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Reply | Southend Match Thread
at 09:40 20 Oct 2024
I don't honestly thing we played much worse than we had done in our previous two home games, the performances at home are very similar in pattern. It's like the players have swapped their football shirts for straight jackets and they are frightened to death of taking a risk in case they lose the ball. It will start to affect confidence and i saw some of that yesterday in our play. The tactic should be a simple one at home, play our football in our opponents half, get the ball into the box at every opportunity and shoot when you get the chance, keep their defenders and goalkeeper constantly busy. We do the opposite to all of that and give our opponents encouragement, take them on in a tactical battle and over complicate the game. It's a local derby on Tuesday, whoever wants the game the most and is up for the battle will probably win. McNulty suggested that Halifax are in good form, they got battered at Oldham last week. [Post edited 20 Oct 9:42]
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Reply | Southend Match Thread
at 07:17 20 Oct 2024
Yes you're right, the frustration around the stadium is palpable and it's becoming a staple diet of watching football at the COA. McNulty likes his facts and figures, yesterday was another home game where we hardly registered a shot on target. Southend's keeper didn't have a shot to save until well into the second half, we played some lovely little triangles around our own penalty area though, that would have pleased the manager. The longer the first half progressed the more Southend grew in confidence and the goal was definitely coming. These are lower league footballers, they are being asked to play a style of football that they can't produce on a consistent basis, it's too intricate and i don't think their levels of fitness are at a high enough level to play a high tempo, two touch style of football, theres no fluidity in our play because everything is too slow. I sometimes also wonder if the pissing about with the ball at the back is designed to give them all a breather. Whatever the reasons, it's not happening at home and i think it's the management duo who need to shoulder the criticism for that probably more than the players. We've got some big home games coming up now, games that will involve winning the battles and realising the importance of the fixture, let's see how we approach those games. [Post edited 20 Oct 13:31]
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Reply | Southend Match Thread
at 00:59 20 Oct 2024
The home games have followed a similar pattern for a long time now, certainly the last three games, devoid of anything much to get excited about. We've constantly mentioned the slow tempo and reluctance to take the obvious pass out wide from defence. The defenders get it in the neck from the fans for turning inside instead and playing keep ball with their nearest player but they have to be playing under instruction from the manager to do that. Todays performance was very similar to what we have seen plenty of times. Hogan was at it today and I'm sure he hasn't played that way at Oldham. Southend, just like Solihull, pressed us and picked up all the second balls, Mitchell needed help up front, it was too easy for the Southend defenders.
Mc Nultys interview in respect of the goal conceded was very poor, we glanced at the scoreboard and it was commented that if we saw off the attack it would be half time. I'm pretty sure there was about five seconds left as the cross was swung over that led to their goal. The defending was poor but he didn't touch on that, Gordon in particular was all over the place in that first half but he wasn't the only one. McNultys tactical nouse at home is being exposed, without a high tempo to our game we offer very little threat, everybody in the stadium can see it. Injuries are part and parcel of the game, we're suffering but these home performances were happening even when we had a fully fit squad. In a recent game we had our first shot on target when Mitchell scored in the 87th minute, you won't put bums on seats playing like that and you won't win many games. He also mentions the injuries and speaks of other parts of the club needing to be improved alongside the team. It might have been me interpreting his comments wrong but i wondered if that was aimed at the physio/ medical arrangements. We are only ten weeks into the season and the players are breaking down in training and games at an alarming rate, it's concerning and the injuries aren't just minor ones neither.
It's a conundrum for McNulty because away from home we play some very good stuff and look threatening, he doesn't seem to be able to set us up right though at home. We play with a hesitancy and are too structured, i call it dot to dot football, it's all very slow, methodical, predictable and boring to watch...frustration football as a paying spectator and you can't build crowds on that. BBM tried it and we ended up with our worst run of home results in the clubs history, weve seen all of this before and it doesnt work at home.The good teams and managers will pick us off , we're too easy to play against and don't cause enough problems to our opponents. Unfortunately McNulty can't change how we play, Southend managed the game from start to finish and had they needed to look for more goals during the second half, I'm sure they could have got them. [Post edited 20 Oct 1:25]
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Reply | David Roger Bottomley - Guilty as charged
at 22:10 16 Oct 2024
Like chalk and cheese. The Ratcliffe/ Dale Bar actually has a atmosphere before games now. A decent pint at a acceptable price, live football on the televisions and all in pleasant surroundings. Very good bar staff and all the fellas who do security on the doors are as good as you are going to get, they welcome everybody inside and things like that are really appreciated. [Post edited 16 Oct 22:12]
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Reply | Kairo
at 08:04 15 Oct 2024
That's a good point about Mitchell, he's far from the finished article and there is still a lot more potential to come from him, he's going to keep improving. He'll always score goals but his hold up play needs working on and so does his heading. For his size he should also be bullying the defenders a bit more, making his presence felt. I would term all of that as his 'alround game' and a lot of that develops with experience. If a club does decide to take a punt on Mitchell i think they are getting a player that will only continue to get better, he reminds me a little bit of Clive Platt, he eventually filled out physically as a player and his hold up play improved as a result. There's still time for Mitchell to do that. [Post edited 15 Oct 8:09]
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Reply | AFC Fylde Match Thread
at 12:58 13 Oct 2024
None of the larger clubs will draw a big attendance in the first round of the cup, historic attendances tell you that. The money spinner for us would be one of the bigger L1 clubs at home and for it to be televised. Birmingham, Wrexham, Bolton, Stockport, Huddersfield, Blackpool. |
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Reply | AFC Fylde Match Thread
at 03:56 13 Oct 2024
If the player wants to hold on and stay at the club then i don't see the point in selling Mitchell, or any other player. Of course every player as his price but i'm not sure we would get Mitchells true worth as a National League selling club. If his goals fire us to the play offs, Wembley, the EFL then think what he would be worth then, he would probably command a seven figure fee. The aim is to reach the the EFL, we won't do that by selling our best players and it wouldn't be cost effective. The Ogdens admit they don't know much about football but they do when it comes to finance and speculating to accumulate and there is a three year plan in place. A return to the EFL is worth something like £1.5 million per season in extra revenue to the club and we would also receive extra funding for the academy which we could start up again, so selling Mitchell or any of our players doesn't make sense in the short or the long term. We can't stand in the way of players who choose to move on though but with the close bond between the players and manager you would hope that they have all bought into the three year plan.
