Not sure I agree with the suggestions that the team are soft touch or don't put the effort in today. The press was very good at times, with the exception of CBT and Fraser.
You only have to look at the Mickey Mouse Cup. Premier League U21 sides don't do so well against League One ones. Even though they will end up being better players and technically are better players. You can't have as many young players playing as we do.
Once again just not good enough on the day & sadly unless there is big changes its hard to see how we will turn this around I don't see the club putting the money in to make the changes we need either It's going to be a long sad finish to the season 😪
1) I get Appleton has been unlucky with all the injuries and absences we have. But for Christ sake try something different from this 4231 nonsense that we haven't got the players to play. Again today, Kanu -our lone forward - didnt have a hope in hell against 3 big defenders.
2) Playing Anderson over Louie Watson is just insane. I'm told by a fellow poster Anderson is playing because he gets stuck in. Well you could have fooled me - he's constantly out-muscled and a complete passenger. He does nothing apart from run around. (Compare him with Dobson today who really was getting stuck in). Lord only knows why Appleton has got a down on Watson.
3) In a perfect world all our 3 young players today - Kanu, Anderson & Campbell - would be nowhere near this team. Kanu worked hard but scarcely got a kick; Anderson is a complete passenger; and Campbell is just incredibly frustrating.
4) Apart from the goal, Hector played well and made some very good blocks and tackles.
5) And please don't blame Maynard Brewer for the goals. The first was Hector's fault and the second an incredible shot that took a deflection and was unsaveable.
I don't think we are yet in serious relegation trouble - the bottom 4 are pretty bad - but we've a horrendous run of fixtures coming up and it wont take too much for us to be in trouble. And if we go down, that could well be the end of this club as we know it with everything that is going on with the ownership and ownership of the ground.
I thought we played OK for periods of the game and it was an improvement on some of the previous games.
But that tells it's own story, doesn't it? We play "OK" and we're saying that's good, just looking for crumbs of comfort.
Happy New Year!
I put in a gambling related WhatsApp group in 60mins that the Oxford goal was coming and would back on the Oxford winner. For all the good work before that we couldn’t keep the ball and were just getting camped into our half.
We do more physicality and leaders. People moan about MA but we bringing youngsters off the bench is never good is it? The style of play isn't great its true but we don't have the manpower to do anything worthwhile. Reinforcements needed now!
On the one hand, it's ridiculous that we're without May, Leaburn, Aneke and Tedic all at once - what team that plays one up front needs to plan to have 5 first team strikers? - and given the overall selection options today a narrow loss against a good team would be understandable, but on the other hand we've now won 2 games in our last 12. One of those was a bit of a burglary with 2 pens in a 2-1 win and the other we were 3-0 up and still nearly didn't win. We've not won in 6 league games, lost two cup games amongst that and lost our last three. We've failed to pick up wins against Burton, Carlisle, Orient and Cambridge who are all in the conversation for relegation. We've now conceded in the last 10 minutes in 4 of our last 5 games. We're 6 points off the relegation places, two of the teams just below us have had points deductions and most worryingly our results are getting progressively worse. I don't see a patchwork team decimated by injury fighting gamely and clinging on for dear life until reinforcements come in like the pre-Roland Powell team or pre-ESI Bowyer's team, I see a team filled with decent L1 players who are contriving to make the same mistakes over and over and over with apparently no ability to fix it.
Yeah, Appleton will say we played well in his interview and will point at the youth of the team he put out as an excuse but we've played the same settled senior back four (25, 26, 29 and 31) with our 'best' player shielding them (26) for the past 4 games and we've still looked like we couldn't defend a lead even if literally every other person on earth was dead. What are we going to do now? Bring in a 5th senior striker, bring in some hardman to play in midfield and a few other ineffectual loans and hope we have a bit of an upturn in form so we can squeak midtable and talk about building for next season?
No thanks. I honestly just don't want to do it. I don't want to have another few weeks where Appleton talks about the need for experience and Scott does an interview about identifying the right players and in the end it doesn't matter who we bring in because we'll make them rubbish regardless of how good they are. I don't want another half season where we're hoping there's a 3 or 4 week run of form so we can get the thought of relegation to go away and pretend next season will be better. I don't want to watch Appleton cling on through another mediocre 8-12 months before being given the boot for some other disappointment of a hire. I just can't be arsed with it. At least when Roland was employing Belgian PE teachers and ESI were arguing about sexy bread it was funny, now it's just depressing.
Appleton out please, do something, anything to clear the inertia and provide a sense of upward possibility. If he can't manage wins against relegation teams with the best goalscorer in the league in his team then he's not going to take us up to the Championship regardless of who you sign for him so send him back to the clone farm we bought him from and get in a manager who at least has a style. Or don't, whatever, burn it all down.
