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Hitcher

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Posts posted by Hitcher

  1. I was thinking about the concept of a new manager bounce and how part of it is new ideas, new tactics, new motivation etc but also part of it is to do with players getting a blank slate, new position in team, new chance to gain better contract etc.

    With recruitment and contracts basically being a DoF thing, we might have missed out on that part of the bounce with Moore. Hoping this proves to be true but now Flitcroft is gone, means that every player has that fresh start. At the moment all the power is with Moore so hopefully they are busting a gut for him and not burdened by any previous pecking order stuff with Flitcroft plans. It did kind of feel different in the Burton game. Hopefully it continues.

     

    • Like 1
  2. Was interesting how we won the 50/50 battles against Burton and wrestled control of the 2nd half. Stark contrast to a month earlier against Cheltenham away where in a similarly scrappy game we folded.

    However Bristol Rovers at home will be different as they will spray the ball around more. Whilst it's encouraging that we have a bit more fight in us, I don't think we have the balance right in midfield to compete with better passing teams. We got smashed by Derby and in the L.O home game also passed off the park. My hope is that as we have a bit more strength in depth now, we have a bit more about us to occupy other teams, instead of just lining up for a pummeling.

    With Rovers I think they are figuring out to score goals since Collins left. Admittedly he's not had a great season, but for the last 2/3 years they have been set up around him.

  3. 45 minutes ago, werstayinup said:

    Agreed and in Martin they have an excellent seasoned goalscorer imo,it wont be easy thats for sure they have some very decent players in their squad

    Conteh from Grimsby has hit the ground running for them. Also agreed on Martin. What a signing he has been for them.

    I don't think this will be an 'on the beach' rovers performance as their manager still trying to win over the fans. Putting personalities aside I get the sense that there is a rovers fan feeling that the football hasn't been an upgrade from Joey Bartons tenure.

  4. 16 minutes ago, philmpv said:
    57 minutes ago, Hitcher said:
    We've got players coming back into fitness at just the right time.
    Thought plant was decent in this game despite being played out of position twice.
    Uche not far away and will be helpful as a last 30mins chaos sub.
    Clarke there or there abouts.
    Be interesting to see how much of a high Dipepa is on after his U17 exploits. We might actually have a stronger first 11 and more threat on the bench

    DM hinted that Clark is going to be out for the season, as is Dan Gore

    Ah rubbish. We've had below average luck with injuries this season

  5. We've got players coming back into fitness at just the right time.

    Thought plant was decent in this game despite being played out of position twice.

    Uche not far away and will be helpful as a last 30mins chaos sub.

    Clarke there or there abouts.

    Be interesting to see how much of a high Dipepa is on after his U17 exploits. We might actually have a stronger first 11 and more threat on the bench

  6. 12 hours ago, Aguar61 said:

    There was an incident mentioned in the commentary where Yak was giving one of there's a bit of aggro, that's been missing for so long...just need to see that willingness to fight.

    The Yak looked like Jack Nicholson in the shining in that incident. Demented smile and went back for more haha

    • Like 1
  7. The only way forwards was for flitcroft to go. The rift with the fans had become untenable, and like others have said they both reluctantly knew it was the only choice.

    As for flitcroft I don't think he is a bad person, and probably in time we will reap the benefits of some of the 'club building' he has done in the background. Football is so results based. Our lack of options at wingback and striker were unforgivable and just mind boggling that we didn't do more to fix it in January.

    Anyway I wouldn't be opposed to another DoF, but would also take the time to get another 'football person' on the board or high up in our structure. There has to be a bit more constructive challenge instead of ultimate trust in one person.

    • Like 6
    • Thanks 1
  8. I was reflecting on last season and how in our run in we basically stayed up as Bristol rovers were on the beach. Anyway here is my view of the motivations of teams in our fixtures across the run in:

    - Oxford (H) - Play off chasers on a bad run

    - Burton (A) - Relegation 6 pointer

    - Bristol Rovers (H) - Mid table nothingness, but too soon to be on holiday

    - Northampton (A) -See above

    - Wigan (A) - See above

    - Peterborough (A) - Outside chance of automatics

    - Exeter (H) - On the beach or relegation 6 pointer

    - Wycombe (H) - On the beach

    - Bolton (A) - Automatics / Champions

    - Cambridge (H) - relegation 6 pointer

    Apart from the Bolton game I think our last 4 fixtures are pretty great. If we can get a few wins in the next few games it puts us in touch (potentially)

  9. 31 minutes ago, ClntonBoulton said:

    Was with you on Saturday at 5.00pm.....no way was I watching on Tuesday. I'm an exile and have a season pass on iFollow. Didn't say anything to the Missus but when she asked me yesterday, "is there a game, tomorrow?" I caved and said yes so I'm committed to watching it now.....well that's my excuse anyway. I just know what's coming so I suppose it musr be some form of addiction?

    Someone please help me........

