Poor day at the office

[marky]

on today's showing only Garry Hunter, Wayne Curtis, Jim Bentley, Craig Stanley, Rene Howe and Diarmuid O'Carroll would make that side.

So Roche, Parrish, McCann, Artell, Wainwright, Drummond & Twiss would all make way for? Do we even have the players to replace 3 of the back 4? I can only think of McStay (of players currently at the club). Recall Adam Yates? Surely it's now time to start Smith? What's the point of bringing in a loan player if he's not gonna get a chance? He's played 2 reserve games - he could just as well be doing that at Plymouth. Grimsby created nothing? Doesn't that just make the fact it took 75 minutes to salvage a point more damning? I'm putting these questions to those who went. From afar it just isn't good enough.

[Shrimpsscene]

I can only remember Barry Roche making one block late on in second half?? Where was the threat from Grimsby?

Exactly Sean. Grimsby were poor but still outplayed us for 45 mins. They also had one cleared off the line

A masterstroke by the manager with both his substitutes providing the assist and goal

Masterstroke? Or an error in not playing them both from the start?

I think to be fair mike it was a poor first half from both sides
cant remember much other than stews freekick going close from us first half
we should have had a decision from the ref before they won the pen a clear handball so in fact the pen wouldnt have happened as their lad handled inside our box but liner and ref missed it

to be fair to sammy and to everyone who was at underhill i would have started with same 11
was surprised Twiss started but Lills said post match they sat with Twissy this week and thought he could do a job today. noone saw that coming

it didnt work in my view i can remember three times he had the opportunity to run at players like he used to but went for poorer option of spreading a pass and slowing play down.

wayne did well when he came on his first touch was much better than ocarrolls who i thought didnt have the best of games and i would expect Wayne to be starting at Lincoln
we still got a point and thats about right today

[Crooky MFC]

Does anyone else wonder why Adam Yates isn't in our squad? He's alot better than McCann in my opinion.

[Aal]

Yes I do.

Can understand we could not stand in way of Thompson and Baker, but Yates was effectively eased out. IMO our most consistent player last season.

McCann gives a lot of effort tho, but I thought that Till had too much for him today

[marky]

Give the chronic lack of pace in our side, the exclusion of Yates is puzzling. Last week Parrish was clearly at fault for their goal (mind, how Roche got beaten from that angle I've no idea) and this week McCann gives away a penalty. People have suggested Yates made a few mistakes but the two full backs from today seem to be making a few and also lack pace. Seems a no brainer to me.

[Shrimpsscene]

Give the chronic lack of pace in our side, the exclusion of Yates is puzzling. Last week Parrish was clearly at fault for their goal (mind, how Roche got beaten from that angle I've no idea) and this week McCann gives away a penalty. People have suggested Yates made a few mistakes but the two full backs from today seem to be making a few and also lack pace. Seems a no brainer to me.

You watched brief tv highlights to see the goal Andy Parrish wasnt to blame for the goal last week but the team was, a three pass move for the goal Adomah shouldnt have been allowed to get anywhere near it prior to what you saw had you been there marky you would have been able to make a better valued judgement on it.
Ryan McCann has played well in his last three games today was unlucky had the ref and liner been watching the game we would have won a free kick from a blatant handball
Dont forget Andy Parrish has been covering at left back due to illness with Adams and Mickeys injury
Also remember we are unbeaten in four games(people seem to forget that in the doom and gloom) and had a clean sheet against Shrewsbury Town
Yates hasnt figured because the manager feels he has better options ahead of him
full backs dont win matches but the two we have are doing fine

[marky]

You seem to be the only one suggesting that. We're unbeaten in 4 games - the last two have been 1-1 draws against 2 shocking sides (I repeat they both have the worst goal differences in the league).

[Martin]

The worrying thing is our poor start to the season was being attributed to playing the top sides all at once. We've now played two sides still looking for their first win and all we've come away with is 2 points. This suggests we may be looking at spending this season in the bottom third; no better.

Today was poor. Twiss was hugely disappointing and Drummond had one of those games that he does now and then. Grimsby really didn't threaten that much, but looked more than comfortable containing us prior to the substitutions. I thought defensively we did ok, not brilliant, but ok. Can't argue with the penalty; the Ref had no choice, their player was chopped down. It was all very depressing.

Then we had the substitutions. Craig Stanley must surely be claiming a starting place soon. He drove forward and for the first time in the game, the Grimsby midfield and defence looked vulnerable. And as for Wayne Curtis, this is a man possessed this season! Unlucky to lose his place in the starting lineup, he fought for every ball and managed to hold the ball up in a way no-one else could all afternoon. Loved his goal. Stood with the keeper right up to the point the kick was to be taken, then ran onside before heading in with the defenders wondering where the hell he'd come from.

It's not a disaster. We didn't lose. But we do need to concentrate on getting 3 points from the other struggling teams because at the end of the season at least 2 of them have to finish below us.

