Facts

The fact is we have played 13 games,

WON 5   DRAWN 4   LOST  4

We are 13th in the league,

Will we get promoted,?

You do the maths, I am going to bed.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Will we get promoted,?

Depends how well we do in the remaining 33 games!  

I think the play-offs should be achievable though disappointing not to take a point tonight, regardless of how rubbish we were.

As Hurst mentioned in his interview, you need to get something out of games where you play poorly and this was another where a point was dropped. Weren't playing nearly well enough to get a win but a draw should have been achievable.

That said, many more performances like tonight and I think we can start waving goodbye to any chance of promotion this season.

Fact , we had a good crowd last night , how many will be there next Tuesday ?  
I turned  up expecting something better than what was served up . Will I risk it ? I don't know yet , maybe after a day or two I will decide . Too many false dawns , living on hope . Forget those 2 freak results which keep getting brought up , papering over the cracks . We need renovation of some magnitude .

I'm a season ticket holder so I've got no choice. I'll just keep on going in the hope that we can't possibly be that awful twice in one season.

Quoted from 43[b

]I'm a season ticket holder so I've got no choice.[/b] I'll just keep on going in the hope that we can't possibly be that awful twice in one season.

Same here, but until we get some reinforcements in to help our cause up front and out wide left we are going to just tick over inconsistently i`m afraid with possible falling gate receipts, and thats the time it will get sticky

Quoted from Maringer

As Hurst mentioned in his interview, you need to get something out of games where you play poorly .
.

Or better still, stop playing poorly so often..................

Quoted from RonMariner

Or better still, stop playing poorly so often..................

Well, duh!

In other breaking news, I understand that football managers are telling their players to try and score as many goals as possible and are trying to get their defenders and keepers to keep clean sheets as well.

I do not think our result at Dartford will effect the gate next Tuesday,

If we lose a lot will say I am not paying to see that rubbish again,

If we win they will say, Flash in the pan , I am not paying to see that rubbish again,

We need to win 4 or 5 games on the trot before we get anything like 4,000 for a home game,

Apart from Lincoln of course.

We'll not get anything like 4,000 for a home game (other than a derby) regardless.

Just looked at the results from the middle of the 2011/12 season when we were unbeaten in months and hanging around the top of the table, and we were only attracting the same number of fans as we did for the Welling game the other week. Just a few hundred more than last night, even.

I don't think even plenty of victories and scoring goals makes all that much difference to the attendance.

There is a degree of truth in that Maringer, but isn't it true that we need a gate
in the region of 3500 just to break even? If things continue at home as they have
we will be well short of that, with the financial consequences that follow.
I know us old enough to remember go on about it, but i can remember when Lawrie Mac
took over the club - we averaged something like 2500, he captured the imagination of the
public and there were regular gate in excess of 10,000, often 15000 - i'm not suggesting
for one moment we could go that far but with the right man in charge who instills hope
we could easily achieve  4000 IMO.

Quoted from Maringer

We'll not get anything like 4,000 for a home game (other than a derby) regardless.

Just looked at the results from the middle of the 2011/12 season when we were unbeaten in months and hanging around the top of the table, and we were only attracting the same number of fans as we did for the Welling game the other week. Just a few hundred more than last night, even.

I don't think even plenty of victories and scoring goals makes all that much difference to the attendance.

I totally agree with you. Last night I would have picked exactly the same team that Hurst did but Southport completely ground us down. We just didn't know how to combat it,

Quoted from Richard Cranium

I totally agree with you. Last night I would have picked exactly the same team that Hurst did but Southport completely ground us down. We just didn't know how to combat it,

What a load of b0llocks, a team without an away win for God knows how long, lost their last 4 games without scoring a goal, how come they didn't grind any of the other teams down.

We were sh!t end of, why can't you just accept that.

I think his comment was fair. Southport came at us from the kick-off and we couldn't cope with their high tempo and pressing game as they certainly didn't sit back in the way that Nuneaton and Dover did. We couldn't cope with their up and at 'em attitude because pretty much all of our players were crap on the night. I reckon that's about as well as Southport can play and (hopefully) about as badly as we can play.

Only hope we don't have to see anything as inept as that for the rest of the season.

