Firstly, our fans were a disgrace - considering what's happening to poor old Gary this week there was zero atmosphere to rally the troops. So, so disappointing. I only heard one song right at the start. It's as if nobody cares!?!!? Truly pathetic support
The pitch is the worst surface I've seen in 30 years of watching football. Total embarrassment to the club (but we all know this by now)
The players, tried hard in the second half but have absolute zero quality in terms of a final ball into the box or getting the ball in the net. We simply don't look like scoring, and the chances we get end up as powder puff efforts
To to top it all off the FL sent us another totally inept official. The general quality officiating is, again, the worst I've seen in 30 years. Diabolical.
All in all - going to Whaddon Road this year has been a pretty joyless experience (granted that last year was fantastic - but I don't want go back to non-league again!)
If Newport can grind out a few wins, I think we are in serious trouble as I simply don't think Milton and majority of the players are up to the level needed.
Awful times to be a Robins fan
Get well soon Gary, but after such an op I don't think any of us expect you to be back before the Summer.
Would be nervous times if we have to go to Portsmouth on the final day and win to stay up, I agree about the lack of quality in the final third, they say at this level if you score 2 goals per game you generally win, I have to agree with that too but we can't even seem to score one!!
Hopefully when Storer is back things will start to get better again, we have missed him massively.
I thought Cambridge pulled off the ultimate smash and grab and were playing with backs to the wall after their goal. Ultimately though we seriously lacked quality in the final third, this was a game crying for Munns yet Dayton came on.
Also I disagree that the majority of our players are not up to it. The defence and keeper are more than good enough, Pell is more than capable but has gone off the boil, Winchester was motm, the problem is in the attacking third. Wright missed an open goal and to be frank just isn't good enough to be more than cover despite his work rate, Holman looks a shadow of the player from last season, Waters would have been ideal coming off the bench today but spent more time falling over when starting, Wooton is OK but not a goal scorer. What ever has happened with Diego needs to be sorted and he must start at Barnet next week.
My ratings:
Brown - A virtual spectator but pulled off a great save in the first half and mopped up well in the second (7)
Davis - our main attacking threat in the first half, faded in the 2nd half when they doubled up on him (7)
Boyle - drove the team on and won his headers (7)
Manny - A rough diamond, shows class but the odd mistake is never far away (6)
Tim - Calm and composed at the back (7)
Barts - Decent job up and down the pitch (7)
Winchester - some decent football, tried to get the team playing (8)
Pell - Did well in the first half, went missing in the second half (6)
Waters - constantly tried and failed to beat his man, just didn't work for him at all (5)
Wright - missed an open goal when it seemed certain to score, fantastic effort but another game where he just doesn't look league two standard (5)
Holman - No goal threat but has movement, he looks a shadow of his former self, could he be another Matt Tubbs/Graziano Guilano? (5)
Subs:
Dayton - another player who looks a shadow of his former self, I don't expect to release too many come May but he is among the front runners I'm sorry to say, did nothing when he came on (5)
Wootton - caused their defenders more problems than Wright but zero goal threat and failed to score with the chance at the end (6)
I think Robin's assessment is pretty accurate and fair. I honestly thought Cambridge were cr*p - one of the worst teams we've played here this season. It was a classic smash and grab performance. In fairness, the pitch didn't help either team, but we were the only side trying (though not always succeeding) to play football. However, I suppose they didn't really need to try very hard once they'd stolen the lead as we were so toothless up front today. I thought Winchester was a worthy MoM - he was head and shoulders above everyone else on either side.
I agree that the atmosphere was poor today, thought we would get Gary chants all afternoon, didn't hear one. That was very disappointing indeed. It's like we were in mourning.
The officials were a disappointment too, especially the ignorant Lino that checked the nets at Prestbury Road end after half time. Scotty went to shake his hand as he always does and the Lino refused. Scotty was totally gobsmacked.
Effort but no finish. The wingback system did not work against Cambridge and should have been ditched at half time. Billy Waters was poor and Dayton linked well with Winchester and Davis and tried to get some football going . I'm trying to keep positive but with no goals being scored things look bleak.
Yes we have. Playing 5 32 we are third bottom with a pop gun attack. Their goal came from a cross from space where a full back should be. Was it a fluke? I doubt it. Teams know exactly how to catch us out. Robin has been defending five at the back for two years whatever the personnel. The system also puts Walters and/or Dayton in positions where we do not see the best of them and also limits service to our strikers who are NOT the right sort of players for 5 3 2. It is only top international strikers who can handle that system We are near the bottom of Div 2 and in serious trouble. Is our system the best for us? Ask me in May.
horlickfanclub wrote:Yes we have. Playing 5 32 we are third bottom with a pop gun attack. Their goal came from a cross from space where a full back should be. Was it a fluke? I doubt it. Teams know exactly how to catch us out. Robin has been defending five at the back for two years whatever the personnel. The system also puts Walters and/or Dayton in positions where we do not see the best of them and also limits service to our strikers who are NOT the right sort of players for 5 3 2. It is only top international strikers who can handle that system We are near the bottom of Div 2 and in serious trouble. Is our system the best for us? Ask me in May.