    The inevitable dire performance just drags you down and hollows you out. I really didn't realise how much it effects me. Our whole season is basically us doing this to ourselves:

    https://youtu.be/g2c_-9kIjyU?si=oIcUNNSwHP4GSuym

    Haven't been on OVF for a view weeks for a similar reason as I just get angry/sad/depressed about it all. 

    I can understand why you will watch later though having already paid. It's kind of like being made to watch a horror film and not liking horrors.

    • Like 5
  10. Gonna try something new tonight which is not caring and watching champions league in the pub with friends, instead of vale on ifollow.

    Hopefully this tricks the universe into a decent performance. The only thing that can jolt us out of this drudgery is superstition.

    If I did care enough to pick a team - I'd like to see us go back to a combative 4-3-3. Hopefully Mitch Clarke can play a bit of the game.

    From what I remember about orient when they played us at home they absolutely bossed the midfield and we're everything we wanted our team to be. Therefore we need to pack the midfield and get in their faces.

     

    • Like 1
  11. Not sure whether it's been said but Matty Taylor at Cheltenham has apparently done his hamstring and could be out for a while.

    Appreciate we need to catch teams like Shrewsbury and win games, but not a bad thing that Cheltenham are back to were they were striker wise.

    • Confused 1
  12. This has been lingering at the back of my mind:

    Can you remember in the flitcroft interview there was a bit about how bringing in a manager sooner wouldn't have helped with transfers as they are all planned by recruitment team?

    2 entire transfer windows under DC we only signed a striker at the last minute (Harrison and Taylor), and both probably as DC could see the car crash happening and pulled out his contact book.

    We don't learn and are going down. What would have happened in january if we had an experienced manager in earlier? You can guarantee we would have more than we have.

    • Like 6
  13. 2 hours ago, Raveninblack said:

    I am sorry to disagree with you but they had most of the possession and looked comfortable on the ball and two easy goals one from outside of the box and  one inside and defensively we looked poor and as per normal jones was poor 

    I guess we have set such a low bar in recent weeks I was just glad for a slight uptick in performance.

    I thought the first half was relatively equal, but we fell apart in the second half.

    Reading basically had much better wingers which is where most of their threat came from.

  14. Having listened to the DM post match interview it gives me a bit of hope.

    They had 1 day and 2 classroom sessions to prep that performance. Think we looked more assured on the ball.

    Also thought it was interesting in a DM pre matcher that he said trying new formations can suddenly breath life into different players. Not everything came off for Weir but it was the best I have seen him recently. Would also say the same for Mighten and Loft. Chislett can still be frustrating.

    My only concern with 4 at the back is that we are even less will stocked at RB & LB. As others said the game turned when Jones came off.

    Anyway a few green shoots. The three up top gives us more options for subs. Hopefully when Gore is fit he has an impact.

     

    • Like 8
  15. 23 minutes ago, PV1973 said:

    One thing that was very evident yesterday in comparison to Cheltenham was our lack of desire, passion and any semblance of grittiness and even togetherness too.  Since the promotion season I can’t help but feel a disconnect from the players and also to some degree the club as time progresses. Barring the odd exception we've had few characters this last 2 seasons, players who I feel would run through a wall for us. Maybe that’s just me? I don’t know.

    We have brought this on ourselves, we’ve assembled an unbalanced squad with no identity or leaders and none of the traits I mentioned. There’s been lots of talk of players in this thread who’ve gone and are still playing in this league or below who I feel had those characteristics and who I felt more of a connection to (if that’s a tangible thing), Pett, Worrall, Gibbo, hall, garrity, proctor, Conlon for example. I know Garrity is still with us, but I see posters dismissing some of these former players off hand and I think some have a short memory. I too would take some of them over the majority of our  current squad and they would IMO walk into this squad and make us better. 

    But my whole point is that it’s a damning indictment of our recruitment, we haven’t adequately replaced some of them, this last 2 years have seen us gradually regress and I’m concerned with where this is leading and what DF has “built” on the pitch. We still have issues with strikers, wingbacks, holding midfield and also the back 3. All of that falls on the recruitment team and as things stand now i can’t see us getting out of this mess with this squad (because of lack of characters and desire). Clark and Garrity are already being heralded as our messiahs, but what’s Clark done for us this season prior to the injury to show us he’s can drag us through this? Yesterday just showed us what a manager can do with a plan and a group of players with character who want to play for him and the club with belief, desire …. Etc.

    It’s all a bit depressing isn’t it. 

    I do agree on the Clark Messiah point but personally felt he was putting in committed performances before his injury.

    Mad thinking that he is our only natural wing back in the squad. Think it gives us atleast a bit more balance on one side of the pitch.

    Grant --> converted CM

    Sang --> converted CM

    Massey --> converted right wing / right forward

    Plant --> converted right wing / right forward

     

  16. I thought we started that relatively well and carved out the better chances. 

    As soon as we scored though we seemed to be in a never ending pattern of defending freekicks from out wide. 

