Post by stevek192 on Sept 22, 2019 9:53:58 GMT
The League Table after 10 games is generally looked upon as a time to look and get a worthwhile view on how we have done and we have to be fair and say that there is something of a good feel about the table at the moment despite some less than inspiring football at times and pretty well for all his "haters" GC has kept us his own personal record from last season. I can only give my own opinion and that is that it has been a very up and down season so far where I would probably say I have felt entertained in about four of the ten played and also that the points total so far represents better things than maybe I have given credit for and in particular the criticism of the Manager has almost certainly been unfounded in what is a results business. The off the pitch affairs thanks to the EFL has made this 10 game table a little bit more difficult to look at because 1. Teams that should have played Bury find themselves a game down and most of the teams who have played Bolton have a three point but more importantly a five goal advantage!! The fact that Sunderland managed to get a last minute equaliser yesterday really emphasises the farce that the EFL has caused this season- why should a team who failed to complete an agreed transfer last season and cancelled a game themselves this season be allowed to sign 9 players on transfer deadline day? There were far more cases for a transfer embargo on them than Chelsea!!
Anyway after 10 games we have obtained 50% of the points fought for, have ten teams who have conceded more goals than us and ten teams who have scored more than us and stand in a very commendable eighth position which in truth with teams with games in hand is probably tenth to 12th but still a very reasonable performance.
I have to say that if we played a slightly more attacking game at home then I would have been absolutely delighted with the season so far but that is not the case and so it is very likely that these reports are going to contin ue to be pretty positive one week and pretty negative the next. Unfortunately you cannot hide the fact that the set up favours away matches where you don't need to be so creative.
I actually thought we would do pretty well yesterday because most seasons you really fear a visit to Wimbledon as you know you are going to get a physical bombardment but with our three centre halves I honestly don't fear any teams aerial ability and we can mix it with the best at that game.
Jaakkola 9 MOM Made good saves at vital times especially the one in the early moments of the second half when he superbly tipped a one against one shot away from goal- a goal then could have killed us. He was confident throughout and is starting to command his area and I have a feeling that at last we have a keeper of our own that we can depend on.
Craig 8.5 Another huge performance and a goal to boot. Could well be manys choice as Man of the Match in a strong commanding defensive display with just a few errors.
Davies 7 Not far behind Craig but like his fellow centre halves had a couple of bleeps that could have changed the result hence why IMO the keeper was Man of the Match rather than any of the Centre halves.
Kilgour 7 Still susceptible to the odd error but overall a good performance and to date one of the best local players to break through into the first team.
Rodman 6 Just an OK game from him but good to see GC going a bit more attacking even if it was forced upon him by injuries.
Leahy 6 Same as Rodman but did little wrong without really shining.
Sercombe 7 A better performance from him but can't help but think that the beautiful headed lay off by Clarke Harris in the second half would have ended up in the top corner by Sercombe at his best instead of being blocked.Probably needs a goal more than anybody.
Upson 8.5 Another contender for man of the Match as most of our good moments in the match came through him and was extremely unlucky not to score in the first half with a long range attempt that crept over and played some lovely passes around the pitch in what was I believe his best performance of a very good season so far.
Ogogo 8 Great diving header to level things up and covered most of the pitch in a battling display
JCH 6 Another goal despite it being a horrific keeping mistake and is always going to cause opponents problems with his physical presence none clearer than when he went clean through and their last man took him out for what surely was a red card offence which ironically was followed by a "nothing" foul that resulted in a second yellow card for another Womble! For Rambo it was an average performance yesterday IMO.
Nichols 6.5 Involved in some great build up play and another assist with some superb control and cross for the equaliser.
Smith 6 Probably unlucky to be left out of the starting line up and unlucky not to get on the score sheet with a shot that the keeper saved with his legs after a couple of twists and turns to beat defenders.
Menayese NOLE Did OK in the time he was on.
Kelly 7 Superb cross I believe for Clarke-Harris's goal and a competent performance. The question is - is he a better option to Leahy? IMO it is a close call but would definitely play him Tuesday in the cup.
GC- Some will criticise him for the sake of it and that for me would be any criticism yesterday. It is clear to see that the players are on his side and are battling for the shirt.
Ref 5 Another who missed too much and allowed Wimbledon to get away with a lot in the first half which contained a lot of niggling fouls which if you allow them to get away with means they continue to do them and that's exactly what happened.
Wimbledon 4 Cracking goal and created couple of other good opportunities but really will struggle I think this season and probably will go down.
Crowd 5 Pretty quite really and worrying that under 500 made the journey when we usually sell out but the irony is that we are ina much better position than we usually find ourselves in.
Overall I think yesterdays side is worth persevering with and give Sercombe and Rodman the chance to builds up their form. I wouldn't make many changes for Tuesdays cup game because a) we do need to win to qualify 2) after Rotherham next Saturday we have a two week break 3) Playing a similar team will improve understanding.
