Post-Match Thread and Ratings Cheltenham Town 1-0 Southend Utd

[brigg blue]

Some, not all do have some strange poorly thought through ideas, whereas fans are fans and are THE ONLY people who actually care and matter.

You may disagree and thats great but MM has had enough time now, post the embargo to show his worth. He has to go in the summer along with at least 12 players, IRRESPECTIVE of whether or not we survive in this dreadful division.

Do you really feel changing manager again is a good idea?

Personally I think MM has done an amazing job since the embargo was lifted, he's got a team made up of other peoples cast-offs and some kids not only to catch up after being cut adrift but actually look like we will stay up. The only way he goes in the summer is if another club poaches him.

His signings have in the whole been very good and our ppg since the embargo was lifted is just under playoff form.

 

[brigg blue]

Cheltenham were very very average, we are very very poor at home.....I don’t think Oldham is a more winnable game than last night, especially the way he sets up!

So you don't think we have a better chance against a team in 17th than we did against a team top of the league?

 

[RHB]

But hes the main man in the team right? Like the quarter back In NFL' the striker is supposed to score the goals to get the points am I right or wrong?

You're wrong more often than not mate, but that wasn't the point of my post.

 

[Tommy2holes]

That was a really poor set up. Acquah does not have the class to play the lone front man.

He tries but it's an impossible task and he needs to be able to have an outlet beyond him. The only way that works is for two up top with Akinola alongside.

To change the defence like that was criminal. Hobson isn't a right back. At centre half he is a decent player. Anywhere else on the pitch, he isn't.

Demetriou and Halford just arent up to it in midfield and to have the options that we have and ignore them away at a team going for the league 2 title is criminal.

Resting players is OK when you are safe. Resting players when your league status is hanging by a thread is rediculous.

Holmes and ANG were both poor but having just acquah in the middle didn't help. I am actually missing little Egbri. He has so much enthusiasm.

We need to start playing 4 4 2 to give ourselves a chance to get more goals.

The one thing in this team that looks capable is the defence. Let's put that to the test but offering more upfront.

With Ranger out and Akinola walking an injury tightrope, it could very well be our lack of goals that see us go down.

We have to start shooting on sight. No shots in 90 mins is quite simply, not acceptable.

 

[rigsby]

Resting players is OK when you are safe. Resting players when your league status is hanging by a thread is rediculous.

With Ranger out and Akinola walking an injury tightrope, it could very well be our lack of goals that see us go down.

We have to start shooting on sight. No shots in 90 mins is quite simply, not acceptable.

Can you see MM's problem Tommy?

 

[OldBlueLady]

Not an enjoyable game to watch, a very defensive set up, a team of giants opposing us and barely a shot on goal from either side.

Was very impressed with the loanee goalkeeper, he can happily play on Saturday. Saw more composure and confidence than I've seen in Oxley most of the season. Caught comfortably, punched well and varied his distribution. He was always going to get done by a penalty having not had any chance to study - maybe one of the defenders should have and then tipped him the wink?

As others have said, Hobson and White have been an impressive pairing in the middle and I would much prefer to have seen Demetriou back in his old right back berth. However much slower he is now, he has to be a better choice to cover Elvis. Having said that, Cordner gave a good account of himself, and Clifford had another good game, including trying to get some overlapping with Holmes who largely ignored him.

We lost the game in midfield. Demetriou and Dieng do not work well together, throw in Halford (who I would much rather have seen tried up top, he'd at least have worked their defence), a totally stifled ANG and Holmes for whom nothing came off, and you have an over crowded midfield with no understanding of each other. Consequently, long ball after long ball out of defence for Acquah to ineffectively attempt to chase.

Acquah frustrates the hell out of me, he's a forward who can't jump and merely tries to rely on his height to win headers. He's not that quick either - another reason those long balls didn't work. Also didn't seem to try to get on Halford's long throws.

We looked so much better when the subs came on, Reeco might be one footed but he caused more fuss in their defence with that one foot than the rest of the team had all game. Similarly Kyle Taylor put some urgency into midfield that had been missing.

