the_mighty_bosh

7 minutes ago, Fervid said:

That’s on MM tactics where an absolute disgrace at home to a side managed by Phil Brown ffs. 

Have to agree, can't believe how aimless our play was.

Also with the back 3 we have, it's a disgrace that we've conceded in back-to-back games from corners.

There's been just about enough games under Mellon where we've shown that there's something to work with, but far too many already where there has been so much room for improvement in each performance.  Fylde, Ebbsfleet (x2), Gateshead, Dorking, Woking, York on Tuesday and today, regardless of how many points we picked up in each match we deserved nothing from them based on the way we played.

It's infuriating how we couldn't turn up on a game like today.

Hard to understand how we can play this badly.

Usually teams who are this poor in open play are good in both boxes, we seem to offer no threat.

I know Green's flaws, but how have we not played him in a similar way to how we played at Maidenhead?  Not happy at all with how Mellon has set us up in the last two games.

2 hours ago, Monty Burns said:

you got 20mins to spare?

 

l have now

 

https://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/news/2024/february/23022024-frank-return-interview/

An incredible man, proud to have him as our owner.

I'd go with 4-3-3 tomorrow, with the tough call of dropping Sutton for Green.

Hudson

Hobson

Raglan

Hogan

Kitching

Sheron

Conlon

Hammond

Green

Garner

Fondop

We need some energy and pace in the team to get at them from the start, so having Green playing the role that he did against Maidenhead would offer this.

I know 3 points is crucial but we need to avoid a turgid performance, which I could see the lineup that we had on Tuesday providing.

Definitely confident after Saturday's game, although I still don't trust this squad enough to not throw in a stinker of a performance.  With Tuesday/Saturday coming up for the next 4 weeks, now is the best time to put together a run of form.

8 hours ago, Glossop Shrimper said:

 

Sorted, nearly. Still waiting to get rid of the owner. Contracts exchanged and the consortium have effectively taken over the running of the club, new contracts sorted, new players in. The local paper this morning said completion of the sale is likely to be another 6-8 weeks.

 

Today, Oxford way. 1200 Shrimpers going. Will be noisy

Great that it's nearly sorted off the pitch, but how has it happened on the pitch that you've gone from getting results when barely having a player on the bench, to a bad run of form when you've been able to fill the bench every match?  Are the original players burned out (understandable if so)?

Hope you guys stay up, this season deserves a good ending for your fans.

7 hours ago, deyres42 said:

Talk about managing expectations, Mellon really has done a number on some of you lot...

I agree that it's just one of many skills he possesses and why he's a proven success in managing football clubs isn't it?

Not like these "young and progressive" managers who have a certain "identity" but wouldn't know success if it bit them on the arse.  Luckily the vast majority of our fanbase aren't so easily fooled by that nonsense.

10 hours ago, BP1960 said:

 

Even the teams Dino, Kewell  and Pete Wild had would have strolled this league like Chesterfield.

Dino and Kewell highly debatable that they would've (look at how Kewell did at Barnet).  Wild would've though.

12 hours ago, yarddog73 said:

Hudson

 

Hobson

Raglan

Hogan

 

Green

Lundstrum 

Conlon

Hammond

Kitching

 

Garner

Fondop

 

Sutton

Sheron

Walker

Dallas

Reid

What I like about this team is that it could become 4-3-3 with Green pushing forward, Kitching dropping back and Hobson moving right if it's right for the circumstances as the match progresses, but for tomorrow it'll have to be 3-5-2 to begin.

11 minutes ago, Sloshed Joe said:

 

Garner really enjoys the battle. He was backing in, niggling away at the cloggers marking him, getting a few digs in and generally being a shithouse pest. Great stuff.

 

 

He may not have the legs or the pace that he used to have, but this doesn't leave players and is exactly why Mellon brought him in.

31 minutes ago, Londonboy said:

This is the biggest worry for me. I'm worried that the current backup strikers just won't score enough goals...mainly because we don't create enough chances, and the new boys are just not match fit or have not had the chance to bed in.

 

But who knows, we may have to change how we play a bit now and the others strikers may step up to the plate, but whichever way you look at it, Norwood being out till April is a massive blow.

I didn't see this.

Obviously awful news, but this is a season where we aren't short of strikers at least.  Mellon should still be able to find an effectively combination with what we have.

Could've been worse tonight.  Solihull the only winners in the playoff pack, and that came against Halifax.  Gateshead only drawing is a plus.

Despite how poor we've been in the last two games, a playoff place really should be there for the taking this season with the squad we have.

Frustrating night.

The defensive unit was decent enough, but the set up is far too defensive for a match like that.  Especially on the back of the Dorking and Woking matches where we performed really poorly with the same set up regardless of the win or loss.

