I was at last nights game ,first since Wembley, luckily I didn,t have too far to Travel, but none the less was looking to embrace the Ethos of a Vegan Burger, I had even been extolling the virtues of heading towards A Footballing First , and had posted earlier on The Malvern Vegan Facebook page mentioning about the clubs ethos.
We arrived in Good time at 18.00 due to the parking problems, and chose the Tinkley lane , single track road with passing places, and down Nympsfield road route to the Ground, to the “unofficial Club parking” usually in a field and charged at a tenner, as used by a Pompey supporting mate of Mine. Unfortunatly this wasn,t in use or the Park on ride. But found a Cul de sac within 5 minutes and made sure not hindering anyone’s driveway.
On arrival having Queued for at least 30 minutes to get a drink, My nephew and I used the Marquee facility before heading through the Turnstiles to get something to eat. The small Cofee / tea facility had no food, so we went through Turnstile ten onto three terrace.
The Pee to Pitch unit was a first, but half of it ended up being flooded, and reminded me of the bad old days before the Valley got rebuilt.
With a very healthy away support that had been on coaches since 14.00 you can imagine the Queues to get food were extremely long, the people being served were only very slowly struggling back to the terraces, and it would seem only being served with Chips. We were a good 10 minutes into the game and still Queuing, when Charlton Scored. We had missed most of the action whilst in the Queue
as we got nearer to the Catering facility, one of the staff eventually came back with some of the Vegan Pies explained as “ Chicken and Leek” and “Steak and Ale” and Sausage rolls.
I took a photo at 20.01, the very young catering staff girl, had been given what looked to be a very small handful, to feed the masses that were still in the queue We had been queueing since 19.00
When it was Our turn, My Nephew and I ordered one of the “ Steak and Ale Pies”, there didn,t seem to be the option of a vegan Burger, and in the whole time queuing we didn,t see anyone with them.
Our BIG disappointment was that the Pies were still FROZEN and my Nephew described it as like eating into an iceberg,it was totally inedible, My Nephew went straight back to the catering unit to complain, however was just offered replacement Chips and not a refund, by this time we had missed a good 30 minutes of the first a half ( although the game was so dire from this time on, we didn’t miss anything ) and felt totally let down by the Catering Staff of FGR
The youngsters in the facility were doing as best as they could in the circumstances given, but need better training and the proper backup to deliver quality as promised. Credit where Credit is due, the Chips were amazing when we eventually got them
Second half was like waiting for Paint to dry, although a few scares fromFGR, and a highlight of the ball being skied high out of the Stadium, and a fantastic save by AMB. The Final Whistle went, but then the highlight ( apart from the goal ) was being treated to some “ Handbags “ involving Macauley Bonne ( not his fault ) and then both teams waded in. End result MB gets a yellow.
We enjoyed visiting The Bolt New Lawn as being a New Ground to Visit, however missing the majority of the first half due to the Extremely poor catering facilities offered and getting Frozen Food needs an urgent review.
We do wish Forest Green good luck for the future, as the Last two Seasons have shown just how good a team they have, and under new management, they deserve to stay in this league.
As For Stadium and food, I asked a Steward about the building of the Brand new Eco Stadium near to J13 of the M5, he told me that had been held up due to the finding of Roman Remains ( No doubt the FGR Ancestors burying their Unedible Vegan Pies and Sausage rolls :-) )
Loved watching the game on Charlton TV with the camera just above the mighty 800 who actually went to the game. Fair play to the home team for giving it their all in the second half, and Savage junior looks a real prospect (but probably not at Many U).
Our lads looked a good unit in the first half with Dobson and Kilkenny moving the ball quickly wide to our wingers. But everything slowed down in the second half, the midfield melted away and the tactic of playing two wide men with poor Chuks up on his own just looked wrong. We invited FG to come forward and if it wasn't for their awful finishing and one very good save, they should have got at least a point.
Hector should be praised for his no nonsense approach (and perhaps showing Innis how to hoof the ball when necessary because the big lad nearly got caught twice in his own box in that hectic last 10 mins).
Sad to say, but it's only the middle of February, and the team looks full of half fit/tired players. Could be in for a rough time in the next two or three weeks with the fixtures that are coming up.
