To car. Gutless and dire. We are seriously poor. Worried. Will post more when home

Please dont,, we have suffered enough  ;)

Fenty is the man here who has alot to answer for..

Slade will be the scapegoat and get the flack and imo should be sacked like he has been in his career the last few years as he is ancient in his football and tactics but John fenty is the main culprit here and needs to be held to account for appointing a man who is so much on the way down its embarrassing.

On the train. There's a pub at the next station.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Fenty is the man here who has alot to answer for..

Slade will be the scapegoat and get the flack and imo should be sacked like he has been in his career the last few years as he is ancient in his football and tactics but John fenty is the main culprit here and needs to be held to account for appointing a man who is so much on the way down its embarrassing.

Fenty should foot Slade's pay off out of his own pocket rather than lending the club more money in 'benign' loans to pay off yet another of his costly mistakes.

4 defeats, let in ave of over 2 goals per game, but hey he will make us hard to beat and despite warnings from other clubs fans about the players we sign they are brilliant really, its just sour grapes because they were so good they were released as their clubs just could not cope with their awe and majesty.

Quoted from Quagmire

Fenty should foot Slade's pay off out of his own pocket rather than lending the club more money in 'benign' loans to pay off yet another of his costly mistakes.

With Bells on, he 'head hunted' this manager and cost the club a fortune in the process.

Bring a player in on trial, watch him in training, looks ok, give him a 2 year deal.

It's like Slade can't even be bothered to get out and recruit good players.

What really annoys all this was said during the close season and the happy clappers were shooting us down in flames,well a message to Paddythebadger and the rest of the Fenty acolytes you know nothing about football.

Just one thing I want to hear for Mr Fenty; that Slade has 2 months to turn this around, get us looking like a top 10 team at the very least or he is GONE.
If it's a good enough rule for Bignot, it's good enough for Slade.

Quoted from RoboCod

Just one thing I want to hear for Mr Fenty; that Slade has 2 months to turn this around, get us looking like a top 10 team at the very least or he is GONE.
If it's a good enough rule for Bignot, it's good enough for Slade.

The official line with Bignot was that JF had "lost faith in him".

How much faith has he in Slade and Wilko right now?

Quoted from ginnywings

The official line with Bignot was that JF had "lost faith in him".

How much faith has he in Slade and Wilko right now?

More than i have.

An afternoon of utter gash.

They had tactics and we didn't.

They had a semblance of a team and we had 11 blokes who all wear the same shirt.

After last week I allowed myself to think that we were starting to "form" ourselves into something greater than the whole.

This week was just a collection of holes.

Dixon and Mills were given the runaround and constantly being pulled out of position. Dixon in particular looks very vulnerable.

Hooper ( who I actually thought was doing ok in the games I've seen him) just thought he done enough by getting on the coach. Didn't even look arsed in the warm up.

Rose (another I thought showed promise) was as invisible as two invisible James Berret's today. How he had the nerve to try and persuade Jones he should take the pen is beyond me!

Berret (who I don't think is much cop) tried his best and at least made some passes to his colleagues.

Vernon. Stupid decisions from someone who I thought was an intelligent player (if you give him the ball below his chin). The one decent cross we put it all afternoon, just crying out for him to head back across the keeper and he tries to bring it down and loses it. Clear chance of a shot from 10 yards out and he passes it and we lose it.

Giving away needless free kicks around the box.
Unable to defend set pieces.
Zero fvucking leadership evident from anyone, on or off the pitch.
Nothing that looks like team spirit.

There is such a lack of discipline in that squad I do wonder what Sladess does with them all week.
Yes Fenty is responsible for hiring him and for the budget, but shite on a bike you'd think there would be some semblance of teamwork.

It is uttertly irrelevant whether you've managed and/or played five gadzillion games at a higher level. You ain't at that fvckin level now and what you've done before means sod all

Seeing as how this started as a Just Back thread...
First half pretty even on the balance of play. Town undone by a pretty debatable penalty. The half did provide a clue though in that for all our quite clever football in the middle of the park we are miles away from where we need to be in the fabled "final third". We just do not create enough in the opponents box. Vernon tried but Hooper and he seemed to be miles apart. Last week Hooper showed he is a different player with the ball at his feet. I counted at least four wellies down the line to him after he'd made good space at head height or above. Dembele once again tried to provide a spark having one effort that looked goalbound blocked but simply not enough. For all his brilliant play when on the ball he doesn't get into the danger area often enough. With a ref like today's the chances of winning a penalty at least must have been a probability.
Second half Town started the better but and this is a terrible thing to say really with over 30 minutes of the second half to go their second goal killed any realistic possibility of getting something from the game. It looked incredibly poor defensively with some doubt about whether it was a simple free header or even a knee. Hooper was shown some mercy being replaced by Jones but it made no difference even though it appeared a straight swop. Mills went off with what looked like a pulled thigh muscle being replaced by Davies. The lad from Norwich came on for Dembele and I think won the equally debateable penalty that Jones smacked under the keeper. Town's day was summed up when Rose smashed a late shot into literally Row Z of the away end. Lots of disgruntled Town fans with loud booing during and after the game. Slade's ability to divide the fanbase remains undiminished.
Dembele the best player on the park first half. No-one really stepped up second half. Very poor day at the office.

How about Jayesimi's introduction Barra? He won the penalty I believe...any crumb of comfort in his display?

