About 20 years ago i was in Pier 39 and thought to myself "what the intercourse am i doing in here" and i never went again.Had that same feeeling at BP today watching a totally toothless,inept,urine poor team playing the same old boring hit and hope footy and never looking like they'll score if they played all weekend.

Fleetwood,yes Fleetwood,were better in every single department.

Bored and disillusioned with the whole GTFC thing now.

Quoted from ginnywings

About 20 years ago i was in Pier 39 and thought to myself "what the intercourse am i doing in here" and i never went again.Had that same feeeling at BP today watching a totally toothless,inept,urine poor team playing the same old boring hit and hope footy and never looking like they'll score if they played all weekend.

Fleetwood,yes Fleetwood,were better in every single department.

Bored and disillusioned with the whole GTFC thing now.

I always think your reports  are a very fair reflection of how the game went ginny,

This sounds bad,

BUT

I will be at Braintree and hope to see a big big improvement.

There's always Scrabble on facebook....  ;)

I thunk our performance appeared worse because true disgrace of a team we played.

Quoted from aldi_01

I thunk our performance appeared worse because true disgrace of a team we played.

They outplayed us pure and simple.You can blame the ref or their spoiling tactics but they only started when Brodie came on.They were already leading then and we were never going to get back in the game.We made their keeper dive once,the whole 90 mins.

same feeling here! although to be fair can see this team getting a lot better, we was totally outplayed first half fleetwood bullied us, 2nd half a lot better even with a week ref going against us, serge best player for town , i would definetley start with spencer up front for next game. Fleetwood looked good today if they walk the league we will be lookinhg at play offs, otherwise mid table mediocrity just as bookies predicted. I thought crowd was good today getting behind the team although for a so called big club the gate was poor! expect 3000 crowds if things dont improve. up the mariners.

Our performance wasn't THAT bad. There was a lack of quality, yeah, we didn't create many clear cut chances but you definitely you couldn't fault the effort. We absolutely dominated possession in the second half and both of their goals came on the break, the second in the last minute of the game when we were pushing for the equaliser.

You could tell Fleetwood were a good side in the first half, the second half they didn't really do much other than score their goals and do their upmost to unsettle our players. They were an absolute disgrace, the dirty illegitimates were committing fouls left, right and centre and the referee did nothing to stop them.  

On the positive side, Makofo was very lively, they couldn't deal with him at all and he's gonna cause teams a hell of a lot of problems this season if he plays like that.

Anyway, don't start moaning too much already. It's the first game and we were playing the league favourites. Onwards and upwards.

Just got back, wel what can I say It looked like a new team Playing there first competitive game.

Never even looked like scoring, both teams was pretty excrement

I won't look to much into it, First game and all that balderdash .

Elding, Great replacement

they were very dirty and the ref was a disgrace, plus how can ther keeper kick the ball outside his area and not get punished? linesmen and ref are jokes

On that showing there are 2 people that should never be allowed on a football pitch again... The referee and Anthony Elding! The other way to look at it is we are bottom of the league and the only way is up!!

Quoted from AndyGTFC

Our performance wasn't THAT bad. There was a lack of quality, yeah, we didn't create many clear cut chances but you definitely you couldn't fault the effort. We absolutely dominated possession in the second half and both of their goals came on the break, the second in the last minute of the game when we were pushing for the equaliser.

You could tell Fleetwood were a good side in the first half, the second half they didn't really do much other than score their goals and do their upmost to unsettle our players. They were an absolute disgrace, the dirty illegitimates were committing fouls left, right and centre and the referee did nothing to stop them.  

On the positive side, Makofo was very lively, they couldn't deal with him at all and he's gonna cause teams a hell of a lot of problems this season if he plays like that.

Anyway, don't start moaning too much already. It's the first game and we were playing the league favourites. Onwards and upwards.

It was THAT bad in my view.

We again looked toothless and not very solid at the back,which is a bad combination.Thought I'Anson looked ok though and Hearn is very strong with the ball at his feet.Pity we persisted in lumping balls in the air.Elding lokked no better than Duffy to me.Makofo had some good runs but no end product.Couldn't see him slotting a neat goal like their left sided player Mangan.

Struggling to find many positives.We again looked second to everything in midfield and it's a problem we can't seem to cure.Thought Thanoj was lost and should have gone off well before he did.Disley had too much to do.Delivery into the box hasn't improved much either.

The fat girl private atthw back, Brodie and the ref should never be allowed on a pitch again. Who does Brodie think he is, he strutted around like he was Lionel messi. Unfortunatly for Brodie, messi has more talent in his pines than Brodie ever will. A disgrace of a footballer.

early early days,look at crawley we beat them first game last season!!!
at least we didnt kid ourselves today thinking we are going to walk the league,brings things back down to earth and maybe highlighted a few issues for the team to work on?

didnt go today but sounded like elding doesn't seem interested to put any effort in,artus seemed to liven things up and big damien sounds a threat up top.was a fustrating game to listen too on humberside sounded like we didnt get any further than second gear.

I hope there was a referees assessor there as that dopey midget and his goofy linesman will be duly transferred to the Zamaretto league by the end of the month. I can't beleive the foulding that was ignored. The most useless referee I've ever seen and there is some real competition for that.

But let's not allow that to mask a feeble performance. We didn't make much use of the ball when we had it. Far too much booting it up in the air without looking up to pick out someone's runs. A few good signs like the fact that we just kept going right until the end. I also liked the was we we're throwing bodies in the way of shots. Apart from that, disappointing.

McKeown 7 Reasonably safe pair of hands but shouldn't have conceded the first goal from that angle .
Silk 5 Poor, gave the ball away and was outpaced. Doesn't get forward and support Coulson
I'anson 8 MOM Won everything in the air and had a good game. I was surprised to see him picked ahead of Peason but he took his chance.
Garner 7 Decent if a bit slow. Unlucky with that overhead kick.
Ridley 6 Far too easily outpaced for the second goal then had a moan at the linesman.
Coulson 7 Worked hard as usual and caused a few problems, just not quite the menace he was at the back end of last season.
Disley 6 Didn't pass the ball around as well as I was expecting. Pretty ineffective
Thanoj 7 Had a decent game and got stuck in.
Makofo 5 I'm sorry but if this guy is a professional footballer then I'm a gingerbreadman. Yes he's a trier and skinned his man a few times but then he just fannies around on the ball until he's ganged up on. Nothing useful actually comes from his boots.
Elding 5 Anonymous. Beaten in the air time and again, not that much better with the ball at his feet.
Hearn 7 Worked hard and, like Coulson, caused problems but was often isolated.

Wood 7 His usual self. Worked hard, supported Coulson well, rattled a few of their players. His trip on Brodie cheered me up.

Quoted from hook line and sinker

early early days,look at crawley we beat them first game last season!!!
at least we didnt kid ourselves today thinking we are going to walk the league,brings things back down to earth and maybe highlighted a few issues for the team to work on?

didnt go today but sounded like elding doesn't seem interested to put any effort in,artus seemed to liven things up and big damien sounds a threat up top.was a fustrating game to listen too on humberside sounded like we didnt get any further than second gear.

The difference being that Crawley battered us and we got lucky.They went on to win the league and it wouldn't surprise me if we have just played the league winners again first game.They seem to have enough skill and aggression to win a lot of games.

Don't know why everyone is bleating about them and their tactics.Fact is they outplayed,outthought and outfought us and you need all that to win this league.They won't be the only team to come here this season and employ the same tactics.The only answer,unless we start the gamesmanship is to outfootball them,but we aint good enough for that as far as i can see.

Town were a better side today than they were all last season,that includes the two drubbings we gave out. The only thing i wanted was for someone to break that fat womens private at the back. Never seen such an obvious candidate for twit of the week.
The future looks bright for Town especially with the management duo. think they have got it right. good effort from the boys.
Last season i came home after every match and swore i would never go again but kept punishing myself in the hope it would get better, i believe we are on the way now.
Great noise from the BP massive and a home crowd of 4000+ saw town battle hard against 12 cheaters on the park (14 incl linesmen)

Quoted from cleemaddog

Town were a better side today than they were all last season,that includes the two drubbings we gave out. The only thing i wanted was for someone to break that fat womens private at the back. Never seen such an obvious candidate for twit of the week.
The future looks bright for Town especially with the management duo. think they have got it right. good effort from the boys.
Last season i came home after every match and swore i would never go again but kept punishing myself in the hope it would get better, i believe we are on the way now.
Great noise from the BP massive and a home crowd of 4000+ saw town battle hard against 12 cheaters on the park (14 incl linesmen)

Well said! Onwards and upwards!!!

yes the ref was urine poor and they were dirty illegitimates, but it kept me interested (lower findus resident) but that failed to hide our poorness, we created nothing. The centre halves were poor and kept letting the ball bounce! thanoj got bullied and kept getting caught in possession, Elding didn't do much but improved in the second half. On the plus side Makofo was good and hearn will be decent with support. We could really do with a striker that can score from nothing, hmm....  ::)

games cant come quick enough at the beginning of the season just ads a bit more pressure now for a win at braintree,point will be a good result at newport .

