markf
Top Performer
Posts: 3,316
|
Post by markf on Dec 18, 2022 14:15:39 GMT
We opted for the bus to Stratford. Took ten or so minutes.
Had to wait for about five minutes for Jubilee Line but got held up at London Bridge on Northern Line.
Reckon we did the right thing using the bus as getting on at Leyton would not have been easy or comfortable
|
|
|
Post by Amber Aleman on Dec 18, 2022 15:28:24 GMT
I was lucky with the Central line, getting to Leyton station fairly sharpish and having to wait only a few minutes for a train. Managed to squeeze on to that, hopped off at Stratford, and went on to the wonderfullly restored Boleyn Tavern, close to the site of West Ham's former stadium. The three spectators who joined me later were less fortunate, arriving at the pub 30-45 minutes after I got there. 🙄 One other member of our party had left Brisbane Road straight after the second goal and had a fairly easy journey.
|
|
|
Post by Del on Dec 18, 2022 19:27:19 GMT
We opted for the bus to Stratford. Took ten or so minutes. Had to wait for about five minutes for Jubilee Line but got held up at London Bridge on Northern Line. Reckon we did the right thing using the bus as getting on at Leyton would not have been easy or comfortable You certainly did do the right thing there. Packed in like a sardine at Leyton!
|
|
|
Post by suttonpodcast on Dec 18, 2022 20:13:00 GMT
May regret giving this info......
When you are at these types on things, get the tube the wrong direction for 1-2 stops. Adds 10-15 mins to journey but you generally get a seat.
|
|
|
Post by Del on Dec 18, 2022 20:39:36 GMT
May regret giving this info...... When you are at these types on things, get the tube the wrong direction for 1-2 stops. Adds 10-15 mins to journey but you generally get a seat. Funny you should say that and it did cross my mind. The problem was that tubes going the other way were also full and running every 15 mins and it we got a seat i'm not sure how easy it would have been to get off the train!
|
|
|
Post by pinewalker on Dec 18, 2022 21:15:04 GMT
I have been saying we have problems upfront since the pre-season friendlies to one form of ridicule or another on here, but today it was plain to see. OS, apart from the die-hard loyal supporter who will hear no negative comments, it has been abundantly clear that we have a striker (goal scorer) problem. That is very different to pointing fingers at our strikers as if they are the problem… In my (admittedly) amateur opinion, we do not play to our strikers strengths. Donovan is not a target man. Omar is only effective if he is flicking on to a striker who can play off of that. It is pointless us breaking forward if the runners are not running into channels where they know the ball is going to be played - or, if the strikers are, the balls are not getting there. As I said, I’m no expert, but from the terrace it looks to me as if we are just not executing these game plans correctly or have no game plan for our strikers at all. The fact is, we have not had a regular goal scorer since Dan Fitchett, which is now six years and counting. Mind you, that hasn’t stopped us having ridiculous cup runs and a major promotion… It may be an amateur opinion but your assessment is fair. We have not had the wealth of stats at League 2 level for very long, so when I say our pass accuracy at 50% in this match is the worst I can recall seeing, that does not go back far. Nevertheless it is a shocking statistic, every other pass going out of play or to an opponent. You make the point that our players are not making runs into channels - but players lose the will to make the runs if they think that half the time they need to get back to a 'without the ball position'.
|
|
|
Post by os on Dec 18, 2022 23:50:42 GMT
What I would add is that we don't tend to rely on a prolific striker, most of our success in recent years has come from the likes of Roarie Deacon and David Ajiboye who play just behind. I think we are missing a player who is going to run at defences and pull defenders towards them.
When I look at Donny, I see a player that can finish, but apart from Northampton he has rarely had the time and space to get a decent shot in.
|
|
|
Post by Andy K on Dec 19, 2022 14:41:39 GMT
Anyone would think we don't have Will Randall (albeit he didn't have his best game on Saturday)
I'm not going to get on the teams back for losing 2-0 at the league leaders where their goals came from a mistake but needed a stunning finish, and a freak own goal. That was all that divided the sides.