Welcome back to the pit of misery and the dark side - you’ve always been a pragmatic and positive poster, but Golfie, I and others who hate this team and everyone in it are glad to have you back. There’s a signed picture of Mansfield playing for St Johnstone on its way in the post to you
1) I get Appleton has been unlucky with all the injuries and absences we have. But for Christ sake try something different from this 4231 nonsense that we haven't got the players to play. Again today, Kanu -our lone forward - didnt have a hope in hell against 3 big defenders.
2) Playing Anderson over Louie Watson is just insane. I'm told by a fellow poster Anderson is playing because he gets stuck in. Well you could have fooled me - he's constantly out-muscled and a complete passenger. He does nothing apart from run around. (Compare him with Dobson today who really was getting stuck in). Lord only knows why Appleton has got a down on Watson.
3) In a perfect world all our 3 young players today - Kanu, Anderson & Campbell - would be nowhere near this team. Kanu worked hard but scarcely got a kick; Anderson is a complete passenger; and Campbell is just incredibly frustrating.
4) Apart from the goal, Hector played well and made some very good blocks and tackles.
5) And please don't blame Maynard Brewer for the goals. The first was Hector's fault and the second an incredible shot that took a deflection and was unsaveable.
I don't think we are yet in serious relegation trouble - the bottom 4 are pretty bad - but we've a horrendous run of fixtures coming up and it wont take too much for us to be in trouble. And if we go down, that could well be the end of this club as we know it with everything that is going on with the ownership and ownership of the ground.
My only complaints were the non sensical subs. Thomas was an effort to protect a point and it immediately backfired and we are then chasing the game with a left footed centre half at right back with a right back on the bench. Then taking off CBT to bring on Casey, I mean WTF? Not a game to bring Casey on. Keep CBT up front and give that a go. Kanu didn't look as shattered as Anderson or Campbell so why not keep Kanu on and stick someone up top alongside him? And what has Watson done wrong? Shagged Apples missus? I don't care if he's going back tomorrow he should at least have come off the bench today, he is forward thinking and can pick out a pass. I thought the subs were all wrong. Apples got it wrong. He's got to go. I've zero faith in him getting us out of this league, ever.
Other than that I've no real complaints. Every one of them put in the required committment, busted every gut, tried their best but some are not good enough whilst others not experienced enough. The players were not to blame today.
100% this - we had run out of energy by the time the subs were made and were sitting back . Bring on subs with some energy that would close the ball down.
Bristol Rovers do the double, Oxford do the double, and we face Port Vale next. Oxford would have found a way to win that, that they did it with a worldy was a real tonic for Charlie Methven.
On the one hand, it's ridiculous that we're without May, Leaburn, Aneke and Tedic all at once - what team that plays one up front needs to plan to have 5 first team strikers? - and given the overall selection options today a narrow loss against a good team would be understandable, but on the other hand we've now won 2 games in our last 12. One of those was a bit of a burglary with 2 pens in a 2-1 win and the other we were 3-0 up and still nearly didn't win. We've not won in 6 league games, lost two cup games amongst that and lost our last three. We've failed to pick up wins against Burton, Carlisle, Orient and Cambridge who are all in the conversation for relegation. We've now conceded in the last 10 minutes in 4 of our last 5 games. We're 6 points off the relegation places, two of the teams just below us have had points deductions and most worryingly our results are getting progressively worse. I don't see a patchwork team decimated by injury fighting gamely and clinging on for dear life until reinforcements come in like the pre-Roland Powell team or pre-ESI Bowyer's team, I see a team filled with decent L1 players who are contriving to make the same mistakes over and over and over with apparently no ability to fix it.
Yeah, Appleton will say we played well in his interview and will point at the youth of the team he put out as an excuse but we've played the same settled senior back four (25, 26, 29 and 31) with our 'best' player shielding them (26) for the past 4 games and we've still looked like we couldn't defend a lead even if literally every other person on earth was dead. What are we going to do now? Bring in a 5th senior striker, bring in some hardman to play in midfield and a few other ineffectual loans and hope we have a bit of an upturn in form so we can squeak midtable and talk about building for next season?
No thanks. I honestly just don't want to do it. I don't want to have another few weeks where Appleton talks about the need for experience and Scott does an interview about identifying the right players and in the end it doesn't matter who we bring in because we'll make them rubbish regardless of how good they are. I don't want another half season where we're hoping there's a 3 or 4 week run of form so we can get the thought of relegation to go away and pretend next season will be better. I don't want to watch Appleton cling on through another mediocre 8-12 months before being given the boot for some other disappointment of a hire. I just can't be arsed with it. At least when Roland was employing Belgian PE teachers and ESI were arguing about sexy bread it was funny, now it's just depressing.
Appleton out please, do something, anything to clear the inertia and provide a sense of upward possibility. If he can't manage wins against relegation teams with the best goalscorer in the league in his team then he's not going to take us up to the Championship regardless of who you sign for him so send him back to the clone farm we bought him from and get in a manager who at least has a style. Or don't, whatever, burn it all down.
