MATCH: vs Bournemouth (A) FAC 3rd Round 09/01/21

[bigfatjoe1 554]

Outplayed by a good side in the second half. They went up a couple of gears.

Still, i think we played well first half and kept going in the second half. Now we can focus on the league.........

[Guy Branston Pickle 112]

They went up a gear in the second half and it showed. But if Kewell had gone positive from the off and actually played a striker I'm sure we could've got a couple first half

 

Ah well 

[oafc1955 1,059]

Bringing Dearnley & McAleny was worth it and the right move but without a decent supply made absolutely no difference at all. 
I still think as well as a midfielder or two we need a proper CF. We just don’t enjoy enough possession in the attacking third!!

[astottie 523]

5 minutes ago, kowenicki said:

Not upset. Did well today against what is a very good championship team with a good deal of prem players. Smith made a huge difference. 

 

 

Agreed Smith was terrific So much time and never wasted the ball

[Guy Branston Pickle 112]

2 minutes ago, oafc1955 said:

Bringing Dearnley & McAleny was worth it and the right move but without a decent supply made absolutely no difference at all. 
I still think as well as a midfielder or two we need a proper CF. We just don’t enjoy enough possession in the attacking third!!

Couple of full backs and a competent centre midfielder have to be a priority though. Garrity is barely non-league standard and McAlmont goes missing far too often. 

[100milesaway 147]

When I  listen to the commentary Mc almont never gets a mention. At least Garritty gets involved, even though he seems to cause more problems for us than he does for the opposition. 

 

How many of us would have rather seen us play Bambi, Mc eleny and Dearnley, and had a right go at them?. 

 

I feared the worst as soon as I saw our starting line up.

[Andyt84 15]

I found the whole selection ridiculous.  No point sitting back with no forwards and expecting to do anything against a team so far up the leagues

[oafc1955 1,059]

In retrospect if we’d started with the 11 on the pitch at the end I think we’d have struggled to keep it to four. I’m happy with that performance, we raised our game and Bournemouth thought that they just needed to turn up!!

If we can play with the same intensity in the league we’ll have a great chance of a playoff place. A proper CF and a couple of competent midfielders in this month would definitely help the cause!!

[oafc1955 1,059]

Not that I’m too bothered but what’s happened to Blackwood??

[Worcester Owl 657]

Disappointing second half, we were right in it at H/T, but I suppose it was always on the cards. Bahamboula seemed to run out of gas and there was no-one else to provide the quality.

 

It would be nice to see the first half skill and commitment regularly from now to the end of the season but over 90 minutes. It's worrying that when Bahamboula fades no other player can take up the slack.

[TheBigDog 1,623]

First half good, second half bad.

 

Hopefully CBJ and Rowe will be back on Wednesday.

[al_bro 343]

6 minutes ago, Worcester Owl said:

Disappointing second half, we were right in it at H/T, but I suppose it was always on the cards. Bahamboula seemed to run out of gas and there was no-one else to provide the quality.

 

It would be nice to see the first half skill and commitment regularly from now to the end of the season but over 90 minutes. It's worrying that when Bahamboula fades no other player can take up the slack.

We need to figure out why he fades. He looks strong and fit enough. Or maybe it's the opposition who take him out of the game. Bournemouth put two on him second half, but the distribution to him was poor as well. McAlmont was practically none existent today. There two main goal scorers this season weren't even in the squad and they had a number of academy players playing. Had we managed to continue the first half form we would have had a chance. There change at half time put more pressure on Barnett and we resorted to the usual hoofs out of defence. We just need more accuracy from the midfield and we would have a great chance this season if  Mo can see it.

[disjointed 2,204]

FWIW I thought Barnett looked OK, which is an improvement. 

[bigfatjoe1 554]

36 minutes ago, oafc1955 said:

Not that I’m too bothered but what’s happened to Blackwood??

Unfortunately, he should be back in 2-3 weeks.

[penrhyn 27]

2 minutes ago, bigfatjoe1 said:

Unfortunately, he should be back in 2-3 weeks.

He is probably thinking the same about moaning fans. Oh but wait he has  not been here long enough to experience that yet!

 

[Littlemoor Lad 35]

33 minutes ago, al_bro said:

We need to figure out why he fades. He looks strong and fit enough. Or maybe it's the opposition who take him out of the game. Bournemouth put two on him second half, but the distribution to him was poor as well. McAlmont was practically none existent today. There two main goal scorers this season weren't even in the squad and they had a number of academy players playing. Had we managed to continue the first half form we would have had a chance. There change at half time put more pressure on Barnett and we resorted to the usual hoofs out of defence. We just need more accuracy from the midfield and we would have a great chance this season if  Mo can see it.

