Jon Russell had strong moments when powering a shot against the crossbar and when Leaburn saved on the line. Apparently he hasn't scored in his 6 matches this season but definitely came near to a brace.
One of my youngest sons best mates, looking forward to seeing him at The Valley
MANNION; flapped at too many crosses, made one really good save and culpable for the first goal - can't push shots into middle of 6yd area R.E.G.: truly woeful A.MITCHELL: glacially slow GILLESPHEY: he'd struggle in my sunday morning pub side EDWARDS: poor game for him COVENTRY: he's a shabby Terry Taylor tribute act who can't reliably kick a stationary football TAYLOR: faded, which is understandable ANDERSON: had too much to do with all his midfield colleagues being so shit, sacrificing him for the change of shape was NJ lunacy on a whole new level A.CAMPBELL: shameful lack of effort LEABURN: tried hard to make something of the shitty service he got, understandably rusty GODDEN: looks shagged out WATSON: better than REG - which isn't really a compliment SMALL: enthusiastic but eratic and concedes pathetic stupid freekicks BERRY: in the right place at the right time twice and with the ability to profit, not sure how many other times he actually touched the ball
NJ: how he sees a footballer in Alan Campbell is baffling, keeping him on 2nd half last night is flat out not doing his job properly. I know his defensive options are thin but choosing REG over T Watson was mad, continuing to select Gillesphey is madder. If Zach Mitchell's worth a new contract, he's gotta be less awful than MG or REG, hasn't he. NJ would look less ridiculous if picked himself at right back than REG. Defensively the squad is thin and we're still toothless up front, the current injury epidemic makes things worse but NJ is equally part of the problem, he's not taking on board what he sees from match to match, plus any old Luton colleagues get a free pass to be shit and lazy but still get picked. Midtable is the realistic upper capability of this rabble unless NJ starts paying attention to the realities of how thin this squad actually is. Miles Leaburn can't win us games by himself
Slightly rose tinted with Leaburn. He seemed quite selfish and could have laid it off at times to continue attacks but yes I agree, he is rusty for sure.
At the game. Agree with your Leaburn comment, he had two clear opportunities to lay the ball off to give team mates a one on one with the keeper…..very very frustrating.
Berry in behind Leaburn and Godden will definitely get a lot of goals at this level... If Jones, Ramsay and chuks aren't out for long I still fancy us to get playoffs
At the beginning I'd have taken a point From the performance I'd have torn your arm off for a point We didn;t really deserve anything from the game and I'd have felt bad if we had won so in that respect I'm happy with a 2-2
However The defence looks drastically weaker without Jones dominating aerially Ramsay is a big loss because he gets up and down the wing whereas REG is more of a "meat and potatoes" kind of defender and full back Gillesphey is, sadly, past-it. He doesn't win headers despite being tall and he has the turning arc of an aircraft carrier and so is targeted. His passing isn't working either any more. Maybe it's time for Zach Mitchell to get some action A. Mitchell is decent and strong but also not the quickest and his passing really lets him down
In midfield Alan Campbell doesn't appear to offer much, if anything. Karoy is off colour at the moment but is learning every game - bit of a balancing act with him
Injuries are hurting us at the moment because of the profile of those that are injured.
To be fair at 76 we can't expect too much of Alan, maybe come on with Chuks on 70 mins to see out the draw ?