    Say what you like about Cheltenham but they were committed and had a game plan (even if it is lump enough into the box and eventually the ball will drop kindly).

    My big worry is that we didn't seem to have the football intelligence to stop it happening. It was obvious the ref was gonna keep letting them have those freekicks.

    We are badly in need of a bit of grit. Looking forward for garrity and clark to return.

    • Like 4
  17. So just to confirm:

    - Moore - Everyone would be thrilled but question for me is whether he could succeed on a smaller budget / the mess we are in. Apart from Huddersfield all his teams have been expected to do well.

    - Bonner - Track record of staying up. Also a bit more experience with that promotion. Sense it just went stale for him at Cambridge - from forum comments think he would be well received on the whole

    - Kennedy - I think we're being a bit dismissive. On the plus side can build a solid team but not much more experience than Crosby

    Are there any other main contenders? Keep seeing Gary Bower, Derek Adams mentioned too.

     

  18. 1 hour ago, werstayinup said:

    They said his football was boring,sets up not to lose and packs midfield hence lack of goals i guess,so dont expect fast attacking football with goals....... they could be taking a big risk when it comes to selling season tickets

    I think there is also a narrative in that he got them defensively solid, signed some better strikers but they all got injured.

    So didn't have much luck trying to evolve the style of play.

     

  19. 1 minute ago, Killersrevenge44 said:

    Kennedy's record at Macclesfield is appaling...albeit he was only there for 15 games

     

    The Lincoln record isn't great either/ Average of just over one goal per match managed

    How did he go from that record at Macc to Lincoln in Lg1. Was he a coach at Lincoln and they took a punt on him?

    • Like 1
  20. Are we in danger of becoming a bit of a echo chamber and then getting sad/angry if something does or doesn't happen?

    I guess that is the internet....

    Anyway a few people have mentioned it but I'm on the side of wanting an experienced manager. I think the situation we are in we need a trusted hand.

    • Like 6
  21. Maybe a premier league club will send us a young up and coming coach on loan that we can use as manager and in the process prove we are a welcoming environment for the next time in February we sack our manager.

    • Haha 1
  22. 12 minutes ago, onestepatatime said:

    I'll probably get slaughtered fir this but genuinely I would rather have Loft over Wilson. At least Loft has tried recently. He is winning headers but Wilson is so slow to react and he has looked totally uninterested lately. Wilson is not one you would choose to have alongside you in the trenches. He has no battling qualities and is a luxury we can't afford in our present predicament. Even though some players are not technically good enough for Division 1 they at least try. Some don't. Take your pick. Last night and last Saturday Loft put in a shift and won headers, harried opponents. Others in the team hid and shirked any semblance of responsibility. We all have our own opinions.

    If we can get players in and around loft then I agree, he has put effort in recently as a target man.

    However he just doesn't have the composure for a league one striker in my view. An example of this is that break after they rattled the cross bar. Ball with pace to feet on edge of 18 yard box with only one defender near by. Air kick and scuffed shot. As a vale midfielder you would almost dread passing him the ball. Noticed last night too that he just didn't read the pitch well. Kept under hitting passes on a wet pitch.

    Agree on all your points with willow recently. He seems to work best in the pocket behind a dominant striker. Maybe it will click with loft but probably won't. In any case even though willow is in poor form, I still think he is more likely to score / assist than loft at the moment.

     

    • Like 2
  23. Last night was so bleak. No disrespect to Leyton Orient who were excellent but I view us as similar sized clubs. They were excellent at passing through the lines and creating opportunities. Even when we have been at our best this season, we haven't managed to get anywhere close to that level of cutting edge.

    As for vale I didn't expect anything from tonight. Really sad at how shapeless and poor our football has become. We only ever look threatening when the play gets more ragged and we nick the ball and spring forward. Chislett is good at that but very few options ahead of him getting into the right positions. My big fear is that we take too long to figure out how to score goals. Personally I think we should stack the midfield, become hard to beat, play mighten from the start so we have pace / threat on the break. Lumping it up to loft isn't working.

    On the positives thought lopata was very solid. Our back 3 last night was physical and imposing. We do have a sprinkling of players throughout the team with quality.

    I'm sure there we're many reasons for Crosby's sacking (some his fault, others not) but we've tried so many approaches this season:

    - We started the season playing reactive, exploit the errors football (i.e Charlton and Oxford away) and it worked for us

    - We had a terrible 3 months where we thought possession football would work - probably as we had Arblaster and Devine.

    - Realised in December that playing more direct into Uche could work for us - It did to an extent although points gained largely due to garrity being excellent.

    - With Uche injury in Jan and a new midfield + injuries to key players we have a totally unbalanced squad with no obvious pattern of play / identity. 

    Just hope we get a manager in soon that can figure out how to get the best from what we have and help drill us into an effective style of play.

     

     

    • Like 6
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