[Shrimpsscene]

You seem to be the only one suggesting that. We're unbeaten in 4 games - the last two have been 1-1 draws against 2 shocking si
des (I repeat they both have the worst goal differences in the league).

Mark Lillis (our assistant manager) made the point in his post match interview which was broadcast on Radio Lancashire this evening

[Aal]

Does anyone else think that McCann was cross going into the game because his name was spelt McAnn on his shirt. Never noticed this before. Quite an insult to the guy.

[marky]

Mark Lillis (our assistant manager) made the point in his post match interview which was broadcast on Radio Lancashire this evening

Of course he did! He kinda has to. He's not likely to say "Our two full-backs aren't up to scratch and we made a huge error loaning out Yates". Ok, I'll ask a different question. Does anyone other than Sean and Mark Lillis think McCann and Parrish are better players than Yates?

[Keith]

The problem is, Sammy's style is, in my opinion, to win games 1-0. We've just played a couple of teams who must surely have been low in confidence, yet today, we didn't go at them as if we were a team capable of winning 5-0, we looked like we were going to stay tight and hoof it up the pitch to find that one goal. As a result, they were workmanly able to come at us, then we'd hoof it up the pitch again. Regardless of whether a hand-ball was missed, it was a penalty and that put them in front. They were a very poor team who were beating us until we actually began to play positively. In the end, we possibly could have nicked it, but in reality, a draw was the fair result against a very poor Grimsby.

Barnet, played 7 won 0 lost 6 drawn 1...
Grimsby, played 7 won 0 lost 4 drawn 3...

If we can't pick up wins against two of the weakest teams, we will make life very tough on ourselves. If points are picked up in the same way for the rest of the season, both Rotherham & Luton will still be ahead of us, despite their point deduction. I'd rather we respond positively rather than the passive display of today.

[Aal]

I'm with you on this one Marky, tho things could change

[marky]

I hope they do, I really do. Pronto. Keith, have we got the players to beat teams 5-0? Do we have the quality? On the flip side, do we have the players to win games 1-0 consistently? I realise my questions come across as negative but I'm asking questions of those who get to see the players more regularly than I do.

[Keith]

have we got the players to beat teams 5-0? Do we have the quality? On the flip side, do we have the players to win games 1-0 consistently?

bucking the trend of negativity, YES! I think from when we went 4-3-3 we equalised, Wayne missed a one on one after a fantastic through ball. They never looked like getting anywhere near us, other than the suicide defensive moment, which Roache did well with. Had we begun with that line up and attitude, I think we could have gone ahead early and pushed on, who knows? I don't think we're world beaters, but I do think we're Grimsby beaters. Let's go for it without fear. The current style of hoof the ball to their centre back so they can head it back at us, simply encourages teams to grow in confidence and to keep us under pressure.

[Shrimpsscene]

The problem is, Sammy's style is, in my opinion, to win games 1-0. We've just played a couple of teams who must surely have been low in confidence, yet today, we didn't go at them as if we were a team capable of winning 5-0, we looked like we were going to stay tight and hoof it up the pitch to find that one goal. As a result, they were workmanly able to come at us, then we'd hoof it up the pitch again. Regardless of whether a hand-ball was missed, it was a penalty and that put them in front. They were a very poor team who were beating us until we actually began to play positively. In the end, we possibly could have nicked it, but in reality, a draw was the fair result against a very poor Grimsby.

Barnet, played 7 won 0 lost 6 drawn 1...
Grimsby, played 7 won 0 lost 4 drawn 3...

If we can't pick up wins against two of the weakest teams, we will make life very tough on ourselves. If points are picked up in the same way for the rest of the season, both Rotherham & Luton will still be ahead of us, despite their point deduction. I'd rather we respond positively rather than the passive display of today.

We have only played 7 games Keith..... 7 games with a team lookinmg to gel 6 of th enew players played last week and again we are still finding our way
the season we got promoted we wer eabsolut epants at crawley and lost 4 0 and were woeful and that was october 2006
linesmans flag in first minute denied twiss inside 6 yard box had he hit target cant get more positive than that
39 games left 7 1/2 months of football left to play
Grimsby looked a good outfit Barnet did too
sometimes you have good days sometimes bad days as we all do at work
do we want to be taking part in a tough league or be rolling over teams like histon barrow and northwich???
stay positive lets keep behind the team theyre not going out to deliberatley play badly neither is the manager incapable
we have a good squad who will only get better despite what marky ned and the boo boys say on here

[Aal]

Go for it Keith....the voice of common sense on here tonight.

It's happened a couple of times lately that subs have changed the game. Tells me that Mark and Sammy are reading the game well and able to adapt tactics as and when its needed.

They don't always get it right but we have to back their judgement.

[Shrimpsscene]

Go for it Keith....the voice of common sense on here tonight.

It's happened a couple of times lately that subs have changed the game. Tells me that Mark and Sammy are reading the game well and able to adapt tactics as and when its needed.

