Style v results ?

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For me football is first and foremost a sport so winning comes first.

In an ideal world we'd be winning every game playing free flowing, passing attacking football but unless you've got the limitless resources of Real Madrid, Man City etc ... that isn't always possible.

This season results have been good but the style of play has received criticism from some, yesterday v WSM being a prime example.

So I have been wondering what other fans value higher style or results ?

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Are they mutually exclusive ?

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I always want to see entertaining football but would take winning ugly over losing pretty every time. Yesterday was frustrating but in the end, the team that tried to play pretty football lost. Admittedly they weren’t very good at it and neither are we much of the time, so you have to play to your strengths.

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Mar 24, 2024 16:44:02 GMT @harry said:

Are they mutually exclusive ?

Not always but sometimes if you don't have the resources or against a certain type of opponent you have to 'win ugly' IMHO.

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Mar 24, 2024 17:26:19 GMT royalstone said:

Mar 24, 2024 16:44:02 GMT @harry said:

Are they mutually exclusive ?

Not always but sometimes if you don't have the resources or against a certain type of opponent you have to 'win ugly' IMHO.

38 attempts v 2. Ring a bell ?

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Mar 24, 2024 17:05:45 GMT daveu said:

I always want to see entertaining football but would take winning ugly over losing pretty every time. Yesterday was frustrating but in the end, the team that tried to play pretty football lost. Admittedly they weren’t very good at it and neither are we much of the time, so you have to play to your strengths.

Sadly, I have to agree.
Not just because agreeing with daveu goes against my instincts, but it is a shame that ugly football beats entertaining football especially at this level.

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We as fans are not privileged to know what the owners have told George, if he has been told that winning/promotion is a must then he is doing the only way he knows and results outweigh entertainment. This is fine as people watch a winning team but there will come a point when fans ask themselves is one or three points worth £17 entrance if you are just going to be bored. I cannot really comment on the last 2 seasons home games as health/wealth has permitted me only 3 games which were awful and to be honest those games made my decision to put health first and also made it easier nit ti miss them. Would i rather see us lose 5-4 than win 1-0 ? Well no but I wouldn't mind it every now and again to keep myself interested . Unfortunately my time at Watching the Stones seems to be drawing to a close and so it no longer matters so much to me and so I hope we win any which way we can for all of you that remain.

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It hasn’t been exclusively dull this season. We’ve played entertaining football when we could, Worthing, Yeovil, Chelmsford, all teams who like to play football. Then of course there was the cup run. Maybe not as scintillating as the promotion campaign but it’s had its moments.

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I seem to recall our promotion run had plenty of dull 1-0 wins mixed in.
It wasn't all a cavalier style of football, not by a long way, Jay's team had its share of roundheads.

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I thought their No 5 was quite entertaining...

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Ask Ebbsfleet fans if they’d rather return to the stylish football that saw them spend most of the season in the relegation zone. Football is first and foremost a results business. And I don’t think our style is that bad. It has a shape and purpose that makes sense when you remember we are a National League South club, not Brazil playing in the World Cup final.

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Watching George's post match interview on Saturday, winning ugly clearly was the plan. All well and good, so job done and it was not something he was likely to share beforehand.
Sport may be a results business, but would argue it also comes under entertainment and the Weston game it certainly was not. If we are going to play that way every game, then despite going to as many home games as possible since the return to the G, I would have to think twice in future.
That first half was desperately dull. Neither side showed an ounce of ambition. Away from home, many sides start off not wanting to lose, but when the home team play that way as well, it is just a recipe for boredom. Never known the stadium so quiet, especially given we were attacking the Genco.
So, to answer the question, we know we don't have a great deal of style or flair in the side this season and George has built a system that is (mostly), safe and effective, so well done on that. However, you don't win the lottery if you never buy a ticket and it was our complete lack of ambition in the first half that was so disappointing. Even without much flair, I'd argue you can still press the opposition and try to create openings and indeed, get the crowd excited.
More intent was there in the second half, especially once Lamar came on, but 1-0 never feels safe, so for me it is probably half and half in terms of results v entertainment. I certainly do not pay my entrance fee to watch what was on offer at times on Saturday. Maybe if Weston had been more threatening, then it would have been interesting, so we can blame them a bit, but we ought to be able to do more against sides like that.

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There’s a chapter in Nick Hornby’s ‘Fever Pitch’ entitled ‘Clowns’ based on a quote from Alan Durban who was Stoke manager and said after a particularly dour match “if you want entertainment go and watch clowns”.

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Do you remember the Stoke manager that got into trouble when he advised supporters not to go to Liverpool the following week because Stoke were gonna play for 0-0?

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Mar 25, 2024 10:22:30 GMT Benny said:

There’s a chapter in Nick Hornby’s ‘Fever Pitch’ entitled ‘Clowns’ based on a quote from Alan Durban who was Stoke manager and said after a particularly dour match “if you want entertainment go and watch clowns”.

To which someone should have said, If you want a wage, you need to entertain.