Pilgrims' Patter
The Forum => The B-Ark => Topic started by: youngchubby69 on September 01, 2018, 04:01:48 PM
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Not looking very good so far, sitting here in the sunshine watching, and l am afraid it's men against boys.
Let's just hope Kidderminster don't go for the kill in the second half or this may become a very heavy defeat.
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Early season promise when sitting high in the league now seems long forgotten and we are now in our customary position of playing catch up again :-[ Sounds like consistency and creativity are going to cost us again this season unless something drastic happens. Early days still, but things are not looking as promising as they did a few weeks back.
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I was very optimistic prior to the season starting, but have not been impressed. The "big" signings have been invisible (looks as if CE agrees!), defence suspect (no centre back) and midfield misfiring (Abott and Thanoj were outstanding end of last season, but off the pace this term). Hope Craig can sort it.
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It's a defeat and Craig Elliott has lost his record of not being beaten 3 times in a row.
We have some serious issues to sort out, no Arnold or Margets, and Jackson today.
We have gone 3 games without scoring and that is a massive problem.
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Marriot, Maggot and Arnold haven't impressed me at all. Over rated and over paid if the figures are correct.
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Jackson is now finished on his ban.
Odd game... they scored 2 could have 3 or 4 but we had goal line clearances..great saves.. their keeper was far busier of the two..
Thats the glass half full answer.
Glass half empty answer... we lost... end of.. no goals in three games
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Full time showed today as they were more composed than us on the ball...we huffed puffed and hit the long ball so many times again....for me drop abbott.How many times he gives the ball away then complain to his team mates....Got some work to do Mr Elliot.....
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To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement. We were totally outplayed today. We won nothing in the air and showed very little on the ball. I knew our defence was suspect, but thought with our forward line we would outscore the other team. If the rumours are right the free riding Linscum forwards are on their way.
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To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement. We were totally outplayed today. We won nothing in the air and showed very little on the ball. I knew our defence was suspect, but thought with our forward line we would outscore the other team. If the rumours are right the free riding Linscum forwards are on their way.
I really don't think we have enough creativity in the midfield, that final pass is just not there.
No body can deny that the ex Lincoln lads have talent, but they are not just doing enough at this level.
I think it's time to make an approach for Reece Thompson and probably dispose of Marriott and Arnold.
I think Margets would do well up front with Reece.
But that will probably not happen though.
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In the defeats to date there was a sense of being the better side, but failing to convert chances and being done in the end by sucker punches and very fine margins. Today, clearly the worse side (although Kiddy look to me the best side we've played so far), and failed to take the chances (again!!) that just might have seen it 2-2 with a spoonful of luck thrown in. But some appallingly poor performances out there today on the whole. Davies and Walker, Middleton when he came on, all in the clear for me; but the rest....below the required standard; even George was a bit silly at times inbetween the sticks.
It is far too early to panic but CE has serious work to do. BTW anyone know why was Margetts not on bench? (has there been a falling out behind the scenes?).
Question: did anyone on the Spayne road side see the offence? was it a red?
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In the defeats to date there was a sense of being the better side, but failing to convert chances and being done in the end by sucker punches and very fine margins. Today, clearly the worse side (although Kiddy look to me the best side we've played so far), and failed to take the chances (again!!) that just might have seen it 2-2 with a spoonful of luck thrown in. But some appallingly poor performances out there today on the whole. Davies and Walker, Middleton when he came on, all in the clear for me; but the rest....below the required standard; even George was a bit silly at times inbetween the sticks.
It is far too early to panic but CE has serious work to do. BTW anyone know why was Margetts not on bench? (has there been a falling out behind the scenes?).
Question: did anyone on the Spayne road side see the offence? was it a red?
No it was a yellow and two of those etc however, he wouldn't have been missed if he had been sent off in the first minute, thank the lord Ash is back next week.
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In the defeats to date there was a sense of being the better side, but failing to convert chances and being done in the end by sucker punches and very fine margins. Today, clearly the worse side (although Kiddy look to me the best side we've played so far), and failed to take the chances (again!!) that just might have seen it 2-2 with a spoonful of luck thrown in. But some appallingly poor performances out there today on the whole. Davies and Walker, Middleton when he came on, all in the clear for me; but the rest....below the required standard; even George was a bit silly at times inbetween the sticks.
