The Robins Nest Forum

Another poster suggested a team earlier in the week (possibly Hubert Parry) and Dickie with O' Shaugnessy was the CB pairing. That may be the way forward with Barthram and Cranston the full backs

Not too sure about that Exile, I think we need to keep one of Parslow/Downes in the centre. Dickie not played too much at centre half for us either.

Any team capable of scoring two goals away from home should be able to return with a point at least. We are being outpaced and out thought at the back but I trust GJ to sort it.

Shade wrote:I don't know about you lot, but I've got the feeling this game has got a touch of the Burton's about it...

Richard Burton? Do they all look pissed?

I wonder if there are any of those free and out of contract players out there GJ might consider having initially thought too expensive?

Gary does look a bit of a chump given his pre match interviews winding up the Yeovil management.

They did a job on us, Gary was making the changes to personnel and systems after 20 mins

Time to stop ass licking in the interviews and get the answers to the problems

Too much nonsense about Gary returning to his old team pre match

Talk about the now not the past ffs

London Exile wrote:I wonder if there are any of those free and out of contract players out there GJ might consider having initially thought too expensive?

He ruled out signing any free transfers.

This is painful viewing: http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sp ... cheltenham" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Griffiths shocker for the first goal. Marking non-existent for the second from the corner and Downes totally exposed by pace for the fourth.

I'm afraid we are in trouble and Gary has to take the blame

I think it was the right decision to let last season's squad try their luck in league 2 but given their
lack of experience at this level he should have signed a few experienced league 2 players as back up.
Instead he's signed too many fringe players who haven't made the grade. Player recruitment has been
haphazard and improvised. Jennings was another without league experience and he was bundled out on
loan after just a few games. We've had the business with Barthram who still cant seem to break into
the team despite the poor performances of those on the pitch.

He tried to outsmart Yeovil by playing silly beggars with the team selection but all he achieved was to confuse
and disadvantage his own team. He needs to smarten up his act pretty quick otherwise we will be heading back
from where we came

I-Love-CTFC wrote:This is painful viewing: http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sp ... cheltenham" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Griffiths shocker for the first goal. Marking non-existent for the second from the corner and Downes totally exposed by pace for the fourth.

All 4 goals were really poor. Some shocking and lame defending evident for the second week in succession now. Some serious questions need to be asked by GJ and the management staff but do it behind closed doors though, don't play it out in the press.
We don't need to hear how poor today was, we can see it in the video, just put it right against Stevenage on Tuesday night

Perhaps GJ had to decide between 1 or 2 signings and not having a big enough squad to see him through until Christmas or hope that the champions could set up so he could cope with one or 2 loans
Those 2 loans being Dickie and Philips
Suddenly with injuries and suspensions and being let down on his loans he suddenly need a CB, a winger come forward (we get 2) at the last minute. 3 of the loans brought in not ready for FL
The 1 Whitehead showed promise in the first couple of games but then faded ( not ready or being asked to play a different game from what was intended)
GJ having made a big song and dance last season on having everyone ( virtually) on board for a full preseason - didnt happen this time
Equally for whatever reason we have seen round pegs in square holes

Storer we read broken down when he stepped up his training 2 weeks before getting back in to 1st team squad ( so why was he not training flat out in preseason etc ( He was used as a CB in preseason because we only had 2 ( see above))
Downes was out for how long but he gets dropped back in to mark Parkin at Newport well let me suggest that Parkin is not the most mobile
We won the conference without Downes so why should he suddenly reappear when obviously not match fit and at least a season slower that last time

Now the real question as raised above by did GJ have the boards backing.
Was he sidelined by the rule change and need numbers rather than quality

Only time will tell
GJ will sort it but it will not be easy or pretty

Too many thought we could do a Bristol Rovers but we dont have their resources

Finally I didnt hear GJ saying he got it wrong today in the team selection and setup

GJ clearly not confident in his back line so is tinkering around trying to find the right blend. Thing is, you can't make barista-style coffee out of nescafe instant. By Christmas, it could be too late.

p!## poor penalty [POUTING FACE]

A really poor selection yesterday by Gary Johnson . Why did he start two players who then became "not up to it" in half an hour?Why does he play players out of position? Aaron Downes was great for us last season but it is really sad to see him struggling. He looked Sunday League on the last goal.Rob Dickie must play centre half on Tuesday. Three points out of six is the best I expect this week so Sunday might see us bottom of the league with a Manager who does not seem to own up to his errors.

