20th August - Uxbridge (a) Match Thread

[Jon Underwood]

I thought the backing from the supporters was excellent last night. I said to the lads before the game we have great support at this club but on Saturday we gave them nothing to get excited about and if we want them to be vocal and lift the team then we need to show them a lot more as it's a two way process.

 

Despite not getting the 3 points (that I thought we deserved) I believe it was a big step in the right direction in terms of getting the supporters to believe in this team and some of the positive comments on here have backed that up. We still have some improving to do, and we'll be looking for further improvement this weekend, but Bakes and I have 100% belief in this group of players and what they can achieve.

 

The height 'issue' and the call for a big CF is an interesting one and I understand the point being made. However you only have to look at the Binfield game (I know it was only a friendly) where we scored from 3 headers from crosses in the first half with Dyer and Harris up top against two of the biggest centre halves you will come across. If the quality of crosses is good (ie. whipped in at pace and not just hung up) and the forwards attack it in the right way as these lads do then you don't need to be a giant. Maybe Burnell and Sonner didn't score many headers from crosses because there were no way near as many quality crosses coming in to the box as those we saw last night? That's just a question, obviously I can't speak with any real knowledge on the years gone by apart from the number of games I watched last season when this was certainly the case.

 

Looking forward to seeing a healthy number of Rebels at Kettering on Saturday which should be a cracking game.

[GlenSTFC]

Definitely a step up in performance last night which no who was there could deny. I thought we slightly shaded it and could have easily have taken all 3 points but didn't have that little bit of luck required. Impressed with Darren Wheeler with his ability to get past players and decent crosses into the box. I feel once Warren Harris is fully fit and both he and Darren are whipping in crosses we'll see more goals. Was frustrated at not winning as 1 point out of 6 wasn't what anyone was expecting but it's going in the right direction but I think we need to grab 2 wins over the bank holiday weekend if we want to be in the leading group as you can't afford to get too far behind. Unfortunately I can't make the Kettering Town match but will be glued to Twitter hoping we go into the local derby with a win behind us.

[readingrebel]

Much improved performance from the players tonight.

 

I thought it was a really good game to watch with both teams playing good attacking football.

 

Thought we certainly should have nicked it with the missed penalty and the stonewall handball that wasn't given.

 

I thought every player played well but Darren Wheeler was exceptional and I thought Jamie McClurg and Ryan Lake had their best games so far.

[hotspur]

I would be interested in hearing from the two managers how many points we can drop before our promotion chance goes.And we must win at Kettering,my nephew who supports them says they are very poor side.

[Graham C]

Simplest to agree with the comments so far........better than the weekend but still lots of room for improvement especially in finishing but the indications are good in that regard. Still think our high line of defending makes us vulnerable against speedy attacks. Great duel between Wheeler and their no.2 who I thought was excellent also.

 

Agree with Neil re the kit..........looks great and I will be knocking on Sue's door to get one

 

And if the singers want another song............how about for Darren Wheeler.."Wheels on Fire, running down the wing etc "

[Neil Baker]

Who knows Hotspur how many points can be dropped, to be honest as we have said we have no divine right to win the league, and in my opinion (and something I stated in the paper before season kicked off) Rugby will be the team to beat.

At the end of the day, it will be more about putting winning runs together etc, and no game I am afraid is a must win at this stage of the season.

After 10 games or so the league will take shape, and then we will know a bit more.

In terms of Kettering being poor, not from my reports, granted they have not started well either, but are another team which is new to the club, and who have high expectations, so to think that we will get anything but a really tough game Saturday is very wrong.

[Curtis]

I would be interested in hearing from the two managers how many points we can drop before our promotion chance goes.And we must win at Kettering,my nephew who supports them says they are very poor side.

I am sure you are fully aware that in order to secure a play-off place we are going to need to average two points per match..... with new managers and a new squad it shouldn't be any great surprise if it takes a while for results to come together, and if we have 15+ points after our first ten matches then we won't be far off the pace.

