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Post by Amber Aleman on Apr 10, 2023 20:12:50 GMT
What we saw today (and on Friday) was the difference between a top-third side and one in the middle third. Their use of the ball was just crisper than ours.
We missed Craig today, and had he been playing he might have cut out the crossfield run and pass that led to their opening goal. The penalty award was a lifeline for us to get back into the game. Maybe Lee Angol felt he had a point to prove by taking it himself. Having shown that confidence, he needed to convert. He didn't. From that point on, one felt, the game was lost.
We've now won only once in eight games. The season does seem to be petering out, but there are big matches coming up in which our players can demonstrate their worth. A top-ten finish is not a target to be dismissed.
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Post by os on Apr 10, 2023 22:29:40 GMT
As I said on Friday the team look tired and leggy, Craig missing today along with Will Randall who has not regained his pre injury form. Harry doesn't look the same player he was at the start of the season and without those 3 in good form you are going to struggle, along with the all season issue of getting some form of forward partnership going.
We are going to need 2/3 players in the summer to hold our position and maybe challenge for a PO spot next season, 3/4 to make a real fist of promotion. If we don't make any significant signings and suffer a few injuries we could get sucked downwards.
(Yes I know its great being in EF2, and punching above our weight etc, but you can only play the game infront of you).
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Post by Amber Aleman on Apr 11, 2023 6:18:39 GMT
Perhaps we should remind ourselves that, just three years ago, the prospect of Sutton Utd playing a league match at Valley Parade would have seemed extraordinary. It's now happened twice. Our little club has come a long way in a short time. I'm still trying to make the most of the present rather than worrying about the future.
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Post by halftimet on Apr 11, 2023 8:01:28 GMT
Can we bring back any loan players for the last few games to give them some League 2 experience?
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Post by paz on Apr 11, 2023 10:54:12 GMT
You only had to look at the highlights and Kizzi for the second goal and see something was off.. (After hearing Matts post game comments) very unlike him to let that shot in regardless of form. Hart did not look himself either..
If it was not for Rose we would have been out of sight after half time. Definitely a great signing. Still no song for him either?!
No shame, we are not good enough for play offs this year, but have certainly shown for the second time we are here on merit.
I get the feeling that Matt has never really managed to rebuild our attack since Tanto left (to no fault of his own). There was signs of improvement when Anglo and even shades of Denis. But job not done yet.
Then again, I say that only because of ambition to make the play offs, with regards to our main goal, staying in league 2, we have done so again on a low budget.
The main goal is we can stay in this league long enough to build the club's infelstructure. Maybe after, we can have some spare cash to invest in some extra quality on the pitch.
Have to remember too, Matt is still learning and achieved a lot in such a short time. Mission now? Get behind the lads and see if we can finish as high up the league as possible so we do not finish a great season on a low note.
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Post by Andy K on Apr 11, 2023 11:07:50 GMT
Well said. In all honesty, we're nowhere near ready for L1 football. Whilst I know that the last 10 or so years have been pretty much sustained success (and that includes this season), there's nothing about this season which can be seen as a failure, aside from a woeful performance in the FA Cup. Staying in this division for the next 20 years is, to me and most longer term supporters I expect, 20 years of sustained success. It's not a lack of ambition, but there would be a real danger of us being promoted too early. Demands on the club and the infrastructure could be damaging to a club whose natural level in those measurement is probably lower half National League. Pushing that natural level up (as sides like Cheltenham, Stevenage and Burton have) doesn't happen in 2 seasons.
Let's see where we are at the end of the 25/26 season. Hopefully if all goes according to plan we'll have a bigger ground, and a larger core fanbase and better facilities to bring more income in. Otherwise we'd be trying to build a new house on very shakey foundations.
I, like any fan, are happier when we win than when we don't. Yesterday we lost to a better side. Who have an average crowd of over 17,000. The fact we were playing them as equals is something to be celebrate.
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Post by is4 on Apr 11, 2023 11:50:40 GMT
To pad and Andy. Can I say to good posts. Sums up the position of the club and were the club has to progress. Good reading.
