the_mighty_bosh

Gateshead's Stephen Wearne has signed for MK Dons. He looked very useful for them last month, will be a blow for their playoff bid.

Could be worse, if Joey Barton was watching who knows what kind of nonsensical, inappropriate hyperbole he would've used to describe our performance.

I agree with what you've said about today's performance and the frustrating thing for me is that we sat back way more than we had to and it nearly cost us at least two points. But I disagree that we aren't building something. Mellon is building from the base of Hobson, Raglan and Hogan being rock solid and impenetrable. Not a bad idea when Hobson and Raglan are individually two of the best centre backs in the league and Hogan is a proven leader. Hudson is becoming a bonus too and the understanding between him and the back three seems good. With Norwood and a powerful and/or energetic forward like Stones or Fondop (to a lesser extent), we'll be able to nab a goal or two a game which will be enough if that back 3 continues to get stronger. All other areas can definitely be improved, but Mellon clearly understands how he's building this team. Even if it's not pretty watching how it gets built.

He is and the outcome will justify his methods for today, but I can totally understand the negativity after that today. McGahey was the step too far, the back 3 (or 5) is solid, Sheron has it in him to sit in and Lundstram, despite being poor in possession, has the energy to get around. A further sitting midfielder who was poor in possession put us under unnecessary pressure. I hope Ward or Hope takes his place next week against Hendon.

Today, definitely. A hairy-arsed, ugly, unnecessarily defensive 1-0 win. That said, 6th in the league and back-to-back clean sheets.

Very true, and ironic considering when our goal came. The first 25 makes the last 20 even more frustrating as we looked like we were able to take control of the game, then let them back into it. I think I trust these players as little as Mellon does given the shape that he's using.

Ideally we'll get an upgrade, but pragmatically if we're working with what we've got I'd be happier having Hope in the team ahead of a player with a questionable attitude or questionable levels of consistency.

Short for Szczecin, he's heading to the Polish leagues with Pawel Abbott.

The player I'd add to that team (maybe to be counted as a squad player) is Hope. After Reid and McGahey got suspended I was glad he got the nod at Hartlepool, because while he's borderline good enough ability-wise he always strikes me as having the right professionalism and work rate. Before we bring in the quality required, these two traits will be valued highly by Mellon and rightly so.

With how quickly it was announced he was probably told before their journey back, can't imagine anyone on the coach would've enjoyed that! Interesting to see how it's turned out as Askey would've probably been my choice to replace Unsworth last season before he got the job there, but it hasn't gone well for him up there.

Johnson has had some degree of progress with us, Barnsley, Bristol City and Sunderland. All four were in better positions when he left compared to when he took them on. Hibs clearly went pretty badly wrong though and, with the attacking threats in the Fleetwood squad, he should have had them away from the relegation zone by now (Exeter went on a 13 game winless run where they only scored 3 goals yet Fleetwood still couldn't leapfrog them!), so his sacking doesn't seem unfair in my eyes. I can't help but think if he would've been in a better position if he had seen the seasons out with us and Barnsley. If he had made the playoffs with us in 14/15 I think he would've left on better terms with our fans and his stock would've been high, same with Barnsley as he had clearly turned the club around and they were heading for the playoffs with him. Heckingbottom picked up where he left off and won promotion. In either case, both would've been achievements that he could've built his career on. Instead he developed a reputation for being a very streaky and disloyal manager, before this season just being a calamitous one. I was impressed with his ability (certainly not his loyalty) when he was with us and wouldn't be surprised if he does well at another club given the chance, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get that chance.

Maybe it's just me, but there's something a little bit satisfying that we're 8th and level on points with the playoffs at the turn of the year, despite not playing at all well in approximately half the matches so far. With the proven manager we have in addition to the potential to add to the squad (albeit with the possible reliance on offloading a few players first) I'd put us as one of the more likely clubs to make the playoffs at this stage. At the same time we're under no illusions that improvements are needed for us to succeed. It's a low bar, but this is the best position we've been in going into January for a long time, certainly in the last decade. EDIT: The closest competition to the final paragraph is probably December 2014 when we were doing well under Lee Johnson (look where he is now) but 2015 had barely began when the powers-to-be and Red Fleece decided that trying to sign Ched Evans wouldn't backfire in any way. Whoever on here dubbed 2015 the "horrible anus" year couldn't have put it better!

W6 D2 L3 as I'm feeling pedantic. Either way, replicate it over the rest of the season and I'm sure it'll be good enough for a playoff place, hopefully the level of performance will improve too. Onwards and Upwards in 2024!

After a brilliant start it's so frustrating how passive and sloppy in possession we've been. This home game has happened so many times already this season and it looks ominous that it will happen again.

I'm always happy to have someone predict a 0-0, as it almost always guarantees goals! With Stones and Norwood looking clinical and with our overloaded defence being fairly sieve-like, there's a fair chance of goals in our side, regardless of the rest of the team.

If only they listened to your positive opinion.

A poor prediction there.

Your criticism of the "fanbase" is nothing if not on brand.

So 1st half I thought we played the game plan really well and, despite Gateshead looking tidy on the ball, we looked pretty comfortable. Then we go and put in a performance like that in the 2nd half. With the amount of experienced and physical players that we have in the squad there is no way that we should be throwing that game away in the manner that we did. I really believe that there are a lot of players that we have in this squad that can offer something to us and be part of the next 18 months where hopefully we'll be pushing for the playoffs or promotion regardless of which league we're in (not National League North before anyone mentions it), but because every player seems to be maddeningly inconsistent from half-to-half, none of them are safe from being culled in my eyes. Finally Gateshead deserve a lot of credit because it's one thing having the players who can play their style at this level, but it's another for them to have the confidence in their ability to play that way when going a goal down. Then to keep it going and looking far more likely to score a 3rd than for us to equalise is not something many teams with their budget can do. We were rubbish in the 2nd half, but they were very good.

Tactical intelligence from Mellon.

Fingers crossed for you guys. How likely is it that you'll have reinforcements in for the Christmas period?

What does everyone think is a fair solution for Southend at the moment? Due to their off-field mismanagement (basically Ron Martin) the National League are probably following the letter of the law (the letter), but with the Christmas period coming up expecting a team to be able to complete it with a squad of 12 players is farcical, and worse it will surely put those players at a high risk of injury. Surely non-contract terms or month-to-month deals should be allowed until they can fill their bench? At this stage it won't significantly improve their team to give them an undue advantage, but will take pressure off players in their squad who are struggling physically.

That period was peak Danny Rowe!