Or am I missing this and he's the lad from Norwich? :X

Quoted from RoboCod

How about Jayesimi's introduction Barra? He won the penalty I believe...any crumb of comfort in his display?

He is one and the same. I'll have worked out his name by March.

Hooper was garbage again, and when was the last time a new no.9 has been substituted just about every game.

:) I copy and paste it from the GET.
It seems odd that we have such a toothless forward line but Dembele and Jayesimi and Tombola, when he's on his game, out wide and capable of doing real damage.
It's almost like a classic Slade Town team managed by a fading Slade who's forgotten to sign Reddy.

Slade says we need to win "ugly". If what we are seeing now is pretty i'm certain I dont wanna see ugly  :B

Meanwhile over at Shrewsbury

Meanwhile over at Shrewsbury

Quoted from fleabag1970

Meanwhile over at Shrewsbury

Bol*ocks to Shrewsbury.

Fck shrewsbury. Go support them ffs. We were excrement today again. It needs sorting now

Meanwhile over at Stevenage

Meanwhile over at Stevenage

Slade should have them in (Church) tomorrow and say a little prayer for Tuesday

Has he put them in detention again on Sunday?

Quoted from ginnywings

The official line with Bignot was that JF had "lost faith in him".

How much faith has he in Slade and Wilko right now?

Fenty speak for  he has an opinion of his own.

Garbage, get them both out

I agree there wasn't much in the game first half with both sides looking limited. Unfortunately the first goal is so vital and Stags got it. Although we hoped for a response I think deep down many of us just knew it wasn't going to happen.
That shows flaws in character, little or no response when they go behind. They should have been using the perceived 'injustice' of the penalty to have a go, instead they fell apart. Happens far too often.
Not sure who was supposed to be picking up Pearce(?) for the 2nd, but I think I was closer and was sat at the other end!

Accrington are flying and we have to go there on Tuesday.

Stick Jamille Matt up top with Sam Jones and go out and attack from the start in the hope that we can get that first goal and put some pressure on the opposition.

I can't stand the thought of more change and disagree with any calls to change the manager but would love to see the major shareholder take some sustained questionin.

Not much to be positive about
Stanley on form at min so need something before Tue
Feeling Fed Up

Well that was a disappointing game although I certainly think they were flattered by the 4-1. We had quite a bit of the play but we are toothless at the minute, we also seem massively suspect from set pieces.
Would love to see the pens again, the first looked a dive and the 2nd very soft. Our own was nailed on and we should've had another. We weren't very good and we've had a hammering but it's early days yet, for some people to turn so quickly on some players is a bit pathetic. Slagging them off at the game won't make them any better.

A word for the huge police presence. What a totally unecessary and over the top showing. Why so many? Why were they in the stand and not behind the barriers? How much did that cost? Completely unbelievable numbers

Jamile Matt  must be very bad if Slade rates Vernon and Hooper better than him.

Quoted from fleabag1970

Meanwhile over at Shrewsbury

Remember when this bore was going on about operation play off a couple of seasons ago - now a Hurst fan.


Anyway:

Before their first penalty (which was a dive by the way as proven by the high five after he'd won it) it looked to have been heading for a bore draw. At half time it looked to be in the balance and maybe we could have got something. Unfortunately this is Town and we forgot that we had to defend our goal at attack theirs.

All of the goals coming from set pieces is worrying. Mansfield under Evans are always going to be looking for free kicks and penalties and we played right into their hands with regards to that.

For whatever reason it just didn't click for us up front today as it had last week and it looked like Vernon and Hooper had met for the first time in the tunnel before kick off.

Finally; there were people getting on Vernon's back for being "flipping useless" as the Mansfield fans had sung at us. This was harsh I thought but little did I know it would get worse.

A small group started "We want Sladey out" - again maybe harsh (the problems he faces are from higher up in the club than he has control of, IMO) but a well known Town fan I was stood with told these fans to shut up. I took a look at my phone and a few seconds later I was hit with chewing gum pellets from some bloke near the group chanting, narrowly missing my eye.

To you: you are a disgrace and I'm embarrased for you that you are incapable of giving any sort of civilised response back and have to resort to acting like the ape that you did. I am also embarrassed of you for proving why we need a police presence at games (although the police weren't useful whatsoever and just- stood gawping at it all happening). I don't want to share a stand with this sort of neanderthal anymore and unfortunately for you you have been named by your fellow fans.

Quoted from friskneymariner

Jamile Matt  must be very bad if Slade rates Vernon and Hooper better than him.

Vernon and Hooper did well enough last week. Had Slade changed a winning side he'd have been hammered on here. Talking to people before kick off nobody thought he should have changed those two.

Well if those two are best striking option then we are in trouble.

Quoted from ginnywings

The official line with Bignot was that JF had "lost faith in him".

How much faith has he in Slade and Wilko right now?

Hands up if you lost faith in Fenty!

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Hands up if you lost faith in Fenty!

🙌

Police presence will be justified by the fact that 5 mins into the match one town "fan" was asked to sit down as the people behind could not see. His immediate reaction was to have a go at the steward and then at the policeman who asked him to sit down. Result ? He was arrested and taken from the ground. The group of "fans" 20 feet away who objected to this and then had a go at the police. Result ? A number of them got arrested and taken away. Police will call that as the number of police being justifiable.