[hotspur]

I am sure you are fully aware that in order to secure a play-off place we are going to need to average two points per match..... with new managers and a new squad it shouldn't be any great surprise if it takes a while for results to come together, and if we have 15+ points after our first ten matches then we won't be far off the pace.

That's assuming 2 or 3 teams don't have 30 points at that stage.

[Neil Baker]

well if 2 or 3 teams do have 30 points at that stage, there are still another 2 play off spots to play for anyway...

 

For some reason Hotspur you feel that Slough have a divine right to win the league, we most certainly do not....

 

I do think that you are a fan Hotspur, however why hide behind the anonymity??? I have respect for someone like Graham C and 3Spirit, as if they do want to hammer me/us then they can still look us in the eye, and I will know who they are... I cant say the same for you....

 

You say it is to protect your grandchildren....  is that because you know they would be embarrassed by some (not all) of your comments??? I think more than likely.... which tells its own story.

 

I love the fact that you have given us 1 game before you started your criticism, which was 1 game more than I thought we would get......however we are both big enough and believe in ourselves enough not to let you affect us... I actually find it amusing, as it is so predictable.

 

One final thing, I go back to the time when we were announced as managers, you made the comment that we got who we thought we would get, going on the assumption that you knew all along we would get the job (and that the Terry Brown stuff was all a smokescreen), I have to say unless your name was Steve Easterbrook Neil Baker or Jon Underwood, you would have had no idea... and I know that for fact!!!

 

You were saying you knew who had the job before we had even applied!!!!

 

Hence why I think myself and Jon will take everything you say with a pinch of salt as you don't quite know everything

[Mark44]

I like having managers on our forum

[hotspur]

Oh dear Neil I never meant to rattle you cage-Its my fault I guess, after you gave all the players wonderful profiles as and when they signed on I probably believed you and expected a lot more than we have got so far sorry old bean.

Yes sadly I do expect more as we are Slough Town FC.

Further more as I have said many times I pay my entrance fee so am entitled to my opinions-I have not slagged anyone off this season other than saying we look a bit short of height, this has already been mentioned by others on here already.

As for the bit you said about Kettering being a strong side as opposed to what my nephew says ( and I would assume he has seen them a lot more than you or your " scouts " )By the way my grandsons are not boys but grown men so why would they be embarrassed about the truth.Last point I never mentioned you as the new managers I had no idea who you were till you joined-but we knew certain things that we put together.

[Neil Baker]

Agree to disagree

 

No problems with people having opinion, just means more to me coming from someone i can put a face too.

 

Also players we brought in we are always going to be complimentary about... they are good players and will show that, which I have no doubt, however none of these lads are world beaters and will have good and bad days, as if they were world beaters they would not be playing at this level or the one above.

 

As for Kettering I am going on what I know about their players, and what other managers at this level and other levels, have said about them... no disrespect to your nephew but these are people that I trust in football.

[brighton_rebel]

Hot air is always right Neil. Good point from another strong Uxbridge side. Great set up there and Rebels in fine voice after Saturdays lethargy. Looking forward to Kettering and a big crowd

[3spirit]

 

I thought the backing from the supporters was excellent last night. I said to the lads before the game we have great support at this club but on Saturday we gave them nothing to get excited about and if we want them to be vocal and lift the team then we need to show them a lot more as it's a two way process.

 

Despite not getting the 3 points (that I thought we deserved) I believe it was a big step in the right direction in terms of getting the supporters to believe in this team and some of the positive comments on here have backed that up. We still have some improving to do, and we'll be looking for further improvement this weekend, but Bakes and I have 100% belief in this group of players and what they can achieve.

 

The height 'issue' and the call for a big CF is an interesting one and I understand the point being made. However you only have to look at the Binfield game (I know it was only a friendly) where we scored from 3 headers from crosses in the first half with Dyer and Harris up top against two of the biggest centre halves you will come across. If the quality of crosses is good (ie. whipped in at pace and not just hung up) and the forwards attack it in the right way as these lads do then you don't need to be a giant. Maybe Burnell and Sonner didn't score many headers from crosses because there were no way near as many quality crosses coming in to the box as those we saw last night? That's just a question, obviously I can't speak with any real knowledge on the years gone by apart from the number of games I watched last season when this was certainly the case.

