Objective view

[Nham68]

Last 2 saturdays have given me cause for optimism : we can play well. We've lost by 1 goal margin to team in 1st and 2nd .. today we lost by a wafer thin margin. Overall performance was good. Thought we played much better thsn last season,

My main concern is quality in final 3rd.
Storer on set pieces : no thanks - 2 chances for great crosses from dead ball - overhit and out,
Pell - hit hard and hope. Need a better plan than that.

Write and Eisa - not a partnership. When wright goes to head on , he's not anticipating . Been anonymous last two games - after all the hype, it's like it's affected him. In 2 games, I've not seen him run at defense - let's hope he can fulfill his potential.

Other signings looked positive...

One mistake today, bad free kick position...

My main surprise was Holman a run out : created a goal out of nothing last week, put himself about.. has some quality....

[vickeryc]

I agree with pretty much all of that, although I did think Mo showed glimpses of what he can do. Yes, Holman did deserve a chance after last week - he has been very unlucky with injuries, which has stopped his career in its tracks. I have no doubt he can - and will - score goals in the FL. I thought Flinders inspired confidence today and it was also great to see Boyle back. The three City lads did well too and we have Sellars to return from injury along with Forster. It is far too early for the pessimists to write the season off yet.

[horlickfanclub]

All those signings but no balance on the left.

[Oldun]

I like the thread "Objective View" and that is a great post. We are deffo a better squad than last year and if Gary can find a centre back as hinted before the game we will be fine. We will need one if Boylo is injured again. O'shock not up to it yet.
Scott added confidence, Moore will be fine at right back (tho he is not a centre half!) and Morrell started well though he faded a bit. A midfield of Winny, Dawson. Nige and Pelly with Morrell and Sellars fighting to get in there too is good, and as we are only a few games in it is ridiculous to panic. Remember Exeter last season!
Keep the objective views coming!

[Robin]

Agree, despite the terrible start (points wise), we do look better equipped than we were last season. I'm not expecting a good season but I suspect we will avoid a relegation scrap this season.

[confused.com]

Winchester, Dawson and JC (apart from soft free kick), picked up from were they left off last week, Sadly so did Pell, I honestly dont think he is worth his place at the minute. The Moore and Morrell looked good on the ground, not sure Moore will be winning loads in the air, but time will tell. Wright hmmmm hard to believe Gordon would have been as ineffectual. Agree Mo needs a rest. they put in a fairly consistent 90 mins, but lack of on target shots is a concern. Boyle, very good today, my motm.
Pity about another freekick leading to our downfall

[Lord Elpuz]

Much heartened by the majority of positive sentiments in this thread which I agree with entirely. Everyone needs to keep their heads, build on the positives and we the fans must show our unflinching support for the team. As has already been mentioned, we've played the top two current sides who have both got off to flyers in August, and we did not seem that far behind them. We have not been outclassed, even by West Ham United. I feel sure the results will improve for us very soon.

[Robin]

Here are my ratings from today:
Flinders - spectator for the vast majority of the game so hard to judge but apart from a little wayward kicking was solid enough and noticeably communicating loudly with the defence (6)
Winchester - does a solid enough job at right back and can put in decent crosses but he's badly missed in midfield, he's our creative spark (6)
Moore - Overall did well but a few shakey moments on the edge of the box which almost cost us twice. I hope he's moved to right back against Newport (6)
Boyle - Solid enough, shame to see him get the impact injury and have to go off I hope he's fit for Newport (7)
Cranston - Had Whelpdale in his pocket all game, got forward well, keep it up Cranners! (7.5)
Pell - Sorry but woefully wasted on the wing the only time he did well was when he came into the centre, we need to scrap 4-4-2!! (5)
Storer - REally poor set pieces, fine in midfield otherwise (6)
Morrell - Did fairly well for me, small and lacks physical side of the game but got his foot on the ball and tried to make us play (7)
Dawson - I like him already, so much energy, up and down the wing and trying to create chances (7)
Wright - Further evidence as to why he should be on the bench, great effort but sadly lacking in quality (5)
Eisa - Very closely marked all game and suffered from poor service, when he went off I knew we wouldn't score (5)

[confused.com]

Think you are wrong about winchester, solid at RB good going forward. You can't mark him down because he should be in midfield

[confused.com]

Think you are wrong about winchester, solid at RB good going forward. You can't mark him down because he should be in midfield

[Robin]

Yes I thought he did alright at full back but we are missing in him the centre, he's our main creative outlet, I didn't mark him down because of that.

