On another note, I do struggle to get my head around people who didn't go to the game giving big opinions shortly afterwards. Nothing personal and no dig about you not going but if I'd not been there, I'd hold fire personally. Just an opinion......
People who couldn't get to the game don't live in a bubble of isolation.
I couldn't be there to day but I've already had plenty of conversations tonight with people who were!
So I've got a decent grasp of events, the same as you.
Well done to the "headless chicken who can't cross and who never does anything" who never the less beat two men to cross the ball for the first goal and scored the second (that's four for the season). ....
Glad to read some support for Waggy. I can never understand how he doesn't get more games. In my opinion we've got some very good players who don't get enough action while at the same time others have been playing two games a week for 4-5 weeks.
Sounds like Taylor and Morro had an off day which they are fully entitled to. The front two have one every other week. Time they started pulling their finger out
we've not been playing well for a while. 2 home defeats in a matter of days is awful but this season we've got ourselves in a position to be able to fuck it up a bit, no team can go a whole season untouchable, still over 10 points clear of third into mid march, i certainly would have taken that.
The first 11 have been brilliant for us this season, but CP and any manager should always have a plan B or C, last few weeks our plan B has been to throw on Haynes or Clarke and it hasn't really made a difference. We have a better team than most but CP is being undone tactically recently imo and he hasn't reacted but I have every faith he'll learn and improve just like he did from the end of last season.
Lets try and take some positives from this: - Powell must be amazing at half time talks! (BBC Radio interview with him hinted at his approach) - In the first part of the second half we saw the Charlton that started this season, eager and making chances - and even taking a couple.
However, a truly awful first half. I'm a bit of a glass half full kinda guy, and I like to be forever the optimistic - but there's no way of dressing up that performance. Every time Notts C came forward, I expected them to score to be quite honest. Hamer has had an absolute nightmare this week, and I can't help but feel sorry for him. I don't even remember seeing the star pupil, Solly, looking too great in the first half.
After the first goal I thought it was just going to be another Colchester game, a wonder goal.. but no, say what you like but Notts C are a team on form and a team that knew what they were doing. For that I take my hat off to them...
But back to our lads. The second half showed just what they were capable of, and this is something that Powell really needs to drive into them - they are capable of so much more than that display in the first 45: we know that, they know that, powell knows that and I'm pretty sure Notts C probably know it after the second half.
I think a lot of us did predict something like this happening before the Stevenage game, there was a bit of a goal drought - with very few goals coming from open play - but we had our back 4 and Hamer looking after us then. Today however, we didn't even have them. Why was that? Who knows..
Damage limitation wise; we dropped 3 points (6 in a week.. compared to 6 all season..) but managed to claw back two goals to add to the goal difference.
We've lost our unbeaten home run in style it would seem, but on wards and upwards - the lads have 7 days to get their heads down, get in to training and get some team spirit flowing again. We need to keep some perspective on it and look at the table, look at the top clubs and notice that actually their form hasn't actually been amazing.. We're still number 1, we still have a points gap, and we're still on track. Nobody said it would be easy..! If thats still not enough, ask yourself this - "If someone had told me back in August that I'm going to be angry that we've just had our second home defeat, our fourth defeat of the season, in March.. would I have believed them?" - it's a brilliant season, try and enjoy it!
if somebody said we'd be 5 points behind the leaders at this stage of the season sitting in 4th at the beginning i'd have prolly taken it but they didn't and we are where we are ,does it mean that i can't worry/ fret /criticise until we drop below there bollox does it this is a message board and we all view things differently our results up until recently have been untouchable, as for the performances well barring the early season stormers they haven't been as good as the results but the results have hidden some inadequacies in the team , now it's squeaky(ish) bum time and realistically there is no way we should blow it but the scary thing is we could blow it if we continue in this recent vain
i'm worried , the poor performances that were scraping results aren't good enough and the luck gods have deserted us
hamers got to take command for the third and direct the defender what to do but in taylors position he can still pull rank and put the ball in row Z the old long range worldy's are coming back to haunt us , he should have saved the first as well but unfortunately i don't think we have an able deputy so i'd deffo stick with hamer
midfield were dead on their feet and with the non substitutions i hope it means that SCP knows that we have jack all depth in quality in our squad and should we go up we will need a reasonable overhaul
can't argue with waggys well worked assist or goal and tenacity but i still think he is pony and would rather green played but waggy definitely deserves a go at scunthorpe nonetheless and maybe the myth of greenie not helping our defence out might disappear !
