Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

James Tedder

0 (0%)

Tommy Osborne

1 (5%)

Steve Norman

0 (0%)

John Guest

1 (5%)

Lew Watts

0 (0%)

Ryan Hayes

1 (5%)

Ryan Briggs

0 (0%)

Jay May

1 (5%)

Brendon Cass

0 (0%)

Eddie McClements

4 (20%)

Steve Hafner

12 (60%)

Carl Bruce (sub)

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 20

Voting closed: January 30, 2007, 10:54:56 AM

[Silverado]

I do hope Guesty doesn't turn out to be one of those players who flatter only to deceive. The first couple of times I saw him play I was highly impressed with his anticipation, timing and cleanliness of the tackle and distribution out of defence. You obviously can't mention them in the same breath, but he reminded me a little of Bobby Moore, and I couldn't help wondering why Welling had let him go. But I also can't help noticing that in our more recent games he hasn't looked quite as dependable, looking vulnerable to fast and bustling forwards and not gelling with our other defenders. Perhaps he has now had time to catch poor-defending-itis from the rest of the defence! As for his heading ability, I can't really comment either way since it isn't something I've particularly noticed and I wasn't at yesterday's game to see how he gave away the penalty. Either way, TB has still got to work hard at tightening up our defending. Perhaps Brad Potter deserves a longer run.
And a propos of defenders, what are the chances of Richard A being fit to return by the time Lew W's suspension comes into force?
And whatever has happened to John Farley's playing prospects following his injury a long time ago at Thurrock?

[Silverado]

Turning to the front line of the team, was James Carter on the bench yesterday? And if so, does anybody think he should have been brought on at all? Presumably he'll be in the starting line-up when Jay's suspension kicks in?

[Sennocke]

James was not on the bench yesterday , but someone said he was there .
Anyone know why Kevin Hudson wasnt ?

[Anthony]

I wasn't at the match yesterday so I can't comment on Guesty yesterday. But when we signed him I was quite looking forward to him playing for us as he was from a couple of leagues above and thought that he would shine but I really haven't seen him have one great game yet. Yes he does make some great tackles and does read the game very well sometimes but this is always equalled with the amount of mistakes he makes. Against Whyteleafe a few weeks back it was scary watching him running around making mistake after mistake for the first half an hour. He did improve after this but still I have to agree Hunky Honky Potter has been outstanding every time he's played for us this year and once Avery is back I'd like to see them partner each other at the back once or twice just to see if that strengthens things up a bit.

[TheLastDictator]

I wasn't at the match yesterday so I can't comment on Guesty yesterday. But when we signed him I was quite looking forward to him playing for us as he was from a couple of leagues above and thought that he would shine but I really haven't seen him have one great game yet.

In John's defense, he's only been here a couple of months and has already been man of the match 3.5 times, as voted by us!

As for Rambo saying that he can't head the ball, he cleared the ball using his head on numorous occasions on Saturday, as did Lew.

I can't put my finger on our defensive frailties as all 4 players are more than capable defenders at this level.  Somtimes it looks like they don't play enough as a unit and don't keep a straight enough back line.  I also think that the other 6 outfield players and the keeper need to take more responsibility at set pieces.  When we are defending set pieces the whole team should be defending(well, at least 10 of them) not just the 4 defenders!

[Gilesy]

Kevin has retired please read thread.

[Dave T]

Whilst a couple of posters have stated that their keeper was in top form, and we are possibly missing Dave Martin, the fact remains that to score twice away from home ought to earn at least one point! Fortuntaely (and incredibly) despite losing our last two, we are still in 2nd place. Does no-one want to win this league?!!!

I wasn't at the game Saturday, but was disappointed to see that despite us scoring twice away from home, we lost. I know it's difficult trying to pinpoint the problem, but it does strike me that Osbourne, Norman, Guest, Avery and Guest are all amongst the better defenders I have seen in this league.

Three are still relatively new to the club/position and perhaps are still settling in, but all are ultimately good defenders. TB must be pulling his hair out, becuase no matter how good the players are, nor how well they operate as a unit, he can't legislate for indivual mistakes which are currently costing us dear. I've no doubt it will be sorted without the need for major changes.

[Mad Mod]

So Lew was yellow carded for the foul not swearing! This is ridiculous. The 'foul' was commited not more than 10 yards away from where I was stood and I can tell you it was lucky to be deemed a free kick let alone a yellow card.

I did hear the Hudson rumour on Saturday but unfortunately this time the rumour is true. This is a major loss but this team's character will pull them through.

[rambo]

TLD i am not at all saying Guest cannot head the ball.I am dissapointed that he does not head the ball well.Every centre half gets his head to the ball,thats half the positions job.
John Guest is a big man and and a decent footballer with ability but i want a centre to be stong and to frighten forwards.When he heads the ball most of the time he does not get power and distance. i often see the ball hit his head then drop back into a dangerous position 10 yards away when it should be 20+, which puts pressure on himslf and the rest of the defence.
i like to see a centre half strain his neck muscles and force his head at the ball rather than the ball hitting his head.if a centre half does this the forward thinks twice about a challenge.
i have only seen him play in our home games and this is my observation but like i say if i am right about his heading abilty it is something that can be worked on as every player at every level can improve and should improve with hard work.

