On the train home to Sussex,

Another 100% committed performance from Town. Truth be told a draw a fair result, back 4 superb with Ohman and Pollock outstanding in the middle and that new guy Glennon a proper player, considering it’s his first game he’ll show he’s way to good for this league.

Again pretty poor going forward, not many good chances in the game, billy took his goal superb, I’m sorry but Rose is just not up to it and expect him to be dropped for sharpe/Hanson

Ref was poor but we gave away silly free kick all game, it looked a penalty to me a clumsy challenge in the back,

Town fans in fine voice as usual along with the Aalst boys who at half time tried to open the turnstiles to  get out for a quick pint from the nearest pub before the 2nd half!

Sharpee. Clarke ;)

On whole a fair result we took our goal really well and gave the ref an easy decision for their penalty.

Thought Macca was superb today and that’s 3 games in a row where we’ve not conceded from open play which is a good platform.

We just need more craft and creativity in mid field though I thought Whitehouse’s ball for the goal was excellent. Hopefully we’ll get to see Clarke and Hanson next week in a 4-4-2 I assume?

A bit disappointed not to see it through but more than happy with a point.

My final bit is about the 1200+ Town fans which considering it was Christmas a couple of weeks ago is and absolutely massive effort, well done and safe home to all that travelled.

UTM!!

P.S Ref was a complete homer....

Quoted from Hagrid

Sharpee. Clarke ;)

Sorry, Clarke!

Thought the pen was extremely soft, but a decent point under a lot of pressure at the end.

Rose is a nice lad, and I feel for him. We should ship him off to somewhere like Gainsborough Trinity which is a level he’ll probably thrive at.

Clee Town

Quoted from HertsGTFC

On whole a fair result we took our goal really well and gave the ref an easy decision for their penalty.

Thought Macca was superb today and that’s 3 games in a row where we’ve not conceded from open play which is a good platform.

We just need more craft and creativity in mid field though I thought Whitehouse’s ball for the goal was excellent. Hopefully we’ll get to see Clarke and Hanson next week in a 4-4-2 I assume?

A bit disappointed not to see it through but more than happy with a point.

My final bit is about the 1200+ Town fans which considering it was Christmas a couple of weeks ago is and absolutely massive effort, well done and safe home to all that travelled.

UTM!!

P.S Ref was a complete homer....

Thanks for the summary. If we do go to a 4  4  2. Who will play wide?

Afraid to say as I always have, Rose isn't league standard, he's no better than Cardwell who again isn't league level ..
I expect Holloway to move both these on, certainly sort loans out if not permanent deals somewhere else...

Almost, Almost Another great day
Bigger Test next week to see how we have improved
Looks like IH requires 100% , 100% of the time and probably wants this as much as us long suffering ace fans
Come on Town
PS let’s get a big crowd Sat IH
Whip them up mate

Quoted from smokey111

Thanks for the summary. If we do go to a 4  4  2. Who will play wide?

That’s the difficulty I guess Max on the right for sure and at the moment, though it’s possibly not his best position Charlie on the left then you have the problem of choosing between Hess, Harry and Whitehouse who all did a decent shift today for the other 2 spots.

Maybe IH will try something else but my worry would be that Clarke and Hanson wouldn’t get close enough to each other in a front 3.

Then again I know male private to be fair when it comes to this type of thing 🤦‍♂️

Quoted from HertsGTFC

On whole a fair result we took our goal really well and gave the ref an easy decision for their penalty.

Thought Macca was superb today and that’s 3 games in a row where we’ve not conceded from open play which is a good platform.

We just need more craft and creativity in mid field though I thought Whitehouse’s ball for the goal was excellent. Hopefully we’ll get to see Clarke and Hanson next week in a 4-4-2 I assume?

A bit disappointed not to see it through but more than happy with a point.

My final bit is about the 1200+ Town fans which considering it was Christmas a couple of weeks ago is and absolutely massive effort, well done and safe home to all that travelled.

UTM!!

P.S Ref was a complete homer....

The ref had a great game, you ask Swin.

Well, what a fab day out with my 15 year old grandson, very proud to be a loud GTFC fan again. (I've always been a proud GTFC fan but haven't been shouting too much for the last few years). 17th in league 2 and 1300 mariners make east London rock, how cool is that?
Gutted we couldn't hang on for the win but a draw was fair and it looked a nailed on penalty for me. We defend pretty well but clearly we need some creativity going forward.
The good news is that Mattie and Ludwig look excellent as a pair and Glennon looks a class act. Mattie is a class act defensively but needs to work on his distribution which was poor. Glennon looked a bit frustrated in the first half, almost like he couldn't get his head round playing with crap team mates, but think he'll be an asset with a few games under his belt.
Thought Harry played ok but we're desperate for more up front. Akheem won nothing and I don't recall Max beating his defender all day. Vernam was a threat when he ran at their defence but there is no point lofting high balls into defences like orient
Everyone worked their socks off and Macca made the statutory wonder save so don't think we're going to leak loads of goals which is a good foundation.
Finally, well played Orient who actually had some gluten free food, first time ever in a footy ground. And thought Craig Clay played really well when he came on for Orient

Quoted from smokey111

Thanks for the summary. If we do go to a 4  4  2. Who will play wide?

