Thoughts On Last NIghts Game

[Mendoza]

Seems like NSC has been broken most of yesterday and I cant see a thread on last nights games

anyway, my opinions...............

Was it just me or were we poor last night, I thought we were hoofing the ball too much, didn’t win many challenges especially at the back and our shooting was SHOCKING.

It was a real bad performance, but we won which is a good thing………
I am still MIFFED how El Abd was man of the match, he was woeful at the back, and lost every header in the air. Yes he scored, fair play to him, but his job is to play at the back, and he was out of position pretty much every time the ball came into our half

Forster just about grabbed MOM for me, I don’t know where he has found this extra pace from, but he is brilliant with it, although it was a bit of a dive for the penalty

Hammond was good again too, winning some tackles and always laying simple balls to feet.

Andy Whing still looks a class above our team, and got us out of a couple of holes.

Richards and O'Callaghan didn’t really look all too up for the game

Savage, just didn’t look bothered at all. Is he just tired, or was he just lazy. There were so many times when Forster won the ball, charged down the wing, and was ready to cross the ball, but Bas would be strolling around in the centre circle. He should be BUSTING a gut to get into the box and get on the end of things.

Also we need another instintive striker, there were numerous occasions when theirrubbish goalie kept spilling the ball, any decent striker could have had a hat trick of tap ins

A win is a win, im not complaining and a trip to Plainmoor it is

 

[Dave the OAP]

thanks for that Brett.

poor gate of 3500 odd wasnt it!

 

[Curious Orange]

My assessment is that the opposition keeper played a blinder, and really kept them in the game with a string of superb saves.

... oh, and I got a bit wet.

... and it was great to see Net Boy jumping around again when the ball ended up in the hammer net!!

 

[BUTTERBALL]

I went along and managed to stay dry by getting tickets in the North Stand, but felt sorry for those without those plastic covers in the South and East who got soaked up 'till about half time.

I thought in the first half we played brilliantly, and were unlucky not to go in at least 3 goals up, but we lost our composure in the second and looked a bit vunerable when they came at us, we certainly rode our luck at times. Saw the Forster incident, but didn't really think it was a penalty. In the end I think the result was fair - just.

Hopefully now players can have a rest and regroup for the big one at home to Carlisle. I won't be able to be there due to a prior commitment but I think it will be a cracking game!

 

[urbanjim]

Agree with Mr Mendoza on his views.

Thought their keeper played well, did well to keep out the well worked free kick. Obviously they'd practised that on the training ground.

Too many long balls, Savage looked tired, Forster played really well.

Thought gate was poor, but it was rather wet.

Ground staff did an exceptional job really. Pitch stayed in fantastic condition.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I thought we were poor. We didn't look very inventive and a few of the players seemed to be slightly off the pace. I thought Bas looked knackered and perhaps should have been taken off.

I thought El-Abd was worthy of the MoM award. From where I was sitting he seemed to do a very capable job at the back and made some crucial tackles. Forster was certainly runner up though with another decent display. Almost scored with a decent effort, but it was not to be.

Yes, Dave, the attendance was atrocious! I guess you can factor in weather, school night, short notice replay, heading towards Christmas and Cheltenham....again. I would be interested to find out how many floaters were there compared to STHs.

 

[JJ McClure]

I thought we battered them in the first half but the final ball was always lacking hence we had to resort to shooting from distance.

Think you're being a bit harsh on El-Abd. He was having a good game until about ten minutes to go when he started slicing anything that came his way.

Agree that Savage looked tired. Not sure why Wilkins kept him on and took Jake off.

Forster certainly looked good as did Whing. Richards really needs to stop aimlessly hoofing the ball up field when he is clearly better then that.

O'Callaghan looked good too. Always moving into space, wanting the ball and using it, but he was playing far to deep.

Biggest disappointment for me was Butters who looked very off the pace.

 

[CoventrySeagull]

Wasn't able to go last night, but followed updates on Sky Sports News (Tony Cottee reporting at ground).

