Holman (and Wright)

Shade · 30 Jan 2016, 19:20

Surprised nobody has mentioned some of the positives from this afternoon (not really).

Before Holman scored I was impressed with his determination and chasing players down. In the second half it lead to a goal. Brilliant work. And of course he scored two great goals. To me, he already appears to be the one piece that we had been missing from our jigsaw - the natural goalscorer. First goal was beautiful, back to goal, spin and half volley just inside the post. Second goal, calm, presence of mind to take a couple of touches to set himself up before an inch perfect left footer across the keeper, nestling inside the post. I thought he was going to get a first half, home debut, perfect hat-trick, but just missed getting a decent contact on a header from about 7 or 8 yards.

And to whoever was implying Wright was a donkey earlier, I'll happily take a donkey that can score 4 goals in 2 games, bring the ball down and lay it off so well, and run his heart out chasing around up front, thank you very much.

Burgess also had a good debut..don't think he really put a foot wrong. Cranston looked ok, despite not being in his proper position.

Finally, for now, when was the last match we had our front two strikers score two goals each in a game? I've got a feeling it was only a few years ago?

30 Jan 2016, 19:25

See my ratings Shade, I agree many positives today although for me Burgess didn't look too assured, although this may come with confidence and settling in.

Si Robin · 30 Jan 2016, 19:29

I liked the look of Burgess, a decent debut for the young lad. Didn't make any errors and kept it simple. Reminds me a little of a left-sided Rob Dickie.

Shade · 30 Jan 2016, 19:31

Exactly Si, how much can we expect from a youngish lad making his debut at the back a few days after joining. Remember our whole team were a bit shaky at the start of the season until they'd settled in a bit.

Rick · 30 Jan 2016, 21:29

I thought Burgess grew in to the game. And did very well

Sprout Picker · 31 Jan 2016, 03:10

Rick wrote:I thought Burgess grew in to the game. And did very well

Agree, he did very well. Another good acquisition by GJ.

31 Jan 2016, 09:50

Sorry guys, while I'm not suggesting he was bad, please explain how he did very well, or do you not recall some of the headers into dangerous areas or rushed clearances into touch? Hopefully these sorts of things will ease once he becomes settled but I would genuinely like to know how he did very well.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa · 31 Jan 2016, 10:10

If we are talking about poor headers and dodgy clearances then Parslow and Downes have been doing it all season!

31 Jan 2016, 10:32

Disagree there RCS, both have been superb, Downes has been great in the air inparticular.

Artemis · 31 Jan 2016, 10:45

No denying Downes and Pars have been good in the air all season, but equally, no denying some of their headers have gone into 'dangerous areas' or put another way, have resulted in the opposition getting the ball - as have some of the 'rushed' clearances, that is clearances under pressure. Its inevitable.
Burgess did well on the basis that he was no worse than Downes or Pars or Dickie in his positioning, clearances and headers, and has only been with the club for a few days.

Reliant Robin · 31 Jan 2016, 18:24

Burgess did not get beaten for pace, he looks very quick and easily got to the ball ahead of opposition forwards when we were pushing our back line up.

I thought he had a very decent game and will settle in very nicely with a few more under his belt.

Malabus · 31 Jan 2016, 18:31

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vickeryc · 31 Jan 2016, 19:22

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:If we are talking about poor headers and dodgy clearances then Parslow and Downes have been doing it all season!

That's harsh, RCS. I've seen most home games this season and as far as I'm concerned Downes and Parslow have been the mainstays of our defence (which is the best in the league). Regarding headers, Downes has been particularly impressive. He always seems to be in exactly the right place to clear the ball and, rather like Steve Elliot, he always gets very good distance on his headed clearances.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa · 31 Jan 2016, 20:43

Not saying they haven't played well and obviously we have the best defence. The point I was making is that if we are to nit pick Burgess then we have to judge everyone the same.

alwaysarobin · 31 Jan 2016, 21:45

IMO Burgess was no nonsense clearing the ball. If it needed to go into touch then that is where it went. How many times in the past (not neccessarily this season) have we said put it into row z?
I think he is a good acquisition and will be valuable to us in the next few games as the team prepares for the run in and maintain the form that will keep us at the right end of the table and hopefully push onto the title with 3 games to go.