Gary is easily one of the best managers the club has ever had so get off his back. Yes his selection was wrong and summer recruitment was poor but we can still turn this around. I am not hiding we have just played three teams widely tipped to struggle gaining only one point and conceding nine, this seems to have coincided with the return of Downes so Gary needs to build from the back and be ruthless by dropping either his skipper or Parslow.

I do expect Gary Johnson to turn this around. He's said in interviews this week we are not too far away. We have started scoring goals, and yesterday it could be argued that we got caught out early, got ourselves back into the game and then got stung at the end chasing an equaliser.

I saw the Man Utd game earlier that day and after their run of really poor games they were up against the Champions. They played Herrera as a deep midfielder protecting the back 4, which enabled Pogba & Mata to get forward and be more creative & Leicester's normally resilient back line got mauled.

Obviously at League 2 level it will be different, but I think that when we have Storer fit again he could play a similar role allowing Pell and one other (Hall/Munns/Dayton) more freedom to get forward, feeding the wings or the strikers or coming in late to get in on goal. When Holman is back we will carry more of a threat too. Keep the faith, we are not a million miles away, but we do need find the right back 4 (or 3) blend as we are being caught out for pace.

I think it also shows what a remarkable job Gary Johnson did last season winning the league at a canter. I certainly had fairly high expectations for this season but in reality maybe should be just happy with staying in div 2 and building on this. In the Conference we were probably one of the better off clubs but that changes in this division and maybe we were all expecting a bit too much?

Promoted sides tend to do well though, a top half finish is more than achievable and being anywhere near the bottom six is poor.

Too many players living off the glory of last season. Yes last season was a phenomenal achievement, but it's time to focus on the here and now. Players need to start rolling up their sleeves. Let's hope we get a response on Tuesday.

We've lost last seasons momentum over night..... Scary

Robin wrote:Gary is easily one of the best managers the club has ever had so get off his back. Yes his selection was wrong and summer recruitment was poor but we can still turn this around. I am not hiding we have just played three teams widely tipped to struggle gaining only one point and conceding nine, this seems to have coincided with the return of Downes so Gary needs to build from the back and be ruthless by dropping either his skipper or Parslow.

He is Robin but that doesn't make him untouchable. I hope he can turn it around because despite talking a good game all season he's come up woefully short thus far.

What's he always said, assess it every 10 games? Well........ There's some assessing to do and some key decisions to make

He's definitely not untouchable, just ask Yeovil.

I-Love-CTFC wrote:He's definitely not untouchable, just ask Yeovil.

Yeah they went on to better things after losing GJ....

Robin wrote:

I-Love-CTFC wrote:He's definitely not untouchable, just ask Yeovil.

Yeah they went on to better things after losing GJ....

They were bottom of League One in February 2015 when Johnson was sacked. They were on a downward spiral, like we were under Yates.

IMO he owed it to the players who got us promotion the chance to succeed or fail at this level. Any decent manager would do the same, especially on a limited budget.

Alf wrote:IMO he owed it to the players who got us promotion the chance to succeed or fail at this level. Any decent manager would do the same, especially on a limited budget.

Why wasn't he backed more though? Season ticket sales were very good. The only permanent signings were Daniel O'Shaughnessy who started off well and James Jennings (who simply wasn't good enough) and was shipped out to Morecambe on loan. You could include Kitscha who was re-signed. We put all our eggs in one basket trying to get Dillon Phillips back. We all know we needed a larger, more competitive squad.