Meanwhile the game wasn't good to watch. We seemed to be doing things slowly whereas the Mansfield players were quick to close us down, quick to pass the ball and also quick to fall down when challenged ! First penalty was dubious as little contact. Second one looked equally dubious. Ours looked less certain than the handball. Score flattered them but we simply weren't good enough and that is not really acceptable. The subs seemed to be the best town players !

We need to rethink tactics (or come up with some! ) otherwise it is going to a long season!

Do agree the abuse at vernon was uncalled for. Mainly by younger fans who dont appreciate what he brings. And yes fleabag, you called Hurst every name under the sun whilst he was here, now you're there lapping up the losses and lickig his backside. Take your silly wind ups somewhere else

This team is worse than the one that got Bignot sacked, worse than the one that started last season and probably on par with the one that got us relegated.

The only glimmer of hope is that these players may be better than we've seen up to now on the basis that most of them have simply looked like they just cant be arsed so far.

Quoted from Hagrid

Do agree the abuse at vernon was uncalled for. Mainly by younger fans who dont appreciate what he brings. And yes fleabag, you called Hurst every name under the sun whilst he was here, now you're there lapping up the losses and lickig his backside. Take your silly wind ups somewhere else

I am not sure what Vernon brings? He decides to chest and take a second touch six yards out in a one-on-one and lose it. He looks like a deer in headlights in the oppositions penalty area. There's also the fact that he's not a prolific scorer?

Simple fact. You buy cheap, you get cheap. John Fenty needs to take a long hard look at the consequences of another relegation, both to him personally and the future of GTFC, because with this manager and his performance so far, it will happen.

Quoted from Hagrid

Do agree the abuse at vernon was uncalled for. Mainly by younger fans who dont appreciate what he brings. And yes fleabag, you called Hurst every name under the sun whilst he was here, now you're there lapping up the losses and lickig his backside. Take your silly wind ups somewhere else

Problem is Vernon was excrement today, mind you still not as bad as Hooper who in  my opinion should be paid off.

God only knows why Vernon didn't head the best chance we had instead of chesting down for their player to clear.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Simple fact. You buy cheap, you get cheap. John Fenty needs to take a long hard look at the consequences of another relegation, both to him personally and the future of GTFC, because with this manager and his performance so far, it will happen.

Time for another statement from our non Chairman.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Problem is Vernon was excrement today, mind you still not as bad as Hooper who in  my opinion should be paid off.

God only knows why Vernon didn't head the best chance we had instead of chesting down for their player to clear.

PS I thought Rose was crap as well.

I'll agree with you there arry, it seemed destined to just be headed in. Dont know what he was thinking

At least Vernon put in a shift which is more than can be said for Hooper. I have to agree though that his decision making and finishing in and around the box was shocking today. He is definitely lacking in confidence and I'd say that the team as a whole seems to lack belief.

I also thought that Mansfield were terrible and their performance would have resulted in a loss had we not been an absolute shambles ourselves.

Quoted from Hagrid

Do agree the abuse at vernon was uncalled for. Mainly by younger fans who dont appreciate what he brings. And yes fleabag, you called Hurst every name under the sun whilst he was here, now you're there lapping up the losses and lickig his backside. Take your silly wind ups somewhere else

I didn't go so cannot comment on any abuse Vernon got. What I do know having seen a lot of him since he has been here is that people are pretending to know a lot about the game by saying he is a clever player, and what he brings to the team, which from what I have seen is practically zero.

He doesn't win any headers, is far too slow in thought and deed, doesn't score and doesn't lead the line. His best days are obviously behind him.

I thought Slade was a decent enough appointment, but I assumed he was going to be backed up with enough funds  to get the quality players he wanted. In hindsight we would have been better off trying to keep Hurst. Why did he leave? He must have been seriously fed up with our set up to make such  a move after being here that length of time  and building things up nicely.

Quoted from SteveL

At least Vernon put in a shift which is more than can be said for Hooper. I have to agree though that his decision making and finishing in and around the box was shocking today. He is definitely lacking in confidence and I'd say that the team as a whole seems to lack belief.

I don't think it has anything to do with belief, I just don't think most of the players Slade has brought in are good enough, Clarke, Hooper, Dixon, Rose and Kelly.

We've signed players used to losing games. Who are familiar with relegation, unfamiliar with winnings games. You sign losers, thats what you become

Quoted from Hagrid

We've signed players used to losing games. Who are familiar with relegation, unfamiliar with winnings games. You sign losers, thats what you become

Exactly.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I didn't go so cannot comment on any abuse Vernon got. What I do know having seen a lot of him since he has been here is that people are pretending to know a lot about the game by saying he is a clever player, and what he brings to the team, which from what I have seen is practically zero.

He doesn't win any headers, is far too slow in thought and deed, doesn't score and doesn't lead the line. His best days are obviously behind him.

I thought Slade was a decent enough appointment, but I assumed he was going to be backed up with enough funds  to get the quality players he wanted. In hindsight we would have been better off trying to keep Hurst. Why did he leave? He must have been seriously fed up with our set up to make such  a move after being here that length of time  and building things up nicely.

Ah! So i'm only pretending to know anything about football, thinking Vernon is a clever player. If only i had your football knowledge.

I'm away so can't comment on today's performance. What I've seen so far this season is an average group of players struggling to form a team that might just about survive in League 2. Losing 4-1 to a club that has spent heavily shouldn't be a surprise, nor should it surprise us that we have again rebuilt a squad that needed minor addition rather than major surgery.