There's no one here who doesn't realise that scoring is an issue. There are some who blame individuals. I find that wholly incorrect. We've got 6 on the books, and all of them are having the same problem, including 2 established ones. Whilst we may have individual thoughts on the talents we have, they're all suffereing with the same issue. To me, that's an issue with the system rather the individuals. And therefore "signing a striker" in January probably isn't going to solve that if the underlying issues are not resolved. I think a lot of that has been due to the injuries we've had, especially in the middle of the park.
Remember we've got a full squad and the smallest budget in the league. Any incoming players would need to be unestablished at this level, cheap (or free) and either U21 or we'd need to terminate contracts/send players out on loan probably against their will. There will be little available on the market for players that are not in contract, so even if the issue, naievely, is "get a striker", January isn't going to be the time for that type of signing without spending money we probably can't afford. And then of course if that player gets injured, we're in trouble.
Whilst I acknowlegde again the issues we have scoring goals, there has to be a dose of realism. And the realise is really get behind as much as we can with what we've got. We're not going to go down this year and we're not Gillingham, who have scored more than 3 times less in the league than we have. In terms of where we sit in the "goals scored table" there are 5 teams below us. But also (and this isn't talked about much) in the goals conceded table, there are 5 teams below us.
|
|
|
Post by davethegrave on Dec 19, 2022 16:32:50 GMT
Refresh my memory. Who is the striker and who is the international winger? Charley Kendall and Luke Gambin. Thank you. I like Charley what I've seen of him. Maybe we can keep him in lieu of one or two others. We've got too many forward options. Maybe one of them could be converted to a centre back.
|
|
|
Post by Del on Dec 19, 2022 16:47:23 GMT
Anyone would think we don't have Will Randall (albeit he didn't have his best game on Saturday) I'm not going to get on the teams back for losing 2-0 at the league leaders where their goals came from a mistake but needed a stunning finish, and a freak own goal. That was all that divided the sides. There's no one here who doesn't realise that scoring is an issue. There are some who blame individuals. I find that wholly incorrect. We've got 6 on the books, and all of them are having the same problem, including 2 established ones. Whilst we may have individual thoughts on the talents we have, they're all suffereing with the same issue. To me, that's an issue with the system rather the individuals. And therefore "signing a striker" in January probably isn't going to solve that if the underlying issues are not resolved. I think a lot of that has been due to the injuries we've had, especially in the middle of the park. Remember we've got a full squad and the smallest budget in the league. Any incoming players would need to be unestablished at this level, cheap (or free) and either U21 or we'd need to terminate contracts/send players out on loan probably against their will. There will be little available on the market for players that are not in contract, so even if the issue, naievely, is "get a striker", January isn't going to be the time for that type of signing without spending money we probably can't afford. And then of course if that player gets injured, we're in trouble. Whilst I acknowlegde again the issues we have scoring goals, there has to be a dose of realism. And the realise is really get behind as much as we can with what we've got. We're not going to go down this year and we're not Gillingham, who have scored more than 3 times less in the league than we have. In terms of where we sit in the "goals scored table" there are 5 teams below us. But also (and this isn't talked about much) in the goals conceded table, there are 5 teams below us. Just a small point i know but you say we have the smallest budget in the league. Just wondered how you know that .
