Cheltenham Town v Crewe Alexandra

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Jon Palmer
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Joined: 13 Feb 2010, 20:19
Team news, live updates and video reaction all here this afternoon: http://bit.ly/CreweH" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Artemis
Posts: 2351
Joined: 28 Dec 2009, 20:36
Not an unexpected team. In fact, probably one I'd have picked, but with Jones instead of Dawson. And I appreciate fitness reasons may have necessitated Jones being only on the bench.
Alf
Posts: 2166
Joined: 17 Apr 2011, 08:24
Where the hell do they get these refs from? Two booking for players going for the ball.
Ben3
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Joined: 12 Sep 2018, 07:08
Can we call for Duff’s head yet? No real improvement, he’s clearly rubbish
asl
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Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 09:37
Much more energy about them than I've seen for a while.
asl
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Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 09:37
Artemis wrote:one I'd have picked, but with Jones instead of Dawson
Dawson, despite losing the ball couple of times, has been our best player, imho.
Ben3
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Joined: 12 Sep 2018, 07:08
Dire. Michael duff has an average points record of 1 per game. This is relegation form. I’ve analysed it extensively and 46 points will not be good enough

Wilcox et al - act now before it’s too late!

I’ve also analysed the goals per game under duff. An average of zero. Whilst, I must admit, defensively he seems to have the nack, averaging an astounding zero goals.

I’m not sure whether he should be appointed England manager or sacked. I’ll ponder that for 7 more seconds before demanding action

It’s very strange as when I play fifa I manage to win the champions league within an afternoon. If I can do that why can’t duff?

Sack the board!
Ben3
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Joined: 12 Sep 2018, 07:08
I’m now going to complain to the FA as I haven’t had a personal response from the chairman in the last minute. I’ve supported this club for seven million years, how dare they do this to me?

I’ve supported them home AND away at bishops cleeve. I deserve to be involved in decisions thanks to my choice of leisure pursuit

Overthrow the government brothers and sisters
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Shade
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Joined: 27 Sep 2010, 13:02
Location: Cheltenhamshire
asl wrote:
Artemis wrote:one I'd have picked, but with Jones instead of Dawson
Dawson, despite losing the ball couple of times, has been our best player, imho.
Very poor first half from Dawson. His touch was poor and he dallied on it too much. Second half was better, as they all were again, but he still lost possession and dallied too much. I'd still pick him next week though as he has more to offer than he showed today.
asl
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Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 09:37
Huh? We're talking about the number 8, right? The guy who covered every blade of grass in the first half and was largely anonymous in the second?
Robin
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Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 11:19
Not a whole lot different than previous games I've seen this season truth be told. I thought we were perhaps noticeably motivated and clearly had a mindset of being well organised and taking fewer risks. In the first half though we really lacked a ball playing central midfielder who could get the team ticking over with Maddox waster on the wing. I don't believe we do well with 4-4-2 but I suspect Duff will stick with that formation and make us organised first and foremost.

2nd half like against Crawley, Colchester and Carlisle we were well on top but couldn't score.

Player ratings:
Flinders - one great save near the end otherwise nothing to do (7)
Forster - The most comfortable I've seen him at right back all season (7)
Mullins - Oozes quality but not a lot to do (7)
Boyle - Had a battle with Bowery (6)
Alcock - reminds me of Jerry Gill, a defenders defender so to speak (6)
Maddox - the lad has class in abundence but he's wasted on the wing (7)
Broom - tried hard but not convinced he's a central midfielder (6)
Atangana - Brilliant in the 2nd half, broke up so much play and brought us forward (8)
Dawson - Full of energy and commitment but not able to show quality (6)
Barnett - Won a ton of headers, would be quality up top with Eisa if we still had him (7)
Mooney - Tried hard but not able to influence the game (6)

Subs:
Jones - I was excited about this signing but he was annoying to watch today, not enough effort at times and should have looked up when in on goal (5)
Duku - I feel for him, confidence seems a bit dented but effort was there (6)
Baldwin - Hands up who dreaded seeing him come on at left back but in fairness he did well and looked far improved on his two prior games (7)
darreno
Posts: 369
Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 13:47
You know the manager is a local when he mentions Cleeve Hill in his postgame interview :lol:
Nham68
Posts: 389
Joined: 17 Aug 2013, 16:33
Robin wrote:Not a whole lot different than previous games I've seen this season truth be told. I thought we were perhaps noticeably motivated and clearly had a mindset of being well organised and taking fewer risks. In the first half though we really lacked a ball playing central midfielder who could get the team ticking over with Maddox waster on the wing. I don't believe we do well with 4-4-2 but I suspect Duff will stick with that formation and make us organised first and foremost.

2nd half like against Crawley, Colchester and Carlisle we were well on top but couldn't score.

