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Thank God that's over. Sorry Chelmsford fans, but when the fixtures come out in the summer, there are some games I look forward to going to, and others that don't appeal very much, and to me Chelmsford away is probably the least anticipated match of the season. (Especially when it takes place on the eve of winter!) My memories of going to Croydon are worse though, and I never had the "privilege" of going to Gateshead in our Conference days which looks equally dismal, but Chelmsford is so unappealing. At least we only have to go there once, the poor Chelmsford regulars have half a season there. At least they can call it a home I suppose,, which in the great scheme of things means quite a lot, as we all well know. In their favour they have a decent club house and at least the terraces behind the goals couldn't be closer to the pitch . Travelling down on the coach, word went around that Charlie was going to have to be very careful today, as a booking would mean he would miss the big one next week. After the disappointment of last week ,we then had two very tough away games to play, and I was concerned that we may lose both of them and go into the Maidenhead game on a bit of a downer. That fantastic 3-0 away win at Chippenham put that fear to bed, and I thought if we got anything from the Chelmsford game that would be a bonus. I got through the turnstile at Chelmsford having paid my £15.44 for an online ticket, saving me only £1.56 because of the booking fee ,compared to their on the day price of £17-. Not much of a saving compared to their match day price, but something I suppose. I headed straight for their programme kiosk. When I got there I noticed a small sign saying " Programmes £3.50". "THREE POUND FIFTY ?" I said to the man in the kiosk. In a friendly, joking way he said " Yes, £3.50 but it has just won the award for the best programme in the league." " OK" I said, " BUT THREE POUND FIFTY?" He then said in a friendly way that I could come back and tell him what I thought of it after reading it. I handed over my whopping £3.50, and then headed for their clubhouse. Inside, on reading their "award winning programme" it was first of all apparent that it was a double edition, covering both our game with Chelmsford AND their game v Boreham Wood on Monday Dec 2nd. So half of it wasn't even relevant to our fixture. Also, inside it, it said we were playing In YELLOW shirts !!!!! Chelmsford, we do NOT play in yellow shirts. Farnborough do. We play in AMBER shirts ! So much for their "award winning flippin' programme". Nearer to kick off the teams were announced, and it became clear that two of our players who performed very well at Chippenham were not in the squad. Disappointingly the new full back Kwadwo who played on Tuesday, had received a knock during the game and was to miss out. Doubly disappointing was the news that there was no Dan Roth, ( or Dan Rith according to the award winning programme ), absent through illness. I thought about going back to the gentleman in the programme kiosk to point out the faults in their celebrated match programme, but to be honest, I couldn't be arsed. The game kicked off and the ball spent most of the time down at the other end. Charlie worried us when he went down injured right after taking a drop kick which went into touch. Thankfully after treatment he got up and to me seemed to be ok for the rest of the game. One occasion when we got to the halfway line , John Gilbert made a silly tackle and to my eyes got a deserved yellow card, which obviously for the rest of the game put him at risk of receiving another one. Especially with the way the Chelmsford players reacted to incidents like this. We would definitely not want John red carded at any time, but even more especially when numbers seem so stretched and with a massive game coming up next week. Scott didn't play midweek v Chippenham, and having seen the photo of his ankle on the Saturday evening I would doubt if that swelling had disappeared completely by kick off time yesterday, but I wondered if Scott played because he felt there was no other option ? When I was at my playing peak many years ago, playing for Barclays Bank Slough Queensmere branch mixed 7- a-side team, if my ankle looked like Scott's did last week, and I knew I'd be playing the following weekend against Standing Order clerk "Big Bertha" of Windsor branch , I think I'd have pulled a "sickie". Sorry, I got distracted thinking about "Big Bertha." And did you see the size of those Chelmsford attackers ? Not much in it between them and Bertha. I often hear retired Premier League players saying that in their careers they rarely played when they were 100% fit. And that's with all the money in the world to pamper these pro's to get them match ready. What chance do our semi-pro lads have then, when they have a full-time job to do as well during the week ? We on the sidelines can't really have any idea what knocks or strains these players are playing matches with. On one of our rare excursions into Chelmsford's penalty area, we nicked a goal to go one -up. Very similar I thought to the 3rd goal on Tuesday, great play by Slavi on the touchline, who pulled it back across the face of the goal for Sam to smash in. Sadly we couldn't hang on till half time , and Chelmsford got a deserved equaliser. Couldn't complain really. Second half was a bit more even I thought, but two quick goals by one of their subs with 25 minutes left, more or less secured for sure the 3 points for the home team. The Chelmsford players all through the game I thought were trying to get the Slough players into trouble with the referee, especially their number 6 and the number 16. Any touch and they would go to ground for a free kick, in apparent agony. The number 16 was particularly embarrassing, as in one incident when the game was halted, he stood in front of John Gilbert. John raised his arm to wipe his brow or pick his nose or something , a nothing movement, and the number 16 went down pole axed, holding his face. So embarrassing. His team mates must surely be ashamed of him, it was so pathetic. Soon after that, John was subbed, a sensible decision after what had just gone on. I thought the new full back Noah had an encouraging debut. He made several attacking overlapping runs on the outside of Chelmsford's penalty area which sadly came to nothing, but I thought he should be pleased with his performance. So we lost, 3-1. Still, in my eyes it's three points out of six from two very tough away games. I would have settled for that for sure after the Welling defeat. Better tally than getting two draws and only two points ! Maidenhead next week. I'm really looking forward to it, as are all of us.(?). Delighted to see that the Magpies got their wings clipped 6-2 yesterday, and their captain got a straight red card. Surely that means he misses our tussle ? As someone else on here has eluded to, now only 6 sleeps to go. Bring it on !.

