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...to the tram. First game of the season for me, admittedly was looking forward to seeing a more goal threat than the last few season but our attacking play was shoddy and one noted. Defence was everywhere too. Started bright but for 70 minutes we didn’t deserve anything. I’m glad we rescued to it but feel like this was another opportunity missed.

Away support was class, but we didn’t have much to sing about for most of the game. Looking forward to Salford away as it’s round corner from me.

Onwards and upwards
UTM

Definitely a different mentality in this season's squad, they really do have a "never die" attitude...
Still think Jolley got it wrong with his formation today and we got out of jail, but he's still learning his trade and hope he learns a lesson from today...UTFM..

Amazing support......but we certainly stole a point. However, never gave in so won't complain.

My son said we deserved at least a point. Maybe he was at a different game to everyone else.

After a bright first few minutes, we were absolutely dreadful for the first 75 minutes of the game. Not so much when we didnt have the ball, as Oldham didnt play through us many times. But in possession we were as bad as you'll see from a professional football team. Nothing went into midfield, everything pumped long for Hanson to try and make something of it.

Any player put under pressure from the opposition either wasn't comfortable enough to stay on the ball, or wasn't good enough to see and play a pass forward. So every time we were closed down it went backwards and backwards until McKeown played it long.

With Vernam on, Whitehouse central, but more importantly Cook in midfield, we suddenly started to pass the ball to each other and were able to work it through midfield. Shock..... this results in us getting back in the game.

Probably lucky to get a point from a game when we were terrible for so much of it. But to take the positives it showed character and showed what we CAN do in the last 10/15 minutes.

Think it showed we're not good enough individually in midfield to play 442. So hopefully the usual clamour for us to play 442 will simmer down a bit now.

Whitehouse needs to be central.
Hewitt needs to play right back but nowhere else. Anonymous when we had the ball.
Hard to judge Max Wright. Didn't do anything today but was starved of opportunities with the ball at his feet. Probably got shoved about a bit by opposition players too today.

Good point in the way it panned out, but NEED to learn from today and what we should/shouldn't be doing moving forward.

There is no justice in football is there. Last week we lost to Crewe who were better then us. This week we nearly lost to a team because we didn't turn up for 75 minutes. We were garbage when we sat back and let them pass the ball around when we pressed the back 4 properly they were all over the place why can't we do that from the start, it really bugs me we let teams do it to us and rush but we won't do it to the opposition until the final minutes.

Once again it looked like we were playing with 7 at the back and 3 uptop. Someone needs to tell our midfield 3 only Hess needs to stay back the rest can go and support the strikers. They need to spend the week practicing pass and move because our movement off the ball was shocking today Gibson was getting irrate in the first half at them everytime he had the ball he had to give it back to Macca.

I'm so please Öhman has finally got a goal, typical its the one week I haven't stuck a quid on him isn't it ;D ;D ;D

Nothing wrong with 442 but you stick a centre midfielder on the left wing its not going to work too well is it and put a lad in CM when he has been atrocious in the last 2 times we put him there. And lumping it up to 10 stone when dripping wet winger in the air does not help the cause either. Again sat far too deep all game allowing there defence to play tippy tappy till an opening on wings came up. Their centre halfs couldn't pass wind when we got in thier faces and had to hoof it anywhere, They had a few good footballers playing for them but I feel they were very beatable if put under any amount of pressure. Still a point when playing badly away can't be sniffed at.

At times Oldham were stringing 20+ passes together with little pressure on the ball. We were making them look like Barcelona!!!! Think sides are seeing we can be exposed out wide and the long switch ball is so often an outlet for the opposition.

Jolley seems to be blinkered about Max. Ogbu and Green are switched sometimes as were Embo and Vernam last season. We were hopeless on the left today but Max was not switched. We seem unable to ask questions of a defence who have been well briefed.
Chasing the game demanded Vernam and Wright running at the defence prompted by Hess in a more forward role.
Hewitt to right back, switch Hendrie and there is more balance. We get little benefit from a left footed full back when he is mainly pressed back by at least two attackers.

BTW Oldham Stadium manager put his stewards in a no win today by denying access to the front seats. It would have been far easier to block off the back rows. Gave some of our unruly brigade an unnecessary grievance. He and Jolley should tear up today's plans and go with what works.

Quoted from Croxton

BTW Oldham Stadium manager put his stewards in a no win today by denying access to the front seats. It would have been far easier to block off the back rows. Gave some of our unruly brigade an unnecessary grievance. He and Jolley should tear up today's plans and go with what works.

I mean they could just not act like a bunch of dickheads. It's always somebody else's fault and "Town fans never cause trouble" etc etc.

Good Post Croxton
Come on MJ learn from this today and believe in what we can and the players in the right positions can do

Quoted from Kris2

I mean they could just not act like a bunch of dickheads. It's always somebody else's fault and "Town fans never cause trouble" etc etc.

They certainly were dickheads and no excuse implied by my comment. You, however, appear to be a straw man kinda guy.

