| It's all gone quiet over here 11:32 - Oct 20 with 1576 views | BluenWightExile |
I know that I am far flung and rely on Noah & Durham & Wessex etc for realistic match reports.
I was worried pre season at our gentle downward decline since 2007 and felt that the mix of raw youth allied to 'what we already had' was unlikely to resist the decline. I posted as such. With 2 initial wins and Noah's positivity about the passing football I became more optimistic of mid table and thus some progress over the last couple of seasons.
We are now more than a quarter of the way through and if this is a quarter of our points then we are down - prettier football or not. The mix doesn't appear to be working very well. It's November next week - with the prospect of our inevitable dumping from the Cup at Heybridge or Gloucester or worse...Braintree looming - and we have not won since early August. We score <goal a game and seem unable to prevent either any last minute goal or being trounced in the last 10 minutes. Too inexperienced or too unintelligent or unfit or what? Pray tell. A game lasts 97 minutes - other teams play for 97 - do we? Or do we, as v Walsall, just try to survive and play a holding position that we are ill-equipped to do? We are not a robust team, that, Ibehere apart, is obvious.
Noah said he couldn't see us winning a game again until the Tranmere one.......if so I have to worried. Can we improve on such a prediction given 12 games wthout a win or realistically is the relegation fight already under way.
What do others closer to it all consider?
Up the U's at the new Meadow. Lucky 13th hopefully! |  |
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| It's all gone quiet over here on 12:30 - Oct 20 with 1563 views | Fruitbat |
Its an odd sort of position we're in and I'm very much stuck between two schools of thought. On the one hand, with a quarter of the season gone we're 14th in the league. Would I settle for that at the end? Hell yes. On the other, 2 wins in 14 games this season tells its own story. And its not just this season, think back to Wards last full season in charge where we couldn't buy a win after Christmas - was it 3 wins in the second half of that season? Then there was last season with 9 defeats on the spin, I dont know the stats but I dont reckon we've won 20 games in two calendar years. Have we forgotten how?
I listened to yesterdays game on the radio, sounded like we were playing ok for the most part and were even on top for a while, a second goal may have bought a different result. But theres the rub, we don't score and we don't look like scoring, a second goal.
JD has a philosophy about how the game should be played and thats a very laudable ambition. I have no desire to return to the anti football of some of his predecessors but, and its a very big but, if you do not have players capable of playing in that manner at least reasonably consistently, and results would suggest that we do not, then something has to be done differently.
[Post edited 20 Oct 2013 12:35]
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| It's all gone quiet over here on 23:24 - Oct 20 with 1507 views | durham_exile |
I have to say that at present there is an air of total despondency on the board. Much of it probably justified with another poor run of results, but I feel that both at the new Meadow and at home to Peterbore we are capable of getting a result as they often say when asked for a quote!
My next game is Rotherham Away but in the meantime, time to turn things around and fast.
Problem this season is that our best XI have rarely been able to play together:
Walker
Wilson Magnus Eastman Dickson
Wright Eastmond
Watt Sears Massey
Ibehre
Injuries have cost us dear but that is nowhere near the full story.
Give Freddie Ladapo a start and play Jabo with him. Plenty of support from Sears and Massey and let's see what happens.
Don't get me wrong I rate both Jeffrey Monakana and Luke Garbutt, both have done a job in key places but we need the permanent signing sback.
Similarly with Taylor who in spite of his commitment is no Tom Eastman.
We need Sanchez Watt to return but he is probably another month away from that and Drey Wright also.
My view is that the promising youngsters - Wright, Gilbey, Szmodics, Olufemi and Ladapo will come into their own next season but in the meantime we should keep the faith.
Up the U's
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| It's all gone quiet over here on 00:19 - Oct 21 with 1504 views | noah4x4 |
No disrespect Durham; but the despondency is justified by those that are witnessing our recent performances. It's costing me an average of over £100 a week to follow the U's home and away; (OK perhaps I shouldn't count the beers and burgers that I have included!) .
