MATCH: FC Halifax Town (H) 04/02/23

[Flemboy]

3 hours ago, Mayfield said:

I agree @AnthonyOAFC.

 

The formula with DU requires the club to assemble a squad he can work with.

 

It troubles me that we aren't seeing DU substantialy improve the current squad.

 

It appears that the board has set a target of avoiding relegation, which I believe DU can achieve, but it maybe only just ...

 

In my opinion this would not be the correct preparation for next season, which should be a credible attempt at promotion.

 

 

It's about time Unsworth stopped making excuses all the time and if he had an ounce of humility would publicly apologise to our fans both old and new for his  mistakes  and promised that from now he would give 100 % effort and commitment to his team,the fans and the proud name of our club.

Halifax on their budget getting 6 points under Unworthy's pointless leadership.

[GrahamHughes]

1 hour ago, deyres42 said:

Tables aren't properly formed in September so with the greatest respect it is pointless for anyone to keep harking back to it.

OMG football matches don’t count then in the first couple of months then.Have a word with yourself and admit Unsy isn’t a football manager.Shez got far more out of his inadequate squad than this fraudster has own signings!

[Flemboy]

33 minutes ago, GrahamHughes said:

OMG football matches don’t count then in the first couple of months then.Have a word with yourself and admit Unsy isn’t a football manager.Shez got far more out of his inadequate squad than this fraudster has own signings!

And loved our club and our fans with a heartfelt passion

[LaticMark]

5 hours ago, Chaddyexile84 said:

Unsworth told a fan who pointed out we didn’t have a single shot on target to “fuck off” apparently 

 

id have been arrested if it had been me, the guy is David Dunne on speed 

 

5 hours ago, Pidge said:

The person who was sworn at should submit an official complaint (providing they were not using foul language themselves). Copy to the league.  
the club would have to respond and it may give them an excuse to sack him. Maybe a genuine excuse is what they are looking for. Something they can explain to big Joe, “We had no option, he had to go”

 

5 hours ago, League one forever said:

Spot on Pidge. 
 

If it’s not personal abuse, then it’s completely unacceptable from Unsworth. 

 

The supporter, who sits near me, was the first to swear saying "fuck off, Unsworth, zero shots" in a loud voice. Unsworth clearly heard, turned in the direction of the supporter and said "you fuck off". This led to a few more expletives from said supporter and a few more "zero shots" comments.

 

[LaticMark]

6 hours ago, yarddog73 said:

To be fair nobody is blaming the ref but there's no denying that was one of the worst refereeing performances I've witnessed at BP, he was blatantly cheating at times.

 

Unsworth said it was *Dean Watson's first game in charge in the National League. He's also a Head Teacher, would you believe, according to his Twitter handle!

 

* and he's a Rochdale fan! Although he's now deleted one of his previous tweets!

 

 

 

[True Tic]

4 hours ago, 100milesaway said:

Another Saturday home game shambles. Another defeat, another woeful performance. And We are actually getting worse.

 

Norman probably saved us from losing by 4 or 5 goals with some great saves, meanwhile their keeper spent the whole game leaning on a post smoking a tab.

 

We keep signing new players, but there is no sign of even a slight improvement.

 

The crowd today had nothing whatsoever to get excited about, and almost all of us going home feeling like we had our guts ripped out.

 

Something has to change, BIG decisions have to be made, we cannot go on like this.

 

Most of the feel good factor after FCFs arrival, has now long gone. None of the new signings have made any real difference,  with todays performance like many that have gone before it abysmally bad. Action is needed quickly.

I think we can quite safely say the current management isn’t/aren’t up to the job. 20 plus games now, new signings, plenty of time to “gel”  and NOTHING to show for it, literally nothing. I don’t rate the players we have that highly but I’m sure another manager could get a tune out of them. At the moment they literally look like they don’t train or play together at all.  

[Mayfield]

1 hour ago, Flemboy said:

It's about time Unsworth stopped making excuses all the time and if he had an ounce of humility would publicly apologise to our fans both old and new for his  mistakes  and promised that from now he would give 100 % effort and commitment to his team,the fans and the proud name of our club.

