Not good enough.

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

@pontoonlew we were excellent at home to Kidderminster and scunny and Huddersfield and Cambridge away.

Couldn't argue with you that we were good. I'd ask you this though, is being able to name 2 league games we can say we played well in, in a whole season acceptable?

Quoted from Madeleymariner

Problem we have is we rely on the opposition not scoring, if they do then it seems pretty much a lottery of how many points we get from the game.

What a bizarre comment. Do we rely on the opposition not scoring or do we have an excellent defensive record based on a well organised back 5. Any team the records three clean sheets in a row away from home does more than rely on the opposition not scoring. Can't get my head around it being a lottery how many points we get when we concede either.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion etc etc. The problem with posting negative comments on a public forum is that eventually it becomes divisive and risks affecting the confidence of the players. It's not Buckley football but some so called fans even moaned when AB was in charge. Get behind the lads until the end of the season (on the pitch and off it) and then make a judgement.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Little stat for you. Since the play offs began in the conference in 01/02, ONE side have gone up having scored the least amount of goals of the top 5.

Another little stat. Playoffs began 02/03 season and in the 11 playoffs, the team finishing 3rd has been promoted on 6 occasions.  

Quoted from pontoonlew

Lets not twist facts eh? 2,800 they had, with their average attendance being 3,000.

That's 33% up on last year, ours is down 12%.

Yes but you know what I mean. They would expect a big increase over last season, they were top for a long time and have not been out of the top 2.

Quoted from pontoonlew

I don't think the negativity necessarily helps when it comes to being at the game but I speak for myself and maybe others when I say when I'm there, I'd never vocally boo or criticise the players. So saying it on a message board instead is relatively harmless in comparison.

What you and others seem to be missing is that we're not saying it because we want to criticise. The fact is we pay money for something that isn't entertaining and is focused on being solid. The big problem is with that is when it goes wrong it's god damn awful and the games before it do not make up for it. I'm not coming on here and saying you or anybody else is wrong, the facts are there to see by the league table and points won. But I really think it's naive to think we can just keep doing what we're doing and be successful in the long term. The crowds are pretty poor this year, but were 3rd in the league, ask yourself why that is? What is the point of going up all the leagues when it's continually crap football? At what point do you need to be entertained? You may say if we entertain we won't win, go and tell Cambridge fans that. It's weak excuses for the fact we are boring as excrement to watch. What's frustrating, more than anything in the whole situation, is the fact we went through this last year. I stood at Newport after the game frankly embarrassed about what I'd just seen, I came on here and people were shocked. Couldn't believe we'd not shown, yet the signs were there for weeks!

One of the main points I and others were making was the situations of Cook not playing and Nielson not getting the time on the pitch. Lo and behold yesterday Nielson stays on the pitch for 90 mins for once and sets up Cook for what ended up as a vital goal.

It's of my opinion that a better side will show us up, we are doing the basics right which is fair enough. But we've never ONCE stepped it up a gear in a game this season. I keep asking for occasions when we have and nobody seems to be able to tell me. People say 'we were just in 3rd gear, we didn't need to step up' I've not seen one shred of evidence that we've got a 4th gear under Hurst. I accept we're not in the Championship anymore but I still expect a level of performance from time to time. My negativity stems from the feelings I had last April in Newport, I never want to feel like that after a football game.

Little stat for you. Since the play offs began in the conference in 01/02, ONE side have gone up having scored the least amount of goals of the top 5.

Not wishing to belittle your feelings but if that is the worst you have felt after a Town match then you are lucky!

I must have missed the posts where you asked when we had stepped up a gear..I haven't seen all of the games this season but Scunthorpe away-after they equalised, Huddersfield at home-after they'd equalised, Woking at home after they'd gone in front twice, Dartford at home after they'd gone 1-0 up, Salisbury away after they'd gone 1-0 up (ultimately unsuccessful but that's football) Kiddy at home, Macclesfield at home after going 2-0 down (again ultimately unsuccessful)....just to be going on with.
To assume that in other games we were somehow at fault for not stepping up a gear is to be unduly critical. The games against Alfreton, Dartford, Tamworth (both home games and away), Aldershot away, Forest Green (home), Barnet (home), Lincoln away, Salisbury (home), Wrexham home and away, and Hereford away we won whilst playing within ourselves. I guess the argument is a case of wanting to be entertained versus accepting results in the hope of moving on to better things.
The Huddersfield cup game was amongst the finest performances I've seen from a Town team in over 40 years of attendance at Blundell Park. The fact is though that at the end of it we weren't in the hat for the fourth round. I really enjoyed the game but we weren't any further on at the end of it. My desire to be entertained is tempered by the fact that seeing the bigger picture, sometimes we just have to win-no matter what that entails. With the loss of Liam Hearn (a point that doesn't seem to have been made too many times during this whole debate) we were unlikely ever to be a free scoring side. It IS frustrating when the extent of the managers apparent "Plan B" seems to be to remove the same players from the fray EVERY game but he, currently, is the man chosen to manage our team. He sees those players day in day out and is in the best position to judge who should represent the team. None of us have any idea who trains well, what their physical and mental states are etc. etc. I like Cookie as a player but being kind he didn't help himself at the start of the season-nor in some of the games-against weaker opposition he was chosen for. For me your argument loses credibility when you seem to be accusing the manager of having a vendetta against him. If you stopped to think about it, when the managers mortgage depends on results what on earth is there to be gained from adopting that stance. I am permanently mystified by some of the team selections but surely that is how-for a lay person, it should be?
You play a dangerous game when you cite one incidence as justification for your views. It wasn't an accident that Neilson was left on the pitch yesterday for the whole 90 minutes. It was a conscious decision by the manager. Did the fact that he created the winning goal make anyone feel more entertained? It made me thankful that we'd got a second goal and that I could breathe a bit easier