Quoted from Maringer

I think his comment was fair. Southport came at us from the kick-off and we couldn't cope with their high tempo and pressing game as they certainly didn't sit back in the way that Nuneaton and Dover did. We couldn't cope with their up and at 'em attitude because pretty much all of our players were crap on the night. I reckon that's about as well as Southport can play and (hopefully) about as badly as we can play.

Only hope we don't have to see anything as inept as that for the rest of the season.

If we can't cope with southport..........god help us

Quoted from Maringer

I think his comment was fair. Southport came at us from the kick-off and we couldn't cope with their high tempo and pressing game as they certainly didn't sit back in the way that Nuneaton and Dover did. We couldn't cope with their up and at 'em attitude because pretty much all of our players were crap on the night. I reckon that's about as well as Southport can play and (hopefully) about as badly as we can play.

Only hope we don't have to see anything as inept as that for the rest of the season.

Southport came at us because we let them.

Before kick-off Hurst SHOULD be telling the team to start at a high tempo, get the ball into channels to attack their slow back 3, move players like Big Mac about and create gaps for Neilson, Brown and Mackreth to exploit. To my mind, either the players don't listen or he doesn't say it. More than that,why wasn't something done at half-time? I don't know the answer but I suspect it's because dull Paul thinks that 0-0 isn't bad and we can still win without changing it.

I'm sure he's a nice bloke but he's still way too defensively minded. Of our strikers, one's hamstrung, one's offside, one can't score and the other doesn't seem to want to play so we've loaned in a kid that isn't match-fit. It's bonkers!

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Southport came at us because we let them.

Before kick-off Hurst SHOULD be telling the team to start at a high tempo, get the ball into channels to attack their slow back 3, move players like Big Mac about and create gaps for Neilson, Brown and Mackreth to exploit. To my mind, either the players don't listen or he doesn't say it. More than that,why wasn't something done at half-time? I don't know the answer but I suspect it's because dull Paul thinks that 0-0 isn't bad and we can still win without changing it.

I'm sure he's a nice bloke but he's still way too defensively minded. Of our strikers, one's hamstrung, one's offside, one can't score and the other doesn't seem to want to play so we've loaned in a kid that isn't match-fit. It's bonkers!

He has never to my knowledge made an unforced change before at least the 60 min mark. Strange.

Quoted from ginnywings

He has never to my knowledge made an unforced change before at least the 60 min mark. Strange.

Depending on whether you count Hurst as being Scott and Hurst, wasnt there a game when we took off I'anson and possibly Southwell early on (first half?)

Regarding not getting gates of 4,000,

Just shows how the good few fans who want Town to be consistent before they return to Blundell Park,

Maybe they agree with the growing number on here that a change at the top is needed before we can be consistent ,

Whatever the reason they are staying away they will not return because of the way we are playing at the moment.,

Let's remember we were getting gates of 4,000 or less when  Laurie Mcmenemy joined us,

The gates shot up to average over 11,000,

I am not saying that will happen again but if we find the right man,

The gates will be over 4,000 in no time because the stay away fans just want a good reason to return.

Quoted from biggles9999

Depending on whether you count Hurst as being Scott and Hurst, wasnt there a game when we took off I'anson and possibly Southwell early on (first half?)

Was that when kiddy went 3 up in about 20 mins?

Quoted from grimsby pete

The fact is we have played 13 games,

WON 5   DRAWN 4   LOST  4

We are 13th in the league,

Will we get promoted,?

You do the maths, I am going to bed.

Ok GY Pete , I reckon it's time u take a chill pill mate . I'm as up for a change in management as you and the majority are .

BUT .. (to use your style ) ..

We all know we should be doing better but let's give over now till sat 4:50 cos the frenzy needs to calm a bit for everyone's good .

Quoted from biggles9999

Depending on whether you count Hurst as being Scott and Hurst, wasnt there a game when we took off I'anson and possibly Southwell early on (first half?)

That was when we went 0-2 down at home to someone after 10 minutes and he took I'Anson and Thanoj off a few minutes later. Remember thinking, as many others did, that taking the two youngsters off wasn't fair on them and they were easy targets to bring off.

