Richard_Cadette
The Realist
I decided against posting last night when I got back, for 2 reasons really, 1 I was ridiculously tired, and 2. it's not always a good idea to post on here when emotions are runing high after a game such as that.....
However, afrer a nights sleep (well a few hours) my opinion hasn;t changed much, and that is pure and utter anger.
I am, to be fair, normally a reasoned poster on here, who sees both side of the story, and am not one for knee jerk reactions, but I have to say last night was a complete and utter sham from start to finish - the only positive was the magnificent support from us in the stands - something I think both us and Donny will remember for a long time.
Where to start about what went wrong...
- Tilly set the wheels in motion before a ball was kicked with his team selection. I have lost count of the amount of times I have had to defend Tommy Black on here, and I think last night just goes to show how unbalanced we are when he is not in the side. Moussa's inclusion in the team was possibly the most ridiculous selection Tilly has ever made. Why on earth dismantle a team which has got us into this position in the first place and play a player completely out of position? That smacked of last seasons tactic's again, and IMO, definitely cost us last night. I am not saying we would have won, but I'm damn sure we wouldn't have lost 5-1!
- Defensively, we were shot. Adam Barrett was shown up to be completely out of his depth last night, and as much as I love the guy (and i genuinely mean that) he is not good enough to be part of our team if we want to progress forward. Both full backs may well as not have played for all the defending they did - the cross by Francis for Walker was the ONLY thing he did right last night, and as I have said countless times, he is NOT a good defender - full stop. Peter Clarke didn't have his greatest hour, but to be fair to him, it's difficult to marshal a backline when you're the only one who is capable of defending!
- Midfield. Nicky Bailey Player of the Sesson? Well he lived up to that tag last night didn't he???...... An absolute shocker of a performance from him, he was completely anonymous, apart from his goal, and when it came to the crunch, he went AWOL for 90 minutes. Macca ran around a lot, but showed no composure, no class and was ineffective and completely outclassed by their midefield, especially Stock and Wellen. Gower actually tried hard, but was given no chance, and Moussa? Well he is not a right winger, so we can excuse him for that.
Strikers - James Walker's lack of composure was almost as big a reason for us losing as was Tilly's team selection. I find it difficult to dislike him because he absolutely works his socks off and he is very young, but as I have also said before, he is not IMO upto the task of leading our line. I truly believe he will remain one of those who 'had bags of potential but never fulfilled it'. Having said that, the service, or lack of, both him and Barney got was almost non existent, which made it very difficult for both of them. But when they did get the ball, they didn't do anywhere near enough to hold the ball up and bring others into the game.
An entire seasons work undone by a shambolic display from us, and that really hurts. Donny were far superior, and you have to accept that, but what I won't accept is the way we rolled over and died. IMO a crucial mistake was made by Tilly in his team selection, coupled with the miss by Walker, and you have the recipe for disaster. We went a goal down to what looked like an extremely soft penalty, but instead of getting our heads up and fighting for it, we simply collapsed, and mark my words, this result will have a huge bearing on our fortunes next season - I doubt we will recover form this to make another attempt at promotion next season.
I said I felt we would come up short, and if that had been the case, I would have been gutted, but accepted that Donny were simply the better side - which they were - but to do what they did in front of a magnificent turnout by us is unforgiveable, and some serious questions need to be asked of those players - most importantly, where is your bottle?
sorry for droaning on, but had to get it off my chest!
Only 3 months to go :)
However, afrer a nights sleep (well a few hours) my opinion hasn;t changed much, and that is pure and utter anger.
I am, to be fair, normally a reasoned poster on here, who sees both side of the story, and am not one for knee jerk reactions, but I have to say last night was a complete and utter sham from start to finish - the only positive was the magnificent support from us in the stands - something I think both us and Donny will remember for a long time.
Where to start about what went wrong...
- Tilly set the wheels in motion before a ball was kicked with his team selection. I have lost count of the amount of times I have had to defend Tommy Black on here, and I think last night just goes to show how unbalanced we are when he is not in the side. Moussa's inclusion in the team was possibly the most ridiculous selection Tilly has ever made. Why on earth dismantle a team which has got us into this position in the first place and play a player completely out of position? That smacked of last seasons tactic's again, and IMO, definitely cost us last night. I am not saying we would have won, but I'm damn sure we wouldn't have lost 5-1!
- Defensively, we were shot. Adam Barrett was shown up to be completely out of his depth last night, and as much as I love the guy (and i genuinely mean that) he is not good enough to be part of our team if we want to progress forward. Both full backs may well as not have played for all the defending they did - the cross by Francis for Walker was the ONLY thing he did right last night, and as I have said countless times, he is NOT a good defender - full stop. Peter Clarke didn't have his greatest hour, but to be fair to him, it's difficult to marshal a backline when you're the only one who is capable of defending!
- Midfield. Nicky Bailey Player of the Sesson? Well he lived up to that tag last night didn't he???...... An absolute shocker of a performance from him, he was completely anonymous, apart from his goal, and when it came to the crunch, he went AWOL for 90 minutes. Macca ran around a lot, but showed no composure, no class and was ineffective and completely outclassed by their midefield, especially Stock and Wellen. Gower actually tried hard, but was given no chance, and Moussa? Well he is not a right winger, so we can excuse him for that.
Strikers - James Walker's lack of composure was almost as big a reason for us losing as was Tilly's team selection. I find it difficult to dislike him because he absolutely works his socks off and he is very young, but as I have also said before, he is not IMO upto the task of leading our line. I truly believe he will remain one of those who 'had bags of potential but never fulfilled it'. Having said that, the service, or lack of, both him and Barney got was almost non existent, which made it very difficult for both of them. But when they did get the ball, they didn't do anywhere near enough to hold the ball up and bring others into the game.
An entire seasons work undone by a shambolic display from us, and that really hurts. Donny were far superior, and you have to accept that, but what I won't accept is the way we rolled over and died. IMO a crucial mistake was made by Tilly in his team selection, coupled with the miss by Walker, and you have the recipe for disaster. We went a goal down to what looked like an extremely soft penalty, but instead of getting our heads up and fighting for it, we simply collapsed, and mark my words, this result will have a huge bearing on our fortunes next season - I doubt we will recover form this to make another attempt at promotion next season.
I said I felt we would come up short, and if that had been the case, I would have been gutted, but accepted that Donny were simply the better side - which they were - but to do what they did in front of a magnificent turnout by us is unforgiveable, and some serious questions need to be asked of those players - most importantly, where is your bottle?
sorry for droaning on, but had to get it off my chest!
Only 3 months to go :)
