Just Back  (merged)

at the b&b. There's 2 hours of my life i will never get back.Thank God it was warm n sunny. Summed up by the fact that watching the Grand National in their pleasant bar was the most exciting thing that happened all afternoon
First half was probably the worst 45 minutes of footie I've watched all season.We improved 2nd half and had a number of chances/half chances which were snuffed out by determined defending.They had very few chances, but did hit the post and were aided by Crocombe having several dodgy moments. Our main threat , until manny and Scannell came on, were from Cropper's long throws.
Clifton and JMD had truly awful games ,whilst McAtee was at his stroppy worst, blaming everyone else, whilst he wasn't doing an awful lot of good himself.
Waterfall just edged Smith as MOTM ,but it was a struggle to pick anyone who had  a good game, in what looked for long periods like a pre season friendly.
shame that we won't be back next year coz its a lovely little town and their a nice friendly club, but that's the only reason this visit will be remembered!

Thats the one side of Mcatee i dont like, in games like this the whole team has to dig in.

Safe trip home to all fans

Noone stepped up today for me. Manny did well when he came on.
Their centre back was very good. Cleared one off the line and made a couple of important blocks.
Mcatee for most parts body language wasn't right and except for a few small patches wasn't his usual self. Maguire drew for me was very poor, alot of hospital passes. We had nothing out wide even though we constantly tried to go from left to right out wide etc. Overall a fulll game which they hit the post and wasted a free header in the 90th minute. Felt they set up today to frustrate us and packed out the middle of the park to make us play the way we did.
I guess in the circumstances (Borehamwood and Notts both losing) we have to try be positive and say its a point more than our rivals got.

MOTM pfft. Difficult to say. Probably Waterfall.

Quoted from Hagrid

Thats the one side of Mcatee i dont like, in games like this the whole team has to dig in.

Safe trip home to all fans

You’re not allowed to say this, people don’t like honesty…

In some ways games like this are harder. We will probably give Stockport a good game and follow it up with a point or none against King's Lynn.

Surprised no one has beaten me to it so here goes.
I feared the worst when the taxi driver who took me from the station to the ground reckoned that given the almost certainty that Weymouth were going down their players had effectively given up with some of them already on their holidays. Too many times over the years of non-league matches we've seen teams raise their game against us. We should have won.....convincingly. That we didn't can be put down to three things as far as I could see.
1. Weymouth's willingness to put their bodies on the line. I lost count at the number of last minute blocks or tackles- particularly late on.
2. Some bad luck-shots deflected to safety etc.
3. And most importantly for me the failure of certain players to execute their part in what was perhaps the clearest game plan I've seen for a long while. Rarely this season if at all has a Town team made so much use of width. We now have players who can consistently cross the ball well, be it in the air or low inviting the likes of Taylor to get in front of their marker at the near post. Sadly, too many times particularly in the second half, where we had no-one prepared to gamble in the box and nick a goal. The fact that three of our best chances fell to Smith (2) and the irrepressible Waterfall tells a story. Defensively we were pretty decent apart from one aberration on the part of Crocombe where he inexplicably passed to an opponent who to be fair was so surprised he didn't make the best of it and a free kick which thumped Crocombes left hand post.
Midfield got through some sterling work-our command of that area was unchallenged and some of the passing was exquisite.
There was an interesting 20 minutes or so from Manny D who proved a real handful. The only time their keeper dropped the ball Manny was there but his goal bound effort struck a defender on the line.
Scannell did some good work with some excellent crosses at a time when the efforts of some Weymouth players had left them barely able to stand.
Six minutes of time added on simply prolonged the agony.
In my view 2 points definitely lost but it would take a special sort of awkwardness to be disappointed with four points from the last two games.

Fair play to Weymouth they had a game plan to shut us down and it worked. No one had a bad game, with Clifton being the most attacking player today and my MoM.

Just wasn't to be, move on to the next game.

Admin. Please merge

After the Lord Mayor's show at Chesterfield comes the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations for Weymouth.
We go from playing in front of an almost 8000 atmospheric electric, wall of noise crowd in a very good stadium to 1200 in a tidy but very non-league ground. However hard the players try, it must be more difficult to replicate a performance in such differering circumstances. No excuses just a fact of life.
Anyway, we get a point and a firm reminder of things just before the succulent Good Friday game against Stockpot. Yummmmmeeeeeee.

Tough match today, Weymouth were really hard to breakdown. We've lost a few of these kind of games this season so a point isn't a total disaster. Thought we were the better team for most of it but as we've seen a lot this season, the ball flashed across the box a few times and we had nobody there to knock it in. I think we saw JMD's biggest limitation in his lack of pace. Several times he couldn't get on the end of balls, one of which was a ball from Clifton towards the byline that seemed really well weighted. Him and McAtee had a few moments in which JMD made poor choices too, however the pair of them carved out our best opportunity together.