Halifax on their budget getting 6 points under Unworthy's pointless leadership.

I wholeheartedly share your frustration @Flemboy

David Unsworth has painted himself into a corner, the relationship with supporters does matter.

Not to say he isn't a good person with the best of intentions, yet his communication and style is not working.

The latest post match interview did drift towards making excuses, the pitch ... 

I also saw your comment about Shez, who deserves tremendous credit for everything he contributed.

 

However frustrated I was post match, Shez didn't say anything I felt was insincere or unfair, usually just taking personal responsibility "I am the Manger, I pick the team ..".

 

The board feel David Unsworth will get it right in time, this is a painful process.

 

I respect Frank and appreciate the integrity of the board, who we trust to make the right decisions.

 

Sat in the Main stand, looking at David Unsworth and his team, I just don't have the same confidence.

 

[Lee Sinnott]

On 2/3/2023 at 8:28 AM, Lee Sinnott said:

I keep an eye on Halifax and have seen them at close quarters on a few occasions this season. They are utterly, utterly shite and have 4 or 5 key players missing. If we don't win against these, Unsworth should be locked in the toilets of the Players Lounge and never allowed out...

Hope he's still locked in there...

[Lee Sinnott]

We were crap. Really, really crap. But I'm up for calling a stewards enquiry on that referee. He was deputy head at Wardle High School up until recently and is a Rochdale fan. I said to my wife when I saw he was appointed referee that it was strange giving him an Oldham match and so it proved.

 

He's not the reason we lost though. Cos we were an utter shambles...

[TheBigDog]

9 hours ago, Flemboy said:

It's about time Unsworth stopped making excuses all the time and if he had an ounce of humility would publicly apologise to our fans both old and new for his mistakes…

Looking at the match stats in the Non League Paper this morning, it confirms what I saw with my own eyes yesterday:

 

Shots - 0, Corners - 3. And we couldn’t even manage to get caught offside once!

 

Add to that, we had the following performance scores allocated to the players:

 

Hogan&Nuttall&Fondop 4/10

Clarke&Kitching&Sheron&Shelton&Tollit&Rooney 5/10

Yarney&Abraham 6/10

Norman 7/10 and rightly named MotM

 

Yes, Unsworth has to take a huge portion of blame for the dismal performance but what about the players?

Only Yarney, Abraham and Norman put in any effort (Reid wasn’t on long enough to judge).

 

And Dieseruvwe put on a terrific show of how to lead the line yesterday

 

 

[rudemedic]

I like the pairing of Nuttall and Fondop against the majority of teams at this level and League 2. As Nuttall and/or Fondop will be able to out-muscle or beat a CB in the air.

 

Today, however, is an exception. Neither Fondop not Nuttall were ever going to regularly out-muscle or beat one of their 3 CBs in the air. Timmy on the other hand had them on toast with his pace. If Unsworth had anything about him he would have adjusted his starting XI accordingly, or made a change at HT when it clearly wasn't working.

 

J. Clarke didn't play very well at Aldershot so I was expecting Yarney to be moved to RB and P. Clarke to come in at CB, when he didn't I was surprised and J. Clarke didn't play well again. 

 

That being said, the cheers for his substitution were not needed and won't do J. Clarke any good in the long run.

 

It was the 4th official who told the ref about Fondop, not the linesman. Given Unsworth said it was a red card and actually given the way one of their players reacted when the linesman didn't give it I think that was the right decision.

 

Years ago I don't think they would have got their penalty but the law was changed about 5 years ago, so if the ball hits a defending players arm and the arm is not in a natural position it should be a penalty. I can see how the penalty was given.

 

That being said the referee not seeing Timmy being pushed at the by-line, presumably pretty close to the penalty area. Then also not seeing the holding at the corner where Yarney was dragged down is a bit suspicious. The referee being a Rochdale fan, Headteacher at Woodhey high school in Bury* and refereeing his first game at National League level takes that suspicion to something else.