Quoted from cleemaddog

Town were a better side today than they were all last season,that includes the two drubbings we gave out. The only thing i wanted was for someone to break that fat womens private at the back. Never seen such an obvious candidate for twit of the week.
The future looks bright for Town especially with the management duo. think they have got it right. good effort from the boys.
Last season i came home after every match and swore i would never go again but kept punishing myself in the hope it would get better, i believe we are on the way now.
Great noise from the BP massive and a home crowd of 4000+ saw town battle hard against 12 cheaters on the park (14 incl linesmen)

You are kidding right??? We were awful today, outplayed and out battled - could have played all day and not scored! Only one game in but I saw nothing today that made me think this season is going to be any better than last.

Quoted from Sane Mariner

You are kidding right??? We were awful today, outplayed and out battled - could have played all day and not scored! Only one game in but I saw nothing today that made me think this season is going to be any better than last.

No, all last season and the season before I sat and watched us get out played and out muscled. at least with the energy levels high and players wanting to play for the team and wear the shirt with a bit of pride not just take the money at the end of the week. the glass is def half full.

Changes needed for Tuesday. Wood, Artus and Spencer in for Silk, Makofo and Elding.

I thought thanoj struggled to get in the game for long periods, coulson offered very little threat as a right winger and we failed to physically stand up and be counted. If Church isn't fit then we need someone in CM with Disley. We need to get people defending like Fleetwood did using their bodies and uncompromising solid tackles. It's got to be between person kempson and garner. Ridley was steady and Silk tackled but not convinced by him yet! But it's early days and we are a new side of players!

Quoted from cleemaddog

Town were a better side today than they were all last season,that includes the two drubbings we gave out. The only thing i wanted was for someone to break that fat womens private at the back. Never seen such an obvious candidate for twit of the week.
The future looks bright for Town especially with the management duo. think they have got it right. good effort from the boys.
Last season i came home after every match and swore i would never go again but kept punishing myself in the hope it would get better, i believe we are on the way now.

you sure ? this time last year we beat the future league champions !!!!!!!

Quoted from cleemaddog

No, all last season and the season before I sat and watched us get out played and out muscled. at least with the energy levels high and players wanting to play for the team and wear the shirt with a bit of pride not just take the money at the end of the week. the glass is def half full.

Thats exactly what I watched today - us getting outplayed and out muscled! And I found the end of game rollocking on the pitch cringeworthy!

Quoted from findusrich

you sure ? this time last year we beat the future league champions !!!!!!!

And we ended up where?

didnt see the end of match bollocking. If that happened thats bad. ask Phil Brown, don't think he ever recovered the dressing room after that.

Quoted from cleemaddog

And we ended up where?

having won the first game we finished mid table.This year having lost the first game .......? unless this new squad can produce miracles under the guidance of S and H!!

Regardless of the poor officiating or the misconduct of several Fleetwood players, we were poor. Not big enough, not strong enough and also not creative enough. One shot on target all game. Got very little pace in the team, especially at the back. Elding tried hard without the ball, but did precious little with it.
Makofo played well, but in my opinion is Akpro mk.2.

I'd hoped that we might have been a bit more streetwise this season.  Not suggesting we should drop to the level of today's visitors btw.

Quoted from cleemaddog

Town were a better side today than they were all last season,that includes the two drubbings we gave out. The only thing i wanted was for someone to break that fat womens private at the back. Never seen such an obvious candidate for twit of the week.
The future looks bright for Town especially with the management duo. think they have got it right. good effort from the boys.
Last season i came home after every match and swore i would never go again but kept punishing myself in the hope it would get better, i believe we are on the way now.
Great noise from the BP massive and a home crowd of 4000+ saw town battle hard against 12 cheaters on the park (14 incl linesmen)

Are you pilled up?
Fleetwood were far better in all departments during the game and knew how to be physical.
A proper example of men against boys.  :o

I have to say I thought Atko played pretty well today.

Quoted from Sane Mariner

Thats exactly what I watched today - us getting outplayed and out muscled! And I found the end of game rollocking on the pitch cringeworthy!

Was it a rollocking? I thought it was more a chat that anything, this has happened last couple of home pre season games where they stay on the pitch, talked about game and then do a little warm down.

I thought the way we played lumping the ball up to our two forwards was the wrong choice and should have been changed to playing to feet second half, its no good rollocking at full time because the two managers were bereft of plan B against a team that were faster,  stronger and more physical than us.

Serge if he gains more confidence in the box can be a star, Elding I`m afraid looks out of his depth in this league and is no way near the threat of Spencer, I think if Pearson had played he would have been turned inside out today because we lacked speed in defence as it was

Quoted from AdamHaddock

Changes needed for Tuesday. Wood, Artus and Spencer in for Silk, Makofo and Elding.

eh?! he was out best player!

Unfortunately, perhaps fortunately i couldnt attend today's game! Could someone please tell me did we have any strikers on the field today, have just seen the stats 60% possession and zero shots, doesnt take a genius to work out something is wrong!!! give the young boys a go, mulreedy, wood etc!!!! Play for the shirt.   And Elding please, i have coached boys under 16's who possess more attributes than this very very poor player.

Quoted from Matt Mal

Unfortunately, perhaps fortunately i couldnt attend today's game! Could someone please tell me did we have any strikers on the field today, have just seen the stats 60% possession and zero shots, doesnt take a genius to work out something is wrong!!! give the young boys a go, mulreedy, wood etc!!!! Play for the shirt.   And Elding please, i have coached boys under 16's who possess more attributes than this very very poor player.

The young boys got bullied today.

Quoted from Garth

I thought the way we played lumping the ball up to our two forwards was the wrong choice and should have been changed to playing to feet second half, its no good rollocking at full time because the two managers were bereft of plan B against a team that were faster,  stronger and more physical than us.

Serge if he gains more confidence in the box can be a star,

if were going to have any chance of getting into the promotion places I don't think lumping it is the way to go(disappointed that the gaffers allowed to this to happen).
          As for Makofo really pleased for the lad probably was disappointed at the end of last season to realise the gaffers didn't have faith in him and this season (so far) has showed them what he is really about   good on him

Quoted from Matt Mal

Unfortunately, perhaps fortunately i couldnt attend today's game! Could someone please tell me did we have any strikers on the field today, have just seen the stats 60% possession and zero shots, doesnt take a genius to work out something is wrong!!! give the young boys a go, mulreedy, wood etc!!!! Play for the shirt.   And Elding please, i have coached boys under 16's who possess more attributes than this very very poor player.

Hmmm written off after 1 game eh?

What struck me today was once again we had 2 players in cm that were far too polite and dainty. Neither Thanoj not Disley are going to put crunching takes in to win the ball. All toI often they were crouching down, arms out waiting for the opposition to make a move. Where is the bite, the steel, the aggression in midfield if Wood or Church aren't playing there?

seen elding play over 20 games, never seen anything 'special'. very very average. would be very suprised if he hits double figures this season...

@biccy, spot on, midfield has looked weak through out pre season, cant understand why wood wasnt put in their to give the much needed steel!

Quoted from Matt Mal

@biccy, spot on, midfield has looked weak through out pre season, cant understand why wood wasnt put in their to give the much needed steel!

Silk was injured so he had to fill in at rb, although i thought we could have done with brad in the middle.

Quoted from Matt Mal

@biccy, spot on, midfield has looked weak through out pre season, cant understand why wood wasnt put in their to give the much needed steel!

Because we wanted to finish with 11 on the field, and as much as I like Bradley he has to learn to be a bit more crafty with his challenges and smile at everyone afterwards  ;)

Quoted from Biccys

What struck me today was once again we had 2 players in cm that were far too polite and dainty. Neither Thanoj not Disley are going to put crunching takes in to win the ball. All toI often they were crouching down, arms out waiting for the opposition to make a move. Where is the bite, the steel, the aggression in midfield if Wood or Church aren't playing there?

Agreed. Thanoj doesn't seem quite ready yet. If you're lightweight you need to be quick with great vision, he's not there yet.

Tbh i think the whole team has weaknesses its not like one department we can say is fulfilling its potential, its only one game, but look at pre season, defence looks weak, midfield especially cm lacks imagination as well as steel, and tbh i expected more of our strikers. Perhaps we need to wait until christmas to assess the situation, nevertheless if we intend on promotion, perhaps losing two nil to fleetwood at home is a blow already, for the players, managers, and FANS. Still don't think the guys have found their starting x1

Quoted from Biccys

What struck me today was once again we had 2 players in cm that were far too polite and dainty. Neither Thanoj not Disley are going to put crunching takes in to win the ball. All toI often they were crouching down, arms out waiting for the opposition to make a move. Where is the bite, the steel, the aggression in midfield if Wood or Church aren't playing there?

Agreed, Would artus have been a better choice than thanoj? I would have said so, got involved a lot when he came on, got his boot in a couple of times..

I thought Charlie played well. Got on the end of most headers and was quick getting his foot in to prevent a one on one with the keeper who, I might add, looked pretty good at times. Good performance for our backup keeper.