[theidlerich]

Desperately unlucky not to share the spoils. One error and a very well taken free kick saw to that. Not blaming Cranston either; he played well; as did most of the team. Dawson impressed , first time I've seen him, as did the new comers. DW is not up to Lg footy; sorry to harp on but our forward line is weak. Eisa needs a rest, further he will be a threat if the ball is played to his feet whilst running on to it; sadly lacking today. Our crossing is terrible; train up someone else GJ please as a matter of urgency. BBC stats show 17 shots on goal; 1 on target - enough said - in fact Spenceresque! Whilst propping up the table at the moment I cannot see us there for too long; once the newbies have settled in and a few others given a chance we will climb. Would have liked to see Gordon on for far longer.; and as someone has mentioned - "where was Graham?".

[Oldun]

Didn't GJ say that Graham went over on his ankle and that Nige was ill. Coild only name 6 subs again today. Just to go back to my post above I forgot Kyle in my list of midfielders fighting for place He hasn't let us down but don't think he gets a start ahead of Winny, Dawson Nige and Pelly (Tho Harry does need to be in the centre of mid and not out on the wing!)

[confused.com]

Nige back and Pell on bench for a while. You dont have to be in midfield to pass a ball well. He is not the player he can be

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Who gave away the free kick? Stoz?

[Rulistening]

Who gave away the free kick? Stoz?

For their goal today? Believe it was Cranston

[vickeryc]

Yes, Cranston. It seemed soft, but need to see it again.

[art vandalay]

I thought we were poor today against a poor-to-middling Stevenage side. When we're at home I expect much more than 1 shot on target and I expect to see more impact in the final third. Despite several new signings, it was again very disappointing to see players being played out of position and I believe this contributed to the result.

There are some positives though. We competed well, the Bristol City lads looked decent, Flinders made a good start and Dawson looks like a good signing. I believe we have better players than last season - the big unanswered question is whether they can be moulded into a balanced team. So far I haven't seen much evidence of that but I suspect we're not going to get a clearer picture until the injury situation clears and we actually get players playing in their preferred positions.

[Benctfc]

When your the home side you need to take the game by the scruff on the neck and take it to the opposition something we didn't do today. To barely register a shot on target at home is pretty poor and shows we didn't do enough to deserve anything being the home side if you don't score you always leave yourself open to a lucky goal or a good strike. It was the kind of performance where if we played a higher division team it would have been acceptable but not at home against another L2 team.

The issue is arguably our most influencial box to box midfielder Pell is shoe horned out wide and our most creative Winchester wasted at right back we had to put up with this last year and didn't expect to again this year the squad balance is all wrong. To have only 2 and even that's questionable full backs and 1 out and out winger in a squad of over 20 makes no sense and means we are constantly putting square pegs in round holes. I bet Winchester and Pell are well fed up. Look back at the last succesful FL team we had under Yates and everyone of those players played in their natural position even in our conference season under Johnson we had that so why has he gone away from it. The warning signs were there all preseason on and off the pitch. I don't doubt we have a better quality squad than last season but it means nothing if the balance is all wrong. All of our next few fixtures are very winnable so failure to see progress in those and GJ's position will become under pressure.