It is far too early to panic but CE has serious work to do. BTW anyone know why was Margetts not on bench? (has there been a falling out behind the scenes?).
Question: did anyone on the Spayne road side see the offence? was it a red?
No it was a yellow and two of those etc however, he wouldn't have been missed if he had been sent off in the first minute, thank the lord Ash is back next week.
Seconded , Gough is one of a few players who should be shown the door .
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Disappointing.
Today in his post match interview CE admitted he got the tactics wrong in the first half. Ok, fair enough, he did, we all saw that. What he did, in his own words, was tweak too much with players out of position. So he's changed his game to attempt to outwit his opponents.
This was a decision clearly he regretted.
However, is is not the first time.
Last season he stated he would play to our own players strengths and stick to a system the team were happy with. At home to Leamington CE was undone by a team who played an ugly game when we tried to out pass them. A home defeat. A couple of weeks later he changed tack and tried to play spoily bum time wasters at Stockport, "ugly football", only to get hit by a very late goal. Another loss.
The last 3 games have been a struggle, but CE needs do what he does best, and stick to our strengths rather than changing tactics. I have no doubt that a confident team is good enough to out play any opposition, and their weaknesses will be exploited whilst playing to our own favoured systems. It clearly doesn't suit us to swap formation. In the second half, when he reverted to his usual formation, I felt we were more than a match until the red card. At that point it was game over.
As said by other posters, it's a shame that we haven't built on our great start, but now it's time for the manager and players to dig deep. It's a tough game next week, but I'm ever hopeful, so a result at Stockport would start to get us back on track.
But, please, can we stick to what we are good at?
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dispose of Marriott and Arnold.
We've missed Arnold the last 2 games. He has composure on the ball, something which Wafula lacks.
I'd like to see us go 3-4-3, with wingbacks (Davies and Jackson/Keane), and a front 3 of Marriott/Johnson, Arnold and Walker. Give Arnold a free role in the centre and let the other 2 work the channels.
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Far be it for me to disagree with Mel, but I have yet to be convinced by Jackson either. He's made too many careless challenges and given away free kicks in dangerous situations, but the jury remains out. It was a daft second yellow for Gough.
I was rather depressed by today's performance. The team didn't seem to know their responsibilities, with players bunched together too often. Kiddy's midfield and forwards continually either found or made space, and used the width of the pitch. We kept it narrow, trying to go through the congested middle, and usually playing the ball to someone who was marked more closely than than the passer. Why can't we go wide? We rarely win any balls in the air in midfield and further forward. Kiddy's control was better than ours, and when they went forward, they went forward with pace and purpose. Too often we turn back and lose all momentum, and the forwards don't go looking for the ball from the midfield - they stand in a line and expect it to appear magically at their feet. Kiddy went looking for it.
Mild rant over. UTP
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Easy to fix Mr Elliott. We need 2 quality tall centrebacks, a creative midfielder, and nasty, physical midfielder that can break up the play and a pacey striker and a tall good in the air striker.
We could all see that at the end of last season, no progress I’m afraid.
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No goals. In 50% of our games. CE knows some of his signings were "wrong 'uns". He will sort this. I would happily stand in the trenches, shoulder to shoulder with CE, covered in s*i*e, waiting for the whistle. UTP forever.
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Jackson's looking like hell of a player!
Banned for 3 games and we lose all 3......
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Easy to fix Mr Elliott. We need 2 quality tall centrebacks, a creative midfielder, and nasty, physical midfielder that can break up the play and a pacey striker and a tall good in the air striker.
We could all see that at the end of last season, no progress I’m afraid.
So we need...
Tom Batchelor (too slow) and Jordan Keane (agent too greedy)
Adam Chapman (too good for our league)
Jamie Maguire (too old)
Jay Rollins (too injured)
Gregg Smith (too been there , done that)
My point is no matter how good some signings seem to be, the moment they walk out of the tunnel, it doesn't always work.
