Match Thread Away V Cheltenham Saturday 20th February @ 3.00pm

Aye, the very same pitch that two very well worked goals were scored on. On the day we were beaten by the better side, had nothing to do with the pitch. We went long far too often and paid for it.

 

Exeter was a ploughed field in the middle our pitch on Tuesday was wet but stood up well surprisingly. This match will be the toughest test so far for T&S come away with anything and it will be a big result

 

The more I see Rowe play the more I see Dean Windass , he’s a player can demolish Cheltenham on Saturday. Just can’t wait until 3pm Saturday. Our whole squad is playing great football and giving us City fans our football club back as it should be.

 

Mention of Windass reminds me of the only time when I've seen City play at Cheltenham. I think Dean interfered with one of their defenders and got him sent off for retaliation.

 

You have select memory loss, when we got the ball down and actually tried to play football we scored a fantastic team goal but they don't fit your narrative of not wanting to blame the team for fear of making yourself look negative. It wasn't the best pitch but in no way was remotely unplayable, what that game showed and first half tuesday night showed is we are nowhere near as effective a team when we constantly go long, its not what we do and negates the impact of very good ball players. Our managers will ensure we don't make the same mistakes again.

 

Overall we couldn’t play our usual quick passing in Midfield . That doesn’t mean Exeter didn’t deserve to win Boden made the difference for them and we were weakened. The midfield area on their pitch was poir

 

He did indeed, if we play as well on Saturday as we did that day, I would be more than happy

 

But we did when we scored, as did Exeter. Truman has already mentioned there were reasons before the game which hindered what we did butn he didn't mention the pitch.

 

The forecast I've seen is for light rain showers with a moderate breeze today and tomorrow. If that's accurate, I can't see the game being affected.

 

BBC forecast is as you say if there are any doubts they will need to get a local ref in as I assume we'll be setting off this afternoon and doing a overnight no 4 th division club would want the game calling of knowing they stand to recompense the opposition.

 

Good point. I wasn't sure they would do an overnight for this one but listening to the interview with Wood yesterday, he was talking about game prep and said they would be doing it up to and including Saturday morning, which suggests they will be travelling down this afternoon.

 

I too can't see it being cancelled today, with light rain/ rain showers forecast. Unless of course it is already heavily water logged and unplayable now with little anticipated drainage

 

Can anyone explain to me where this "Hornby has excellent distribution" myth has come from?

It's being used as a positive when comparing keepers but from the little we've seen I'd say there's very little in it. Neither are very good and both tend to put it on to touch too often.

 

I think you are right that when it comes to a long kick, both are pretty poor at keeping the ball in play and when they do, even poorer at finding a city player. Where I think Hornby has the edge over ROD is that he seems to play the ball out with a short pass more times than resorting to a hoof, and he is also quicker at getting the ball back into play. ROD tends to hang onto it for ages, mess about kicking his studs on the post and then take forever to actually launch the ball into what inevitably turns out to be no mans land. That's all well and good if you are getting towards the end of a game and trying to run the clock down, but the rest of the time, it should be about quick reactions and trying to catch the opposition on the break. By fannying about, ROD limits our chances to do that.

 

You think 53 points will be required to end 3rd bottom when the bottom 3 are well below a point a game(46 points) seriously? I can’t see us needing over 45 tbh that said obviously I think we’ll get much more than that.

Let’s not bring the pitch excuse out again, both teams have to play on it. The only one where that’s valid imo is Newport’s, which doesn’t look fit for purpose and could give one or two players an injury.

 

Yeah but Hornby punts it into touch further down the pitch.

Joking aside, I wouldn't say his distribution is a strong point, but he does get more distance, which I think puts us under less pressure closer to our own goal if we lose the first or second ball.

 

Hornbys distribution is much better it’s strange how many clearances and kicks from 0D reach the stand.he is also better on crosses. OD is a good shot stopper though and we still needs to see if Hornby can match him in that area

 

Ahah, yes I was there that day.
Vague memories of Deano doing that, very hot and sunny.

 

That might have been both McCalls instructions and the fact we were dire at the back though.

Until we've seen both under T&S it's an unfair comparison.