Truro

[Deleted]

I wasn't there though i nearly was but had to pull out at the last minute. I read what you all say and i get the impression that the players just didn't care on the day. Players have off days but if they truly played as if they didn't care then George should fine them one days money and see if they care about that.

[Deleted]

Apr 14, 2024 18:53:20 GMT jdh80 said:

I thought they played with heart, pride, commitment and a desire not to be beaten, oh I'm talking about Truro and in particular their numbers 4, 5, 20 and 10. Really felt for their goalie when the ball squirmed underneath and between his legs for our completely undeserved goal, he didn't deserve that against him.

We passed the ball sideways, backwards, sideways, backwards, sideways, backwards and then overhit a ball forwards (regardless of which way the wind was blowing), the long pumps forwards were chased by the usual statues up front and everything was just too predictable.

One thing that really stood out for me was Truro had players leading and commanding talking to each other high fives for good bits of play, we were silent, our players seemed to have an attitude that it was a pre season game, where Truro's players seemed to play like an end of season game that had meaning.

Football is one of the sports where it doesn;t matter if you have 60/70/80 percent of possession all that matters is what you do with that possession, the Ipswich game was a perfect example of this, we could still be playing it sideways, backwards, sideways now and still not score had the goalie not made a clanger.

Faal went off for WJS and no difference in the performance
Appiah went off for Bentley and you thought oh a change in formation as what we are doing at present is not working, nope just moved a few players around but same formation and no change in the performance
Chi went off for the Watford kiddie same formation and whilst the kid showed a few tricks there was no change in the formation or performance

This sounds depressingly like quite a few games I've watched this season. After watching this 'possession at all costs'/'kick, chase and hope' stuff so often, I am left genuinely puzzled as to how we've had our best ever Cup season, and ended up in the play-offs, in what could be our third NS promotion in a row...

[jackster]

The mood amongst supporters has changed.

Not surprising, after having been bullied and outplayed by a relegation threatened team who have played 4 games in a week.

Time for a reality check.

More unrepeatable than unstoppable !

[Dickie]

Reality check ?

Maybe there is something with the suggestion that Stones don't actually want promotion this season.
A win against Truro and we could have been favourites to go up via the play-offs.
But the team never looked serious on Saturday.
From the beginning to the end, everything was second class and lack lustre.
Now our promotion prospects looks very different.
Expectation management perhaps ?
To get close, but not quite to get over the line.
Maybe that is seen as the best possible outcome to the season.

[Deleted]

Apr 15, 2024 7:46:21 GMT Dickie said:

Reality check ?

Maybe there is something with the suggestion that Stones don't actually want promotion this season.
A win against Truro and we could have been favourites to go up via the play-offs.
But the team never looked serious on Saturday.
From the beginning to the end, everything was second class and lack lustre.
Now our promotion prospects looks very different.
Expectation management perhaps ?
To get close, but not quite to get over the line.
Maybe that is seen as the best possible outcome to the season.

No one - especially George - manages a game to lose.

The players lost that game. They'd secured a play-off place, and they'd lost interest.

Let's hope they wake up and put the effort in for our now four last games, two almost certainly away.

Thanks guys.

[Deleted]

Apr 14, 2024 13:36:23 GMT @johndaubneyslegs said:

I haven't checked who's scored what this season (why isn't it easy to find this data?*), but it seems to me that, since Amantchi left for his great new life in Bromley, we haven't had anyone up front who can be relied upon to score.

The stats don't really support this - we are 8th on goals scored - 67 so far (1.5 goals per game) - not great, but OK. Bath have only scored 2 more than us, and Braintree, H&R and Aveley have all scored fewer.

So why is my memory of the season since Christmas (at least) that we mostly only score 1 goal - and we struggle to do even that some games?

And, before anyone says "because we let so many in!" - we are actually 5th on goals conceded.


*You can find this data, but it's rarely - if ever - accurate.

Did it myself, in the end - only took THREE hours! So, at least I now know why no one else bothers...


League Goals:

Amantchi 13
Rush 12
Corne 8
Faal 6
Wanjau-Smith 3
Sole 3
Reynolds 3
Bone 3
Greenidge 2
Coleman De-Graft 2
Aransibia 2
Fowler 2
Tanga 2
Brown 2
Kyprianou 1
Berkeley-Agyepong 1
Kelly 1
OG 1


Cup Goals:

Amantchi 7
Corne 3
Wanjau-Smith 3
Reynolds 1
Aransibia 1
Gurung 1

(only FAC & FAT - although I don't know why I bothered with the latter...)