If we are still well placed in the league going into January it would make more sense to take a gamble and do part of next Summers team strengthening early in order to give us extra impetus leading up to the play offs, maybe sign a couple of long term improvements to the squad if they are available. If we pull up short this season then we have those players in place early which would be advantageous at the start of next season. Now would also be a good time to start looking at bringing in another goalscorer rather than thinking of selling one, unfortunately we cant keep Rodney on the pitch and we cant keep relying on Mitchells goals. Selling our best players early into the plan goes against everything that we have set out to achieve, the Ogden family will know that. Sustainability is a longer term plan and it's one that won't go hand in hand with a quick return to the EFL. Unfortunately, we aren't in a position to sell our best players to balance the books and recruite players of the required standard to take us back to the EFL, as well as running the club sustainably. The Ogdens are going to take the financial hit on that but it's heartening to see that already they do have saleable assets in the squad, so their money hasn't been squandered on poor quality signings. [Post edited 13 Oct 4:49]
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Reply | AFC Fylde Match Thread
at 17:55 12 Oct 2024
Fantastic new owners, a manager who is doing a great job since taking over the reigns, a talented squad of players and a connection with the fans which gladdens the heart, players who will go on to be saleable assets, riding high in the league with a chance of play offs/ promotion, through to the first round of the FA Cup. Can we now finally say that the rot has stopped and the good ship Dale is sailing into calmer waters..we finally have our club back with a team to be proud of? Today's win in the FA Cup feels very significant to me, similar to when we drew 3-3 at Morecambe and beat Bradford 3-0 at Valley Parade. I wasn't at today's game, i'm in Portugal, but even from here it seems a significant day for the club and it sounds like a excellent performance. [Post edited 12 Oct 22:50]
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Reply | Ebbsfleet away match thread
at 08:50 6 Oct 2024
Glad you posted that. This bunch of guys and gals travel all over the country to every fixture, they put more miles into supporting our club than the overwhelming majority, it must cost them a fortune. Do they have a good day out and incorporate a few beers in all of that? Well they would be daft if they didn't. They are always found near to the singing section or sometimes instigating it themselves...that's to be applauded, it's called supporting the team and even at my advancing age i like to join in with the singing, as do all my mates. We specifically try to be around that area of the away section.
I know them all, I've been in their company ( indirectly) at matches for probably 40 years or more..they are all professional people who i can say hand on heart would never associate themselves with homophobic/ sexist/ racist chants, they would definitely call that out. In fact they called me out for a homophobic post on the forum a few years ago, even though it was wrongly posted in jest.
Sometimes you can be accused of being guilty by association just by being in the same vicinity ( the away section was a small pen in the corner), I'm sure this is the case in this instance. I would hope that the accusing post is pulled from the forum because it's obviously a incorrect accusation. It's also extremely poor form posting such a serious accusations on the fans forum and in particular more or less naming the person involved. Admin should be pulling the post as soon as possible. [Post edited 6 Oct 9:00]
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Reply | Ebbsfleet away match thread
at 20:37 5 Oct 2024
Yes we do, Gordon's been our most improved player this season. We haven't half conceded a lot of very avoidable goals already this season though. A very good performance today was ruined by two very poor pieces of play. |
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Reply | Ebbsfleet away match thread
at 20:28 5 Oct 2024
Yes, having seen the replay you would have to put that down as poor play by Gordon. If Ferguson had tried to get to that loose ball I don't think he would have got there in time. Having seen it again i wouldn't put any blame on Ferguson for the goal. The commentators called it as Ferguson being at fault, at first glance I thought it was Ferguson but it was such a inconspicuous passage of play you didn't expect anything to go wrong. [Post edited 5 Oct 20:30]
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Reply | Ebbsfleet away match thread
at 20:19 5 Oct 2024
Yes, lengthy injuries also. As one of the previous posters stated though, this is the start of our three year journey and maybe we should expect to see certain areas of the team not as strong as others. Recruitment next summer will allow quality over quantity because we already have plenty of this squad on two year contracts, so the budget should allow us to bring in maybe another four or five quality additions. As the season progresses the picture becomes much clearer for McNulty in relation to what areas of the team need strengthening and that's a good thing. With a plan in place there could already be half a eye on recruitment, there should be.