I thought McAtee did alright personally. He does seem stroppy at times but it's quite often rightfully so, lost count of the amount of times that he wriggled past two players in four or so yards of space and then we'd lose possession immediately after he's given it to someone as they've either miscontrolled it or not been aware that they were about to get closed down.

I don't think Holohan or Jones got a hold of what was a scrappy game in the middle of the park.

I also didn't think it was anywhere near as bad as the Wealdstone/Solihull/Dagenham/Southend away performances.

Fao barralad. In the strikers defence every cross's fromm MD today was massively over hit or didn't leave the floor

Safe home to all that travelled, we clearly should beat sides like that based upon the league table but sometimes it doesn’t happen.

It’s still in our hands but we’ll at least need to avoid defeat on Friday and win on Easter Monday.

Good teams find a way to win, just saying.

It is certainly squeaky bum time, but obviously, I would rather have a squeaky bum than be out of the picture with 7 games to go.

I think we would do well in the playoffs, but the biggest problem is getting there.

Although we are slightly better off than this morning, it doesn't feel like it with Dagenham not giving up and even Torquay making a late push, and we play them in a couple of weeks.

On the positive side, I think Boreham Wood are finished, and Notts County's confidence will have taken a dip after their thrashing today.

Next Friday is very tough, and on paper at least our rivals have easy or easier games so although I am still hopeful we can make the playoffs it is going to be a nervy ride.

Quoted from barralad

Surprised no one has beaten me to it so here goes.
I feared the worst when the taxi driver who took me from the station to the ground reckoned that given the almost certainty that Weymouth were going down their players had effectively given up with some of them already on their holidays. Too many times over the years of non-league matches we've seen teams raise their game against us. We should have won.....convincingly. That we didn't can be put down to three things as far as I could see.
1. Weymouth's willingness to put their bodies on the line. I lost count at the number of last minute blocks or tackles- particularly late on.
2. Some bad luck-shots deflected to safety etc.
3. And most importantly for me the failure of certain players to execute their part in what was perhaps the clearest game plan I've seen for a long while. Rarely this season if at all has a Town team made so much use of width. We now have players who can consistently cross the ball well, be it in the air or low inviting the likes of Taylor to get in front of their marker at the near post. Sadly, too many times particularly in the second half, where we had no-one prepared to gamble in the box and nick a goal. The fact that three of our best chances fell to Smith (2) and the irrepressible Waterfall tells a story. Defensively we were pretty decent apart from one aberration on the part of Crocombe where he inexplicably passed to an opponent who to be fair was so surprised he didn't make the best of it and a free kick which thumped Crocombes left hand post.
Midfield got through some sterling work-our command of that area was unchallenged and some of the passing was exquisite.
There was an interesting 20 minutes or so from Manny D who proved a real handful. The only time their keeper dropped the ball Manny was there but his goal bound effort struck a defender on the line.
Scannell did some good work with some excellent crosses at a time when the efforts of some Weymouth players had left them barely able to stand.
Six minutes of time added on simply prolonged the agony.
In my view 2 points definitely lost but it would take a special sort of awkwardness to be disappointed with four points from the last two games.

Thanks mate. Totally trust your judgement. Safe  journey back.

Hate to say it but thrashing Chesterfield is no good when you go and draw at a club like Weymouth who are guaranteed to go down.

If we take 2 points a game for the rest of the season, we'll end up with a play-off spot, so it certainly is good enough.

Marathon, not a sprint, etc...

My biggest concern now is whether we have 2 or 3 good consecutive performances in us providing we do finish in a play-off spot.

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Hate to say it but thrashing Chesterfield is no good when you go and draw at a club like Weymouth who are guaranteed to go down.

Ok, so let me follow your logic. Are you saying that the three points we picked up in last week’s tricky away fixture are now null and void, or that it would have been better not to have won there at all?

Going into the Chesterfield game we were 1 point clear of 8th placed Boreham Wood, who had 3 games in had. Following today’s game, we’re now 4 points clear of Boreham Wood, who now have only 2 games in hand.

Which part of that is ‘no good’?

Quoted from Poojah

Ok, so let me follow your logic. Are you saying that the three points we picked up in last week’s tricky away fixture are now null and void, or that it would have been better not to have won there at all?

Going into the Chesterfield game we were 1 point clear of 8th placed Boreham Wood, who had 3 games in had. Following today’s game, we’re now 4 points clear of Boreham Wood, who now have only 2 games in hand.

Which part of that is ‘no good’?