We are often exposed from both wings and considering our tall defenders we don`t win enough headers in either box.I would expect those tall men to be a major threat when we have free-kicks,but they rarely are yet most goals in football are from set plays.
horlickfanclub wrote:Yes we have. Playing 5 32 we are third bottom with a pop gun attack. Their goal came from a cross from space where a full back should be. Was it a fluke? I doubt it. Teams know exactly how to catch us out. Robin has been defending five at the back for two years whatever the personnel. The system also puts Walters and/or Dayton in positions where we do not see the best of them and also limits service to our strikers who are NOT the right sort of players for 5 3 2. It is only top international strikers who can handle that system We are near the bottom of Div 2 and in serious trouble. Is our system the best for us? Ask me in May.
We won the conference at a canter playing 5-3-2 though Horlick. We also don't have wingers apart from Dayton....
We had to switch to 4 4 2 to win a lot of those games. Davis can play wide and somebody needs to nail Billy to a touchline and tell him that could be his best chance of regular football.
We also had different personnel last season.
Imo the system of 5-3-2 is not entirely to blame. We create more than enough chances. According to
e.g. soccerway's statistics we created more than 30 dangerous attacks. However, if the forwards merely
head the ball to the goal-keeper or head over from 5 yards or shoot straight at the goal-keeper the chances
of scoring are pretty slim. Imo the system is not necessarily wrong because no matter what system we employ
if the forwards can not put the ball in the back of the net we are not going to win many games
Having looked through the forum I guess I'm the only one that saw the ball completely die when it hit the pitch when Wright had already committed to going for the header? I don't think he can be blamed for that. If we're dishing out blame look to Wootton for nodding the ball straight at the keeper when 6 yards out in the last minute.
Billy just needs dropping. It happened last season where he had a good run and then couldn't hit a cows ass for months. He's producing nothing, and has produced nothing, for 6+ weeks now. I'd bring Hall in for him on Saturday and keep the front two the same.
Shade wrote:Having looked through the forum I guess I'm the only one that saw the ball completely die when it hit the pitch when Wright had already committed to going for the header? I don't think he can be blamed for that. If we're dishing out blame look to Wootton for nodding the ball straight at the keeper when 6 yards out in the last minute.
Billy just needs dropping. It happened last season where he had a good run and then couldn't hit a cows ass for months. He's producing nothing, and has produced nothing, for 6+ weeks now. I'd bring Hall in for him on Saturday and keep the front two the same.
Noticed it too Shade. Same thing happened when Manny went to clear the ball and it went under his foot in the second half. The pitch is an absolute liability.
Agree regarding Billy, he worked hard on Saturday but didn't affect the game at all.
As a side note it's funny how some see things differently - after Billy was substituted on Saturday 3 chaps behind me spent the rest of the game moaning about it because he had apparently been our best player! Thought Carl Winchester and Scotty were our best performers myself
Apart from the playing surface, Cambridge away was more embarrassing in every sense. From the Downes/Parslow slapstick show, to Billy's and others' comedy finishing/crossing, to the laughable fans who after about ten mins turned to either personally abusing players or singing "we're all going on a Vanarama tour". Two of the guys who came had not seen us play for ages vowed never to go a match again.
It cannot be just down to the playing surface. Teams come and play on it and are taking points off us. We also play on decent away pitches to no avail. If you set up to defend a point it is going to send a negative message to the players. I would rather see us fighting for points from the start than reacting after going a goal down.
Well, yes, there are blatant excuses when the bounce of the ball is unpredictable, re Manny's air clearance and Wright's missed diving header. The reason Cambridge beat us was that they stuck a good high ball into the box and we didn't. Well, we stuck one decent ball into the box thanks to DAYTON, but Wright met it before the near post and put it well wide.
It's not about "swallowing excuses". It's about not being blind, seeing these things for yourself and realising that valid REASONS and EXCUSES aren't the same thing.
Shade wrote:Well, yes, there are blatant excuses when the bounce of the ball is unpredictable, re Manny's air clearance and Wright's missed diving header. The reason Cambridge beat us was that they stuck a good high ball into the box and we didn't. Well, we stuck one decent ball into the box thanks to DAYTON, but Wright met it before the near post and put it well wide.
It's not about "swallowing excuses". It's about not being blind, seeing these things for yourself and realising that valid REASONS and EXCUSES aren't the same thing.
Yep you're right - we're third from bottom because of the pitch, the mole, the sickness etc etc etc
Or maybe we're just nowhere near good enough but at least we talk a good game.
Si Robin wrote:I'd say we'd turned the corner (4 games, no goals conceded) until our manager was struck down with his heart problems.
But then excuses and whatnot.
It took a bloody long time to turn any corner and we've still got the same players that went four games without conceding - except now we've gone four games without scoring. Teams are judged on a season not four games and we've been dreadful. Major clear out needed.
Alf wrote:It cannot be just down to the playing surface. Teams come and play on it and are taking points off us. We also play on decent away pitches to no avail. If you set up to defend a point it is going to send a negative message to the players. I would rather see us fighting for points from the start than reacting after going a goal down.
