[Goku]

first time seeing us on Friday as id not been to any friendlies.

Boot didn?t do anything wrong but would still prefer Tyrer to return if possible
Full backs both really good, clear improvement on Horton + Shecks.
Dunkley fantastic, really good signing at this level. Constantly talking, I?d be giving him the armband, sorry Jamie.
Banks and Oldaker in midfield always worries me but I think Cook and co knew they wouldn?t play through midfield and that?s why he was comfortable dropping Naylor to CB although this doesn?t reflect well on Williams. And like others have said, if Naylor is in CM we probably win the match 1-0.
Actually thought Colclough could?ve done more, he did well but he can do better. Dobs good. Jacobs obviously should?ve had a pen but I?d have started Mandy as I?m sure most people in the stadium would have.
Grigg with excellent movement, battled well against their centre halves, good all round performance.

Dunno what change they made at half time but they severely cut our passing options out from the back. All in all, a promising first match which we should?ve won. Defence looks lovely. On we go.

[Walton Spireite]

Goku, on 11 August 2024 - 08:49 AM, said:

first time seeing us on Friday as id not been to any friendlies.

Boot didn?t do anything wrong but would still prefer Tyrer to return if possible
Full backs both really good, clear improvement on Horton + Shecks.
Dunkley fantastic, really good signing at this level. Constantly talking, I?d be giving him the armband, sorry Jamie.
Banks and Oldaker in midfield always worries me but I think Cook and co knew they wouldn?t play through midfield and that?s why he was comfortable dropping Naylor to CB although this doesn?t reflect well on Williams. And like others have said, if Naylor is in CM we probably win the match 1-0.
Actually thought Colclough could?ve done more, he did well but he can do better. Dobs good. Jacobs obviously should?ve had a pen but I?d have started Mandy as I?m sure most people in the stadium would have.
Grigg with excellent movement, battled well against their centre halves, good all round performance.

Dunno what change they made at half time but they severely cut our passing options out from the back. All in all, a promising first match which we should?ve won. Defence looks lovely. On we go.

Well Goku we don't very often see eye to eye but I agree with all of the above.

[Norton Blue]

HaslandBlue58, on 10 August 2024 - 07:01 PM, said:

Kept saying the same last season and again last night,he is one of a few I have reservations about.If he can deliver consistently the performance he put in last night I will be more than happy.

Oldaker is a good footballer, but he seems to want so much time on the ball. It?s almost lethargic. He?d be much better if he could receive and then pass with a bit more tempo.
He committed to closing Wright down and got it completely wrong allowing wright to take the ball forward. That error led to the goal. I?d prefer us to get a Morsy type player to sit in midfield and i think it?s something we?re missing as there no other player in the squad like that other than Jones and he?s not going to be able to play week in week out.
I like Naylor at CH alongside Dunkley, i think they are both solid so wouldn?t want to see Naylor moved back to midfield just to accommodate Grimes as i believe they are the strongest defensive pairing we have in the squad.

[Fit as a Nelson]

The other option is to sign a better version of Grimes

[Goku]

Walton Spireite, on 11 August 2024 - 08:54 AM, said:

Well Goku we don't very often see eye to eye but I agree with all of the above.

I?ll have to change my opinions now!

[Roussa spireite]

[quote name='Goku' timestamp='1723366196' post='1833625']
first time seeing us on Friday as id not been to any friendlies.

Boot didn?t do anything wrong but would still prefer Tyrer to return if possible
Full backs both really good, clear

improvement on Horton + Shecks.
Dunkley fantastic, really good signing at this level. Constantly talking, I?d be giving him the armband, sorry Jamie.
Banks and Oldaker in midfield always worries me but I think Cook and co knew they wouldn?t play through midfield and that?s why he was comfortable dropping Naylor to CB although this doesn?t reflect well on Williams. And like others have said, if Naylor is in CM we probably win the match 1-0.
Actually thought Colclough could?ve done more, he did well but he can do better. Dobs good. Jacobs obviously should?ve had a pen but I?d have started Mandy as I?m sure most people in the stadium would have.
Grigg with excellent movement, battled well against their centre halves, good all round performance.

