Just back Forest Green (merged)

The win yesterday should be used as a base to look at catching teams above us. Donney - maybe.


However, we have 3 games in hand on Salford, who lost at home yesterday 2-0.  Their new manager bounce seems to have come  to an end.   7 points from 3 games would see us go above them.

The approach was the right approach for yesterday, I wonder if it will be applied or as effective when we play better sides?

Like I’ve said on another post I’ll take another 5 or 6 I’d take another 5/6 of those though.

I thought Wilson did really well. Tharm decent too. Midfield was poor, but such a vital win. Still think we’ve gone backwards under Artell, but if we stay up maybe with different players he can get us playing….

I suspect nerves had an effect on yesterday. To say it’s been tense over the last 6 weeks or so is an understatement. Hopefully we might start to click a bit more now.

Okay, an abysmal game of football but it is Sunday and i dare Look at the league table. Walked out of Blundell  park. Happy, don’t give a toss about how we win, it is a hell of a lot easier to stay in this league than get back into it. Staying up is as good as promotion.

Well done, Doug Tharme, he made the difference for me. He was rough and crude and exactly what we need.
Utm

Andrews had a bit of a pasting yesterday due to poor passing, so I'm going to share some stats (don't tell Lew).

Andrews - 8 duels won. 5 recoveries. 5 defensive actions.
Thompson - 7 duels won. 9 recoveries. 9 defensive actions.
Holahan - 4 duels won. 3 recoveries. 6 defensive actions.

Clifton - 5 duels. 14 defensive actions.
Hume -  2 duels. 3 defensive actions.

https://www.fotmob.com/en-GB/matches/forest-green-rovers-vs-grimsby-town/393ttl#4203749

Andrews off the ball stats don't look that bad. Better than Fishy favourite Holahan. Thompson did really well considering he went off at 76 minutes. No wonder he was knackered. Did more in that time than some did in 90 minutes.

Harry Clifton for all the stick he has has massive balls. Off the ball, an absolute monster. No wonder he keeps getting picked.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

Andrews had a bit of a pasting yesterday due to poor passing, so I'm going to share some stats (don't tell Lew).

Andrews - 8 duels won. 5 recoveries. 5 defensive actions.
Thompson - 7 duels won. 9 recoveries. 9 defensive actions.
Holahan - 4 duels won. 3 recoveries. 6 defensive actions.

Clifton - 5 duels. 14 defensive actions.
Hume -  2 duels. 3 defensive actions.

https://www.fotmob.com/en-GB/matches/forest-green-rovers-vs-grimsby-town/393ttl#4203749

Andrews off the ball stats don't look that bad. Better than Fishy favourite Holahan. Thompson did really well considering he went off at 76 minutes. No wonder he was knackered. Did more in that time than some did in 90 minutes.

Harry Clifton for all the stick he has has massive balls. Off the ball, an absolute monster. No wonder he keeps getting picked.

I don't get the dissing of Clifton by some , he's not likely ever to be a great central midfielder nor would I ask him to be . But his energy & versatility is something any club would take  at this level surely . Seems like wingback is a position that suits his game aswell.

Quoted from Mappers

I don't get the dissing of Clifton by some , he's not likely ever to be a great central midfielder nor would I ask him to be . But his energy & versatility is something any club would take  at this level surely . Seems like wingback is a position that suits his game aswell.

Definitely. I'd love to get to the point where we have enough all round players we don't need him in the first 11, but for me, he's probably the 2nd or 3rd name on the teamsheet (maybe Rose, Thompson, Clifton), so we are a long long way off that. Clifton is a player most managers would love to have. "We've got 2/3 people out in this position? intercourse. Harry can do it!". He's also a excrement to play against. He's given no opposition an easy ride. Even if he doesn't shine, he takes the shine off opposition players.

Credit to the players for digging out a much needed win but it's far from over yet. FGR were poor at creating chances but Cotterill has made them harder to beat and if they can sustain their recent improvement I can see them picking up points in the next few games. Our next 6 games are probably the toughest of our run-in:

Wimbledon (A)
Sutton (A)
MK Dons (H)
Gillingham (A)
Wrexham (H)
Barrow (A)

If we can get through that run of games without too much damage then we should be fine. We obviously need to beat Sutton, and I'd be delighted with 2 wins and a draw.

Clifton worked hard yesterday, but his distribution and even his ability to control the ball was absolutely dismal. Same goes for Holohan who was clearly berating himself throughout the game for not playing at all well.

However, they both put enough of a shift in to stop the opposition doing anything too threatening, so effective enough on the day.

They will both need to play a lot better during the rest of the season if we're going to be playing a bit more football than that. Both are capable of it, if not exactly brilliant ball players.

I thought their No. 27 looked very solid in the middle yesterday. Tall, strong in the air and with a decent touch, he rarely lost possession and kept moving the ball on. I was surprised when they took him off near the end. I thought it was a bit odd that he was the one tasked with trying to obstruct Cartwright when they had a corner and the lad that replaced him was very much smaller, but took over the obstructing role!