Just back

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

What do you mean "if"?..we've already been dragged into it, don't care what anybody says in opposition to this but our form and performances say we are in that scrap now, we are scrapping to pull away from the bottom 4 now, and if I'm honest with myself, we keep getting chin ended and although, up to now we've got up before the count of 10, if this carries on im afraid its light out and the NL could well be beckoning again!...
I said a while ago that if we are in danger of being dragged onto a relegation fight with 10 games to go then Hurst and Co have to be replaced, seriously considering whether to rethink that and say give him 4 games to turn it around, if he can't say then say goodbye, with a huge thank you for 2016 and the memories of 2021/2022 season, as Lew says, if we finish bottom 4 then we sint getting the quality of player in the summer that we need to push the club forward, we'd just look like perennial league 2 strugglers again.

Well yes - perhaps I was being uncharacteristically positive!

When you look at our form, and our abysmal home form all season it is a real worry.

What is more than frustrating is having such a lackadaisical transfer window which was our only chance of getting the couple of experienced players we needed to steady the ship having let experienced players go.

Think our performance managed to make the refs performance go under the radar yesterday.

Pathetic display from him and as close to a blatantly biased performance I’ve seen in a long time, but it’s something you just grow to expect now.

Was the referee poor? Yes
Did his performance significantly influence the game or the result ? No

Doesn't matter who we play up front because we're feeding them scraps.  Lloyd showed in the Crewe game, yes I know they were excrement, that he can lead the line if he's given decent service.  Lumping it high and long doesn't play to his strengths at all.  For McAtee to be at his best he needs to have someone to work around and off.  If all he and his strike partner are doing is chasing hopeful balls then you might as well put someone else in.  

We lack a cuteness in the side, someone who can move the ball at pace and see openings happening.  You could painfully see last night that McAtee, Lloyd and the wingbacks all made decent runs into space early in the game but just got disheartened as the game went on and stopped doing so.  I like the idea of wingbacks because you can overload in the middle and then stretch teams with quick and crisp switching of the play.  The problem is we haven't got anyone who can do that.  Morris tries to switch play but he's too slow with it.

If it's 3 in the middle then Clifton is in there, in fact he's in there whatever as he's our best player.  You then need either Green or Holohan for extra energy, which frees up a bit of space for someone who can pick others out.  To my mind that's either Hunt playing as the deep on and told that's his job or it's an attack minded player (Scannell, Khan, maybe Wearne) who are given a bit of a free role.  Whichever option you go with dictates how high your wingbacks are, if you go Hunt they sit a bit deeper.  

At the minute it's a bit of a mess.  Morris sits deep but doesn't really control the game, he effectively becomes a fourth centre back.  Also because the ball isn't holding up top, the wingbacks don't get forward enough because they've no-one to bring them into play.  The central midfielder isn't picking them out either.  

I know Hunt hasn't done a lot since he came back but I'm not sure what role we're asking of him.  He was unplayable when he sat deep last season and just picked players out.  This year it's like we're asking him to be a box-to-box midfielder, which he isn't.  I get the physicality issue but if he's got Clifton and Green/Holohan ahead of him and Waterfall behind him, that's not something that worries me.

If we're sticking with wingbacks it has to look like this for me, take the pick with your strikers:  Personally I'd start Lloyd at the minute and then probably go O'Neill because McAtee looks shot.


                      Efete Waterfall Maher
Emmanuel                                              Amos
                                Hunt
                        Green   Clifton

                         ??          ??

                        

I’m surprised McAtee has been criticised for last night, he barely got chance to have a touch and produced most of our brightest moments. Came close 3 times from chances he created pretty much out of nothing.

Well, decided to sleep on it after getting back from Gillingham last night not in the best of moods.

I thought the game was won and lost in two phases of play really, where they ultimately scored. We showed an inability to weather those two sustained periods of pressure from Gillingham which ultimately killed us. We needed abit of leadership and calmness at those times and it wasn't there for whatever reason. To much panicking when the ball was being played in, not getting to the second ball or not working hard enough to stop the ball in the first place coupled with a complete failure to clear the ball effectively. When we did it wasn't far enough to get the turned and let us push out.

We spoke about being 'bullied' against Colchester, we we're better to some degree last night, but still needs much improvement.

A uniqueness with them last night though was corner after corner and cross after cross was also added to with those long throws. Ordinarily you put the ball out for a throw you can set up again and stop them getting easy ball we couldn't do that as, like I said, when we cleared the ball we weren't doing it effectively enough so it allowed them to keep that pressure on. I think that's where the game was won and loss to be fair.

There were a few other smaller issues with the performance that I didn't like, but nothing that affected the game as much as those two periods of play.