They don't always get it right but we have to back their judgement.

you obviously didnt read my earlier comment re the inspired sub then

thats it enough of whingevoices for tonight....................

[ezz]

I actually do think we'll survive comfortably, purely because of the negative point teams even if one of them are on good form. There are plenty worse teams than us in this league and unless we go on a terrible run losing every match from now till March then maybe just maybe we'll go down but i dout it!!

[Keith]

Grimsby looked a good outfit Barnet did too

SEAN!!! I was there today!!! Grimsby looked awful! They were strong at the back but lacked any imagination. They looked like a team who would only score from a penalty. They looked like a team who hadn't won in ages and who would have a real struggle. If you thought they looked good, it demonstrates how awful we were for the first hour.

If Barnet looked such a good outfit, how come they've picked up one point in seven games? Have they really been so unlucky in six other games, or again, did we play in a manner that allowed them to look better than they really were? I hope it was the former, because I want to see Barnet stay clear of relegation, but if we play many more games like the first hour today, I'll be praying for them to go down just to improve our chances of staying up!

I still think we are better than we are demonstrating, but let's play on the deck and go out to win games from the first minute, not the 60th.

[marky]

Sean, nobody deliberately goes out to do anything badly. Of course they don't. As to the squad. That one's open to individual interpretation and each person will see it different. Big squad doesn't always equate to good squad. If they turn out to be so, then great. Aaaaaaanyway, we've got to be looking at beating Lincoln next week (another struggling side). You want positive? I think we'll beat Accrington

Ezz, it would be catestrophic for any side if Luton overhauled them to stay up. Rotherham have made a brilliant start. Bournemouth not so. However, they did beat Bradford 3-1 today so who knows. Maybe they're an example to us of how a struggling side can start getting good results.

[OvertheBar]

We deserved a point today. We were poor for the first 60 then showed much more bite and desire in the last 30. Curtis and Stanners emody the kind of spirit lacking in the first part of the game. Wayne always does a good job, heart and soul player who makes the other team feel uncomfortable, we were powder puff again to begin with. I don't understand why Wayne didn't start today, he was excellent at Barnet and took on a role more suited to his style - dangerous battering ram who wants to score goals. He did miss a glorious chance from the Hunter slider, but it was a darn powerful shot and not some tippy-tappy weak effort.

I can't agree with Shrimpscene. Parrish is hopeless at left back, he brings the ball infield most times and passes square to either Jimbo or Arts, and their speciality is to lump it high and aimless. I would do the same as Parrish, he can't tackle with his left peg so he has to stand off and wait for a mistake by the oppo, any player with half a brain can see this and get round him on the outside. The lad isn't all bad and wasn't the worst on the field today, but he is lightweight and lacks penetration. I hope Adams is over his virus problem next week. Nor do I think much of McCann, compared to Yates he is a non-starter.

Howe and Diamond battle on tirelessly with little support once they get the ball and the midfield were once again conspicuously absent. Roche looks uninspiring and I would love to see Davies given a chance, do we have anything to lose there?

What mostly bothered me was the tactic (when a goal down!) of hoofing the ball over the Carwash or out of the ground. The club have always been pitifully slow to get the spare ball onto the park and this was just wasting our time as we tried to get back into and then win the game. One of Artell's clearances almost took the bulb out of the floodlight, surely just punting it into the crowd would have helped more. And why oh why do we keep hoofing the ball aimlessly upfield from central defense? Grimsby were another big and powerful side (though no better than us) who dealt easily with balls in the air.

Still, it was good to hear the North Stand singing up for good parts of the game and trying to encourage the lads forward. The Shrimpettes were ace and Christie the Cat was preening his whiskas manfully.

A point gained today, when we could have easily lost all three. Unbeaten in 4 games (2 wins and 2 draws) isn't relegation standard, so lets look forward to another nailbiting excursion across the country next Saturday and demolish the Imps.

[Martin]

Wayne missed a one on one after a fantastic through ball.

It was a fantastic through ball, but to be fair to Wayne, he was travelling a bit when he met it. I thought he was a bit unlucky not to hit the target. Clearly, even he's not used to his new-found pace!

[Keith]

Howe and Diamond battle on tirelessly with little support once they get the ball and the midfield were once again conspicuously absent.

At one point in the second half, Howe & O'Carroll were battling for the ball on the edge of the Grimsby area and all four midfield players were stood on the half way line. If we are going to play 'hoof-ball' at least have the midfield pressuring the defenders and supporting the attack.

[Keith]

Wayne missed a one on one after a fantastic through ball.

It was a fantastic through ball, but to be fair to Wayne, he was travelling a bit when he met it. I thought he was a bit unlucky not to hit the target. Clearly, even he's not used to his new-found pace!

Agreed, it was still far from easy but I'll bet Wayne will be disappointed not to hit the target. It wasn't a dig, just pointing out that we actually had enough chances in the last 30 minutes to actually win the game, not just rescue it.