Just Back

Quoted from Meza

They were very complimentary of Macca reading their forum.

No wonder it's a great volley by Wolly to open the score but....................................James Macca

Take a bow son,

I have been following town for over fifty years but that goes down as one of the best goalkeeping displays ever.

Never mind about the last immense save their all talking about, to me the first two reflex saves from close range are as good as it gets.

What an incredible performance by everyone but particularly one man Super "they shall not pass" MACCA

ENJOY THIS GUYS.

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11594513/exeter-1-2-grimsby

I'm going to get loads of red crosses for this, but i don't think it was a srnd8ng off, yes he dived in but he won the ball, so he followed through in the tackle but it pretty impossible to stop yourselves when sliding.  Back in the day it might've been a foul at best, but please don't give me this crap that the game has changed because it hasn't i my eyes   a tackle os a tackle end 🤔of

Quoted from Civvy at last

Matt Rhead is the perfect example of the women in the Barcelona.    


Somewhat overweight and goes down far too easily 😄

No need to bring my wife into this

Slightly concerned that despite two heroic backs to the wall victories , that we are simply allowing the opposition far to many opportunities on our goal.
Incredible blocks and miraculous saves but if we allow better quality players that sort of chances next Saturday it could be a cricket score!

Another way to look at it if we get Cardwell/Akheem in a good run of form with Thomas we can hit teams on the break.

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

Another way to look at it if we get Cardwell/Akheem in a good run of form with Thomas we can hit teams on the break.

This sounds like the glass half full vs half empty debate
Personally I suffer from Cenosillicaphobia

Yeah I prefer half full it always feels great when you battle and win against the odds.

Not getting carried away and we have ridden our luck on occasions but who could have foreseen this dramatic turn of form from a couple of months ago?

The most satisfying aspect is the hard work and determination put in by EVERY player and seeing the young players growing better and better.

Pollock took his chance really well and did himself the world of good with that display can be very proud of his first outing.

The balance of youth and experience looks right. Macca, Collins, Thomas, Vernam and Woolford all have bags of that and with the energy of younger players like Cardwell, Rose, Embelton and Clifton to keep up the tempo.

Just glad we have eased our way out of a tricky situation anything else will be a massive bonus.

M.J. and his coaching staff are doing an excellent job in moulding this squad into a fighting unit.

Quoted from Cloudy

Slightly concerned that despite two heroic backs to the wall victories , that we are simply allowing the opposition far to many opportunities on our goal.
Incredible blocks and miraculous saves but if we allow better quality players that sort of chances next Saturday it could be a cricket score!

It's a good point to make. We've had a great set of results this month without playing well in a footballing sense. We've learnt how to stay in games and have found ways to score and both have to be taken as huge improvements from where we were. I get the impression that we are short in certain areas which means we do get pushed back too often. My opinion is that our squad is still a work in progress and as a whole is still unbalanced and hopefully this will be addressed in the transfer window. There is the added problem we've had with injuries to consider too. With what he has had at his disposal, I don't think MJ could have got much more out of the squad and the players themselves couldn't have pulled together a better points haul this month than they have. Is it sustainable how we're playing? I'd say no. What is sustainable is the work ethic and team spirit but to progress we will need to improve certain areas in the matchday eleven. Looking at the transfer window coming up, this is my assessment of the squad..

Sticking with MJ's favoured 4-5-1 / 4-3-3

GKs - we're ok here

Right Back - If Hendrie stays we're fine here
Left Back - If Fox goes, we'll need a replacement unless Famewo is available

Centre Backs - If we look forward two weeks after injuries and suspensions, we're fine here if everything is ok with Famewo

Central Midfield - If Embleton stays, with Hess, Rose, Clifton, Embleton, Welsh we're ok for numbers

Forwards - We've got Thomas, Cook, A Rose and Cardwell which as we play one up front is enough numbers wise but every club should be on the look out for a signing in this department that's going to result in extra goal threat.

Then we come to what I see is the problem area. We seem settled with a midfield three of Hess, Embleton and Clifton. These three are very effective in closing down space and with Clifton and Embleton bursting forward carry a considerable amount of attacking threat. Defensively at times I think they can be physically bullied and defensively I feel that they are left exposed by our wide men as much as our full backs are. There's no doubt that our wide men are putting the effort in, but have they got the attributes to make a cohesive unit?

Wide Areas - Pringle, Woolford, Cardwell, Vernam. Does this area look as strong as other positions? Out of the four, I only see Vernam as a long term prospect for a progressive team in this position once he fully learns aspects of defending.responsibilities. Once he's rounded his game he has the perfect attributes in driving us forward and will be a goal threat and dangerous on counter attacks. Cardwell is a hard working square peg in a round hole at the minute doing the best he can for the team. I see him more as a back up to Thomas in the holding the ball up one up front role. Then we come to left hand side. Both Pringle and Woolford are ball players with a lack of pace and this area I think we need a more dynamic player to help with the pace and physicality of our team unless we stiffen our midfield three up with a more physical player and play Embleton out wide, but then again, this would reduce Embleton's effectiveness. If Fox stays, could Ring do a job here?

So on balance, and hoping Embleton and Hendrie stay until the end of the season, the most important areas I feel we need to improve to impose greater authority and control in games is out wide in midfield. As a club we always need to be on the look out to improve in every position, but wide midfield is our weak link in my opinion and it impacts in every other area of our play..

Quoted from Bigdog

We may not be the finished article by any means, we’ll need players back from injury and two or three new additions in the transfer window, but.. these players are playing for MJ and they’re playing for the shirt. 10% less and they’d have got beat by six today and that’s the difference. Incredible battling performance today full of endeavour, team spirit and exceptionally strong work ethics that should make every Town fan’s heart burst with pride tonight..

So much going on in the match, I’ve probably left out loads of talking points. Great game and an even greater result!!

Great post.Key is now maintaining that endeavour and improving in other areas of the game.

Quoted from Cloudy

Slightly concerned that despite two heroic backs to the wall victories , that we are simply allowing the opposition far to many opportunities on our goal.
Incredible blocks and miraculous saves but if we allow better quality players that sort of chances next Saturday it could be a cricket score!

Amen to that.