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Post by 1018 on Feb 19, 2020 9:04:57 GMT
The game was won by the team playing the best football. 2-0 was a fair reflection of the game. Bath obviously felt 1-0 was sufficient and just played out time from then onwards. Stones team selection & setup was very negative, were we the away side? Hoyte & Chesmain are good full-backs but not good enough as wing-backs as they don't have the skill/pace to go past people. If we had started with another striker to help Akanbi then the result might well have been different. We are certainly missing McClure. Olutade must be totally demoralised by his lack of playing time.
As for the substitutions well what can you say. We replace our lone striker with a centre-half and finish the game with 4 centre-halves on the pitch. JS says that Marshall can play Centre-Forward! Bizarre.
We won't make the play-offs because we are an average mid-table side so let's hope that JS/HH are already planning for next season.
Just voted for Cole as MOTM which just about sums things up.
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Post by daveu on Feb 19, 2020 9:06:21 GMT
As much as the deliberations about whether we should have had a pen will continue for many weeks to come, can we just consider that with the opportunity we did get (I.e. the free kick) we basically walked it into their oncoming defender. Cannot excuse that, it’s just wasteful pen or not. It looked a penalty but the linesman had the best view so can’t have been. Wonder how we would have managed to cock the penalty up. The linesman may have had the best view but totally bottled it, as did the ref with one challenge that was worse than Chesmain's on Saturday. And what's the point of not booking anyone for time wasting until there's only 10 minutes left, and why have words with Akanbi when he goes to get the ball for their keeper to try and speed things up. Actually i didn't think we were as bad as some on here think. There first goal was a deflected shot against the run of play. Their second was a breakaway in added time because we were pushing for an equaliser. The only really poor period for us was 15 minutes after their first goal when we just couldn't get the ball. Other than that, what let us down was decision making in the final third, and until our forwards learn to make netter decisions we will always struggle to score. Too many decent crosses into the box with no-one busting a gut to get on the end of them. I guess that may have influenced the decision to sub Akanbi as he doesn't seem to be getting in the scoring positions at the moment.
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Post by daveu on Feb 19, 2020 9:07:35 GMT
To cap it all I heard that Georges appeal was rejected tonight so we are without Wishart on Saturday and George and Chesmain for the next 3 games. That could spell the end of of chances of making the playoffs. Pretty sure Wish is back Saturday.
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Post by Fed up with PC views only on Feb 19, 2020 9:13:58 GMT
The atmosphere in the ground has gone completely. It has been like this since Jay went. No songs at all. It has got very depressing down there. If we keep playing like this then I can’t see many turning up to the final few home games. Prob only get 1000 but that’s it. This is down to the managers. This is their team and their mess. John said we need to score goals... well put on a bloody striker then. They have no clue at all. I think disappointment is the key word for last nights performance, a lot of it correctly aimed at the management. I was still happy to clap the players at the end as they did seem to try, and that first 15 minutes was brilliant, but why couldn't the coaches get that level of performance back from the bench or half time? This post about the atmosphere is the most worrying. We know HW ripped the heart of the club out and we knew JS2 and HH had to build a whole new squad, team, and club, from scratch, and we liked big George building some new atmosphere of hope and guts and fire but its all now died under misfiring performances, Haks dour interviews and Uncle Johns kindly but uninspiring excuse fests. Its got lost in mediocrity. And yet we are full-time! In fact, big George and the boys seemed frightened to come to the touchline to face fans and instead went into a pointless middle of the pitch huddle with Uncle John. Distance between fans and the team and manager seems to be back, the fans aren't really singing anymore and the mood is as if we were going down again. The club badly needs some charisma back. That is something that Bill, Oliver and Terry have to think about as its the "brand" that brings in the fans and makes the money, and right now the Stones brand is as exciting as washing up liquid. From Poundland.
