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Post by Del on Apr 18, 2018 5:56:28 GMT
Every team in the playoffs has suffered a dip in form some time in the season.Its unfortunate that ours has happened at such a crucial time !
Can we reverse this with two games left ? Time will tell but we need that little bit of luck to come our way at Ebbsfleet which certainly has not been with us recently.
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Post by scorpioeyes on Apr 18, 2018 8:51:02 GMT
Even if we do scrape in, there is no way we will win the play-offs. Tranmere will walk it.
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Post by sallycat on Apr 18, 2018 8:56:22 GMT
You never know with playoffs - they are a bit like cup games in a sense - but sadly I'm inclined to agree.
Wouldn't it be amazing just to see Sutton play at Wembley though? It's been 37 years since we were last there!
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Post by Amber Aleman on Apr 18, 2018 9:36:30 GMT
I'm also mindful that Sutton's highest ever finish was 7th, in the Conference in 1987. For most of this season it's looked as if we'll better that, but serious doubt has now crept in. Finishing 6th, even if we then lose in the play-offs, would still be a milestone achievement.
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Post by baboonfish on Apr 18, 2018 10:12:02 GMT
It would indeed be a terrible shame if we didnt beat that 7th placed finish and it does indeed look like we might scrape into the playoffs with no more points! I expect us to put in a shift against the SHots and get at least a point, but Ebbsfleet's charge towards the playoffs makes Saturday's fixture look like mission impossible.
That was certainly a night to forget and I'm not sure how we went from playing with fizz and intensity on Saturday to aimless hoofball. The three big strikers plan was never going to work against Maaids' exceptionally tall and strong defence and we posed almost no attacking threat. I can understand why Dos tried what he tried with the pitch bound to be heavy but Bailey and Thomas were on a hiding to nothing last night with no defensive cover and asked to do an impossible job of providing all the width. We'd have needed premier league quality attacking full backs to pull of last nights plan IMO.
As a defender all you really want is for play to be predictable, and we made their job far too easy with three men competing in a small area of the pitch and literally no one running into channels. Crosses had to come from deep and even with the 3 big men up top Maids' defenders won almost every header. A tactical blunder from Dos on a par with the 4 centre backs (which ironically made sense on the heavy quagmire of the original fixture) against Bromley and not something I would want to see again. Craig D looked completely lost and unsure whether he was playing the Tommy Wright No.10 role (legend that he is still no chance at this level, sorry Craig)or joining the other 2 strikers.
Always easy with hindsight and obviously Dos is the first to admit he makes the odd mistake tactically, which is one of the many reasons we love the man. Hopefully the team can just play with a bit of freedom like some of the away days earlier in the season as any weight of expectation must surely be lifted.
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Post by Andy K on Apr 18, 2018 10:19:44 GMT
I'm also mindful that Sutton's highest ever finish was 7th, in the Conference in 1987. For most of this season it's looked as if we'll better that, but serious doubt has now crept in. Finishing 6th, even if we then lose in the play-offs, would still be a milestone achievement. We can't finish any lower than 10th now (which in itself is an improvement on last season). This will only happen if Dover win all their remaining games and Bromley and Wrexham draw once and win their other games. A win at Ebbsfleet on Saturday will, if i'm right, mathematically make us confirmed in a play off spot, and therefore at very minimum match our best ever finish. |
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Post by bailo on Apr 18, 2018 10:24:16 GMT
My last game was the abandoned match at Maidenhead. I wonder how much of a blow that day was to the team - the reaction of the squad in the bar when Macclesfield got the late winner at Woking seemed to be one of deflation and perhaps they lost a little belief in the chase at that point.
Anyway, it’s nice and simple from hereon in. Win the two remaining league games and we finish 3rd. Win one and it’s the playoffs. Win none and we need some favourable results elsewhere!
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Post by steveo77 on Apr 18, 2018 10:32:27 GMT
My last game was the abandoned match at Maidenhead. I wonder how much of a blow that day was to the team - the reaction of the squad in the bar when Macclesfield got the late winner at Woking seemed to be one of deflation and perhaps they lost a little belief in the chase at that point. Anyway, it’s nice and simple from hereon in. Win the two remaining league games and we finish 3rd. Win one and it’s the playoffs. Win none and we need some favourable results elsewhere! yes you are right - since that last minute Macclesfield goal it has just been a disaster. |
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Post by Stewart on Apr 18, 2018 10:40:52 GMT
To quote Churchill.
“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end..."
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Post by davethegrave on Apr 18, 2018 11:14:50 GMT
My last game was the abandoned match at Maidenhead. I wonder how much of a blow that day was to the team - the reaction of the squad in the bar when Macclesfield got the late winner at Woking seemed to be one of deflation and perhaps they lost a little belief in the chase at that point. Anyway, it’s nice and simple from hereon in. Win the two remaining league games and we finish 3rd. Win one and it’s the playoffs. Win none and we need some favourable results elsewhere! Hopefully it's the play-offs whichever way you look at it. |
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Post by timall on Apr 18, 2018 11:29:05 GMT
Not really adding too much to what has already been said, and of course it's much easier to be manager "on the terraces" than the real one in the dugout of course, but I think it's fair to say playing 3 centre forwards, in such a narrow formation you could throw the proverbial blanket over, didn't work.
The contrast between the first half on Saturday (on a perfect pitch) against last night (on an uneven and heavy surface) was huge. You saw how the intensity dropped in Saturday's second half, and maybe it was asking, or expecting, too much to see things repeated yesterday. It's amazing that our relatively small squad of part time players have matched so much from the larger, full time squads around us in this league.
