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Post-Match Thread and Ratings Stevenage 1 - 2 Southend United, Carabao Cup First Round

Man of the match?

  • Bishop

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Bwomono

    Votes: 35 53.8%
  • Ralph

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Shaughnessy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lennon

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Milligan

    Votes: 3 4.6%
  • McLaughlin

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hutchinson

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mantom

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kelman

    Votes: 26 40.0%
  • Cox

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • White

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Blackman

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Robinson

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    65
What really impressed me was how we kept the ball away from the narrow midfield Stevenage played with. When the ball was on the right side both Ralph and Macca stayed very wide to keep the pitch as big as possible. The switch was always on. The second goal came from this. And, vice versa Elvis stayed very wide whenever we had the ball on the left hand side. Bwomono had the freedom of the right with Hutch being told to move infield.

This wasn't an accident. Was pleasing to see us take such risks positionally in a competitive game and to see the trust we had in one another on the ball. Even more pleasing was that the goals came from these wide areas. Credit to Bond. It worked.
 
Awesome analysis @Grapevine. Must admit, the subtle change at half time you spotted passed me by - I just simply thought we were markedly more up for it in the second half.

It was interesting to see Shaughnessy and White both telling Elvis to get up and wide at one point as the second half was wearing on. Elvis was clearly feeling more and more conscious of protecting the lead and reverting to a more defensive mentality with his positioning. great example of players sharing their experience on the pitch.
 
Well it was a very pleasing result and I am chuffed for Kelman. I hope this helps him to really kick on with his career. No need to rush him, at 17, he has time on his side to learn his craft before ever being considered as a regular.
It was a good run out for the lads and hopefully they took the opportunity to further work on what the gaffer wants from them and maybe an equal opportunity for the gaffer to know how best this team should be set up to play.
Its nothing to get carried away with though and it was no less than a lg1 side should do against a poor, struggling, lg2 outfit. The next real test will be against Lincoln and I am certain it will be a tough one. I only hope the side is allowed to express itself and go into the game with good confidence and not pay overdue respect to the Lincoln team. We need to compete and impose and take the game to them.
I also think that Hutchinson is massively underrated by many. I think he will be a big pay day for us in the not too distant future.
 
I confess - Kelman scuffed at one in the first half ... I reminded everyone how many other times he had done that - and missed chances and blah blah ..
 
I liked Charlie's post match interview on the radio - when asked about starting in League matches at 17 he said 'if you are good enough you are old enough'.
 
The strange phenomenon that is the post match thread. When we win we manage 47 posts so far the day after the game. We reached 47 posts by 18:15 on Saturday when we lost. I can't see the correlation for the life on me.
 
The strange phenomenon that is the post match thread. When we win we manage 47 posts so far the day after the game. We reached 47 posts by 18:15 on Saturday when we lost. I cant see the correlation for the life on me.
A lot more people saw the Blackpool game therefore there were bound to be more comments, and understandably few were of a positive nature.. Most of us only able to hear the commentary of last night's game would not presume to pass judgement although later having seen the extended highlights it certainly looked an encouraging performance, albeit against a lower division side.
 
The strange phenomenon that is the post match thread. When we win we manage 47 posts so far the day after the game. We reached 47 posts by 18:15 on Saturday when we lost. I can't see the correlation for the life on me.

I can, this platform is full of despair merchants
 
I'm pleased we got the win but ultimately it's a game you should expect us to be dominant in. By the sound of it the younger players had a decent game and without trying to be harsh it perhaps illustrates where they are in their progression [decent or better League 2 players who on their day will deliver in League 1] and is partly the reason why we find ourselves towards to bottom of League 1 for needing to rely on them as much as we have done over the last season and a bit. Seniors have also under performed of course.

Best things to come out of the game other than a much needed win:

Playing 4-4-2. Traditional and boring as it may seem, play to your strengths and change the game plan when needed. If we don't play that formation Saturday, Bond out!

White coming into the fold. Somehow always finds himself on the fringe, nearly every season. But once his there, his there! That should be our back four moving forward until injuries pose a new question.

Kelman scoring from 'open play', I guess. As good as his first goal was you're not going score those often. Knowing that your movement's good, your reading play and finding the space as a striker is far greater than that first goal IMO.
 
Yep. He scores 10 goals + in league 1 at 17 years old and he goes for big money.

My worry is that he isn't on a Dru like contract. If I were Ron Martin id be extending his contract, and quickly .

He has the potential in today's climate to make us a lot of money. Real money (ie) club record money.
I agree totally.
 
It's silly to suggest 4-4-2 is a panacea for all our ills. Sure, it's fine to play two in CM when we are playing a team in the league below, and could be fine against some league one sides, usually those who also play two in this space, and also usually at home. To imagine we would go out with two in the centre week-in week-out and not expect to be totally overrun in a lot of matches is naive, especially given our relative lack of specialist wingers.

I am a big proponent personally of 3-5-2 at this level if we sort out the middle of the park. Unfortunately having lost Yearwood we don't really have someone with the engine to drive through the middle which is crucial to transitional play in such a system. Equally, Mantom plays deeper than I would like for a CM who actually has a decent goal threat. I don't have an easy solution as you don't find Yearwood-type players every day in this division. While I think it's worth to try 4-4-2 in matches where we are confident of being able to keep ball in those areas with only two, I'd be looking if I were KB to experiment with a few different midfield 3s at times too and see if there is something that clicks. Milligan Mantom and Hutch clearly wasn't it, but there could be something in our squad, or with someone coming in, who makes it work.
 
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