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Post by nws on Feb 19, 2020 10:02:51 GMT
Every thread? It's not true is it? You are Donald Trump AICM £5. (Incidentally, you need to talk about football more and me less. I'm happy to give you an autograph though) How is that 'leaving me alone' going? I wont respond nws, you need to be left alone. Great. As long as that is not 'leaving me alone' while trying to build animosity by lying across every thread you are on
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Post by wolvesstone on Feb 19, 2020 10:18:20 GMT
I thought it was a cracking game but we were defeated by a crafty and well-organised team. Bizarre though the substitution of Akanbi for Knight was (and Akanbi had been a threat all night, showing his surprise and disapproval of his substitution through his body language as he came off), Bath always had the latent threat of no. 9 and no. 15 on the break. We hit the post and had a penalty rejected (though I thought Allen dived - sorry Nick who hates my reality hits!!!) but they missed three sitters and seemed able to squash any of our corners and free kicks. We miss McClure's sharpness. We need a better mid-fielder than Boucaud, he's old and slow. Maidstone played really well and the tactics were good. Can't blame the management for that. Shame we can't bring through some of the youngsters now. Bizarre substitutions, wrong player taken off, we couldn't keep our best striker at the club, couldn't make our corners and free kicks count last night, and the newly brought in midfielder is old and slow...………...but we cant blame the management for any of that? Mmmmm! Ah. You've pulled my comment about the management a little out of context. I was referring to the tactics that they had instructed the players to use and were visible on the pitch. McClure obviously wasn't happy, but every time he played he was a strong threat. Akanbi played well in combination with him. I don't think it was the "Duo's" fault he left, he smelt more money. Agreed, the crosses went in, nobody to convert. Too much reliance on Amaluzor who blows hot and cold. Defence have trouble playing the ball out in the basic way. The new midfielder was an opportunity for an exciting young signing lost. Shame. However, thought Chesmain played well so he just got the 49th MOTM vote.
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Post by wolvesstone on Feb 19, 2020 10:23:54 GMT
The atmosphere in the ground has gone completely. It has been like this since Jay went. No songs at all. It has got very depressing down there. If we keep playing like this then I can’t see many turning up to the final few home games. Prob only get 1000 but that’s it. This is down to the managers. This is their team and their mess. John said we need to score goals... well put on a bloody striker then. They have no clue at all. I think disappointment is the key word for last nights performance, a lot of it correctly aimed at the management. I was still happy to clap the players at the end as they did seem to try, and that first 15 minutes was brilliant, but why couldn't the coaches get that level of performance back from the bench or half time? This post about the atmosphere is the most worrying. We know HW ripped the heart of the club out and we knew JS2 and HH had to build a whole new squad, team, and club, from scratch, and we liked big George building some new atmosphere of hope and guts and fire but its all now died under misfiring performances, Haks dour interviews and Uncle Johns kindly but uninspiring excuse fests. Its got lost in mediocrity. And yet we are full-time! In fact, big George and the boys seemed frightened to come to the touchline to face fans and instead went into a pointless middle of the pitch huddle with Uncle John. Distance between fans and the team and manager seems to be back, the fans aren't really singing anymore and the mood is as if we were going down again. The club badly needs some charisma back. That is something that Bill, Oliver and Terry have to think about as its the "brand" that brings in the fans and makes the money, and right now the Stones brand is as exciting as washing up liquid. From Poundland. Best post on this forum for a very long time. What a great idea ... a new brand. Remember the great days of Jay's face decorating the new stand? That was a brand.
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Post by sdg on Feb 19, 2020 11:23:38 GMT
To cap it all I heard that Georges appeal was rejected tonight so we are without Wishart on Saturday and George and Chesmain for the next 3 games. That could spell the end of of chances of making the playoffs. Pretty sure Wish is back Saturday. I didn't think we were awful by any stretch but we are so predictable and inconsistent with the basics it makes it so easy for organised teams to stifle our play.
Every corner we bring everyone back into the box. Every corner we have goes to the back post for one of the defenders to head out for a goal kick. Every free kick is comfortably dealt with as no one attacks it with a desire to score. Possession passing in our own half that usually results in a long-ball punt.
Haken and John keep going on about controling the game and having so much possession but what did we do with it? In the first half they put at least 6 or 7 really decent balls into our box that required last ditch defending, how many did we put in that required the same?
The only reason we had so much of the ball was because they changed tactics second half to drop off and catch us on the counter (which they did). If they came out second half the same as the first they would of played us off the pitch. The better, more organised team won. Just like most of the teams have against us who sit above us in the league. We are a mid table team, nothing more.