He was just giving an update in second half, when Hammond scored penalty.

Excellent timing, so whacked the sound up on telly to catch the Albion fans cheering in the background.

Looking forward to Torquay, hopefully will get a ticket for this one - finances permitting. May make a weekend of it & stay down in Cornwall with my older brother & family.

 

[Knotty]

Seems like NSC has been broken most of yesterday and I cant see a thread on last nights games

anyway, my opinions...............

Was it just me or were we poor last night, I thought we were hoofing the ball too much, didn’t win many challenges especially at the back and our shooting was SHOCKING.

It was a real bad performance, but we won which is a good thing………
I am still MIFFED how El Abd was man of the match, he was woeful at the back, and lost every header in the air. Yes he scored, fair play to him, but his job is to play at the back, and he was out of position pretty much every time the ball came into our half

Forster just about grabbed MOM for me, I don’t know where he has found this extra pace from, but he is brilliant with it, although it was a bit of a dive for the penalty

Hammond was good again too, winning some tackles and always laying simple balls to feet.

Andy Whing still looks a class above our team, and got us out of a couple of holes.

Richards and O'Callaghan didn’t really look all too up for the game

Savage, just didn’t look bothered at all. Is he just tired, or was he just lazy. There were so many times when Forster won the ball, charged down the wing, and was ready to cross the ball, but Bas would be strolling around in the centre circle. He should be BUSTING a gut to get into the box and get on the end of things.

Also we need another instintive striker, there were numerous occasions when theirrubbish goalie kept spilling the ball, any decent striker could have had a hat trick of tap ins

A win is a win, im not complaining and a trip to Plainmoor it is

I think there is a basis for much of what you say but I believe most of it is exaggerated and if you were able to see a replay of the match you might think differently. (Or I might!)

There was definitely too much hoofing but although El-Abd did make mistakes, he did get in some good clearances too. He will always make mistakes as will the others. I agree that Bas looked slow of the mark - mentally and physically - but then I have always thought that about him. It seems to take a few seconds for the penny to drop!

Their keeper partially spilled the ball acouple of times but I didnt think any of our strikers were in a position to do anything about it. He did make some very good saves from a number of good shots we had on goal so I wouldn't criticise the shooting apart from Jake whose radar was definitely turned off.

Forster has been a revelation recently and easily deserved MOM

Overall I thought we played very well in the first half and although we let them back into it in the second, we deserved the win.

 

[Badger]

Thought their keeper played well, did well to keep out the well worked free kick. Obviously they'd practised that on the training ground.

I thought their keeper looked quite shocking and was lucky to only concede two. Every time the ball came near him he spilt it or missed it completely.

Overall we looked good going forward but we clearly need to sort something out in defence. Butters is solid but he almost lost out to one of their strikers despite having a 5 metre head start.

Not sure how El-Abd got MOM, good goal but you always get the feeling his going to lose out when a player is running at him.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Agree with JJ above, about El Abd - he was actualy okay for 80 minutes then turned into 'shit El Abd' for the last ten minutes, shanking everything that came near him. In fairness to the sponsors, do they make their decision at the end of the match, or slightly earlier?

Either way MOM was clearly Whing or Forster - their were no other candidates.

Much as i LOVE George for adding the class to our midfield that has been missing for so long, if he's not going to bother to try he may as well not bother playing. He was SO slack last night.

Bas only woke up for the last ten minutes.

Disagree that Guy was 'off the pace'. I thought he played well - he won EVERYTHING in the air. Probably came off at the right time though, once he'd tired. Remember he's not long back.

No-one has mentioned Kuipers' horrendous air-punch that nearly cost us the win, or his dubious decision making for their goal. Is that allowed. [He had a perfectly good game otherwise, though].

Hammond was good again, which is very important. Thought Richards was fine too.

One brilliant save from their keeper to deny O'Callaghan after a quick corner. I say O'C, apparently SCR said it was Hammond.