Clarke can play left wing, but I think we will stick with a 4-3-3 or more of a 4-1-2-3 like this;


                          McKeown

                    Waterfall    Pollock  
Hendrie                                              Glennon
                  
                         Hessenthaller        

       Clifton                                     Clarke

              Wright     Hanson     Vernam


Quite an attack heavy formation, but we’ve got a solid back 4 and I think Vernam and Wright feeding off Clarke, Clifton and Hanson would produce a lot of chances. Also Rose seems to be more effective off the bench, which could be ideal as Vernam’s legs seem to give up after 60 mins the last couple of games.

Here's what the Orient fans thought about us today
https://lofcforum.com/forum1/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3061

With 5 changes to the team dont think we could've expected much more. Draw was fair result as they missed a host of chances.very solid defensively .thought vernham was excellent.midfield very hard working.not the greatest game but the support made the day

Good to see their perspective on the afternoon

The first poster hit the nail on the head...

I think our singing was both intimidating but at the same time infectious so they had to respond to the “who the feck are you?” chant

Leyton's left winger put some great crosses in....  i thought a draw was a good result.  Our ball retention is pretty poor at times..  but there cant be many L2 sides with that level of away support.

How did Pollock and Ludvig look together?

Quoted from Hagrid

How did Pollock and Ludvig look together?

F#cking excellent!!

Quoted from Hagrid

How did Pollock and Ludvig look together?

Solid! But I think any combination of our current 4 centre backs are solid, a month back I’d have said Davis was the 4th choice, but he had 2 cracking games at Mansfield and Salford, so on current form there ain’t much between the 4 of them for me! It’s a nice luxury to have!

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

F#cking excellent!!

A certain Ipswin (and also my good self, may I add?) did recently speculate that Ohman and Pollock were very probably the best pairing......

Quoted from Heisenberg

A certain Ipswin (and also my good self, may I add?) did recently speculate that Ohman and Pollock were very probably the best pairing......

Personally think we need better than Ohman for first choice, yes he puts his head in and body on the line but can't distribute, too physical and clumsy at times conceding too many free kicks unnecessarily.
Pollock continues to suprise me more each time i see him, he has already had a few experienced pro's in his pocket, still developing but excellent prospects.

Quoted from Yossarian

Leyton's left winger put some great crosses in....  i thought a draw was a good result.  Our ball retention is pretty poor at times..  but there cant be many L2 sides with that level of away support.

Cos they gave him too much space ALL game

Looking back today might have given holloway pause for thought.certainly wasnt as much quality as last week and you have to wonder how many of them would get into a promotion side. Cant fault the effort, but I just think holloway will know players who tick more boxes than some of them out there today. Dont want to be negative as there is such a feel good factor at present, but just trying to take a step back and be objective

Quoted from moosey_club

Personally think we need better than Ohman for first choice, yes he puts his head in and body on the line but can't distribute, too physical and clumsy at times conceding too many free kicks unnecessarily.
Pollock continues to suprise me more each time i see him, he has already had a few experienced pro's in his pocket, still developing but excellent prospects.

What a load of bollox . Ohman played excellent today and considering he has not played for a couple of months. He would walk into most league 2 sides line ups.

Quoted from forza ivano

Looking back today might have given holloway pause for thought.certainly wasnt as much quality as last week and you have to wonder how many of them would get into a promotion side. Cant fault the effort, but I just think holloway will know players who tick more boxes than some of them out there today. Dont want to be negative as there is such a feel good factor at present, but just trying to take a step back and be objective

It’s funny how we remember things I can’t recall much quality last week but I do remember lots of teamwork, desire and graft much like today.

In fact teamwork, desire and graft is all IH has to work with ATM but it’s a pretty decent platform.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

In fact teamwork, desire and graft is all IH has to work with ATM but it’s a pretty decent platform.

I'd say it's probably 80 or 90% of what is required for success in the bottom division. I just hope that Holloway can find/develop that extra 20-odd percent of quality to make us play-off contenders.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

It’s funny how we remember things I can’t recall much quality last week but I do remember lots of teamwork, desire and graft much like today.

In fact teamwork, desire and graft is all IH has to work with ATM but it’s a pretty decent platform.