C'mon pal, stop trying to reason with the nay sayers on this board ..their nowhere to be seen when we get good results but climb out the woodwork as soon as it's a "not so good" day.. honestly I give up, I'm banging my head on the sideboard as we speak!!

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

C'mon pal, stop trying to reason with the nay sayers on this board ..their nowhere to be seen when we get good results but climb out the woodwork as soon as it's a "not so good" day.. honestly I give up, I'm banging my head on the sideboard as we speak!!

I just find it a bit odd. It’s football; you’re not going to win every game all season. You’ll get some wins and some defeats you didn’t expect - we’ve spent enough time in this division to know that, but you have to look at the bigger picture.

Boreham Wood have hardly won a game since they knocked Bournemouth out the cup. Bromley have dropped off a cliff. Are Notts County fans content with their 5-1 spanking at Torquay this afternoon?

The crux of posts like that is basically “yeah, but I’d rather we’d won”. It’s an almost childlike response; the amount of times I have arguments with my primary school aged kids which basically go “yeah, yeah, yeah, I don’t care about all of these other external factors, I just WANT it and I WANT it now”, followed by the usual tears and histrionics. “No, you’re not having it you little cúnts because that’s life, and in life you don’t always get what you want”.

Football, like life, is a competitive sport. There are others going about their business to fulfil their own objectives and to dent yours. Yeah, it’s sad that a club of Town’s stature can’t comfortably dispatch the likes of Weymouth, but that’s a product of the last 20 years, not this afternoon.

There were always going to be afternoon’s like today’s, but as it happens on balance we’re better off than we were 24 hours ago, and better off than if we’d won 5-0 and Boreham Wood and Notts County had won themselves, as might have been expected.

This has been a funny season but on the whole we’re doing ok under the circumstances. Anyone who feels Town are not meeting expectations had misguided expectations at the outset.

Quoted from Poojah

Ok, so let me follow your logic. Are you saying that the three points we picked up in last week’s tricky away fixture are now null and void, or that it would have been better not to have won there at all?

Going into the Chesterfield game we were 1 point clear of 8th placed Boreham Wood, who had 3 games in had. Following today’s game, we’re now 4 points clear of Boreham Wood, who now have only 2 games in hand.

Which part of that is ‘no good’?

We had it earlier in the season when we backed up a win against Wrexham with a draw against Maidenhead. I think most of us would have taken 4 points from 2 games in both circumstances and I would rather the 3 points come against a play-off rival.

We will finish 7th & face Solihull Moors away in the play offs.  

Right for a start I’m one of the most positive posters on here although I know fook all about football. I’m pretty sure that hurst and the players won’t be happy with just a point today at a team that most of our promotion rivals have beaten. I was ecstatic with the performance at Chesterfield and how we smashed them that sent a real message to all the teams above us . Just saying that Weymouth would’ve come off the pitch feeling like they’d won .

Certainly no doom and gloom from here. It was bloody frustrating and a bit naive at times such as limping it up to Taylor who was really well marshaled but their excellent centre back.
We should have won and created enough chances to do so but a combination of good defending and profligacy meant we didn’t take those chances. A very similar game to Kings Lynn at home. If I offered all of you 4 points from the next 2 games you’d all take it.
Gonna be a crackling game on Friday so I for one am really looking forward to it.

Plenty of twists and turns yet to be had, teams around us dropped points, while we picked one up, so not a terrible overall outcome...but feels disappointing all the same.
During the Stockport coverage earlier it showed their run in, they still have something like 7 of the top 10 still to play so at least one team in the mix is going to drop points every week before the season is over.
The way they looked I doubt they will be dropping too many so they could be doing us a few favours before the season is over.
Let's give them a jolt next week so they are more determined for the rest of the season.

Trouble is that once they have confirmed promotion they msy ease off a la Rochdale in 2010

Quoted from Heswall Mariner

We will finish 7th & face Solihull Moors away in the play offs.  

I’d be inclined to agree with that, except for the fact they have a pretty hellish run-in; their two Easter games are against Wrexham and Stockport, and then their final three are against Bromley, Dagenham and Boreham Wood.

Chesterfield’s isn’t much better, so here’s a left-field prediction for you: Notts County to take 5th spot. If they do, they’ll have done it in good form but having played exclusively dross for several weeks.

I’d take that, assuming we can do our bit and take 7th place.

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Just saying that Weymouth would’ve come off the pitch feeling like they’d won .

This.

