Just Back

Quoted from LH

If Tranmere or Wrexham were a place behind us and we went there and played excrement but took a point would it be easier for people to take?

We've been down here for five years and far too many fans have still got the Billy Big balderdash attitude. We are where for many reasons but likewise there are teams in this league who have risen up the non-league ranks because they've earned the right on the pitch.

Not really !
Some of us still have aspirations of promotion , many are just prepared to accept any old crap

Quoted from Fan

Quick look at the season stats, Arnold & Mackreth top the assist table, last season Arnold and Mackreth both top the table again, Monkhouse 1 assist and he has played every game. hurst appears to put players in the fridge, Amond scoring for fun , side line him! Mackreth did OK ak Wrexham, Southport and was one of the better players agains a good Forest green side , side line him, we are struggling in front of goal but we again appear to have taken a loan player who has a must play clause, then we don't play them most effective wing pair we have at the club?

And having a loanee picked ahead of you when you have done a pretty decent job cannot be good for confidence or morale.

PH needs to understand he is not playing Champ Manager you just can't re-boot the game and start again when things are not going well, when the opportunity has gone it's gone and looking at the squad at the start of this season I thought it was strong enough. Now I think our opportunity is slipping away.  

How did Tait play yesterday?
I was encouraged at the start of the season with Tait and East adding even more pace, but then came Monkhouse!

Quoted from LH

If Tranmere or Wrexham were a place behind us and we went there and played excrement but took a point would it be easier for people to take?

We've been down here for five years and far too many fans have still got the Billy Big balderdash attitude. We are where for many reasons but likewise there are teams in this league who have risen up the non-league ranks because they've earned the right on the pitch.

You make sound points and of course it's on the pitch that matters. We know only too well about punching above our weight and beating teams who looked down on us.

However, things seem to be in a perpetual state of stasis at this club, with no real progression to speak of for about 3 seasons. You mention Tranmere, a club newly relegated to this league along with Cheltenham. Both teams are currently above us and seem to be adjusting to this league well after the shock of dropping out of League 2. Barnet and Bristol were down and straight back up again last season, when were told that the conventional wisdom was a period of acclimatisation was required before we could mount a challenge. Well, try telling that to the above mentioned sides.

I would also expect that a team that can attract 5000 fans to a non league game, should be able to at least put a part time side who play on a ploughed field under a bit more pressure than we managed yesterday.

I'm not so stupid that i think we can just go out and sweep away all before us but i would like to think that after 5 years in this league, we can at least mount a credible assault on the top spot at some point. I would like to think that we can go on a winning run like Bromley seem to be managing with aplomb and it may well come at some point, but that's the problem, it's always around the corner but never actually arrives. As i said when we drew with Wrexham away and FGR at home, in isolation, good results. It's the bigger, long term picture that doesn't read so well IMO.

As ever, i live in hope but with every passing game, the last 2 seasons of "nearly but not quite" hoves into view.

Is anyone really surprised fgr are top and looking like they are going to win the league this year . They've been spending heavily for years and look to have eventually got it right . I didn't presume we'd win the league this year and don't think we will now for def . I'll be happy to have another go through the playoffs because we'll get stronger the season goes on and have a stronger squad to go into the playoffs with . We could def do with another CM though .

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Is anyone really surprised fgr are top and looking like they are going to win the league this year . They've been spending heavily for years and look to have eventually got it right . I didn't presume we'd win the league this year and don't think we will now for def . I'll be happy to have another go through the playoffs because we'll get stronger the season goes on and have a stronger squad to go into the playoffs with . We could def do with another CM though .

I'm not surprised at all but that doesn't mean we can't mount a serious challenge too. A small winning run whilst they were having a recent wobble would have seen us breathing down their necks and putting the pressure on them.

Quoted from LH

If Tranmere or Wrexham were a place behind us and we went there and played excrement but took a point would it be easier for people to take?

We've been down here for five years and far too many fans have still got the Billy Big balderdash attitude. We are where for many reasons but likewise there are teams in this league who have risen up the non-league ranks because they've earned the right on the pitch.

I think you are being unfair. It is true that some of us have an overwhelming desire to see the club back where we are used to seeing it but largely that desire is on behalf of the younger fans who have never experienced the highs of promotions and in some cases have never seen league football at BP.