Keep believing guys, you are not the worst team in this league . Great result

Not sure if I watched a different game to others on here, but they scored 3 from about 3 shots and we dominated most of the game. I'm not saying that we were great or even that we 'deserved' to win - but for people to be so critical in a game where we had 25+ shots to their 5 or 6 is strange to me & smacks of a massive overreaction and also working backwards from the scoreline - on another day with a similar performance we win that 2-1. Also obvious from the game is how much the players care. Hope Scott & players ignore the (very few) critical voices and keep putting in committed performances like they have been doing!

Can we have him back ?

Segregation for 1500 people? What has the game come to, we've had regular 1200-1500 crowds at the back end of last season and then Torquay, Yeovil and others early this season, plus the 3000 and 4000 in the last few years FA Cup runs with no segregation required. Step 2 should still see segregation only when theirs been a history of trouble OR places like Torquay at Plainmoor where it's just historical for the size club they are. Boreham Wood and Dorking segregating most weeks by default is a joke by two billy big b******s clubs

#BOGGATE

Agreed, I still think you'll get out of it.

Another of those games like Enfield where we dominated the first 20+ minutes and really could have been out of sight. Decent first goal for us. Their equaliser was a bit scrappy , someone said it might have been an og. Chesham’s main weapon seemed to be a long throw into the box and it did cause a few anxious moments. Silly sending off for them. Second half they still caused problems mainly from the aforementioned long throw but we managed two late goals , one from Ade from a lovely ball in from Bailey and a great finish from Darren McQueen after being put through. Would have taken a point before kick off, all three is a great away midweek achievement. Well done to all, Manny put in a real shift again, great team effort. Well done Hornchurch coyu

I think your too young for the Wycombe rivalry Had some great games at loakes park and the dolphin in the 70s

So in theory the supporters who got in cheaply by mistake for the Chatham game owe the club some money? On the parking bit most supporters have a choice on how to get to the game if they drive and don't want to pay the £5. Alternatively get to the ground early and park for free at Lynch Hill. Facilities at the ground have improved greatly, although they are not always appreciated, and further improvements are planned which all costs money. The entry costs are normal match day costs so wheres the rip off? The only thing I will say is the club need to re think the seating situation. There are supporters who pay for a seat because for medical/health reasons they need to sit down. The club either need to leave seating as per a normal match day or make provisions for those who for health reasons need a seat. .