[I-Love-CTFC]

Here are my ratings from today:
Flinders - spectator for the vast majority of the game so hard to judge but apart from a little wayward kicking was solid enough and noticeably communicating loudly with the defence (6)
Winchester - does a solid enough job at right back and can put in decent crosses but he's badly missed in midfield, he's our creative spark (6)
Moore - Overall did well but a few shakey moments on the edge of the box which almost cost us twice. I hope he's moved to right back against Newport (6)
Boyle - Solid enough, shame to see him get the impact injury and have to go off I hope he's fit for Newport (7)
Cranston - Had Whelpdale in his pocket all game, got forward well, keep it up Cranners! (7.5)
Pell - Sorry but woefully wasted on the wing the only time he did well was when he came into the centre, we need to scrap 4-4-2!! (5)
Storer - REally poor set pieces, fine in midfield otherwise (6)
Morrell - Did fairly well for me, small and lacks physical side of the game but got his foot on the ball and tried to make us play (7)
Dawson - I like him already, so much energy, up and down the wing and trying to create chances (7)
Wright - Further evidence as to why he should be on the bench, great effort but sadly lacking in quality (5)
Eisa - Very closely marked all game and suffered from poor service, when he went off I knew we wouldn't score (5)

I thought Storer was poor today, I would have given him a 5. My MOTM was Morrell followed by Dawson and Cranston.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Here are my ratings from today:
Flinders - spectator for the vast majority of the game so hard to judge but apart from a little wayward kicking was solid enough and noticeably communicating loudly with the defence (6)
Winchester - does a solid enough job at right back and can put in decent crosses but he's badly missed in midfield, he's our creative spark (6)
Moore - Overall did well but a few shakey moments on the edge of the box which almost cost us twice. I hope he's moved to right back against Newport (6)
Boyle - Solid enough, shame to see him get the impact injury and have to go off I hope he's fit for Newport (7)
Cranston - Had Whelpdale in his pocket all game, got forward well, keep it up Cranners! (7.5)
Pell - Sorry but woefully wasted on the wing the only time he did well was when he came into the centre, we need to scrap 4-4-2!! (5)
Storer - REally poor set pieces, fine in midfield otherwise (6)
Morrell - Did fairly well for me, small and lacks physical side of the game but got his foot on the ball and tried to make us play (7)
Dawson - I like him already, so much energy, up and down the wing and trying to create chances (7)
Wright - Further evidence as to why he should be on the bench, great effort but sadly lacking in quality (5)
Eisa - Very closely marked all game and suffered from poor service, when he went off I knew we wouldn't score (5)

I thought Storer was poor today, I would have given him a 5. My MOTM was Morrell followed by Dawson and Cranston.

We won't create chances with Storer in the midfield two.

[confused.com]

RCS agree with that, he is not the midfield we need anymore now that Nige is on board, we need ball players there to play good balls behind the defence as ell as bully the midfield

[Shade]

Eisa still has a lot to learn. Offside way too much and in poor positions when Wright or Graham have been going up for headers the last two games. Also pointless knocking the ball to him anywhere other than to feet as he's never going to win the ball in the air against a L2 defender with no refs ever giving anything for holding and pulling in the middle third of the pitch anymore.

[confused.com]

Agree and maybe rested a bit now we have credible alternatives?

[Maccer]

Yes, I do believe now that Holman has a goal more will follow but he needs game time as he works very hard. The Wright Eisa partnership is not working and I think Eisa can be an impact player coming off the bench. I do not see anything in Brian Graham but do believe with a bit of luck and better decision making we would have more points. Storer needs a rest and Pell is so miscast out on the flank

[longmover]

Danny Wright does more defending than attacking

[Benctfc]

I don't think home game will be the issue all be it we have already lost a couple it will be our away form which could potentially drag us into trouble like last season again. I don't have much faith in this team or manager at the moment to think we can go away from home and put performances in as showed by the Carlisle walkover a couple of weeks a go. I'm not expecting us to be showing promotion form away from home but at least picking the odd point up. Saturday will be interesting as Yeovil are one of the weaker teams in the league and a team we folded at away last year can we show we have improved we will see.

[Shade]

I would like to point out that the teams we have faced so far, apart from Morecambe (who we were unlucky to lose to) and Crawley (who we beat), have all been teams that should be right up there at the end of the season, and we were short of numbers at the time. Only Carlisle away have completely outplayed us. Yeovil will be a better indicator, but they've been up and down so who knows which Yeovil will turn up. Hopefully the Yeovil that got battered at Luton.