|
|
|
Post by Andy K on Dec 19, 2022 18:16:18 GMT
Anyone would think we don't have Will Randall (albeit he didn't have his best game on Saturday) I'm not going to get on the teams back for losing 2-0 at the league leaders where their goals came from a mistake but needed a stunning finish, and a freak own goal. That was all that divided the sides. There's no one here who doesn't realise that scoring is an issue. There are some who blame individuals. I find that wholly incorrect. We've got 6 on the books, and all of them are having the same problem, including 2 established ones. Whilst we may have individual thoughts on the talents we have, they're all suffereing with the same issue. To me, that's an issue with the system rather the individuals. And therefore "signing a striker" in January probably isn't going to solve that if the underlying issues are not resolved. I think a lot of that has been due to the injuries we've had, especially in the middle of the park. Remember we've got a full squad and the smallest budget in the league. Any incoming players would need to be unestablished at this level, cheap (or free) and either U21 or we'd need to terminate contracts/send players out on loan probably against their will. There will be little available on the market for players that are not in contract, so even if the issue, naievely, is "get a striker", January isn't going to be the time for that type of signing without spending money we probably can't afford. And then of course if that player gets injured, we're in trouble. Whilst I acknowlegde again the issues we have scoring goals, there has to be a dose of realism. And the realise is really get behind as much as we can with what we've got. We're not going to go down this year and we're not Gillingham, who have scored more than 3 times less in the league than we have. In terms of where we sit in the "goals scored table" there are 5 teams below us. But also (and this isn't talked about much) in the goals conceded table, there are 5 teams below us. Just a small point i know but you say we have the smallest budget in the league. Just wondered how you know that . It's an esitmation. Without going through every clubs accounts, there's no evidence to suggest otherwise. In terms of attendances, which will provide the majority of the playing budget, we're currently the 2nd lowest in the league. Only Harrogate are lower but they have rich backers that have bankrolled the club into the league. With SCMP (Salary cost manaagement protocol, the EFL L1&2 version of FFP) which I believe in one form of another is in place, the amount we can spend on players (including wages, agents fees, transfer fees etc) is a percentage of turnover. The majority of our turnover is from people paying to come in, then it makes sense. Add into that the amount of money needed to remove the pitch last season and the building works we had to do (plus the planning for the upcoming building works we have to do) and not having rich benifactors bankrolling us, it's pretty impossible to think of any other side that would have a smaller budget.
|
|
|
Post by Del on Dec 19, 2022 18:45:20 GMT
Just a small point i know but you say we have the smallest budget in the league. Just wondered how you know that . It's an esitmation. Without going through every clubs accounts, there's no evidence to suggest otherwise. In terms of attendances, which will provide the majority of the playing budget, we're currently the 2nd lowest in the league. Only Harrogate are lower but they have rich backers that have bankrolled the club into the league. With SCMP (Salary cost manaagement protocol, the EFL L1&2 version of FFP) which I believe in one form of another is in place, the amount we can spend on players (including wages, agents fees, transfer fees etc) is a percentage of turnover. The majority of our turnover is from people paying to come in, then it makes sense. Add into that the amount of money needed to remove the pitch last season and the building works we had to do (plus the planning for the upcoming building works we have to do) and not having rich benifactors bankrolling us, it's pretty impossible to think of any other side that would have a smaller budget. It may well be Barrow from what i read.
|
|
|
Post by Andy K on Dec 19, 2022 22:30:07 GMT
It's possible Del, but they've not had the outgoings we've had and they've had higher crowds.
Of course they also may have higher wages!
|
|
|
Post by Big Al on Dec 20, 2022 7:28:45 GMT
I guess that’s rather the point Del is making isn’t it? It’s fair to assume that our income is limited compared to others based on the size of our home gates but we have no idea what others pay their playing staff/ admin teams/ ground staff etc. Of course we have had to outlay significant expenditure to bring GGL up to league standards. But My guess - and it is a complete guess - is that many others will have significantly more outlay than us.
Fact is we just don’t know so don’t think we should keep using this line about us having lowest budget in the division.
|
|
|
Post by sufc18 on Dec 20, 2022 8:03:51 GMT
Surely total budget is not so relevant to this discussion as the amount of the total that is allocated to players salaries? And we can only guess from the recruitment that was made in the summer that it is pretty tight? Hopefully once other budget commitments such as ground improvements are complete, we can then allocate more of the total to players.
|
|