new signings looked at least a quality above what we had. Hopefully things can only get better.

Massive improvement and played som good pacy attacks in second half.

One small word of warning. Accrington played their youngest ever line up with the oldest player being 24 and their captain is 19 years old.

Let’s not that take away a good performance though . The second half alone merited 3 points.

Thompson  quality ,Gnouha outstanding  and I thought Rogers had his best game to date ..U.T.M.

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

Massive improvement and played som good pacy attacks in second half.

One small word of warning. Accrington played their youngest ever line up with the oldest player being 24 and their captain is 19 years old.

Let’s not that take away a good performance though . The second half alone merited 3 points.

Fair play Accrington. Just, in so many ways a great community club; sneered at but  doing well on modest resources in an old fashioned stadium in a medium sized northern town.  I like them. They sort of encapsulate and preserve a snapshot concept of the football league and how it is if you pretend it’s 1985.

Can anyone share a link to the post match interview….?

Quoted from chaos33

Can anyone share a link to the post match interview….?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h8wlqs

Bring on Stockport  

We definitely looked much tighter at the back today, hopefully gives us a much better platform to get the points we need to stay safe. Who else went in Coley’s bar? It was amazing, way better than anything I’ve been to at any other ground. Hats off to Stanley & how they run their club.

Quoted from Southwark Mariner

Tweet 1753842940370186380 will appear here...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h8wlqs

Thank you 👍

Sounded good on radio commentary , an improvement which could be the turning point to save our season (IMO) then we could have a good positive start for next season under DA and start improving to get out of a rut.
To see it with my own eyes Wimbledon,Sutton ,Gillingham and Crawley .
Don't want to be going to Bromley ,Woking and Dover if we can help it , We've had enough of that to be honest.

Just watched the highlights. Visibly a greater sense of urgency and energy in our play which is encouraging. Also the very stark illustration of the mindless lunacy of our keeper starting a move by rolling a sideways 8 inch pass along our own six yard line and that swiftly leading to us giving the ball away and conceding a needless chance that should have led to goal against. I mean…..who thinks this is a good idea in L2. In a back four that’s never played together before. It’s like hitting yourself in the face with a pan whilst you’re trying to concentrate.

Quoted from chaos33

Just watched the highlights. Visibly a greater sense of urgency and energy in our play which is encouraging. Also the very stark illustration of the mindless lunacy of our keeper starting a move by rolling a sideways 8 inch pass along our own six yard line and that swiftly leading to us giving the ball away and conceding a needless chance that should have led to goal against. I mean…..who thinks this is a good idea in L2. In a back four that’s never played together before. It’s like hitting yourself in the face with a pan whilst you’re trying to concentrate.

The players had a bit of a disagreement in the box after it, Cartwrights argument appeared to be ‘that’s what I’ve been told to do’ which is fine but sometimes you have to do what is sensible in the moment. Rodgers wasn’t even ready for the pass and Smith must’ve been wondering what on earth they were all playing at.

However, numerous times yesterday we saw how playing out the back can work well and we opened up space down the flanks as a result of a few cleverly strung together passes. It’s just going to take time for the whole squad to be on board, part of that is realising when it’s better to go more direct.

Quoted from Southwark Mariner

Tweet 1753842940370186380 will appear here...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h8wlqs

A very balanced, fair, open and honest appraisal of the match. Also good that he's cleared up the DW situation. He wanted him to stay but in the same token wanted what was best for the player.

Playing out from the back should not start with that very specific pass I named. Keeper passes to defender standing half a foot to the side of him on the 6 yard line. FFS. That is a stupid, needless, suicidal start on every conceivable level.

Quoted from chaos33

Just watched the highlights. Visibly a greater sense of urgency and energy in our play which is encouraging. Also the very stark illustration of the mindless lunacy of our keeper starting a move by rolling a sideways 8 inch pass along our own six yard line and that swiftly leading to us giving the ball away and conceding a needless chance that should have led to goal against. I mean…..who thinks this is a good idea in L2. In a back four that’s never played together before. It’s like hitting yourself in the face with a pan whilst you’re trying to concentrate.

Can you please send details of link to highlights

Quoted from rancido

A very balanced, fair, open and honest appraisal of the match. Also good that he's cleared up the DW situation. He wanted him to stay but in the same token wanted what was best for the player.