The pitch at Exeter was excellent,our performance was woe-full,the players don`t believe in their coaches and have lost any confidence.
Is Del Boy on a wind up or are they intellectually unable to grasp nuance and any degree of complexity? Assume DB is blind to the amber light on traffic lights and has never got to grips with the colour grey.
Pitch was awful and caused the problems described. But Cambridge were good enough to cross and find space at the far post to score because we were not good enough to defend.
Yes some players are ill or suspended, but that doesn't excuse the others for playing poor tactics. Though of course the pitch and manager have a role to play in tactics.
And with Russ in charge, the manager was not up to the job of changing the system and the tactics. That does not excuse the players for not stepping it up and taking it by the scruff. Equally the best manager cannot do anything about a dodgy bounce or an ankle getting caught on the pitch.
Fine if anyone is stupid enough to only blame the pitch, or only the illness, or only the manager, or only the players, or only the FA/FL or only lady luck. Most fans know every game is a mix of all those things and they are all genuine factors and reasons. This season has been poor and we all agree on that, and we need to fix the causes of that which are in our control and do our best to deal with external factors.
You're in denial - we're third from bottom because we deserve to be. Blame what you want. We have scored the least goals in the whole division but all we hear is excuses.
This is one of the worst teams we've had since getting into the league yet people still want to keep most of the squad in the summer.
Del Boy wrote:You're in denial - we're third from bottom because we deserve to be. Blame what you want. We have scored the least goals in the whole division but all we hear is excuses.
This is one of the worst teams we've had since getting into the league yet people still want to keep most of the squad in the summer.
Did you misread my post? I stated that poor players, poor tactics and poor play are amongst the reasons we are third bottom. You are the one who is restricting blame to a small number of factors rather than being aware if the bigger picture.
Read each of these words in turn, and see if you can understand the sentence. A dictionary might help if any of the words are too hard for you:
You might want to change your keyboard you seem to have a problem with the full-stop. Of course other factors have a small bearing on the being third from bottom but the only ones that really matter are the players and manager. Anything else is just excuses. That's my opinion. Others can blame what they like for us having scored the least goals and having the third-least points but I disagree. It's down to the players and the manager.
Del Boy wrote:You might want to change your keyboard you seem to have a problem with the full-stop. Of course other factors have a small bearing on the being third from bottom but the only ones that really matter are the players and manager. Anything else is just excuses. That's my opinion. Others can blame what they like for us having scored the least goals and having the third-least points but I disagree. It's down to the players and the manager.
No one is blaming anything different from you, they just have the capacity to recognise multiple factors. Why you cannot grasp that there are genuine contributory factors which are real and not excuses is beyond my comprehension. Can't imagine to think what it must be like living with limited thought processes like you, though I guess it would be simpler.
More personal insults - and you question what it's like living with me.
My opinion is that - at a guess - all the factors other than the players and manager probably make up 10 per cent of the reasons we are third from bottom.
That may be right - I have not given much thought to the attribution, but as you suggest, poor players, poor play, and inconsistent management are by far and away the biggest factors. Anyway, it took a while but we got you thinking enough to understand the other factors were real (even if only explaining 10%) and just excuses or people passing the blame. Now we are singing from the same song sheet I am sure the RNF will appreciate if we leave it at that and call it a day on this topic!
[quote="Shade"]Well, yes, there are blatant excuses when the bounce of the ball is unpredictable, re Manny's air clearance and Wright's missed diving header. The reason Cambridge beat us was that they stuck a good high ball into the box .....
...and that well known aerial threat Medi Elito stooped to head it in....
Shade wrote:Well, yes, there are blatant excuses when the bounce of the ball is unpredictable, re Manny's air clearance and Wright's missed diving header. The reason Cambridge beat us was that they stuck a good high ball into the box .....
...and that well known aerial threat Medi Elito stooped to head it in....
Firstly, I didn't say the defending wasn't poor. I just said they stuck a good high ball into the box which gave them a better chance of scoring, whereas the one for Wright hit the ground a few yards in front of him giving him little chance of knowing where the ball would bounce. If Barts had stuck an extra couple of feet on the height of his cross then it would have been 1-0.
Secondly, I'm on about laying the blame at the right doorstep. For example, repeatedly blaming Wright for not scoring when the supply to him hasn't been good enough, or blaming Manny for a mistake when the ball blatantly took a huge bobble and glanced off the top of his foot, are not worthy of blame and doesn't mean I don't think we defended the cross terribly or that we weren't poor in the final third. It was the pitch's fault, or the crosser of the ball for not getting more height on it - something Cambridge did do for their goal and therefore, at that moment, they played it better than we did.
But, people say "the pitch is the same for both sides". Is it really? It depends on the spot that the ball hits at any given moment, it's that much of a minefield. The ball never bobbled for a Cambridge player in the same way that it bobbled for Manny. It's a complete lottery. So when the pitch is blamed as a REASON for something in particular going wrong, then yes, it is a valid reason.
(but we all know this by now)