Great to get the points tonight away from home , great result and response to Saturdays game , well done to all, on to the next, Evans again 👍

There is, of course, the long-standing design fault of the spectator accommodation at York Road. (It faces the pitch).

There you go! Fans slagging off the management/players, it happens at every club. I'm no Magpies fan, but I do go to watch them occasionally and it amazes me how Devonshire has kept them at that level all this time, something (at least some of) their supporters are grateful for. I'm pretty sure that an attendance of 847 is not sustainable for them in the long run, but we'll see.......... Gateshead aren't the best supported club in the NL by a long way and who, knowing the weather situation, would want to travel that distance? I personally think we offer a better spectator experience than Maidenhead can and if I was uncommitted to either club, depending on the opposition, I'd choose a game at Arbour Park.

I think the criticism of Scott and the team here is absolutely ridiculous. As other more sensible posts have explained, we're punching well above our weight in this division and although the final scoreline was disappointing yesterday, we almost pulled off an incredible comeback. It was an exciting match to watch especially in the second half. I thought both teams battled extremely well given the conditions. The facilities at the club now are superb - it's a great day out coming to Arbor Park. We've got so much to be proud of both on and off the pitch. The crowds are coming and yesterday's would have been higher had the weather not been so abysmal. I think the constant negativity from some on here is really not justified in any way. It's almost delusional and it's not how or many others see things. The club is on the up. There will be setbacks on the way inevitably but look at where we are compared to 2 years ago when Scott took over. Keep up the outstanding work Scotty and also everyone else associated with the Club. 👏 👏 👏

I think we all know, or should know how difficult it is to break down a side that sets out to defend with a low block. That aside we didn't play well in the first half and were guilty of continually giving the ball away which eventually led to their goal which ended up as an intended cross that took a slight deflection. With both Amartey and Oggy ineffective and predictable down the flanks it was the right decision to change things at half time bringing on Roth, Abisogun and Goddard. With these changes we did improve camping in their half but again without the end product to break them down until Leon stepped up with our first really decent effort on goal. As someone has said we can't play well every week and often our poorer performances have come after a big game and performance like the Maidenhead one. On the sending off Coppin should have received a red card for a disgraceful challenge on Henry and Kweku shouldn't have retaliated and despite our protest will almost definitely pay the penalty and be suspended for 3 games. Just a word on the young left back who I though had a decent debut and looked promising.

Obviously our budget doesn't stretch to putting hand-soap in the downstairs gents. When I arrived at just gone 2pm, there was hardly any left and what there was was (not for the first time) mostly water. As for the match, we got away with another iffy performance at home against a struggling side, even though I don't think we deserved to lose. There was nothing wrong with our effort and work-rate, but IMO we look weak at the back, Francis Amartey's inability to make an impact on the match is becoming a concern and we picked up another red card to boot. A great goal from LCP, and how their no.11 wasn't sent off I don't know. It was good to see chips for £2 back in the bar; I wonder where they went last week?

Vanity projects?? Give me strength. Improvements aren't 'vanity projects'.

Strange away fans who seemed stuck in the 80's with their foul mouthed songs.

I can confirm i’m also a fan, have been for 38 years

Some of our antics were embarrassing? No clue what you’re referring to but perhaps you’d prefer we’d encouraged them to get back in the game. Odd comment

I started watching late 60s, early 70s and Wycombe was always the big rivalry for me - right up until their promotion into the EFL. But always wanted us to beat Maidenhead and definitely do on Saturday. Still have memories of 4-1 away at Loakes Park, coming back to win 3-2 in the league at Wexham Park and Steve Hill's studs scraping a late winner in the trophy.