Absolutely ridiculous tbh. He made ONE SAVE! Clare deserved it this time, by far, imo
Agree about AMB. Would struggle to to argue that any outfield player really stood out. Clare, Ness, Inniss and Dobbo did ok I guess. Clare was very good last week, so I’ll go with him too. Some are saying JRS, but that miss!!
<Hastily checks his post on the players marks thread… >
Scott Carson was he our first player of the season on loan from somewhere anyone else ? We may have a palace player as our player of the season , great times
Got to be Dobson.
Bloody hell.
Surely fans won't consider voting for Rak- Saki! Even if he'd scored 30 goals and got 30 assists, we've got to keep a bit of pride FFS
A Palace player as Charlton player of the year - what a piss-take. Please don't do it.
Makes a pleasant change to outperform a side at the bottom, however marginal that was But fuck me we're dreadful. FGR were absolute toilet but we have a block from Ness and a great save from Ash to thank for preserving any points at all Inniss played far too deep, dragging the whole backline stupidly far back Only Dobbo in midfield puts in a useful shift, Kilkenny's not awful but achieves little that's positive, Fraser at best is M.I.A. when he's not bottling challenges and being meekly shrugged off the ball. CBT & JRS have the pace to bypass most 3rd division opponents but their hit rate when it comes to decision-making and final balls is proper League 1 ropey. Chuks looks overweight and underbothered. Strange decision to start him. Bonne's not brilliant but he is at least mobile. Neither got any worthwhile service. Miles Leaburn's "very very minor issue" clearly not so minor and we can't be relying on him for another 16 games All talk of playoffs is gullible drivel, the season's well and truly over. We'll achieve a max 70 points and in doing so have to beat all of the 5 above us we have still to play, to even get near 6th place. Even then we're relying on most of them grinding to a halt form wise. There's not much to fear from relegation. 45 points could be enough to stay up and there's 9 layers of crap to slow any descent.
The parlous condition of the club at ownership level is permeating all levels and the playing staff. The last couple of games make that clear. With so many contracts up, especially the manager's, minds are elsewhere. Most of the squad will be sorting out/protecting their futures. The promising and the talented will be getting tapped up. All the while the martinet muppet at the top is fiddling about, his London soccerball egoproject is burning through more and more money for ever worsening outcomes.
Absolutely ridiculous tbh. He made ONE SAVE! Clare deserved it this time, by far, imo
Clare wasn't one of the options...
AMB made one really good save, but otherwise hardly stood out. He needs to command his area better, there was one awful flap at a cross which could have been punished
I think the lone forward really needs Fraser to support and if Fraser has a good game, we do. I'm not sure what Fraser was doing yesterday in all honesty.
I think the lone forward really needs Fraser to support and if Fraser has a good game, we do. I'm not sure what Fraser was doing yesterday in all honesty.
Agree ref Fraser. He was all over the place and not in a good way!
Enjoyed the trip. Nailsworth was lovely and enjoyed the Village Inn. £3.25 a pint what's not to like! The ground is so poorly served but then again there were less than 2K home fans. Being in my 30s I didn't mind the hill but my dad would have struggled. The 63 bus left afterwards half full.
The game: as others have said, 2 half's. Should have buried it by 20 mins. We knew big Dunc would smash into FG at HT because they were shocking. Last 15 we were awful. Agree ref Fraser and although Kilkenny ran his nuts off, he didn't pass forward. Claire was great first half and was impressed with how vocal he is. Aneke barely touched the ball.
All in all I'll take the win, but no way should it have been that close.
Really poor by a number of players. Our three forwards do not link up and Innis wants to sit deep at every opportunity. Hope Hector can stay fit and sort that but a lot of players look tired.
He's not injury prone!
This is what happens when people repeat nonsense they read on here as if it's gospel. Then someone else reads it thinking it's true and repeats it.
Fraser is our highest paid player according to that website the other day, and although he's decent, we're not really getting decent bang for our buck from him. I thought Kilkenny might gel with him, but not so sure. The Kilkenny-Dobson-Fraser combo isn't setting L1 alight at the moment, much as I love Dobbo.