Quoted from pontoonlew

Couldn't argue with you that we were good. I'd ask you this though, is being able to name 2 league games we can say we played well in, in a whole season acceptable?

Again it depends where you are coming from:- I'd count Alfreton, Tamworth, Dartford, Forest Green, Kiddy, (all home) and Aldershot, Tamworth, Lincoln (all away) as games where we played well largely without scoring shed loads of goals...

It's also worth pointing out, amidst the gloom, that of the likely/possible opponents we might face in the play offs, that this season we've beaten Cambridge, beaten and drawn with Gateshead, beaten Braintree, beaten Alfreton. So the only potential opponent we haven't beaten is Halifax. Let's hope we can put that right on Tuesday.

Another point I'd add is that I've repeatedly read that Macclesfield and Barnet are two of the most attractive, entertaining sides in the division. Who wants to swap with them?

Quoted from barralad

Not wishing to belittle your feelings but if that is the worst you have felt after a Town match then you are lucky!

I must have missed the posts where you asked when we had stepped up a gear..I haven't seen all of the games this season but Scunthorpe away-after they equalised, Huddersfield at home-after they'd equalised, Woking at home after they'd gone in front twice, Dartford at home after they'd gone 1-0 up, Salisbury away after they'd gone 1-0 up (ultimately unsuccessful but that's football) Kiddy at home, Macclesfield at home after going 2-0 down (again ultimately unsuccessful)....just to be going on with.
To assume that in other games we were somehow at fault for not stepping up a gear is to be unduly critical. The games against Alfreton, Dartford, Tamworth (both home games and away), Aldershot away, Forest Green (home), Barnet (home), Lincoln away, Salisbury (home), Wrexham home and away, and Hereford away we won whilst playing within ourselves. I guess the argument is a case of wanting to be entertained versus accepting results in the hope of moving on to better things.
The Huddersfield cup game was amongst the finest performances I've seen from a Town team in over 40 years of attendance at Blundell Park. The fact is though that at the end of it we weren't in the hat for the fourth round. I really enjoyed the game but we weren't any further on at the end of it. My desire to be entertained is tempered by the fact that seeing the bigger picture, sometimes we just have to win-no matter what that entails. With the loss of Liam Hearn (a point that doesn't seem to have been made too many times during this whole debate) we were unlikely ever to be a free scoring side. It IS frustrating when the extent of the managers apparent "Plan B" seems to be to remove the same players from the fray EVERY game but he, currently, is the man chosen to manage our team. He sees those players day in day out and is in the best position to judge who should represent the team. None of us have any idea who trains well, what their physical and mental states are etc. etc. I like Cookie as a player but being kind he didn't help himself at the start of the season-nor in some of the games-against weaker opposition he was chosen for. For me your argument loses credibility when you seem to be accusing the manager of having a vendetta against him. If you stopped to think about it, when the managers mortgage depends on results what on earth is there to be gained from adopting that stance. I am permanently mystified by some of the team selections but surely that is how-for a lay person, it should be?
You play a dangerous game when you cite one incidence as justification for your views. It wasn't an accident that Neilson was left on the pitch yesterday for the whole 90 minutes. It was a conscious decision by the manager. Did the fact that he created the winning goal make anyone feel more entertained? It made me thankful that we'd got a second goal and that I could breathe a bit easier

Great point regarding Hearn. Had Luton lost Gray or Halifax lost Gregory I doubt they would have coped as well as we have.

Has Scott Neilson played through the middle since he signed? I.e a number 10 type role?

Had my Maths book out and this is how the table looks mathematically at the minute.
80 Points at this momment in time will definatly achieve a play off spot. Obviously 7 points from what we have got now.

From the teams outside of the play offs (without me checking if any have to play each other) with maximum points:
Braintree can achieve 80 points
Kiddiminster can achieve 76 points
Alfeton can achieve 75 points
Forest Green can achieve 74 points
Barnet can achieve 74 points
One more win for us would stop the bottom 4 of that being able to catch us as Kiddy have a huge goal difference to make up. Braintree still have to play Gateshead (h), Barnet (a) and us at home.. Can't imagine them picking up full points. Were in a very good position to get play offs and from there it is a lottery.