Player ratings:
Flinders - one great save near the end otherwise nothing to do (7)
Forster - The most comfortable I've seen him at right back all season (7)
Mullins - Oozes quality but not a lot to do (7)
Boyle - Had a battle with Bowery (6)
Alcock - reminds me of Jerry Gill, a defenders defender so to speak (6)
Maddox - the lad has class in abundence but he's wasted on the wing (7)
Broom - tried hard but not convinced he's a central midfielder (6)
Atangana - Brilliant in the 2nd half, broke up so much play and brought us forward (8)
Dawson - Full of energy and commitment but not able to show quality (6)
Barnett - Won a ton of headers, would be quality up top with Eisa if we still had him (7)
Mooney - Tried hard but not able to influence the game (6)

Subs:
Jones - I was excited about this signing but he was annoying to watch today, not enough effort at times and should have looked up when in on goal (5)
Duku - I feel for him, confidence seems a bit dented but effort was there (6)
Baldwin - Hands up who dreaded seeing him come on at left back but in fairness he did well and looked far improved on his two prior games (7)
Dont agree on Broom. He was the standout quality player , time after time this season so far for me . Confident on the ball, creative, and willing to shoot . Positive going forward. Without him, we’d be very lacklustre .
Robin
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Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 11:19
Broom is fine on the wing, my point was that he isn't really a central midfielder and that was where we were lacking especially first half.
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Shade
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Joined: 27 Sep 2010, 13:02
Location: Cheltenhamshire
Broom was my motm. He made things happen and fashioned himself the best shooting chance of the match.

As Robin said, Dawson lacked quality for me. Yes, he tried hard, they all did, but his first touch left a lot to be desired, especially in the first half. He'll have better days. I thought Dawson should have gone off at half time, Broom to the wing and Jones or Thomas on centre/attacking mid. Or Maddox to attacking mid and preferably someone left footed on the left wing.
JasonFailor
Posts: 25
Joined: 07 Dec 2014, 17:16
Impressive first game, I thought. Good to see that Duff has a system in place, which is more than you can say for some of our previous managers. The high press will be very effective when the players are properly drilled into it.
CTFC03
Posts: 1451
Joined: 01 Jun 2013, 20:32
Dawson ran his socks off and was one of our better players but isn't fit enough and we all know who is to blame for that and it is not Duff.
Benctfc
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Joined: 29 Dec 2011, 16:54
Location: Whaddon road
I thought we looked as solid and organised as we have all season and never really looked like conceding except for chasing the win at the end. It looks like Duff has got the basics right and that should go a long way to making sure we pick up enough points to stay out of trouble. Interesting his views about the fitness and I get the feeling he feels the whole squad need to improve not just the new players signed on he is right when he says the subs stopped our momentum but he had to manage the players game time.

Duff's biggest challenge is going to be how he can manage to get us creating more chances and adding some extra quality in the final third as it has been woeful so far this season.
Robin
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Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 11:19
Come January a midfielder who can make us tick and striker will be high on the shopping list. Put Eisa and Winchester in this side and we would be serious play off contenders in my opinion.
kiaora84
Posts: 254
Joined: 25 Nov 2014, 23:39
I think we have a real playmaker in Maddox. Although I thought Broom did ok, Maddox is wasted on the left.

I am not Dawson’s biggest fan but I saw a different player yesterday. It’s league 2 football the quality isn’t always going to be there but the effort certainly was.

Nige dominated the midfield 2nd half and was my MoTM. The ref was shockingly bad for both teams but more so us
ctfc-fan
Posts: 1881
Joined: 06 Jan 2010, 12:00
Benctfc wrote:It looks like Duff has got the basics right
Do you not think Rusty would be part of the reason for this given he knows the players better than anyone and Duff only having been here a week?
vickeryc
Posts: 1198
Joined: 30 May 2012, 07:18
Location: Cirencester
I thought yesterday was an encouraging performance all-round.

Broom had a very good game, he chases everything, makes things happen and isn't afraid to shoot. Some on here are unfair to Dawson - he gave everything and had a decent game; my biggest criticism is his one-footedness. He must learn to use his left foot more. Barnett's experience was clearly evident and he deserved a goal - I reckon he could turn out to be our key signing and looks like he could provide plenty of assists if Duku or one of our other strikers can learn to feed off him effectively. The defence looked as solid as I've seen it for a while and Flinders can be relied on to make key saves when he has to. Maddox and Atangana also had good games.

After an even first half, we dominated the second so much that we should've won it comfortably by a couple of goals. Duff has got plenty to work with here and I'm confident that we'll be fine once we rediscover the knack of scoring at home.