First can I just say these are the sort of away days I’ll miss when we eventually get out of this league, friendly staff and the nice bloke in the car park let me in for free as I went to the game on my motorbike!
As for the game, very disappointing, for a team who still needs points to secure a play off place and after such a confident boosting result last week,  2 points dropped.
Town were poor today or should I say their final third play and finishing was poor, lost count of the times we got to the bye line and put in a sub standard cross,
No one should be happy with a point today, game was there for the taking and poor finishing cost us, we’ll see if these points we’re dropping to the likes of Weymouth, kings Lynn etc will affect our league position, I’m certain we will finish in a playoff position but how well we do in them is another matter

Weymouth great town for a urine up that’s it. The football today not even worth talking about. Move on Stockport Friday big Win needed because lose this one then the pressure builds for Kings Lynn who are putting up a fight.

It's a point gained in terms of Notts Co and Boreham Wood. Two lost if we're nervous about Dagenham or if we had any genuine belief that we'd overtake Chesterfield.

Kind of as you were, really.

Mathematically a lot is still possible. I'd say Bromley are out of the playoff picture now, and Boreham Wood (in this form) are really going to struggle, but our home game against them could yet be pivotal.

I'm just a bit weary of Torquay now. They got a great win today and they're in decent form. If they get a win at BP in a couple of weeks, that'll really bring them into it.

I think we need to be realistic. If we're to make the playoffs, it's going to be 6th or 7th.

Historically, since 7th has been a playoff place, 75 points usually guarantees it. I think 69 was good enough last season although each team played two games fewer because of Dover's decision not to compete.

I think another four wins, plus a couple of draws should be enough to see us in there.

Quoted from barralad

Surprised no one has beaten me to it so here goes.
I feared the worst when the taxi driver who took me from the station to the ground reckoned that given the almost certainty that Weymouth were going down their players had effectively given up with some of them already on their holidays. Too many times over the years of non-league matches we've seen teams raise their game against us. We should have won.....convincingly. That we didn't can be put down to three things as far as I could see.
1. Weymouth's willingness to put their bodies on the line. I lost count at the number of last minute blocks or tackles- particularly late on.
2. Some bad luck-shots deflected to safety etc.
3. And most importantly for me the failure of certain players to execute their part in what was perhaps the clearest game plan I've seen for a long while. Rarely this season if at all has a Town team made so much use of width. We now have players who can consistently cross the ball well, be it in the air or low inviting the likes of Taylor to get in front of their marker at the near post. Sadly, too many times particularly in the second half, where we had no-one prepared to gamble in the box and nick a goal. The fact that three of our best chances fell to Smith (2) and the irrepressible Waterfall tells a story. Defensively we were pretty decent apart from one aberration on the part of Crocombe where he inexplicably passed to an opponent who to be fair was so surprised he didn't make the best of it and a free kick which thumped Crocombes left hand post.
Midfield got through some sterling work-our command of that area was unchallenged and some of the passing was exquisite.
There was an interesting 20 minutes or so from Manny D who proved a real handful. The only time their keeper dropped the ball Manny was there but his goal bound effort struck a defender on the line.
Scannell did some good work with some excellent crosses at a time when the efforts of some Weymouth players had left them barely able to stand.
Six minutes of time added on simply prolonged the agony.
In my view 2 points definitely lost but it would take a special sort of awkwardness to be disappointed with four points from the last two games.

Always the "just back" I look for. Thanks

the point is that beating chesterfield away with a brill performance followed by an uninspiring draw at v non league weymouth sums up why town aren't winning the league / going up. not professional/committed/disciplined/consistent enough to get promoted. 2 examples-  jmd and holohan been very impressive - but completely anonymous today. league winners have players who perform 3 out of 4 or 4 out 5 games. we don't have enough of them

You don't have to be a good footballing side to prevent a good footballing side from winning. You just need a game plan and discipline. Although I wasn't at the match, I get the impression that Weymouth had both.

Crocombe has started making quite a few mistakes lately.  Taylor and M. Drew could do with a rest and give Manny and Abrahams a go from the start. We are lacking the killer instincts which these two could provide.

Quoted from forza ivano

the point is that beating chesterfield away with a brill performance followed by an uninspiring draw at v non league weymouth sums up why town aren't winning the league / going up. not professional/committed/disciplined/consistent enough to get promoted. 2 examples-  jmd and holohan been very impressive - but completely anonymous today. league winners have players who perform 3 out of 4 or 4 out 5 games. we don't have enough of them

Clearly we’re not consistent enough but to say the side aren’t professional, committed or disciplined is a really cheap shot IMHO.

If you use the analogy “forming-storming-norming-performing” which is a process teams go through yesterdays match squad are clearly at stage 2 of that process.

The consistency may come when and if this group stays together for a period of time. The consistency in individuals will come when they play half a dozen games on the bang and get truly match fit, I suspect the 2 you call out above are at least a couple of games away from that space.

