Most liked posts in thread: Home v Oldham August 17th

They were guilty of over playing it big time. This is league 2 it ain’t gonna be pretty most of the time amd teams that go direct will generally do well, case in point Donaldsons goal. And if we go 4-4-2 regularly there are gonna be times where we are behind in posession stakes but it doesn’t matter. What does matter is getting the ball upfield for that strike force of ours. Connor Wood might not be the best left winger you will ever see but he got two decent crosses in the box in the first five minutes and a goal from Vaughan. Also a couple of lovely balls in the second half, one througj ball to the edge of the box for either Donaldson or Mellor was top class. Donaldson and Vaughan have numerous assets to their game, things you don’t notice straight away. Their workrate is phenomenal, and both have a knack of winning free kicks.

 

He is athletic, very fast and has a good shot on him. His attitude is good, he gets stuck in and is well motivated. He just doesn't read the game quickly enough or see a pass. There were 2 occasions, once to McCartan and one to Donaldson when a quick pass would have seen them through on goal. I am not sure it can be coached. He was a nuisance against tired legs when he came on though.

 

Longridge for me he looked okay on Tuesday worth giving the lad a run.

 

Imagine how many they’d get with a decent midfield actually controlling games.

 

Devines been brilliant this half.

Donaldson starting to show his age. For 35 its unreal how many times hes beat the line and sprinted away. We need a good backup to him cause he cant keep working this hard every game.
Hes been sublime.

 

Mellor 7
O'Connor 8 - Forming a great partnership
Everton 9 - Smashed them to pieces
Henly 7
Scannell 6 - Fantastic goal but was obsessed with beating a man instead of crossing
Devine 8 - Second half excellent, never stopped.
Palmer 7 - Much improved second half, not showing his passing quality enough.
Wood 6 - Good crossing and solid game. We need better options on the wing.
Donaldon 12 - Best strikers performance ive seen in years, workrate, speed, stretched the defence, held it up. Everything. Quality finish and sublime assist.
Vaughan 9 - Not far behind Donaldson

 

Bowyer needed that win, represents a solid start now. It’s been said to death, but, if the midfield gets sorted we really should walk this league.

 

Fantastic feeling. First half was almost us V Cambridge in reverse, all the possession in the world, hit the wood work once but create little else. But you’ll get that when it’s 2 against 3 in the middle, we still need a tough tackling centre mid who can defend the back four. Difference between us and Cambridge is we have real quality up front, these two will bag plenty with the right service if they stay injury free. It was a joy to see us hit the back of the net for the first time live in so long, and in clinical fashion as well.

Everton at the back is colossal, you wouldn’t want to be a striker having the ball pumped up to you knowing he’s about to go through the back of you. The midfield two improved a lot after half time, hopefully Scannells goal will kick start him, his decision making is still very suspect though, woods crossing was fantastic at times. Everyone was solid over 90 though can’t pick any one out negatively for the first time in a while. The Don was fantastic, as was Vaughan. I can’t believe how sharp and fit Donaldson looks for his age the assist was sublime and his finish wasn’t bad either.

On to Stevenage, hopefully with a new midfielder!

 

A’OC made a bad error midweek but he for me has been superb so far in comparison to last season.

Reads the game very well. Maybe found his level?

Armband gate still over him and he has to keep going to put it behind him but another who maybe is thriving off of some serious competition for his place?

BRE is a breath of fresh air too at the back. Can see why Accrington wanted to hang onto him

 

Does Patrick look like he has beefed up a little. He didn’t look quite so skinny as I remember.
He still fell off the ball a bit too easy once or twice.
I am quite happy with his performance. His touch let him down on occasion but he will be rusty. Hopefully we will get the opportunity to play him as we did yesterday.
He has some fantastic players to teach him in Donaldson, Vaughan and Scannel.
Hope he takes it on board.

 

That's only because he would trip over his own feet if he ran into them.

 

I think Scanz needs to get fully match fit, and in my view he isn’t. I think when he has had 2/3 games we can start to judge him on his performance. He has been nursed through pre season and hardly got any minutes on grass. Last season was out for most of it. Let’s cut him a bit of slack.

 

Big game. Some of their fans think they could be in trouble this season, we can’t afford to be slipping up to crap like this. Time to start getting that winning feeling back. Hopefully with back to back wins for the first time in, forever.

 

Can someone please tell me when we’ve played 4-3-3 this season?

I see it at least once in every thread and we haven’t played it yet! So frustrating

 

Oldham are in a mess and I tipped them for relegation in pre-season. Their owner is a Moroccan football agent who allegedly decides which players they sign, their French manager has no experience managing in England, let alone League Two and also a chunk of their squad have very little experience playing English lower league football. All bad omens for them.

From what I can gather their defense is a bit dodgy, particularly without Wheater, but they have some competent and pacey forwards.

Sadly I can't see us signing anyone before Saturday so I imagine our midfield will remain weak and disjointed. I reckon it will be 1-1. I can't see Oldham's defense keeping out Vaughan and Donaldson for 90 minutes and I can't see our midfield providing sufficient protection to our defense so I reckon one of their forwards will run at us and smash it past the keeper.

 

I suggested this the other day but it didn't go down well. I agree with you that it couldn't be any worse than Akpan or Anderson. O'Connor has played in that position before and until we get someone better in, I think he might be our best option.

 

Agree that's not a bad shout. It won't be popular as most dislike the sulky armband shirker.

Sure he played in midfield one last year and was okay. AO'C doing that defensive role may free up the rest up get forward a bit more effectively.

No midfield combo can be as bad as oil tanker, headless chicken, invisible man threesome from last night!

 

He can pick all the firepower he wants, still buggered if there’s no one to supply the ammo

 

Big game for us on Saturday 3 points and a good performance is an absolute must
Oldham lost both opening fixtures and any team that comes to us on a poor run of form
usually turn us over
Go for it from the start get a decent supply to the forwards and we should be ok