But we really are still not good enough.
I’m confident it will improve but on that showing, I don’t believe it will happen this season.
I want to disagree but we have seen it for years where we struggle to break teams down at home.
Piss poor today!
I actually stayed to the end, I got it wrong AGAIN.
WELL DONE to Cheltenham who really were there for the taking but stuck in there.
Expectations duly adjusted.
Reality looms large.
Such a frustrating game in all sorts of ways. At least the new lino gave us a laugh in the North stand when he came on after the break.....
Cheltenham came for a draw, to get their season going, but I bet they didn't think they'd do it without breaking sweat. What an unbelievably negative game plan against a poor side. The ball hardly ever went forward. I thought the goalie would be MotM. He certainly played the ball most. Whyte and Scully delivered nothing. Question marks remain over Robertson. He does some nice flicks, but that's not enough. Most of the criticism points at Mousinho.
It is a scenario we have struggled with for a long time. A team with all 11 behind the ball for 90 (and the rest) minutes. The major issue is that Whyte and Scully are the kind of players we signed to improve on that and they haven't pulled up any trees yet. I maintain my belief that Scully is still just not quite up to speed yet and will come good. Whyte may well not. Lane is back as an alternative now which is encouraging.
That defence is rock solid and that is something to build from in our forward play. That tough run of fixtures coming up are even more important now.
I'm not going to judge anything much on such a disjointed afternoon. We were not great, they played two up front and five at the back and looked the more likely side to win.
Perhaps we used all our energy on Tuesday?
It was poor, let’s be honest. It’s know use having 75% or whatever possession and doing feck all with it. We are quite toothless up front . We need to be playing a more direct ( not long ball) game. All this slow build up left to right and back again is ok for Man City etc but this is L1. Something needs to change( even slightly), otherwise the fans will turn.
(19-08-2023, 06:06 PM)bluetagagain Wrote: [ -> ]It was poor, let’s be honest. It’s know use having 75% or whatever possession and doing feck all with it. We are quite toothless up front . We need to be playing a more direct ( not long ball) game. All this slow build up left to right and back again is ok for Man City etc but this is L1. Something needs to change( even slightly), otherwise the fans will turn.
give Colby a mate to lay the ball off to.
Poor, but only 4 games in and 1 point off top with joint best goal difference - most clubs would be very happy with that. Assuming we're going to improve, that's not a bad springboard when new players are still bedding in.
(19-08-2023, 06:10 PM)Hammie Wrote: [ -> ] (19-08-2023, 06:06 PM)bluetagagain Wrote: [ -> ]It was poor, let’s be honest. It’s know use having 75% or whatever possession and doing feck all with it. We are quite toothless up front . We need to be playing a more direct ( not long ball) game. All this slow build up left to right and back again is ok for Man City etc but this is L1. Something needs to change( even slightly), otherwise the fans will turn.
give Colby a mate to lay the ball off to.
Cheltenham had 12 shots to our 15, and one more on target than us, so they can hardly be accused of defensive play. We need two up front and stop fanning around in midfield passing sideways and back all the time. I can’t remember a single run into the box with the ball.
(19-08-2023, 06:31 PM)66zoolane Wrote: [ -> ]Poor, but only 4 games in and 1 point off top with joint best goal difference - most clubs would be very happy with that. Assuming we're going to improve, that's not a bad springboard when new players are still bedding in.
We've probably played 4 teams who will finish in the bottom half of the league,8 pts is below par to be fair.
We were awful. Totally devoid of creativity and pace. We must have the worst wingers in the league. Boring sideways football. 3-5-2 please against teams parking the bus. Get support for Bishop. Please no more of Kamara.
(19-08-2023, 07:15 PM)farq2 Wrote: [ -> ] (19-08-2023, 06:31 PM)66zoolane Wrote: [ -> ]Poor, but only 4 games in and 1 point off top with joint best goal difference - most clubs would be very happy with that. Assuming we're going to improve, that's not a bad springboard when new players are still bedding in.
We've probably played 4 teams who will finish in the bottom half of the league,8 pts is below par to be fair.
The odds I've seen have Bristol Rovers as high as 8th, Exeter mid-table, and only Cheltenham relegation fodder. As I said, bad today, but not overall (if we improve, of course).
I don’t feel particularly pissed off about the situation. I just think that expectations have been a little too high and I couldn’t see any reason for supreme optimism. When you look at each of our performances so far, it’s clear we’re not anything like a top two team yet. I’d hesitate to say we’re even a top six side, yet.
We’ve acquired a team of young hopefuls and they’ll take time to get up to their potential (if they ever do). I’d say there is a fair bit of raw talent out there, we just need to be patient until it starts maturing.
Can't believe I'm reading people think the players may be tired. These are professional athletes, they don't fit training and matches in around their job. It is their job.
I do think though, that we will probably win a lot more times away than at home with this squad
Oh yes, forgot..... it's fecking August. May be tired by January, but we're only a couple of weeks into the season ffs.