In terms of winning leagues, if memory serves me right we’ve won 3 since the end of WW2 this season like all seasons we’re not the biggest spenders so I for one don’t expect us to finish top of the table.

Quoted from golfer

Crocombe has started making quite a few mistakes lately.  Taylor and M. Drew could do with a rest and give Manny and Abrahams a go from the start. We are lacking the killer instincts which these two could provide.

Manny yes. Abrahams I have to disagree. I'd prefer Scannel or even Sousa.. But that's just my opinion. Although I do feel Taylor and Mcatee have a good understanding, it just wasn't to be yesterday.

Quoted from golfer

Crocombe has started making quite a few mistakes lately.  Taylor and M. Drew could do with a rest and give Manny and Abrahams a go from the start. We are lacking the killer instincts which these two could provide.

Lost count of the times Crocombe dropped the ball when catching from crosses and what he was he doing passing to a Weymouth player? He was very lucky not to concede.
Taylor was poor yesterday, I know he’s there to link up the play and everything but Dieseruvwe in the 20 minutes he was on did all that and was more of a goal threat than Taylor was, add to the fact his goals per game is far better than Taylors I would be quite happy for him to start against Stockport I think Maguire Drew just had an off day, I would certainly start with him.

Quoted from Sussexmariner

Lost count of the times Crocombe dropped the ball when catching from crosses and what he was he doing passing to a Weymouth player? He was very lucky not to concede.
Taylor was poor yesterday, I know he’s there to link up the play and everything but Dieseruvwe in the 20 minutes he was on did all that and was more of a goal threat than Taylor was, add to the fact his goals per game is far better than Taylors I would be quite happy for him to start against Stockport I think Maguire Drew just had an off day, I would certainly start with him.

Taylor will start against Stockport. Probably be the same starting XI as today if all fit. We need to treat it as a cup game, we'll have a full house, they are a "League 1" team with the players they have and we have history with Challinor...

From what I heard on the radio and have read on here and the Weymouth forum, sounds like we've missed some really good chances and they've defended heroically, especially in the second half. On balance, we'd win that game far more often than not so far from the catastrophe some are making it out to be. Three teams that could quite possibly make up 50% of the play offs in ourselves, Notts County and Chesterfield, have all drawn there and Stockport needed a last minute winner. Ultimately, yeah of course I would have liked us to blow them away like we did Chesterfield, but beforehand I was hoping for 4 points from these two away games and i'm happy we've got that, even if I expected the results to be the other way around.

For me i'd make 1 change .. Scannell right wing.

Abrahams - killer instinct? His goal record hardly suggests he has that quality!

If we don't make play offs tow things stand out - lack of cutting edge/killer instinct in front of goal and the awful run earlier in season

Torquay flying and Daggers not out of it - so more pressure piling up on us and other teams above those two

Honestly feel if we don't go up this season but can keep bulk of this squad for next season and add a Bogle/Amond-type strike partnership we could go very close next season

But getting strikers of quality is proving harder each season - I'm afraid you have to splash the cash and then convince players that living in and around Grimsby is something to whet the appetite...not easy

We do however need to find a couple of X Factor-type forwards - look how many times Wrexham have scored late winners largely through Mullin/Palmer

Quoted from lukeo

For me i'd make 1 change .. Scannell right wing.

But we know PH won't do that against Stockport. I can see Scans and Many starting against King's Lynn.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

But we know PH won't do that against Stockport. I can see Scans and Many starting against King's Lynn.

I’d like to see Many start at some point soon.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

But we know PH won't do that against Stockport. I can see Scans and Many starting against King's Lynn.

Should have started today IMO

Just don’t think Taylor will be dropped…he might have had an off day but he was phenomenal against Chesterfield.  He’s been one of our most consistent performers this season too.

JMD is a frustrating one….has a quality cross and strike in him, but is not blessed with pace and I think his overall fitness is still questionable.

Got home late last night and just got up.
The match strangely had a feel of an end of season dead rubber match.  We had no urgency in the first half and our passing game was not happening effectively.  Start of the second half we improved before dropping off again.
Unlucky maybe to not have scored given our numerous chances but it’s all about putting it in the net and not about almost scored.
Jones and Holohan were too deep and no one carried the ball forward trying to make something happen.  They did hit the post and missed a header in the last minute and they seemed to block everything.
Loved Weymouth, the people and bumping in to Town fans all over on Fri night and Sat morning for friendly chats.
Now we need to get back to our Chesterfield performance mode for Friday against Stockport.

Waterfall motm for me.

Quoted from sam gy

Just don’t think Taylor will be dropped…he might have had an off day but he was phenomenal against Chesterfield.  He’s been one of our most consistent performers this season too.