 

However, we didn't deserve to get even a point against a local rival who were on a bad run of form because of Unsworth's team selection, and the players' performance.

 

I still don't think we will go down but it is a lot closer than it should be, Unsworth can go for me. Based on yesterday he isn't going to turn this squad into anything more than lower midtable. Quite a few managers would do better.

 

* - Woodhey made the news in his first week of being head thanks to a uniform issue with a bit of a sexist undertone (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/schoolgirls-in-tears-after-claims-24960700.amp)

 

 

[Dave_Og]

5 minutes ago, rudemedic said:

I like the pairing of Nuttall and Fondop against the majority of teams at this level and League 2. As Nuttall and/or Fondop will be able to out-muscle or beat a CB in the air.

 

Today, however, is an exception. Neither Fondop not Nuttall were ever going to regularly out-muscle or beat one of their 3 CBs in the air. Timmy on the other hand had them on toast with his pace. If Unsworth had anything about him he would have adjusted his starting XI accordingly, or made a change at HT when it clearly wasn't working.

 

J. Clarke didn't play very well at Aldershot so I was expecting Yarney to be moved to RB and P. Clarke to come in at CB, when he didn't I was surprised and J. Clarke didn't play well again. 

 

That being said, the cheers for his substitution were not needed and won't do J. Clarke any good in the long run.

 

It was the 4th official who told the ref about Fondop, not the linesman. Given Unsworth said it was a red card and actually given the way one of their players reacted when the linesman didn't give it I think that was the right decision.

 

Years ago I don't think they would have got their penalty but the law was changed about 5 years ago, so if the ball hits a defending players arm and the arm is not in a natural position it should be a penalty. I can see how the penalty was given.

 

That being said the referee not seeing Timmy being pushed at the by-line, presumably pretty close to the penalty area. Then also not seeing the holding at the corner where Yarney was dragged down is a bit suspicious. The referee being a Rochdale fan, Headteacher at Woodhey high school in Bury* and refereeing his first game at National League level takes that suspicion to something else.

 

However, we didn't deserve to get even a point against a local rival who were on a bad run of form because of Unsworth's team selection, and the players' performance.

 

I still don't think we will go down but it is a lot closer than it should be, Unsworth can go for me. Based on yesterday he isn't going to turn this squad into anything more than lower midtable. Quite a few managers would do better.

 

* - Woodhey made the news in his first week of being head thanks to a uniform issue with a bit of a sexist undertone (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/schoolgirls-in-tears-after-claims-24960700.amp)

 

 

That's got to be a first. A row about school uniform being cited in relation to a refereeing performance 

[AnthonyOAFC]

I've slept on yesterday and that was the worst performance I've ever seen. We can't string more than five passes together. We seem to just lump the ball forward, hope for a knock down and try to progress up the pitch from there. We never string together neat passes and knock it out wide to get a cross in. I just don't understand what Unsworth is all about. 

[AnthonyOAFC]

 

[LightDN123]

21 minutes ago, AnthonyOAFC said:

I've slept on yesterday and that was the worst performance I've ever seen. We can't string more than five passes together. We seem to just lump the ball forward, hope for a knock down and try to progress up the pitch from there. We never string together neat passes and knock it out wide to get a cross in. I just don't understand what Unsworth is all about. 

We have done this every game. It’s a joke to be honest. 

[mcfluff1985]

1 hour ago, TheBigDog said:

Looking at the match stats in the Non League Paper this morning, it confirms what I saw with my own eyes yesterday:

 

Shots - 0, Corners - 3. And we couldn’t even manage to get caught offside once!

 

Add to that, we had the following performance scores allocated to the players:

 

Hogan&Nuttall&Fondop 4/10

Clarke&Kitching&Sheron&Shelton&Tollit&Rooney 5/10

Yarney&Abraham 6/10

Norman 7/10 and rightly named MotM

 

Yes, Unsworth has to take a huge portion of blame for the dismal performance but what about the players?

Only Yarney, Abraham and Norman put in any effort (Reid wasn’t on long enough to judge).