Dunno what change they made at half time but they severely cut our passing options out from the back. All in all, a promising first match which we should?ve won. Defence looks lovely. On we go.

[I think this is about right were on the right track! maybe didn't create enough for grigg when we were on top
Very impressed with Dunkley and the full backs]

This post has been edited by Roussa spireite: 11 August 2024 - 10:09 AM

[dtp]

Goku, on 11 August 2024 - 08:49 AM, said:

first time seeing us on Friday as id not been to any friendlies.

Boot didn?t do anything wrong but would still prefer Tyrer to return if possible
Full backs both really good, clear improvement on Horton + Shecks.
Dunkley fantastic, really good signing at this level. Constantly talking, I?d be giving him the armband, sorry Jamie.
Banks and Oldaker in midfield always worries me but I think Cook and co knew they wouldn?t play through midfield and that?s why he was comfortable dropping Naylor to CB although this doesn?t reflect well on Williams. And like others have said, if Naylor is in CM we probably win the match 1-0.
Actually thought Colclough could?ve done more, he did well but he can do better. Dobs good. Jacobs obviously should?ve had a pen but I?d have started Mandy as I?m sure most people in the stadium would have.
Grigg with excellent movement, battled well against their centre halves, good all round performance.

Dunno what change they made at half time but they severely cut our passing options out from the back. All in all, a promising first match which we should?ve won. Defence looks lovely. On we go.

They seemed to keep a higher line after the break and compress the space between the halfway line and our penalty area. It took 26 minutes before we changed anything of note which was probably my only disappointment. I feel had we made changes 10 minutes or so earlier we might just have broken through before the end as we did start getting on top again as the game wore on.

When teams compress the space like that it tends to highlight our lack of pace up the very top thus limiting the opportunities to drop a ball behind a high line and turn a defence.

However, Cook has indicated we are still in the market and if he can land a couple more gems like the Fulham lad we could be quite a decent outfit for the league.

[Bonnyman]

dtp, on 11 August 2024 - 10:41 AM, said:

They seemed to keep a higher line after the break and compress the space between the halfway line and our penalty area. It took 26 minutes before we changed anything of note which was probably my only disappointment. I feel had we made changes 10 minutes or so earlier we might just have broken through before the end as we did start getting on top again as the game wore on.

When teams compress the space like that it tends to highlight our lack of pace up the very top thus limiting the opportunities to drop a ball behind a high line and turn a defence.

However, Cook has indicated we are still in the market and if he can land a couple more gems like the Fulham lad we could be quite a decent outfit for the league.

Hurray, finally someone gets it, when we play through the thirds , grigg is superb, he finds pockets of space and his movement inside the 18 is excellent, but play against teams that set out to stop us playing it about , press as a unit and force us to go long we have absolutely zilch up top, grigg isn?t a target man never been his game and you could clearly see the difference when quigley came on , the players found it easier to pinpoint him with longer balls, we are crying out for a big centre forward who can hold it up and if he has a bit of pace even better, otherwise we become very one dimensional in our play, for me last season our best performance was against Portsmouth, we played some nice stuff never overplayed was aggressive in our passing, we will need a few more of those type of performances this year.

[dim view]

dtp, on 11 August 2024 - 10:41 AM, said:

Cook has indicated we are still in the market and if he can land a couple more gems like the Fulham lad we could be quite a decent outfit for the league.

Well Cook said post match that he only had a kid to throw on towards the end. That was Drummond, so I think it's a clue as to where he wants to strengthen now that Madden is sidelined.

Also, with that squad playing in those positions, we have nobody on the bench to relieve Banks or Oldaker, which is a weakness.

Then there's the goalie.

[gordon_brittas]

dim view, on 11 August 2024 - 12:34 PM, said:

Well Cook said post match that he only had a kid to throw on towards the end. That was Drummond, so I think it's a clue as to where he wants to strengthen now that Madden is sidelined.

