Just Back on the Bus

Have to agree re Obikwu last night, when he got the ball he couldn't seem to hold it up, or didn't know what to do with it, and even though he's pretty tall and the same height or taller than their defence he didn't seem to win many headers.

Also an interesting call putting Harry in at LWB. He did ok but thought Vernam would have been a better choice - assume it's preserving his fitness for the run in?

Hope everyone got home safe.

Whilst I do think Artell was too cautious as the game went on, he absolutely got it right with his selection of wingbacks.  

Their two wide lads almost turned Clifton and Smith inside out, they were incredibly tricky and difficult to deal with.  I thought Vernam played really well on Saturday but he would have been burnt toast against their right hand side last night.

Obikwu didn't have a great game at all, but then neither did Wilson on Saturday.  So you can see the logic behind starting the young lad.  I do find him frustrating though and large parts of the game I just wanted to shake some life into him.

Just a really disappointing and flat display, especially after Saturday when it was blood and thunder from start to end.  Tharme's got an absolute weapon of a throw but we seem completely incapable of winning anything from it.  Largely it's pointless unless we do something with it.

'Shake some life into him' re Obikwu is spot on. I swear at times Danny Rose was pointing to where he needed to run and tell him what to do in frustration rather than encouragement. It's not like it's the lad's first start, he's been with us a while now.

We need a Luke Waterfall style powerhouse on the end of those Tharme throws. We're definitely missing an opportunity here, as currently it looks like we defending them when he lobs them in rather than attacking them.

Maybe this is just me, but the throws are a waste of time, they dont get past the first man, we never seem to win any header from them

Quoted from diehardmariner

Tharme's got an absolute weapon of a throw but we seem completely incapable of winning anything from it.  Largely it's pointless unless we do something with it.

At the moment, Tharme's long throw is really effective at helping us clear our lines when the ball goes out deep in our half. Very helpful when we're under pressure. Also good for time-wasting as he trots slowly across to take them. Not quite Crocombe-cramp level of timewasting, but useful all the same. The referee can't complain about him time-wasting in these situations when he's been doing exactly the same all the way through the match.

Unfortunately, you're certainly right about the attacking value. In the past two or three home games which I've seen, he must have hurled the ball into the opposition box 30 or more times in total and we've not really got close to scoring from most of them. Just don't win the first header and it never seems to fall to our players whenever it isn't cleared out of the box.

The issue with the long throws is that Tharme's the only player we've got with any aerial capability, and he's the one who's lobbing the ball into the box. Obikwu as discussed has no idea how to use his height, Danny Rose is about 5ft 8 and gets crowded out by opposition CBs, Rodgers never seems to win any flick ons, and when they do get past the first man no town player ever seems to be in the right place to bundle it in. If we had 1 or 2 more 6ft+ units in the side we might actually be able to exploit the long throws a bit more.

Sorry, yes.  I should have said waste of time from an attacking perspective, I completely agree regards moving play up the pitch.

From the attacking perspective we just don't seem to have the ability to win headers.  Tharme is probably our best header of the ball and he's taking the throw.  Danny Rose and Curtis Thompson defy their respective heights but Rose you want feeding off the scraps and Thompson tends to hang around the edge of the box.

That leaves Rodgers and Mullarkey who are respectively ok but nothing more in the air.  Rodgers the better but still not quite Luke Waterfall.  I think there's something in maybe making opposition defences think about it a bit and occasionally go short, always having that option too as it at least draws a defender or two out the box.

Woeful 2nd half performance, the disallowed goal should've galvanised us, but in fact Harrogate upped their game and we went down a couple of notches.
It's interesting being so close to the action, (as opposed to Upper Findus) you can really see how difficult we make it look, how we huff and puff just to control the ball, or pass to an available team mate quickly without going backwards.
We lack strength, pace, height, leaders, and guile but hopefully (mainly due to the failings of others) we should just about make it.
Difficult to watch  

What has happened to Gav? Apparently another sitter missed last night so that is at least 3 points we have lost through his poor finishing. I wonder if he will send out another apology over social media?

I guess it’s unfair to pick him out as we seem to have plenty of players that miss sitters, including Obikwu, Wilson, and Arthur too. It’s another indication of the general lack of quality throughout the squad.

We really must do better. We will need a pretty comprehensive rebuild in the summer whatever division we end up in.

Quoted from RonMariner

What has happened to Gav? Apparently another sitter missed last night so that is at least 3 points we have lost through his poor finishing. I wonder if he will send out another apology over social media?

I guess it’s unfair to pick him out as we seem to have plenty of players that miss sitters, including Obikwu, Wilson, and Arthur too. It’s another indication of the general lack of quality throughout the squad.

We really must do better. We will need a pretty comprehensive rebuild in the summer whatever division we end up in.

Unfair to have Wilson in there, missed 3 in one game last week but before that I’m hard pushed to think of a time he missed a golden chance. He’s the best finisher we’ve got at the club IMO.