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Post by Fed up with PC views only on Feb 19, 2020 11:57:50 GMT
I think disappointment is the key word for last nights performance, a lot of it correctly aimed at the management. I was still happy to clap the players at the end as they did seem to try, and that first 15 minutes was brilliant, but why couldn't the coaches get that level of performance back from the bench or half time? This post about the atmosphere is the most worrying. We know HW ripped the heart of the club out and we knew JS2 and HH had to build a whole new squad, team, and club, from scratch, and we liked big George building some new atmosphere of hope and guts and fire but its all now died under misfiring performances, Haks dour interviews and Uncle Johns kindly but uninspiring excuse fests. Its got lost in mediocrity. And yet we are full-time! In fact, big George and the boys seemed frightened to come to the touchline to face fans and instead went into a pointless middle of the pitch huddle with Uncle John. Distance between fans and the team and manager seems to be back, the fans aren't really singing anymore and the mood is as if we were going down again. The club badly needs some charisma back. That is something that Bill, Oliver and Terry have to think about as its the "brand" that brings in the fans and makes the money, and right now the Stones brand is as exciting as washing up liquid. From Poundland. Best post on this forum for a very long time. What a great idea ... a new brand. Remember the great days of Jay's face decorating the new stand? That was a brand. Bring back Winstone!
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Post by bear5 on Feb 19, 2020 12:15:40 GMT
Disappointing result but not surprising - the previous two home games had been a bit of a struggle and it's obvious that the side now never looks like it's going to score many. Last night there was a couple of crosses but no one on the end and the one that did look promising went to Hoyte's left foot and he missed the ball.
Not sure the formation worked - Johnson and Marshall looked uncomfortable and badly exposed at times, and Chesmain and Hoyte seemed to get stuck in the middle of nowhere, not attacking or defending. Khan covers huge amounts of ground but for someone who moves forward from midfield so much, he never looks like getting a decent strike in. It's obvious we miss McClure, who was clever in playing off Akanbi and also put him in much better positions than he is getting in now.
All in all, a vast amount of possession but very little quality and some of the decision making was baffling - what's the point of playing short free kicks, passing sideways two or three times then launching it? The free kick was also bizarre - two left footers with a great position and we couldn't even get a shot in.
As for Bath, they were decent. They had pace which against a back three they used well. Not sure they were are one of the better teams at the Gallagher this season but got the deflection and one goal would have been enough anyway.
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Post by sword65 on Feb 19, 2020 12:30:28 GMT
Just noticed I got the crowd prediction spot on, am I the first to ever do so? Shame I got the score wrong though. My pre season predictions were that we should have 48 pts by now ,we are now sadly 6 pts adrift of that.
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Post by Rob on Feb 19, 2020 12:36:00 GMT
Trouble is sword, you view things through your rose tinted specs. If you take them off once in a while, you would see life and football has its downs as well as ups.
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Post by jdl on Feb 19, 2020 12:40:18 GMT
Two thirds of the way through our 'recovery and consolidation' season now, and we've gone from a team struggling to survive in the NL to a team struggling to get above 9th in the NS (despite being full time and having the second best support in the league).
No doubt some on here will say this is the 'mid-table' target they expected and claim they are satisfied. But I suspect most of us will be starting to see this as a wasted season.
No disrespect to JS2, but the JS/HH combination isn't working. John's brought in some good players and there's a lot of talent on the pitch, but they are frustratingly unable to turn this into consistent performances and points.
I'm sorry, but, baring a last minute miracle turnaround, it's start all over again next season.
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Post by jdl on Feb 19, 2020 12:42:17 GMT
Trouble is sword, you view things through your rose tinted specs. If you take them off once in a while, you would see life and football has its downs as well as ups. Sword is the last person who needs to be told that life has its downs. Keep those rose coloured specs on Sword!
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Post by sword65 on Feb 19, 2020 13:16:33 GMT
Trouble is sword, you view things through your rose tinted specs. If you take them off once in a while, you would see life and football has its downs as well as ups. Well that's a first. Rose tinted specs? Surely you are mistaking me for someone else. Life has its ups and downs,well I know that only too well. Football has its ups and downs which is why we love the game but when the downs are caused by incompetence then you have to worry a little. We will not know the fallout from this season until the summer when season tickets go on sale. Football fans are very fickle and if we carry on losing through incompetence then season ticket sales will doubtlessly go down again next year and the general attendance with it. The majority of people want success, promotion,more investment in the team and stadium but if our average crowd drops by another 2-300 next year because of this year then those majority will get none of the above. I still believe we have the talent to reach the playoffs but not the management to unlock it.
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