The criticism today is not about big club v little club, it is about the squad that we have compared to the squads at other clubs, big and small. I don't think anyone would disagree that the current squad is the best we have had since relegation. I don't think many would disagree that there are very few players currently in other conference teams who would improve it. So it is a fair question to ask - why is the manager (and some supporters) happy to get a point while playing cluelessly against a team we should beat 9 times out of 10 with the players we have?

My concern would not be just about yesterday, it would be a worry about the future. We have seen some good performances for parts of games this year but I almost feel that the pressing game and quick passing we see in those games is in spite of the manager, not because of him. Yesterday was to me a more nailed on Hurst performance, grinding out a clean sheet result, the sort of workmanlike stuff he likes to see. The only thing missing was a sneaked goal to win it. But this is football on the edge. One slip at the back and would we get a result? Playing this way invites trouble.

There's another factor as well. He talks in the GT about managing Pittman's hamstring for instance. He's a good player but everyman and his dog knows the lad has injury problems. If he didn't, he wouldn't be here, he'd be in the FL somewhere. Yet he's been made first choice rather than back up which is bound to cause problems. Hurst signs Tomlinson on loan and plays him in place of two good strikers he signed on contract in the summer. Why? If that isn't a statement of how he wants the side to play, I don't know what is.

But as I say, it is the future that worries. Those two strikers who did so well together earlier on are now both bench warmers. They come off the bench or they slot in to replace an injury and are expected to show the same confidence and finishing ability they showed in August. The manager publicly tells us it is up to them to prove they deserve a place in the team. How? By scoring goals or by running about as much as Tomlinson? Answers to that one on a postage stamp. He wrecks their confidence, gives them next to no match time and then has the perfect excuse to play someone else again. Next step a contract or long term loan for Tomlinson would be my guess.

Now to me this is rank bad management. Those two strikers are going to be needed, if not now then certainly after Christmas. We are going to need goals from them to maintain our push for 5th spot or whatever. What sort of response will they make? They will either be trying too hard to make the most of their one opportunity or they will have given up the ghost. Certainly they will not be in any frame of mind or fitness to make much of a promotion winning contribution.

I don't know about anyone else but I had a rosy vision of the season in August. Twin strikers signed who were going to have opposing managers needing a chemical toilet in the dugout.

Instead we are back to the same old, same old. Treating opponents with exaggerated respect, the virtues of hard running without the ball chosen over natural confidence and instinct. Of course Bogle has rough edges. Of course he needs to grow into a higher division. Of course he will make mistakes and wrong decisions. Of course he will infuriate fans and manager with unnecessary tricks. But he will score goals if he's allowed to use his instincts and gain confidence again. Amond has the best movement into space in the box we have seen for a long time. He will pick up the bits and pieces given time to settle. A run of games is what they need, not frustration on the bench. They are having the goals knocked out of them.

If you add to that a couple of quick wingers who will find they get more space when defenders are scared witless by looking to find where the strikers have gone and you have an outfit that need not respect any other side in this league.

If that means the defence has to work a bit harder and the midfield has to press for 90 minutes then that's what needs coaching and coaching, not going back to the track back and cover mentality for the whole team. Hurst can't expect to play like this and then suddenly change tack in mid-game when the other lot score and he can't expect the possession game to work either if he still choses runners over footballers up front and relies on super strikes from a winger.

Pie in sky though. Just my Sunday dream and I could be wrong. I was once, but I did promise the officer I wouldn't take the blow up doll out in public again.

I did say that it was Bogle that hit the bar,

I did think it was Disley but I was sat in front of John Tonduer doing the commentary,

He said it was Bogle so I went with him,

I should have trusted my own old eyes,

Tait and Toto played well when they came on,

I was not happy when Hurst dropped Bogle and Amond the other week,

BUT

Bogle did nothing yesterday , I would like to see Amond back in on Tuesday,

Bogle and Amond play well together Tomlinson did not offer anything yesterday.

How's Tomlinson doing? according to reports a bit of a headless chicken at the moment.

Oh dear it's all doom and gloom isn't it? Don't know if you noticed but Braintree were a place behind us and they showed why they were up there. You have to give them a lot of credit being part timers. Their right back and akinole were excellent.they were very well organised and very compact. This prob explains the length of the grass on the flanks.also looks like they've brought the pitch in a couple of metres.they are quite happy for the game to be compacted into a narro strip from goal to goal.they gave us no time or space.it was two evenly matched teams and if Braintree continue playing like that they will frustrate and beat quite a few other sides.
Dilly and tait were our stand out players for me.
Good support again and a good amount of ale had been consumed hence the unnecessary confrontations with the gillingham stewards