Simpson signing is a must, we are so blunt in attack.

Montgomery - 7, looked comforable
Hobson - 5, no complaints on the penalty, though the initial foul was outside the box
White - 7, solid
Cordner - 7, ditto
Clifford - 7.5, MOTM, lots of effort and did his defensive duties well too
Halford - 6, not utilised well
ANG - 5, kept running into blind alleys, needs to learn to release the ball better
Demetriou - 5, just no
Dieng - 6, should have done better with that header
Holmes - 6, thought he tried too hard to do things all by himself, wanting that "perfect" debut
Acquah - 6, jump man, jump!

Subs:
Akinola for Demetriou - 7, more energetic up top and tried
Hackett-Fairchild for Acquah - 7, stronger player and more effective
Ferguson for Holmes - 6, didn't really notice him to be fair
Taylor for Halford - 7, game came alive for us once he came on, has to start if fit
Goodship for ANG - 6, not really time to judge

Decent set of officials, on to Oldham and to see if Peter Clarke is going to have a customary mistake in him or if he's going to score against us - it's always one or the other!

 

[rigsby]

Not an enjoyable game to watch, a very defensive set up, a team of giants opposing us and barely a shot on goal from either side.

Was very impressed with the loanee goalkeeper, he can happily play on Saturday. Saw more composure and confidence than I've seen in Oxley most of the season. Caught comfortably, punched well and varied his distribution. He was always going to get done by a penalty having not had any chance to study - maybe one of the defenders should have and then tipped him the wink?

As others have said, Hobson and White have been an impressive pairing in the middle and I would much prefer to have seen Demetriou back in his old right back berth. However much slower he is now, he has to be a better choice to cover Elvis. Having said that, Cordner gave a good account of himself, and Clifford had another good game, including trying to get some overlapping with Holmes who largely ignored him.

We lost the game in midfield. Demetriou and Dieng do not work well together, throw in Halford (who I would much rather have seen tried up top, he'd at least have worked their defence), a totally stifled ANG and Holmes for whom nothing came off, and you have an over crowded midfield with no understanding of each other. Consequently, long ball after long ball out of defence for Acquah to ineffectively attempt to chase.

Acquah frustrates the hell out of me, he's a forward who can't jump and merely tries to rely on his height to win headers. He's not that quick either - another reason those long balls didn't work. Also didn't seem to try to get on Halford's long throws.

We looked so much better when the subs came on, Reeco might be one footed but he caused more fuss in their defence with that one foot than the rest of the team had all game. Similarly Kyle Taylor put some urgency into midfield that had been missing.

Simpson signing is a must, we are so blunt in attack.

Montgomery - 7, looked comforable
Hobson - 5, no complaints on the penalty, though the initial foul was outside the box
White - 7, solid
Cordner - 7, ditto
Clifford - 7.5, MOTM, lots of effort and did his defensive duties well too
Halford - 6, not utilised well
ANG - 5, kept running into blind alleys, needs to learn to release the ball better
Demetriou - 5, just no
Dieng - 6, should have done better with that header
Holmes - 6, thought he tried too hard to do things all by himself, wanting that "perfect" debut
Acquah - 6, jump man, jump!

Subs:
Akinola for Demetriou - 7, more energetic up top and tried
Hackett-Fairchild for Acquah - 7, stronger player and more effective
Ferguson for Holmes - 6, didn't really notice him to be fair
Taylor for Halford - 7, game came alive for us once he came on, has to start if fit
Goodship for ANG - 6, not really time to judge

Decent set of officials, on to Oldham and to see if Peter Clarke is going to have a customary mistake in him or if he's going to score against us - it's always one or the other!

Wont Peter Clarke have to score from Tranmere or has he moved again.

By the way i was also impressed with Monty but even if he had guessed right for the pen he was never saving that one.

 

[geoffmundo]

Frustrating to come away from a tough fixture with nothing to show from it. Yes, it is as you were down the bottom, but we need to go on a 4/5 unbeaten run to put some daylight between us and Barrow & Grimsby. Stevenage, in bottom 2 at the beginning of the year are now 12 points clear in 16th! What a difference scoring goals make!