JMD is a frustrating one….has a quality cross and strike in him, but is not blessed with pace and I think his overall fitness is still questionable.

When he was on Humberside recently JMD did say his fitness wasn’t quite there and he was doing extra work before and after training.

Quoted from Maringer

If we take 2 points a game for the rest of the season, we'll end up with a play-off spot, so it certainly is good enough.

Marathon, not a sprint, etc...

My biggest concern now is whether we have 2 or 3 good consecutive performances in us providing we do finish in a play-off spot.

How do we get two points from a game?

Quoted from GYinScuntland

How do we get two points from a game?

7 games left. Win 4, draw 2, lose 1. 14 points. 2 points per game.

Not easy but I actually think that’s doable based on our remaining fixtures. Stockport is the only game we won’t go into as favourites.

can't knock the overall effort, after the euphoria of last week really  disappointed as it put's real pressure on us to edge the play off spot. So poor in front  goal lacked some compposure. Inproved some what in the 2nd half but it wasn't to be  

Quoted from Eastendmariner

can't knock the overall effort, after the euphoria of last week really  disappointed as it put's real pressure on us to edge the play off spot. So poor in front  goal lacked some compposure. Inproved some what in the 2nd half but it wasn't to be  

From commentary it sounded like any chances we had fell to non strikers, it's the way Hurst sets up, Taylor does alot of work outside the box and with Macatee as a number10 we rely on wingers/ midfielders hitting the box for opportunities.
The build up is good but lack of a dedicated goal hanger and also poor crosses limits our guilt edge chances.
Watching Podge score a typical goal last night just highlights it, it was a tap in really but his movement to the space where he anticipated it going got him the goal, he didn't react to the ball, he anticipated it.
Cropper's throws have been largely wasted so far, how many have bounced through the six yard box with no one arriving? It's that kind of opportunistic player we could do with.

Watching our highlights - feck me there was a couple cleared off the line that we really should have bust the net with - Podge would have buried them. All 4 goals at Chesterfield were superb strikes and beautiful footballing creations - we haven't had enough scruffy goals this season.

A lot of people in this thread seem to have forgotten that it's difficult to beat teams in relegation battles at the end of the season. We don't want to be playing the Weymouths and Kings Lynns away in April. But we should beat them because we're Grimsby? People need a reality check if they think we're gonna steamroller Kings Lynn. We've been Kings Lynn in this situation many a time and got a result against a bigger name.

8 points from the last 12 available on the road which includes matches against 2 playoff contenders and a 10 hour round trip and people are whinging.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

When he was on Humberside recently JMD did say his fitness wasn’t quite there and he was doing extra work before and after training.

Hurst has also said he doesn't think he'll be at the right level of fitness until next season, I seem to remember.

Quoted from moosey_club

From commentary it sounded like any chances we had fell to non strikers, it's the way Hurst sets up, Taylor does alot of work outside the box and with Macatee as a number10 we rely on wingers/ midfielders hitting the box for opportunities.
The build up is good but lack of a dedicated goal hanger and also poor crosses limits our guilt edge chances.
Watching Podge score a typical goal last night just highlights it, it was a tap in really but his movement to the space where he anticipated it going got him the goal, he didn't react to the ball, he anticipated it.
Cropper's throws have been largely wasted so far, how many have bounced through the six yard box with no one arriving? It's that kind of opportunistic player we could do with.

Spot on!

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Watching our highlights - feck me there was a couple cleared off the line that we really should have bust the net with - Podge would have buried them. All 4 goals at Chesterfield were superb strikes and beautiful footballing creations - we haven't had enough scruffy goals this season.

My point exactly...

I think it’s been fairly obvious that this squad has been missing that instinctive, fox in the box type all season. Podge was the type of player that would get you out of sticky situations when you weren’t playing well. This season, if we haven’t been on our game we’ve dropped points. In fact, even when we’ve played reasonably well there have been times when we’ve come away with nothing because we didn’t take our chances (Notts County, Chesterfield etc).

The question I have is, if we signed that player tomorrow, where would they fit into the system?

Quoted from Poojah

I think it’s been fairly obvious that this squad has been missing that instinctive, fox in the box type all season. Podge was the type of player that would get you out of sticky situations when you weren’t playing well. This season, if we haven’t been on our game we’ve dropped points. In fact, even when we’ve played reasonably well there have been times when we’ve come away with nothing because we didn’t take our chances (Notts County, Chesterfield etc).

The question I have is, if we signed that player tomorrow, where would they fit into the system?