Had 2 town fans scrapping with each other behind me today.

Quoted from Hagrid

Had 2 town fans scrapping with each other behind me today.

Happens quite often to be honest

Quoted from Hagrid

Had 2 town fans scrapping with each other behind me today.

Not good at all but very common in grounds all around the country

Quoted from Hagrid

Had 2 town fans scrapping with each other behind me today.

Nearly kicked off near me when a Ronnie Kray impersonator tried to goad a guy who simply asked him politely to walk on instead of blocking his view. Credit to the seated guy who maintained his cool throughout.

For two seasons, Cambridge have tried a similar compaction tactic by sheeting down whole sections causing even small groups or families to separate in search of seats.. On the first occasion I asked a rather nervous young female steward to trot down to the front and ask her boss to allow her to uncover another section. He obliged so we could watch a shocking performance in relative comfort.

One or two of our prominent 'lads' were being spoken to by the Police as we left. Hopefully they will give Salford a miss.

Well.....that was dog poo for most of the match....when i saw the team with Hewitt in the centre i had concerns, absolutely in no way does he bring anything to that position at all, proven it on a couple of occassions already so why Jolley went that way again i dont know.
Gibson, Whitehouse, Hewitt all pretty much kneecapped by the formation and it took Jolley far too long to react and when he did an already floundering Hewitt was almost immediately mugged at full back allowing their winger all the time in the world to fire in a perfect cross for their second.

Just as we were turning our thoughts to the M62 traffic and a mardy journey home Cook ( a little cameo bright spot of the afternoon) pounces on Hansons air shot and fires home....consolation but still mardy....holy sh!t ... Ludwig gets on a long punted free kick ....jeeeez ...how have we got back in this ??? Ogbu very sneakily ( well blatantly ) blocking off Wheater givng Ludwig the freedom.

Whilst trying to take positives....the team kept fighting til the very end, Jolley eventually saw the problem and rectified it, whilst playing very poorly we still had a few good chances to score in the game other than the goals we did...good vocal support.

Thought Oldham had some very bright players on the ball, several players capable of breaking through the lines and advancing the ball quickly which we really didnt have until Cook came on. Without some cynical defending and taking yellows we could have been dead and buried.

On paper a game we should of won, in reality a game we should have lost....so shouldnt grumble about a point away.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Happens quite often to be honest

If you're gonna scrap behind anyone, behind Hagrid's back is a good place to do it though. He's booked to stand ringside at Caesar's Palace facing the crowd.

Can’t believe how bad that first 80 minutes was. Oldham were robbed. Good to come back again. This team certainly never give up, but it would be nice to score first for once!

Not a good game but did well to get something from it.
Real lack of legs in the middle. Hess is fine but Whitehouse and Hewitt really struggle to get up and down. They both should’ve been off at half time. Whitehouse hasn’t really impressed for me so far, he’s very one paced and doesn’t appear to have the ability to knit the play together in that attacking midfield role. The one thing he does do well is get himself in goalscoring positions.

I’d have Hess, Clifton and Cook as my 3.

Word for the stewarding, it was awful, aggressive and pointless. Not opening the bottom seats was just a recipe for disorder. It meant that those who’d been late in from the pub where stood up on the stairs and it caused friction between the Town fans.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

N

Word for the stewarding, it was awful, aggressive and pointless. Not opening the bottom seats was just a recipe for disorder. It meant that those who’d been late in from the pub where stood up on the stairs and it caused friction between the Town fans.

(Confused) ...hmmmmmm

You would think that stewarding would be at least in general good, but invariably it appears quite poor. Nowadays with health and safety and litigation you would think clubs would really be making efforts to improve, but from remarks on here it seems that football still treats away fans ( and not just Town) as an inconvenience and not as paying customers. As I made a remark many moons ago, just imagine if you were a Millwall fan and travelled to an away game how you would be treated.

It was pretty embarrassing the way a group of town fans were having a go at the kiosk staff just before kick off.

What was the fat guy thrown out for in the second half?

Quoted from moosey_club

(Confused) ...hmmmmmm

I am merely suggesting that the extra space would’ve been of benefit to everyone, especially the families who ended up having the latecomers stood in front of them.
I am not suggesting people who behave like twits should be given special treatment. I saw plenty of childish and moronic behaviour from people old enough to know better. Had I had my kids with me I’d have appreciated the space to move them away from it.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I am merely suggesting that the extra space would’ve been of benefit to everyone, especially the families who ended up having the latecomers stood in front of them.
I am not suggesting people who behave like twits should be given special treatment. I saw plenty of childish and moronic behaviour from people old enough to know better. Had I had my kids with me I’d have appreciated the space to move them away from it.