that was a deffo penalty for the foul on BWP but i still cant believe he didn't give a foul for our first , i think at that point the ref felt sorry for us
anyway bad news the percentages are back
45% champions 45% runners up 10% play offs and guaranteed heartache
3 weeks diet and no chocolate had to be broken tonight with a cadburys attack cheers charlton aaaaaaaaah
finishing on a positive i thought the support was magnificent today and credit where it's due i didnt hear any boooooos and well done to everyone who got behind the team
Those who say we have been too complacent at start of last two games, do not address the problem of why the team have played badly for 5 out of are last six games home and away. To me the first choice squad as I have said before look Knackered and we do not have a second eleven capable of stepping up and taking over. I fear we are about to blow automatic promotion, on current form we will not beat any one in this division. Lets hope they can find the energy to raise the game for rest of the season.
I feel reassured by the second half performance and had the lino given the blatent penalty we would have got something out of the match. probably the most inept decision I can recall this season. First half was surreal - 4 chances, 4 goals - 2 gifted to them by our keeper. Powell's half time team talk was clearly to step up the pace and County looked ordinary when they weren't given time to play. What suprised me a bit was when we got the 2 goals back and the match started to slow, why Chrissy didn't make the subs. He was clearly tempted to from the clear activity on the bench but I suspect he was looking at the bigger picture and thought the second half performance could be built on confidence wise and didn't want to risk a 5th or 6th.
It isn't a critisim as he was probably looking at the bigger picture but with 20 to go - I'd have brought on Clarke and Russell for Taylor and JJ and had a bit of a go - that elusive third would have really got County panicking. That is why the penalty incident was so crucial - had it been awarded as it should have been we could have even won the game!
I didn't see the game (thankfully). Having seen 10 games this season, I am amazed to learn that we conceded four goals in the first half. What happened? Was it four lapses or were we at sixes and sevens? I am not surprised that we lost as form has dipped recently, but losing 4 goals in 45 minutes is what you would expect a team at the bottom to do. The back four to me have looked significantly above League 1 standard this season. So, was it a freak or some fracture in the team?
I hate days like today. Weekend ruined and then i have the missus in the ear trying to cheer me up which winds me up even more. Would rather be left alone to drown the sorrows.
Tell me about it. I posted earlier that when I got home Mrs Incorruptible said: ''Never mind, dear. You can't win every game.'' Shut up, woman. I know you are only trying to help. But don't. It has the exact opposite effect !!!
Understand what you mean and feel for you both....BUT.....Mrs RM supports Notts County as does her sister............f'ing great weekend for me.......NOT!!!!
The first 45 was the worst footballing performance I've seen since that Leeds game (which remains my benchmark for worse game ever). No enthusiasm, no commitment. Letting them get to the ball first, not challenging them. Goalkeeper doing nothing; centre halves standing around watching him doing nothing.
Second half much better, but ultimately too little too late. Congrats to BWP who who had a magnificent came. Shame we can't say the same about anyone else.
Some questions: Did Hamer lose his bottle when he got injured the other day? Has he got some strain or knock or something that's made him scared to go for the ball? Is Jackson too tired to play, should I be rested for a few games? Why did Haynes get subbed? What if we'd have got that penalty, would that have given us the necessary momentum?
This type of thing is not unusual as a season nears the end. The leaders are often drained emotionally and physically leading to a bit of complacency and slowed reactions. The chasing pack is full with vigour and the relegation candidates are fighting for survival. I recommend a few days in Spain to relax, have a round of golf, get away from the press and pressure and to rebuild tactics and team spirit. Next Saturday will not be an easy game. Like Notts County, Scunthorpe is a team in improving form. One last word. Forte was brought in on loan by Notts Co. He might not have played had Hughes not been suspended.
So we thought we were having our blip when we were drawing against the likes of Bury and Rochdale!
There's not a lot to add to what has already been said about the last two matches. I agree that, for whatever reason, our midfield is currently just not good enough. They seem to be too often outplayed, out thought and outmanoeuvred. I'm fed up with seeing visiting teams with midfield players who drive their team on with quick, clean, neat passes - ours look leaden footed and unimaginiative in comparison and oh so predictable. Jackson, in particular, has contributed very little to team performance recently. But then nor have Stephens or Hollands.