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Post by is4 on Apr 11, 2023 11:53:36 GMT
To pas and Andy. To good posts. Is shows how far the club has come and what is to be done. Great reading.
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Post by is4 on Apr 11, 2023 11:55:10 GMT
Sorry I mixed up on the last posts but I hope you all see my point of this.
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Post by terrier on Apr 11, 2023 12:15:55 GMT
Sorry I mixed up on the last posts but I hope you all see my point of this. Why not edit them, it’s simple enough?
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Post by is4 on Apr 11, 2023 12:27:35 GMT
I know. I tried.mucked it right up. Must do better next time!!!
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Post by Jared on Apr 11, 2023 13:28:34 GMT
Well said. In all honesty, we're nowhere near ready for L1 football. Whilst I know that the last 10 or so years have been pretty much sustained success (and that includes this season), there's nothing about this season which can be seen as a failure, aside from a woeful performance in the FA Cup. Staying in this division for the next 20 years is, to me and most longer term supporters I expect, 20 years of sustained success. It's not a lack of ambition, but there would be a real danger of us being promoted too early. Demands on the club and the infrastructure could be damaging to a club whose natural level in those measurement is probably lower half National League. Pushing that natural level up (as sides like Cheltenham, Stevenage and Burton have) doesn't happen in 2 seasons. Let's see where we are at the end of the 25/26 season. Hopefully if all goes according to plan we'll have a bigger ground, and a larger core fanbase and better facilities to bring more income in. Otherwise we'd be trying to build a new house on very shakey foundations. I, like any fan, are happier when we win than when we don't. Yesterday we lost to a better side. Who have an average crowd of over 17,000. The fact we were playing them as equals is something to be celebrate. Missing out on promotion in 2014 from the Conference South and in 2018 from the Conference National (and arguably in 2009 and 2010 from the Isthmian League) were perhaps blessings in disguise. When we did eventually get promoted from each of those divisions we were more ready for it as a club and in my opinion far more ready to compete at the levels we were promoted to. We’re still a small club at this level, I think we’re in the bottom 5 for home attendances and probably lower for budget. But we’re growing as a club, and by consecutive top half finishes in this division, we’re showing that we belong at this level. Yesterday was disappointing. Tbh, the Crawley game aside, we’ve been far from world beaters since the beginning of March. Yesterday was a continuation of that. We were second best throughout. Fortunately the team didn’t let their heads drop. There are 5 games left for the season. For me, that’s 5 games to lay the groundwork for next season.
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Post by Andy K on Apr 11, 2023 13:47:08 GMT
Spot on Jared. We're 20/24 in terms of attendances. Only Crawley, Rochdale, Salford and Harrogate have lower. 3 of those are traditional non league sides. One is paying the price of failure. If you look at virtually all the teams above us in that table, they've spent a lot longer in the league than we have, and the clubs just above us include Stevenage, doing really well, but have in the general scheme of things spent more time at non league than not.
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Post by banjo on Apr 11, 2023 14:06:01 GMT
I think in a previous interview Matt said that he wants to get the infrastructure right first, like he said in yesterday’s interview,’ we are not standing still, then build a team for promotion . In the summer we have phase two of the ground improvements and depending on what money we have, I hope that the new stand and other work will bring in new fans with the addition of a family section and more income for the club. As others have said we have come a long way as a club and playing Bradford yesterday shows that, even with some off their fans calling us a non league team, if they were that good, they would be winning the league. So for me the future is bright. ⚽️⚽️
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Post by davep on Apr 11, 2023 14:26:26 GMT
In 2020 Stevenage finished bottom of EFL2 and were relegated to the National League. However, they won a reprieve as Bury went bust and Macclesfield were deducted 4 points for financial irregularities.
If Sutton can follow the 'model' of any club (to the extent that it is possible), I'd like to see us follow the 'Brentford' model. While they are clearly one of the smaller clubs in the Premiership, they operate a model that is capable of making them both financially sustainable and competitive football-wise for many years to come. Like Brentford, we have a very good manager, we have to recruit well and we are a club primarily run by accountants.
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