A few thoughts

Have just listened to DA's post-match interview on RH, and for the life of me I can't understand how some fans can't warm to the guy.
He's honest - but chooses his words carefully so they're not insensitive - and realizes players are human beings. So demanding
perfection is both ridiculous and a waste of time.

He made the point that Curtis Thompson was substituted because he was exhausted, and I recall that one of the comments about
Curtis was that he can only last 70 minutes - so we may have to get used to him departing the pitch early (when he may have been
our best player).
Whilst I'm sure we'd all like him on the pitch for the full match (judging by his performance at Accrington) it opens up the scenario
where Town (DA) can decide how they want to play for the last 20+ minutes of a game.

I'm not sure how Eisa starts ahead of Vernam, but it may be a case of easing Charles back into 90 minutes of football.
I can easily see Eisa - and Donovan Wilson too - as effective 'supersubs' from the bench.

So when/if Curtis departs after 70 minutes we may bring on Green if we're doing well - as the nearest like-for-like replacement
we've got. KG certainly got well involved when he came on against Accy.

But if we're chasing the game, I could imagine a triple substitution around 70 minutes bringing Eisa & Wilson on, and (dare I say it)
probably Alex Hunt into midfield to supply the ammunition for the supersubs' guns. Plenty of other midfield options too - including
Khouri when he returns.

UTM

Great assessment and fully agree mate. I like DA and thought his tactics where spot on I said before the game I'd take a clean sheet and a win or draw tbh just to calm it all down after 5-5 draws and 6-1 thumpings.

Judging by what I've seen yesterday we look alot more settled and the new players look like a massive upgrade. Thompson is the perfect replacement for Conteh I know he's 30 but he's still got 3-4 years still left in the tank.

Credit where credit is due to DA I'm excited to see what he can do in the summer based on the dealings we've seen from this January Transfer window.

Too much of Thompson's energy was  spent tidying up across the whole width of the pitch instead of the centre. Hume, Eisa, Holohan and ,to a lesser degree Harry, failed to find a simple pass or turned into trouble. Holohan especially was less than sharp in the first half.

DA wants Thompson to be the vital link from defence and a springboard for the counter. He can't do that fighting fires near the touchline.

Which brings me to the clear contrast between left and right flanks. Arthur and Smith looked like they were building some understanding aided by Gav occasionally whereas Eisa does his own thing or takes a break.

Vernam needed to come on earlier as did Wood for Holohan perhaps.

Both teams were nearly undone by some Kamikaze back passes but two good keepers came to the rescue.

Again, in this regard, Eisa was weak on the press.

For me, the key aspect is that it’s the first game in a long time where we haven’t been burned down either or both flanks. Repeatedly. Easily. It’s that, more than anything else that was responsible for our current league position. It’s been the motif of our season. How easy it is to score against us by pushing, loading, exploiting weak fullbacks. Everything else needing attention in terms of our play is firm second behind this and it’s been staring everyone in the face and yelling since summer. Yesterday put a marker down and paused that. Now, we need to get that entrenched and then go from there. Think the performances of the new players are really encouraging. If the fan base regroups and gets behind this squad showing what they showed yesterday, then this last third of the season could be good.

Playing top of the league Stockport next I just hope everyone understands we could possibly get beaten and not to go into a fishy meltdown……

Quoted from oochiad

Playing top of the league Stockport next I just hope everyone understands we could possibly get beaten and not to go into a fishy meltdown……

Don't be sensible.

We'll go from having a competent manager who fixed our weaknesses to an absolute disaster and BSer who only got the job because he blew smoke up the arses of the Guardian writing, champagne socialists only obsessed about B corp status and not keeping us in the football league.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

Don't be sensible.

We'll go from having a competent manager who fixed our weaknesses to an absolute disaster and BSer who only got the job because he blew smoke up the arses of the Guardian writing, champagne socialists only obsessed about B corp status and not keeping us in the football league.

Alternatively if we win he will be the new Pep and we will be nailed on for promotion next season.

Ffs we've drawn 0-0 it's hardly a major turning point in the grand scheme of things even though the performance was better.The home games are key the rot needs to stop there when 6k home fans are watching. Stockport will be a test but there fans are dreading it they see us as a bogey team let's hope they still see it that way 5pm Saturday  UTM

Quoted from 137

Have just listened to DA's post-match interview on RH, and for the life of me I can't understand how some fans can't warm to the guy.
He's honest - but chooses his words carefully so they're not insensitive - and realizes players are human beings. So demanding
perfection is both ridiculous and a waste of time.

He made the point that Curtis Thompson was substituted because he was exhausted, and I recall that one of the comments about
Curtis was that he can only last 70 minutes - so we may have to get used to him departing the pitch early (when he may have been
our best player).
Whilst I'm sure we'd all like him on the pitch for the full match (judging by his performance at Accrington) it opens up the scenario
where Town (DA) can decide how they want to play for the last 20+ minutes of a game.

I'm not sure how Eisa starts ahead of Vernam, but it may be a case of easing Charles back into 90 minutes of football.
I can easily see Eisa - and Donovan Wilson too - as effective 'supersubs' from the bench.

So when/if Curtis departs after 70 minutes we may bring on Green if we're doing well - as the nearest like-for-like replacement
we've got. KG certainly got well involved when he came on against Accy.

But if we're chasing the game, I could imagine a triple substitution around 70 minutes bringing Eisa & Wilson on, and (dare I say it)
probably Alex Hunt into midfield to supply the ammunition for the supersubs' guns. Plenty of other midfield options too - including
Khouri when he returns.

UTM

I thought the entire section of the interview about Thompson was fascinating, from Thompson being confident and mature enough to communicate him approaching his limit, to Artell appreciating that. Thompson looks like a great player and character, and based on fans of his previous clubs saying he can only play for 70 minutes, there is an opportunity for an understudy to really learn from Thompson and play that role for the last 20 minutes.

My concern centres around survival, nail that and I'm excited for the future. More Accrington, Crewe and MK Dons performances, less Tranmere, Walsall and the defensive collapse versus Notts.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Ffs we've drawn 0-0 it's hardly a major turning point in the grand scheme of things even though the performance was better.The home games are key the rot needs to stop there when 6k home fans are watching. Stockport will be a test but there fans are dreading it they see us as a bogey team let's hope they still see it that way 5pm Saturday  UTM

I, like others, if offered a draw before KO would have snapped their hand off. At half -time if offered the same I would have felt slighted. We played well, against a team doing much better at home 1.69 ppg v our away stat of 0.71 ppg. Good thing was the four teams below didn't advance so we live another day.
As to Thompson, from what I saw he is class. Hard to take the ball off him, and he passes well. While he does tire early I would like him 70 mins on the pitch and start him whenever possible, just classy.
The trouble is as a team we cannot seem to play two good matches on the trot, and Stockport have a good away form, so it will be a good test. I'm not as worried as I would have been a few weeks back. UTM