Morecambe 1 Shrewsbury 1 Drummie (25th min)

[parceldave]

i dont see anything wrong with the way we are playing. the last 8 games hav been agaisnt top ten teams. we hav taken what we can and im sure when we play the weaker teams results will start coming in

The weaker teams like Hereford and Burton, Hmm. Im afraid yesterday was the same old story as the last few games at home where we play really good football in the first half and go to pieces in the second as we seem to lose all our stamina. But yesterday we were really poor in second half as in the first 10 mins of the first, why the hell we were playing long balls and sky high crosses in that strong swirling wind is unbelievable. For 35 mins of first half we totally dominated the game and after some good build up play should have scored on several occassions, but we are lacking composure in front of goal , hence we have only scored 1 goal from open play in last three games and bringing Twissy on for the last 5 mins aint any good either. Like i said on another thread to Shrimper, i would much prefer if we won 5 games and lost 5 games than draw 10 and keep going on about an unbeaten run. Somebody posted on another thread about Mullin & Jevons working well together but they havn't produced any results in last 3 games. We still need a goal scorer or a change up front.

[fletch_al]

i think twiss deserves a chance. always plays wel when hes on and i dont understand why he was dropped in the first place

[campdave]

The weaker teams like Hereford and Burton,

I think we've got to consign those results to the past - we were playing an unfamiliar formation that just didn't work in those matches. Were we to go back and play them with the personnel and formation we have been doing recently, I think the outcome would have been very different.

[heysham_mfc]

i think twiss deserves a chance. always plays wel when hes on and i dont understand why he was dropped in the first place

agree he has played well when he comes on the should be given more of a chance

[ezz]

i dont see anything wrong with the way we are playing. the last 8 games hav been agaisnt top ten teams. we hav taken what we can and im sure when we play the weaker teams results will start coming in

The weaker teams like Hereford and Burton, Hmm. Im afraid yesterday was the same old story as the last few games at home where we play really good football in the first half and go to pieces in the second as we seem to lose all our stamina. But yesterday we were really poor in second half as in the first 10 mins of the first, why the hell we were playing long balls and sky high crosses in that strong swirling wind is unbelievable. For 35 mins of first half we totally dominated the game and after some good build up play should have scored on several occassions, but we are lacking composure in front of goal , hence we have only scored 1 goal from open play in last three games and bringing Twissy on for the last 5 mins aint any good either. Like i said on another thread to Shrimper, i would much prefer if we won 5 games and lost 5 games than draw 10 and keep going on about an unbeaten run. Somebody posted on another thread about Mullin & Jevons working well together but they havn't produced any results in last 3 games. We still need a goal scorer or a change up front.

Wheres the guarentee we'd win half the games if we 'went for it'??? We might end up losing 8 and winning 2 or worse. Least we have taken points off most of the top 10 which is good for me at the moment.

[marky]

We'd still be better off had we won 4 and lost 4 of the 8 league draws we've 'enjoyed' thus far, which I think is what people are trying to get at. Unbeaten runs are one thing but if you don't win games during that run then you don't progress in terms of league position.

[ezz]

We'd still be better off had we won 4 and lost 4 of the 8 league draws we've 'enjoyed' thus far, which I think is what people are trying to get at. Unbeaten runs are one thing but if you don't win games during that run then you don't progress in terms of league position.

Yes and my point is why assume we'd win half and lose half, all If's and But's, at least we have what we have in terms of points from draws, chances are if we'd have gone for the win in the games we've drawn I'd say are we were more likely to lose than win. I don't think we're ready to be pushing for a play off place but i'd like us to be up there. Right now it's looking to the next game and seeing what we can get till we start playing teams who we are more 'likely' to beat.

[George Dawes]

we need to be more attacking in our home games id bring duffy in at right wingback and go 3-4-3 and Twiss as one of the front 3

[campdave]

we need to be more attacking in our home games id bring duffy in at right wingback and go 3-4-3 and Twiss as one of the front 3

We struggled with four in defence and four in midfield at the start of the season - take another defender out, and we could be slaughtered - especially without a fit defensive midfielder as we currently are.