Mckeown made me look an bottom to a bloke on the upper. He asked what he was like and I said decent at commanding his box but his kicking is what stands out for me. Much better than Kenny. Then he procedes to scuff a goal kick along the deck and then spoon a moving ball so high it came down with snow on it... He got better though, in his defence! Saved me a bit of face as well!

Quoted from Biccys

Mckeown made me look an bottom to a bloke on the upper. He asked what he was like and I said decent at commanding his box but his kicking is what stands out for me. Much better than Kenny. Then he procedes to scuff a goal kick along the deck and then spoon a moving ball so high it came down with snow on it... He got better though, in his defence! Saved me a bit of face as well!

He did get better as the game bore on. At times it looked more like a tennis match with the ball going keeper to keeper.

got back a bit ago.

now i aint gonna dress it up over the top and say we are excrement or we are a new team...

simple really,we make poor decisions and while we do that we will be in this league a long time..

thanoj no way is he ready to be in the team,was like playing with 10 players most of the match..

thats it im drunk off.

bye

Quoted from Garth

[/b]

Because we wanted to finish with 11 on the field, and as much as I like Bradley he has to learn to be a bit more crafty with his challenges and smile at everyone afterwards  ;)

brad would rather do something and tell the ref he did nothing or make the crowd laugh like at FGR were the linesman was telling him to put the ball back to the halfway line and he was going im busy im busy lol

too much hoof down the middle to a target man who:
cannot jump and was lucky not to get in trouble for a stamp and a kick on the fat defender.

because of this the ball came back at us alot.

poor ref yes never in control.
anyone have clear view on penalty push on Spencer?

not saying anymore as at a loss as to what i saw from the 3 teams out there.

When are we going to stop trying to walk the ball into the net and start taking a few MORE shots from the edge of the area, and why the ell did we keep pumping the ball into the air when it was obvious that their defence was easily winning any aerial battle, that said I thought we had a lot of possesion, but unfortunately none of our players know what to do with it.

some very surprising comments made - funny no one has mentioned that it was garner who copulated up for their first goal. i thought charlie was very good, and i think the critcism of elding is a bit over the top and the digs at silk are also unfair. We weren't great but they were as good a side as we will face this year, keep the faith!

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

some very surprising comments made - funny no one has mentioned that it was garner who copulated up for their first goal. i thought charlie was very good, and i think the critcism of elding is a bit over the top and the digs at silk are also unfair. We weren't great but they were as good a side as we will face this year, keep the faith!

I agree with that. Today was a better performance than most matches I watched last season, but fleetwood were a better side and deserved the 3 points. Don't understand the massive negativity on this board tonight.

wood got told by the managers that the first goal was his fault dont see how tbh he was in the right place it was garners intercourse up

Fleetwood are better than us, enough of the excuses.

Quoted from Mariner_501

Fleetwood are better than us, enough of the excuses.

i wouldnt say they was better they sat most of the team behind the ball in the second half and hit us on the counter attack we was around there goal most of second half with no end product :/

Quoted from Lew19

i wouldnt say they was better they sat most of the team behind the ball in the second half and hit us on the counter attack we was around there goal most of second half with no end product :/

0-2. . . . . wtf are you on about?

Quoted from ginnywings

About 20 years ago i was in Pier 39 and thought to myself "what the intercourse am i doing in here" and i never went again.Had that same feeeling at BP today watching a totally toothless,inept,urine poor team playing the same old boring hit and hope footy and never looking like they'll score if they played all weekend.

Fleetwood,yes Fleetwood,were better in every single department.

Bored and disillusioned with the whole GTFC thing now.

Your new found optimism did not last long then!! :P

Think we should give Church a go before we start the campaign to have Wood play in midfield. Don't think we were too over run in midfield, as the possession stats will show (think somebody had earlier quoted 60%), however we never used the ball effectively. We played long ball all game to strikers who until the last 30 mins were not going to win headers, especially against the defenders that Fleetwood had. Seems a shame that we don't appear to have a plan b again, especially given the early promise of these two managers.

Quoted from codhead91

Think we should give Church a go  

worth a try, see you there tomorrow morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 thing that I noticed today, and needs addressing straight away is...

Spencer needs to get down the gym. He really needs to bulk up a little bit and build up some muscle if he's going to make it at this level

:)

Quoted from bigdavemariner

1 thing that I noticed today, and needs addressing straight away is...

Spencer needs to get down the gym. He really needs to bulk up a little bit and build up some muscle if he's going to make it at this level

:)

lmaooooo he needs a bigger top still!

Quoted from Lew19

wood got told by the managers that the first goal was his fault dont see how tbh he was in the right place it was garners intercourse up

probably because garner was at right back when he made the intercourse up, when bradley should have been in that position

why are people calling for the managers heads already? hull lost their opening game and so did scunny but you dont see their fans calling for the chairmen to sack them do you? first game of the season so judge them close to december!

Just back.   Saw on SSN that Fleetwood had 10 shots on target to our 1.  Not sure that this is correct, but it does tell how the match went.

For a hard game against a good team we needed Church in midfield.   We missed him and did not have an effective replacement.  Maybe Wood should be considered here? We have no natural cover for Church. The 3 central midfielders used today are not ball winners.  For the second half we had no cover for the full backs either.  

We can get better.  In the first half Disley was turning with the ball (like Sweeney used to) looking for a free player or runner.  He struggled to find anybody most of the time.  Not enough movement.

Also in the first half the defenders were relying on the Ref to blow for a freekick.  You cannot do that with the quality of Refs in this League.

Elding did not play to his supposed strengths. I worry about our threat up front.  We are weak if Hearn gets injured or suspended. Lack of mobility.  All in all there are risks to losing key players, without having good replacements.

Misc points:   L'Anson was good, Fleetwood are good and dirty.  Trying to emulate Crawley?   They took control of the first 15 mins.  I know the width of the pitch had been shortened, but what about the length?  Both keepers were kicking far into the opposition half.

We may win at Braintree.  Neither game are probably a reflection of the League standard and how we will do against other teams.  Lets hold judgement for a few games.

SUMMARY.....

Started very edgy and tentative and thought we could have started at a lot higher tempo(reminded me of Ferriby) - slightly lucky not to be down early when Fleetwood looked dangerous around the box(obviously they have some useful players) but we rode our early wobbles.
Both sides played some nice bits coming forward but moreso Fleetwood 1st half and always a degree of trepidation  when they packed the penalty area but we defended stoutly enough (albeit deep)
They got their 2nd at the death but really it was pretty much all Town pressure 2nd half without hatfuls of chances though we went very close a couple of times.
Pressed more and more in search of an equaliser so not too suprising we got caught right at the end.
A very frustrating game with blind officials completely out of their depth not spotting some terrible whacks to our players from Fleetwood who should be ashamed (and possibly taken action upon if the video evidence backs it up) today...
Did it affect the result ?
Maybe we should have had a penalty I'd like to see it again...
Just a fiery and frustrating game all round - I felt nothing really fell for us all day.
Think they probably deserved to edge it but 1-1 wouldn't have been robbery with all our 2nd half pressure until their late goal.

The lads kept going today and couldn't fault them too much for effort and I proudly clapped them off at the end.

Disappointing but no great suprise in light of the footballing work that was left to do after Ferriby.

Always felt we wouldn't reach our peak today and from that perspective feel there is enough reason to say the positives outweight the negatives at this stage IF we can sort it all out and improve.

Didn't think Fleetwood looked that great defensively and thought we could have pushed them back a bit sooner and tried to get down the flanks even more than we did.

Also get the feeling we're playing a mixture of long ball to the big man/channels + nice passing and maybe need to decide which path we ultimately go down to realise a more tangble gameplan.

MATCH RATINGS...

McKeown 8 - Kicking poor early on but made some very good stops.

Ridley 7.5 - A few loose balls but impressed at his passing and composure today. Got caught for pace for the goal right at the end but we were pushing forward at that point.

I'Anson 8 - One of the highlights to come out of the game I thought - excellent in the air, covered well and did well making space in the box at the other end too. Think he deserves to keep his place on this showing and my suspicion that he will make it is looking well on course - looks a decent prospect.

Garner 6 - Didn't look convincing from the word go today and his lunge and mistake later led to the first goal. Not the first mistake he's made when 1 on 1 and think Scott needs to coach him how and when to challenge at crucial times in the box. It's one thing being solid in the air(which he suprisingly didn't look today) but entirely another when defending attackers running forward.

Silk 6.5 - Not overly impressed today I'm afraid - lots of long balls to nobody and agian looked a bit vulnerable when up against an attacker running down the byline. Needs to get closer to the man to stop the crosses coming in.  Had to come off when injured just before half time.

Makofo 8.5(MOM) - Once again looked the most dangerous player with his serge-ing runs down the wing and unlucky their goalie made a great save from his right footed shot. Still doesn't look convincing knowing what to do when he ends up near the penalty area, but if he did he'd be a few divisions higher. Lots to like about the performance though - if he can take that extra step we will have a player of some value on our hands in due course(if we don't already)  Has some wicked curl on his corners !
  