Also, with that squad playing in those positions, we have nobody on the bench to relieve Banks or Oldaker, which is a weakness.

Then there's the goalie.

Anyone know what?s happening with the highly rated goalkeeper from Prescott Cables, I wonder if he may be joining?

[CFC1409]

gordon_brittas, on 11 August 2024 - 12:48 PM, said:

Anyone know what?s happening with the highly rated goalkeeper from Prescott Cables, I wonder if he may be joining?

He put out on his twitter that he's looking for a new club so i think thats dead in the water.

[To the Winchester]

Main negative for me was the lack of banging on this "new drum" I've heard so much about.

We should have won that game comfortably. Boot had nothing to do. We didn't create many clear cut chances but still should have had 3 goals. One incredible save and one referee cost us 3 points.

Positive start I'd say. Apart from the lack of atmosphere. No "we are sailing" and i would have expected a much bigger buzz on our return to the efl.

[Mr Mercury]

To the Winchester, on 11 August 2024 - 01:28 PM, said:

Main negative for me was the lack of banging on this "new drum" I've heard so much about.

We should have won that game comfortably. Boot had nothing to do. We didn't create many clear cut chances but still should have had 3 goals. One incredible save and one referee cost us 3 points.

Positive start I'd say. Apart from the lack of atmosphere. No "we are sailing" and i would have expected a much bigger buzz on our return to the efl.

Maybe not as much time for a beer for a midweek match, different to a few pre match on a Saturday afternoon.

[sophocles]

[quote name='Roussa spireite' timestamp='1723370712' post='1833635']
[quote timestamp='1723366196' post='1833625']
first time seeing us on Friday as id not been to any friendlies.

Boot didn?t do anything wrong but would still prefer Tyrer to return if possible
Full backs both really good, clear

improvement on Horton + Shecks.
Dunkley fantastic, really good signing at this level. Constantly talking, I?d be giving him the armband, sorry Jamie.
Banks and Oldaker in midfield always worries me but I think Cook and co knew they wouldn?t play through midfield and that?s why he was comfortable dropping Naylor to CB although this doesn?t reflect well on Williams. And like others have said, if Naylor is in CM we probably win the match 1-0.
Actually thought Colclough could?ve done more, he did well but he can do better. Dobs good. Jacobs obviously should?ve had a pen but I?d have started Mandy as I?m sure most people in the stadium would have.
Grigg with excellent movement, battled well against their centre halves, good all round performance.

Dunno what change they made at half time but they severely cut our passing options out from the back. All in all, a promising first match which we should?ve won. Defence looks lovely. On we go.

I think this is about right were on the right track! maybe didn't create enough for grigg when we were on top
Very impressed with Dunkley and the full backs


Generally agree with that. I think they flooded midfield more in the second half, so Dobra, Colclough, Banks etc were starved of possession. Cookie eventually did the right thing by getting JQ on so we could bypass midfield, but we haven't worked out yet how to get enough support round the CF when we hit it long. If teams in this League follow Swindon's lead to disrupt our passing game, we need to get better at a more direct style of play. Our new players definitely strengthen us, especially at the back. I agree Dunkley looks excellent, as do the two full/wing backs. However, having had a good look at their goal on the highlights, I would have to pin a lot of the blame on Dunkley, which seems a bit harsh as he generally had a great game. When their goalscorer cleverly beat our player he was still just over the halfway line, so he should never have been allowed to carry the ball that far with no challenge before he got a cracking shot away. It looks to me as if Colclough was close by, and could have tracked back and caught him, but he let him go. The two full backs had players to mark on either side, but Dunkley was in a central position on his own. It looks as if Dunkley could have just taken a couple of steps forward to shut their player down, but he just backed away and almost allowed him to shoot. Maybe he was banking on their defender smashing the ball over the bar, but I'd have liked to see him closing the threat down. I trust in PC to sort it.

