[Walton Spireite]

Goku, on 20 September 2014 - 05:39 PM, said:

Very worrying that it takes us so long to get into gear.

Jayo NEEDS to be starting from now on. Boco is average, Jayo is special.

Well I have seen Boco twice now and he hasn't done enough to warrant a place in the starting eleven.

[Spireite82]

Stoptalkingbol, on 20 September 2014 - 05:58 PM, said:

Time to give Tommy a rest. Shambolic on crosses which teams are clearly targeting, slinging any ball into the six yard box knowing full well he won't be coming, just adds more pressure to an already shaky defence. Seems to have a mistake every game in him this season.

I don't agree. You can't blame Tommy for any goals today. I think the whole defence have looked dodgy this week. At Preston it was a ridiculous header back to Tommy (granted he should have dealt with it. but a poor decision by the outfield player to try and head back some 20 yards...)
I agree that Tommy needs to work on his cross taking but this has always been a weakness. If he was an excellent cross taker I doubt he'd be playing for CFC as a Championship team would snap him up IMO.
I've always found it funny how GKs get so much stick when the whole defence are under performing.
The fans need to get behind Tommy to build his confidence back up...we'd be in a pickle if Tommy pulled his hamstring! BTW - I hope it's just a coincidence that our player hamstrings are tearing; the management need to make sure they haven't introduced a new training method that might be aggravating the issue...

[h again]

Stoptalkingbol, on 20 September 2014 - 05:58 PM, said:

Time to give Tommy a rest. Shambolic on crosses which teams are clearly targeting, slinging any ball into the six yard box knowing full well he won't be coming, just adds more pressure to an already shaky defence. Seems to have a mistake every game in him this season.

Like I said somewhere else - we're playing teams who are very, very good at crossing the ball, unlike most of 'em last season. That doesn't just mean they find one of their men - it means they put most of their crosses into an area where the keeper is going to struggle. His'corridor of uncertainty' in cricketing terms. Too close and he'll catch it: too far out and he can sit back and wait for the header: but just in between and he's got to make a split-second decision.
It isn't just Tommy - 'keepers at every level struggle with the tactic. And to complicate matters further Tommy is playing behind a different pair of CBs every match at the moment. No chance to build up any kind of understanding.
We aren't defending crosses well, it's true, but until the defence settles down a bit it's going to be a problem. It's just amazing we've done so well so far in the circumstances.

[Benno Spire]

Not read many comments on this but can anyone explain how Armand was judged to be offside when he came in behind the defender. There were no appeals from the Doncaster players and everyone including the referee were heading for the restart

[h again]

Benno Spire, on 20 September 2014 - 08:56 PM, said:

Not read many comments on this but can anyone explain how Armand was judged to be offside when he came in behind the defender. There were no appeals from the Doncaster players and everyone including the referee were heading for the restart

We have to assume that at some stage he was just in front of the defender, which seems unlikely given where they both finished up.
Or, much more likely, we've copped for another flag-waving idiot.
I've been quite impressed by the refs this season generally, but by way of compensation most of the linesmen are hopeless in every way.