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Post by Mark Neal on Feb 2, 2018 11:52:49 GMT
Massive game tomorrow at Concord Rangers away. Poole have won there last two matches and Gloucester have dropped into bottom three. Gloucester however take on Poole Town tomorrow and also have games in hand so its nervy times for ourselves, and also freefalling Chippenham,Eastbourne Borough too. Below are the fixtures for sides around our part of the table.
Concord Rangers vs Oxford City
Chelmsford City vs Chippenham Town.
Eastbourne Borough vs Hungerford Town
Bognor Regis Town vs Truro City
Whitehawk vs Weston Super Mare
Reece Fleet serves the last of his three game ban. Freddie Grant took a knock to the knee against Bath City last weekend and hasn't trained this week so is a big doubt.
Squad as follows-
King, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Poku, Oastler, McEachran, Fofana, Sinclair, Paterson, Hirst, Pearce, Tutton, Forde, Navarro, Godwin-Malife, C Stevens, Peake-Pijnen.
Prediction. Oxford City to scrape a 2-1 win. Crowd 234 ( Probably around 100 though on a headcount )
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Post by shutler on Feb 2, 2018 12:57:47 GMT
1 - 3 win for City. Pato double, Poku att 312
Tough game, but think we'll step it up and get the win.
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Post by OWHH on Feb 2, 2018 13:30:53 GMT
So is Hirst back? No Fleet thought it was two match ban, but oh well. Jonah said he has been trying a few things in training I hope they include: 1) Set pieces, corners especially, wasting too many. Defending them, bodies on the line, winners in the air Support the Keeper. Plenty of communication when he calls that its his Make sure your protecting him. 2) Forwards: More options, we have to use both wings, also direct, If the shot is easier option early go for it! Mids, don't give them too much room. I know its not easy don't lunge But pressure up field don't stand off and defend too deep. Center backs need to win everything in the air. Oh, and if we have possession then they can't do much, so the more the better  Not predicting anything. Just want to see some of the above and we might do well! Oh,some noise please from the huge hoards I'll be travelling with.... |
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Post by Rijs on Feb 2, 2018 14:08:19 GMT
A very tough match. Concord haven't lost a home league match since September. The only cup game lost was a close one to Woking. The form book is definitely on their side. But we've seen City overthrow the form book once or twice in Essex already this season...
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Post by nptonexile on Feb 2, 2018 20:59:07 GMT
Sorry, won't be there but will be keeping an eye on scores!
Start getting hotels for Poole away sorted!
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Post by exile on Feb 3, 2018 14:28:53 GMT
City to win 1-0
Attendance 350
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Post by Rijs on Feb 3, 2018 22:21:53 GMT
Different formation today, but same old problems! City dominated the midfield without making the possession count; Rangers had less but made more of it. The statistics which count are the ones at each end. City managed two good shots in the match: one from Zacc took a slight deflection on to the post, or it might have curled in; and one from Freddie for our goal. Rangers produced six: two were well saved by Craig, two hit the woodwork, and two found the net.
Rangers didn't look anything special but they do the simple things well, getting plenty of men back quickly to defend and then breaking quickly, and they know where the goal is. One win in seven has drained the Hoops' confidence and it seems a struggle to find the net. The only goal today came from one of only two occasions when we got in behind and produced a cross, despite having two wing backs. Rob Sinclair produced a good one and suddenly we had a chance in front of goal. Most of the time we are playing pretty football in front of a packed defence, not troubling them.
Apart from good set pieces, the three things which I think worry defences are: teams who shoot a lot, and are usually on target; teams with pace on the wings to get behind, coupled with the ability to produce a good cross when there; and teams who break quickly from defence, not giving them time to get men back behind the ball. City are lacking all three at the moment. We rarely shoot, and when we do it tends to be straight at the keeper, or wide; we either don't use the wings, or do but do not get behind, or do not produce a decent cross; and we are breaking too slowly, giving opponents time to organise. These are the things I think we must work hard on in training if we are to get the wins we now need to get us out of this trouble.
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Post by toocoulson4schoolson on Feb 5, 2018 15:33:28 GMT
Over 2 years have passed since my first trip to Concord and the goalposts are still F**king wonky.