Another joke ref, though not the worst I've seen by any means. Why book players who are going in hard but get the ball? He played one very good advantage in the first half, awarding a free kick after it came to nothing; then failed to play a couple of advantages later in the game when we were breaking free. So frustrating.
Artemis
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Joined: 28 Dec 2009, 20:36
CTFC03 wrote:Dawson ran his socks off and was one of our better players but isn't fit enough and we all know who is to blame for that and it is not Duff.
Yes we do, it's Kevin Dawson who is responsible for any lack of fitness.
Last edited by Artemis on 16 Sep 2018, 10:04, edited 1 time in total.
Andy
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Joined: 17 Aug 2017, 11:15
It’s surprising how many different games people watched :)

Personally I felt the first half was no different to what we’ve seen this season so far except there was evidently more effort but I felt neither team played well in the first half. Both losing the ball a hell of a lot in all areas of the field.

Second half we came out the better team and seemed to have the edge and both teams seemed to close down more. But fitness paid its toll and substitutions had to be made and they started to get back at us.

We were both unlucky not to get anything but fortunate not to concede (thanks flinders).

In summary, shabby start got better as the game went on but Duff still has a lot of work to do with them.


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Ben3
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ctfc-fan wrote:
Benctfc wrote:It looks like Duff has got the basics right
Do you not think Rusty would be part of the reason for this given he knows the players better than anyone and Duff only having been here a week?
Credit to duff for defence; blame to rusty for attack. Simples! If flinders had made a mistake we could have blamed Johnson too, for bringing him in. Until next week when duff will be to blame and I, for one, will reminisce fondly about Johnson

I know football fans are fickle by nature but come on. I sometimes fear my parody may be taken as serious as it’s less ridiculous than some genuine posts
asl
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Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 09:37
As I walked past the Crewe fan's coach, I heard someone say: "that was a match between two sh1t teams, really." I thought that summed it up, nicely.
vickeryc
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Joined: 30 May 2012, 07:18
Location: Cirencester
asl wrote:As I walked past the Crewe fan's coach, I heard someone say: "that was a match between two sh1t teams, really." I thought that summed it up, nicely.
Cup half empty. This is League Two not Champions League! It wasnt all great, but followers of clubs at this level will expect that, surely. And it wasn't all bad by any means, especially in the second half. A liberal dose of expectation management required methinks.
I-Love-CTFC
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Apparently the players were out in town last night, according to a few people on Twitter. Duku and McAlinden were seen smoking according to them.
Robin
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Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 11:19
Not sure there is a lot to celebrate with the team lying 18th in the table right now but I don't begrudge them a night out.
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Ihearye
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Ben3 wrote:
ctfc-fan wrote:
Benctfc wrote:It looks like Duff has got the basics right
Do you not think Rusty would be part of the reason for this given he knows the players better than anyone and Duff only having been here a week?
Credit to duff for defence; blame to rusty for attack. Simples! If flinders had made a mistake we could have blamed Johnson too, for bringing him in. Until next week when duff will be to blame and I, for one, will reminisce fondly about Johnson

I know football fans are fickle by nature but come on. I sometimes fear my parody may be taken as serious as it’s less ridiculous than some genuine posts
Well ...... it is a matchday thread and at least they are giving insights into the game, for those of us who were not there. Instead of meaningless postings.
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Ihearye
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Shade wrote:Broom was my motm. He made things happen and fashioned himself the best shooting chance of the match.

As Robin said, Dawson lacked quality for me. Yes, he tried hard, they all did, but his first touch left a lot to be desired, especially in the first half. He'll have better days. I thought Dawson should have gone off at half time, Broom to the wing and Jones or Thomas on centre/attacking mid. Or Maddox to attacking mid and preferably someone left footed on the left wing.
Taken the games I have seen so far, would have to agree with both of you on teh Dawson debate. He does run around a lot, but end product has been missing for a while now. Before anyone says, yes I know he has scored , but that was very well set up for him
horlickfanclub
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Dawson does have the ability to collect and carry the ball upfield quickly which gives the defence a rest. Not many players these days look to go forward. His effort and energy contibute a lot.
Broom has been very good this season but his passing and shooting need to be less frantic. He will get better and better.
Alf
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Joined: 17 Apr 2011, 08:24
I always thought that there was a lack of fitness with the players when GJ was here. Not unusual to see players giving up on chasing not quite perfect through balls etc. I’ve said before that a good manager can’t necessarily turn an average player into a genius but if he can get him fit and get 100% effort from him it is more acceptable to paying supporters.
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Nesty
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I-Love-CTFC wrote:Apparently the players were out in town last night, according to a few people on Twitter. Duku and McAlinden were seen smoking according to them.
Archie Anderson used to go into Cheltenham on a Friday night and god help any of his players he found drinking.
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Shade
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Just to clarify, I wasn't having a dig at Dawson. I like him. He does try hard and you'll always see him chasing things and trying to make it happen. But he's in L2 for a reason and that is that some days his quality is good, like when he scored a couple of weeks ago, and some days he's poor. For me, his quality was generally poor on Saturday, mainly in the first half.
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