That's the one. I couldn't remember whether it was Newport or Braintree.

It was one of the games where we lined up with that daft lop-sided formation with 3 central midfielders, Makofo advanced a bit further forward on the left and 2 up front. Left us getting killed down our right.

.......Disley...Panther...Thanoj

....................................................Makofo

................Hearn......Duffy

Quoted from Maringer

I think his comment was fair. Southport came at us from the kick-off and we couldn't cope with their high tempo and pressing game as they certainly didn't sit back in the way that Nuneaton and Dover did. We couldn't cope with their up and at 'em attitude because pretty much all of our players were crap on the night. I reckon that's about as well as Southport can play and (hopefully) about as badly as we can play.

Only hope we don't have to see anything as inept as that for the rest of the season.

Maringer your point would have more validity if this was a one off, but it is a major feature of town performances, Aldershot, Welling, Soouthport and others last year, inability, woth some valid excuses, against Nuneaton and Dover this year plus failing in important home games last year v Cambridge, luton and Halifax plus Hurst' s delight at holding an inform Woking to a 1-1 home draw. Were all matches where we failed to reach either any sort of standard and against the better sides the level of standard required to win the games. The man unfortunately is just that bit short (no pun) of being a good manager but that small part will be the problem throughout his career.

Last year, we had a very different team to this season so I think you're comparing apples to oranges.

For the Nuneaton and Dover games, for example we had 5 men in the team who weren't with us last season (plus Boyce on loan again). That is literally half of a different team, not to forget that we were completely nobbled by injuries in midfield/attack in those two games.

Other than lacking a couple of attacking players, I still think our squad is generally better set than last season. I think that most of the new signings are improvements on those who have departed. However, injuries and a lack of form at important times have been an issue so far. Almost three quarters of the season remaining, so let's hope something can be done about this once the players get back to fitness and we (hopefully) sign another couple of decent attacking players.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

em.
I'm sure he's a nice bloke but he's still way too defensively minded. Of our strikers, one's hamstrung, one's offside, one can't score and the other doesn't seem to want to play so we've loaned in a kid that isn't match-fit. It's bonkers!

Depressingly, this is spot on.

Whilst I think the argument for not sacking PH is pretty solid, if a manager with a bit more charisma and imagination
were available I'd be happy to take the risk.

Quoted from ginnywings

He has never to my knowledge made an unforced change before at least the 60 min mark. Strange.

Just going back to this Ginny, I obviously dont have the figures to hand, but I suspect that as a % there are very very few tactical changes before the 60 minute mark. Mourinho occasionally makes subs at half time but I cant think of many others who do make early changes. Particularly at our level when squads do not contain as many 'options'

Quoted from grimsby pete

Regarding not getting gates of 4,000,

Just shows how the good few fans who want Town to be consistent before they return to Blundell Park,

Maybe they agree with the growing number on here that a change at the top is needed before we can be consistent ,

Whatever the reason they are staying away they will not return because of the way we are playing at the moment.,

Let's remember we were getting gates of 4,000 or less when  Laurie Mcmenemy joined us,

The gates shot up to average over 11,000,

I am not saying that will happen again but if we find the right man,

The gates will be over 4,000 in no time because the stay away fans just want a good reason to return.

Interestingly the average gate for the promotion season 1971/72 was 11,929 but the next season it dropped to 10,849 even though we were a division higher and we finished 9th in the league. Then in 1973/74 with a different manager (Ron Ashman ) we averaged 7419 but finished 6th in Division 3 .On these figures maybe it is all about the manager and not where or how successful we are!

Quoted from Abdul19

http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/242814/teams

Interestingly considerably less than 3000 of us there for that one  

That was another season where we started off slowly and inconsistently before we found a bit of form around Christmas and flirted with the play offs before fading away

Unless someone gets to grips with things this season we could be in for more of the same...maybe even worse if we don't go on a run of some kind during the cold winter months

It's so frustrating - we all more or less acknowledge we've got a half decent bunch of players now. Better I would say than we had three years ago when we played Newport but we are so underachieving and without any light at the end of the tunnel, I can see this season being over before we know it.

By Tuesday we will have played more or less a third of our fixtures..where's the inspiration going to come from???