• Welcome to the ShrimperZone forums.
    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which only gives you limited access.

    Existing Users:.
    Please log-in using your existing username and password. If you have any problems, please see below.

    New Users:
    Join our free community now and gain access to post topics, communicate privately with other members, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and free. Click here to join.

    Fans from other clubs
    We welcome and appreciate supporters from other clubs who wish to engage in sensible discussion. Please feel free to join as above but understand that this is a moderated site and those who cannot play nicely will be quickly removed.

    Assistance Required
    For help with the registration process or accessing your account, please send a note using the Contact us link in the footer, please include your account name. We can then provide you with a new password and verification to get you on the site.

We saw Cox in main reception at half 1 so assumed he wasn't playing, didn't dream he and Anton had both been dropped. Both were in the Directors Box during warm up with faces like slapped arses so it was clearly a surprise to them - which makes me wonder how on earth we had prepared for this game? Our Junior Blues party Tuesday is going to be interesting!

If you get the chance, tell him from me that he should be the first name on the teamsheet, not sitting in the stands.
 
Yep, two that matter.

Funny how Ferdy needed a "rest" yesterday, but it was imperative he played in a chicken-trade game last week.

How odd! :winking:
 
It could be argued that White was out of position for the first goal but he had actually had to sprint to left back position to try and cut out the cross because Coker was stranded too far up in mid field and the ball was played into the gap he'd left behind him.
Looking back at the replay; when the goal was slotted in, from the right CB position, the back four was JW at LB, just missing intercepting the cross; Turner at left CB; Coker was still running back to get into the right CB position, and Demetriou at RB.
 
I don't blame White for the goals but I still wouldn't mind seeing Kyprianou in for White next game, Turner clearly reads the game well but his lack of pace got exposed a couple of times when someone tried to run around him, someone with a bit of pace like Kyprianou would be able to recognise the danger and run over to help out in those situations.
 
The first half was pretty dire, the lack of mobility in our back line was exposed by some decent one touch forward play from Bradford. Going forward we rarely threatened, though Wordsworth wasted a decent headed chance.

The second half was better, Ranger started to look a threat and when we scored all the momentum was with us. I was disappointed that it was then Bradford who finished stronger, culminating with the penalty and a win they probably deserved overall.

Oxley 7 - Not his best game but made a decent save early on.
Demetriou 6 - Not as effective as he's been recently.
Coker 7 - Biggest positive was seeing Coker back, he played pretty well too, especially considering how long he's been out for.
Turner 6 - Bradford exposed his lack of pace, stuck to his task though and made some good clearances.
White 6 - I barely noticed him, not sure if that meant he played well or not? Perhaps could have covered better for the first goal.
Wright 5 - Pretty anonomous, did little of note.
Leonard 7 - Probably the pick of the midfield again, that first yellow was stupid though and we'll miss him badly at Scunthorpe.
Timlin 5 - Can never be faulted for effort but his passing was very poor, especially in the first half.
Wordsworth 6 - Still way off his best, should have done better with the headed chance. Improved after the break and looked a bit more threatening.
McLaughlin 7 - Poor start to the game but improved, put in some decent crosses and bagged the goal too.
Ranger 6 - Little impact in the first half, though he was feeding off scraps. In the second half he was better and looked a threat. I was surprised he was subbed, it didn't look like he was tiring and Ba's struggled to make much of an impact in previous games.

Subs
Fortune 6 - A couple of good runs but all were outside of the box. Never looks likely to score, though I still question why he didn't start after an excellent performance in the previous home game.
Ba - Not enough time to rate but made no real impact.

The main talking point is Brown's decision to play only one striker, as well as why Cox wasn't playing. I'm not as anti this as some (though would still prefer a front two at home), and I actually think a fully firing Wordsworth could be very effective in a more advanced role, however he's struggling for form badly right now.

Also if we are going to play 5 in midfield again, the two wide men should be more attacking, I don't want to see a 5 with Josh Wright wide again please.
 
Will deal with rating etc later.

what I saw yesterday was a team with no real direction or motivation, a manager who looked like he doesn't want to be there and our most influential player (Coxy) not even in the squad. WTF?? :cry: I sort of get Anton being dropped, but again, doesn't make that much sense as he isn't that bad, and he is the club captain.

From my own management experience, and I have a lot of this, and recent experience with my own awful boss, I know that a good boss allows his /her staff freedom and autonomy, which inspires mutual respect and they have your back, and you have theirs. A bad boss will try to impose his /her way or the highway approach, which is massively demotivating and almost always doesn't result in better performance and results. I obviously have no insider knowledge here, but given recent press interviews, where Brown has thrown several team members under the bus, it seems to me as though he has lost several of the senior players respect and there is either a stand off going on or there have been words and Anton and Cox have now fallen out of favour...

if if I am being perfectly honest, whilst Brown has built a terrific squad of players, who could be doing far better that we are at the moment, it seemds to me as an observer that he doesn't have the necessary man management people skills to keep motivation and inspire confidence. Some of the tactics and team selections have long been dubious, so given the choice, I would keep the players and either let Coughlan pick up team selection and tactical decisions with Brown taking a back seat from the team, or waving him goodbye now.