4-3-3 would work with the players in the squad we have.  Sachdev and Kitching need support from players in front of them, with the present formation there are too many players in the middle of the park who aren't making enough of an impact.

I'd be calling for Dallas to be part of that front 3 but, despite being out of position, I was disappointed with the lack of impact that he had on the game.

2 hours ago, JoeP said:

 

Indeed.

 

Hope they all get decent moves.  Not sure the club's recruitment strategy has been fair to a couple of them - particularly Willoughby..

Have to agree with this.  While I was delighted with us getting Norwood in, it showed the lack of joined up thinking with our summer recruitment.  I'm sure Willoughby would've expected to get a real shot at proving his worth when he initially came in.

2 minutes ago, Dave_Og said:

Is Hogan still suspended?

Just for this game.

15 minutes ago, yarddog73 said:

Who on earth would go unchanged from Saturday?, McGahey shouldn't be anywhere near our starting eleven, add to that he was piss poor in the reverse fixture when we were battered 4-1 at BP as Ebbsfleet ran rings round him.

As it's worked for recent away games I'd keep with the 3-5-2 to start with, but I agree that I wouldn't start McGahey.  Sutton as a like-for-like change would be it for me.

It's a signing that suggests we're certainly going for it this season.

He's got the experience and the quality, hopefully he still has the fitness and energy to go with it.  Time will tell.

I'll be honest I can't get over that goal he scored in the playoffs against Rotherham years ago, up there with the best goals I've ever seen.  Sheer class.

7 minutes ago, deyres42 said:

With our budget you'd like to think we could have implemented a progressive style and gained 'instant' results though, no?

I think that's extremely rare in general with a big budget team in any league, but with the squad we had when Unsworth left I think it was nigh-on impossible to do so. 

And I'm not completely writing off the squad that we had in the first half of the season, but it is a physical squad of players rather than a particularly technical one. 

A pragmatic manager that Mellon has proven himself to be in his career is the right manager for our situation, because a progressive manager like the ones you've mentioned would need a bigger short-term overhaul than Mellon has had so far to implement the style of play that they have done at their previous clubs.  With no guarantee of success.

17 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

 

I'd bet no matter how poor certain players were he will still select them at Ebbsfleet. He seems reluctant to drop his favourites even when they turn in weak performances.

Walker should be a certain starter, but for some reason he can't see it.

I don't want to hear 'A work in progress' again.

 

 

Haven't heard Mellon's interview yet, but I disagree with this bit.

Today was a poor performance and we didn't deserve anything from it.  It was disjointed, but part of the reason it was disjointed was because the players who came on were a jarring change to from the first 60-odd minutes.  It was a change for the better and much needed but still a jarring change.  That said I had no problem with Mellon using the same formation that has brought about 4 league wins in a row before changing it when it didn't work.

I'm interested to see how Mellon will change things for Ebbsfleet though.  Walker, Dallas and Conlon have given us an option to change the way we play that we haven't really had since Mellon took over.  I wouldn't be that surprised if we went 4-2-3-1 with the three of them being in the 3 advanced positions.

44 minutes ago, deyres42 said:

Impossible to say if anyone would have been doing a better job but a few obvious progressive ones were Maynard, Parkinson, Williamson 

Unlike the fanboys nonsense, this is actually a reasonable post.

Not seen enough of Parkinson's Altrincham to comment, but Maynard and Williamson got their teams playing very good football at small clubs for this level which has now got the recognition it has deserved with their moves to the EFL.

If we were looking to go down that route then doing so in League Two would make sense, with the way the Rothwell's have been running the club I can't see us being bad enough to go down if we did get up there.  So having a progressive manager trying to implement an expansive style over a longer period would make sense.

In this league and in our current situation however, I can't think of anyone better than Mellon to get us out of the league within the next 18 months.

Good to see Fondop putting in the effort for the celebration that Norwood clearly lacks.

4 minutes ago, TwistingMyMellon said:

 

or walking the dog?

 

They should lift it instead, much safer.  

35 minutes ago, daniel said:

Agree that 352 is the best suited to the squad but you can’t play that formation without Kitching, who he clearly wanted to rest. Not 1 other player in the squad is capable of playing LWB. 

I kind of agree, Dickenson has played there in the past although I wouldn't be too keen on him playing there now.

The only other alternative is Couto, who I wouldn't mind as back up.

What formation are we playing?  Can't work it out with this lineup.

14 hours ago, BP1960 said:

 

Maybe we could sign place names only? Winchester being another.

If we signed Jermaine Darlington to play alongside Stockton, it might just keep our promotion push on the right track.