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Post by localboy86 on Dec 12, 2018 11:25:47 GMT
So Saturday’s match against Solihull brought up the halfway mark in our league season (hard to believe). After 23 games we currently sit eighth on 37 points (just a couple of points off the last play-off spot).
How’s everyone enjoying this season then? We’re maintaining this excellent record against the other sides in the top ten where we are still unbeaten in-fact. Having strengthened the defence in pre-season we appear to be a tough side to beat with only four losses do so far - three of those by a single goal margin. Particularly of late however we seem to be the divisions draw specialists recording five draws from our last seven league games.
The biggest blow for us this season was surely losing Tommy Wright to that season-ending injury at Orient - who knows how many more points we might be on now had that incident not happened.
Here’s to the second half of the season..
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Post by steveo77 on Dec 12, 2018 11:37:16 GMT
i think if you had said 37 points after 23 games at the beginning of the season I think most people would have accepted that. we would definitely have been in the play off places if Tommy Wright not got injured I think. With 10 draws it is obvious we have just lacked someone able to score winning goals.
not sure that all the travelling involved in the Scottish Cup was particularly helpful - i think the problem was that there are so many early season fixtures in this league anyway.
I think the main disappointment for me is the lack of home form. hopefully that can be sorted out for the Christmas fixtures!
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Post by Andy K on Dec 12, 2018 11:51:14 GMT
It's funny to think that after all the talk about lacking strikers, on the table of number of goals scored we currently sit 7th, whilst in terms of number of goals conceded we sit 12th. Personally I think that actually we need to tighten up a little at the back to progress higher - we've let in some very late goals or slack ones (Dover, Chesterfield and Braintree spring to mind).
But saying that, with the resources we have we're in a very good position. There's only 3 teams in the division that have lost less games than we have and our record against the top sides in the league is second to none! And every team in the league will have a blip in the season, and I strongly believe we've had ours in November. There's a hell of a lot to be positive about for us this season!
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Post by cheshire on Dec 12, 2018 12:20:30 GMT
With 37 points at the half way stage the team is therefore on schedule for a 74 point finish. I took a look at the final League table over the last 10 seasons. 74 points would have been good enough in 5 of those seasons over the last decade to achieve 6th place (and 8th place in 4 of the other 5). The team is performing well given part time status and a relatively small squad. A solid 2nd half of the season and there's no reason not to believe a good finish is possible.
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Post by Stewart on Dec 12, 2018 12:48:26 GMT
I believe all the fans that went to Dublin and Glasgow will say it has been a season we will never forget. Hopefully we will have a run in the FA Trophy and a push for the play-offs in the New Year.
Lots to play for in the coming weeks.
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Post by baboonfish on Dec 12, 2018 15:18:54 GMT
It's funny to think that after all the talk about lacking strikers, on the table of number of goals scored we currently sit 7th, whilst in terms of number of goals conceded we sit 12th. Personally I think that actually we need to tighten up a little at the back to progress higher - we've let in some very late goals or slack ones (Dover, Chesterfield and Braintree spring to mind). But saying that, with the resources we have we're in a very good position. There's only 3 teams in the division that have lost less games than we have and our record against the top sides in the league is second to none! And every team in the league will have a blip in the season, and I strongly believe we've had ours in November. There's a hell of a lot to be positive about for us this season! But how far down the GC chart have we fallen since Clough / Collins CB pairing was no longer a given when both available? I'd be very interested to know what our minutes per goal conceded is with those two at CB if there are any stattos out there. The Clough CF/CB debate is one that could rage for the rest of the season as I don't see another CF coming in any time soon. My preference is very much for Clough at CB when available, and now we have Pearce in and around the first team if I was making the decisions I would let Beckwith go to free up funds to bring in a target man. Dean really hasnt let us down at all when called on but the sad fact is his hammy cant take the rigors of week in week out football. Craig will always work hard for the team and is obviously a legend and great to have in and around the club but he's going to struggle to produce against the quality of defences in this league so looks more like a bit part player, meaning as we are it does very much look like Clough is first choice up front at the moment.