Thanoj 7 - Mixed bag - misplaced passes and looked slow and exposed at times early on. Obviously has some useful passing ability but needs to up his workrate and sharpen up his positional play(keeping goalside !) to demand a place in the team.

Disley 8 - A lot to like in terms of his ball control, anticipation, heading and tackling. Could clearly see his league class today but just feel he'd be so much better if his contribution went forward rather than backwrads - one moment when he passed back playing a hospital ball which sums up the frustration but little doubt his all round ability will be a calming and much needed influence this season. Looks reasonably pacy too and broke up a lot of play in the centre even if he didn't use it to the max. Well done.

Coulson 7.5 - Worked hard for the team today and tried to link up and create openings through the middle as well as down the wing where he did well to beat a player once or twice(proved me wrong !) but his crossing (like in general today) was a bit hit and hope. Still think we need to seriously consider him up centrally up front near to Hearn.

Hearn 8 - Worked hard, chased, passed well and held the ball up and had a good game, showing some nice bits of skill to beat defenders in tight situations. Never really had a clear sight of goal today - tried to make space but had his shots blocked again. Does he needs to be a little cuter around the penalty box rather than always shaping to shoot every half chance he gets ? Not that I'm blaming him - he's clearly a large asset to the club and it's only a matter of time before he scores. Would like to see him steamroller and impose himself on defenders even more but that may come with physical development over time.

Elding - 5.5 Innefective 1st half - doesn't look like he can head a ball properly to me and seems to have a dodgy first touch at times - sometimes seems to spend an age holding the ball up if/when he does. To be fair worked hard enough and got better as the game went on but thought Scott should have replaced him a lot sooner at half time because he was offering us almost nothing. To be honest not suprised after his pre-season and the excuse of "needs match practice" is already starting to look a little questionable. Hit one promising shot from distance over th bar so don't really know much about his goalscoring abilites but we can't afford to carry him. Guess Scott wanted to give certain players opportunities but not suprised at the outcome after the holes in pre-season and makes you wonder with hindsight if Duffy would have been better to try to link up with the forwards today.

Subs

Wood 7.5 Committed as always. Covered well, some fair play and tried to get forward down the right flank but like the team his crossing with both feet wasn't the best today.
As expected the teams crossing looks a lot better up close from the byline than being pumped into the box from long range.

Spencer - 6.5 Didn't look like he could get involved in the game too much to me - not much to report but doesn't look very mobile and wasn't really a handful in the air against their big (and dirty !) defenders.

Artus 7 - A few ok passes, but another who I didn't really spot a great deal. Think he should get his chance based on pre-season though and no doubt he will with time.

CONCLUSION......

No need to start crying or moaning yet, I'm slightly disappointed we're not firing on all cylinders but hopeful we'll play better football than that this season and pick up enough points for the playoffs.  

Still too early to say, but feel there's a solid basis to build on and there is improvement to come IF the managers can find our way forward and identify the right team blend and what needs improving (feel there may be real signs this is the case as I don't think it was necessarily our best team today)

But also feel Fenty may need to get his chequebook book out sooner rather than later unless they can bring us on in leaps and bounds(which remain to be seen) with the current squad in it's current form.

Hearn looks needs in need of a relaible and consistent partner - who will that be ?

Feeling more positive than I was after the first home game last season vs York under Woods where we never put them under any kind of pressure....

Question remains do Scott and Hurst have the nouse with their tactics and gameplan to match their work ethic ?
We'll see...

Quoted from 1600

CONCLUSION......

No need to start crying or moaning yet, I'm slightly disappointed we're not firing on all cylinders but hopeful we'll play better football than that this season and pick up enough points for the playoffs.  

Still too early to say, but feel there's a solid basis to build on and there is improvement to come IF the managers can find our way forward and identify the right team blend and what needs improving (feel there may be real signs this is the case as I don't think it was necessarily our best team today)
form.



Question remains do Scott and Hurst have the nouse with their tactics and gameplan to match their work ethic ?
We'll see...

quality post on our first game of the season

Well, bit of a mixed bag today. A lot of things to consider before coming to conclusions. Half a new team started the match. And we were up against the side I expect will win the league this season.

We weren't as bad as some are claiming. We didn't get enough shots on target but did have plenty of pressure in the 2nd half. 1st half they were in control without causing us too much trouble apart from the first 2 minutes. I thought 1-0 to Fleetwood would have been a fair result.

We gave McNulty and Atkinson an easy game really, playing the ball up to their heads to often. Only when Spencer came on did McNulty have to work a bit harder to win his headers.

Hearn looked decent and I like his direct style. Receive the ball, turn and run at the defence. Still think he will score a hatful this season.

Makofo was making things happen and has to be applauded for that. Just needs to work on his final ball now. But think he will cause lesser sides no end of problems.

Thought Garner had a poor game. He always looks likely to mis-hit the ball when its low for some reason. I'Anson on the other hand was one of our best players, if not MOM. Won most in the air, got back to tackle well and made blocks/interceptions when needed.

Moment of the match - Bradley Wood picking Brodie (who is an absolute male masturbator who thinks he is better than he is) and throwing him up to his feet.

Quoted from 1600

SUMMARY.....

Started very edgy and tentative and thought we could have started at a lot higher tempo(reminded me of Ferriby) - slightly lucky not to be down early when Fleetwood looked dangerous around the box(obviously they have some useful players) but we rode our early wobbles.
Both sides played some nice bits coming forward but moreso Fleetwood 1st half and always a degree of trepidation  when they packed the penalty area but we defended stoutly enough (albeit deep)
They got their 2nd at the death but really it was pretty much all Town pressure 2nd half without hatfuls of chances though we went very close a couple of times.
Pressed more and more in search of an equaliser so not too suprising we got caught right at the end.
A very frustrating game with blind officials completely out of their depth not spotting some terrible whacks to our players from Fleetwood who should be ashamed (and possibly taken action upon if the video evidence backs it up) today...
Did it affect the result ?
Maybe we should have had a penalty I'd like to see it again...
Just a fiery and frustrating game all round - I felt nothing really fell for us all day.
Think they probably deserved to edge it but 1-1 wouldn't have been robbery with all our 2nd half pressure until their late goal.

The lads kept going today and couldn't fault them too much for effort and I proudly clapped them off at the end.

Disappointing but no great suprise in light of the footballing work that was left to do after Ferriby.

Always felt we wouldn't reach our peak today and from that perspective feel there is enough reason to say the positives outweight the negatives at this stage IF we can sort it all out and improve.

Didn't think Fleetwood looked that great defensively and thought we could have pushed them back a bit sooner and tried to get down the flanks even more than we did.

Also get the feeling we're playing a mixture of long ball to the big man/channels + nice passing and maybe need to decide which path we ultimately go down to realise a more tangble gameplan.

MATCH RATINGS...

McKeown 8 - Kicking poor early on but made some very good stops.

Ridley 7.5 - A few loose balls but impressed at his passing and composure today. Got caught for pace for the goal right at the end but we were pushing forward at that point.

I'Anson 8 - One of the highlights to come out of the game I thought - excellent in the air, covered well and did well making space in the box at the other end too. Think he deserves to keep his place on this showing and my suspicion that he will make it is looking well on course - looks a decent prospect.

Garner 6 - Didn't look convincing from the word go today and his lunge and mistake later led to the first goal. Not the first mistake he's made when 1 on 1 and think Scott needs to coach him how and when to challenge at crucial times in the box. It's one thing being solid in the air(which he suprisingly didn't look today) but entirely another when defending attackers running forward.

Silk 6.5 - Not overly impressed today I'm afraid - lots of long balls to nobody and agian looked a bit vulnerable when up against an attacker running down the byline. Needs to get closer to the man to stop the crosses coming in.  Had to come off when injured just before half time.

Makofo 8.5(MOM) - Once again looked the most dangerous player with his serge-ing runs down the wing and unlucky their goalie made a great save from his right footed shot. Still doesn't look convincing knowing what to do when he ends up near the penalty area, but if he did he'd be a few divisions higher. Lots to like about the performance though - if he can take that extra step we will have a player of some value on our hands in due course(if we don't already)  Has some wicked curl on his corners !
  
Thanoj 7 - Mixed bag - misplaced passes and looked slow and exposed at times early on. Obviously has some useful passing ability but needs to up his workrate and sharpen up his positional play(keeping goalside !) to demand a place in the team.

Disley 8 - A lot to like in terms of his ball control, anticipation, heading and tackling. Could clearly see his league class today but just feel he'd be so much better if his contribution went forward rather than backwrads - one moment when he passed back playing a hospital ball which sums up the frustration but little doubt his all round ability will be a calming and much needed influence this season. Looks reasonably pacy too and broke up a lot of play in the centre even if he didn't use it to the max. Well done.

Coulson 7.5 - Worked hard for the team today and tried to link up and create openings through the middle as well as down the wing where he did well to beat a player once or twice(proved me wrong !) but his crossing (like in general today) was a bit hit and hope. Still think we need to seriously consider him up centrally up front near to Hearn.