Exactly. Takes me back to earlier in the season when we effectively had no strikers when McAtee, Taylor and LJL were all either injured, unfit or suspended. People going absolutely mental (myself included) at wanting Hurst to sign a striker but he was adamant that it wasn’t *that* simple and you may end up having to change the system to accommodate one.

Had plenty of chances falling to the likes of Clifton, JMD and Sousa in and around the back post but that’s a feature of the way we play with Taylor in the single role, it needs the wide player on the other flank to come in and give another option behind Taylor. You’re just hoping that these players have the fitness to be bombing up & down the wing and always be there, and then the composure to finish when given the opportunity.

Thing is you’re not going to get someone with Amond’s finishing ability who’ll offer you the same quality as JMD, or work rate as Clifton, wide on that 3. Not at our level anyway. Abrahams has done ok but nothing spectacular, coming in on the left. I wouldn’t expect Hurst to completely change the way we play to accommodate individual aberrations like JMD missing from 6 yards on Saturday, or Clifton missing a free header at home to Chesterfield.

Just one of those innit.

Anyone know the away attendance?

Quoted from Poojah

I think it’s been fairly obvious that this squad has been missing that instinctive, fox in the box type all season. Podge was the type of player that would get you out of sticky situations when you weren’t playing well. This season, if we haven’t been on our game we’ve dropped points. In fact, even when we’ve played reasonably well there have been times when we’ve come away with nothing because we didn’t take our chances (Notts County, Chesterfield etc).

The question I have is, if we signed that player tomorrow, where would they fit into the system?

Our last promotion winning team didn't have that kind of player and the goals were shared around alot with Donovan leading scorer as a winger with the right to roam with 16 and he also was penalty taker (and missed on in the play-off final). Taylor is in the Livvo role bringing other players into play in and around the box.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Our last promotion winning team didn't have that kind of player and the goals were shared around alot with Donovan leading scorer as a winger with the right to roam with 16 and he also was penalty taker (and missed on in the play-off final). Taylor is in the Livvo role bringing other players into play in and around the box.

We can’t be justifying not needing a proper goal scorer by using data from 24 years ago, surely?

I get the goals around the pitch theory, the issue is when you have days like Saturday, the best teams find ways to win and it’s usually the top scorer who comes up with the goods. We have some good players in this side but we’re a Podge away from being a promotion winning side IMO

In 97/98 we finished third, on 72 points from 46 games, and won the play-offs (as if anyone can forget).

We scored 55 goals in the league that season.

We've scored 55 goals this season already, and we've still got 7 games to play. It's likely we'll also surpass 72 points from just 44 games (or at least we should, if we want to finish in the top 7).

Obviously the cup runs in 97/98 season added to that sense of greatness, but in general our performance overall in the league this season has been on par with results in 97/98, if not better.

Clearly no one wants us playing at this level, losing to the likes of Solihull etc, but you know, in 97/98 we had good League 1 players in League 1. This season we have good National League players playing in the National League. It's all relative.

Quoted from RichMariner

In 97/98 we finished third, on 72 points from 46 games, and won the play-offs (as if anyone can forget).

We scored 55 goals in the league that season.

We've scored 55 goals this season already, and we've still got 7 games to play. It's likely we'll also surpass 72 points from just 44 games (or at least we should, if we want to finish in the top 7).

Obviously the cup runs in 97/98 season added to that sense of greatness, but in general our performance overall in the league this season has been on par with results in 97/98, if not better.

Clearly no one wants us playing at this level, losing to the likes of Solihull etc, but you know, in 97/98 we had good League 1 players in League 1. This season we have good National League players playing in the National League. It's all relative.

I don't think that many people expected us to win the play-offs that season either. We weren't in the best of form have won only 2 of the last 10 games going into them and then we had to play money-bags Fulham in the semi-finals. What an end to the season it turned out to be though!

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Our last promotion winning team didn't have that kind of player and the goals were shared around alot with Donovan leading scorer as a winger with the right to roam with 16 and he also was penalty taker (and missed on in the play-off final). Taylor is in the Livvo role bringing other players into play in and around the box.

We only averaged 1.07 goals per game though that season, as brilliant as the football was at times. We were of course famously strong at the back, conceding only 0.8 goals per game on average.

Still, we did have Donovan who scored 21 in all competitions from the wing, as well as Groves who got 12 from midfield. McAtee is probably the closest comparison to Donovan (although a slightly different type of player), but he’s the only one in the squad in (low) double figures, and then there’s only Taylor and Clifton with more than 5.

If we are in this division next season, I think a lot of our summer focus should and will be centered on end product, although I think the more recent additions of Jordan Maguire-Drew and Gavin Holohan already go some way to address that matter (despite JMD’s two recent horror misses).