 

[Mad Cyril]

Sounds like a man who is struggling to come to terms with the futility of managing a club like Cheltenham.

It wouldn't surprise me if we see Michael Duff hanging around Boots and Laces with a can or two over the next few months.

 

[dannypav]

It’s quite ridiculous for some to allude to MM not wanting to win the game ( or any given game ) - the man is fighting for his professional life !
He is changing the side based on injuries and fitness - running Ferguson and Taylor into the ground does us no favours and Akinola has an injury / strain that needs to be carefully managed.
Elvis didn’t make it and Ranger may not get back this ( or any other season ).
It’s not just a matter of ‘best eleven’ - it’s best eleven that are fit , fully charged and right for the opposition.
Yes Hobson isn’t ideal at RB and made an error that cost us a point - I understand Rigsbys point about ‘conning the ref’ etc , but this type of pen is given 9 times out of 10 so it was an error of judgement.
I’m guessing JD wasn’t played there because he would get skinned more often than not - that is MM’s call and we have to trust he knows that better than us - JD probably knows it too.
Coroner came in and I thought he and White did well so don’t think we were weakened centrally,
I’ve been appalled at the ‘blind’ and frankly unnecessary attacks on Acquah in recent weeks .
Is he perfect ? Far from it.
Will he make a top pro ? Really not sure
Is he doing his best in a team that has struggled all season ? 100% Yes and he’s getting better game by game.
The main reason I mention him though is that part of the negativity has been based on his worth v Holmes.
Acquah v Holmes.
Now I will always try to support all of our players and Holmes is clearly one of the most skilful we have ( seen it against us down the years ) , but when will people understand we will only sign Holmes or Ranger or Cox , Kightly , Turner , Ferdinand etc once they are flawed , once something has gone.
A Collymore or Eastwood ( mark one ) come along once in a lifetime ( well twice I guess ) and blink and you miss it.
Mostly we are going to have raw kids who need to learn on the job or ex-stars who are fading.
I’m not saying Holmes won’t do well , who knows , but what I know for sure is that last night he was way way off the pace of the whole game and contributed far less to the overall team performance than Acquah.
Some need a shot of realism with their weetabix today.

 

[Benfleet Blue]

That was a really poor set up. Acquah does not have the class to play the lone front man.

He tries but it's an impossible task and he needs to be able to have an outlet beyond him. The only way that works is for two up top with Akinola alongside.

To change the defence like that was criminal. Hobson isn't a right back. At centre half he is a decent player. Anywhere else on the pitch, he isn't.

Demetriou and Halford just arent up to it in midfield and to have the options that we have and ignore them away at a team going for the league 2 title is criminal.

Resting players is OK when you are safe. Resting players when your league status is hanging by a thread is rediculous.

Holmes and ANG were both poor but having just acquah in the middle didn't help. I am actually missing little Egbri. He has so much enthusiasm.

We need to start playing 4 4 2 to give ourselves a chance to get more goals.

The one thing in this team that looks capable is the defence. Let's put that to the test but offering more upfront.

With Ranger out and Akinola walking an injury tightrope, it could very well be our lack of goals that see us go down.

We have to start shooting on sight. No shots in 90 mins is quite simply, not acceptable.

This is spot on.

The worst part is that we do not have a squad that we can rotate and it surprises me that MM does not know his best starting 11.

To move Hobson to right back and bring Cordner is was a big mistake when we had Demetriou , A natural right that, who could just fill in and make less changes to a fairly solid back line. To then play him in central midfield with Dieng was as negative as you possibly could be when we need to win games.

To my mind he has to bring in Simpson as we have absolutely no goal threat and without even knowing what Simpson is like at present, he simply cannot be as bad as what we have.

To my mind it was a disastrous selection by MM.

 

[dannypav]

This is spot on.

The worst part is that we do not have a squad that we can rotate and it surprises me that MM does not know his best starting 11.