Hearn 8 - Worked hard, chased, passed well and held the ball up and had a good game, showing some nice bits of skill to beat defenders in tight situations. Never really had a clear sight of goal today - tried to make space but had his shots blocked again. Does he needs to be a little cuter around the penalty box rather than always shaping to shoot every half chance he gets ? Not that I'm blaming him - he's clearly a large asset to the club and it's only a matter of time before he scores. Would like to see him steamroller and impose himself on defenders even more but that may come with physical development over time.

Elding - 5.5 Innefective 1st half - doesn't look like he can head a ball properly to me and seems to have a dodgy first touch at times - sometimes seems to spend an age holding the ball up if/when he does. To be fair worked hard enough and got better as the game went on but thought Scott should have replaced him a lot sooner at half time because he was offering us almost nothing. To be honest not suprised after his pre-season and the excuse of "needs match practice" is already starting to look a little questionable. Hit one promising shot from distance over th bar so don't really know much about his goalscoring abilites but we can't afford to carry him. Guess Scott wanted to give certain players opportunities but not suprised at the outcome after the holes in pre-season and makes you wonder with hindsight if Duffy would have been better to try to link up with the forwards today.

Subs

Wood 7.5 Committed as always. Covered well, some fair play and tried to get forward down the right flank but like the team his crossing with both feet wasn't the best today.
As expected the teams crossing looks a lot better up close from the byline than being pumped into the box from long range.

Spencer - 6.5 Didn't look like he could get involved in the game too much to me - not much to report but doesn't look very mobile and wasn't really a handful in the air against their big (and dirty !) defenders.

Artus 7 - A few ok passes, but another who I didn't really spot a great deal. Think he should get his chance based on pre-season though and no doubt he will with time.

CONCLUSION......

No need to start crying or moaning yet, I'm slightly disappointed we're not firing on all cylinders but hopeful we'll play better football than that this season and pick up enough points for the playoffs.  

Still too early to say, but feel there's a solid basis to build on and there is improvement to come IF the managers can find our way forward and identify the right team blend and what needs improving (feel there may be real signs this is the case as I don't think it was necessarily our best team today)

But also feel Fenty may need to get his chequebook book out sooner rather than later unless they can bring us on in leaps and bounds(which remain to be seen) with the current squad in it's current form.

Hearn looks needs in need of a relaible and consistent partner - who will that be ?

Feeling more positive than I was after the first home game last season vs York under Woods where we never put them under any kind of pressure....

Question remains do Scott and Hurst have the nouse with their tactics and gameplan to match their work ethic ?
We'll see...

hit the nail on the head there fella i agree  :)

Quoted from ginnywings

The difference being that Crawley battered us and we got lucky.They went on to win the league and it wouldn't surprise me if we have just played the league winners again first game.They seem to have enough skill and aggression to win a lot of games.

[b]Don't know why everyone is bleating about them and their tactics.Fact is they outplayed,outthought and outfought us and you need all that to win this league.They won't be the only team to come here this season and employ the same tactics.The only answer,unless we start the gamesmanship is to outfootball them,but we aint good enough for that as far as i can see.

This> It's up to the officials to stop their behaviour. They didn't and Fleetwood made full use of the fact. The "battle" between Elding and their enormously fat centre half was like watching Tweedledee and Tweedledum-except their player was the one with the rattle.... :-/

Quoted from cleemaddog

No, all last season and the season before I sat and watched us get out played and out muscled. at least with the energy levels high and players wanting to play for the team and wear the shirt with a bit of pride not just take the money at the end of the week. the glass is def half full.

From my vantage point in the Pontoon it looked like today we were outmuscled and outplayed..

Most of what could be said has been said. (Good summary by the way 80's).

We didn't create anything of any note. In fact it was difficult to understand what our tactics going forward were. Last season Connell could create something out of nothing. We certainly don't appear to have someone remotely capable of doing that on today's showing. Some of our players are on a steep learning curve and one wonders whether the lack of Conference experience may well cause us problems. However, players playing OK as individuals but not yet gelling as a team must be fairly standard for the first game of the season. Oh and one other thing. Until Artus came on our dead ball kicking for corners and free kicks was appalling.
Personally I don't think we will see many better organised teams or teams capable of pushing the boundaries as we did in Fleetwood today.

at the end of the day were only one game in we got another 45 yet and i still don't think S&H realli know there strongest team yet the players still need time to gel i for one dont think thanoj had a very good game and when artus came on we was alot better in midfield but then we still have church we still havent seen what he can do properly yet and i wunt mind seeing wood in the middle with disley  :)

Quoted from Tommy

Well, bit of a mixed bag today. A lot of things to consider before coming to conclusions. Half a new team started the match. And we were up against the side I expect will win the league this season.

We weren't as bad as some are claiming. We didn't get enough shots on target but did have plenty of pressure in the 2nd half. 1st half they were in control without causing us too much trouble apart from the first 2 minutes. I thought 1-0 to Fleetwood would have been a fair result.

We gave McNulty and Atkinson an easy game really, playing the ball up to their heads to often. Only when Spencer came on did McNulty have to work a bit harder to win his headers.

Hearn looked decent and I like his direct style. Receive the ball, turn and run at the defence. Still think he will score a hatful this season.

Makofo was making things happen and has to be applauded for that. Just needs to work on his final ball now. But think he will cause lesser sides no end of problems.

Thought Garner had a poor game. He always looks likely to mis-hit the ball when its low for some reason. I'Anson on the other hand was one of our best players, if not MOM. Won most in the air, got back to tackle well and made blocks/interceptions when needed.

Moment of the match - Bradley Wood picking Brodie (who is an absolute male masturbator who thinks he is better than he is) and throwing him up to his feet.

Great summary & good spot.

Quoted from barralad

Most of what could be said has been said. (Good summary by the way 80's).

We didn't create anything of any note. In fact it was difficult to understand what our tactics going forward were. Last season Connell could create something out of nothing. We certainly don't appear to have someone remotely capable of doing that on today's showing. Some of our players are on a steep learning curve and one wonders whether the lack of Conference experience may well cause us problems. However, players playing OK as individuals but not yet gelling as a team must be fairly standard for the first game of the season. Oh and one other thing. Until Artus came on our dead ball kicking for corners and free kicks was appalling.
Personally I don't think we will see many better organised teams or teams capable of pushing the boundaries as we did in Fleetwood today.

Excellent points.
I don't mean to be picky but wouldn't you say Makofo looks most likely to create something out of nothing (i.e. when he picks it up nothing is on but then he goes on a run and creates something) ?

I was actually suprised how many problems we caused them down the flanks when we actually tried - even Coulson beat his player ! :)
Hearn forced a lot of corners out wide too.
Should we have played to just that tactic 2nd half ?
Maybe the dilemma we have is that with the big men, we also invaribaly pump it long from the back, no pretty passing in midfield before spreading it out wide ?

Ahhh football used to be such a simple game - get it to the byline, pull if back with pace and cause even the best defences huge problems defending it...  

Never thought Woods ever really used the width(accept we had huge central midfield problems) - I just hope these can especially with 1 dangerous winger.

I fully agree that word "gameplan" you mention is something we'll need to pay close attention to, think it shows the players are crystal clear about what they're trying to do - a very good sign.

Or is that too unrealistic - were we were just spolied under Buckley ?....   :-/

We were but we can be again.

Really ?  
Keep telling me things like that :)
I believe it too.
But I'd love Fenty to spoil us by sticking an extra £100,000 into the playing budget. (yeah too early I know...)
If ever a team needed a run to the 5th round of the FACup it's us.

corrr id love to see that beat liverpool again amazing!!!

woops the pre season optimism has been squashed. I thought we were dreadful and so far behind them in terms of quality, intelligence and fight it was unreal, their two centre halves  easily coped with everything we had to offer and looked a good paring. They were at us quick whereas we gave them time to play.

I was surprised we did not revert to 3 in the middle because we were painfully outgunned. Garner and Silk had games to forget and elding is a girl private.

We are no better now than we were under woods, we have less quality and play less football, hopefully the fact that we have a team full of triers will make up for that when we play worse teams.

I am far from impressed and we must improve or you cuntts will have tango and cash out before xmas.

Good start!! We done indeed I say

Quoted from 1888

Good start!! We done indeed I say

intercourse off back to your shed scunt!

Quoted from headingly_mariner

woops the pre season optimism has been squashed. I thought we were dreadful and so far behind them in terms of quality, intelligence and fight it was unreal, their two centre halves  easily coped with everything we had to offer and looked a good paring. They were at us quick whereas we gave them time to play.

I was surprised we did not revert to 3 in the middle because we were painfully outgunned. Garner and Silk had games to forget and elding is a girl private.

We are no better now than we were under woods, we have less quality and play less football, hopefully the fact that we have a team full of triers will make up for that when we play worse teams.

I am far from impressed and we must improve or you cuntts will have tango and cash out before xmas.

I thought we gave them far too much time to play too(what's happened to closing down from the off we saw vs Barnsley?) but didn't you think there were glimpses of some half decent football ?