Would i put any of these players into today's team? Only 1, a fit Jay Rollins.
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We've missed Arnold the last 2 games.
I agree with this. One thing I don't understand though is that Arnold was supposed to be joining the management team when he joined during the summer, remember it being announced that he had a coaching as well as playing role. It can't be helped if he is injured as a player, but I would have still expected him to be involved from the technical area. I didn't see him yesterday at all, nor at Bradford.
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Have to agree Kiddy were great to watch and deserved to win. Ben Davies was top class. Have to say upfront woeful Westcarr I’m afraid not a patch on Greg who didn’t quite make the grade but at least scared the centre backs to death. We were not at the races. Agree about George takes an age to take a goal kick every time needs reminding we are at home and want entertaining. But it’s a long season and Craig will sort the job out.
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thought it showed today that Kiddie made full time look the difference, much more skilful all round, quicker and hungrier. I don't think we look fit apart from Davies who covered every blade and put the rest to shame. I am not sure for all the supposed money spent we are any better than last year. Our last 3 matches were supposed to be our first big tests and we failed all 3.
A lot of work needed and quick otherwise another mediocre season is in store.
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I think we all have to remember this is relatively a new team at the moment, it may take a little more time to gel than expected.
CE has already addressed the defensive issues with bringing in Davies and Keane.
We just need to get behind them and support,it's early days and there is a long way to go yet.
We all know that a 2 or 3 wins on the run in this league can put you in the promotion place's.
The only problem is that players are under contract and will no doubt be expensive to dispose off.
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YC - I really disagree about CE having sorted the defence. IMO our centre halves don't seem up to the job. As for Keane, I've seen nothing that suggests he is the answer. Jackson is ok but don't think any better than Brogan last season.
TEP
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I've not managed to attend one game so far this season, looks as if i'm not missing anything!!
I had high hopes for our 'strike force' this season, not looking so good at the moment.
I wonder how long CE will put up with goal shy strikers and how long before Jay is back to full fitness.
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I wonder how long CE will put up with goal shy strikers and how long before Jay is back to full fitness.
Admittedly I wasn't in attendance a lot of last season, although saw a lot of the games back-end of the season, but from what I saw of Jay he seemed disinterested and not the player he was the few seasons before that - felt like he returned without really wanting to be there. Hopefully when he's back fit he does recapture his form and motivation of a few years ago, as if he is the player he was last season he won't really add a lot to the attack and will fit in fine as another 75% effort player like the other's seem to be currently.
The lads need to play as a team - motivate one another, have the leaders and experienced guys stand up and shoulder a more focused role, and push the others around them. They are National League Premier players when at their best, so they need to lift the others to their levels and not drop to the levels of the league they now find themselves in. At the moment it seems play breaks down far too often and players are unsure of themselves as well as others around them. Changing things won't take a great deal of doing, but it requires the players to want to change things too.
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I wonder how long CE will put up with goal shy strikers and how long before Jay is back to full fitness.
Admittedly I wasn't in attendance a lot of last season, although saw a lot of the games back-end of the season, but from what I saw of Jay he seemed disinterested and not the player he was the few seasons before that - felt like he returned without really wanting to be there. Hopefully when he's back fit he does recapture his form and motivation of a few years ago, as if he is the player he was last season he won't really add a lot to the attack and will fit in fine as another 75% effort player like the other's seem to be currently.
The lads need to play as a team - motivate one another, have the leaders and experienced guys stand up and shoulder a more focused role, and push the others around them. They are National League Premier players when at their best, so they need to lift the others to their levels and not drop to the levels of the league they now find themselves in. At the moment it seems play breaks down far too often and players are unsure of themselves as well as others around them. Changing things won't take a great deal of doing, but it requires the players to want to change things too.
Well said.
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I wonder how long CE will put up with goal shy strikers and how long before Jay is back to full fitness.
Admittedly I wasn't in attendance a lot of last season, although saw a lot of the games back-end of the season, but from what I saw of Jay he seemed disinterested and not the player he was the few seasons before that - felt like he returned without really wanting to be there. Hopefully when he's back fit he does recapture his form and motivation of a few years ago, as if he is the player he was last season he won't really add a lot to the attack and will fit in fine as another 75% effort player like the other's seem to be currently.