There was a lot of cool ,calm midfield passing last week and the defending was rock solid. Dont think there was as much of either quality in what was a poor quality game today. And you have to say weve played a succession of poor/average teams over the last few weeks. Exeter next week will be his first big test. Hope that they can put in another spirited performance  to cheer what will be a big crowd

Overall I have to say Orient were the better side. Man for man, most* of them looked better than ours. But the effort was certainly there. And but for a silly penalty given away late of we'd have done it. I mean it was Craig Clay who got pushed in the back! Craig Clay (being the exception to the above comment*) not renowned for troubling the goal - Clarke obviously doesn't know him!

Joking aside, good turnout. Lots of familiar faces including a certain poster from Sheffield. Lots of noise. I'm hoarse tonight. Those Belgians certainly keep the party going.  ;D

Quoted from Gtfc8279

Cos they gave him too much space ALL game

I agree, for me Hendrie had a nightmare. He lacks pace and is completely left for dead on a number of ocassions.

Quoted from buckstown

Well, what a fab day out with my 15 year old grandson, very proud to be a loud GTFC fan again. (I've always been a proud GTFC fan but haven't been shouting too much for the last few years). 17th in league 2 and 1300 mariners make east London rock, how cool is that?
Gutted we couldn't hang on for the win but a draw was fair and it looked a nailed on penalty for me. We defend pretty well but clearly we need some creativity going forward.
The good news is that Mattie and Ludwig look excellent as a pair and Glennon looks a class act. Mattie is a class act defensively but needs to work on his distribution which was poor. Glennon looked a bit frustrated in the first half, almost like he couldn't get his head round playing with crap team mates, but think he'll be an asset with a few games under his belt.
Thought Harry played ok but we're desperate for more up front. Akheem won nothing and I don't recall Max beating his defender all day. Vernam was a threat when he ran at their defence but there is no point lofting high balls into defences like orient
Everyone worked their socks off and Macca made the statutory wonder save so don't think we're going to leak loads of goals which is a good foundation.
Finally, well played Orient who actually had some gluten free food, first time ever in a footy ground. And thought Craig Clay played really well when he came on for Orient

Thought Pollocks cushion headers and 30-/ 40 yard passes were brilliant !

Quoted from arryarryarry

I agree, for me Hendrie had a nightmare. He lacks pace and is completely left for dead on a number of ocassions.

Hendrie has been our quickest defender for the past couple of seasons (though I'd imagine the loanee from Burnley will be quicker) and rarely struggles for pace. Like most full-backs, he'll have the odd game each season where he struggles to match his opponent, but he's played a major role in our improved results since his return from injury.

I don't get where the idea he lacks pace comes from - he's comfortably quicker than Hewitt, Gibson or Ring who have been our other main full-backs this season.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Overall I have to say Orient were the better side. Man for man, most* of them looked better than ours. But the effort was certainly there. And but for a silly penalty given away late of we'd have done it. I mean it was Craig Clay who got pushed in the back! Craig Clay (being the exception to the above comment*) not renowned for troubling the goal - Clarke obviously doesn't know him!

Joking aside, good turnout. Lots of familiar faces including a certain poster from Sheffield. Lots of noise. I'm hoarse tonight. Those Belgians certainly keep the party going.  ;D

Whats equally frustrating about the penalty is there where so many players in front of him he'd have struggled to hit that target as well.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Whats equally frustrating about the penalty is there where so many players in front of him he'd have struggled to hit that target as well.

Absolutely, there were so many bodies.  The attacking player actually, didn't know what to do.  His hope was for someone to make a lunge and he would go down.  The lads in front were disciplined and holding the line. The tackle wasn't even a tackle, he just got shoved.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing...look at it another way..if Clay had not been challenged and scored - be it bodied in front or not - then I’d imagine the manager,coaches and team mates would be screaming ‘why didn’t you put a challenge in??!’ ..or words to that effect

Quoted from marinerjase

Hindsight is a wonderful thing...look at it another way..if Clay had not been challenged and scored - be it bodied in front or not - then I’d imagine the manager,coaches and team mates would be screaming ‘why didn’t you put a challenge in??!’ ..or words to that effect

Not hindsight at all. People were shouting for Clarke not to go steaming in.

The penalty box is a place where you DONT want to be making challenges these days. You just close down their options. We’re talking fourth division players here. The odds are that players in the position that Clay found himself in are not going to hit the target.

Fair do’s..still feel valid point but hey ho

Ps. You must have bloody good hearing btw :)

Quoted from marinerjase

Fair do’s..still feel valid point but hey ho

Ps. You must have bloody good hearing btw :)

Not really, bloke behind me was yelling in my ear ‘NO! NO! DONT!’ before Clarke waded in. Not that Clarke would have heated.