Vernon NOT good enough simple someone who struggled to get in the side last season and scored 2 goals somehow becomes our 1st choice striker ??? Not looking good and haven't since chesterfield we're I didn't think both sides played well there either despite a 3-1 win very worrying for me hope this will change UTM  

Hopper won two headers today. That was worth my trip back to Essex :(

Hooper won two headers today. That was worth my trip back to Essex :(

Well for my two penneth...Bullitt pretty much nailed it in his previous post...

seemed to be a lack of desire throughout, very flat footed, no anticipation a million miles away from last week.

There just wasnt a spark about our play at all, a couple of purple patches were we pressed higher up like we did last week and pinned them back but overall blunt and slow. The one bit of inventive, quick thinking play we drummed up was when Siriki took a quick free kick and slipped in Berrett, who couldnt hit the target from about 10 freekin yds. Think that was at 0-1 so could have been a different game completely.

Disappointing that Slade didnt see that Hooper and Vernon were not at the races today and change that earlier, worrying that Mill's injury was described as hamstring , could be a long one and we are weak in fullback department, worrying that Woolford is deemed better than Kelly  :-/ ,
embarrassing that the most fight our players showed in 90 mins was over the ball for the penalty.

The team needs pace and power in the attacking third and some flair/drive from centre mid. Some of that we may have in DJ, Tombola, Matt but with what we have available in central midfielders means we will probably be light in there for some time.

Vernon's had more decent perform*ances than bad, he's a good support striker, if he's somehow become No 1 striker and *///////////expected to score goals week in week out then I expect it's news to him. Hooper will only ever be 'a bit better than we expected, which was rubbish' and I only hope that Matt steps forward and grabs his chance.
So I feel for Vernon, asked to play his support striker role, supporting a so-far invisible somewhat lethargic strike force.

For me, Vernon is not the problem, not even in the top 10 problems currently facing this haphazard lineup.

I did think first penalty was harsh and for the first 10 minutes of 2nd half had 3 good chances - Berrett from quick thinking free kick, vernon who should have headed rather than bring down and dembele after a great run into the box.

Once we missed all three of them - it was obvious we'd missed our opportunity having been on the front foot

Why on earth was rose and jones kicking off about taking the penalty ???? That was really weird?

What's milky defending?

Having just watched the highlights in even more drunk off about our really weak defending this season.

It's unacceptable and needs sorting.

Quoted from ginnywings

Ah! So i'm only pretending to know anything about football, thinking Vernon is a clever player. If only i had your football knowledge.

Don't go off on one! Perhaps I should have worded it better - I don't agree that he is a clever player is probably better. It is all about opinions, as ever.

So what to make of that then? I am going to post without reading anything above just to see if I saw it the same way as anyone else.

First half  I actually thought that it was pretty even between 2 average sides, the only difference was the ref who from early doors got sucked into their policy of hitting the deck upon any contact from a Town player which resulted in a soft penalty and a lead for the hosts. Neither side could work out if they where going to win the game with the ball on the ground or in the air which resulted in a poor quality 45.

In the second half our week in week out frailties really told as we could not retain possession, failed to take responsibility at the back, made poor decisions with the ball at our feet and after the 2nd lacked any form of application and leadership which led to a soft 3rd and another soft penalty.

Our poor passing & movement off the ball & inability to gain and retain possession in the middle of the pitch coupled with poor decision making is resulting in a lack of quality that means in front of goal in reality we are toothless up front.

The thing that concerns me most is that this group look like they have no spine from front to back, we have a keeper who is capable of brilliance & stupidity within the same minute, no established CB partnership, a mid field that cannot influence a game for more than a minute or two at a time and still no credible goal scorer.

Some of our predicament is no doubt down to the manager but today the players once again need to share some accountability too. Everyone involved in the playing side of GTFC needs to up their game now, and quickly as this crop look like they do not have the stomach for a relegation fight.

Overall, fans made the effort and turned up its a real shame the players chose not to.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

So what to make of that then? I am going to post without reading anything above just to see if I saw it the same way as anyone else.

First half  I actually thought that it was pretty even between 2 average sides, the only difference was the ref who from early doors got sucked into their policy of hitting the deck upon any contact from a Town player which resulted in a soft penalty and a lead for the hosts. Neither side could work out if they where going to win the game with the ball on the ground or in the air which resulted in a poor quality 45.

In the second half our week in week out frailties really told as we could not retain possession, failed to take responsibility at the back, made poor decisions with the ball at our feet and after the 2nd lacked any form of application and leadership which led to a soft 3rd and another soft penalty.

Our poor passing & movement off the ball & inability to gain and retain possession in the middle of the pitch coupled with poor decision making is resulting in a lack of quality that means in front of goal in reality we are toothless up front.

The thing that concerns me most is that this group look like they have no spine from front to back, we have a keeper who is capable of brilliance & stupidity within the same minute, no established CB partnership, a mid field that cannot influence a game for more than a minute or two at a time and still no credible goal scorer.

Some of our predicament is no doubt down to the manager but today the players once again need to share some accountability too. Everyone involved in the playing side of GTFC needs to up their game now, and quickly as this crop look like they do not have the stomach for a relegation fight.

Overall, fans made the effort and turned up its a real shame the players chose not to.

With regard to the first penalty Mills put in a foot and missed the ball and looks to catch their player, he made no complaint to the ref so I assume it was a penalty or he didn't give a toss that it was one.