Not convinced with this "hit it up to the big man" tactic but amongst all the confusion the ball never managed to fall to anyone to have a decent pop on goal.

Quoted from 1600

Excellent points.
I don't mean to be picky but wouldn't you say Makofo looks most likely to create something out of nothing (i.e. when he picks it up nothing is on but then he goes on a run and creates something) ?

I was actually suprised how many problems we caused them down the flanks when we actually tried - even Coulson beat his player ! :)
Hearn forced a lot of corners out wide too.
Should we have played to just that tactic 2nd half ?
Maybe the dilemma we have is that with the big men, we also invaribaly pump it long from the back, no pretty passing in midfield before spreading it out wide ?

Ahhh football used to be such a simple game - get it to the byline, pull if back with pace and cause even the best defences huge problems defending it...  

Never thought Woods ever really used the width(accept we had huge central midfield problems) - I just hope these can especially with 1 dangerous winger.

I fully agree that word "gameplan" you mention is something we'll need to pay close attention to, think it shows the players are crystal clear about what they're trying to do - a very good sign.

Or is that too unrealistic - were we were just spolied under Buckley ?....   :-/

Wingers?

The one on the left tries hard but ends up nowhere,and the one on the right isnt a winger,never beats his man or delivers a telling cross.

We couldnt even sustain a high tempo,all action performance (obviously devoid of any skill) despite the hype, and I am not sure exactly where we go from here.

Unless the team gels very quickly,we are in big trouble again.On todays showing only,I would say we are suspect at the back due to a lack of pace,lightweight in midfield,and impotent up front,and both "wingers" are no threat whatsoever.

We will obviously beat a lot of the lesser teams in this league but it seems we are as far away as ever from a team that could challenge for the title,even at this lowly level.

I think the crowd were half hearted,as it was plain to see we found it difficult to sustain a period of pressure that remotely looked like we might score.

A very poor showing in my opinion,and I only hope that something clicks very very soon to make todays performance seem a bad dream.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

the one on the right isnt a winger,never beats his man or delivers a telling cross.

I've been thinking Coulson is wasted on the wing too but to be fair in actual fact Makofos tipped over the bar effort came about when Coulson beat his man on the wing and crossed the ball to create the opportunity.

Quoted from AdamHaddock

I hope there was a referees assessor there as that dopey midget and his goofy linesman will be duly transferred to the Zamaretto league by the end of the month. I can't beleive the foulding that was ignored. The most useless referee I've ever seen and there is some real competition for that.

But let's not allow that to mask a feeble performance. We didn't make much use of the ball when we had it. Far too much booting it up in the air without looking up to pick out someone's runs. A few good signs like the fact that we just kept going right until the end. I also liked the was we we're throwing bodies in the way of shots. Apart from that, disappointing.

McKeown 7 Reasonably safe pair of hands but shouldn't have conceded the first goal from that angle .
Silk 5 Poor, gave the ball away and was outpaced. Doesn't get forward and support Coulson
I'anson 8 MOM Won everything in the air and had a good game. I was surprised to see him picked ahead of Peason but he took his chance.
Garner 7 Decent if a bit slow. Unlucky with that overhead kick.
Ridley 6 Far too easily outpaced for the second goal then had a moan at the linesman.
Coulson 7 Worked hard as usual and caused a few problems, just not quite the menace he was at the back end of last season.
Disley 6 Didn't pass the ball around as well as I was expecting. Pretty ineffective
Thanoj 7 Had a decent game and got stuck in.
Makofo 5 I'm sorry but if this guy is a professional footballer then I'm a gingerbreadman. Yes he's a trier and skinned his man a few times but then he just fannies around on the ball until he's ganged up on. Nothing useful actually comes from his boots.
Elding 5 Anonymous. Beaten in the air time and again, not that much better with the ball at his feet.
Hearn 7 Worked hard and, like Coulson, caused problems but was often isolated.

Wood 7 His usual self. Worked hard, supported Coulson well, rattled a few of their players. His trip on Brodie cheered me up.

Agree with some of your assessments and  disagree with others - for me;

McKeown - by no means the finished article, but has potential, good safe hands and kicking,
but a bit slow off his line at times - d'ont blame him for the first goal, he was protecting his near post as all good keepers do and got done at the far.
Silk/Wood -  i d'ont do friendlies, so its the first time i have seen Silk, looked OK , but is he really a better option than Wood?
Ridley - Solid as usual, not far off MOM for me - seems some will not forgive him his Scunny roots!
Centre backs - didnt rate this combination at all - L'anson is one for the future, did some good work, but i saw his inexperience too many times today, Garner was fair but nothing more - we need Kempson back  there IMO.
Midfield - this is STILL where we lack, Disley did a decent job, but offered  very little offensively and Thanoj looked lost all game to me  - he is only young, so time is on his side, but what sort of Midfielder is he going to be? Seemed like a younger version of our ineffective midfielders of last year.
Where is the midfielder to thread a defence splitting through ball?  Still missing I'm afraid.
Coulson looked  lively  at times but i am still sure we are missing a trick with him, this lad is a potential goalscorer, why are we wasting him out wide?
Hearn looked good to me, but unless we give this lad some decent service he will soon lose interest - he will score goals with service IMO.
Elding, sorry, but a slower version of Duffy - do not know why he is here on that performance - d'ont want to make him the next boo boy, but he has to offer more than that.
Makofo, well what can you say? I'sure at times he doesn't know what he is doing, but i thought he  was the only player who ran at Fleetwood and he did cause them problems - hit and miss, but for me MOM.

Subs weren't really given enough time to  form an opinion.

In conclusion,  this is only the first battle of a long war, remember we beat the future Champions on their own patch first game last season, we need to be patient and stick with the team - continue to turn up in numbers and offer the sort of support we did today.

Fleetwood are an absolute disgrace, the worst example of a football team i have EVER seen in 4 deacdes, did the same last year, time waste, feign injury, throw niggles off the ball and gob off to opposing fans - EVERY team they face this season i will support - utter W@ankers.
171 fans as well -  small club like Crawley, supported by a money man.
Lets keep positive though, next May is a long time away.

Think you make some very good points Pete.

Ridley played some simple but effective passes into feet that led to some of our best play
I watched most of the friendlies and feel confident to say Wood is a much better right back than Silk.
Just watched the highlights again and spotted a good through ball by someone(think it was Thanoj !!!) to Makofo left side that led to a corner.

Agree about Coulson, bring him central and sign in a genuine right winger so we have attacking threat both sides.  :)

Longer term, I would maybe look to build a team like this.

...............McKeown
Wood.......CB.....CB......Ridley
...........Disley...Church/Artus
Sign/Bradb..Coulson......Makofo
..................Hearn

Really don't like to say this and not writing anyone off but feel I have to say it (if only for the sake of the club) - got this awful feeling sooner or later we'll realise Silk, Spencer and Elding will all prove surplus to requirements, crap signings and long ball up to the big man just aint the way forward long term.

Sorry I know it's just one game so far but it's my gut feeling.  :B

Quoted from 1600

Think you make some very good points Pete.

Ridley played some simple but effective passes into feet that led to some of our best play
I watched most of the friendlies and feel confident to say Wood is a much better right back than Silk.
Just watched the highlights again and spotted a good through ball by someone(think it was Thanoj !!!) to Makofo left side that led to a corner.

Agree about Coulson, bring him central and sign in a genuine right winger so we have attacking threat both sides.  :)

Longer term, I would maybe look to build a team like this.

...............McKeown
Wood.......CB.....CB......Ridley
...........Disley...Church/Artus
Sign/Bradb..Coulson......Makofo
..................Hearn

Really don't like to say this and not writing anyone off but feel I have to say it (if only for the sake of the club) - got this awful feeling sooner or later we'll realise Silk, Spencer and Elding will all prove surplus to requirements, crap signings and long ball up to the big man just aint the way forward long term.

Sorry I know it's just one game so far but it's my gut feeling.  :B

i do agree brad is better than silk by far he should get the nod over him everytime im not keen on thanoj fort he had a bad game few mistakes but hes still young and learning was good for him to be in starting 11 i would say I'anson was a stand out performer and i for one think hes cemented his place at cb maybe along side pearson against braintree however i disagree with spencer what i see of him in pre-season was good he constantly wants the ball and makes sure hes on side always looking down the line IMHO i think he would be good up top along side hearn but as we bought elding the managers have to put there trust in him so if 1 of them is to be dropped it will be hearn. i think given time elding will come good he may look lazy and disintrested but hes a poucher in and around the box he like the ball to his feet which yesturday he wasnt getting.

Interesting thoughts....

Quoted from Lew19

but as we bought elding the managers have to put there trust in him so if 1 of them is to be dropped it will be hearn.

If Hearn gets dropped in favour of Elding  ??) my first reaction was Fenty needs to give Scott and Hurst their P45's !

But then you made me stop and think by saying Eldings a goal poacher so I will take a deep breath and reserve judgement and guesswork.

Same goes for Spencer too - haven't really seen enough of him to form an informed opinion and both could improve for games.

Quoted from 1600

Interesting thoughts....