Also, Browns behaviour on the touch line was appalling! Yes, some dubious refereeing decisions, and whilst this was a penalty not sure it warranted a red for Lenny, that is the desicion on the day and you just have to suck it up - that's how football is. There was no excuse for his petulant display, so Brown thoroughly deserved to be sent to the stand. Unless, he wants Ron to sack him, as he is giving him plenty of ammunition at the moment!
 
I would strongly disagree that 'Brown has built a terrific squad of players'. What he has assembled is a nucleus of over the hill, one last payday old pros who are just going through the motions, supplemented by a few younger cast offs who look unlikely to make the grade plus an alleged professional footballer whose antics off the field have gained more attention than his achievements on it. The one bright spot is the few promising younsters who hopefully will come through. We should not delude ourselves this is a squad capable of competing for promotion, at best lower midtable mediocrity is the best we can hope for. As the season progresses, the injuries are likely to take more toll of those numerous players who have not played a full season in the last few years and we could well be in a relegation battle given our tendency to give away simple goals and fail to convert chances with a bunch of strikers who collectively will find it difficult to hit twenty goals in a season.
 
Difficult to disagree with some of the match descriptions on here. In short, first half we didn't seem to know what we were doing or what our system was.

Second half was much better and we were unlucky to lose in my opinion, especially in the fashion that we did.

Positives -
The return of Ben Coker and for him to get 90 minutes was amazing,
100% commitment from everyone.
Michael Turner (aside from a short back pass late on)

Negatives -
1 match ban for Lenny
0 points
The clear evidence of some sort or rift/disciplinary issue between two senior pro's and the manager, never a good thing.

Phil Brown no longer has luck on his side and things seem to have reached a point where everyone now seems to be looking for reasons to criticise him. In any situation at all, if you look for a sinister motive or a negative slant, it's pretty easy to find one.

There is clearly trouble within the ranks and once results and decisions start going away from from you, then in this fickle world of football, the writing is on the wall for the manager.

We'll see what the Christmas period brings and whether the problems really are with PB or are they with the senior pros.
 
I would strongly disagree that 'Brown has built a terrific squad of players'. What he has assembled is a nucleus of over the hill, one last payday old pros who are just going through the motions, supplemented by a few younger cast offs who look unlikely to make the grade plus an alleged professional footballer whose antics off the field have gained more attention than his achievements on it. The one bright spot is the few promising younsters who hopefully will come through. We should not delude ourselves this is a squad capable of competing for promotion, at best lower midtable mediocrity is the best we can hope for. As the season progresses, the injuries are likely to take more toll of those numerous players who have not played a full season in the last few years and we could well be in a relegation battle given our tendency to give away simple goals and fail to convert chances with a bunch of strikers who collectively will find it difficult to hit twenty goals in a season.

i don't want to get into a debate here, as I agree with some of what you say. Thing is, as a small club with limited financial resources in a seaside town, we just don't have the budget or the pull for anything other than lower league professional players or players in their swansong years (or in the final of the final last chance saloons...). What I am saying is that when we got promotion into the championship, we had one huge player in Shaun Goater, who by your yardstick was also old and over the hill. We also had Steve Tilson, who is a fantastic coach. Goater single handedly transformed our league 2 side into a force to be reckoned with, as he assisted with the strikers training and was a mentor to a certain Freddy Eastwood.... Remember him??

This time round, we have several experienced and very high quality ex prem / championship standard players in their thirties, which given there is no way we could have afforded any of them while they were at the peak of their careers, we can now and we could and should be benefiting from all that experience. We are not progressing through, and there can't be too many reasons why not. The youngsters look good as prospects, and most of our old, slow, over the hill has been's have still got some life in them! I think that with a better man manager, this crop of mediocrity could very easily be pushing for automatic promotion in this league judging by the competition we have seen at the hall this year. So, it isn't ability, this is a mindset issue. And that sits firmly at the managers door!

I suspect though, that the boss knows best, so their experience is disregarded, as I suspect that they aren't allowed an opinion. And if they offer one anyway, their reward looks like a seat in the directors box!
 