Quoted from Jaws

What's milky defending?

I was wondering that as well. :-/

Quoted from stevethefish

Hooper won two headers today. That was worth my trip back to Essex :(

sodomist, I must have missed one. :(

You were probably watching Nottinghamshire Police. Was more interesting at times!

Quoted from arryarryarry

With regard to the first penalty Mills put in a foot and missed the ball and looks to catch their player, he made no complaint to the ref so I assume it was a penalty or he didn't give a toss that it was one.

I think the lack of a protest may be a bit to do with trying to stop daft sending off's rather than a lack of caring, or I hope so at least

The frightening fact is that we are stuck with group of players for the next 20 matches, so Russ do you start to turn thing round or do I invest in a statute to St Jude.

If something doesn't change we are going back to the National League. The performance today was as bad as anything in our relegation season.

I know we are short of a few quality players, but we do have some decent types. I don't understand why we don't actually try to play a bit of f***ing football!?! It's not that difficult. Can we not pass it? Retain possession for 10 seconds? Try to actually use our assets or provide some service to our front players?! FFS - these are professionals in the football league. If Slade had wanted a bunch of hoofers to just launch channel balls and hope for the best we could have signed a bunch of Sunday league locals  and saved a fortune. At least they might have shown a bit of pride in their work.

Yet again, a p1ss poor showing from top to bottom.

Quoted from friskneymariner

The frightening fact is that we are stuck with group of players for the next 20 matches, so Russ do you start to turn thing round or do I invest in a statute to St Jude.

Looked piss3d off when interviewed by JT,  pressure on for Tuesday now, surely has to be a good few changes

have taken a few hrs to think about todays game ,and truthfully I'm very worried,i didn't think slade was the right choice but I was prepared to forgive and forget and support him and the team whole heartedly however he is not doing himself any favours ,we lack passion ,belief and quality,we have no shape and got pulled all over today by a bang average team,we fell for there tricks all day and kept repeating the same mistakes over and over,as if the game wasn't bad enough 2 nuggets behind us verbally abused the players throughout and swore and threatened anyone who disagreed with there ever lasting love in for Paul Hurst, Near the end they threatened me and offered to fight me after the game, i said I would meet them but hey ho they weren't anywhere to be seen at the final whistle,if you cant go to the football and support the lads then I suggest you dig out your prem teams shirt ,put new batterys in your sky remote and leave going to watch town to people who want them to do well and can hold a decent conversation about whatever issues arise without getting all Danny Dyer,sharp objects.

Quoted from newarkmariner

have taken a few hrs to think about todays game ,and truthfully I'm very worried,i didn't think slade was the right choice but I was prepared to forgive and forget and support him and the team whole heartedly however he is not doing himself any favours ,we lack passion ,belief and quality,we have no shape and got pulled all over today by a bang average team,we fell for there tricks all day and kept repeating the same mistakes over and over,as if the game wasn't bad enough 2 nuggets behind us verbally abused the players throughout and swore and threatened anyone who disagreed with there ever lasting love in for Paul Hurst, Near the end they threatened me and offered to fight me after the game, i said I would meet them but hey ho they weren't anywhere to be seen at the final whistle,if you cant go to the football and support the lads then I suggest you dig out your prem teams shirt ,put new batterys in your sky remote and leave going to watch town to people who want them to do well and can hold a decent conversation about whatever issues arise without getting all Danny Dyer,sharp objects.

Another convert to the Chestnut Tree Cafe.

?????

Another convert to the Chestnut Tree Cafe.[/quote]

We are the only team to beat Crewe in the league this season, so not all bad.  ;D

1984, where all those who had committed thought crimes were banished to before being disposed of.

If we did not have a game on Tuesday another Sunday training session could have been on the cards by the sound of it.

So we have to stop being milky, start being ugly and do the basics. Slade cliche bingo.

We had to do the basics aagainst Wycombe, is he saying he has signed a load of players that cant do the basics required of a professional football player

Buckley said on the radio that he wondered what they did in training all week,  because they couldn't pass to each other. I love it when they interview a new player and he says what a good skilful bunch they are, well if they are all useless then they don't realise how bad they are until they play a competitive match.

Quoted from Madeleymariner

We had to do the basics aagainst Wycombe, is he saying he has signed a load of players that cant do the basics required of a professional football player

Looking at some of the performances, yes is the answer.

Quoted from Jaws

What's milky defending?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXMapqiDsqs


Immediately sprang to mind when he said it

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Simple fact. You buy cheap, you get cheap. John Fenty needs to take a long hard look at the consequences of another relegation, both to him personally and the future of GTFC, because with this manager and his performance so far, it will happen.

Berret was free, how does that line up with your logic ;)

But................... In the interests of fairness despite fu&^%g up a great chance when Dembelle took a quick free kick he did try and get some stuff going today and moved the ball better than any other Town player, the problem was the rest of the muppets where either stood still or had the first touch of a cart horse.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Berret was free, how does that line up with your logic ;)

But................... In the interests of fairness despite fu&^%g up a great chance when Dembelle took a quick free kick he did try and get some stuff going today and moved the ball better than any other Town player, the problem was the rest of the muppets where either stood still or had the first touch of a cart horse.

We paid a fee for Berrett.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

We paid a fee for Berrett.

Did we, what was it a handful of magic beans?

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Did we, what was it a handful of magic beans?

A tin of baked beans.