Other than those periods of pressure, we weren't great but think we did enough to be in the game and if we manage those situations effectively enough, we are all happy with a decent away point against a really improved Gillingham team.

I get people start to look behind us with abit of trepidation, especially after what we've been the last decade or so. I understand that, but personally I think we have more than enough, as we've demonstrated, to not be overly worried. I could be wrong, my wife will tell me I usually am! However I'm confident we will be ok based on what I've seen from us and others in this league.

Finally a word on the ref. I don't like doing it after a defeat because it looks like just moaning, but he was terrible - it's s a contact sport but every little piece of contact seemed to go their way but not ours in similar instances. Did not allow the game to flow at all, giving very dubious free kicks all night inviting them to lump it in to the box.

Quoted from pontoonlew

I’m surprised McAtee has been criticised for last night, he barely got chance to have a touch and produced most of our brightest moments. Came close 3 times from chances he created pretty much out of nothing.

he seems to be getting a few digs on twitter at the moment, i think its unfair, he's having to create things on his own.

McAtee - we love him and he's highly rated (Luton - obvs) because he's a bit different; has a touch of class
But... his decision making at times is awful; several times he wants to score a 'worldy' when a pass is the obvious choice (eg: last night second half - he shot when two GTFC players were running into the box)
Can't have it both ways I guess

I thought it was interesting last night in PH interview
He mentioned two strikers that Gillingham had 'bought' then he gave a very small laugh... I think he was saying "that's what we are up against"

A number on here moaning about our poor window - I agree that it was very frustrating and disappointing
But PH, owners, Debbie Cook, Tondeur (who must be in the know) all say how very few 'quality' players want to come here... location etc
Alternative? Pay them way over the odds, dressing room unrest, and potential threaten club financially

I'd snap your hand off for Colchester's front two - Akinde and Hopper - but why are they both there?
Money - location - it's obvious

Hurst said to JT "ask Tom Hopper why he didn't want to join us" - then added "he doesn't want to live around here"

So I think that shows we are trying like hell to get quality in the club

Oh for simpler days - Birtles, Futcher, Dave Smith...

Arguably, our 5 best performances this season have come against sides in a higher division. Remarkably, our aggregate score against those teams in the FA Cup so far is 13-4. That cannot be a coincidence, can it?

For me, we are technically and organisationally decent. Not outstandingly so, but comfortably good enough for League Two. However, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that we cannot match too many sides in League Two, physically. The winning goals against us in the last two games came from players 6ft 3” and 6ft 6” respectively.

We meanwhile have only two fit outfield players in the squad who are taller than 6ft. That is surely an anomaly for this division. Looking back, Buckley sides were notoriously small, but outrageously capable in terms of passing ability and general technical skill. We’re decent enough in that regard, but not quite enough to truly get away with it.

I don’t think it’s in Hurst playbook to assemble a team full of ‘units’. But, assuming we have enough in the tank to stay up this season, I think it’s something he absolutely has to look at in the summer.

This is a physical division, full of athletic players. It seems the consensus is that our best two players this season have been Luke Waterfall and Harry Clifton. Waterfall our biggest and most physically aggressive player, and Clifton our fittest and most mobile. Again, I don’t think there’s a coincidence in that.

I like our current squad, but I think therein lies the problem. They’re a likeable bunch. Too nice; not nasty or cute enough to compete consistently at this level.

Perhaps this is an oversimplification, but it seems to be the obvious difference between Town and the sides beating us of late.

Quoted from devs

McAtee - we love him and he's highly rated (Luton - obvs) because he's a bit different; has a touch of class
But... his decision making at times is awful; several times he wants to score a 'worldy' when a pass is the obvious choice (eg: last night second half - he shot when two GTFC players were running into the box)
Can't have it both ways I guess

I thought it was interesting last night in PH interview
He mentioned two strikers that Gillingham had 'bought' then he gave a very small laugh... I think he was saying "that's what we are up against"

A number on here moaning about our poor window - I agree that it was very frustrating and disappointing
But PH, owners, Debbie Cook, Tondeur (who must be in the know) all say how very few 'quality' players want to come here... location etc
Alternative? Pay them way over the odds, dressing room unrest, and potential threaten club financially

I'd snap your hand off for Colchester's front two - Akinde and Hopper - but why are they both there?
Money - location - it's obvious

Hurst said to JT "ask Tom Hopper why he didn't want to join us" - then added "he doesn't want to live around here"

So I think that shows we are trying like hell to get quality in the club

Oh for simpler days - Birtles, Futcher, Dave Smith...

Some players won't come here due to location obviously.  I doubt Hopper would have gone to Barrow say either as his wife's family are in Essex or something I read.

That is part and parcel of football and it is the manager's job to identify players who do not want to move to Essex and give players enough reasons to choose us.