There's a lot going on at the club that's good and masks how absolutely awful the football that we play is. And I write this a 4th goes in embarrassing.
There's a lot going on at the club that's good and masks how absolutely awful the football that we play is. And I write this a 4th goes in embarrassing.
Played some lovely stuff at ebbsfleet such a shame we have reverted to kick and run. I've said it before and I appreciate I'm a minority but not sure the manager is all that. We have a good squad on paper better than a decent amount of sides in this league and other teams with arguably weaker squads are pulling out results with consistency in that top pack now.
I am judging this on the radio commentary, which always gives an honest reflection of the game, so not yet seen the highlights, though it sounds like they will be grim watching. It sounds like we started well, but then I guess the effort of playing with 9 and 10 men against Ebbsfleet caught up with us as the match went on. Once again, the competitiveness of this league is shown by our defensive mistakes being punished by goals being scored against us, so we just can't get away with making mistakes at the back. Normally we are really sound at the back, it is one of those times when the rare individual mistakes lead to goals being conceded. Half the defence in this game aren't regular starters, our keeper and Tom Dickens, so maybe that contributed towards some of the defensive indecisiveness that led to goals.
I personally am a great fan of the 3 4 3 formation, and now our strikers are having 2 or 3 defenders on them we need more bodies in attack to pull defences apart more, so playing 3 up front in a 3 4 3 formation would add a lot of unpredictability to our attack. Liverpool and Chelsea play that formation, and more managers are using it after seeing the benefits of having equal numbers in attack and defence with a row of four midfielders in between to give width, and it was interesting to see this formation being used in the Erith and Tonbridge game at the weekend. I would love to see a 3 man attack of Antony, Stefan and Ade, as our great team goal against Ebbsfleet shows how dangerous we are when we get enough players forward.
We have a couple of players missing on Saturday due to suspensions, and some injuries, so what should have been an easy match against Hungerford is actually harder than it appears.
The effort against Ebbsfleet caught up with us? Do leave off.
Does that disable a player from passing/trapping a ball?
We are one dimensional against any side who are not going all out from the off to beat us.
In fairness, the defence tonight didnt help the cause.
Said the result Saturday meant f all if we didnt build on it.
I stand by that statement.
I have been doing quite a lot of athletics studying and athletics training recently, and have been seeing about recovery times, and yes, I do think that the effort of defending so much on Saturday caught up with our defenders.
But there are things that I think can be done better, and rather than being a keyboard warrior I will be at the meet the manager session at the club next Friday at 7.30 to ask Warren various questions about last season and this season as there are overwhelmingly positives about Warren's management, as he is working to fix something that has been broken for years, and fixing all that mess takes time, but there are some things that worry me that will be helpful to discuss. Talk is cheap, one should always back up ones words with actions, so anyone with concerns, or comfortable with things, should come along to that evening to help affect anything that is seen as needing to be fixed.
Addressing the Warren Out comments head on, that is silly, Warren totally rebuilt the team to keep us up last season from a nearly hopeless position, then rebuilt the team a second time to aim for a competitive top half of the table this season and has delivered that since August. They say be careful what you wish for, can anyone here guarantee that a replacement manager would have the same ability that Warren does of attracting really good players and quickly turning them into a sound outfit and do better than him? My thoughts are already looking to next season, as I think with this season behind us, and with the stability of Warren again as manager, and hopefully as many of the best players retained as possible, we can aim for a higher position than this season, with play offs being a legitimate goal, which would be great progress after finishing bottom two for the past two seasons. I am not blind, there are some worrying recent performances, but the test is how they are responded to by the manager and the players.
From heros to zeros in a few short days. That Braintree squad probably costs half of what this Welling squad does and yet they more than doubled the heart and desire we showed. For the first time in his tenure Feeney is under real pressure, can he turn it around? You wouldnt think we train 3 days a week either would you. Worrying.
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"Passion for the game.......is Passion for the game" 'Have you got the Spills to pay the bills?'
I have always had doubts about Tom Dickens, and don't rate Palace Francis or Medy Elito, so wouldn't miss them if they went, but the rest of the squad seems fine to me.
Against St Albans we had a massive gap behind out strikers who were too isolated, against Ebbsfleet we learned that lesson and got that right until the idiotic sendings off screwed up our midfield and attacking formation, and then Braintree was another mess of a game, which are now starting to happen too often for my liking.
