Just Back

Quoted from HertsGTFC

On the basis of today I think Wilson was preserving Wilson for other battles.

I wouldn’t disagree but there were several much worse.

Been back for a bit but cheese and oatcakes followed by a couple of glasses of bubbly (tax deductable) have still left me rather disgruntled with the game. Yes they were going to have some better players but we seemed to lack any real grit to make up for it. Hardly a single crunching tackle or great block to get the crowd going to make up for how rubbish we were with the ball. How many of their players needed the Physio on or limped off to be subbed after a tackle?
We had a complete lack of flair, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the easiest 3 points they have had since we played them in Wales. Didn't expect to win but we went down with a whimper and that's simply not good enough.

The reality is, we probably don’t have one player that would get in their team. We had to be at our best and we weren’t. The whole thing felt flat, their fans were good.
Our midfield is hard working but not good enough. Need Rose back and could do with a better back up keeper as Cartwright was unusually poor today. Gav needs a rest too, he is no captain. Rose leads by example.
They were very clinical but there was no great gulf in class. 2nd goal was very good utm

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Our midfield were woeful today, let’s not beat about the bush. Poor in possession, not great without the ball either.

No, Green and Holohan were woeful, Thompson was a 1 man army in there, we need to build around him, best player on the books at this moment in time.
Cartwright needs dropping, again his inexperience was exposed, he needs to learn to read the game better, Mullins and Cannons second goal would never have happened had he not been too busy watching the ball rather than reacting to the situation on front of him.
Wrexham are 1 dimensional, lump it and run, they hardly passed the ball about at all, Mansfield, Barrow, Mk, Stockport and even FGR played better football.

Was Lucky Enough to be at the 4-5
And seeing the 2 teams again today what a difference in progression in those 2 years or so
I know they’ve spent big
But hopefully we can stay up (mixed feelings about this with our lack of guile and quality today) and build for next season
Seem to have been saying this for many many seasons now
Come on Town!!

Going into the game today I had a weird feeling that we’d sneak a win. Yet another reminder that confidence and Town shouldn’t be mixed.

I thought we looked very flat today. It wasn’t the same kind of kamikaze performance we saw against Walsall, Stockport and Donny, but once again I found myself in the bar at half-time wondering whether I could be ársed to go back out for the second half.

The first two goals in particular were wholly preventable. Young Cartwright’s played well in recent weeks, but there’s no other way of describing the first goal than as a goalkeeping error. It does bounce just in front of him, but it’s the kind of occupational hazard that professional ‘keepers should be expected to deal with 999 times out of a thousand. He’s learning his trade, and he’ll learn from that mistake, no need to be more dramatic than that.

The second looked very familiar. Hit on the break from our own poor corner, then had multiple opportunities to stop the move with a foul, but didn’t even attempt to. It was precisely the kind of situation you put Green in the team for, but he failed to do his job there and it cost us. If you’re in the Wrexham corner it’s a good goal, but it’s something we’ve seen too often of late for it to have been a coincidence.

I’d gone to get the beers in by the time they got the third, but watching it back on the ITV highlights show (Town are the lead game, btw) Tharme’s attempted clearance is poor, we don’t deal with the second ball and, ultimately, Mullin’s volley on the turn is class, but it shouldn’t have got that far.

The second half was largely forgettable, but even when we pulled a goal back, it never felt like we were going full tilt to make it a contest for the remaining minutes. We just never felt quite “at it” today. It happens, but if I’m not mistaken we’ve only won once all season having gone behind. No doubt we’ve done well in recent weeks, but that’s still a mental fragility we need to overcome.

Ultimately, today was yet another frustrating afternoon in what has become a catalogue of frustrating afternoons this season, but not a disaster. It was a simple case of basic errors costing us against a side with a budget a good multiple or three of ours, rather than the kind of systematic dismantling that punctuated the start of the year.

We’ve taken 4 points from a run of 3 games against top 8 sides, and that’s taken a bit of pressure off. I think we’d all have taken that, coupled with the two Forest Green defeats that have coincided. If we can maintain or extend our current 6 point cushion against Barrow, we’ll be almost there, imo.

Quoted from Madeleymariner

Been back for a bit but cheese and oatcakes followed by a couple of glasses of bubbly (tax deductable) have still left me rather disgruntled with the game. Yes they were going to have some better players but we seemed to lack any real grit to make up for it. Hardly a single crunching tackle or great block to get the crowd going to make up for how rubbish we were with the ball. How many of their players needed the Physio on or limped off to be subbed after a tackle?
We had a complete lack of flair, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the easiest 3 points they have had since we played them in Wales. Didn't expect to win but we went down with a whimper and that's simply not good enough.

Excellent post, and mirrors my thoughts:

What worries me is once the first goal went in everyone in the stadium knew it was game over.
We never had a shot on target until the 47th minute and that was a urine poor effort. The slightest bit of pressure we crumble and seem to have no gile to get back in the game and we never seem to score more than one goal.
I am worried the teams below us hit some form and we go on one of our bad losing streaks again. It’s going to be close.

Thought Thompson ,Tharme and Mullarkey were the only players who came out of today with some credit .Wilson was feeding on scraps .Obikwu looked lost and the rest were just very poor when they needed to step up against a decent side .Not great but decent

Until the substitutions we only had one player in the pitch who can complete a pass regularly ie Thompson.
Why Hoolahan gets a place in this or any side I just do not understand ,woeful passer doesn’t pick up his man Contril breaks down after second or third touch.
Clifton is regressing .
Wrexham didn’t look particularly good to me again we made it easy for them by gifting them goals in the first half
We will stay up but need a massive clear out in the summer and much improved recruitment or next year is going to be another struggle.
How do we keeping pulling in 6k home fans with this on offer?