I thought we started the game slow but between that Osborne effort and their penalty we were the better team.  Second half we came out and made a half decent start but again, once they scored our confidence looked shot.

The key difference to me was the huge gap between midfield and defence which meant Mansfield won every second ball. Angol won virtually everything in the air for them whilst Vernon/Hooper won next to nothing in the air.

The two times we got the ball on the floor we looked good.

4-1 flattered Mansfield but we don't look like getting near the goal, never mind scoring.

You're the second person on this thread to accuse Vernon of winning very little in the air. This is simply not true. From where I was sitting (not behind the goal), he won most aerial challenges. That was the aspect of his game that impressed me most. In fact, he played his usual role well. It's just that there's little flexibility beyond that, and he looks as though he really doesn't expect to score goals. His failure to convert a simple free header today just about summed it up.

Quoted from ginnywings

So we have to stop being milky, start being ugly and do the basics. Slade cliche bingo.

lol we start being hard and get players sent off  ya canny make this shitt up. ;D

Gone backwards so much in the last year, from signing up and coming players with talent to signing journeyman and older players on 2 year deals that don't cut it. I thought we stopped doing excrement like that. We built a good strong team that needed a few players that were technical to help it. We've basically dismantled everything and gone back to 2010 again.

^^^THIS^^^

More and more teams are picking up gems from non league and starting to go that route. Peterborough are a good example of doing this, they don't get massive crowds but they gather non league players and get a good profit from a chunk of them and they comfortably stay in league 1 and flirt with play offs. There's a reason slades sliding down the leagues at a rapid rate,  I will support him like I do with every manager until they leave or get the sack but signing players on the way down imo only makes your team slide down.
Utm

Quoted from zorro_is_a_Mariner

More and more teams are picking up gems from non league and starting to go that route. Peterborough are a good example of doing this, they don't get massive crowds but they gather non league players and get a good profit from a chunk of them and they comfortably stay in league 1 and flirt with play offs. There's a reason slades sliding down the leagues at a rapid rate,  I will support him like I do with every manager until they leave or get the sack but signing players on the way down imo only makes your team slide down.
Utm

I think you are spot on Zorro. Slade obviously started in non league management but has been out of that environment for so long that I cannot imagine he has many, or any contacts. As he has been managing at championship and league 1 for so long, his contact base is higher than us. With all the will in the world we would not be competing with almost all of that level of budget. Wilko also in a similar position. This means that they probably only know of players that are earning more than what we can pay, unless they are of a lower quality and therefore no longer wanted by those higher league clubs. So that means at the moment we either get players that others didn't want (Kelly, Hooper), people who are probably past their best (Clarke), or unknown qualities such (Dembele, DJ), or people who 'impress' on trial, but again these are likely to be players that are unwanted elsewhere which means they should have potential to improve, or the manager thinks he can get a tune out of them.

It is early days and to be honest I am hopeful that there are at least 3 or 4 teams that will be worse than us over the season but the concern as others have mentioned is that most of us agreed we had too many players we were stuck with due to length of contract e.g. Summerfield, Berrett, and now we have signed others that are going to give us the same problem at the beginning of next season (again thinking of Kelly and Hooper as examples).

I hope Graham Rodger is going to change this and is trawling the non leagues for young, hungry players who will not cost a fortune but have the right attitude and desire to move forward in the game. A lot of things have been said about Bignot, and his recruitment was mixed but 2 of the best players we have on our books (not taking into account Dembele of course) are Jones and J Osbourne. Both non league where Bignot had his contacts.

As a club we cannot afford to go down again, simple as that. If we get through this season then everyone from the top down needs to have a sustainable 'business model' for the future and it needs to be looking at people from many levels of football and recruiting for current and future. I don't think that is in place with the current management team, whether they can change that or whether it ends up being someone else, well I don't know, but there needs to be a serious long term plan for the club that starts at the top, and if there is one, I'm not sure it is the right one at the moment.

I'm still keeping the faith as it's early in the season, I was never one of those who saw us as play off contenders with the players we have, a nice mid table will do me (especially after the start!)

UTFM

Don't forget Bignot got Rose as well Harry,

He will be an asset when or if we ever get his papers complete.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Don't forget Bignot got Rose as well Harry,

He will be an asset when or if we ever get his papers complete.

Slade signed rose

Quoted from zorro_is_a_Mariner

Slade signed rose

Sorry you meant akeem rose

He's on about Akeem

Quoted from zorro_is_a_Mariner

Slade signed rose

Did he ? I honestly thought Rose was here from the Birmingham area before Slade returned.

I have been known to be wrong though. :)

I did not go to the game neither have I seen any highlights so you can argue I am in no position to judge. However, I do know if you give the opposition 2 pens, no matter how soft and an og you are going to be up against it easpecially as our ability to score goals is poor. I was encouraged by the display against Crewe, although we got away with a good pen shout in that game too. It is hard to understand and worrying how bad we can be in the next game especially as we started with the same 11. Over to you Mr Slade.

Slade signed Mitch Rose.

Woods recommended Akheem Rose from his time at Walsall.

Quoted from ginnywings

Slade signed Mitch Rose.

Woods recommended Akheem Rose from his time at Walsall.

I told you I could be wrong  ;D

Quoted from grimsby pete

Don't forget Bignot got Rose as well Harry,

He will be an asset when or if we ever get his papers complete.

Will he, how do you know? I assume you mean Akeem?