To move Hobson to right back and bring Cordner is was a big mistake when we had Demetriou , A natural right that, who could just fill in and make less changes to a fairly solid back line. To then play him in central midfield with Dieng was as negative as you possibly could be when we need to win games.

To my mind he has to bring in Simpson as we have absolutely no goal threat and without even knowing what Simpson is like at present, he simply cannot be as bad as what we have.

To my mind it was a disastrous selection by MM.

I assume MM does and therefore why he hasn’t ......

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

I'm not sure why people think Demitriou would be good at RB just because he used to play there when he was younger (when he had some pace), he's 33 and can barely sprint, he'd get done by most wingers in this league now.

I keep hearing that Demi doesn’t have the pace to play RB any more, his knees have gone etc but he seems to get about the pitch ok to me? He’s one of our most underrated players in my opinion and more than capable of playing RB.

 

[manor15]

I guess the issue with Demetriou is just as much who you put into midfield. Ferguson hadn't started a game since October, then in the space of 3 weeks, started 5 in a row since joining, so needed a break. Taylor hasn't been playing as regularly but given how he hasn't quite hit the same heights since having Covid, wonder if there's some after-effects there still impacting his game.

Worth noting too that they kept playing long balls up and were a very tall side. When it's that rather than pacey wingers, you'd probably prefer to have Hobson who can tuck in and add a bit more height in aerial battles than Demetriou who won't offer much if anything in that aspect.

 

[in the know]

If white is in the back 4 think JD could comfortably play RB . They had a very good understanding of covering when jd pushed forward. With RHFs good backtracking on the right there could be some good overlaps and crosses produced from the right. I
I think JD would have at least equal speed to Hobson and more agile. Hobson has really developed leaps and bounds in the back 4 with white and certainly would prefer him there.
I'm told one of the earlier season concerns was if it would cause more problems in the knee if reverted to Rb, but that it's feeling very good now and apparently as fit as ever, albeit a yard slower with age. I would think his experience and positioning would cope with a nippy league 2 winger who would probably get very sore ankles!. However, MM prefers the benefits of being able to have a strong rotatable midfield, bearing in mind taylor struggles with 2x 90 mins a week and macca struggles with 60 mins 1x a week. I can see the benefits of keeping our mid 1\3 strong using a mix from ferguson, taylor, dieng, jd, ANG, twice a week.
If Elvis were out a while maybe it could change, I don't know his injury.

 

[in the know]

I guess the issue with Demetriou is just as much who you put into midfield. Ferguson hadn't started a game since October, then in the space of 3 weeks, started 5 in a row since joining, so needed a break. Taylor hasn't been playing as regularly but given how he hasn't quite hit the same heights since having Covid, wonder if there's some after-effects there still impacting his game.

Worth noting too that they kept playing long balls up and were a very tall side. When it's that rather than pacey wingers, you'd probably prefer to have Hobson who can tuck in and add a bit more height in aerial battles than Demetriou who won't offer much if anything in that aspect.

spot on manor15. You posted while I was writing, but similar views

 

[Blueeyedboy]

Another game decided by a silly mistake. Even with the defensive setup we had 1 or 2 opportunities to get something out of this, which is something we weren’t creating not so long ago. Still onwards to Oldham ??

 

[Micky]

I guess the ones that were neither academic or sporty end up full of bile on football forums?

What a riposte!!!

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Not much to add really. For me:

Positives:

We're much harder to break down now, look fitter and well organised
New goalkeeper looked confident and assured
We now have players we can rotate in and out without weakening the team too much
Cordner looked decent at Centre Back

Negatives:

We are still yet to find a goalscoring formula which will make it hard for us to win games
It appears Holmes is not the Messiah
Hobson is not a right back

The fact that it was disappointing to lose 1-0 (to a penalty) away from home to a team who went top of the league, and that in itself says how far we've come in the last couple of months and should give us hope for the rest of the season.

 

[Barling Magna]

What a difference scoring goals make!

That's true but interestingly both Barrow and Grimsby have scored more goals than us, in Barrow's case 12 more goals....so it isn't just goals that will keep us up it's stopping the other side scoring too.