[The 5th Searcher]

As i wasn't at the game at all i cannot comment on things BUT what i will comment on is yet more goals being conceded from bloody set pieces.

This just cannot keep going on and something seriously needs to get sorted out otherwise we really are just going to throw this league challenge away, we cannot afford to keep given the opposition 2 or 3 goals each game and now we have an even bigger problem with Kevin retiring as well.

I really do hope that Tony has got a few things up his sleeve that can be pulled out and PDQ otherwise we could start slipping down the table. We can't & won't keep getting lucky with the other teams results. This really is the time when the players HAVE to start taking some responsability for their actions out on the pitch and start changing their ways.

And with Lew Watts being suspended again within the next couple of weeks hopefully Richard will be fit enough otherwise Brad will then have to step in.

I think all 4 defenders (whoever plays) have to share the responsabilities and blame between them when we keep conceding goals and lose these kind of matches, especially to last minute silly penalties and we as supporters can't just keep blaming 1 player as all are at fault and not just 1.

This really isn't the time to start getting on John Guests back, this is the time when WE really do ahve to start getting fully behind our players and lift them, yes at times gve them a kick up the backside but all in all we need to get behind them completely.

Lets just hope that we can turn things around on Saturday against Cray as we certainly owe them one.

[rambo]

you are bang on 5th.the key word is responsibility.i am not getting on John Guests back and i hope you realise that..
every player could do with improving some aspect of their play otherwise they would not be here,they would be playing at a higher level.
when we were playing in front of 200+ plus fans ,we were thankful for still being around,but we now play to 1000+ fans and as such the players have a massive responsibilty to be fit and to play to the best of their ability.
i feel that say 18 months ago i would not have dared to even suggest a slight constructive criticism of players individually as they would not have deserved it but now even though we are still playing at the same level i feel we have still stepped up in quality ,in standard of player and definately in standard of stadium
in the circumstances i feel it is right to say how you feel about players and they should take it on the chin and strive to improve or to even totally ignore the forum which is their right
i dont detect anyone on this forum has ever intended to purposely slaughter a player and without doubt we all want the best for the club and are batting for the same team so to speak

[Little Kev]

It's not fair to say their keeper was in fine form, as 99% of our shots were straight at him.

We weren't clinical enough in front of goal, and were lacking in defence. What Guesty was doing, I'd be hard pushed to believe even he knows and I think our attackers were largely let down by our defenders as both Brendan and Jay played their socks off.

Also, credit to Steve Hafner, who played well on the left-side. A couple of stupid decisions by our players ultimately cost us the match.

Shame about the crossed words after as well.

[TREVOR B]

Apart from a couple of games in the run of 8 undefeated we have been fooling ourselves that we did not have major problems at the back especially at free kicks and we seem to have learnt very little from these games except that if we score one more goal than the opposition then we win, or at worst score the same number of goals and we get a point.

Now the truth hits home with two away defeats, we can't blame the forwards just because they didn't score enough goals, but we can certainly blame the defence yet again for leaking goals and it's frightening when you consider only 4 teams have let in more goals than us and they are all near the bottom and we are well clear on goals for along with Dulwich at the top. (60 for 43 against)

Can't comment on the game as I was away but from your notes it would appear that midfield/forwards created chances some taken (well done to Haffie) and others wasted, but two goals should have been enough at least for a draw.

But poor defending at a free kick, an unchallenged run followed by a good shot and a pathetic penalty given one assumes after an automatic reflex action prompted Guesty to handle the ball when destined to go over the bar, plus an unfortunate or otherwise Lew Watts getting two yellow cards and is sent off, seems to answer the question as to why we lost and who was to blame.(Good to see nobody blamed young Tedder no more than we would have blamed Kev in previous matches)

8 undefeated games can so easily become 8 lost games against some very very tough clubs during the February period unless we tighten up at the back and get our act together even if it means extra practice sessions this week before Saturdays game at home to Cray.

Then some would say the two easier games away at Sittingbourne and Ashford followed by Fleet at home, Dover away and Tooting home, how many points from Feb. games can we expect ? (9 or 10 at a guess)

Unless we fans can have confidence in the defence's ability to keep out set pieces (and keep our eyes open to watch) and they can avoid silly mistakes that lead to free kicks or goals, then no matter who replaces Kevin we will continue to negate goals scored, by letting in as many or more at the back and continue to drop points.

Lets get it right for Saturday and hopefully we will see 3 points under our belts and another 1500 fans well satisfied.

[spike]

... this is the time when WE really do have to start getting fully behind our players and lift them

It shouldn't be difficult to get behind our defenders, the opposing forwards don't seem to have much trouble and manager it at least twice in every game!

Seriously though, it's hard to put your finger on why we keep screwing up at the back. Individually the players aren't at all bad and we can look pretty good for long spells, but there are just too many individual mistakes. It would be easy to sort out if the same person was making them, but it seems that they are taking it in turns and a different player makes a cock up each week. John Guest has taken a bit of stick for this week's biggest screw up (and rightly so), but he has probably been the pick of the bunch over recent weeks and just about everyone has been responsible for at least one major defensive faux pas during that time so what do you do? I'm glad I'm not TB because I don't know what the answer is. What I do know however, is we are challenging for the title and that is way better than anyone could realistically have expected at the start of the season. Lets not forget that things are still going great at the moment and we are way ahead of schedule.