Much more relaxed wasn't it. A week ago, after the sh!tshow, he will have probably realised that last weeks task in the window with the squad was not just aspiration and evolution to improve, but absolutely essential remedial work. That will have been stressful. We've done it and the first signs are promising. It's clear Mullarky is now seen as CB cover (rumoured that was his preferred position and PH pushed him to FB), which explains why we've only brought one CB in and I can envisage a different role for Glennon covering left-side midfield.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Much more relaxed wasn't it. A week ago, after the sh!tshow, he will have probably realised that last weeks task in the window with the squad was not just aspiration and evolution to improve, but absolutely essential remedial work. That will have been stressful. We've done it and the first signs are promising. It's clear Mullarky is now seen as CB cover (rumoured that was his preferred position and PH pushed him to FB), which explains why we've only brought one CB in and I can envisage a different role for Glennon covering left-side midfield.

IMO I think DA realised within a short time what are problems and weaknesses were. Only supposition but I think he used the time to identify who we could get to combat those weaknesses and try to secure those players in the transfer window.

I thought Cartwrights ball handling when dealing with high crosses was excellent yesterday. He is coming along nicely as our number one.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

It's clear Mullarky is now seen as CB cover (rumoured that was his preferred position and PH pushed him to FB)

It's funny how the rumours go. I'm sure I remember reading that Mullarkey had always seen himself as a full-back, despite playing as a centre-back for most of his career!

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Much more relaxed wasn't it. A week ago, after the sh!tshow, he will have probably realised that last weeks task in the window with the squad was not just aspiration and evolution to improve, but absolutely essential remedial work. That will have been stressful. We've done it and the first signs are promising. It's clear Mullarky is now seen as CB cover (rumoured that was his preferred position and PH pushed him to FB), which explains why we've only brought one CB in and I can envisage a different role for Glennon covering left-side midfield.

I think he's only 4th choice CB, but he's backup right back also. It doesn't mean he's preferred there, it just means Tharme was injured and we needed cover there. He was also there in case Smith struggled. He's got a lot of work to go defensively to get back in the team, but without being able to spot danger or risks and hold position, I fear for him at CB and RB. Maybe could come on to cover RM, but I personally don't see enough in him to have much confidence right now. Happy to be proven wrong, but he definitely needs some time out of the team to work on his game.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

I think he's only 4th choice CB, but he's backup right back also. It doesn't mean he's preferred there, it just means Tharme was injured and we needed cover there. He was also there in case Smith struggled. He's got a lot of work to go defensively to get back in the team, but without being able to spot danger or risks and hold position, I fear for him at CB and RB. Maybe could come on to cover RM, but I personally don't see enough in him to have much confidence right now. Happy to be proven wrong, but he definitely needs some time out of the team to work on his game.

Agree with this, clearly he can play, just needs to learn how to defend at this level.

Quoted from Maringer

It's funny how the rumours go. I'm sure I remember reading that Mullarkey had always seen himself as a full-back, despite playing as a centre-back for most of his career!

I’d rather he stuck to personal training and social media as his main job, would be much more beneficial for us as a team.

I'm wondering if he can maybe replace Thompson in DM towards the end of a match if he's getting tired. He's a defender so will need to deal with some of the responsibilities needed, but if he need to run forward and join an attack he can do that also. Might completely fall flat, but it's another option for the guy.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

I'm wondering if he can maybe replace Thompson in DM towards the end of a match if he's getting tired. He's a defender so will need to deal with some of the responsibilities needed, but if he need to run forward and join an attack he can do that also. Might completely fall flat, but it's another option for the guy.

The issue is, he cant defend

Thompson will be fine when he gets up to speed, I thought he looked very impressive on Saturday

Quoted from Hagrid

The issue is, he cant defend

Thompson will be fine when he gets up to speed, I thought he looked very impressive on Saturday

I don’t think I can remember a better debut for a Jan window signing going straight into the team. Although Trevor Whymark’s mid- season debut ( v Chelsea) was better…

Talking of playing from the back.

Brentford caught Man City out last night. Their keeper kicked in long past the halfway line while city were calling for offside to which we know you can not be offside from a goal kick the ball was in the back of the net with the assist going to the keeper.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Talking of playing from the back.

Brentford caught Man City out last night. Their keeper kicked in long past the halfway line while city were calling for offside to which we know you can not be offside from a goal kick the ball was in the back of the net with the assist going to the keeper.

Did you see Wednesday at Hudders - trying to compete with our Walsall and Notts performances at the back…?

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Did you see Wednesday at Hudders - trying to compete with our Walsall and Notts performances at the back…?

Yes I thought we are not on our own in not been able to defend.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Talking of playing from the back.

Brentford caught Man City out last night. Their keeper kicked in long past the halfway line while city were calling for offside to which we know you can not be offside from a goal kick the ball was in the back of the net with the assist going to the keeper.

In the same against Chelsea in 2019 a big boot from McKeown deep into Chelsea's half. Without a Chelsea player touching the ball Green volleyed it into the net. What a moment!
No playing out from the back with that goal