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Post by Del on Dec 12, 2018 15:24:35 GMT
It's funny to think that after all the talk about lacking strikers, on the table of number of goals scored we currently sit 7th, whilst in terms of number of goals conceded we sit 12th. Personally I think that actually we need to tighten up a little at the back to progress higher - we've let in some very late goals or slack ones (Dover, Chesterfield and Braintree spring to mind). But saying that, with the resources we have we're in a very good position. There's only 3 teams in the division that have lost less games than we have and our record against the top sides in the league is second to none! And every team in the league will have a blip in the season, and I strongly believe we've had ours in November. There's a hell of a lot to be positive about for us this season! But how far down the GC chart have we fallen since Clough / Collins CB pairing was no longer a given when both available? I'd be very interested to know what our minutes per goal conceded is with those two at CB if there are any stattos out there. The Clough CF/CB debate is one that could rage for the rest of the season as I don't see another CF coming in any time soon. My preference is very much for Clough at CB when available, and now we have Pearce in and around the first team if I was making the decisions I would let Beckwith go to free up funds to bring in a target man. Dean really hasnt let us down at all when called on but the sad fact is his hammy cant take the rigors of week in week out football. Craig will always work hard for the team and is obviously a legend and great to have in and around the club but he's going to struggle to produce against the quality of defences in this league so looks more like a bit part player, meaning as we are it does very much look like Clough is first choice up front at the moment. Really. I doubt he will start up front for a while as we change back to a fast passing attacking side.
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Post by Andy K on Dec 12, 2018 15:45:14 GMT
It's funny to think that after all the talk about lacking strikers, on the table of number of goals scored we currently sit 7th, whilst in terms of number of goals conceded we sit 12th. Personally I think that actually we need to tighten up a little at the back to progress higher - we've let in some very late goals or slack ones (Dover, Chesterfield and Braintree spring to mind). But saying that, with the resources we have we're in a very good position. There's only 3 teams in the division that have lost less games than we have and our record against the top sides in the league is second to none! And every team in the league will have a blip in the season, and I strongly believe we've had ours in November. There's a hell of a lot to be positive about for us this season! But how far down the GC chart have we fallen since Clough / Collins CB pairing was no longer a given when both available? I'd be very interested to know what our minutes per goal conceded is with those two at CB if there are any stattos out there. The Clough CF/CB debate is one that could rage for the rest of the season as I don't see another CF coming in any time soon. My preference is very much for Clough at CB when available, and now we have Pearce in and around the first team if I was making the decisions I would let Beckwith go to free up funds to bring in a target man. Dean really hasnt let us down at all when called on but the sad fact is his hammy cant take the rigors of week in week out football. Craig will always work hard for the team and is obviously a legend and great to have in and around the club but he's going to struggle to produce against the quality of defences in this league so looks more like a bit part player, meaning as we are it does very much look like Clough is first choice up front at the moment. Not a statto at all, but Clough has only played a couple of games for us as an out and out striker (Braintree away was certainly one) - other times we've pushed him up further in the game. So perhaps out of those 23 league games there were 3 which he played up front? But aside from Beckwith, we've also had Aswad at centre back for a couple of games (which he did brilliantly at), Bailey in the full back positions etc. When you have a squad the size of ours you have to adapt, and the whole Billericay "4 good players for every position" approach, it won't work for us to be sustainable. Having a back up CB as Beckwith has been for us this season is however vital I think because as we've seen our CB's are not immune from injury and red cards (to which Collins has had both).
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tonyd
1st team Player
Posts: 1,494
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Post by tonyd on Dec 12, 2018 16:10:07 GMT
It’s been fantastic so far. We’ve been comfortably top half all season and had the excitement of the IrnBru as well. We are starting to see young players come through the ranks. The future is bright (and amber and chocolate).
