Chelmsford

[Deleted]

I don't think recruitment has been that bad - Seaman and Brookes, for example, are both very good players.

The issue is about creating chances and scoring goals, which isn't happening and with the current line-up is unlikely to happen.

It all fell apart last night when we failed to score and they took their chance to make it 3-1, by which time George had made some baffling substitutions.

I doubt George's job is in danger, not least because paying off a two year contract wouldn't be cheap for a club that has failed to replace some toilets in the close season. However, he clearly over reached himself in almost starting again with the team this year - some got better offers certainly, but other additions were no better than was already here.

[Deleted]

Been a long time since I last felt the need to offer a comment but times have changed.

The first 10-20 minutes were good for me. We passed the ball quickly and should have been at least 3 up within that period. Aaron doesn't seem to want to put his foot through the ball on goal though and that a big problem if he’s our target man. Sol would have been more interested in falling over in the box in those situations so not sure what's better.

There was a clear front five and back five in that game and their second goal came because the back five left Bivesh on his own and while he’s many things, being pacey isn’t one of them. Andre should have run toward the ball rather than turning his back too but he was very far from his box and so panic set in. It was unfortunate but was also a show that the team didn’t think defense enough. That will partly be because we have not being attack-minded enough in previous games. Essentially they took the attack too far.

I agree that the whole dynamic changed with the subs. What that tells us is that the depth of quality isn't there right now.

I've seen a few mentions of Higgs and Corne missing that would have changed things. Yes but not with both of them on the pitch at the same time. They are essentially the same player.

Lack of depth suggests money has been put on a first choice for each position and we have worked down a list of targets in each. Some we will have got our man, others we won't. That will have been driven by the budget available to get our main targets in and that’s always been the case, we don’t spend loads on players and never have.

I'm not one for picking out individual players but Coulhurst didn't fill me with confidence from his welcome video. Seemed totally indifferent and that's what I've seen on the pitch even during the preseason games. If he's one then some of the others may be the same and that's some of the difference from last year to this. Last year we had players that would run at a brick wall for George. This year less so in all positions. Also George will not have retained players who decided that they didn’t need to put any more effort in after the cup run.

Regards the FA cup money that's being spent on the ground for certain and not likely the playing squad. We also don't know if any dividends have been taken by the owners yet so let's just act like that didn't happen.

There is a good team there. Ben Brookes is a superb signing (my favourite that side of the pitch since Tom Mills), George F is great as ever, Blair needs to just shoot more, Arj worked well with Bivesh and Jon had some good link up at times with Bruno. There is a very opaque edge to the quality for me as once some of those were taken off it just fell apart. The first half was probably our best with the injuries and international call ups we’ve got. Second half just wasn’t good enough.

[nigelgm]

Recruitment :

Krasniqi vs Sam Bone
Liam Sole vs Fonkue
Bentley vs Mo Faal
Coulhurst vs Matt Rush
Seaman vs Reynolds

Anyone can do the math here , the recruitment panel need to have a good long look at themselves.

The other obvious thing to note is thank god we have Reece Greenidge and George Fowler they never get enough credit and when Reece is not available ……….

[andrewthehat]

This thread illustrates exactly why I like this forum. There is good, useful analysis in here which really helps me as a football numpty to understand the game a bit better.

Mr Usborne, Mr Woodstone and several others - I do hope George reads your stuff. You are real fans with real contributions to make. Thank you.

[Deleted]

One thing that is unlikely to change is George's reliance on data as unfortunately it the core of the coaching manual these days. Managers need to be more than just playing by numbers.
Quite likely we will lose again on Saturday (or another 0-0), be out of the cup the following week and in the bottom four by the end of the month
If so, it will be time to press the panic button...

[hitmanhearn*]

i don't like him

[Deleted]

Maybe !
More likely George will begin to take the sort of action necessary to turn the season around.
It means more than team talks and changes to tactics, we need some new players to get the balance right.
George has made some mistakes, no question, but he has plenty of credit left imo.

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2024 9:19:18 GMT nigelgm said:

Recruitment :

Krasniqi vs Sam Bone
Liam Sole vs Fonkue
Bentley vs Mo Faal
Coulhurst vs Matt Rush
Seaman vs Reynolds

Anyone can do the math here , the recruitment panel need to have a good long look at themselves.

The other obvious thing to note is thank god we have Reece Greenidge and George Fowler they never get enough credit and when Reece is not available ……….

To be fair you haven't really covered half of the transfers in and out.

It's not just Reynolds v Seaman, Faal v Bentley (who was here last year) is it?