Total Goals:

Amantchi 20
Rush 12
Corne 11
Faal 6
Wanjau-Smith 6
Reynolds 4
Sole 3
Bone 3
Aransibia 3
Brown 2
Greenidge 2
Coleman De-Graft 2
Fowler 2
Tanga 2
Kyprianou 1
Berkeley-Agyepong 1
Kelly 1
Gurung 1
OG 1

Note that this doesn't take into account the 4-0 thrashing that H&R are going to give us we are going to give H&R.

And if there are any mistakes, I don't f**king care.

[Deleted]

And the question you're all asking (or not)...

Did Amantchi leaving make any difference?

The answer is yes - and no.

In the time Amantchi was with us, we played 20 leagues games and 4 in the cups, and scored 41 goals (30 league + 11 cup). That's 1.5 goals per game (league).

After Amantchi was injured and then left, we played 25 league games and 4 in the cups, and scored 42 goals (37 league + 5 cup). That's 1.5 goals per game (league).

So, Amantchi leaving, rather surprisingly, made no difference in terms of goals scored. (Although only in the league - if he hadn't been with us in the early Cup games, it might have been a very different season!)

But, in terms of games won and points, the answer is slightly different. We averaged 1.8 points/game in Amantchi's time, but 1.76 afterwards. That doesn't sound much of a difference, but, over a season, it would have given us (in theory) 2 extra points - which might just have kept us in 3rd place. (Although, admittedly, given events like Saturday's pathetic collapse, that's pretty meaningless.)

So, Amantchi staying might have given us more points and a better play-off position - but that's pie-in-the-sky extrapolation really. I suspect that Amantchi staying would have had a huge effect on the rest of our season - we almost certainly would have won games we lost/drew and comfortably finished 3rd - probably 2nd.

Stats, eh? Who needs them?

[Deleted]

Apr 15, 2024 8:55:20 GMT @johndaubneyslegs said:

And the question you're all asking (or not)...

Did Amantchi leaving make any difference?

The answer is yes - and no.

In the time Amantchi was with us, we played 20 leagues games and 4 in the cups, and scored 41 goals (30 league + 11 cup). That's 1.5 goals per game (league).

After Amantchi was injured and then left, we played 25 league games and 4 in the cups, and scored 42 goals (37 league + 5 cup). That's 1.5 goals per game (league).

So, Amantchi leaving, rather surprisingly, made no difference in terms of goals scored. (Although only in the league - if he hadn't been with us in the early Cup games, it might have been a very different season!)

But, in terms of games won and points, the answer is slightly different. We averaged 1.8 points/game in Amantchi's time, but 1.76 afterwards. That doesn't sound much of a difference, but, over a season, it would have given us (in theory) 2 extra points - which might just have kept us in 3rd place. (Although, admittedly, given events like Saturday's pathetic collapse, that's pretty meaningless.)

So, Amantchi staying might have given us more points and a better play-off position - but that's pie-in-the-sky extrapolation really. I suspect that Amantchi staying would have had a huge effect on the rest of our season - we almost certainly would have won games we lost/drew and comfortably finished 3rd - probably 2nd.

Stats, eh? Who needs them?

The stats attack is welcome, thanks.

I feel like we have had a couple of purple patches this season. The led up to the Barrow game, when Levi was on fore, and the last month or so.

The question of Levi staying and how would we have faired - it doesn't taker into account that if he had have stayed we would have been paying an injured player for most of that time (perhaps even still) and might have not brought in Faal but there is a lot of squad changes mid-season sop perhaps we would.

[Deleted]

Without Levi’s cup goals there would have been no Ipswich or Coventry.

[stones1]

Can’t help feel there’s a massive overreaction to one defeat (particularly considering the form we’ve been in). Shit performances happen and we essentially have nothing to play for. Securing a home time In the play offs would be nice, but ultimately the task remains the same no matter where you finish. You have to be perfect when they start. Finishing 2/3 gives you a games rest, finishing below that can give more momentum. Ultimately (to me at least) it doesn’t matter where we finish in the play offs.

[Deleted]

Apr 15, 2024 16:15:14 GMT stones1 said:

Can’t help feel there’s a massive overreaction to one defeat (particularly considering the form we’ve been in). Shit performances happen and we essentially have nothing to play for. Securing a home time In the play offs would be nice, but ultimately the task remains the same no matter where you finish. You have to be perfect when they start. Finishing 2/3 gives you a games rest, finishing below that can give more momentum. Ultimately (to me at least) it doesn’t matter where we finish in the play offs.

