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Post by Amber Aleman on Oct 26, 2019 19:39:36 GMT
There comes a point where you have to stop saying the team played well but were unlucky, and start admitting that game management is poor. Opinions will differ, but I think that point has now been reached. For the third home match in a row we were the better side but failed to win. Ebbsfleet were (by NL standards) a poor team who played the final fifteen minutes with an uncertain-looking outfield player in goal. Rather than capitalising on that it was us who conceded a decisive and avoidable third goal. We now sit fourth from bottom, and relegation is looking more likely than survival next spring.
Matt made the point on Thursday that our record at defending corners this season is pretty good. I haven't seen any stats for free kicks, but I suspect that they make less happy reading. Last Saturday we conceded a very late equaliser from a fk, and Billericay's first goal on Tuesday stemmed from one. Once again today we gave away a fk in a dangerous position, the ball ending up in our net via a post and Jamie Butler.
David Ajiboye scored a terrific equaliser to bring us level at half-time, only for us to go behind again, ironically from a corner. We dealt with the initial threat but Kenny Davis could then only clear the ball to Ebbsfeet's Josh Payne, in space, who lobbed home. We did then enjoy our best spell of the game, Omar Bugiel bagging a second equaliser from one of our corners. With their only keeper having to go off injured after 84 minutes of play, and with nine minutes of stoppage time added, the game looked ours for the taking. But in the final minute they broke, Dan Matsuzaka committing a foul near the halfway line. We should have been able to deal with a fk from that distance, but Omar chose to manhandle their player in the box and a penalty was duly awarded and converted.
We were missing Collins, Eastmond and Bolarinwa today, while Ben Goodliffe limped off just before the final whistle, so it could be a makeshift defence on Tuesday evening when Halifax visit. They lost 5-0 at Bromley this afternoon but did finish the game with ten men, and I'm not reading too much into that result.
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Post by Andy K on Oct 26, 2019 20:39:45 GMT
Time for Matt Gray to go now. Leaving Dundas on the bench bad enough but dropping Jamie Collins from teh squad is a stupid decision. Wouldn't be surprised if he went to Havant now. I'm not sure if Collins was injured. He was last Saturday although he did play on Tues, he didn't look quite right, so perhaps he wasn't fit to play.
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Post by garethl on Oct 26, 2019 20:43:12 GMT
You’d certainly say on balance we were a little unfortunate when looking at today’s match in isolation. Just a moment before the penalty their own player smacked a header off their post. Small margins.
What you’d also say is our horrific run of form puts extra pressure on these types of games. If we’re not picking up points you can’t really afford to have one at home against the bottom club go against the run of the green. We’re in big trouble. The next couple of months don’t exactly look that inviting fixture list wise. We’re going to have to show some guts, stick together and try and get some confidence back. It’s a big miss not having JC in the line up so hope he is back soon.
I wouldn’t be adverse to having a look at our other keeper on Tuesday.
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Post by guildrover on Oct 26, 2019 22:14:48 GMT
I have no issue with Matt but feel the lack of experience he has plus choosing an assistant as equally inexperienced was a mistake.
If he had a more experienced head next to him I feel some of these last minute draws/defeats wouldn't be occurring as they'd know what to do to see out the match.
It reminds me of my local team Ipswich last season when I kept hearing on the radio and from those who attended matches how they had played well but had just lost or couldn't turn draws into victories and they ended up getting relegated. The players were putting in the effort but as a collective they just weren't good enough for the level having brought in a manager inexperienced at that level who brought in players from the the league or two below.
I feel our best XI is good enough for this level however we don't have enough strength in depth which means when we have injuries we are in trouble.
There is no point complaining about injuries as every single club will feel the same at some point in a season. There is also no point complaining about the amount of games at the start of the season as that is just the competition we are in and we know that is the case and have to be prepared for it.
I said before if we didn't get results against Fylde (postponed) Billericay (draw and comprehensive defeat) and Ebbsfleet (last minute defeat) then questions over Matt's tenure would be justified as we're coming up to the half way mark of the season so a fair assessment can be made.
We can all see what the issues are yet the same things keep happening again and again. Matt needs to have answers/solutions for them as that is his job and the excuses don't wash any more.
It isn't bad luck to be unable to defend last minute free kicks, it isn't bad luck to give away stupid penalties and it isn't bad luck to miss the target so often when in good shooting positions.
We have Halifax, Barrow, Torquay and Bromley as our next four matches so it doesn't get any easier for Matt but he needs to start getting victories, especially at home, starting on Tuesday night against a team I feel is in a false position (they only have 7 points from 18 compared to our 4 from 18).
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Post by chocolamber on Oct 26, 2019 22:34:01 GMT
I agree with most of the above. I don’t feel that Gray has the ability to motivate the players and he has displayed very little skill when it comes to managing the game once it’s started. Somebody more cynical than me has referred to him as ‘talentless’ and an ‘oaf’, and I can’t say that I disagree with that. The sooner he’s gone, the better for the U’s, otherwise it’s surely relegation this season.
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Post by guildrover on Oct 26, 2019 22:40:13 GMT
I have no idea who the other candidates were and Matt was highly rated by Dos and Dos has even said himself he recommended Matt to the board for the role.