If Hearn gets dropped in favour of Elding  ??) my first reaction was Fenty needs to give Scott and Hurst their P45's !

But then you made me stop and think by saying Eldings a goal poacher so I will take a deep breath and reserve judgement and guesswork.

Same goes for Spencer too - haven't really seen enough of him to form an informed opinion and both could improve for games.

to be fair elding is proven in this league were as hearn isnt he may have scored 30 od goals for alfreton last season but that was league below elding got promotion with stevenage and had an amazing goal record has he did for stockport hench why he got his chance at leeds although he didnt get anywere there he must have something about him for plymouth to want him? and to say he turned them down for us speaks wounders i think he just needs time and the ball to his feet he will come good be better if he was playing along side spencer has he could feed of spencers knock downs and booom the back of the net rippels :D

I'm really struggling to see why people are criticising Silk so much. Just watched the highlights on MP and no chances at all came down Silk's side in the first half and he put in a good interception which helped prevent a goal in the first couple of minutes. Wood on the other hand was out of position for their goal, and could have been sent off by picking up their player.

Elding was also let down more than once by Makofo and Hearn when he was in good positions but they both had their heads down and didn't see the pass.

I sense a lot of bandwagon jumping going on in the case of Elding and Silk

Quoted from codhead91

Makofo played well, but in my opinion is Akpro mk.2.

Akpro scored for Rochdale yesterday two leagues above us

Quoted from Welwynmariner

Akpro scored for Rochdale yesterday two leagues above us

Makofo, much like Akpro, gets the ball and runs at defenders causing them problems but ultimately lacks much of an end product. I wasn't suggesting that they are of similar abilities, just of similar styles.

Fortunately we have managers who aren't going to scared of making changes as and where needed , no player is safe from the chop . I'm sure they will have seen where we failed yesterday and improve things on the pitch. Dont want to slag any players off at such an early stage of the season but wouldn't be surprised to see another couple of signings soon .
Keep the faith

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Fortunately we have managers who aren't going to scared of making changes as and where needed , no player is safe from the chop . I'm sure they will have seen where we failed yesterday and improve things on the pitch. Dont want to slag any players off at such an early stage of the season but wouldn't be surprised to see another couple of signings soon .
Keep the faith

i doubt there will be anymore signings with S&H telling connor marshall they can't give him a contract because they dont have the budget to keep him on so if we do sign another player i for one will be very disapointed because we could of gave connor atleast a 6 month contract and maybe gave him a few games and who knows he might of become the next bennett  :-/

Quoted from Lew19

i doubt there will be anymore signings with S&H telling connor marshall they can't give him a contract because they dont have the budget to keep him on so if we do sign another player i for one will be very disapointed because we could of gave connor atleast a 6 month contract and maybe gave him a few games and who knows he might of become the next bennett  :-/

They might not have the budget to keep a young lad on who probably wouldnt have made it anyway but i reckon if they decide they need another 1st team regular they might get their wish . No offence to the young lad connor btw

Quoted from Lew19

i doubt there will be anymore signings with S&H telling connor marshall they can't give him a contract because they dont have the budget to keep him on so if we do sign another player i for one will be very disapointed because we could of gave connor atleast a 6 month contract and maybe gave him a few games and who knows he might of become the next bennett  :-/

Why waste much needed cash on a player who would hardly play?

Quoted from mariner91

Why waste much needed cash on a player who would hardly play?

how can you say they wouldnt play him though tbh look at thanoj not alot of people rated him at youth level but then he gets a contract and is in the starting 11 for the first game and what happens if rids and silk both get injured? we have brad and tbh he doesnt like playing on the left because he has to stop and start his runs to turn with the ball as hes right footed we have no cover for them positions i still think connor should of been given 6 months in case this happens.

I understand why people like Makofo - yes he's hard working and his pace causes problems but he doesn't make good use of the ball when he has it. He does all the hard work by beating his man but when the opportunity comes to have a shot or square it, he just fannies around until the opposition have got men back. There's talent there but it needs a lot of fine tuning before he gets a run in the side.

I'd start Artus or Eagle on the left at Braintree.

Quoted from AdamHaddock

I understand why people like Makofo - yes he's hard working and his pace causes problems but he doesn't make good use of the ball when he has it. He does all the hard work by beating his man but when the opportunity comes to have a shot or square it, he just fannies around until the opposition have got men back. There's talent there but it needs a lot of fine tuning before he gets a run in the side.

I'd start Artus or Eagle on the left at Braintree.

im sorry but i have to disagree i think there was only once in the game yesturday were he could ave scored and he fannied about and that was right at the end of the first half he had a good shot tipped over and there was twice in the game were hearn and elding could of put him through on goal but they didnt look up or hear his shout for me makofo was MOM with I'anson a close second eagle for me is to slow and at times has trouble beating his man and has 2 times out of 10 good cross artus would rather play through the middle all though he is left footed and i think he would suit being on the left but again he has no pace would be nice to see him run down the wing and produce a good cross though.

Quoted from Lew19

im sorry but i have to disagree i think there was only once in the game yesturday were he could ave scored and he fannied about and that was right at the end of the first half he had a good shot tipped over and there was twice in the game were hearn and elding could of put him through on goal but they didnt look up or hear his shout for me makofo was MOM with I'anson a close second eagle for me is to slow and at times has trouble beating his man and has 2 times out of 10 good cross artus would rather play through the middle all though he is left footed and i think he would suit being on the left but again he has no pace would be nice to see him run down the wing and produce a good cross though.

....and breathe :P

Quoted from Mariner_501

....and breathe :P

ha id rather just fly through then put silly dots in :P

Quoted from 1600

CONCLUSION......

No need to start crying or moaning yet, I'm slightly disappointed we're not firing on all cylinders but hopeful we'll play better football than that this season and pick up enough points for the playoffs.  

Still too early to say, but feel there's a solid basis to build on and there is improvement to come IF the managers can find our way forward and identify the right team blend and what needs improving (feel there may be real signs this is the case as I don't think it was necessarily our best team today)

But also feel Fenty may need to get his chequebook book out sooner rather than later unless they can bring us on in leaps and bounds(which remain to be seen) with the current squad in it's current form.

Hearn looks needs in need of a relaible and consistent partner - who will that be ?

Feeling more positive than I was after the first home game last season vs York under Woods where we never put them under any kind of pressure....

Question remains do Scott and Hurst have the nouse with their tactics and gameplan to match their work ethic ?
We'll see...

About the best post on this thread - disappointed to have lost, but positive signs are there. Can't see Fenty doling out much more money though.

Quoted from AdamHaddock

I understand why people like Makofo - yes he's hard working and his pace causes problems but he doesn't make good use of the ball when he has it. He does all the hard work by beating his man but when the opportunity comes to have a shot or square it, he just fannies around until the opposition have got men back. There's talent there but it needs a lot of fine tuning before he gets a run in the side.

I'd start Artus or Eagle on the left at Braintree.

Didn't the big manager say something about Serge having to play too far back in order to get the ball - he said that his team-mates could have given him the ball further up the pitch so that Sergio didn't have quite so much to do.  As it was, I thought he kept the ball extremely well - some very determined play by him to get it and keep it - and I wholeheartedly appreciate that kind of player.  As for 'not having any end product', perhaps if he was played as a striker, he might have more of an end product?  Don't know if he'd be strong enough, but he seemed to be banging the goals in for Lincoln reserves and also for us, pre-season - yes, I know, pre-season means nothing, but it's still something to consider.  And if it hadn't been for the Fleetwood goalkeeper making a flying save, Serge would have got one in the bag today, no problem.  

One plus point for Liam Hearn - he appears to be extremely fast.  I like that.

Quoted from codhead91

Makofo, much like Akpro, gets the ball and runs at defenders causing them problems but ultimately lacks much of an end product. I wasn't suggesting that they are of similar abilities, just of similar styles.

Give him time , he`s raw and young and IMO might easily have been our MOM yesterday, for Christ sake he was the clubs biggest disaster three weeks ago and has now gone from that to a crowd favourite, who knows what he might do in the next thirty or so games-----Calm down

Quoted from Garth

Give him time , he`s raw and young and IMO might easily have been our MOM yesterday, for Christ sake he was the clubs biggest disaster three weeks ago and has now gone from that to a crowd favourite, who knows what he might do in the next thirty or so games-----Calm down

he was the MOM yesturday he played well, i dont know why so many people didn't like him he neva realli got the chance to show us what he had last season im glad serge hasn't been snapped up because he would be a big loss!

I was one of the few that expressed disappointment at Serge being told he could leave. There's a player in there, Fleetwood were shitting themselves when he ran at them. I like his workrate too, if he loses possession he's straight back at the opposition to get it back.