I've looked at the game again and listened to Nathan Jones after match comments. I do agree with him about people not challenging for headers but I can't find who lost out for their first, must have been a midfielder. I don't think we played well over seventy mins but we created four glorious chances in that time, Leaburn and Godden should have scored one of those chances, maybe the performance would have had a much needed lift if they had. Both centre backs last night like to play alongside a dominant centre back and although this pairing were found out for the equaliser, there were numerous occasions where they didn't defend the crossed ball into the box, in fact the only Charlton player who won any ariel challenges in our defence was Miles Leaburn who also cleared one off the line. As for the midfield, Anderson was poor but in that first seventy mins Coventry and Taylor were chasing shadows, criticism of Allan Campbell is harsh because he didn't hide and worked hard but why are we asking a workman like midfielder to be our most offensive midfield player? We actually played well for the first and last 15 mins but in-between didn't win the battles in midfield or nanage to play the ball out from the back with any purpose. Nathan Jones may once again have to experiment if he is to find a way to make that back line solid again, Potts or Zach Mitchell must surely be a consideration, but clearly the combination of Alex Mitchell and Gillisphrey can't continue. Overall we got a point that we probably didn't deserve and almost got a win that we deserved even less, criticism of the team is harsh, as since the Birmingham game we have lost Ramay, Chuks, Daniel Kanu and Lloyd Jones, need some of those injured players back but the loss of one injured player, Lloyd Jones, is hurting this team more than any other.
I would love to see TC get a chance playing behind Godden and Miles. Just watching the highlights from yesterday, TC's ability to turn and run with the ball from midfield (particularly for Berry's second) is definitely something we have been lacking.
A midfield of CC, TT, Anderson and Campbell or Doc is hardworking but, I think you could away with playing with 3 of that 5 with TC as a 10...Berry is much better coming off the bench and popping up in and around the box, but we've seen he doesn't have the legs to play from the start.
Switched off the stream for half an hour second half. That's how tired I am of watching dross. I have a memory of Luton fans pre season saying that under Jones, football won't be pretty but the results will be good. Well Nathan now has a squad of players he wanted. He also helped off load our leading striker last season. We have some injuries, and the players available would probably not get promotion from league 2. Swapping May for Godden/Ahadme is the sort of daydream some of us have about taking control of Palace for a week. The lack of quality and composure is astounding. The high press has gone, as has the defence. The midfield can't distribute, doesn't seem to help defend, and would always prefer a lazy pass. We also need too many touches to decide what to do with the ball. Gives the opposition time to organise. Overall, miserable football from a mediocre dide.
Ultimately he'll be blamed for getting rid of May, a major mistake letting him go.
Are you serious ? There's no point relying on one player to score every match, far better to have the goals spread throughout the team ....................................................................................... apparently
Thanks mate don't know what was going on but it seems to have righted itself, Berrys goals apart it was probably doing me a favour not being able to view it
Trouble is, unless we are dominating this league with the team we have, being promoted via the playoffs should we even manage it would be pointless without significant changes and investment. We would most likely end up in having our arses kicked in the championship week in week out which won't be very enjoyable either. So would the appetite for investment be strong enough?. If I was a multi billionaire who wanted to have a punt with 200 mil or so I would do it coz u can't take it with you.
Its ok doing it at home vs Bolton & Birmingham, but can we do it away at Bristol Rovers/Barnsley on a Tuesday night.... NOPE - havent even got the mentality to pounce on a win if we're playing shit and hold out for " MINUTES !!! FFS. Wont go up wont go down... another season to come in the world's shittest league. Roll on Saturday when we beat Wrexham and then draw or lose at Exeter...
Yet one that teams lower down in the football pyramid aspire to be in and where we still deserve to be.
Maybe he means the shittest by quality of entertainment / scale of excitement. My boy's U15 team is more exciting. Even a 1-1 draw by his team would be more entertaining because:
1. Players put more than 5 forward passes together 2. They tackle fairly and if they don't ever ever feign injury 3. They never argue with the referee 4. They don't constantly bang the ball in the air 5. They don't intentionally play turgid football then ask the spectators to sing. 6. They don't timewaste. 7. They sometimes run with the ball and try to dribble. 8. They mark up properly at set plays.
Really, the list could go on and on. I honestly think that you could regularly see low level matches in parks all around the country that more entertaining than League One.
That's what people mean when they say this league is shit. I really think attendances will suffer. If you take one of your children to the match, you need to virtually bribe them with another treat or use emotional blackmail to get them to go back. It's boring.
Trouble is, unless we are dominating this league with the team we have, being promoted via the playoffs should we even manage it would be pointless without significant changes and investment. We would most likely end up in having our arses kicked in the championship week in week out which won't be very enjoyable either. So would the appetite for investment be strong enough?. If I was a multi billionaire who wanted to have a punt with 200 mil or so I would do it coz u can't take it with you.