The lads need to play as a team - motivate one another, have the leaders and experienced guys stand up and shoulder a more focused role, and push the others around them. They are National League Premier players when at their best, so they need to lift the others to their levels and not drop to the levels of the league they now find themselves in. At the moment it seems play breaks down far too often and players are unsure of themselves as well as others around them. Changing things won't take a great deal of doing, but it requires the players to want to change things too.
To help us out, Jay played on when he was injured during last season. It helped us but didn't help him unfortunately. Fans don't see the full picture.
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Tom Chapman the Sports Therapist said in the matchday programme Jay had seen a specialist and unfortunately we are no closer to any answers. He will require some further tests to help identify the root cause of the problem.
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So are we expecting some departures and arrivals, listening to both of CE interviews it seems to me that he is not impressed by what he has signed.
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So are we expecting some departures and arrivals, listening to both of CE interviews it seems to me that he is not impressed by what he has signed.
Only himself and the scout to blame.
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So are we expecting some departures and arrivals, listening to both of CE interviews it seems to me that he is not impressed by what he has signed.
Only himself and the scout to blame.
100% spot on
However I do like the fact CE admits to his mistakes and doesn't try to deflect any blame. His honesty is refreshing.
Just as an aside, the three ex Lincoln City players (Margetts, Marriott and Arnold) all seem to be a collective let down.
A question.
Can anyone remember an ex Imp who really shone here?
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Jim Smith, Percy Freeman
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Spencer Weir-Daley (OK, was only on loan at Lincoln), Matt Carmichael, Phil Brown, Peter Costello, David Gilbert...
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Ollie Ryan, but l can remember him missing a bucket full of chances.
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Ollie Ryan, but l can remember him missing a bucket full of chances.
Ill still get nightmares over that late open goal miss against Cambridge in the cup
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Andy Graver & John Garvie .
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Let down is harsh. Still early we have played some great stuff at times, and players need a bit of time, im sure two of the three will come good.
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Nathan Arnold has drifted in and out of games at time but "let down" is harsh. His goals against Alty and Nuneaton were superb. He is not, however, the kind of player who can carry a team like Ricky Miller could from a similar position. That's not a criticism, he's just a different kind of player I think. Problem CE has is that it's a Ricky Miller type we could do with - find that missing edge in the final third and the rest of the "let down" players will suddenly look a lot better...
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Nathan Arnold has drifted in and out of games at time but "let down" is harsh. His goals against Alty and Nuneaton were superb. He is not, however, the kind of player who can carry a team like Ricky Miller could from a similar position. That's not a criticism, he's just a different kind of player I think. Problem CE has is that it's a Ricky Miller type we could do with - find that missing edge in the final third and the rest of the "let down" players will suddenly look a lot better...
Yes Pete you are right, if only we could have signed Reece Thompson, we need a pest up front who never gives in.
But at the moment we just need to crack on with what we have got and make things happen.
Hopefully now with the arrival of Davies and Keane, Harris will be able to play in the midfield and start to add a bit of bite in their.
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Keane. Really ? seen him in two games now and he's done nothing for me.
TEP
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Keane. Really ? seen him in two games now and he's done nothing for me.
TEP
Well at least give the lad a chance, and don't forget he has only just linked up with us.
You can't judge a player on 2 games and not even 2 full games.
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Seems to me that CE keeps changing our formation to give different squad members a chance to prove their worth. We cant seem to start with a settled side. I dont think making Willis captain is working. We need a midfielder who can help out in attack and defence equally.
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Seems to me that CE keeps changing our formation to give different squad members a chance to prove their worth. We cant seem to start with a settled side. I dont think making Willis captain is working. We need a midfielder who can help out in attack and defence equally.
We have one Spencer Harris, and he was captain at Shaw Lane.
But l agree with you that he keeps trying to play players in different formations.
We do need to have a settled team now.
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I think the problem is we do not have enough quality players to be a playoff team .
Certainly any front three we have put out this season have not matched Hemmings ,Thompson and Rollins .