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Post by paz on Feb 14, 2024 11:02:03 GMT
starting to get detached at the bottom now and seemingly incapable of winning matches - think the writing might be on the wall for this season I'm afraid. as for last night - it was a big occasion match so to see Craig Eastmond, sat on the bench for the 1st half, I thought was a stupid decision. Hardly a surprise to see us go in at half time 1-0 down. I suppose the only hope is that the teams around us continue to lose and that Colchester and Grimsby we have yet to play at home. Win those two and there is maybe half a chance but its been a pretty bleak start to 2024. Given Eastmond did not have the best of games, I am not so sure it was a poor decision. He is 33, which is not young for a player, especially after he has recently been out with a long-term injury. We also have a game on Saturday where our players are going to have to cover every blade of grass again. Rotation is probably one of the reasons we have managed to at least be competitive in most of our recent games, despite disappointing results.
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Post by paz on Feb 14, 2024 11:18:08 GMT
“So, assuming we go down, has it been worth it, taking all things in to consideration?” Why start such a conversation?! Still 42 points to play for. Until mathematically impossible, surly we have keep believing that things will improve and we can get out of this mess we are in? I think yours is a laudable attitude. But given our position in the table, our form, our season as a whole, the ever dwindling number of games, and the fact that other clubs in difficulty are by and large getting better results than us, it's not a position that we're all going to share. There is a thing known as 'false hope'. That's why that conversation is happening. You don't have to agree with it. But the reasons for it are quite straight-forward. I have certainly resigned myself to the belief that its Nat League football again next year. And deep down I have felt this since the start of the season, once the bad form began. The only positives we can cling to now is that we have generally seen performances become more solid and competitive, where I fancy we have a chance in every game should we get the rub of the green (which we certainly have not had of late). Also, teams we are competing with have to play each other and us, and we may have the psychological advantage of having all to gain and nothing to lose, with teams above us feeling the heat should we manage to catch up a little. These, for me, are the only points where I can scrape any hope from. Enough to hope our players are still ready to fight to the death. One thing we can say about this team, for the majority of this season they have worked their socks off.
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markf
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Post by markf on Feb 14, 2024 12:27:32 GMT
Yesterday didn't go well. First a news report about a Southern Water hack (waiting to here if on the 5% list) and then the very sad news of the passing of Steve Wright. Bad enough that Radio 2 had dumped him for Scott Mills but now his untimely passing. SW first came to my notice in the early 80's as we navigated a canal boat around the Avon Ring. Of all his characters, it was (probably not surprising to some), Mr Angry from Purley who was my favourite. SW maybe no longer with us but Mr Angry is and he has since moved to the south coast.
So kpinwp and the rest of you look away now as I am about to rant about the species you seem to love to protect, the referee.
In recent weeks we have seen them ignore blatant time-wasting, Saturday at Morecambe was a joke and last night the man in the Middleton was no better. Where has adherence to the directive to add time on disappeared to? 21 minutes on the opening day, 6 last night. Their 'keeper (as on Saturday) did it every goal kick (until we equalised). Firstly because U's had the advantage of the strong wind and then when they were 1-0 up. The ref actually added more on for Harry's injury than he did that persistent time wasting. Of course we conceded in Harry time.
Next his yellow cards. Quite rightly booked Niino but doesn't for the crunching challenge on Deon Moore later in the half. Books Easty for dissent ok, but fails to pick up on the clear two occasions when the ball was kicked away by a Wrexham player after the whistle in the second half. Asking for consistency over a season perhaps too much but over 90 minutes? Seemingly impossible for this idiot.
Then the penalty shouts. Not for the first time Harry S looked to have been hauled down; that one is possibly debatable. What wasn't was the handball. Even the Wrexham fans watching on ifollow said it was blatant. But no, not the man in the Middleton. It is perhaps ironic that he is the only ref to award U's a spot kick this season, against Cambridge in the CC. One's enough for a season it would appear.
It's just not good enough.
As for the match, the least we deserved was a draw but two defensive errors and the inability to capitalise on dominating lofty opponents (they flew down to Biggin Hill on a plane ffs, PL arrives in L2 and arrived in a former Man U coach apparently) as well as the opportunity to net from out first league penalty award this season, cost us.
I don't think I have ever questioned (or if so, very rarely) a U's manager on here but have to wonder about some recent team selections. I understand the squad rotation but: on Saturday we went three at the back in the first half but left 2 centre backs on the bench. Are they unfit to play? Why not use Sam Hart as the left wing back? It should be noted, especially for Pinewalker, that both winning goals in the last two match came from the left flank (Sam wasn't playing there on either occasion). To be fair to Niino, last night he had made a lung busting run up the pitch and then back and was bent over in near exhaustion after. Time to replace. We did but only after conceding down our left. Last night why was D-McKenna not introduced earlier or even started?