Welcome back to the pit of misery and the dark side - you’ve always been a pragmatic and positive poster, but Golfie, I and others who hate this team and everyone in it are glad to have you back. There’s a signed picture of Mansfield playing for St Johnstone on its way in the post to you
The thing is I don't massively hate the team. I think we've got some decent players, which just annoys me even more. How are we making Tayo Edun look worse than Fry, Borrowdale, Basey and Bessone? How is a midfield of Dobson, Fraser and anyone else able to control a game less well than a midfield two of Therry Racon and Matt Spring? I know the league overall is better than it was back then but I refuse to be talked down to by Michael fucking Appleton because he doesn't like people pointing out that being unable to win against rubbish teams every single match might be a bit annoying for the people who pay to watch it.
What was Appleton’s response during the job interview when he surely was asked how do you, like all managers have to at some point, get through an injury crisis? What’s your plan that makes you different from all the other candidates?
I actually don't blame most of the players, they are either too young and inexperienced or just not good enough. I think most of them are trying, in the same way I would try but still be rubbish. Fraser and Bleckett-Taylor excepted they are hardworking professionals, albeit lacking in real ability at this level.
Injuries are an issue, I said at the beginning of December we would struggle to score many goals, although we have managed to get at least one goal with the exception of Orient, but we need more than one, sometimes two with our leaky defence.
I did not want to go down the Manger route we hsve had too many in recent years, but the decision making beggars belief. Kanu today needed support up front, when facing a big hairy arsed centre half, not to be replaced by a kid to face said defender, when we needed a goal.
It's men against boys out there but with a bit of nous we could be doing better.
Very difficult to take again did not deserve to lose , what a strike for the goal 25 yard out and right in the corner , this was just after we should have had pen when a clear foul on Hector especially as the ref had spoke to the defender seconds before about holding … but this was a young side with very little on the bench to change things in fact two 16 year olds came on .. not sure what people think MA can do without 9 players….. again not much wrong with performance if Oxford are 5th best team in today showing not much between these sides and when they start pretending to be injured to time waste against our kids that tells you all you need to know… but again it was all about the wingers , CBT allowed his man to attack our box Edun had two men , perfect cross something CBT and T Campbell wasted time and time again
It was obviously to everyone, except Apples, that we were starting to get over run from around the 65th Minute. Dobbo even told him during the water break "we can't get out". It needed fresh legs and ball retention in midfield. Anderson was a virtual passenger. We needed L Watson, but Apple's has to show everyone that he knows best, and of course, we concede another late winner. The bloke is taking the piss even putting Watson on the bench because he's got zero intention of using him.
'To lose to a goal like that, it's not something you plan for every single week'. Michael, we literally concede a goal in the last ten minutes every single week. Maybe start planning for it.
Comments
I don't see the club putting the money in to make the changes we need either
It's going to be a long sad finish to the season 😪
1) I get Appleton has been unlucky with all the injuries and absences we have. But for Christ sake try something different from this 4231 nonsense that we haven't got the players to play. Again today, Kanu -our lone forward - didnt have a hope in hell against 3 big defenders.
2) Playing Anderson over Louie Watson is just insane. I'm told by a fellow poster Anderson is playing because he gets stuck in. Well you could have fooled me - he's constantly out-muscled and a complete passenger. He does nothing apart from run around. (Compare him with Dobson today who really was getting stuck in). Lord only knows why Appleton has got a down on Watson.
3) In a perfect world all our 3 young players today - Kanu, Anderson & Campbell - would be nowhere near this team. Kanu worked hard but scarcely got a kick; Anderson is a complete passenger; and Campbell is just incredibly frustrating.
4) Apart from the goal, Hector played well and made some very good blocks and tackles.
5) And please don't blame Maynard Brewer for the goals. The first was Hector's fault and the second an incredible shot that took a deflection and was unsaveable.
I don't think we are yet in serious relegation trouble - the bottom 4 are pretty bad - but we've a horrendous run of fixtures coming up and it wont take too much for us to be in trouble. And if we go down, that could well be the end of this club as we know it with everything that is going on with the ownership and ownership of the ground.
I think I saw an Oxford fan mention it was 10 out at least. Agree it's completely embarrassing from Appleton to even mention it
Oxford would have found a way to win that, that they did it with a worldy was a real tonic for Charlie Methven.
Even with injuries, you have to play exactly the same way and go into games knowing you're going to lose.
Appleton's law.
His debut, so best wishes to the lad.
Injuries are an issue, I said at the beginning of December we would struggle to score many goals, although we have managed to get at least one goal with the exception of Orient, but we need more than one, sometimes two with our leaky defence.
I did not want to go down the Manger route we hsve had too many in recent years, but the decision making beggars belief. Kanu today needed support up front, when facing a big hairy arsed centre half, not to be replaced by a kid to face said defender, when we needed a goal.
It's men against boys out there but with a bit of nous we could be doing better.
It needed fresh legs and ball retention in midfield. Anderson was a virtual passenger. We needed L Watson, but Apple's has to show everyone that he knows best, and of course, we concede another late winner.
The bloke is taking the piss even putting Watson on the bench because he's got zero intention of using him.