[ezz]

Some just don't understand that we have to have balance, with some suggestions on here we'll end up like a poor Newcastle of the 90's praying we'll conceed 3 but score 5.
I too would like us to attack more, but generally we tend to get caught on the counter. Attacking more would risk this and if we go one nil down it will end up with us playing catch up and possibly losing a 2nd goal.

[marky No.1]

For what it's worth I personally think that out of the drawn games we have dropped points against Hereford, Rochdale and Macclesfield but consider we have gained points against Chesterfield, Rotherham and Dagenham.
Considering the form of Bradford and Shrewsbury when many thought we would be well beaten, we came out with points on the board. Notts County was the bonus that not many predicted.

Although 21st does'nt look healthy, the 4 clear points we "dropped" against Hereford and Rochdale would have put us in a satisfactory mid table position so although we may feel disappointed there is so much more to about ~ even if Aldershot turn out to be a handful

A-Handful.jpg

[shrimper]

Just shows how you can see games differently. At home against a team on a very good run of results and flying high in the table I was amazed at how well we DID take the game to Shrewsbury.

We attacked them well, with width on both flanks through Wilson and Hunter who got into advanced positions with Adams and Stanners up in support. You play with true wingers and it can leave you short in central midfield, 5-3-2 with wingbacks gives you a good balance, in my view.

We played some excellent football in that first half.

Mullin and Jevons had two great chances to put us 3-1 up and didn't take them. But they've played well enough in other recent games against good sides to continue getting starts, no complaint there.

But they are a good side and, after all our efforts to dominate the first half, they were always going to come back into it - and I do agree the stamina of a couple of our players in the second half needs looking at.

But we still made chances (as did they) and could have sneaked it at the end.

It's okay saying we 'should' be doing this and that at home - we HAVE been trying it in most games (Bradford apart - I thought they were just better than us and made it difficult for us to get going) and doing our best - but the opposition has something to do with it.

Shrewsbury are a good side - their record tells us that - so if, based on that game, someone says they didn't look very good, do you not think that might have had something to do with US playing well? Yet we get no credit for it?

Where did we get this 'we should be beating sides like that' mentality all of a sudden?

If we let our effort and workrate slip and don't pick up any wins against Darlington and others in coming weeks then I will be more disappointed.

But to have got points from all our games - and go close to winning a couple - from those tough fixtures isn't something (IMO) to get too disappointed about.

I think we have 'gone for it' in most home games and should have won a couple more (Shrewsbury and Rochdale) but the opposition (as well as some mistakes we've made, agreed) have had something to say in us not doing.

But I don't think it's about our approach to those games as is being suggested.

I also happen to think that if we had 'gone for it' more away to Rotherham, Chesterfield and Daggers we'd probably be looking at three fewer points than we've now got - that's debatable of course, though.

[parceldave]

Looking at these last few posts it seems to me that we should be quite happy to draw every game as we cant risk this and we cant risk that. Im sorry but thats so fkin negative . We cant attack just in case the opposition may counter attack and we might not get our draw. We have 11 players just like they have and if we are at home then they should have to worry about us not the other way round . As you said Glen both Mullin and Jevons had good chances to score and i cant agree that it seems to be working as neither of them have scored from open play in the last 3 games and its not as if they havn't had the chances. I think its time for our best goalscorer to be given another chance and not just for 5 mins . Good Night

[parceldave]

We'd still be better off had we won 4 and lost 4 of the 8 league draws we've 'enjoyed' thus far, which I think is what people are trying to get at. Unbeaten runs are one thing but if you don't win games during that run then you don't progress in terms of league position.

Yes and my point is why assume we'd win half and lose half, all If's and But's, at least we have what we have in terms of points from draws, chances are if we'd have gone for the win in the games we've drawn I'd say are we were more likely to lose than win. I don't think we're ready to be pushing for a play off place but i'd like us to be up there. Right now it's looking to the next game and seeing what we can get till we start playing teams who we are more 'likely' to beat.

