Cheltenham Town v Bristol Rovers

[Mike1953]

I agree with Nesty about Olayinka and would have liked to have seen more of him, but presumably WE is protecting him till he is fully fit.
Having seen Will Ferry play so well at Hillsborough, I hope he will soon return to the team fully fit. His replacement yesterday was unremarkable.
I cannot agree with those who berate Dan Nlundulu, whose hold up skills are exceptional and is capable of doing the unexpected which makes him very difficult to play against (or on occasion difficult to play alongside as happened at Hillsborough when Lloyd failed to convert an unselfish pass).
For Bristol Rovers, Christmas arrived early, with at least two gift wrapped goals. I’m surprised that their commendable army of supporters did not go away singing Christmas carols! To end on a positive note- over 5000 spectators - great, but did we really need a mounted police presence?

[Warwickshire Robin]

Having now had 24 hours to digest yesterdays events what has really stood out for me is how wildly inconsistent we are. Under Mike Duff I think we got used our team having a level of performance week in and week out. Pretty much every week we were around a 6 or 7 out of 10, occasionally falling below this as every team will do over a long season, but knowing next week we would generally be back to that 6/7 mark.

However this season we have gone from 8/9 out of 10, particularly against Bolton and first half against Peterborough, some of the best football I have seen at Cheltenham, to 2 or 3 out of 10 for yesterday/Exeter in the cup and then pretty much everything in between.

Thinking about this more, actually none of it should really be a surprise. We have a rookie head coach who was appointed pretty late in preseason, an almost totally new back room staff, 50% of a new squad the majority of whom are youngsters so it is really not a shock that only 13 games into the season we should be this up and down.

I guess what we need to see (aside from patience which is hard to come by in this day and age) is that lessons are being learned and mistakes aren't being repeated so we can get back to that consistent level of performance rather than the massive swings from the sublime to the ridiculous. Easier said than done but necessary I think.

[Si Robin]

Dan is fantastic when he can be bothered, but after the second goal yesterday he seemed to completely give up. If the ball didn't drop to him advantageously then he didn't attempt to do anything. Someone mentioned about the one great ball Ben Williams put in and he was about 25 yards out. That wasn't tactical, that was him not being assed to bust a gut to get in the box and attack the ball.

An on it Dan Nlundulu is crucial to how we play, a lethargic, moody Dan Nlundulu is a hindrance.

[Si Robin]

Having now had 24 hours to digest yesterdays events what has really stood out for me is how wildly inconsistent we are. Under Mike Duff I think we got used our team having a level of performance week in and week out. Pretty much every week we were around a 6 or 7 out of 10, occasionally falling below this as every team will do over a long season, but knowing next week we would generally be back to that 6/7 mark.

However this season we have gone from 8/9 out of 10, particularly against Bolton and first half against Peterborough, some of the best football I have seen at Cheltenham, to 2 or 3 out of 10 for yesterday/Exeter in the cup and then pretty much everything in between.

Thinking about this more, actually none of it should really be a surprise. We have a rookie head coach who was appointed pretty late in preseason, an almost totally new back room staff, 50% of a new squad the majority of whom are youngsters so it is really not a shock that only 13 games into the season we should be this up and down.

I guess what we need to see (aside from patience which is hard to come by in this day and age) is that lessons are being learned and mistakes aren't being repeated so we can get back to that consistent level of performance rather than the massive swings from the sublime to the ridiculous. Easier said than done but necessary I think.

I agree with most of this, apart from the highlighted part. Wade was named manager on 27th June. That was the week of our first friendly. He'd been taking training with Russ from the moment the players returned from their summer break, so in effect he had all of pre-season.

I don't think he had much of a say on the Chapman and Barkers deals, and I'm not sure he's totally in agreement with the Bradbury and Adshead signings. But the team hasn't changed all that much really. If you look at yesterday's starting 11, only three didn't play any part in the team last season (Southwood, Jackson and Broom). Jackson has, arguably, been the signing of the summer.

Ultimately, yesterday was just one of those games where defensive errors have cost us. This is a defence that has been a lot better than last season. It happens sometimes, and less than two weeks ago, Wade was finally finding his feet when we won our second home game in 4 days (games we expected to lose). He needs a pick-up from the fringe players on Tuesday.

Just like we didn't get carried away with the Bolton win, nor should we get carried away with this defeat.

[Warwickshire Robin]

Having now had 24 hours to digest yesterdays events what has really stood out for me is how wildly inconsistent we are. Under Mike Duff I think we got used our team having a level of performance week in and week out. Pretty much every week we were around a 6 or 7 out of 10, occasionally falling below this as every team will do over a long season, but knowing next week we would generally be back to that 6/7 mark.

However this season we have gone from 8/9 out of 10, particularly against Bolton and first half against Peterborough, some of the best football I have seen at Cheltenham, to 2 or 3 out of 10 for yesterday/Exeter in the cup and then pretty much everything in between.

Thinking about this more, actually none of it should really be a surprise. We have a rookie head coach who was appointed pretty late in preseason, an almost totally new back room staff, 50% of a new squad the majority of whom are youngsters so it is really not a shock that only 13 games into the season we should be this up and down.

I guess what we need to see (aside from patience which is hard to come by in this day and age) is that lessons are being learned and mistakes aren't being repeated so we can get back to that consistent level of performance rather than the massive swings from the sublime to the ridiculous. Easier said than done but necessary I think.

I agree with most of this, apart from the highlighted part. Wade was named manager on 27th June. That was the week of our first friendly. He'd been taking training with Russ from the moment the players returned from their summer break, so in effect he had all of pre-season.

I don't think he had much of a say on the Chapman and Barkers deals, and I'm not sure he's totally in agreement with the Bradbury and Adshead signings. But the team hasn't changed all that much really. If you look at yesterday's starting 11, only three didn't play any part in the team last season (Southwood, Jackson and Broom). Jackson has, arguably, been the signing of the summer.

Ultimately, yesterday was just one of those games where defensive errors have cost us. This is a defence that has been a lot better than last season. It happens sometimes, and less than two weeks ago, Wade was finally finding his feet when we won our second home game in 4 days (games we expected to lose). He needs a pick-up from the fringe players on Tuesday.

Just like we didn't get carried away with the Bolton win, nor should we get carried away with this defeat.

Caleb Taylor is new this season also, Nlundulu and Perry only played briefly and were both gone back to parent clubs by January but I get your points to a certain extent.

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[andgarod]

Freestone has looked better when playing with Ferry rather than Williams
JP said the starting formation was 3 4 2 1
I dont recall us playing this formation before
Playing Broom and Perry off Nlundulu but he does not win knock downs so it does not really work
Broom then pushed up you loose his engine in midfield

So our goal keeping coach has a lot of work to do along with our defensive coach
He knows Southwood so he will know his strengths and weaknesses

So do we bring Raglan back when fit
Ferry definitely

So pizza match on Tuesday then Burton

We will expect a response

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Cancelo missing the ball trying to clear a punt up field by the Liverpool keeper and Salah runs through to score. It’s not just League One players who make mistakes.

[kora]

My biggest problem with Southgate is his silence, I stand behind the goal and have never heard an attempt at communication with his defenders hence the shambles of the first goal. In pre season I could hear McDonald no matter which part of the ground I was in, must be worth a try.

[Si Robin]

Southwood