Quoted from zorro_is_a_Mariner

More and more teams are picking up gems from non league and starting to go that route. Peterborough are a good example of doing this, they don't get massive crowds but they gather non league players and get a good profit from a chunk of them and they comfortably stay in league 1 and flirt with play offs. There's a reason slades sliding down the leagues at a rapid rate,  I will support him like I do with every manager until they leave or get the sack but signing players on the way down imo only makes your team slide down.
Utm

But wasn't Bignot criticised for doing exactly this?

Quoted from ginnywings

Slade signed Mitch Rose.

Another one where I have been underwhelmed by his performances, one minute he is charging in to get the ball the next he is jogging back when the opposition break.

Quoted from GrimRob

But wasn't Bignot criticised for doing exactly this?

Possibly, not from me he wasn't though. You need a mixture of up and coming talents and some leaders with experience we've gone from one extreme to the other, except do we have any leaders ?

Yeah there was some spouting ridiculous criticism for us signing a load of non league players, and instead we should be targeting league 1 players.

Well for those people I hope you are enjoying the performances of those league 1 players we signed this close season.

People saying 4-1 flattered Mansfield, not in the slightest, Mansfield coasted this game as our players gave up long before the final whistle, no fight, no guile as the Town fans chanted flipping useless.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Will he, how do you know? I assume you mean Akeem?

Yes I was getting a bit confused ,

Can I start again,,?

Bignot signed Akeem Rose that's right isn't it ?

I am only going on reports that he could be a very decent player.

Well what a shambles that was, I didn't even think Mansfield were all that great but they didn't need to be, spineless, gutless and passionless.

You could argue that their 2 pens were relatively soft but needless silly challenges in the first place.

I didn't share the view of many after the Crewe game, I thought we was decent ish but that's all, certainly not anything to get excited  about and I thought Hooper was half decent, that's all, but yesterday Hooper was abysmal, he shows little effort and he has slightly more ability than effort but even that isn't enough. Woolford I know isn't match fit yet but I can't see him making a massive difference when he is, very slow when in possession. The Old Codger will be pleased to know that I thought Berrett was our best outfield player but he'll be upset to also learnt I thought he was only average still, the others were even worse.

We are a very very poor team with a distinct lack of quality in every position and yes I do predict we are in a relegation battle.

Makes me wonder how we got like this, well let's review the situation.

Firstly you got to look at Slade and Wilkinson, both has extensive contacts and experience at higher league but the past couple of years both has been on a downward spiral which shows little or no sign of slowing down.

Then we need to look at the players they have signed.
Ben Killip- untried rookie who Luton didn't fancy as their 3rd choice keeper.
Karleigh Osborne- looks alright on first showings admittedly but 2 games in the past 2 seasons is extremely underwhelming, that caused by injuries or otherwise it is concerning.
Nathan Clarke- vast experience at a higher level but by all accounts has struggled these last few seasons and Coventry fans didn't rate him one bit last season and I have yet to be impressed by him at all, past it? It certainly looks that way.
Paul Dixon- again vast experience at a higher level but by the sounds of it there wasn't exactly a queue of clubs after his signature, Dundee fans reckoned he was a shadow of his former self these past couple of years, supposed to have a terrific left foot but his crossing is average at best so far, downward spiral? It would certainly seem that way so far.
Mitch Rose -one of the best summer signings so far, but he still has glaring weaknesses in his game, Summerfield is much maligned for giving the ball away but does he do it anymore than Rose? I'm not sure.
Dembele- looks a real deal admittedly but again untried and his end product looks lacking and it doesn't look good when our best player is a 20 year old who has less than 10 games experience in football.
Kelly- when Port Vale released him they all thought he would drop down into non league but yet we gave him a 2 year deal with Wilkinson proudly saying how he'll take us up to the next level, he is a fairy, a coward and a chicken.
Woolford- again extensive experience at higher leagues but done nothing these past few leagues and again nobody else wanted him did they, could come good but on paper pretty uninspiring signing.
Jaiyesimi (spelling) looks half decent so far but again untried with virtually zero experience.
Hooper- again when Port Vale released him their fans seemed sure he would drop down into the conference but no Slade gave him a 2 year deal, lazy, isn't interested with average ability.
Jamille Matt - looks half decent on paper, but can he produce? We'll have to see.

Add all that onto Berrett and Summerfield etc, our squad looks poor on paper and on the pitch.

But apart from all that...

Quoted from ginnywings

But apart from all that...

lol Ginny! We do have some bright spots though, Sam Jones, Collins, Mills and yes I'm going to say it Mckeown are all decent. Jamie Osborne is a class player and will be back before Xmas and hopefully Asante proves to be the player we are all hopeing he is. That's more than we had in 2009/10, so we may avoid the worst.

Let's hope some of Slades signings can really step up to the plate.

Quoted from ginnywings

But apart from all that...

I haven't seen them yet this season, so honest question. is aaron far wrong ginny?

Quoted from forza ivano

I haven't seen them yet this season, so honest question. is aaron far wrong ginny?

Apologies to Ginny but it is so hard to say! We looked ok away at Chesterfield,which on paper seemed to be a very difficult game first up.

Against Crewe we weren't too bad either; they were unbeaten, one of our bogey teams yet they looked rubbish and we did ok.

Against Derby and Doncaster we were ok, but in the rest we have been very poor. We are either a new team yet to fully gel, or we are a poor team which will find it hard. I suppose we need another 10 games to see which one it will be.    