We would once again be grateful if you could support the annual HFCSA collection for Rainham Foodbank to help people in our local community. With the ongoing cost of living crisis, we appreciate that these are difficult times for everybody, however, a little kindness goes a long way so please do what you can. As ever, any contribution you may be able to make will be most welcome, however there is an urgent need for the following: Tinned meat Tinned fish Pasta sauce Tinned rice pudding Jam Tinned fruit Small jars of coffee Toiletries Any donations can be left at the collection trolley by the club shop at forthcoming home games, starting with Saturday's visit from Hampton & Richmond, and we will ensure that they are passed onto the Foodbank. Many thanks in advance for your kind generosity. Dave

You can tell which generation of supporter I am by the following statement … To this day I still get a little flutter in my heart if I see Wycombe have lost, and if Martin O’Neill is doing punditry on tv I immediately switch channels 🤣

Nathan is right. Why is it taking so long to decide on parking arrangements? Just do the same as when we've hosted teams like Grimsby.

Nobody likes to lose, I don't feel that negative comments are not allowed to be voiced, when it's positive it's positive, when it's negative it's negative, it's just natural for people on a forum to voice they're honest opinions and also for the players and staff alike , we all hurt when things don't go in our favour and that's not to say we don't believe in the group or appreciate where we are in the table but we all remember where we were back in the ryman league barely fielding a team , getting beating everywhere, no ground , no money , folkestone on a freezing cold Tuesday eve as fans we never want to see these times return and I believe that is why it's natural to vent , when in my personal opinion and maybe others it was a horrible 1st 60 mins, and the negative commets are only because we know how good we can play and we didn't get the result we should have , we were 3/0 down and got back to 3/2 , so it shows how determined the group are but where was that for the 1st 60 mins or so , anyway on to the next game and I hope Scott will return to the forum he's been a saviour to our club and kept us where we are

Really enjoyed the trip yesterday despite the atrocious weather! The team is now looking settled with no line up surprises. Alfie had an early shot which was closer than it looked initially - but they has most of the possession as expected - they whipped in a few crosses but didn't get anyone on the end of it. They seemed to be focussing on Dylan at RWB who worked his socks off - but they did get passed him a few times. Just before the goal we had a pretty good spell of passing the ball around and keeping possession (we need to do this even more) There was a long stoppage before their 9 went off - didnt look like a foul to me - and we switched off, allowing them to score with a header - did look like they had a few in an offside position as it was taken? They then had the penalty incident - which the video backs up was not one (I thought there was another tussle on the edge of the box that could have been given). Felt deflated at half time- we hadn't yet got a single point from a league game this season where we concede first .. and didnt feel confident. We really came out quickly in the 2nd half, Dan Cox running forward with intent, and then my MOM Lennon Peake ran dowm the wing for Sammy to knock in for am eqauliser (bit similar to the Knight- Taaffe combination vs Torquay). This really got the Enfield fans in voice and there was constant singing til the end! The bad weather had everyone huddled in the small stand so probably helped the atmosphere .. We battled, and whilst we didn't create that much, they didn't trouble Rhys much - had he conceded any of them we would have said they were soft... The Dorking forum says we are the worst team they have seen this year - but who cares ! So 3 games unbeaten and I'm feeling pretty positive - Thompson has been a revelation at the back in terms of ability and organisation (may well take the captains' armband permanently) .. we need to try and secure the 3 loanees until the end of the season if we can - if they were all suddenly recalled this week where would that leave us? Is there a limit or can we bring in more loanees? We just need to finish above 4 other teams, and if we can take a point at Dorking we can do it against anyone. Hornchurch have started to pull away from the bottom - so won't be easy - so another point wouldn't be the end of the world, but all 3 would be fantastic!! Was surprised at their ground being so basic having spent 2 years at Step 1 - their previous ground seemed very similar from memory? No programme? Looking forward to seeing Bunch of Amateurs take on the game in a few weeks .. Marc White was respectful about us in his interviews - included the deleted one - but be interesting to see what he said in his team talks!