Oh dear! Not the best start to the Christmas fixtures. I thought it would be a long afternoon when I saw the team selection, negative, 451, a lone striker and an interesting attempt to try and turn Wordy into a front runner... Manchester City we are not!! I just don't think you can play this formation at home (regardless of whether it was supposed to be 433 it could be argued), and not expect the opposition to run at you from the get go. So, with that in mind, and with no obvious plan, the first half was awful, and we were possibly unlucky to concede in 10 minutes but I wasn't that surprised. and then we had no answer, which was just depressing!

the second half was slightly better, we at least started to look like we had a clue. There were some reasonable individual performances, and other results went our way, so not a complete disaster - but we should never have been in that mess in the first place. A nice, old fashioned 442 works best in if you want an effective defence and some strike power, and I am starting to think that isn't in the managers vocabulary. I am going to be away for the Christmas games, which I was upset about before yesterday. But after that debacle I am less upset because at least I don't have to watch two games that could ruin the holidays!
:sad:



Oxley 7 - Let down by his defence.
Demetriou 6 - Crowded out a bit because of so many bodies in midfield. Ineffective yesterday.
Coker 7 - Thank goodness! Looked like he has only had a couple of weeks out, very glad to see him back.Biggest positive was how well he played for 80 of the 90 - he looked unsurprisingly knackered in the final few minutes.
Turner 7 - actually thought he did okay. Some good clearances and just got on with it.
White 7 - a typical John White performance. Nothing of note, and more importantly, no real howlers either.
Wright 5 - Didn't really play to his potential. Again, too many bodies!
Leonard 7 - Was doing pretty well, until the red mist moment before their player pushed him over. Not sure he deserved the yellow there, as I though the other player ought to gave been sent off. Maybe them both getting booked was a pragmatic way of dealing with the handbags! Thought it was a penalty, so the second yellow was inevitable at that point. Not helpful.
Timlin 5 - i like Timlin, but running your socks off to no avail and being completely incapable of passing the ball to your own team doesn't make an effective midfielder!
Wordsworth 6 - Could do better. Not a forward really. Looked better in the second half.
McLaughlin 7 - Did okay, but again, too many bodies! When he put the crosses in, they were pretty good, and glad he got his goal.
Ranger 6 - How the hell can any forward be the target man, the chief goal scorer and defence terrorisor when he hasn't seen the ball for half an hour? Ineffective, but his fault? Not when he had to do what Coxy has been doing all season - going on regular track backs to get the ball.

Subs
Fortune 6 - Should have started.
Ba - A valuable few minutes game time, but no impact on the game
 
i don't want to get into a debate here, as I agree with some of what you say. Thing is, as a small club with limited financial resources in a seaside town, we just don't have the budget or the pull for anything other than lower league professional players or players in their swansong years (or in the final of the final last chance saloons...). What I am saying is that when we got promotion into the championship, we had one huge player in Shaun Goater, who by your yardstick was also old and over the hill. We also had Steve Tilson, who is a fantastic coach. Goater single handedly transformed our league 2 side into a force to be reckoned with, as he assisted with the strikers training and was a mentor to a certain Freddy Eastwood.... Remember him??

This time round, we have several experienced and very high quality ex prem / championship standard players in their thirties, which given there is no way we could have afforded any of them while they were at the peak of their careers, we can now and we could and should be benefiting from all that experience. We are not progressing through, and there can't be too many reasons why not. The youngsters look good as prospects, and most of our old, slow, over the hill has been's have still got some life in them! I think that with a better man manager, this crop of mediocrity could very easily be pushing for automatic promotion in this league judging by the competition we have seen at the hall this year. So, it isn't ability, this is a mindset issue. And that sits firmly at the managers door!

I suspect though, that the boss knows best, so their experience is disregarded, as I suspect that they aren't allowed an opinion. And if they offer one anyway, their reward looks like a seat in the directors box!
I agree that in the final analysis it is all about managerial skills in getting the right blend in the squad and then getting the best out of what you've got, but some basic due diligence seems to have been overlooked in recruitment. For example, the signing of too many players with poor injury history which is not likely to improve with age and strikers with a poor goals to games ratio is simply asking for trouble.
 
Yep, just confirms what a fair percentage of us believe, that it was a penalty.

No issue, for me.

The keeper making a meal of Ranger's challenge. Well, that's another story.
This happened right in front of me, Ranger did not make any challenge at all - the keeper jumped into him and acted like he had been pole axed. Blatant cheating and should be banned retrospectively imo.

I don't often get incensed, but I wanted to punch the keepers lights out!
 
Our lack of support for Ranger for 50 minutes cost us dear.

I could have sworn that you told me that Brown had said on the radio before the game that Wordsworth was going to play up front with Ranger. Perhaps he forgot to tell Wordsworth.
 
I thought it would be a long afternoon when I saw the team selection, negative, 451, a lone striker and an interesting attempt to try and turn Wordy into a front runner... Manchester City we are not!!

How did that work then? There was no intention of Wordsworth playing up front despite what Brown said before the game.
I'm sure Wordsworth has the ability to play up front and must have played there for Col U early in his career.
 
Back
Top