If a certain player who shall remain nameless 'cos the subject bores me, had Serge's attitude, he would have been a hell of a player ;)

I can remember the reff Tony Harrington in a match 2 years ago between us - wxm and Northwich vics


he was the worst reff many of us had ever seen, he looked very young


he tried  the 'softly softly calm down' approach, and it completely backfired,, he was easily intimidated and let foul after foul go.

it ended up being farcical how noone was sent off,, it became a horribly violent affair

way out of his depth

Quoted from ruthinred

I can remember the reff Tony Harrington in a match 2 years ago between us - wxm and Northwich vics


he was the worst reff many of us had ever seen, he looked very young


he tried  the 'softly softly calm down' approach, and it completely backfired,, he was easily intimidated and let foul after foul go.

it ended up being farcical how noone was sent off,, it became a horribly violent affair

way out of his depth

And so history repeats itself.

Its hard to come on here and post your match report a day later after 8 pages worth of opinions and say something that hasn't been said. So i'll keep it short and say if our forward line doesn't sort itself out, its going to be a LONG season.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Its hard to come on here and post your match report a day later after 8 pages worth of opinions and say something that hasn't been said. So i'll keep it short and say if our forward line doesn't sort itself out, its going to be a LONG season.

If you have just got back Lew,

Where do you live ?  ;D ;D

Quoted from marinette

Didn't the big manager say something about Serge having to play too far back in order to get the ball - he said that his team-mates could have given him the ball further up the pitch so that Sergio didn't have quite so much to do.  As it was, I thought he kept the ball extremely well - some very determined play by him to get it and keep it - and I wholeheartedly appreciate that kind of player.  As for 'not having any end product', perhaps if he was played as a striker, he might have more of an end product?  Don't know if he'd be strong enough, but he seemed to be banging the goals in for Lincoln reserves and also for us, pre-season - yes, I know, pre-season means nothing, but it's still something to consider.  And if it hadn't been for the Fleetwood goalkeeper making a flying save, Serge would have got one in the bag today, no problem.  

One plus point for Liam Hearn - he appears to be extremely fast.  I like that.

Agree , but why didn't we use his pace against that gorilla McNulty who certainly wasn't that mobile.Instead we play the ball up in the air which was " bread and meat " to a neanderthal like him.

Hurst said on MP:

"From then on,[conceding 1st goal] I think that changed the game.
You know 1st half a little bit of pressure at times, but still looked like we caused them a threat.
But as soon as they scored they just sat deeper and deeper, and the spaces we were trying to utilize, you know, weren't there. And I think we just went back to front a little bit too quickly. We needed to try to pass us way through at times, you know we never really got Michael Coulson in the game, Serge has had a couple of good runs but  he's had to do it all himself from deep up to the areas where we want them on the ball. So I think we made it a little bit easy for them to defend, although they've had to defend a hell of a lot, I'm sure territorially, we're way ahead on that."

Said he wasn't too concerned about the 2nd goal then said...

"Just got to be a bit cuter, a bit cleverer on the ball in the final 3rd."

Quoted from 1600

Hurst said on MP:

"From then on,[conceding 1st goal] I think that changed the game.
You know 1st half a little bit of pressure at times, but still looked like we caused them a threat.
But as soon as they scored they just sat deeper and deeper, and the spaces we were trying to utilize, you know, weren't there. And I think we just went back to front a little bit too quickly. We needed to try to pass us way through at times, you know we never really got Michael Coulson in the game, Serge has had a couple of good runs but  he's had to do it all himself from deep up to the areas where we want them on the ball. So I think we made it a little bit easy for them to defend, although they've had to defend a hell of a lot, I'm sure territorially, we're way ahead on that."

Said he wasn't too concerned about the 2nd goal then said...

"Just got to be a bit cuter, a bit cleverer on the ball in the final 3rd."

The bit I've highlighted, I'm not sure what to make of it :-/

Either the managers are giving the wrong instructions, or the players not carrying them out correctly.

It is a little encouraging that judging by that comment, we are looking to play a bit of football, even if yesterdays game contraicts that view.

Could it be they've said to get the ball quickly into the final 3rd and then play football from there ?

Pretty sure that's what they've said before ?

Maybe what he means is that they gave those instructions and the players carried them out but with hindsight it was the wrong thing to do ?

Quoted from siy2k5

The bit I've highlighted, I'm not sure what to make of it :-/

Either the managers are giving the wrong instructions, or the players not carrying them out correctly.

It is a little encouraging that judging by that comment, we are looking to play a bit of football, even if yesterdays game contraicts that view.

I think that was what Hurst was trying to say - we pumped the ball up too much instead of playing it through the middle.

Im one of the few who thought we did play some good football at times, albeit mostly in midfield and not half as much as I've have liked.

Quoted from rancido

I think that was what Hurst was trying to say - we pumped the ball up too much instead of playing it through the middle.

I get that, that's what confuses me.  WHY were we hitting it so long?

Quoted from siy2k5

I get that, that's what confuses me.  WHY were we hitting it so long?

Because we were trying to hit it long to Hearn down the channels into the space ?
Well the 1st half we were, not sure about the 2nd...

Quoted from 1600

Because we were trying to hit it long to Hearn down the channels into the space ?
Well the 1st half we were, not sure about the 2nd...

its allways been long ball with town just hoof it and hope it lands in front of hearn so he can run onto it were not gunna win the league or even get into playoff with that tactic. spencer need to start with elding im sorry but untill elding has a real intercourse up im all for him over hearn untill hearn proves otherwise and shows he can score and crate chances. spencer and elding up top for me!

Quoted from cleemaddog

Town were a better side today than they were all last season,that includes the two drubbings we gave out. The only thing i wanted was for someone to break that fat womens private at the back. Never seen such an obvious candidate for twit of the week.
The future looks bright for Town especially with the management duo. think they have got it right. good effort from the boys.
Last season i came home after every match and swore i would never go again but kept punishing myself in the hope it would get better, i believe we are on the way now.
Great noise from the BP massive and a home crowd of 4000+ saw town battle hard against 12 cheaters on the park (14 incl linesmen)

Well I'll have what you;re having please because all I saw was a poor Town side resort to long ball shite, no quality on the ball, no composure, just lots of huff and puff. Fleetwood completely outplayed us and fully deserved their win. And Atkinson had our front men in his pocket all game, he is a loss for sure.

Just to add, Serge is a really really poor player still.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Just to add, Serge is a really really poor player still.

Can't really say that after the pre season he has had and i tought he was our best player yesterday .

He has no footballing brain at all, he doesn't know what to do with the ball. You only have to look at the difference between him on the ball and Coulson to see the difference is huge!

Quoted from pontoonlew

He has no footballing brain at all, he doesn't know what to do with the ball. You only have to look at the difference between him on the ball and Coulson to see the difference is huge!

He just has to learn to make decisions more quickly imo and he'll be a cracking player. Most of our attacks and chances on goal involved serge in some way. He also forced a fantastic reflex save from their keeper and won us a few corners from sheer graft and determination. He's going to get goals and he's going to make a few before the season's out, I'm sure of it.

Quoted from upthestripes

He just has to learn to make decisions more quickly imo and he'll be a cracking player. Most of our attacks and chances on goal involved serge in some way. He also forced a fantastic reflex save from their keeper and won us a few corners from sheer graft and determination. He's going to get goals and he's going to make a few before the season's out, I'm sure of it.

i agree 100% he has come out his shell after being put on transfer list ive spoken to him a few times and he wants to stay he said he felt disapointed being told he was on trasfer list. but he wanted to show us lot and the managers what he is realli capable of i have trust in him to get atleast 10 goals for us this season and a hell of alot of assists :D UTM!!

Wha is with people with people who spell "really" as realli??

Quoted from Chris

Wha is with people with people who spell "really" as realli??

reason i do it is cos i is closer to l than y is :P lazyness :D

Quoted from Chris

Wha is with people with people who spell "really" as realli??

I don't know wha is their problem.... ;)

Fleetwood are one of the favourites to gain promotion.
We are a new team with new managers who need a bit of time to find our feet.
A better judgement of our potential should be made 10 games in where hopefully we will have 15+ points in the bag and be in view of the playoff places. We're only 3 points off 1st place at the moment.  ;)

Quoted from STB

Fleetwood are one of the favourites to gain promotion.
We are a new team with new managers who need a bit of time to find our feet.
A better judgement of our potential should be made 10 games in where hopefully we will have 15+ points in the bag and be in view of the playoff places. We're only 3 points off 1st place at the moment.  ;)

Who stole the cynical,sarcastic STB and replaced him with this reasonable chap,complete with psychodelic fish?

I looked up to you as someone who broke the GTFC habit without going cold turkey.Was getting close to it myself but you actually went to a game on Saturday and have defended the team.I'm doubting my acolyte status. ;)

Quoted from Biccys

I don't know wha is their problem.... ;)

hahahaaha! nice 1  ;D

Quoted from ginnywings

Who stole the cynical,sarcastic STB and replaced him with this reasonable chap,complete with psychodelic fish?

I looked up to you as someone who broke the GTFC habit without going cold turkey.Was getting close to it myself but you actually went to a game on Saturday and have defended the team.I'm doubting my acolyte status. ;)

I lost my mojo after the lack of effort at Burton.
I went to Lincoln this season and was impressed with the effort and never say die attitude.
My take on Saturday's game is that Fleetwood were a bit better than us in all departments, even gamesmanship. Maybe, they are the best team and we are in the chasing pack.
UTFM