Enjoyable trip to Stroud, seeing Stroudie friends before the match. Parked at top of Everest at the summit. My son queued for a pint at outside bar, gave up as service was so slow, the food outlet ran out of vegan sausages rolls at 6.45pm, inside again all ran out....The whole set up was very non league, one turnstile open, a cold slap in the face to where we find ourselves as a club heading for a historic low 4th season in a row in Div 3 ! Atmosphere really subdued....reflecting the quality of football on offer, the open side terrace and no drummers to drum up the Addicks!
My wife who sat opposite in FGR home section with our four Stroud friends, reported that FGR fans around spent a considerable time, shouting about Dobbo's hair gel ! she thought that Deano was very laid back with his hands in his pockets and very slow to get the subs on !
Happy to get back to Stroud friends house after, the general feelings was what a very mediocre game, which Charlton had dominated for only first 20mins ! My Stroudie friends said tellingly it was a very sad state of affairs that Charlton were even playing FGR as only a few seasons back they were non league with 500 supporters !
Enjoyable trip, taking in a couple of stop offs at Cirencester on the way there and then Tetbury on the way back this morning. Stayed in a lovely countryside pub in a very quiet village. Got some points from the other half for that.
As for the ground - it really is quite a strange experience. Can’t quite put my finger on it. I like what FGR are doing and want them to succeed, but the operation does feel a bit lopsided. They have very impressive measures in place around sustainability, that you won’t see at many grounds - yet the fundamentals such as location, access, transport etc are a mess.
Nailsworth is a really nice village, but nothing about the place feels like a football town at all.
The football was absolutely shocking from both sides for the most part, but I’ll take a win. I’ve been pretty unlucky on my away trips, with this being only my 2nd win in the last 27 - dating back to Wembley.
Fraser is our highest paid player according to that website the other day, and although he's decent, we're not really getting decent bang for our buck from him. I thought Kilkenny might gel with him, but not so sure. The Kilkenny-Dobson-Fraser combo isn't setting L1 alight at the moment, much as I love Dobbo.
I think we get exactly our bang for our buck from Fraser. He is a slightly better than average league 1 footballer.
Bottom 3rd and he would be a stand out player.
Middle 3rd and he would be a good first team player.
Top 3rd unless you had a very niche role for him he wouldn't get in your team.
That's why he is here, that's why he has the role he has, that's why he is paid what he is.
I think part of the problem in the first half was it was too easy. And we played it too safe because we were winning. We got ourself into that mode of passing it around largely without being pressed but with no attacking intent and when they got a bit more desperate and got the ball forward quickly, we were in that rut. There is still a lot of work to be done with our players and all this doubt about the manager doesn't help. We, and more importantly the players, need to know he will be here next season and he needs to tackle some of the stupid habits we have as a team.
Fraser annoyed me yesterday, not because he is an average player but because he is a top player at this level. But with Dobson and Kilkenny his role has to be more offensive and less farting about which is what we saw yesterday. I reckon it is something Holden will tactfully work on but a problem our lone striker often has, whoever he is, is isolation and Fraser has a role to help with that.
Fraser has been an absolute standout almost all season. One bad game (and I'll admit it was a bad game for him) and people are back to talking absolute crap about him again I see. Him and Dobson have worked brilliantly as a two and at times in a three. A team built around those two could absolutely challenge at the top with the other parts upgraded
I don't disagree, but if we are going to identify issues with the performance yesterday in a thread about yesterday's game, you can't ignore Fraser's part in it.
I don't disagree, but if we are going to identify issues with the performance yesterday in a thread about yesterday's game, you can't ignore Fraser's part in it.
Oh, I was angrily writing that before seeing your post! Which I entirely agree with
Fraser is our highest paid player according to that website the other day, and although he's decent, we're not really getting decent bang for our buck from him. I thought Kilkenny might gel with him, but not so sure. The Kilkenny-Dobson-Fraser combo isn't setting L1 alight at the moment, much as I love Dobbo.
I think we get exactly our bang for our buck from Fraser. He is a slightly better than average league 1 footballer.
Bottom 3rd and he would be a stand out player.
Middle 3rd and he would be a good first team player.
Top 3rd unless you had a very niche role for him he wouldn't get in your team.
That's why he is here, that's why he has the role he has, that's why he is paid what he is.
Comments
Our lads looked a good unit in the first half with Dobson and Kilkenny moving the ball quickly wide to our wingers. But everything slowed down in the second half, the midfield melted away and the tactic of playing two wide men with poor Chuks up on his own just looked wrong. We invited FG to come forward and if it wasn't for their awful finishing and one very good save, they should have got at least a point.