Erith's unexpected 1 - 5 loss last weekend left their manager puzzling why the match had gone so wrong, as they had gone into the match having won all 11 league games played so far this season, and wondering why his players were a yard behind the opposition all over the pitch. I am comparatively new to non-league, but maybe it is as straightforward as players being less consistent outside the top 4 divisions? Many of our recent dropped points have been from our individual mistakes getting punished.
Thanks to Nigels superb commentary you didn't have to be there last night to know exactly how it went, although the fact that we've seen it so many times before helps.
Once again, and for what the 8th or 9th time this season we've made the opposition centre backs look like Nesta and Maldini, 8 games without a win and that was the fisher replay is the reality. No plan b, hit and hope something sticks.
It's no coincidence either that the only teams we have beat this season barring Oxford are all having a torid time of it themselves, something tactically needs to change ASAP, Hungerford look absolutely crap so far and we should beat them comfortably but hopefully that doesn't just gloss it over for what will be coming to us next week if we don't sort it out.
JH
If it was all about the effort put into the game at Ebbsfleet, how do you explain the home defeat against St Albans?
last night's performance was on par with that.
As for the defeat in the cup at Weymouth, that was even worse.
With regards to the WF out statement, not sure who is in favour of that? I certainly haven't stated that in any of my comments.
Keyboard Warrier? That was pretty poor if aimed at me.
The problem I see more and more nowadays whether it be at a football match, or at work in general, is that no one can be blamed for being poor.
There is always an excuse.
How about we just call it for what it is/was? A $hit performance.
I dont think we should consider replacing WF, if we are still in the top third or half of the table in 4 or 5 months time, surely hes done his job for this season. Hes also shown loyalty to the club by, apparently, turning down approaches from elsewhere.
As for the long ball tactics, surely this is a sign of the team not applying themselves, if players dont make the effort to make themselves available what option do the defence have but to boot it up field out of danger.
We will be hit by player suspensions on Saturday so it will be a close match, but hopefully the team will be switched on more than they were last night.
We said that Saturday would be a waste if we didn't back it up last night and how right we were!
The first half hour was like a very bad game of tennis with the net on the halfway line and both teams smashing it backwards and forwards. The first time we got the ball down and played, lo and behold we get in behind them, one cross and a goal. We were hoping to go in at half time ahead and yet we actually go in behind with what can only be described as two "Danson Park" goals...?!
We then take off our most dangerous player and shortly after concede our third Danson Park goal of the night and it's game over. We looked a very old and very tired team last night. The defensive system is all wrong. The squad is full of "ballers" but the only thing our midfielders need right now are strong neck muscles to watch the ball sail over their heads. The front two do not play as a partnership and appear more interested in confrontation with the opposition players, referees or even the crowd.
Here's some stats
Last 6 league games 4 points, 0 wins. Previous 6 league games 15 points - 5 wins.
Last league win was on 13th September.
We have not won ONE game playing five at the back - granted it worked against Havant to some extent and was forced on us on Saturday.
We were told to wait until the end of October to be judged but, in hindsight, end of September would have been a better shout as we appear to be getting worse rather than better...?!
There is so much going right at our club right now. The new board is making a real positive difference. The buzz is back. Our home crowds are averaging nearly 900 with lots of new faces which is great. We took a full coach to Braintree on a Tuesday night which is also a great effort. However the best and easiest way to build the fanbase is by winning football matches and, much more drivel like last night, and they won't keep coming back...
We said that Saturday would be a waste if we didn't back it up last night and how right we were!
The first half hour was like a very bad game of tennis with the net on the halfway line and both teams smashing it backwards and forwards. The first time we got the ball down and played, lo and behold we get in behind them, one cross and a goal. We were hoping to go in at half time ahead and yet we actually go in behind with what can only be described as two "Danson Park" goals...?!
We then take off our most dangerous player and shortly after concede our third Danson Park goal of the night and it's game over. We looked a very old and very tired team last night. The defensive system is all wrong. The squad is full of "ballers" but the only thing our midfielders need right now are strong neck muscles to watch the ball sail over their heads. The front two do not play as a partnership and appear more interested in confrontation with the opposition players, referees or even the crowd.
Here's some stats
Last 6 league games 4 points, 0 wins. Previous 6 league games 15 points - 5 wins.
Last league win was on 13th September.
We have not won ONE game playing five at the back - granted it worked against Havant to some extent and was forced on us on Saturday.