A more experienced manager would no doubt cost more meaning less money going to the squad as more would be going into their pocket and we have no evidence a more experienced manager would be doing better with the given resources.
Ernie Howe was a much more experienced manager than Ian Hazel for instance and he also had a fighting fund at his disposal, funded by supporters at the time, which Hazel didn't and yet he was still awful. The only good thing he did IMO was bring Craig Dundas to the club.
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billy
1st team skipper
Posts: 2,626
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Post by billy on Oct 26, 2019 23:13:42 GMT
The Manager had no chance from the off.He is following a millionaire property developer who worked for nothing and pumped bundles of his own dosh into the club.As if that were not enough there was also the great cup run culminating in the Arsenal game.Surely one of the reasons he left was that he knew he'd taken it as far as it could possibly go.
Now the new man is trying to pick up the pieces and getting loads of (uncalled for) abuse for his trouble.
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Post by pinewalker on Oct 26, 2019 23:40:33 GMT
I think the board were surprised at Dos leaving during the season and only too happy to take Dos' recommendation that Matt, already at the club, be given the reins. For a rookie manager he made a bold decision - to off-load the core of the team he inherited and bring in new players. To be fair - he has been let down by below par performances and injuries affecting more the players he retained than those he brought in.
Today's bright spots were the discovery that in David we have got a player who can shoot hard and straight while running at goal, and the all round game of Omar except the penalty he conceded. The problems were a shaky back four and a goalkeeper who is off form. Plus one thing that makes you wonder what is done in training: all our corner kicks were over hit, landing beyond the far post - save one hit low to the near post enabling Omar to fire in off the keeper.
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Post by Andy K on Oct 27, 2019 0:42:08 GMT
Pretty obvious from Thursday and meet the manager that MG isn't getting sacked or resigning anytime soon.
Whether that pleases or disappoints any of you isn't the salient point. It's just the impression I and I expect others got from that meeting. Calling for his head isn't going to change that.
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Post by halftimet on Oct 27, 2019 8:40:18 GMT
I expect very little to change.
I think the club are struggling to finance the expense of being in the National League. They have a budget for players and we probably close to that threshold so no new faces to come in. We have lost a benefactor in Dos and are now paying a manager. The Manager and squad may not be good enough to keep us up, and yes it is disapppinting we are not winning but I am getting used to that scenario now. If we cannot beat teams around us at home then what hope can we have?
There is only a small pool of supporters who will routinely get behind club initiatives and I would suspect none of them are millionaires. I also suspect we are closer to Amber 200 than 500. We even looked to bring in new directors to raise some income.
I am sure the club will not say this but for financial reasons they will not be concerned about being relegated this season should that happens as we can be competitive in the 6th tier.
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Post by Del on Oct 27, 2019 8:50:51 GMT
I expect very little to change. I think the club are struggling to finance the expense of being in the National League. They have a budget for players and we probably close to that threshold so no new faces to come in. We have lost a benefactor in Dos and are now paying a manager. The Manager and squad may not be good enough to keep us up, and yes it is disapppinting we are not winning but I am getting used to that scenario now. If we cannot beat teams around us at home then what hope can we have? There is only a small pool of supporters who will routinely get behind club initiatives and I would suspect none of them are millionaires. I also suspect we are closer to Amber 200 than 500. We even looked to bring in new directors to raise some income. I am sure the club will not say this but for financial reasons they will not be concerned about being relegated this season should that happens as we can be competitive in the 6th tier. Much of which you say is true except for the last paragraph. The club would very much like to stay in this tier and play the top teams and they will do what they can to try and keep us there.
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Post by ganderpoke on Oct 27, 2019 9:01:41 GMT
I'm sure all the teams currently in the bottom four would like to stay in this league but I suspect that rather like Chorley there is little we can do but hope the current manager and players can turn things around. We were undone yesterday by silly errors from Jamie and Omar but there was still some sloppy passing and poor decision making which didn't help. Like many sides we've seen, Ebbsfleet made some neat passing moves at times so I wouldn't call them a poor team. I just shows the standard which we must match and rise above if we don't want to be playing NLS football next season.
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Post by Amber Aleman on Oct 27, 2019 18:13:14 GMT
The match stats accompanying today's NLP report make rather sober reading. Ebbsfleet had three shots on target and (assuming the penalty and free kick are included) scored from all of them. We scored from two of five on-target attempts. They had one corner in the entire game and scored from it. We had thirteen and scored from one of them.
Of course stats only tell you so much. But they do suggest that there's still work to do on our set pieces.
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Post by os on Oct 27, 2019 19:02:06 GMT
As much as I support Matt, and what happened yesterday and last Saturday are things that happen in matches, its why we love the game so much, more so when it goes our way. But the cold hard reality is we have conceded 8 goals in 2 matches, that isn't unlucky its just poor defending. We have also scored 4 but on a shot to goal ratio of about 10-1 and that is just bad finishing.
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billy
1st team skipper
Posts: 2,626
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Post by billy on Oct 27, 2019 19:08:00 GMT
Sutton United should start by finding a goalkeeper.Preferably someone of six foot plus who can command the area or at the very least collect a few crosses from corners and free kicks.
He should also be someone who does not keep getting caught in no mans land so that opponents can knock or lob the ball over him into an empty net.
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