I've changed my mind once about Hamer and I'm going to do it again. He's had some good games recently but his last two performances have shown that he is a weak link who cannot be trusted to do what is needed. And now he seems to be making the rest of the defence nervous. In addition, other teams have cottoned on to his suscepibility to long range shooting - expect them all to have a go from 30 yards from now on! I don't buy all this talk about him being a young player who will learn. He's not that young and has been around a fair amount of time. He ought to have mastered the goalkeeping basics by now.
Wagstaff did enough to deserve a start in the next game.
None of our next three games will be easy but I'm still completely confident we'll go up. We still have a healthy points lead over other teams and the reason we like to have a cushion is for times like this.
First half was simply embarrassing, no idea what the second one was like as we left at HT....
Move on
Agree with your first point, but I cant understand why you would leave at HT? The boys needed all the support they could get yesterday, and in the second they got it as well. Yes the team had a shocker but after all the success (so far this season) that they have served up to us, we owe them our support when it doesn't go the teams way!!
I hate days like today. Weekend ruined and then i have the missus in the ear trying to cheer me up which winds me up even more. Would rather be left alone to drown the sorrows.
Tell me about it. I posted earlier that when I got home Mrs Incorruptible said: ''Never mind, dear. You can't win every game.'' Shut up, woman. I know you are only trying to help. But don't. It has the exact opposite effect !!!
Understand what you mean and feel for you both....BUT.....Mrs RM supports Notts County as does her sister............f'ing great weekend for me.......NOT!!!!
Bad times RM. But my missus and her family are millwall and I cant recall a worse moment coming home from that 4-0 drubbing after I was in the away end and they were in the home end. I could/should have ended the relationship there and then
Tell me about it. I posted earlier that when I got home Mrs Incorruptible said: ''Never mind, dear. You can't win every game.'' Shut up, woman. I know you are only trying to help. But don't. It has the exact opposite effect !!!
Understand what you mean and feel for you both....BUT.....Mrs RM supports Notts County as does her sister............f'ing great weekend for me.......NOT!!!!
Bad times RM. But my missus and her family are millwall and I cant recall a worse moment coming home from that 4-0 drubbing after I was in the away end and they were in the home end. I could/should have ended the relationship there and then
1st half we were over run in midfield as they played with five and one up front against our four. We failed to match them up, end result 4-0 down. The most dissapointing thing for me was when we went 2-4 we had them rocking, but instead of pushing on, we let them back in the game and the momentum was gone.
People saying drop Hamer are mad. If he is a victim of a fragile psyche then telling him that as soon as he makes a couple of mistakes he's out will irreparably shatter his confidence. We're still top of the league by miles and he's hardly cost us the last two matches. We scored exactly zero goals agianst Colchester, making his mistake irrelevant and while he didn't cover himself in glory yesterday from what I heard I very much doubt he's the sole reason we lost. I saw people on the scores thread giving him a 2. 2! You'd have to defect to Palace halfway through the match and deliberately score five own goals before you should get considered for a 2. That's Ali Dia levels of incompetence, not just a keeper having a poor game. Stuff like that makes the scores thread pointless to be honest. But that's another issue I have, the main point is binning Hamer for his performance is bad management, unless he makes it clear to Powell that he wants to be taken out of the firing line and will come back stronger.
Sure it must all have been covered above; shambolic first half, different team after the break and I believe we'd have rescued something out of the game if the obvious penalty had been awarded. Must say I was very impressed by several of the County players, but the one that really stood out was the tiny number 14, Alan Judge. He was too good for us first half. I'd love to see him playing in our colours next season.
Comments
we've not been playing well for a while. 2 home defeats in a matter of days is awful but this season we've got ourselves in a position to be able to fuck it up a bit, no team can go a whole season untouchable, still over 10 points clear of third into mid march, i certainly would have taken that.
Sullivan
Solly
Morrison
Cort
Wiggins
Wagstaff/Green
Hollands
Hughes
Jackson (Get Ephraim back on loan)
Kermorgant (Get Hayes back)
BWP
Andy why did we get rid of Benson for Clarke
- Powell must be amazing at half time talks! (BBC Radio interview with him hinted at his approach)
- In the first part of the second half we saw the Charlton that started this season, eager and making chances - and even taking a couple.