Nobody was assuming anything my dear boy ,what we said was that we would have been in a far better position had we won 4 and lost 4 rather than drawing 8 , pure Mathematics no assumptions . You are assuming that we are going to play a team we are likely to beat at some time , but with your negativity about how we may get caught on the counter - attack and that if we had gone for the win were more likely to lose how the hell do we dare attack anybody in the first place. But in some games with the team not being as negative as you , they have gone for the win , but they just couldn't finish

[shrimper]

We can all add up Dave.

I could say eight points is better than three, obviously it is.

The assumption being referred to is the one that is being implied, in that by playing differently we'd get more points. We might, or we might have ended up with no points from our away games.

In our away games, against good teams on their own grounds, we've drawn by being tight and giving nothing away.

But at home we've gone at teams and tried to play open football - and still drawn. So it doesn't follow that 'having a go' at teams will bring you more points than being tight.

I'm not saying I disagree that we'd prefer to have given it a go in every game, even if it DID mean getting no points - that's the way I'D probably approach it.

My point is merely that it's not as disappointing a situation as some are making out and - given our two defeats away early on, I can see why Sammy's changed the approach.

I like Twissy - and if Jevons doesn't find the net in the next game or two I think he'll get a start. But I don't agree that he's a better goalscorer. I think Jevons - albeit he missed one on Saturday, is a better finisher. I also think he makes more intelligent runs and links better with a strike partner. He played a big part both in Drummy's goal on Saturday and in the move that led to the penalty at Dagenham, though he didn't score from open play in either game.

But I think Twissy is stronger and quicker and, as I say, if Jevons doesn't find the net soon, I'd give him another run.

[ezz]

In my opinion I think we are doing well, we have a great 11 one of the best we've seen at CP for ages. They didn't 'click' at the start and we got a couple of losses, now we've played a bunch of very strong teams and picked up our first win along with a lot of draws. The fact we are drawing shows there isn't much to worry about in terms oof competing at this level. Yes wer are 21st but right now I'm not too worried as I know we can hold our own against any 11 in this league, some of these draws will turn to wins and some will turn to losses (eventually ).

The debate is about whether we should have changed our tactics in previous games which may or may not have gave us a win, my answer is no. I don't think that attacking more or changing the tactics/formation/players to attack more would have worked as it would have upset the balance of the team. I think the points from draws we have had were good points AND they could have also been wins due to the performances we put in which have been good. Of course now in hindsight you can say we should have attacked more but at the time everything was spot on in my opinion.

[Keith]

but right now I'm not too worried as I know we can hold our own against any 11 in this league...

Agreed, and this at a time when we've had a run of injuries too.

[shrimper]

.... and, sorry to labour a point but I don't think we could have done anything much different (tactics-wise) at home. We HAVE attacked teams and committed men forward but just haven't been good enough to get the wins against very decent sides.

We missed a few chances but so did our opponents.

Away, yes, we could, like we tried at Burton and Barnet, have attacked from the off and it may or may not have brought us better results.

On Saturday, Sammy picked precisely the team I (and judging by this board) many others would have chosen. He also brought subs on - not as early as some might have in Twissy's case - but did we look more like scoring when Duffs came on?


Like ezz I think we've got the best squad we've ever had. I think we are competing well with teams that are at the top of the league - so clearly the best in our division - and if we can keep up our effort and desire I think we WILL pick up more wins in coming games.

If we do then these draws against good sides will be seen as a great platform which has built up confidence in our ability.

If we don't then they will be seen as chances wasted to nab a few three-pointers.

[marky No.1]

Looking at these last few posts it seems to me that we should be quite happy to draw every game as we cant risk this and we cant risk that. Im sorry but thats so fkin negative . We cant attack just in case the opposition may counter attack and we might not get our draw. We have 11 players just like they have and if we are at home then they should have to worry about us not the other way round . As you said Glen both Mullin and Jevons had good chances to score and i cant agree that it seems to be working as neither of them have scored from open play in the last 3 games and its not as if they havn't had the chances. I think its time for our best goalscorer to be given another chance and not just for 5 mins . Good Night

Thought you had gone to bed at 10.41 Dave but at 11.01 you re-surfaced

Bit addictive is'nt it? Hope you slept well and don't worry 3 points are on the horizon