Maybe we should all be viewing this season as a free hit and realising that the team is nowhere near the finished article yet anyway. The Ebbsfleet commentators were eulogising over our display up to us self imploding, like a cat playing with a ball of wool was how they described our control of the game, the best team they've seen this season. McNultys still learning, i think he'll get better and when we play with tempo as we did today we look very good. So to sum up, we are definitely on the right tracks this season, unfortunately we are our own worst enemy due to defensive inadequacies and that will probably prove our undoing come May. [Post edited 5 Oct 20:32]
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Reply | Ebbsfleet away match thread
at 19:51 5 Oct 2024
Sorry, you're correct, i did actually count today as a defeat..i suddenly feel a bit better having picked up a well deserved point😄 |
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Reply | Ebbsfleet away match thread
at 19:16 5 Oct 2024
I watched the game. The first sixty minutes was as good as we've played this season, some good passing and movement and we got behind their defence on numerous occasions. Ebsfleet are by a distance the worst team I've seen since we dropped out of the league. I commented during the second half that the only way these could get back into the game was by us doing something stupid...five minutes later we did, it looked like casual, lack of concentration play by Ferguson who seemed to just pass the ball to nobody and their player picked it up and clipped it over the keeper. Completely unexpected and Robson couldn't have anticipated it, there was no reason for us to lose possession of the ball. This was then compounded by a rash challenge by Gordon which looked like a definite penalty.
To be fair to Ferguson it's the first real error he's made but it will be interesting what McNulty does next, will he stick with him or go with Hogan who has been a solid lower league defender for a long time. All defenders make mistakes at this level though, i suppose it will boil down to what he sees on the training ground. We've lost three away games now and the central defenders have been at fault in all three for gifiting goals, the same also happened at home to Solihull. Ferguson hasn't been McNultys first choice this season but he took his chance and made himself undroppable, today was his first real error and because of that i think it would be harsh to drop him at Fylde next week. I'm really hoping though that Hogan will prove to be better than what we've seen over the last two or three seasons because the centre of defence has been a comedy of errors for a long time. No point the manager signing him up for the season if he isn't better than what we already have. Time will tell if that's the case.
Pre-season the majority of fans highlighted the centre of defence as a cause of concern, one that needed strengthening, but it didn't happen. In the first couple of months those concerns by the fans have come to fruition and we've lost games as a result. It's a shame because the rest of the recruitment has been decent but giving away daft goals is undermining a lot of great work, as we saw today. [Post edited 5 Oct 19:55]
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Reply | New Radio show
at 11:18 5 Oct 2024
A very good player though Johnson with legs like tree trunks. I can still see him smashing one of his trademark goals in for the Dale down at Edgar Street, straight into the top corner. When he hit a ball it stayed hit. [Post edited 5 Oct 11:19]
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Reply | National League Cup Groups
at 14:46 2 Oct 2024
..and the frightening thing is, money talks, wave enough money under the noses of the bean counters and they would sell their granny. The fans (paying customers) won't get a say in the matter. |
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Reply | National League Cup Groups
at 10:15 2 Oct 2024
That was a crowd in the 400s, the same sort of crowd that Oldham had at their fixture last night. I'd be surprised if we beat that attendance. It was £1 at Oldham to enter the ground for season ticket holders last night. [Post edited 2 Oct 10:17]
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Reply | National League Cup Groups
at 09:38 2 Oct 2024
The money that the clubs receive for competing in the competition isn't a lot, i did see the figure quoted but can't remember the amount, maybe something like 80k. That's a benefit i suppose but also has to be weighed against staging the games and opening up the stadiums, paying matchday staff etc. Having some sort of competitive games might be a benefit in respect of giving squad and youth team players a game but i suppose that could be achieved by organising behind closed door games against neighbouring clubs which we seem to do anyway. If it was cost effective and the positives outweighed the negatives, then why have quite a few clubs decided not to compete in the competition? McNulty didn't seem in favour of it when he spoke at the last fans forum. Anyway, it's a game of football and some fans will watch it in preference to staying at home and watching television. [Post edited 2 Oct 9:41]
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Reply | National League Cup Groups
at 07:01 2 Oct 2024
There will have been an acceptance by the clubs hosting the games that very few fans will attend. If given the choice i reckon most clubs would opt to play the games behind closed doors and not bother opening the stadiums and save on the costs and hassle associated with staging the games. |
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