Baha was upfront on his own for long periods and his game is all about running at defenders when the ball gets turned over.

Regardless of the result, that first half performance against top of the championship, would have been more than enough against anyone in league two.

We can force our way into the play offs without a doubt.

[disjointed 2,204]

7 minutes ago, Littlemoor Lad said:

Baha was upfront on his own for long periods and his game is all about running at defenders when the ball gets turned over.

Regardless of the result, that first half performance against top of the championship, would have been more than enough against anyone in league two.

We can force our way into the play offs without a doubt.

Unfortunately I don't think we have enough at the moment to get in to the play off positions, the recruitment in the next couple of weeks is vital if we want to achieve this. 

[Littlemoor Lad 35]

18 minutes ago, disjointed said:

Unfortunately I don't think we have enough at the moment to get in to the play off positions, the recruitment in the next couple of weeks is vital if we want to achieve this. 

If Clarkey and McCann were in this starting 11 we'd be top six right now

Fine margins but if the likes of Morecambe are in the mix, no reason we can't be.

[disjointed 2,204]

I agree, it just needs a little more quality in a couple of positions for us to be competing at the upper end of the league. 

[Littlemoor Lad 35]

8 minutes ago, disjointed said:

I agree, it just needs a little more quality in a couple of positions for us to be competing at the upper end of the league. 

Without Baha we'd be bottom four, its clearly obvious he doesn't belong in this league.

It's been a good while since we had such a crowd pleaser at Oldham, from experience, they never tend to stay around long enough.

 

[astottie 523]

2 minutes ago, Littlemoor Lad said:

 

It's been a good while since we had such a crowd pleaser at Oldham, from experience, they never tend to stay around long enough.

 

Jack Byrne? Which probably supports your point.

[Littlemoor Lad 35]

4 minutes ago, astottie said:

Jack Byrne? Which probably supports your point.

Nah,

He wasn't good enough to lace the boots of most I had in mind 

[LightDN123 563]

46 minutes ago, Littlemoor Lad said:

Nah,

He wasn't good enough to lace the boots of most I had in mind 

Right

[Lee Sinnott2 83]

3 hours ago, oafc1955 said:

Not that I’m too bothered but what’s happened to Blackwood??

Saw Blacky in the gym a few weeks back. He was aiming for today's game as a comeback...

[Andy Barlow’s dietician 31]

I enjoyed the first half. We looked really compact and committed and the players were able to cope thanks to the strange lacklustre approach from Bournemouth. We should have been in front at half time, and Bahamboula looked by far the best payer on the pitch.

 

Unfortunately, Bournemouth got a rocket at half time and that plus a couple of tactical changes from their coach (it seemed like HK was ripping into him pretty much every time he was on camera “my coat cost much more than yours did, wanker”) and the game was gone.

 

In the 2nd half our frailties were exposed, primarily a lack of organisation at the back, no outlet up top, and most significantly a midfield not smart or capable enough to win 2nd ball and then get a pass away to get us going.

 

We can live without a hold up centre forward as we have enough forward quality to get by without one (Chris O’’Grady ahead of Connor Macaleny anyone?). We do though have to be better defensively, so a RB and CB are needed, probably ahead of Pidge and any of our numerous right backs. Barnett is a fill in at LB; CBJ is good enough and I noted Badan made the bench today.

 

Midfield is a right head scratcher. I think Garrity gets more grief than is probably deserved, but on balance I wouldn’t have him in the team. Same for Brice, who I see as the bigger issue. We need the Mtwambe position to be the best player in the team, and if we could get a good player, and leader, in to fill this place then I think with McAlmont alongside we can play either DKD or Whelan as the link to our quality front three.

 

Take your pick of three from four up top, but for me (once fit) Rowe plays as of course does Bahamboula. Our very best team probably includes all four of them with Bahamboula and MacAleny wide and leaving out Whelan/DKD. We can only play all four if the changes described above have happened.

 

I like thinking about the team and how to make it better. I expect though that we will probably only pick up a big forward and a not good enough midfielder in the window and so roughly carry on with what we’ve got to the end of this season. On that basis, we finish in the 3rd quadrant, but maybe closer to twelfth than nineteenth. 
 

Talk of playoffs is, I am afraid, absolute bollocks (however bad the league is). Harrogate, Walsall, and Grimsby results recently have told us that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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