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2024 10:10:59 GMT nick said:

Maybe !
More likely George will begin to take the sort of action necessary to turn the season around.
It means more than team talks and changes to tactics, we need some new players to get the balance right.
George has made some mistakes, no question, but he has plenty of credit left imo.

New players? Yeah why not. We can then use the "we need 10 games for them to gel" excuse whilst we sink into oblivion. I think we have the right players but we need to kick the fuckers up the arse and remind them that they are well paid professionals and not pissheads from the Dog and Duck. We have injuries,dock their wages and they'll be fit by tomorrow. George has got it all wrong in the first 7 games and it may take another 7 before he turns this shit around and yes he deserves that chance but bottom 4 in November and out of both cup and trophy then I would expect him to to resign or be sacked.Automatic promotion is already over the hill and far away but 7th place and playoffs can be achievable even if you're bottom 4 in November but the right manager needs to be in place, not sure now that George is that right manager and that's hard fir me to say as I've been one of his most ardent supporters even when we were losing every game.

[jackster]

There's a saying
'When the going gets touch, the tough get going'
In other words George has dealt with bigger battles in his life and come out the right side.
Tbh swordy it's a bit disappointing to hear you virually giving up on him.
I like to think "We win together, we lose together"
So easy to chant and applaud when things are going well.
Not so easy at the mo, we need to dig in.

[Deleted]

I wasn't there last night and haven't tortured myself with the highlights yet. I think on paper recruitment was decent - the games I've seen were lost or drawn due to poor tactics going forward. Hoof ball to nobody.

Enfield on Saturday is arguably a must win even this early in the season. They're below us and the type of team we should be pumping by a few goals. We don't get three points against them the panic really will start to kick in with October looking like a very tricky line of fixtures where we play Worthing (our bogey side last season), Torquay (2nd and 10 clear points ahead of us), Slough (3rd and scoring for fun), Aveley (seemingly having just as bad a start but always a good side) and then capped off with top of the table Hemel.

Come on George - big win Saturday!

[steveh21]

Whatever your views on George and/or the players, who I believe can turn it around with a little tweaking, can we at least all agree that the football is dire to watch. Where is the excitement, the running at players to get fans off their seats and bringing their mates along? The oohs and ahhs as we test the opposition's keeper? At the Gallagher we should really be at least trying to entertain.

[Harry]

Recruitment was decent ?
I would say patchy, a couple of very decent players but overall just doesn't look the right balance.
Stones have looked a smaller, less physical team this term.
There's a reason for that.
The team is smaller and less physical and it works to our disadvantage.
Lack of creativity in midfield and inability to get pass defenders is another negative.
Tactics have been questionable at times and that is down to George.
The season has been poor with some seriously dull and uninspiring performances.
Lots to do, lots of room for improvement.
It's a pity to say but the current squad has to be improved with some 3 or 4 new faces.
A lot easier said than done.
Over to you George.

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2024 13:26:27 GMT @holysmokes66 said:

I wasn't there last night and haven't tortured myself with the highlights yet. I think on paper recruitment was decent - the games I've seen were lost or drawn due to poor tactics going forward. Hoof ball to nobody.

Enfield on Saturday is arguably a must win even this early in the season. They're below us and the type of team we should be pumping by a few goals. We don't get three points against them the panic really will start to kick in with October looking like a very tricky line of fixtures where we play Worthing (our bogey side last season), Torquay (2nd and 10 clear points ahead of us), Slough (3rd and scoring for fun), Aveley (seemingly having just as bad a start but always a good side) and then capped off with top of the table Hemel.

Come on George - big win Saturday!

Unfortunately, this is pretty much what I said about yesterday - with the advantage that we'd be at home.

[scooby]

Need to comment again. It all started with pre season. We keep playing below standard teams which leads to un true analysis. It would be better to play u21s teams than Bearsted. Everybody, well most, seemed happy before the season started and were quite eager for it to start. Now, suddenly the recruitment was all wrong. Analytical analysis is the way forward but needs to be used correctly. It shows all analysis including sprints, running times, shots but more importantly who is not performing. Then we need to find out why. Running around like a headless chicken gets us nowhere. I'm sure big George knows what he is doing and will turn this around.
Whilst I'm going on, supporters who pay their money and stand where they want are entitled to their opinion. Just because they express different opinions to you, you know who you are, does not mean they are wrong and you are right. It must be a sad world you live in.
A last idea, for those going Saturday could you all please take an a4 piece of paper with an arrow towards goal 😀 keep the faith but also express your opinions.