This post has been edited by sophocles: 11 August 2024 - 05:09 PM

[Paragon of Virtue]

Bonnyman, on 11 August 2024 - 11:19 AM, said:

Hurray, finally someone gets it, when we play through the thirds , grigg is superb, he finds pockets of space and his movement inside the 18 is excellent, but play against teams that set out to stop us playing it about , press as a unit and force us to go long we have absolutely zilch up top, grigg isn?t a target man never been his game and you could clearly see the difference when quigley came on , the players found it easier to pinpoint him with longer balls, we are crying out for a big centre forward who can hold it up and if he has a bit of pace even better, otherwise we become very one dimensional in our play, for me last season our best performance was against Portsmouth, we played some nice stuff never overplayed was aggressive in our passing, we will need a few more of those type of performances this year.

Grigg was exceptional in that Portsmouth game

[Blue roan lily]

Goku, on 11 August 2024 - 08:49 AM, said:

first time seeing us on Friday as id not been to any friendlies.

Boot didn?t do anything wrong but would still prefer Tyrer to return if possible
Full backs both really good, clear improvement on Horton + Shecks.
Dunkley fantastic, really good signing at this level. Constantly talking, I?d be giving him the armband, sorry Jamie.
Banks and Oldaker in midfield always worries me but I think Cook and co knew they wouldn?t play through midfield and that?s why he was comfortable dropping Naylor to CB although this doesn?t reflect well on Williams. And like others have said, if Naylor is in CM we probably win the match 1-0.
Actually thought Colclough could?ve done more, he did well but he can do better. Dobs good. Jacobs obviously should?ve had a pen but I?d have started Mandy as I?m sure most people in the stadium would have.
Grigg with excellent movement, battled well against their centre halves, good all round performance.

Dunno what change they made at half time but they severely cut our passing options out from the back. All in all, a promising first match which we should?ve won. Defence looks lovely. On we go.

I thought Gordon was exceptional
Looked a class act

[prolurker]

sophocles, on 11 August 2024 - 05:06 PM, said:

Generally agree with that. I think they flooded midfield more in the second half, so Dobra, Colclough, Banks etc were starved of possession. Cookie eventually did the right thing by getting JQ on so we could bypass midfield, but we haven't worked out yet how to get enough support round the CF when we hit it long. If teams in this League follow Swindon's lead to disrupt our passing game, we need to get better at a more direct style of play. Our new players definitely strengthen us, especially at the back. I agree Dunkley looks excellent, as do the two full/wing backs. However, having had a good look at their goal on the highlights, I would have to pin a lot of the blame on Dunkley, which seems a bit harsh as he generally had a great game. When their goalscorer cleverly beat our player he was still just over the halfway line, so he should never have been allowed to carry the ball that far with no challenge before he got a cracking shot away. It looks to me as if Colclough was close by, and could have tracked back and caught him, but he let him go. The two full backs had players to mark on either side, but Dunkley was in a central position on his own. It looks as if Dunkley could have just taken a couple of steps forward to shut their player down, but he just backed away and almost allowed him to shoot. Maybe he was banking on their defender smashing the ball over the bar, but I'd have liked to see him closing the threat down. I trust in PC to sort it.

If there is a culprit (not sure there?s much as it?s a fluke worldie) but I?d primarily go with Jacob?s, couldn?t get anywhere near him after he?d skinned DJ and just let him wonder through to shooting range.

[danblue]

prolurker, on 11 August 2024 - 06:13 PM, said:

If there is a culprit (not sure there?s much as it?s a fluke worldie) but I?d primarily go with Jacob?s, couldn?t get anywhere near him after he?d skinned DJ and just let him wonder through to shooting range.

Thought Jacobs was close enough to 'take one for the team' and up end him 🤷‍♂️

[1978blue]

danblue, on 11 August 2024 - 06:30 PM, said:

Thought Jacobs was close enough to 'take one for the team' and up end him 🤷‍♂️

Exactly my thoughts!!

[DIFH]

Walton Spireite, on 11 August 2024 - 08:54 AM, said:

Well Goku we don't very often see eye to eye but I agree with all of the above.

How do you both see their goal seeing as you say they weren?t going to threaten down the middle.