Kayode17 · 31 Jan 2016, 21:59

Danny Wright certainly proved me wrong on Saturday. I'll put my hands up and say he really impressed me with his overall performance. I think he looks twice the player with Holman alongside him, who really looks a class above.

We got sloppy towards the end of the game, but I think that was due to Gary's substitutions (something I don't think he's very good at actually - picking which players to come on/off and at what time).

Burgess looked solid, and wasn't going to be bullied. It's nice to have a left footed central defender in our team. It felt like a nice balance. I think time will tell with him wether he's the man we use as Downes replacement.

vikerlane · 31 Jan 2016, 22:31

Maybe it's the title race getting to players, can't make a mistake so it's all a bit cagey - I thought once we were 2-0 up, you could almost feel at the stand how all the boys were playing with confidence and joy, trying to pull of little tricky passes, and if it went wrong few times, no-one cared, no-one shouted abuse at them.

Moan Moan Moan · 31 Jan 2016, 23:27

[quote="Artemis"]No denying Downes and Pars have been good in the air all season, but equally, no denying some of their headers have gone into 'dangerous areas' or put another way, have resulted in the opposition getting the ball - as have some of the 'rushed' clearances, that is clearances under pressure. Its inevitable.

Not doing a bad job with the fewest goals against = the best defence. Burgess is going to be a great filler, going by his debut.

Shade · 01 Feb 2016, 13:51

Kayode17 wrote:
We got sloppy towards the end of the game, but I think that was due to Gary's substitutions (something I don't think he's very good at actually - picking which players to come on/off and at what time).

Now I know you must be joking, as the number of substitutes that have come off the bench to score or make important goals this season has been of a very high number. Case in point, Dover last week - Rowe and Dayton coming on, Dayton sets up both goals. Saturday, we were 4-0 up and Barthram had taken a couple of knocks and had to go off, and he saved Rowe and Dayton who haven't played many 90 minutes lately.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa · 01 Feb 2016, 13:54

Shade wrote:
Kayode17 wrote:
We got sloppy towards the end of the game, but I think that was due to Gary's substitutions (something I don't think he's very good at actually - picking which players to come on/off and at what time).
Now I know you must be joking, as the number of substitutes that have come off the bench to score or make important goals this season has been of a very high number. Case in point, Dover last week - Rowe and Dayton coming on, Dayton sets up both goals. Saturday, we were 4-0 up and Barthram had taken a couple of knocks and had to go off, and he saved Rowe and Dayton who haven't played many 90 minutes lately.

Don't forget of course that Rowe and Jennings were actually the chosen subs and Dayton only came on when Jennings was injured and had to go off again.

01 Feb 2016, 13:57

Kayode17 wrote:We got sloppy towards the end of the game, but I think that was due to Gary's substitutions

I thought it was more a case of us coasting and had clearly taken our foot off the gas - something I don't see a lot of problem with at 4-0.

Shade · 01 Feb 2016, 14:00

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:
Shade wrote:
Kayode17 wrote:
We got sloppy towards the end of the game, but I think that was due to Gary's substitutions (something I don't think he's very good at actually - picking which players to come on/off and at what time).
Now I know you must be joking, as the number of substitutes that have come off the bench to score or make important goals this season has been of a very high number. Case in point, Dover last week - Rowe and Dayton coming on, Dayton sets up both goals. Saturday, we were 4-0 up and Barthram had taken a couple of knocks and had to go off, and he saved Rowe and Dayton who haven't played many 90 minutes lately.
Don't forget of course that Rowe and Jennings were actually the chosen subs and Dayton only came on when Jennings was injured and had to go off again.

Dayton probably would have come on straight away if he hadn't have thrown up in the dugout...

RegencyCheltenhamSpa · 01 Feb 2016, 14:17

True!