 

And Dieseruvwe put on a terrific show of how to lead the line yesterday

 

 

Thought to get caught off side when you're aimlessly punting it forward as they sit deep enough to soak it up and clear or knock down to their unmarked midfield and then play back through u

[mick26]

15 minutes ago, LightDN123 said:

We have done this every game. It’s a joke to be honest. 

Midfield still not right, in particular the wide players as well as Clarke giving another disaster class right back performance. Might as well go 433 with Rooney in front of Sheron and Shelton and a front 3 of Abraham, Reid and Nuttall.

Needs to win next 3 home games for me so Tuesday is shit or bust.

[yarddog73]

1 minute ago, mick26 said:

Midfield still not right, in particular the wide players as well as Clarke giving another disaster class right back performance. Might as well go 433 with Rooney in front of Sheron and Shelton and a front 3 of Abraham, Reid and Nuttall.

Needs to win next 3 home games for me so Tuesday is shit or bust.

Said similar when I put out my team for the match, too much depends on whether the wet wipes Tollitt and Chapman do anything, if they don't as in yesterday you're playing with a midfield 2 and those two Sheron and Shelton were no better than adequate. 

 

Clarke should never play for the club again, I swear he's playing like a cunt on purpose and he set the tone yesterday from minute one with his incompetence. 

[Andyt84]

5 minutes ago, mick26 said:

Midfield still not right, in particular the wide players as well as Clarke giving another disaster class right back performance. Might as well go 433 with Rooney in front of Sheron and Shelton and a front 3 of Abraham, Reid and Nuttall.

Needs to win next 3 home games for me so Tuesday is shit or bust.

I was thinking that but the problem is the fullbacks aren't upto that as Clarke in particular doesn't get forward adequately. 

[mcfluff1985]

21 minutes ago, Andyt84 said:

I was thinking that but the problem is the fullbacks aren't upto that as Clarke in particular doesn't get forward adequately. 

To be fair he has zero cover down that side  left with no option other than lumping it at times. He was poor yesterday could tell from his face after a pass he misplaced he knew he wasn't great. The way we set up doesn't help him either. Tollit and Kitching play well together down the left so leave them there. At the minute I'd rather have Stobbs on the right than Chapman

[JoeP]

57 minutes ago, AnthonyOAFC said:

 

 

 

We certainly kept our part of the bargain in the "0-0 game" didn't we, Rhino?

 

[Guy Branston Pickle]

54 minutes ago, LightDN123 said:

We have done this every game. It’s a joke to be honest. 

I remember him slagging the players off at Halifax away, talking about how they weren't good enough and he needed to bring his own in

 

That yesterday was a much worse performance than at the Shay. And this is very much his team now. No more excuses. Get rid.

[old codger]

I went to the game thinking we should win.  Form suggested it and the additions to the squad suggested it.  4 4 2 and lumping it was working!

After the first ten minutes my thought was:  What has Unsworth been doing with the players this week to produce such a dire team performance?  I can't begin to understand but it now seems clear that he simply isn't the right person.  As things stand we are odds on to be relegated.  If by some miracle we stay up he will still be here next season.

Frankly this isn't the stability we need.

[True Tic]

1 hour ago, AnthonyOAFC said:

I've slept on yesterday and that was the worst performance I've ever seen. We can't string more than five passes together. We seem to just lump the ball forward, hope for a knock down and try to progress up the pitch from there. We never string together neat passes and knock it out wide to get a cross in. I just don't understand what Unsworth is all about. 

Exactly, at first I thought Unsworth was playing us this way because he didn’t trust the players he “ inherited “ to play actual football. He now has his team in place and still setting us up like we are up against Real Madrid every game. Stifled in a negative formation. It’s awful to watch and humiliating in all honesty 

[BP1960]

It would help if players with passion were chosen, some of these don't put the effort in yet are fixtures in the team. That favouritsm is one is the reasons performances are so poor. For example not to to start Abraham who does put a shift in is unbelievable.

Rooney also tries to make things happen and would make a difference if played in his correct position.

I expect to see the usual suspects start again against Dagenham which is really depressing.