Such a shame that Scott feels this way, I’m not so sure everyone understands how lucky we are to have a manager who communicates with the fans frequently with honesty and passion. Look at some of the other clubs in the league and the relationship between the fans and club.. we are so lucky and should never take that for granted. As for the performance yesterday, not our best however as always with Slough it’s a rollercoaster of a season so maybe try and enjoy it and let’s see where we end up in April. Pretty certain it will be atleast inside the top 10 with our highest average attendance and something to build on in the summer into the following season! UTR

The Bunch of Amateurs YouTube programme now updated with our match against Dorking Wanderers. Lots of sweary Marc White footage, and an appearance by Warren Carter.

Two very encouraging performances and at last a formation and way of playing seems to be organically emerging. It has taken longer than i imagined it would but i feel we now have a base to push on. We are now where we should have been after 6-8 games into the season. Lets push on. It's still going to be a dog fight to survive but for the first time this season i think we have a chance of doing it.

Some good discussion here, although I'd encourage everyone to keep it friendly (we're all pulling in the same direction, even if our opinions differ). My thoughts on everything that's been said here since Saturday, not just on the post I'm quoting - firstly I wouldn't (in my view) put Payne and Parcell in the same bracket, the former is a squad player who to his credit has stuck around despite relatively few starts, and can cover left centre back, left back (if we ever play a formation that requires a left back), or at a push left wing back. I thought he had a solid game on Saturday - he's not going to set the world on fire, but was reliable enough defensively, kept the ball reasonably well and is certainly committed to the cause. I too was wondering why we weren't employing the long throw, I wondered whether some sort of injury might be preventing him from doing it, but surely it's a worthwhile idea to try it a couple of times just to mix things up when we win throws in the attacking third. This current side plays much more football than anything I've seen since Quinton was in charge, and long may that continue (the dull days of long balls and constant long throws under Leese aren't something I'd like to revisit), but when you have a bit of height in the team, as we do now, surely it's worth trying to put them under pressure by being more direct with some of our throws when Payne is playing? Parcell I thought had a decent game in CM on Saturday, he has got the ability on the ball (maybe not the ability of Tuck, but he makes decent decisions, competes and generally retains the ball) and there's no questioning his commitment to the cause. Whether he gets in there when everyone is fit and available is up for debate, but I think based on Saturday he's not being picked out of loyalty or that he's captain, his performance justified his place in the side. I do worry a little about whether he has the legs to play there regularly, especially in winter on heavy pitches - the point about being as physical as we can, running as hard as possible and shutting down space and making things hard for sides to play around us is spot on. If we are going to get anything out of the games against the better sides in the league, our workrate and commitment has to be spot on for 90 minutes of every game, and I love the fact that Brown brings us that extra athletic ability and presence that maybe we've been lacking. He's perhaps not the most finessed player, but he does look like he will make things happen, is willing to try things and is certainly disruptive and energetic when we're out of possession. That brings me onto the Youngs conundrum, I don't think anyone can question his technical ability, goalscoring record from midfield, or his contribution to the club, but after 300+ performances I'm still not 100% sure what his best position is or which formation suits him best. Last season he was playing deeper as part of a 2, and still getting into advanced enough positions to score 30 odd goals, admittedly in a weaker and less competitive league. This season he's probably better used as part of a 3 (which gives us a bit more in the way of legs and ability to break up play), but still allows him to arrive late into the box and sniff out chances. He's a player that should be starting every game, as he brings so much to the side, but it's about finding the right system to use him in the most effective way. No doubt that he's not a forward and shouldn't be playing with his back to goal, but I wouldn't say he's an out and out CM (or a wide midfielder) either. It also, in my view, makes it tricky to play him, Hutchinson and Chukwu as part of a side that also has Peake and Leonard as wing backs / wide midfielders against the better sides, as it could leave us too exposed and open through the middle when leaving the extra (defensively minded) midfielder out. I'd love to see a formation that allows us to play all 3, and I do rate Hutchinson as a player - he works hard (often for zero reward), makes decent runs and has started to take chances, but if we are just playing one up, the Chukwu is probably better suited to playing that lone striker role with his physicality and presence. Maybe we play the two genuine forwards against the weaker sides, and one up top against the better sides, but again, that's not affording any opportunity for them to forge a partnership, when I think a consistent run in the side would do them both the world of good. Appreciate I'm going round in circles with this, but I really don't know what the answer is (this is why I could never be in management, I'd constantly be filling out teamsheets with 12 players on 🤦‍♂️). Based on the positive response to the Sittingbourne game (I had us getting zero, maybe 1 point from Tonbridge, Weston and Worthing - so we're already +3 in my eyes), and the fact that we have seemingly started to bring in players that are strengthening us, I'd be keen to see Gav and the management team get everyone's backing on here and trust them with their decision making (there will no doubt be further setbacks). I still think things are stacked against us, and we're in a massively precarious position, but whereas a few weeks ago, I was struggling to see where we could get points from, now I'm looking at those games against the bottom 8 or so teams thinking that we are at least as good as them, and maybe we can find a way to win that mini league at the bottom of the table, and get ourselves out of trouble. It's still a long shot, but if we do, it would be *much* more of an achievement than anything we did last season. Looking forward to hearing thoughts and opinions on the next few games, as I'm not going to see us play now until at least the St Albans game.