We will never know the answers I expect because Mr Morison is not that forthcoming with such detail. His prerogative of course but don't expect to escape being questioned if you can't (or won't) respond to legitimate questions.
As for the debate about our future well, just consider this. In the last 43 L2 matches we have won just four. That's three different managers including Jason and a fair few players who have not been able to get the results to keep us out of the mire. Changing that around in the last 14 matches will be nothing short of a footballing miracle.
Yes, we have had some bad luck, endured a number of poor referees but that's not why we are where we are. It's decision making at both ends of the pitch. Since Stockport both Jason and Steve have made us less likely to get a walloping and you have to be encouraged by most of our recent performances. Certainly can't fault the effort (and if we are to leave the efl after three seasons I hope we do so with those effort levels intact) but at times the application and maybe concentration is lacking.
Sutton played really well last night but still lost and that must be so difficult for the players to take.
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markf
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Post by markf on Feb 14, 2024 12:39:02 GMT
Just watched the highlights. What the hell was the ref and his assistant looking at? If you can't see that you shouldn't be officiating football at any level.
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Post by beechesk on Feb 14, 2024 16:09:25 GMT
Completely agree with comments made by markf. Middleton regretfully joins the ranks of referees officiating way above their level of competence, and joins both Brook and Rock!
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Post by mca on Feb 14, 2024 16:27:11 GMT
After reading all the posts last night and this morning. I realised that I was out of order in my posts.And I opoligise to all for my comments. Therefore I deleted the posts. On some of my previous posts I asked questions that I thought were relevant but have been seen to be taken out of context. Again opoligises to all. this is kinda the reason I don't post anymore. All you said was that IN YOUR OPINION, the manager doesn't know his best starting 11, and considering he's not been here long, and makes a fair few changes, that's not an outrageous or hostile thing to say. Yet you almost get cancelled!!! Some folk love to be offended
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Steve D
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Post by Steve D on Feb 14, 2024 17:54:28 GMT
I would normally understand the need for rotation, and obviously Steve knows who's fit and who's not, but given the team's current position, I would say we need to settle on our best 11 and put them out as often as possible. It's no good having rested players when it's too late. Steve does seem to change half the team every game, which can't be good for continuity, especially with a number of new additions trying to build up relationships on the field.
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Post by garethl on Feb 14, 2024 18:38:31 GMT
After reading all the posts last night and this morning. I realised that I was out of order in my posts.And I opoligise to all for my comments. Therefore I deleted the posts. On some of my previous posts I asked questions that I thought were relevant but have been seen to be taken out of context. Again opoligises to all. this is kinda the reason I don't post anymore. All you said was that IN YOUR OPINION, the manager doesn't know his best starting 11, and considering he's not been here long, and makes a fair few changes, that's not an outrageous or hostile thing to say. Yet you almost get cancelled!!! Some folk love to be offended Certainly nothing wrong with voicing an opinion. I was staggered Duke-McKenna didn’t start for a game of that magnitude, quite clearly our biggest attacking talent. But then we’re not privy to everything including physical condition (though the way he raced back length of the pitch to recover the ball and then bounced up and dribbled half the way back to the other suggested he was fine!) - he I think has had past injury problems so guessing perhaps we can’t overload him with too many minutes too soon. It’s certainly clear Steve wants to involve lots of the squad and is trying to show faith in more than a bare eleven. A few faces seem to have slipped out of the reckoning though - Clay, Coley, Milsom.