I feel completely fine with it. Like you say, played badly and lost. It fits ibn with the season we have seen. we have always chucked in some shockers. Trust the team to respond. If they don't then they will be replaced. 

[Deleted]

Apr 15, 2024 9:19:57 GMT pwoodstone said:

Apr 15, 2024 8:55:20 GMT @johndaubneyslegs said:

And the question you're all asking (or not)...

Did Amantchi leaving make any difference?

The answer is yes - and no.

In the time Amantchi was with us, we played 20 leagues games and 4 in the cups, and scored 41 goals (30 league + 11 cup). That's 1.5 goals per game (league).

After Amantchi was injured and then left, we played 25 league games and 4 in the cups, and scored 42 goals (37 league + 5 cup). That's 1.5 goals per game (league).

So, Amantchi leaving, rather surprisingly, made no difference in terms of goals scored. (Although only in the league - if he hadn't been with us in the early Cup games, it might have been a very different season!)

But, in terms of games won and points, the answer is slightly different. We averaged 1.8 points/game in Amantchi's time, but 1.76 afterwards. That doesn't sound much of a difference, but, over a season, it would have given us (in theory) 2 extra points - which might just have kept us in 3rd place. (Although, admittedly, given events like Saturday's pathetic collapse, that's pretty meaningless.)

So, Amantchi staying might have given us more points and a better play-off position - but that's pie-in-the-sky extrapolation really. I suspect that Amantchi staying would have had a huge effect on the rest of our season - we almost certainly would have won games we lost/drew and comfortably finished 3rd - probably 2nd.

Stats, eh? Who needs them?

The stats attack is welcome, thanks.

I feel like we have had a couple of purple patches this season. The led up to the Barrow game, when Levi was on fore, and the last month or so.

The question of Levi staying and how would we have faired - it doesn't taker into account that if he had have stayed we would have been paying an injured player for most of that time (perhaps even still) and might have not brought in Faal but there is a lot of squad changes mid-season sop perhaps we would.

Good point. But the best I could do.

Even if he had come back from injury quickly, it would probably have meant that we wouldn't have brought in two or three players we did, so that would have affected things too. All stats can really show you is what happened, extrapolating from that is always risky and often a waste of time.

But, one thing these stats do show us is that we didn't miss Amantchi as much as many might have thought - George managed to plug the gap by bringing in other players. Which is pretty good management, especially for someone so early in his career.

However, what no stats can ever show is what might have happened, and I think (assuming Amantchi came back from injury early) that just the impact of him being in the team would have had a positive effect on the second part of the season. We (players and supporters) would have gone into each game in a more positive frame of mind, always assuming Amantchi would produce some magic. It probably wouldn't have made much difference to our cup run, but I think we would probably be in 2nd at the moment and the favourite for going up. But of course, that's if he had come back from injury - otherwise it's Luque all over again!

[Deleted]

Apr 15, 2024 9:21:45 GMT Benny said:

Without Levi’s cup goals there would have been no Ipswich or Coventry.

I agree. But his contribution was all in the early ("easier") stages, so you could argue that we probably would have got through these stages OK, even without him. Maybe not Torquay, where he scored both, but, even there, they didn't even manage a goal back, so we probably would have won that too.

The interesting aspect to our cup run re Amantchi is what difference he might have made had he stayed with us (and fit). But it's difficult to imagine that our run could have got any better, even with him - after all, we won three of the games (and never looked remotely like even scoring, let alone winning, at Coventry).

It would have been good to see him up against League opposition though. And it might have earned him a better deal than bloody Bromley!

[Deleted]

At last! What you’ve all been waiting for. It’s the highlights.

youtu.be/YorABbYCaEw?feature=shared

[Deleted]

Hmm...
Can't comment on the game, because wasn't there, however a couple of things from the highlights.
If Tanga had followed in properly on Corne's shot that hit the post, we would have been one up and it could have been a different game.
We really didn't cope at all well with the wind.
Somebody needs to have a word with Lucas about penalties. He commits himself far too early and makes it really easy for the taker to put the ball the other side. Presumably, such things are studied, but often wonder if the best approach should be stand still and, if necessary, wear it. Top or bottom corner is rarely saved, but an awful lot of penalties seem to go down the middle in the very space the keeper has just vacated.
Penalties could yet be a decisive factor in our season so hopefully somebody is thinking about that.