What a fantastic rearguard performance from the Urchins. A lot of pressure from Eastbourne today and for the most part, the defence stood firm. Fantastic save from Mason Terry, arguably the man of the match, Liam just refused to stop chasing which really helped and the hitman put away a really good finish (I thought he’d overdone it but I should have known better, he knew what he was doing!) . Ref missed a lot today and that didn’t help us one bit. Goal for them did come and they did deserve it, there was an awful lot of balls across the face of the goal. We looked dangerous on the counter when they committed too much. Great result , really proud of the effort today , definitely a point gained. COYU

Just repetitive "what the f ing hell was that?" Anyway, I've never enjoyed a last minute goal as much as that one today.

While it was a decent win against us for them, we had a reserve keeper in goal (that was signed for our County Cup tie) and are down to the bare bones with injuries and suspensions at the minute They are a good side though, you'll need to keep Noah Coppin quiet if Hedges doesn't make the squad. Not the quickest side defensively with Wilkinson and Jombati being on the older end of the squad age

I agree. Hes definitely someone who makes the squad stronger and offers another player who has physical presence along with Brown as well as being a player opposition defenders will have to take care of. No one’s picking up a goal a game striker - even Mo Faal only has 5 league goals for Worthing! Oppostion fans are rarely gracious in their appraisal of an outgoing player, it’s upto us to mould a team that’s greater than the sum of its parts that’s good enough to finish above four other teams. Im more hopeful of this today than I was on Monday!!

The only problem now is what to moan about until Saturday???! The striker firing blanks bagged at least 1 goal (- gather a team-mate might be claiming the other, but we shall see!) and the manager won a game, so I can't really call for his sacking, can I?!

Obviously not the same level but our home Slough Heating FC match was called off on Saturday for safety reasons as we have trees around the pitch and there were branches snapping and debris all over the place. Pitch was immaculate to be fair but I had to do a video from the centre of the pitch and surround in the eye of the storm on Saturday morning to show the league and ref before they'd call it.

Surprised how poor they were! Let’s hope don’t somehow escape relegation yet again, so we can give them a proper battering next season. Crappy conditions meant the performance was never going to be a spectacle but who cares we won!

Lucky Jerry has gone, his hamstrings couldn't gave taken it😂😂

I see the tweet 1 hour ago confirming that those with reserved seats are able to use them for Saturdays game. Excellent decision from the club.

I've had the joy of watching victories over Wycombe in the FA Cup, the FA Trophy, the Isthmian League, and the B&B Cup (twice in a row) but the best was still that away win in the Wycombe Floodlit League in December 1965 (incidentally Les Hartridge's last game that season before he was banned) because, as they say, you always remember your first time. But for me the fiercest rivalry is still Maidenhead. "Never felt more like singing The Blues, when Maidenhead win and Slough Town lose."