However, a truly awful first half. I'm a bit of a glass half full kinda guy, and I like to be forever the optimistic - but there's no way of dressing up that performance. Every time Notts C came forward, I expected them to score to be quite honest. Hamer has had an absolute nightmare this week, and I can't help but feel sorry for him. I don't even remember seeing the star pupil, Solly, looking too great in the first half.
After the first goal I thought it was just going to be another Colchester game, a wonder goal.. but no, say what you like but Notts C are a team on form and a team that knew what they were doing. For that I take my hat off to them...
But back to our lads. The second half showed just what they were capable of, and this is something that Powell really needs to drive into them - they are capable of so much more than that display in the first 45: we know that, they know that, powell knows that and I'm pretty sure Notts C probably know it after the second half.
I think a lot of us did predict something like this happening before the Stevenage game, there was a bit of a goal drought - with very few goals coming from open play - but we had our back 4 and Hamer looking after us then. Today however, we didn't even have them. Why was that? Who knows..
Damage limitation wise; we dropped 3 points (6 in a week.. compared to 6 all season..) but managed to claw back two goals to add to the goal difference.
We've lost our unbeaten home run in style it would seem, but on wards and upwards - the lads have 7 days to get their heads down, get in to training and get some team spirit flowing again. We need to keep some perspective on it and look at the table, look at the top clubs and notice that actually their form hasn't actually been amazing.. We're still number 1, we still have a points gap, and we're still on track. Nobody said it would be easy..! If thats still not enough, ask yourself this - "If someone had told me back in August that I'm going to be angry that we've just had our second home defeat, our fourth defeat of the season, in March.. would I have believed them?" - it's a brilliant season, try and enjoy it!
bollox does it
this is a message board and we all view things differently
our results up until recently have been untouchable, as for the performances well barring the early season stormers they haven't been as good as the results
but the results have hidden some inadequacies in the team , now it's squeaky(ish) bum time and realistically there is no way we should blow it but the scary thing is we could blow it if we continue in this recent vain
It isn't a critisim as he was probably looking at the bigger picture but with 20 to go - I'd have brought on Clarke and Russell for Taylor and JJ and had a bit of a go - that elusive third would have really got County panicking. That is why the penalty incident was so crucial - had it been awarded as it should have been we could have even won the game!
Second half much better, but ultimately too little too late. Congrats to BWP who who had a magnificent came. Shame we can't say the same about anyone else.
Some questions:
Did Hamer lose his bottle when he got injured the other day? Has he got some strain or knock or something that's made him scared to go for the ball?
Is Jackson too tired to play, should I be rested for a few games?
Why did Haynes get subbed?
What if we'd have got that penalty, would that have given us the necessary momentum?
There's not a lot to add to what has already been said about the last two matches. I agree that, for whatever reason, our midfield is currently just not good enough. They seem to be too often outplayed, out thought and outmanoeuvred. I'm fed up with seeing visiting teams with midfield players who drive their team on with quick, clean, neat passes - ours look leaden footed and unimaginiative in comparison and oh so predictable. Jackson, in particular, has contributed very little to team performance recently. But then nor have Stephens or Hollands.
I've changed my mind once about Hamer and I'm going to do it again. He's had some good games recently but his last two performances have shown that he is a weak link who cannot be trusted to do what is needed. And now he seems to be making the rest of the defence nervous. In addition, other teams have cottoned on to his suscepibility to long range shooting - expect them all to have a go from 30 yards from now on! I don't buy all this talk about him being a young player who will learn. He's not that young and has been around a fair amount of time. He ought to have mastered the goalkeeping basics by now.
Wagstaff did enough to deserve a start in the next game.
None of our next three games will be easy but I'm still completely confident we'll go up. We still have a healthy points lead over other teams and the reason we like to have a cushion is for times like this.
Understand what you mean and feel for you both....BUT.....Mrs RM supports Notts County as does her sister............f'ing great weekend for me.......NOT!!!!
Bad times RM. But my missus and her family are millwall and I cant recall a worse moment coming home from that 4-0 drubbing after I was in the away end and they were in the home end. I could/should have ended the relationship there and then
Some say you should never have started them :-)
Must say I was very impressed by several of the County players, but the one that really stood out was the tiny number 14, Alan Judge.
He was too good for us first half. I'd love to see him playing in our colours next season.