 

Looking forward to seeing a healthy number of Rebels at Kettering on Saturday which should be a cracking game.

Unders,very interested in your's and Bake's philosophy as to how you view the game tactically,especially regarding the height issue.

The proof of whether our small strikers cope with all these high crosses will be towards the end of the season.You know your players better than I do.

 

I prefer to watch passing football over, long ball methods,so am a bit estranged by some of your tactics but certainly NOT all of them !

I'm having to adapt to your team's style,to what has been served up before,in my years of watching non-league football.

I suppose we may have slightly contrasting ways of how we want to watch a team play.You're in the results business,I'm coming to be entertained.

 

For all Steve Bateman's flaws as a manager,you cannot level at him that his teams didn't play bloody good passing football most of the time in the the 4 and half seasons he was at the club.

So in some ways that is a hard act to follow in the eyes of this football purist.

Sadly Steve failed to recognise that some sort of target man would have been useful to squad.

 

What I've seen of your squad pre-season and in the two games thus far,I still think a robust larger striker,even if only used as an impact sub,would be an asset worth having,given the way your teams are set out but that is just my opinion.

[Chris]

Having seen Scott Harris pre-season he is a strong powerful striker good in the air that is the type of player some are talking about.

 

Take Dan Read's goal at Godalming. Harris held off two Biggleswade defenders for that goal was a superb piece of play.

[Neil Baker]

Having seen Scott Harris pre-season he is a strong powerful striker good in the air that is the type of player some are talking about.

 

Take Dan Read's goal at Godalming. Harris held off two Biggleswade defenders for that goal was a superb piece of play.

 

 

Agreed Chris.... Scott is an incredibly strong lad, and very hard to mark... he puts himself about which actually frees up space for the other centre forward a lot of the time.

 

Also Johnnie is very good in the air too, and you all know what Eddie brings...... I am pretty confident we will have plenty of goal threat...

[3spirit]

 

Agreed Chris.... Scott is an incredibly strong lad, and very hard to mark... he puts himself about which actually frees up space for the other centre forward a lot of the time.

 

Also Johnnie is very good in the air too, and you all know what Eddie brings...... I am pretty confident we will have plenty of goal threat...

 

Neil,I believe that Slough have plenty of goal threats,too.Many teams in our division will be envious of our firepower.

 

My observation is that we possess a lot of similar types of fowards.Ed Smith is a class act and for me,at this level,is worth a place in anyone's starting XI but like every player has his off days.

You also have an array of players who you can play up front and all offer a great deal in various ways but what you don't have is a player in the Gary Abbot mould of player.

I'm not saying a player of his class would be around at our level but surely a cheaper version might be found in this league or lower.Even if it was an ageing experienced non-leaguer,just to come on to the pitch from the bench, if Plan A,B or C had failed.Especially given the amount of high balls/crosses that you and Jon favour.

 

Funny enough at Uxbridge,my nephew was remarking on how good the sub's bench was and to my mind he wasn't wrong.

Unfortunately,George Short who isn't short,doesn't appear to be a wizard in the air.Not sure on Wes Harrison.

 

Neil and Jon,I think we will probably just have to agree to disagree on this one! LOL !

[hotspur]

Where you going to find a Gary Abbot type player-to play at this level, to my mind he was one of the all time greats of non league football ( his best years were before he came to Slough )

[Neil Baker]

Where you going to find a Gary Abbot type player-to play at this level, to my mind he was one of the all time greats of non league football ( his best years were before he came to Slough )

 

Can not disagree with Abbo being one of non leagues best.... top striker.... TBF he was still doing the business at Aldershot when I was there, long after Slough... think he got 40 plus one year in Ryman Premier (before Conference South etc)

[Graham C]

Abbo also had a series of good partners wherever he went so was assisting as well as scoring