As I'm used to saying being a Spurs fan.... "sh*t cup anyway...".

Indeed, I didn't start watching Slough until 1980 but for me the Wycombe rivalry was the fiercest. We played them every season in the 80's apart from a couple, then we regularly played them in the Conference until they got promoted. The 4-1 win at Loakes Park around Xmas 1980 remains one of my fondest memories...

Only complaint I have with the Urchins is that I was whistling "Oh What a Night" to myself for most of yesterday evening after the game 🤦‍♂️ Good luck for the rest of the season (with the obvious one exception) 👍

It's a bit steep IMO, but as a club and a business, I get it. Supply and demand and an opportunity to earn some extra money. We all want the club to progress both on and off the pitch and these types of financial decisions will allow that to keep happening. For those not wanting to pay for parking, there are other options local enough to walk to the ground as well so that's people's choice. In addition, perhaps the £5 charge will call into question people buying golden goals, 50/50s and programmes for the day as those with budgets for football might not be able to stretch that out (especially with Christmas around the corner). Gamble by the club, but one I understand.

Sensible and constructive post, and I don't disagree with the suggestion/formation. It certainly would be more positive, and closer to how we set up for most of last season. Assuming Cox is comfortable playing LB, this might work, although from my playing experience, full back is a very different position to centre back, with different requirements, and the transition doesn't suit every player. We do seem to have more players overall suited to this formation, as we don't have any natural wing backs with the departure of Mills (maybe Dylan excepted), but we do have plenty of cover at full back and wide attacking midfield/wing. What I can't get onboard with is the negativity around the management and how we're setting up (I'm not singling you out for this Towningaround, and definitely not directed at this post). I like Gavin, I like how honest he is in interviews, I much prefer the football and how things are going compared to Leeseball, and I love the fact that he earned us a shot at this league at the first attempt (albeit possibly a bit too soon for our own good). Posts like this are great, as they offer a sensible way forward, and some debate - what isn't helpful is the knee-jerk "the manager has to go" posts that we get every time we lose. We are going to have to be pragmatic and accept that in this league we will lose more than we win, and that however we set up, be that parking the bus or Barcelona 2011 style, we're going to get beaten, irrespective of who is managing the team. Let's have a bit of perspective on this - we're all fans, we all want what's best, but please try to support the players and management, even if we don't always agree with formation/personnel/tactics.

I feel for the manager, he has had to tackle one dilemma after another this season. I can understand the defensive set up (we have conceded too many goals) but feel we have improved both the defense and the midfield to the point where we can play 2 up front at home. But we simply don't have the "2 up front". Hopefully Gavin can bring somebody in. Contrast our attacking choice (Shakpoke, Hutchinson, RBR, Whittaker) with Hornchurch (Akinwande, Nash, Hearn, Yusuff) - there is no comparison. Shakpoke was disappointing last night - a shame because he looked much stronger in the previous two games I have seen him play. I wonder if he was fully fit? We're not making enough goalscoring chances and that's why I think we are crying out for Ollie Knight at left wing, in front of Cox (who had a good game last night) plus a CF who works hard off the ball. The first 15 minutes Hornchurch played us off the park. We simply couldn't get the ball. Manny Harvest got their first - don't know if it took a deflection or simply beat Rhys for pace, but it was a fine shot. I don't put that down to poor defending, it was just a well taken goal. The second goal really wound me up and I'm not surprised that Scott was hauled off shortly after. He gifted the ball away just outside our own box (having lost the ball in a similar area a couple of times before) and Nash rightly punished us with a straightforward header from a good cross. Now will be a good character test for him (Scott). I've been impressed with him in other games but he needs to learn when to keep it simple. With Billy Leonard on, we got back into the game and, as has been the case recently, played some decent build-up football without really threatening. It's difficult to play the killer through ball with only 1 up front, after all. But the goal we did score was beautifully made - I'm looking forward to seeing the highlights for that alone. We tried hard in the second half but again chances were few and far between. I was at the side so saw the penalty shout from there - have to say it didn't look like a penalty to me, I thought the Hornchurch defender got to the ball fractionally before Payne, but I stand to be corrected. Can't make the Torquay game but hope we can get something from it. We might be bottom but let's keep some perspective - it's not the end of the world, it's just a game 🙂