Quoted from arryarryarry

I agree, for me Hendrie had a nightmare. He lacks pace and is completely left for dead on a number of ocassions.

He doesn't lack pace and he is quicker than Hewitt, but the individual he was up against was quicker. He struggled against him, but he is a good defender at this level.

Clarke basically just shoved Clay in the back. It's the sort of tackle a middle-aged man does against his kids while fooling around in the back yard.

Quoted from Mayaman

Clarke basically just shoved Clay in the back. It's the sort of tackle a middle-aged man does against his kids while fooling around in the back yard.

I disagree.

Don't think he pushed him at all. He touched him but he didn't push him. It was enough for Clay to feel hands on his back and go down like he had been pushed though and the ref was quick to give it.

How the ref didn't deem the foul on Clifton right at the end to be a red card i don't know. Clearly denial of goalscoring opportunity, couldn't have been any clearer. Wouldn't have effected the game as it was at the end of injury time but why isn't he sending him off there

Quoted from Tommy

I disagree.

Don't think he pushed him at all. He touched him but he didn't push him. It was enough for Clay to feel hands on his back and go down like he had been pushed though and the ref was quick to give it.

How the ref didn't deem the foul on Clifton right at the end to be a red card i don't know. Clearly denial of goalscoring opportunity, couldn't have been any clearer. Wouldn't have effected the game as it was at the end of injury time but why isn't he sending him off there

If you watch the highlights you'll see a defender to the left of the offending defender who would have got to the ball before Clarke which meant the offending defender was not the last defender, therefore only deemed a yellow card offence...still cheating though by taking Clarke down in that manner!!..

Quoted from Mayaman

Clarke basically just shoved Clay in the back. It's the sort of tackle a middle-aged man does against his kids while fooling around in the back yard.

Disagree. Compare Clarke's "foul" on Clay with Traore disposing Mendy for Wolves' equaliser against Man City a couple of weeks ago. Even VAR didn't think that was a foul. I think we were harshly done to.

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

If you watch the highlights you'll see a defender to the left of the offending defender who would have got to the ball before Clarke which meant the offending defender was not the last defender, therefore only deemed a yellow card offence...still cheating though by taking Clarke down in that manner!!..

Apologies yes it was Clarke, not Clifton.

I've just watched it back again though and I disagree that any Orient player is stopping Clarke get his shot off there. Definite red for DOGSO for me. It's sometimes deceiving when the player fouled goes down and then a covering defender appears after the player's been taken down, but wouldn't have got there had the player not been fouled.

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

If you watch the highlights you'll see a defender to the left of the offending defender who would have got to the ball before Clarke which meant the offending defender was not the last defender, therefore only deemed a yellow card offence...still cheating though by taking Clarke down in that manner!!..

100% disagree as this still from the moment of initial contact shows...

[img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOJ-RzqW4AATJH4?format=jpg&name=medium[/img]

Clarke was clean through on goal without James Brophy fouling him..

200% RED CARD

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

If you watch the highlights you'll see a defender to the left of the offending defender who would have got to the ball before Clarke which meant the offending defender was not the last defender, therefore only deemed a yellow card offence...still cheating though by taking Clarke down in that manner!!..

A red card all day long for me.

Quoted from arryarryarry

A red card all day long for me.

Unfortunately Arry your decision making while undoubtedly better than last Saturday's ref has no significance

I agree with you and I don't know what the assessor would have made of him as some of his decisions were very questionable shall we say....

For example that ball on the touchline nearest to us that the assistant ref didn't flag as out ( when looking straight down the line ) yet the ref from an infield position over-rules him ( and this in the passage of play before their goal )

I dare say the Leyton fans could find some decisions too that they didn't like but all in all the guy in the middle wasn't much kop all game

Having said that he was in charge of our 5-2 win over Port Vale earlier in the season and I don't recall too many negative comments. Maybe it's because we didn't get the win at Leyton that he's come under scrutiny

Quoted from FishOutOfWater

Unfortunately Arry your decision making while undoubtedly better than last Saturday's ref has no significance

I agree with you and I don't know what the assessor would have made of him as some of his decisions were very questionable shall we say....

For example that ball on the touchline nearest to us that the assistant ref didn't flag as out ( when looking straight down the line ) yet the ref from an infield position over-rules him ( and this in the passage of play before their goal )

I dare say the Leyton fans could find some decisions too that they didn't like but all in all the guy in the middle wasn't much kop all game

Having said that he was in charge of our 5-2 win over Port Vale earlier in the season and I don't recall too many negative comments. Maybe it's because we didn't get the win at Leyton that he's come under scrutiny

No its because on this occasion he was rubbish., people were commenting how bad he was when we were leading.