I might just go with Kelly for Leahy and one other change maybe giving Bennett a game as its a home match.
IMO Rotherham next Saturday is a very important home game and made more important because of the two week break we face after it. I look on Rotherham as one of the teams that will press for Play offs and if they beat us they will have the same number of points with two games in hand but if we beat them then they would then need to win both games in hand to draw level with us! A win would also give us a chance of still being in the top 10 when we next play after that and ven more hopefully would see some missing fans return. UTG
Anyway after 10 games we have obtained 50% of the points fought for, have ten teams who have conceded more goals than us and ten teams who have scored more than us and stand in a very commendable eighth position which in truth with teams with games in hand is probably tenth to 12th but still a very reasonable performance.
I have to say that if we played a slightly more attacking game at home then I would have been absolutely delighted with the season so far but that is not the case and so it is very likely that these reports are going to contin ue to be pretty positive one week and pretty negative the next. Unfortunately you cannot hide the fact that the set up favours away matches where you don't need to be so creative.
I actually thought we would do pretty well yesterday because most seasons you really fear a visit to Wimbledon as you know you are going to get a physical bombardment but with our three centre halves I honestly don't fear any teams aerial ability and we can mix it with the best at that game.
Jaakkola 9 MOM Made good saves at vital times especially the one in the early moments of the second half when he superbly tipped a one against one shot away from goal- a goal then could have killed us. He was confident throughout and is starting to command his area and I have a feeling that at last we have a keeper of our own that we can depend on.
Craig 8.5 Another huge performance and a goal to boot. Could well be manys choice as Man of the Match in a strong commanding defensive display with just a few errors.
Davies 7 Not far behind Craig but like his fellow centre halves had a couple of bleeps that could have changed the result hence why IMO the keeper was Man of the Match rather than any of the Centre halves.
Kilgour 7 Still susceptible to the odd error but overall a good performance and to date one of the best local players to break through into the first team.
Rodman 6 Just an OK game from him but good to see GC going a bit more attacking even if it was forced upon him by injuries.
Leahy 6 Same as Rodman but did little wrong without really shining.
Sercombe 7 A better performance from him but can't help but think that the beautiful headed lay off by Clarke Harris in the second half would have ended up in the top corner by Sercombe at his best instead of being blocked.Probably needs a goal more than anybody.
Upson 8.5 Another contender for man of the Match as most of our good moments in the match came through him and was extremely unlucky not to score in the first half with a long range attempt that crept over and played some lovely passes around the pitch in what was I believe his best performance of a very good season so far.
Ogogo 8 Great diving header to level things up and covered most of the pitch in a battling display
JCH 6 Another goal despite it being a horrific keeping mistake and is always going to cause opponents problems with his physical presence none clearer than when he went clean through and their last man took him out for what surely was a red card offence which ironically was followed by a "nothing" foul that resulted in a second yellow card for another Womble! For Rambo it was an average performance yesterday IMO.
Nichols 6.5 Involved in some great build up play and another assist with some superb control and cross for the equaliser.
Smith 6 Probably unlucky to be left out of the starting line up and unlucky not to get on the score sheet with a shot that the keeper saved with his legs after a couple of twists and turns to beat defenders.
Menayese NOLE Did OK in the time he was on.
Kelly 7 Superb cross I believe for Clarke-Harris's goal and a competent performance. The question is - is he a better option to Leahy? IMO it is a close call but would definitely play him Tuesday in the cup.
GC- Some will criticise him for the sake of it and that for me would be any criticism yesterday. It is clear to see that the players are on his side and are battling for the shirt.
Ref 5 Another who missed too much and allowed Wimbledon to get away with a lot in the first half which contained a lot of niggling fouls which if you allow them to get away with means they continue to do them and that's exactly what happened.
Wimbledon 4 Cracking goal and created couple of other good opportunities but really will struggle I think this season and probably will go down.
Crowd 5 Pretty quite really and worrying that under 500 made the journey when we usually sell out but the irony is that we are ina much better position than we usually find ourselves in.
Overall I think yesterdays side is worth persevering with and give Sercombe and Rodman the chance to builds up their form. I wouldn't make many changes for Tuesdays cup game because a) we do need to win to qualify 2) after Rotherham next Saturday we have a two week break 3) Playing a similar team will improve understanding.
I might just go with Kelly for Leahy and one other change maybe giving Bennett a game as its a home match.
IMO Rotherham next Saturday is a very important home game and made more important because of the two week break we face after it. I look on Rotherham as one of the teams that will press for Play offs and if they beat us they will have the same number of points with two games in hand but if we beat them then they would then need to win both games in hand to draw level with us! A win would also give us a chance of still being in the top 10 when we next play after that and ven more hopefully would see some missing fans return. UTG
