Match Thread Home v Barrow Sat Sept 18th @ 3.00pm

Let's try a positive word for the manager. Vernam (apart from his shooting boots) has been a revelation this season. After signing last year he was utter dross. What do we attribute that to?

Back line - both left and right back look like upgrades to me from last year.

Competitiveness in league - other than the orient game we have competed and could have won all of the other games.

Squad depth - we have some choices, that's why there's debates on here. Previously there were few choices, especially in midfield.

I am confident we will be top seven. We do lack up front, which I think we all recognise, inc. Adams.

Do quote me when we are relegated.

Cheer up lads.

 

Due to failing health I don't see the action first hand as you are able to and I bow to your experience. For me it's all about engineering 3 points and I feel that we are on a run not able to do so. Sure if we find a way to take the chances we create..we'll get back on track. Just to add, I value contributions by your good self and most on here it keeps me up to speed.

 

Replying to both as it answers both points.

“Why couldn’t the club see it”

Turnbull clearly seemed to be the problem.

 

Sorry to hear about your health issues. Although not a priority in life, it must still be hard not being able to watch the team you have supported all your life.

 

Really what a strange anology.
Creating chances means just that, as an example you saw the game on Saturday when Vernam was put clean through and missed a one on one that was a chance created by a fellow team mate.
As was the header Vernam missed against Wallsall, as was the header Cook missed at Salford, all chances that should have gone in, Im sure there are many others where the fans in attendance sight how did he miss that.
They can't be classed as shots or headers on target because they weren't hence this :

 

A lot of talk about our missed chances, not as much talk about the 2 or 3 that barrow contrived to miss that were better chances than ours and arguably harder to miss than score

 

I think the main word I take from your reply is “MISSED”. Perhaps there should be a separate stat column for that? At least we'd then have players in the top three table.

 

The main stats are goals scored and conceded. We are not doing too well at them at the moment.

 

Exactly. I don't get this "creating chances" hype. Ok, fair play to our midfield for setting up goal scoring opportunities, but the main headline I get out of the stat, is that we can't finish our opportunities. And at the end of the day, you win games by scoring goals, not creating/missing chances. It's like a stat saying we've won X amount of corners...but haven't scored from any of them.

 

Of course its a "MISSED" chance if it wasn't as I explained above it would be classed as a goal or a save from the keeper ie "on target".
I don't think many if any are disputing the fact that we need to put more of our chances/opertunities away even Adams alluds to that fact and they then become goals scored, like it or not we are creating chances/opportunities call them what you want that should end in the back of the net, unfortunatly the examples I gave you and many other this season haven't.

 

Good shout they had the better chances, an unmarked header from 3 yards out put over the bar

 

Fully Agree
Creating chances doesn't win games or get you promoted

 

So I think we’re in agreement? I think
I’m basically saying that “creating chances” is good, but it’s all a bit of a muchness, if these creations don’t turn into goals. Without goals, we’re not going to win a game, regardless of the amount of chances created.

 

The debate is about us not taking our chances, we saw in the later games with Trueman & Sellars in charge how we struggled to create anything surely creating them gives you more chance of winning the game rather than not creating.
There's no question we've been wasteful in many of our games so far this season, I'd suggest this will be one of the topics Derek Adams will address in his October statement, was he hung out to dry by our poor late recruitment at the end of the transfer window, I know what I think.

 

By the law of averages the more decent chances you create the nirw likely you are to score. When in the playoffs under Bowyer we were scoring off one or two chances and the a stats tell you that's not sustainable. Which proved correct. Where Adams is correct is we are creating goal scoring opportunities. He's now admitting we are a player or two short of taking those chances. Only last week he called out his front 6 to add more goals to the total of Andy Cook, annoying because it was clear to us there was little in goals from the rest of the front 6. You could rightly say that this should have been rectified in the summer, Turnbill leaving is a byproduct of this not being the case. January will see a fair bit of movement in and out because Adams demands success.

 

I'm not disagreeing with that comment and I'm as frustrated as the next fan that were not hitting the back of the net more often, but surely making 4/5 scoring chance per game is far better than the latter games under Trueman & Sellars where we were lucky to create anything.
They are 4 division players for a reason, unfortunately scoring goals on a regular basis is one of them, without doubt the system Adams plays he expects more goals from our more attacking players so far we've seen little to suggest that will happen.
Lets hope come January the club find some money to help out in that department, or Angol stays fit and contributes as he did before his injury.

 

What is all this piffle about "chances"?

What constitutes a "chance"? If someone shoots over the bar from 30 yards has he missed a "chance"? A goalkeeper does what he's employed to do, ie makes a save. Has the attacker missed a "chance"? If a boxer is winning a fight in ten rounds, then gets knocked out in the eleventh, does his manager keep saying say "well, he was winning on points"? No, the only stat that matters is the result.

Derek has brought this to the table to divert attention from the fact we're in the middle of a winless run. Currently, some of his tactics are naff, some of his team selections are naff, his substitutions are naff and his results are naff. As nothing ever appears to be his fault, he's brought these so called "chances" (that are, actually, impossible to evaluate) into the equation.

 

She’s too busy being my pen friend

 

What’s the difference between creating 30 chances a game or 1 chance a game if we don’t win? This is my whole point. It’s a nonsense stat to get excited about unless the chances are turned into goals!

 

Early season lots of links with the side of 1981/82, wonder what their goals to chances ratio was ? Answer , no idea but what we do know is the simple fact they scored more than the opposition in the majority of games. Everything else is if's, but's and maybe's.