 

[Franks Wild Years]

Saturdays match at Orient and last nights match were my first two of the season due to work commitments, the difference in the team from last season is really noticable. We look sharper all round, midfield especially. Before we seemed to lack imagination when going forward and attacks would invairiably break down after a couple of passes. Be great to keep hold of O'Callaghan, he seems to have given Hammond a bit more confidence to play up the field.
As has been said already, I think Baz should have come off he was well off the pace last night and Saturday.
But all in all good stuff, keep it up Deano.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

AS has been mentioned, we looked good in the first half and then totally lost control of the match in the secons half.

Players who looked good:

Whing looked his usual reliable self, and did everything asked of him.

O'Callaghan ran the midfield again, with sooo much time on the ball.

Forster was very strong and energetic, and deserved a goal.

Hammond - look invigorated after his great showing at the weekend and worked hard.

Players who looked poor:

Butters once again looked woefully short of pace.

El-Abd looked very uncertain at the back and was often caught in no-mans land with the dropping ball unchallenged, and he did get a bad case of the slices in the second half.

Richards too often went for the long pass, but that may have been down to the midfield not giving him a shorter option when he needed it.

Robinson - was as bad last night as he was good the week before. He seemed to forget that he was playing on the wing, and kept drifting inside, leaving no outlet down the wing for the fullbacks to pass to. Also, his technique on shots seems to be getting worse with a huge swipe, weight all back and with the usual result over the bar.

Cox - much the same as Robinson in terms of his desire to drift inside. Otherwise, worked hard.

Savage - seemed tired tonight, I can't understand why he wasn't subbed in the 2nd half.

Kuipers - didn't look his usual solid self - made some errors of judgement, as the conditions mitigated the handling errors.

Generally, I was perplexed with the decision to sub O'Callaghan, as he was keeping the midfield running in the 2nd half. If they wanted to firm up the central midfield to hang on for the win, they would have been better to take Cox off and drop Fraser in with centre, and allow George to play the role between the midfield and defence.

My MotM would be between Whing and Forster.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Duplicate Post -

 

[Barry Izbak]

It amazes me how differently people see games. Me included.

I thought we were great in the first half - but then they were bloody awful.
Second half we looked like we were just playing out time and nearly got caught out, just like the week before. Their keeper made a few excellent saves and was their MOM.

I have no idea why El Abd ever gets a game. I think he's a liability
BUT last night he was probably was worth MOM if you ignore him thrashing at balls, his misplaced passes and Forster's more complete contribution.

I fully expected Savage to be replaced when Martot came on with Jake joining Forster up front. Bas has been brilliant, but last night he was well off it.

And finally I am often disappointed with O'Callaghan, because whilst he has obviously got the most class in the midfield he makes so many bad passes and decisions that I wonder if we are going to want him to stay into next year.

 

[Booley]

Players would have been a little tired, we have played 3 games in less then a week.
Glad to see us not playing well but still getting a result.

 

[Les Biehn]

My favourite bit was sitting between Munkfish and Badger, with Kinky just to the other side of Badger. It was like all my dreams have come true.

 

[Scotty Mac]

according to the gloucestershire echo, "the gulf between the two sides at times made it difficult to see how the the two clubs could be competing in the same division"

they are also none too happy with the offside decision, which according to a video replay was on-side

 

[Papa Lazarou]

according to the gloucestershire echo, "the gulf between the two sides at times made it difficult to see how the the two clubs could be competing in the same division"

they are also none too happy with the offside decision, which according to a video replay was on-side

Are they not concerned about the header prior to that, which seemed to bounce down way over the line?

 

[saltash seagull]

think brett's got it fairly right there

forster looked to have some pass for a 34 year old and hammond carried on from saturday.the passing and quality was great at times in the 1st half but very poor in the 2nd and we were asking for trouble in the 2nd.

to be fair i though they were terrific in the 2nd at frustrating us and getting back into the game