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kpinwp
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Post by kpinwp on Feb 14, 2024 20:21:18 GMT
Yesterday didn't go well. First a news report about a Southern Water hack (waiting to here if on the 5% list) and then the very sad news of the passing of Steve Wright. Bad enough that Radio 2 had dumped him for Vernon Kay but now his untimely passing. SW first came to my notice in the early 80's as we navigated a canal boat around the Avon Ring. Of all his characters, it was (probably not surprising to some), Mr Angry from Purley who was my favourite. SW maybe no longer with us but Mr Angry is and he has since moved to the south coast. So kpinwp and the rest of you look away now as I am about to rant about the species you seem to love to protect, the referee. In recent weeks we have seen them ignore blatant time-wasting, Saturday at Morecambe was a joke and last night the man in the Middleton was no better. Where has adherence to the directive to add time on disappeared to? 21 minutes on the opening day, 6 last night. Their 'keeper (as on Saturday) did it every goal kick (until we equalised). Firstly because U's had the advantage of the strong wind and then when they were 1-0 up. The ref actually added more on for Harry's injury than he did that persistent time wasting. Of course we conceded in Harry time. Next his yellow cards. Quite rightly booked Niino but doesn't for the crunching challenge on Deon Moore later in the half. Books Easty for dissent ok, but fails to pick up on the clear two occasions when the ball was kicked away by a Wrexham player after the whistle in the second half. Asking for consistency over a season perhaps too much but over 90 minutes? Seemingly impossible for this idiot. Then the penalty shouts. Not for the first time Harry S looked to have been hauled down; that one is possibly debatable. What wasn't was the handball. Even the Wrexham fans watching on ifollow said it was blatant. But no, not the man in the Middleton. It is perhaps ironic that he is the only ref to award U's a spot kick this season, against Cambridge in the CC. One's enough for a season it would appear. It's just not good enough. As for the match, the least we deserved was a draw but two defensive errors and the inability to capitalise on dominating lofty opponents (they flew down to Biggin Hill on a plane ffs, PL arrives in L2 and arrived in a former Man U coach apparently) as well as the opportunity to net from out first league penalty award this season, cost us. I don't think I have ever questioned (or if so, very rarely) a U's manager on here but have to wonder about some recent team selections. I understand the squad rotation but: on Saturday we went three at the back in the first half but left 2 centre backs on the bench. Are they unfit to play? Why not use Sam Hart as the left wing back? It should be noted, especially for Pinewalker, that both winning goals in the last two match came from the left flank (Sam wasn't playing there on either occasion). To be fair to Niino, last night he had made a lung busting run up the pitch and then back and was bent over in near exhaustion after. Time to replace. We did but only after conceding down our left. Last night why was D-McKenna not introduced earlier or even started? We will never know the answers I expect because Mr Morison is not that forthcoming with such detail. His prerogative of course but don't expect to escape being questioned if you can't (or won't) respond to legitimate questions. As for the debate about our future well, just consider this. In the last 43 L2 matches we have won just four. That's three different managers including Jason and a fair few players who have not been able to get the results to keep us out of the mire. Changing that around in the last 14 matches will be nothing short of a footballing miracle. Yes, we have had some bad luck, endured a number of poor referees but that's not why we are where we are. It's decision making at both ends of the pitch. Since Stockport both Jason and Steve have made us less likely to get a walloping and you have to be encouraged by most of our recent performances. Certainly can't fault the effort (and if we are to leave the efl after three seasons I hope we do so with those effort levels intact) but at times the application and maybe concentration is lacking. Sutton played really well last night but still lost and that must be so difficult for the players to take. I was defending that adherence to extra time directive when it was deeply unfashionable. 'How can it be 11 minutes?!' and so on. Admittedly it did feel a bit strange sometimes but, hey, always the Ref's friend, me!
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Post by os on Feb 14, 2024 21:38:45 GMT
As I have alluded to for a while now its not just about decisions on the pitch, its about decisions all the way up to board level. I think it was clear at the start of the season we were going to struggle after losing key players, we didn't sign the likes of Tanto, or find a seasoned EFL striker?
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markf
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Post by markf on Feb 14, 2024 21:45:02 GMT
So where, please tell, was the club going to get the money to buy Tanto and pay his wages considering he went to money bags Stockport?
That has bugger all to with your current obsession, namely, planning and very much to do with financial constraints.
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Post by davef on Feb 14, 2024 22:20:09 GMT
OS, we signed Smith and Patrick !!
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Post by os on Feb 14, 2024 23:46:25 GMT
So where, please tell, was the club going to get the money to buy Tanto and pay his wages considering he went to money bags Stockport? That has bugger all to with your current obsession, namely, planning and very much to do with financial constraints. I was totally expecting that response, of course financial constraints play a huge part in what a club can do. A small club like ours has to be prudent with the money it spends and how and where it spends it. An experienced board is important, as are the staff they employ, its important that money is not lost to host of consultants, project mangers, and people who do not have a track record of delivering success in their particular role.
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Post by garethl on Feb 15, 2024 8:02:06 GMT
As I have alluded to for a while now its not just about decisions on the pitch, its about decisions all the way up to board level. I think it was clear at the start of the season we were going to struggle after losing key players, we didn't sign the likes of Tanto, or find a seasoned EFL striker? Yes alluded to. How about you give us some specifics. What did we do wrong off the pitch and what could we have done instead? Saying buying Tanto is no different to saying buying Messi, out of our price range.
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markf
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Post by markf on Feb 15, 2024 9:53:46 GMT
So where, please tell, was the club going to get the money to buy Tanto and pay his wages considering he went to money bags Stockport? That has bugger all to with your current obsession, namely, planning and very much to do with financial constraints. I was totally expecting that response, of course financial constraints play a huge part in what a club can do. A small club like ours has to be prudent with the money it spends and how and where it spends it. An experienced board is important, as are the staff they employ, its important that money is not lost to host of consultants, project mangers, and people who do not have a track record of delivering success in their particular role. How the hell do you know what is on an individual's CV? Do you look these people up? You're bloody obsessed with this too. Please name the host of consultants we employ or project managers. How many are there?
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