Fact is there was enough room in the top tier....the fact people tend to gravitate towards the centre of a stand to gete a decent view of the goal creates overcrowding in a stand where there is room for everyone. Now that is a stewarding issue as they should be monitoring the situation and steering people away from those areas at the point of entry to the stand.
Definately didnt happen yesterday and i witnessed some stewards clearly not capable of doing the job, several O.A.P type stewards amongst the numbers but we all as individuals have to accept we have a responsibility...turn up late in the day because an extra pint is more important then dont expect a premium view....if a steward directs you to a seat or section then follow that instruction/ request.
Standing in an aisle does create a hazard, puts people at risk end of....it may not be apparent to all why sections are closed but just be sensible.

As Moosey said lots of there were proibably a hundred seats to the side I was with sets of 10 or more in a row empty. More than enough room but the morons all need to be together. People were buying pints at the back 5 mins before kickoff and necking them. Their own fault if they can't sit/stand where they want. What was it our stadium mnanager said, other clubs dont like us when we visit, yesterday was a prime example why.. The fact they all went near the front and stood up blocked far more peoples view than when they were in the top section.

The. problem I have with it all is that most of the fans are decent and we all get treated as if everyone is a hooligan. The most aggressive stewarding I have seen was at WBA.

You get the impression that some of the stewards are looking for a good bundle so as to justify their existence. Ruins the experience of going to the match.

In the good old days you'd have half a dozen coppers and that was it.

We started the game brightly enough but after about 10 mins we were truly dreadful. Definitely the wrong players and/or formation, more worryingly a far far too slow recognition of that fact from jolley - it was obviously not working and that it took so long to change is concerning. Because of the change (and our new found goal threat and never say die attitude for which jolley must be commended) we had literally just enough time to turn it around and Nick something from a game we didn't deserve to. This was against a poor oldham side with a demoralised crowd who should have been there for the taking in my view. Don't think we will come up against such a physically weak and lacking in height team in league 2 too often. Their players were tidy enough on the ball but that was about it.
The only reason I can see for jolley playing Gibson is he feels he has got to in order to please Newcastle and if he doesn't he is worried it will be a black mark for future loan deals from them and other teams. Ultimately tho you've got to be ruthless and if Hendrie is a better left back than Gibson (and he undoubtedly is) then he has to have the spot. Hewitt and hendrie are definitely our best full back pairing. Hewitt is anonymous in cm and shoehorning him in there for his throws to allow Gibson to play is just too costly in terms of weakening the team. I feel the game tends to pass white house by as well, he puts in effort but apart from getting in good goalscoring positions I don't think he should be in the first 11. I would rather Clifton play who has a better all round game for me and use Whitehouse off the bench if we need a goal. Can't criticise the application of white house tho and it wasn't his fault he was played out if position yesterday, odd decision by MJ.
Hess had a good game and I thought max Wright was another bright spot in the first half. Ogbu was absolutely shocking all game, nothing came off for him and poor decision making when he had the ball. Hanson had the poorest game I've seen him play too and was wasteful a number of times from decent positions were he failed to work the keeper. He still worked hard for the cause tho, even on an off day he is a great pro.
Obviously great to come away from such a poor performance and being 2 goals down with 10 mins to go with a draw. There was belief in the team and fans that if we scored one we could get the other too. Not something we could have said in previous years.
But I do think that team selection (and a few off days on the pitch as well to be fair) gave us an unnecessary mountain to climb.

Quoted from Croxton

Nearly kicked off near me when a Ronnie Kray impersonator tried to goad a guy who simply asked him politely to walk on instead of blocking his view. Credit to the seated guy who maintained his cool throughout.

For two seasons, Cambridge have tried a similar compaction tactic by sheeting down whole sections causing even small groups or families to separate in search of seats.. On the first occasion I asked a rather nervous young female steward to trot down to the front and ask her boss to allow her to uncover another section. He obliged so we could watch a shocking performance in relative comfort.

One or two of our prominent 'lads' were being spoken to by the Police as we left. Hopefully they will give Salford a miss.

Did you notice if their names were taken or were they just let on their way? Any cameras in the area?
this type of thing is impacting on us all and there seems to be a new a new breed emerging who'd rather pick on easy targets than go man to man with the same numbers or someone the same size, not that I'm condoning that either, classless bullies.

Quoted from AdamHaddock

What was the fat guy thrown out for in the second half?

Eating all the pies?

Quoted from hampshiremariner

The. problem I have with it all is that most of the fans are decent and we all get treated as if everyone is a hooligan. The most aggressive stewarding I have seen was at WBA.

You get the impression that some of the stewards are looking for a good bundle so as to justify their existence. Ruins the experience of going to the match.

In the good old days you'd have half a dozen coppers and that was it.

but back then a copper would smack you with a truncheon to get you in line and you would soon listen....not something that can happen now.

Quoted from Gaffer58

You would think that stewarding would be at least in general good, but invariably it appears quite poor. Nowadays with health and safety and litigation you would think clubs would really be making efforts to improve, but from remarks on here it seems that football still treats away fans ( and not just Town) as an inconvenience and not as paying customers. As I made a remark many moons ago, just imagine if you were a Millwall fan and travelled to an away game how you would be treated.

Yeh look where Stevenage are now, bottom of the league. Says it all!