Dos changed things around at half-time and if we had only been 1 down, or scored our goal earlier, things could well have been different, and the length of siege and bombardment we witnessed would have been longer than just the last frantic 10 minutes. Maybe we would have had another goal in addition to going so close, and hitting the woodwork etc. But as someone else has already said we didn't deserve a point and it would have been theft to deny the home team the full 3, not that we haven't all seen such robberies at times in the past.
Slightly disappointing to me, and the same applied on Saturday, was that when we took tired players off to replace them with fresh legs and width, it is surely incumbent on the new players to absolutely work hard whether on or off the ball to create space, make tired defenders run, and generally provide an environment where we are to gain an advantage from the tactical change. Without that we run the risk of now relying on 2 central midfielders, with tired legs, having to work even harder in the middle of the park and do the work that maybe 3 did before. Can't fault Kenny or Craig's endeavours last night in that respect, and Craig's goal late in the game demonstrates fully the commitment over the entire game time, but even when we had the width I never got the impression Ross (x2), or Kieron on Saturday really applied themselves as much as they should have done. Whilst we didn't quite snatch the equaliser, as a manager I would want to have seen every player exhausted having given their all in the chase as they came off. That wasn't the impression I got, but I don't want to be overly harsh on anyone after what must be a difficult time for the squad given where we were a few weeks ago. I am sure they are hurting more than the fans are after all.
Whilst it has been disappointing to see how our season has tailed off, I think the truth is our recent points collection, and bobbling at the bottom of the form table, is an exaggeration but only the same perhaps as our great start to the season wasn't a true reflection either. A season is a long time and some clubs like us (Dover, Wrexham?) are ending in as disappointing way as others are achieving the opposite (Ebbsfleet, Solihull, and indeed Maidenhead). In years to come even if we finish 6th or 7th, we will still judge this season to have been an excellent one.
2 to go, and still lots of twists and turns to come no doubt, in arriving at the final table.
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Post by Stewart on Apr 18, 2018 13:09:43 GMT
Race for the play offs.. link |
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markf
Top Performer
Posts: 3,326
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Post by markf on Apr 18, 2018 14:24:47 GMT
York Road. Not the happiest of hunting grounds since we started regularly playing them in the early part of this century. In fact, The Magpies are U's bogey side winning at GGL when we were on the surge in 03/04 and holding us to a draw at Sutton during that 26 match unbeaten run in 15/16.
Perhaps the defeat was inevitable having led in the original match which was never going to finish. The Maidenhead pitch ain't great and is better when wet although not as wet as it was on GF. Maidenhead know how to play on it though. Hit the wings and channels, break fast and play percentage football. They're good at it. They were under Hippolyte and Devonshire has hardly changed their style. Their corner delivery was excellent and in Harry Pritchard a guy who knows where the Sutton goal is although, not it would seem, from 12 yards.
Thought we had coped well before they broke down the hill and while Pritchard ahd the time it was still a wonderful strike to open the scoring. From then on U's struggled to make any headway with Massey and Goodman strong a the back. The corner that Goodman headed in at the back post (I don't think he lost too many aerial duels all night) travelled an awful long way. I thought at 1-0 we had a chance but 2-0 was going to be tough to claw back.
Dos made the changes as u's played down the slope after the break but with a two goal lead, Maidenhead was happy to soak it up and then break and boy did they break. A great penalty save, a poor miss from Clifton when he hit the bar (should have scored) and a couple of other narrow misses should have put the match well beyond Sutton's reach while the U's toiled for an opening. Tommy W was thwarted when his low shot was deflected wide by Pentney and a great strike that looked on its way in before it hit Terell T were U's best efforts until Craig E hit his second splendid goal at York Road this season late on. From then on Sutton poured forward and I reckon made at least four good chances before the final whistle went. Had we scored one of those earlier chances, then who knows but can't deny Magpies the three points and a league "double".
Over 180+mins this season, Maidenhead have looked the best opposition we have played. Ok, not the beautiful passing of Aldershot or Wrexham but they play to their strengths and they appear to have been more than a match for U's this season. Some say we were poor last night but that argument fails to give credit to the hosts, who with the freedom of having little to play for entertained their third highest home gate of the season to a fine match. One of their stewards said it was the best he had seen Maidenhead play this season - thanks for saving such a performance for us.
As for Sutton, loads of effort but the application was lacking at times. Thought Craig E was our stand out performer and his excellent strike was a deserved reward for his endeavours.
As for Mr Johnson - how ridiculous of the FA to appoint a Liverpool ref to a midweek fixture in Berkshire - he was by no means perfect but didn't effect the result. And for ridiculous booking of the season, that award goes to James Comley, who blotted a good performance with an act of child-like petulance late on.
A great midweek turn out of over 300 Sutton fans, arguably the biggest I have seen for a midweek league away match and probably matching the number that attended GF. A crowd of 2201, remarkable when you consider just 446 was there for the August 2015 NLS fixture - the last time we played them there - where have they all come from, freebie or not?
So onto Ebbsfleet. If York Road has been difficult for U's, Stonebridge Road has been impossible, Sutton have never won their in peace-time. Time for that piece of history to be consigned to the dustbin methinks, if the Aldershot match is not to take on even more significance than it already has.
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Post by ryooon1999 on Apr 18, 2018 14:45:47 GMT
When you say “that attended GF” where are you referring to, sorry if that’s a stupid question but can’t make it out 😂
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Post by stu1974 on Apr 18, 2018 14:49:52 GMT
Good Friday
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