Quoted from forza ivano

I haven't seen them yet this season, so honest question. is aaron far wrong ginny?

Not as good as i'd hoped, but not as bad a some are claiming. Early days yet and there were promising signs against Crewe i thought. Don't look relegation material to me, despite some of our obvious failings. We've got some good players in the wings and there is more to come from this bunch in my view. I'm not looking for the noose just yet.

Quoted from forza ivano

I haven't seen them yet this season, so honest question. is aaron far wrong ginny?

Good summing up for me and on most of the players exactly how I see them.

I do wonder how much better we'd be with J Osborne in the middle. The rest of the bunch in the middle are strictly functional, with the odd bit of flair from Clements (I think he still plays for us) but I can honestly say that Osborne is the only bit of sparkle in that centre.

So on yesterday's showing, who deserves to play on Tuesday? I can't for the life of me think who we can put out to ensure we don't capitulate like we did in the second half yesterday

We'll certainly need to come out fighting because they're on a roll so do we have the resources to stop them and get anything from the game?

I'm not sure how Slade can shuffle the pack even though last week he was banging on about how strong the bench was when he needs to re-jig

One player I'd have back in straight away is Jones so that will mean either Vernon or Hooper will have to lose their place - maybe both if he decides to play Matt?

Defence I guess the full backs will be Dixon & Davies if Mills is injured still.... who the central pair will be though is up for debate.

Midfield Dembele is assured of his place but who else? Rose I guess though people's opinions of him seem mixed. Berrett / Summerfield / Clifton / Clements?? I'm not sure

As for the wide positions, Jaiyesimi shows promise but maybe he's a bit too raw to throw in to such an important game but would he be any less effective than Woolford or Kelly

And where's Tom been for the past couple of games? He was playing well until Woolford came on the scene and has now seemingly disappeared?

One thing's for sure whoever figures on Tuesday needs to give their all for the full game because any half-heartedness like yesterday just isn't acceptable

Onwards and upwards....hopefully!

UTM

For me on Tuesday:


          McKeown
Tait Toto Gowling Robertson
Arnold Dis Clay Nolan
     Bogle Amond

Oh wait, sadly I'll have to go for this

                           McKeown
Davies         Osborne      Collins      Dixon
Bolarinwa     Berrett         Rose       Jaiyasimi
                     Matt           Jones

Bench: Killip, Keeble, Clifton, Dembele, Clements, Vernon, Hooper

Doesn't start Dembele  ;D.

No, felt he was poor yesterday, beats men for fun but has no end product at all. Also he's always knackered after 70 minutes so I doubt he's fit enough to play twice in 4 days.

Quoted from Grantley

Doesn't start Dembele  ;D.

I think it's nailed on he'll start but it's all about opinions

Since the opener at Chesterfield when he made that pass to Sam Jones, he's certainly been good to watch, but has he actually been that productive?

Nobody should think they're not going to lose their place because as much as he's a talent, we should be more than just a "one man team"

He might not have much end product but he put in the cross for the goal against Crewe.

Mansfield fans on twitter and other forums said he was easily our best player.

Quoted from Grantley

He might not have much end product but he put in the cross for the goal against Crewe.


Mansfield fans on twitter and other forums said he was easily our best player.

You're right...he did. I take back what I said about him not producing that much since Chesterfield 👍

Regardless, I wouldn't disagree that Dembele needs to make more of his abilities. If the rest of the team was pulling its weight, he might be able to achieve a bit more instead of feeding on scraps. Too many non-appearances from too many players already this season.

Quoted from Maringer

Regardless, I wouldn't disagree that Dembele needs to make more of his abilities. If the rest of the team was pulling its weight, he might be able to achieve a bit more instead of feeding on scraps. Too many non-appearances from too many players already this season.

For all he does with the ball, he does very little without it. Waiting for the ball to come to you isn't good enough.

Oh, I don't know. Though I've only seen the home games this season, he always seems to try and get stuck in defensively. Not particularly good at the defensive side of things which is perhaps understandable.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

For all he does with the ball, he does very little without it. Waiting for the ball to come to you isn't good enough.

I'm surprised you say that as I've been pleasantly surprised how many times he's actually won us the ball.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

For all he does with the ball, he does very little without it. Waiting for the ball to come to you isn't good enough.

How can you say that he works hard, he wins back the ball when he's got no right to and tracks back  more often than not. Give the lad some credit it's still very early days in his career.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I'm surprised you say that as I've been pleasantly surprised how many times he's actually won us the ball.

Fully agree, I could name several players that put in far less effort trying to chase the ball down and make tackles.

I didn't say anything about tackling, i said that he waits for passes to come to him rather than looking for space

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I didn't say anything about tackling, i said that he waits for passes to come to him rather than looking for space

No you didn't, this is what you said :-


"For all he does with the ball, he does very little without it. Waiting for the ball to come to you isn't good enough."
  
  

Sending Offs,

Penalties  given away

Own Goals,

Stop doing all the above and we might start winning more games.

We have been our own worse enemy up to now.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Sending Offs,

Penalties  given away

Own Goals,

Stop doing all the above and we might start winning more games.

We have been our own worse enemy up to now.

To use the tennis phrase.... unforced errors

If I had a quid for every time I've said this to my mates at matches I'd be a rich man... might even have enough to buy out JF   ;)