Match Thread Home v Cheltenham, Tuesday 1st December 7pm kick off.

My comment was on the first half only.

 

Unless he comes to his senses he's going to be the first manager to take us to non league in our history. And we'd have to pay him off or stick with that first manager ever to do it. Makes giving him a contract extension look very silly.

 

He makes Joe Brown look like Giggs and thats even worse

 

OMG

 

I was replying to PB

 

Whats his excuse going to be when Guthrie and Novak are back yet don't make a blind bit of difference?

 

Much improved, incredibly frustrating, probably deserved a draw. With a fully fit squad I think we might've won that but it is still not good enough. Cheltenham weren't all that great but you can also see why they are doing well.

O'Donnell - 6. Nothing he could do about either goal. I know others have called for Hornby to be given a chance but I firmly believe that ROD is the better goal keeper and is not the problem.

Wood - 7. Decent game. Think he is better suited to a back 4 both defensively and offensively.

POC - 6. Really unlucky with the deflection on the goal

BRE - 7. I'm going to say it. BRE IS NOT THE PROBLEM. He hasn't actually done much wrong when he has played this season. He does not suit the LCB position in a back 5 because he is not mobile enough or technically good enough on the ball, Staunton can play that role. If he played CB in a back 3 he would be fine and today he was solid partnering POC. Unbelievable goal line clearance 2nd half. Missed an open goal first half and we need to stop desperately throwing him up front in the last 5 minutes, its desperate and just because he is big doesn't mean he is a target man (see Luke Oliver).

AOC - 6. Think he's decent and has adapted well covering different positions.

Cooke - 6. Was OK but a bit anonymous. He's better than any alternatives we have currently so need to keep him fit.

Watt - 6. Elliot Watt is our best player IMO. In the right team and system he would run the show at this level. But, he is either being asked to do too much or feels like he is the only player who can make something happen. He tries too many Hollywood passes when they are not on and losses possession too much. When we play a back 3 he is often the deepest player and the opposition have sussed him out, they target him on the press and when he gets caught we are in serious trouble. It's cost us too many goals and overall we aren't getting enough out of him going forward. Better today in the formation and a great ball for the goal. To be clear, I am not blaming him for goals we have conceded. He needs to play a slightly more advanced role and form better partnerships in the middle. He could actually be the key to us one day having a decent team.

Scales - 5. Don't want to be harsh on him it was his first start and he didn't do much wrong, but he is not ready for league football. Its probably the hardest position on the pitch and you need to carry an attacking threat and make things happen. Unfortunately he didn't tonight even when he got on the ball in good areas. Good experience for him I'm sure and I know we lacked options because of injuries, but as it stands we will not win games if he plays. He's still got plenty of time to develop and maybe a loan would be good for him. Hope he can come back in 18 months to prove his worth.

Hosannah - 6. Unlucky with his effort, played well in an unfamiliar position. Annoyed we have no chance of keeping him after giving him game time this year.

DMH - 4. Worked hard for the team and put in a shift defensively but he doesnt look like a threat going forward. Unfortunately I think he has had enough chances and isn't good enough for league football.

Donaldson - 8. Great movement and leap for the goal, keeper clearly didn't think he was going to reach the ball. Should've had a penalty in the first half. Visibly tired last 20 mins but never gave up and apart from maybe Watt was the only person who showed any quality in the final third. Extra marks for keeping himself fit when we need him most at 36.

Subs - none of them had any real impact.

 

i thought we were told we had players lined up already for January? Maybe 2 or 3? Or have I misheard that previously?
Sounds like we are no nearer than we normally are from that? Not even sat down and talked about it yet? Baffling. It’s gonna be another shambles I can feel it

 

Well sort it in the summer

 

There have been a few people who have gone a bit weird this year, Stuart wouldn't be the first. I don't really mean that in a disrespectful way, it's been a tough year for a lot of people and a lot of strange things have happened. Are we sure Rupp and McCall haven't lost their marbles at some point in the last eleven months?

 

Not sure about marbles but definitely the plot

 

Lacking match practice.

 

From his interview Stuart is starting to sound like he's losing it. He will walk by Christmas, perhaps one of his mates like Jakes or Jamie L can have a word and tell him to quit for his own sake.

 

McCall, what can you say-he is looking forward to getting Novak and Guthrie??? back but who is going to supply the forwards to score goals.
Maybe Clarke but he is old and injury prone.
"we really dont need much" sez the gaffer,

He really does watch a different game to the rest of us.
Self-inflicted wounds that he is unable to deal with.
What on earth is going to push players like DMH, Samuels,BRE on?

 

Charlie wood? Is Suckinecki (spelling) a forward? Lot of pressure to stick on them though.

 

I was pretty shocked by the statement that he does not look at the table and I sincerely hope that’s just press chatter.

 

He actually said when asked how important the Jan transfer window is now "yes, I have a meeting with Ryan, I THINK it's next week, where we will have a sit down and go through positions and identify targets"

And then he pretty much did the politician thing of completely avoiding any sort of answer, and just spun it towards the fact we've got a large squad with many injuries.

Pretty worrying really.
Can someone tell Rupp to chuck some of his millions on bitcoin for a week, and we'll take the profit and use it in January.

 

We're getting the band back together lol Even threw in Jamie Lawrence and Ces Podd as a scouting system

Honest to god, some of these calls.

 

He's full of shit. It was only a few weeks ago he was saying he was looking at the table and results hoping they'd gone in our favour.

 

Well, first half we were improved from our last game but that’s not saying much. We did ok though, but I always had a feeling they’d equalise, time and time again we gave their left back the freedom of the VP pitch. It was slack defending for both their goals, our players either not switched on ball watching our out-muscled (can’t be too harsh on scales for their second tbh). I think the young lad scales came out with credit but it’s a lot, and probably a sad indictment of our predicament, to ask that suddenly our one hope is looking to pitch in another young kid for inspiration. I guess needs must though, tbf he did better than most.

The fragility of our team moral was laid bare by the equaliser as that second half was so woeful. The hosannah chance aside, our play was atrocious at times. The desperate lumping it forward kind of sums up how devoid or ideas or even a solution, we are. I don’t think we strung more than two or three passes together in the last 15 mins when we needed to be pinning them back. We just are not good enough on the ball, kind of fundamental!

really in relegation scrap i’m afraid, there were a few first half positives, scales showed a glimmer of promise but it’s a lot to expect him to suddenly lift us up off the deck. Hosannah did ok, but we are so slack far too often, giving it away, poor movement and I’m afraid I’ve no idea what mottley-henry offers, he was anonymous. All we can hope is we play more often like we did in the first half and just hope our opponents have a bad day, because i see us struggling to beat anyone right now, if they turn up at all and put in a half decent performance.