In 1997/98 we also had progress in 2 more cups.  FA Cup and the League Cup.   Only stopped by away games at Liverpool and Leeds.  Both teams were near the top of the PL at the time.  

A great season.  We were good in the league, playoffs, the Trophy and 2 main national cup competitions. We also won 2 games at Wembley within 6 weeks, our first ever visits to Wembley.

Good at everything really, and having the endurance to pull it off and win.

I wasn’t advocating not having a poacher podge-like player - be great to have that option. But of the 7 promotions in my lifetime we’ve only had a 20 goal striker in two of those. Tees and Podge. Both came for a song and surpassed all expectations.
Of course, Drinks was a massive player in 79/80 and he shared 31 goals with Kilmore who was also bargain from Scunny.
Super Clive’s goals helped keep us in the second tier and he is probably the best striker signing for GTFC in my lifetime, Birtles and Livvo are probably the biggest "names" and neither scored many, but did a huge amount of link up play and in Livvo's case alot of hard graft.

PS I guess what I'm trying to say in a rambling sort of way, is that GTFC don't really do big-name striker signings at any level

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

I wasn’t advocating not having a poacher podge-like player - be great to have that option. But of the 7 promotions in my lifetime we’ve only had a 20 goal striker in two of those. Tees and Podge. Both came for a song and surpassed all expectations.
Of course, Drinks was a massive player in 79/80 and he shared 31 goals with Kilmore who was also bargain from Scunny.
Super Clive’s goals helped keep us in the second tier and he is probably the best striker signing for GTFC in my lifetime, Birtles and Livvo are probably the biggest "names" and neither scored many, but did a huge amount of link up play and in Livvo's case alot of hard graft.

PS I guess what I'm trying to say in a rambling sort of way, is that GTFC don't really do big-name striker signings at any level

Not rambling at all. Some very good points. Without wishing to stir up the 'we need a number 9' hornets nest, I would still rather we not have the over reliance on one player. The 4-2-3-1 system ironically does not focus on feeding the 1. It is actually about the 1 acting as a focal point to create space for the 3. If it is working successfully you would anticipate maybe 15 from the front man and 8-10 from each of the 3. Naturally  the rest of the team should chip in getting you towards the 60-70 total. If you have a solid back line, this should get you enough wins. I will stop now as I am actually boring myself....

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

I wasn’t advocating not having a poacher podge-like player - be great to have that option. But of the 7 promotions in my lifetime we’ve only had a 20 goal striker in two of those. Tees and Podge. Both came for a song and surpassed all expectations.
Of course, Drinks was a massive player in 79/80 and he shared 31 goals with Kilmore who was also bargain from Scunny.
Super Clive’s goals helped keep us in the second tier and he is probably the best striker signing for GTFC in my lifetime, Birtles and Livvo are probably the biggest "names" and neither scored many, but did a huge amount of link up play and in Livvo's case alot of hard graft.

PS I guess what I'm trying to say in a rambling sort of way, is that GTFC don't really do big-name striker signings at any level

Data that doesn't suit agendas is void though. I know lots of things have gone on at Chesterfield but their bad run also coincides with a player that had scored half of their goals at that point getting injured for the season.

He had scored 70% of their goals

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Our last promotion winning team didn't have that kind of player and the goals were shared around alot with Donovan leading scorer as a winger with the right to roam with 16 and he also was penalty taker (and missed on in the play-off final). Taylor is in the Livvo role bringing other players into play in and around the box.

It's easy to forget that we were promoted from non-league obscurity in 2016. Of course, Fenty hung around like a fart in a lift and took us down again five years later after zero progress.

Quoted from chaos33

He had scored 70% of their goals

48%

Quoted from RichMariner

In 97/98 we finished third, on 72 points from 46 games, and won the play-offs (as if anyone can forget).

We scored 55 goals in the league that season.

We've scored 55 goals this season already, and we've still got 7 games to play. It's likely we'll also surpass 72 points from just 44 games (or at least we should, if we want to finish in the top 7).

Obviously the cup runs in 97/98 season added to that sense of greatness, but in general our performance overall in the league this season has been on par with results in 97/98, if not better.

Clearly no one wants us playing at this level, losing to the likes of Solihull etc, but you know, in 97/98 we had good League 1 players in League 1. This season we have good National League players playing in the National League. It's all relative.

But we were not playing the likes of Dover in 97/98 who we have score1 in 6 of goals against this year. Instead we were playing Fulham Watford  Bristol City Burnley etc etc

He covered that bit in his last paragraph.

Quoted from HerveJosse

But we were not playing the likes of Dover in 97/98 who we have score1 in 6 of goals against this year. Instead we were playing Fulham Watford  Bristol City Burnley etc etc

Like he said though, it's all relative.