I-Love-CTFC wrote:

Robin wrote:

I-Love-CTFC wrote:He's definitely not untouchable, just ask Yeovil.

Yeah they went on to better things after losing GJ....

They were bottom of League One in February 2015 when Johnson was sacked. They were on a downward spiral, like we were under Yates.

They sacked him, dropped another level, narrowly stayed up last season and one of favourites for the drop this time around too...

I-Love-CTFC wrote:

Alf wrote:IMO he owed it to the players who got us promotion the chance to succeed or fail at this level. Any decent manager would do the same, especially on a limited budget.

Why wasn't he backed more though? Season ticket sales were very good. The only permanent signings were Daniel O'Shaughnessy who started off well and James Jennings (who simply wasn't good enough) and was shipped out to Morecambe on loan. You could include Kitscha who was re-signed. We put all our eggs in one basket trying to get Dillon Phillips back. We all know we needed a larger, more competitive squad.

The finances available to the manager is a different subject, posts on here are criticising GJ, not the finances being made available by the Board, which, as always, is a perpetual problem.

Alf wrote:IMO he owed it to the players who got us promotion the chance to succeed or fail at this level. Any decent manager would do the same, especially on a limited budget.

Yes!

Back to basics tomorrow night, for me. 3-5-2. We need the team to be as stable as we can make it, and that means playing players that know each other, in their proper positions. I've no doubt we have a team good enough for this division still, but the key injuries/suspensions have de-stabilised things.

Griffiths
Dickie
Parslow
O'Shaughnessy
Barthram
Cranston
Pell
Munns
Dayton
Wright
Waters

Basics means 4 4 2 in old money.

Griffiths

Barthram Dickie O' Shaughnessy Cranston

Dayton Pell Hall Munns

Morgan-Smith Wright

Two things we lack at the moment: confidence and mental toughness. The first comes from getting results and the second you are borne with. Confidence takes time to get (which we don't have) and the second only comes from having different players on the pitch (with the exception of Pell, Wright (yes, he can do it for us), Griffiths (all keepers make mistakes), O'Shaughnessy (young and can develop), Dayton, Cranston, Holman (must be judged when fully fit), Munns (has potential, if played in right position), Waters (a real curates egg), and Storer (cannot judge yet). The loans are average at best, and Dickie is not as effective as first time round (but most second spells are never as good as the first time - with exception of Grant McCann/Gillespie/big Jules when he came back). That's not even a first 11! We will have t carry some of the squad till January. Or play Hall!

I agree with other on here about Storer. I think/hope hecould be the answer as we lack a holding midfielder. I really want him to succeed for us.

But I'm very miserable at our short-term prospects. Cheer me up Mr Johnson, please!

My team would be as follows
Griffiths
Dickie (RB)
Parslow (CB)
O'Shaugnessy (CB)
Cranston (LB)
Pell (CM)
Storer/Hall (CM)
Munns (AM)
Dayton (AM)
Wright (SC)

Other spot goes to either AMS or Hall if Storer is fit. Essentially I want to go back to fielding most of last seasons team but we clearly need to drop one of Downes or Parslow.

I-Love-CTFC wrote:

Alf wrote:IMO he owed it to the players who got us promotion the chance to succeed or fail at this level. Any decent manager would do the same, especially on a limited budget.

Why wasn't he backed more though? Season ticket sales were very good. The only permanent signings were Daniel O'Shaughnessy who started off well and James Jennings (who simply wasn't good enough) and was shipped out to Morecambe on loan. You could include Kitscha who was re-signed. We put all our eggs in one basket trying to get Dillon Phillips back. We all know we needed a larger, more competitive squad.

We will never be able to compete with most EFL.clubs with our low gate potential and lack of finance from other sources,that`s why we never survived the 1st.div.for long.