We were told to wait until the end of October to be judged but, in hindsight, end of September would have been a better shout as we appear to be getting worse rather than better...?!
There is so much going right at our club right now. The new board is making a real positive difference. The buzz is back. Our home crowds are averaging nearly 900 with lots of new faces which is great. We took a full coach to Braintree on a Tuesday night which is also a great effort. However the best and easiest way to build the fanbase is by winning football matches and, much more drivel like last night, and they won't keep coming back...
Total agree. The club has made huge efforts in trying to get more people through the turnstiles. We even have the nucleus of a youth following. If we dont start winning games especially at home the crowd gains the club has made will dwindle away very quickly.
Really disappointing last night, we took the lead with a great build up only to throw the game away with some as mentioned before "Danson Park" football. We really need to start having a plan B because the constant long balls just isn't working, every time Azeez is near the ball he's either got his back to goal trying to flick it on or he's chasing a lost cause. I felt sorry for Manny Parry who was on the outside of a back three and is not used to having balls being thrown to him and expected to start an attack. If we could've possibly gone in at half time in front then we may have gone in to get a second, unfortunately we completely lost our way in the second half and for me I just wanted the final whistle. Saturday's game is massive, we need a victory AND a good performance to try n get some confidence for Tuesday night's trip down the road. One more gripe from last night is Braintree charging £3 for a so called match programme that was I think literally 8 pages, I know our programme hasn't always been the best but bloody hell last night's was shocking. As has been mentioned above the best way to attract more people to PVR is a winning team, attendances are on the up with so much good work and positives happening off the pitch, we just need to get things right on it
One more gripe from last night is Braintree charging £3 for a so called match programme that was I think literally 8 pages, I know our programme hasn't always been the best but bloody hell last night's was shocking.
There was a little dig saying 'No programme information from our opponents this evening.' I wonder who they requested it from.
My comment about keyboard warriors wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, it covers everyone (including myself) who can potentially overreact behind safety of online kind of anonymity. But I prefer doing things, rather than just talking about them, so have had a few online talks with Warren, and quick chats at matches, and found these have really helped me understand things from his inside perspective, because as fans we only see the tip of the iceberg in matches, and there is tons of stuff hidden below the surface we don't see - training, coming changes of squad.
I'm really worried about the recent dip in form, and told Warren some of my concerns, and he invited me to tell them to the players at training, so I went and did that today. It was very impressive of Warren to do that, as he knew I say what I think, so was going to say some critical things to the team about how we play, but he wasn't looking for some fake morale boosting "guys, you are perfect" talk, but wanted the players to hear an independent balanced feedback from a fairly typical fan.
It was actually rather daunting at first, talking to a changing room full of the team, I said I was worried about the recent dip in results, particularly some recent bad scores, and I made it very clear I saw our problems as being midfield not closing down or pushing up to support the strikers enough. I said we have been top 10 for three months, and are still 11th so still well positioned for the top half of the table finish that has emerged as a general goal - looking up, rather than looking down worried about relegation. I pointed out other teams are improving as the season goes on, (such as Dartford, Hemel, Cheshunt) so we have to keep improving too, and that we have done really well to gel so quickly from the start of the season with a mostly new team, and that I would like to have the stability of Warren in place next season with the players retained, as recently we have been victims of too much change (three managers last season, several near total team rebuilds over the past few seasons). Warren and the players had their responses, which for confidentiality are probably best not repeated, but the key is the team are open to fan feedback, as shown by the invite to the training, Warren's meet the manager evening and the really great communications from the club with interviews and highlights keeping us all updated.
I was watching an interview with a non league player with league experience too, and he was asked what was the difference between League and non league football. He replied the difference is the speed of matches, and the intensity of training. I am always impressed with the intensity of the pre-match warm ups (I'd be too knackered after one of them to play the game!) and I watched the training session, and that was really high intensity too, so the guys are working really hard behind the scenes to fix things. It is a shame we are missing Payne and Dunne through suspension at the weekend, and then got a tricky game against Dartford, who have fixed their earlier problems, but once we get those two games out of the way we have a much smoother run of games. All in all it was reassuring to see the hard work being done by Warren and the team behind the scenes to fix things.
Smoother run of games? We lost 3-0 to the bottom of the league side, yet drew against the top two.
Lets see how we get on Saturday.
If we stick with 5 at the back, then I have my doubts.
We will see.
COYW.