After saying I wasn't going to get to the game, I managed to sneak in for the last 20 or so on my way home. Having not been to a game since Farnborough, what struck me most was how much of an upgrade Cox and Thompson are on what we've had previously... assured on the ball (to the point where I was wondering what the hell we were doing trying to play our way out of increasingly tight situations), decent in the air and sound defensively from what I saw. I do feel that 3 at the back is largely dictated by the fact that arguably our 3 best players are centre backs, think it'd be harsh to leave any one of them out from what's been said on here, and what I've seen. Tend to agree with the observation about square pegs in round holes at wing back though. Whilst we huffed and puffed, we didn't really get behind them enough to threaten an equaliser, although a bit more quality when we did work a 1 on 1 and a bit of luck from the corner we had and we could be talking about a battling point gained. That said, Hornchurch got behind us a few times and if it wasn't for a really good save from Rhys, it could have been 1-3. They managed the game pretty well, limiting us to optimistic and often overhit long balls. Whilst it was refreshing to see us keep the ball in defence and midfield and recycle it, as well as play out from the back, we looked a bit lost when in possession further forward, and didn't either keep the ball or do anything threatening with it (lack of forward options, runners or a focal point?). I'll happily hear arguments for being more positive in how we set up, but Gavin largely set up to be hard to break down last season, so it's no shock that we're doing the same in a much harder league. If we go out all guns blazing, we might get some favourable results, but then we might be on the end of conceding 7 like Hemel last night. What I will say is that if we are going to set up like this, then we cannot give sides a 2 goal lead, as we're really not going to get many chances to score. All in all, I can't help but think we might have left ourselves too much to do to get out of this predicament. We're clearly on an upward trajectory and have added quality in some positions, and had we started the season with this team I'm sure we'd be better off points-wise, with a bit more nous to see out those tight games that we lost late on by an odd goal. Seems that (quality) forwards are the hardest position to recruit, and we've certainly cycled through a few, hopefully we can secure the right player sooner rather than later. Lastly, I can only echo ETFC2001's comments, we need to get behind the team, whether we agree with the formation and tactics or not. We're bang up against it, and need something of a miracle to get out of this, so a siege mentality and 100% commitment from players and supporters alike is the order of the day.

There was me thinking this was a football forum where supporters discussed good and bad results/and performances. It's a shame and disappointing that Scott feels he doesn't want to contribute when the vast majority, if not all praise him and the players when they win and perform well and give their honest opinions, mostly without slagging players off, when they don't. Whether it's this forum, X or Facebook you'll always get differing opinions which will not be nice and you don't like or agree with. Will Scott, Windsor Rebel or G Brown boycott those social media platforms which are far worse because they don't like what they read? Of course they won't.

I’ll be honest, I only ever came on here to defend Bakes & Unders from completely unnecessary negative comments/criticism, and that transferred to Scotty when he took over… Now Scotty has gone from here, I’m off too because to be blunt, this forum is nothing but people spouting negative bollocks! 2 years on from certain relegation, be careful what you wish for… Goodnight and god bless!

Just scrolled back to see your positive comments post Dorking and I can’t see one? Im coming off this forum, it’s not for me. It’s for supporters. I was asked by the club to engage with the fans when I took over as it was something that Bakes and Unders had created but I’ll be honest I don’t really enjoy it. I don’t need positive comments, not fussed about those. And I’m doing this whilst we are sat in 8th btw so there’s no panic stations 👍🏼