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Post by OWHH on Feb 5, 2018 20:28:04 GMT
Over 2 years have passed since my first trip to Concord and the goalposts are still F**king wonky. Yes two things: How on earth has that ground been passed for conference standard, Maybe the powers that be couldn't be Ars*d to go down to Benfleet amongst the shipping containers! Are their goals on wheels? One more thing I hope I have the choice of saying, I'm not going there again next season, As I have done since my first visit. |
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Post by Rijs on Feb 5, 2018 21:40:52 GMT
Yes, the goals were on wheels. It is certainly a rough ground in an unattractive area. The TVs in the clubhouse were not getting a good reception, hand dryers didn't work, etc. The pitch has a slope from the middle. Maybe the whole situation is an advantage to the home team, but the supporters were pretty quiet. You can hear the Shed Enders more clearly on the video highlights (which omit Zac's shot which hit the post, BTW). Once again, the published attendance seems way out. My head count would suggest about a hundred fewer than the 259 they claim -- where were they hiding?
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Post by shutler on Feb 6, 2018 11:27:09 GMT
Dislike the ground immensely and the whole area just doesn't do it for me.
Didn't get to the game unfortunately, however, what really worries me is that we have a starting 11 with maybe one or two options to change things on the bench - and that's it. We have done nothing to bring in any more players who can help us get out of the mire we currently find ourselves in. We have the second highest scorer in the league, if he got injured then what? When Sinclair was injured it was hugely obvious that there was a glaring hole in our midfield/forward areas as no one else stepped up to his position. Defensively we still struggle against fast counter attacking teams.
Trying to stay in this league is made doubly difficult as we have a miniscule squad and imho no plan B. We need to breathe life into the team, they have battled magnificently throughout the season, but we're still heading down if we do not add experience to the squad.
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Post by OWHH on Feb 6, 2018 16:41:24 GMT
We haven't got the Money to splash out on players, even if we had many
don't want to move this time of year.
This of course was made worse by the loss of club captain Henderson to injury, for what looks like the rest of the season. Also a special thanks must go to down the bypass, for calling Jack Stevens back.
And now he's at Tamworth which is the same level so that makes huge sense....
King keeper, and Stevens in defense, have been asked to fill their shoes, literally hit the ground running, not an easy task.
The side has been unsettled by circumstances most of which was beyond
The managers control.
United seem to be having a love in with Hampton, many of their promising young players traveling down there on loan, which also makes no sense.
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Post by Rijs on Feb 6, 2018 22:19:38 GMT
All fair points from OWHH. The club could have gone out of existence in the past season but it is still here, with the first team still playing at the highest level of its history, and having its best ever FA Cup run to boot. But we still have a massive debt to service so Jonah doesn't have much wriggle room in terms of personnel. Yes, the squad is small, especially with Hendo out, and Justin Bennett who would have given us three strikers. We could be hurt by more injuries and suspensions, though perhaps another loanee could be drafted in them. But that apart, we do have enough first team players, plus Nomads in reserve. The problem is more that the squad is rather unbalanced. We have five right-footed midfielders but no natural right back or left side midfielder, for instance, so some players are forced to play out of their best position in order to get in the team, and Jonah has to adapt his formation accordingly.
That said, he can change things a bit, and in fact he did on Saturday when playing with wing backs in a 3-5-1 formation. And if we had not conceded two soft goals, we might have been saying that worked well, even though wing back is probably not the ideal position for either Eddie or Freddie. I'd like to see a change to 4-4-2 so that Matt can get some support up front from Ezra. Although he has scored a lot of goals, his confidence does not seem to be high at the moment and we need something to kick-start a revival in our fortunes. I think it might even be worth trying Rob Sinclair on the right wing as he has the speed and is a good crosser of the ball -- he already takes our corners. With David Pearce on the left we would then have good quality balls coming in from both flanks. Godfrey could continue in his role, with Reece returning to central midfield. Zac or Mo could be deployed in the later stages depending on whether we then needed to attack or defend more, and Christian O-C would good a good impact sub for Rob, allowing him perhaps to move into the middle. Christian could also be tried up front, as he has pace, strength and skill enough to give it a go and it might motivate him more than staying wide waiting for a pass. Christian Navarro offers good defensive cover from the bench and we still have several Nomads who could fill the other place.
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