Nobody (except you) usually wears more blue & white tinted specs than I do; but at present we are really poor; notably when stamina starts to go in the second half. The loan players have actually been very good (e.g. I think fitter); and they have not been the reason we are failing to win; nor why home crowds (and away following) are dwindling.
Our problem is that the forward combination of (say) Massey; Sears and Ibrehe rarely look like scoring. They rarely get in the box (n.b. Garbutt can deliver magnificent crosses); and if they do they always want to walk it in. We tend to shuffle round the edge of the opposition penalty area with indecision.
Just seven goals between Ibrehe and Sears in twelve games won't suffice if others are also not scoring. To date our other goals have come from Bond; Massey; Monakana; Taylor and Magnus EACH having scored just one. A total of 12 goals in 12 matches can't be anything other than relegation form when you consider our rising negative goal difference.
The only sides we have beaten were those promoted from Division Two; and that in weeks one and two when they were at their most vulnerable with least confidence. Shrewsbury on Tuesday is (IMHO) critical. Lose there (never an easy place to go to) and I fear that my prediction of no win until 30th November may come true. Can you honestly see us getting any result against Peterborough; Rotherham; MD Dons; Swindon or Preston when we can't score two in ANY game?
I will keep the faith (always do); but one has to be realistic. Until we get a pair of strikers that can score with greater regularity; we are soon going to be in trouble. |  | | |
| It's all gone quiet over here on 08:51 - Oct 21 with 1488 views | BluenWightExile |
Thankyou Noah4x4 my fears and observations confirmed specially re fitness allied to youth and inexperience. Managerially I'm also wondering how motivational we are, Joe was great as a player but I always found Sheedy very quiet.
Always felt Sears was a bad buy unintelligent and one dimensional like Yeates -- no consistency.
So I'll keep fingers crossed that your Tranmere prediction is avoided but I too have noticed how cheaper non league is still attracting plenty with Braintree in particular growing their product.
I hope this doesn't prove too much for Joe as the nine defeats nearly did but we need more of Wright and jabo and less fluffiness by the sound of it.
Up the U's | |
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| It's all gone quiet over here on 19:46 - Oct 21 with 1443 views | wessex_exile |
| It's all gone quiet over here on 08:51 - Oct 21 by BluenWightExile |
Thankyou Noah4x4 my fears and observations confirmed specially re fitness allied to youth and inexperience. Managerially I'm also wondering how motivational we are, Joe was great as a player but I always found Sheedy very quiet.
Always felt Sears was a bad buy unintelligent and one dimensional like Yeates -- no consistency.
So I'll keep fingers crossed that your Tranmere prediction is avoided but I too have noticed how cheaper non league is still attracting plenty with Braintree in particular growing their product.
I hope this doesn't prove too much for Joe as the nine defeats nearly did but we need more of Wright and jabo and less fluffiness by the sound of it.
Up the U's |
First 10 minutes of both halves on Saturday we were good, too the game to a distinctly average looking Brentford, and apart from about the worst missed open goal I've seen (though 10/10 for Walker's fantastic stop for the first attempt) I thought we were reasonable value for 0-0 at half-time. Second half again a good start, a blinding power header from Magnus and you could have hoped we'd somehow hold on. Maybe it's fitness, maybe it's lack of width, maybe it's simply because a team bereft of confidence is just hoping they can hold one, but we looked lethargic after that. Brentford deserved to get back into the game, and though both their #2 and #3 were the result of our cock-ups, they took them well (particularly goal #2). Thoroughly dispiriting day all round, though the pubs (before and after) were as good as ever - always an up eh ;-) |  |
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| It's all gone quiet over here on 20:37 - Oct 21 with 1438 views | bwildered |
JD's idea of a fast flowing breakaway blend of football is all but a pipe dream at present, and perhaps the last successful campaign that we played to a similar style required was when Fagan and Vine where ever present.The only player of the calibre of either of them two in this present squad is Watt who is unavailable due to injury. Unfortunately the available wide men seem to lack the quality to create and score on a regular basis.
Losing the ball when in possession is too common a practice, and not working hard enough in closing players down, seem to be two areas which are currently problematic.
Only one win away from the drop last season, and a repeat looks very likely if home games do not reap more regular victories. |  |
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