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Post by baboonfish on Dec 12, 2018 16:10:11 GMT
But how far down the GC chart have we fallen since Clough / Collins CB pairing was no longer a given when both available? I'd be very interested to know what our minutes per goal conceded is with those two at CB if there are any stattos out there. The Clough CF/CB debate is one that could rage for the rest of the season as I don't see another CF coming in any time soon. My preference is very much for Clough at CB when available, and now we have Pearce in and around the first team if I was making the decisions I would let Beckwith go to free up funds to bring in a target man. Dean really hasnt let us down at all when called on but the sad fact is his hammy cant take the rigors of week in week out football. Craig will always work hard for the team and is obviously a legend and great to have in and around the club but he's going to struggle to produce against the quality of defences in this league so looks more like a bit part player, meaning as we are it does very much look like Clough is first choice up front at the moment. Really. I doubt he will start up front for a while as we change back to a fast passing attacking side. Dos will 100% play either Craig or Charlie up top for most away games, especially on heavier pitches (so quite possibly not at Bromley). Having a bigger lad up front doesnt mean the ball HAS to get lumped to them (although with Charlie it tends to be). Sometimes playing with only quick strikers will work (more often at home in theory) but sometimes it wont. The main thing is that the ball sticks and that there is a viable ball out of defence under pressure, whether thats to the head of a target man or in the channels to the likes of Jonah or McQueen. Andy I realise its not just A or B with the CB pairings, but I am certainly not alone in thinking Clough/Collins is our best combo and I wager it would be bourne out with stats of minutes per goal with that pairing and without. Obviously we cant have 4 players for every position and Dos has to compromise, its merely my opinion that one such compromise would be to let Dean go and bring in a physical forward as Pearce is now in the squad and Thomas can play at CB.
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Post by Andy K on Dec 12, 2018 17:07:25 GMT
Really. I doubt he will start up front for a while as we change back to a fast passing attacking side. Dos will 100% play either Craig or Charlie up top for most away games, especially on heavier pitches (so quite possibly not at Bromley). Having a bigger lad up front doesnt mean the ball HAS to get lumped to them (although with Charlie it tends to be). Sometimes playing with only quick strikers will work (more often at home in theory) but sometimes it wont. The main thing is that the ball sticks and that there is a viable ball out of defence under pressure, whether thats to the head of a target man or in the channels to the likes of Jonah or McQueen. Andy I realise its not just A or B with the CB pairings, but I am certainly not alone in thinking Clough/Collins is our best combo and I wager it would be bourne out with stats of minutes per goal with that pairing and without. Obviously we cant have 4 players for every position and Dos has to compromise, its merely my opinion that one such compromise would be to let Dean go and bring in a physical forward as Pearce is now in the squad and Thomas can play at CB. I'd say given that combo pretty much were in place for the first month of the season until Collins got sent off, I imagine the manager thinks it's the strongest too! I do worry a little that young, inexperienced players sometimes have a bit too much pressure put on them. Brad looks like a fine prospect for sure, but he's 2/3 games into his first team senior career, and scoring at Fylde may come back to bite him when fans expectations pile on that pressure!
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oohaah
Top Performer
Posts: 3,073
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Post by oohaah on Dec 12, 2018 17:29:02 GMT
Brad looks like a fine prospect for sure, but he's 2/3 games into his first team senior career, and scoring at Fylde may come back to bite him when fans expectations pile on that pressure! Brad was in the right place at the right time at Fylde, and well done to him for that, but he's been brought into the team to do a job at CB and I'd be surprised if anybody thinks we are going to get a hat full of goals out of him.
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jr
1st team skipper
Posts: 2,164
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Post by jr on Dec 12, 2018 21:56:35 GMT
Well he won’t be playing Craig as he’s returned on loan to Hampton for the rest of the season
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Post by os on Dec 13, 2018 0:10:57 GMT
Overall we can't grumble about being 7th at the halfway point of the season, given the resources and the teams in and around us. However I don't support our club to be also ran's in any league we play in, I want to win every match and every title, and every cup, except the SSC which doesn't bother me at all (I will get told off for that one).
We are like a talented kid at grammar school, from a poor background, yes he has done well to get there, but his talent suggests he can do better. For me that means scoring more regularly, and turning a number of those draws into wins, that would have right up on the coat tails of the top 3. I said before Cloughlie is a defender first and foremost, not the answer upfront, something we are still searching for.
Brad has come in and made a good impression, and we have other youngsters within the side or set to make the step up. A lot will depend on how quick they learn, if we don't have the resources to go out and buy ready made players of the quality we need at this level. I have high hopes for Jonah, coming back at getting double figures for us. The jury is very much out on how our season will go from here.
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Post by VCLXI on Dec 13, 2018 0:15:24 GMT
Aren't we 8th?
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