Hector should be praised for his no nonsense approach (and perhaps showing Innis how to hoof the ball when necessary because the big lad nearly got caught twice in his own box in that hectic last 10 mins).
Sad to say, but it's only the middle of February, and the team looks full of half fit/tired players. Could be in for a rough time in the next two or three weeks with the fixtures that are coming up.
Would struggle to to argue that any outfield player really stood out. Clare, Ness, Inniss and Dobbo did ok I guess. Clare was very good last week, so I’ll go with him too. Some are saying JRS, but that miss!!
Surely fans won't consider voting for Rak- Saki!
Even if he'd scored 30 goals and got 30 assists, we've got to keep a bit of pride FFS
A Palace player as Charlton player of the year - what a piss-take. Please don't do it.
Take the win but it's hard work watching us atm.
But fuck me we're dreadful. FGR were absolute toilet but we have a block from Ness and a great save from Ash to thank for preserving any points at all
Inniss played far too deep, dragging the whole backline stupidly far back
Only Dobbo in midfield puts in a useful shift, Kilkenny's not awful but achieves little that's positive, Fraser at best is M.I.A. when he's not bottling challenges and being meekly shrugged off the ball.
CBT & JRS have the pace to bypass most 3rd division opponents but their hit rate when it comes to decision-making and final balls is proper League 1 ropey.
Chuks looks overweight and underbothered. Strange decision to start him. Bonne's not brilliant but he is at least mobile. Neither got any worthwhile service.
Miles Leaburn's "very very minor issue" clearly not so minor and we can't be relying on him for another 16 games
All talk of playoffs is gullible drivel, the season's well and truly over.
We'll achieve a max 70 points and in doing so have to beat all of the 5 above us we have still to play, to even get near 6th place. Even then we're relying on most of them grinding to a halt form wise.
There's not much to fear from relegation. 45 points could be enough to stay up and there's 9 layers of crap to slow any descent.
The parlous condition of the club at ownership level is permeating all levels and the playing staff. The last couple of games make that clear. With so many contracts up, especially the manager's, minds are elsewhere. Most of the squad will be sorting out/protecting their futures. The promising and the talented will be getting tapped up. All the while the martinet muppet at the top is fiddling about, his London soccerball egoproject is burning through more and more money for ever worsening outcomes.
AMB made one really good save, but otherwise hardly stood out. He needs to command his area better, there was one awful flap at a cross which could have been punished
I think the lone forward really needs Fraser to support and if Fraser has a good game, we do. I'm not sure what Fraser was doing yesterday in all honesty.
The ground is so poorly served but then again there were less than 2K home fans. Being in my 30s I didn't mind the hill but my dad would have struggled. The 63 bus left afterwards half full.
The game: as others have said, 2 half's. Should have buried it by 20 mins. We knew big Dunc would smash into FG at HT because they were shocking.
Last 15 we were awful. Agree ref Fraser and although Kilkenny ran his nuts off, he didn't pass forward. Claire was great first half and was impressed with how vocal he is. Aneke barely touched the ball.
All in all I'll take the win, but no way should it have been that close.
Sod the flag button we need a fact button.
1) our crossing is by and large atrocious
2) we allow other teams to cross far to easily
Sort it out Deano.
The Kilkenny-Dobson-Fraser combo isn't setting L1 alight at the moment, much as I love Dobbo.
As for the ground - it really is quite a strange experience. Can’t quite put my finger on it. I like what FGR are doing and want them to succeed, but the operation does feel a bit lopsided. They have very impressive measures in place around sustainability, that you won’t see at many grounds - yet the fundamentals such as location, access, transport etc are a mess.
Bottom 3rd and he would be a stand out player.
Middle 3rd and he would be a good first team player.
Top 3rd unless you had a very niche role for him he wouldn't get in your team.
That's why he is here, that's why he has the role he has, that's why he is paid what he is.
Fraser annoyed me yesterday, not because he is an average player but because he is a top player at this level. But with Dobson and Kilkenny his role has to be more offensive and less farting about which is what we saw yesterday. I reckon it is something Holden will tactfully work on but a problem our lone striker often has, whoever he is, is isolation and Fraser has a role to help with that.