We only have a couple of players that would hold their own in the Championship, that is what makes a mockery of the 8-8-8 idea
Alfie May is long gone much like his calendrical namesake, the month of May. The month of May will return next year. Alfie May will not, or ever again.
Play-offs at a big stretch, prob mid table finish.
I think we are all beginning to realise that . Our only hope is come January we aren’t too many points off the play off positions and the owners will dig deep to bring in some quality to the squad .
If they stopped recruiting mid the summer transfer window because we had hit our self imposed budget limit and were still left with players we couldn't off load, why will we be bringing in quality in January?
The budget is unlikely to be increased and it's more likely we will be offloading than recruiting. Let's hope Leaburn signs a new contract in the next 2 months, because on past form he will be sold in January.
How can you make an error like he did which led to a goal and get 7.9? I like him, but that is strange.
Made about three / four really decent saves elsewhere, only reason I can think of.
He also "saved" the initial effort, so where it was scored from, might be down to a defender not getting there quicker in terms of how the stats get dished out
I'll say it. Small to me is a better bet than Edwards. He made a big difference when he came on. In fact the three players who made a difference, Small, Campbell and Berry we couldn't give player marks to. The rest have to take a look at themselves. They have shown at home that they can pass the ball, they can tackle, they can out work teams so why are they so tepid away?
The players that come on after 70 minutes or so always seem to do much better than when they actually start a game. True of Chuks, Godden, TC, Berry, Miles, Small anyway. They are the same players so it must be that they generally come on with a clear remit to change the tempo of our attacking play and actually try to win the game. It's about time NJ had the guts to send a team out to dominate, attack and score early and not play it safe until the usual cavalry charge in the latter stages of games.
They probably were told to up the tempo, but the main reason they do so much better than the starting eleven is surely because the opposition are fatigued by the 65th minute.
Alfie May is long gone much like his calendrical namesake, the month of May.
The month of May will return next year. Alfie May will not, or ever again.
Jon Russell had strong moments when powering a shot against the crossbar and when Leaburn saved on the line. Apparently he hasn't scored in his 6 matches this season but definitely came near to a brace.
One of my youngest sons best mates, looking forward to seeing him at The Valley
Comments
Yeah he was absolutely shocking. Already a full US international at 20 too. Standard Chelsea stash them and hope they come good at some point signing.
Agree with your Leaburn comment, he had two clear opportunities to lay the ball off to give team mates a one on one with the keeper…..very very frustrating.
A midfield of CC, TT, Anderson and Campbell or Doc is hardworking but, I think you could away with playing with 3 of that 5 with TC as a 10...Berry is much better coming off the bench and popping up in and around the box, but we've seen he doesn't have the legs to play from the start.
My boy's U15 team is more exciting. Even a 1-1 draw by his team would be more entertaining because:
1. Players put more than 5 forward passes together
2. They tackle fairly and if they don't ever ever feign injury
3. They never argue with the referee
4. They don't constantly bang the ball in the air
5. They don't intentionally play turgid football then ask the spectators to sing.
6. They don't timewaste.
7. They sometimes run with the ball and try to dribble.
8. They mark up properly at set plays.
Really, the list could go on and on. I honestly think that you could regularly see low level matches in parks all around the country that more entertaining than League One.
That's what people mean when they say this league is shit. I really think attendances will suffer. If you take one of your children to the match, you need to virtually bribe them with another treat or use emotional blackmail to get them to go back. It's boring.
The month of May will return next year. Alfie May will not, or ever again.
Really was great to see the next generation coming through!
COYR's
Charlie Barker also there for Crawley
The budget is unlikely to be increased and it's more likely we will be offloading than recruiting.
Let's hope Leaburn signs a new contract in the next 2 months, because on past form he will be sold in January.
He also "saved" the initial effort, so where it was scored from, might be down to a defender not getting there quicker in terms of how the stats get dished out