v Banbury

[Reading Rebel]

I'm amazed fans were expecting our best football against Banbury, when we are missing our number one striker that of Chris Flood and have issues with Mark Nesbitt, Simon Dunn, Ben Harris, Harrison Gilkes.

 

We also have players that haven't had a lot of back to back game time/minutes ie Alan Inns, Guy Hollis, Nathan Webb, Gavin James,Nathan Smart, for whatever reason and so appear out of sorts, yet we expect them to do the business.

Get real please.

 

I do happen to think that we could have/ should have, got a replacement in for Brad Wadkins a lot sooner, as we've missed out on a big strong presence and a healthy alternative to what we have up front.

 

Listened to the Mike Ford interview [banbury manager] and he was drooling about how good his midfield three were, against Slough's centre midfield of Sean Fraser and Lee Togwell, so perhaps this element has something to do with our lack of creativity,as alluded to by Reading Rebel.

 

I do think our managers are feeling the pressure somewhat, given the high expectations of some of the fans

for promotion.

I, myself, was hoping for a title shot this season but that dream for me has gone. The FA Cup run took care of that.

However, we still have a very good chance of a play off place. May not work out, as high a one as envisaged but still a very good chance of making it in them, nonetheless.

 

Strengthening our squad with new additions seems the right thing to do, given our erratic form but I think we need to be mindful, that changing loyal players for new ones isn't always a recipe for success.

 

To me I would put Harrison Gilkes out on loan for the rest of the season but get him back for next season, as it's a big ask to expect him to be the answer to our prayers currently, and so we should look for another right winger to give competion to Wazza and to give our creativity a boost.

A replacement for Brad is a must,too  especially with the amount of away games on heavy pitches to come, so that would take care of another addition.

 

It seems we are going for three new players, so. I can envisage either Nathan Smart and/or Nathan Webb being let go of.

For me I think both will be hard done by, if they are shown the exit door and I wouldn't be in a rush to get rid of either of them.

 

My choice of player to make way for another newbie, would be controversial, so I'll leave that one for another day !  ha ha ha ! 

 

 

A new striker is probably a must not just because of Brad Wadkins but also because it seems that Ben Harris will be missing a large chunk of the seasons run in.

 

Unfortunately good strikers don't grow on trees, especially at this stage in the season. Finding the right one and then persuading him to join us must be a huge task for our managers.

 

Personally I don't think a winger is anywhere near the top of our priority list, for me creativity from out wide is more than ample.

 

Just because we've put in three 7 day requests doesn't necessarily mean we are after 3 players, it could be we are just keeping our options open.  

 

As far as players being shown the exit door it could well be a two way thing were like Brad Wadkins they just want more game time.

 

Agree that our cup runs have scuppered any thoughts of the title but that we are still in prime position to make the play-offs

[Shredding Green]

A new striker is probably a must not just because of Brad Wadkins but also because it seems that Ben Harris will be missing a large chunk of the seasons run in.

 

Unfortunately good strikers don't grow on trees, especially at this stage in the season. Finding the right one and then persuading him to join us must be a huge task for our managers.

 

Personally I don't think a winger is anywhere near the top of our priority list, for me creativity from out wide is more than ample.

 

Just because we've put in three 7 day requests doesn't necessarily mean we are after 3 players, it could be we are just keeping our options open.  

 

As far as players being shown the exit door it could well be a two way thing were like Brad Wadkins they just want more game time.

 

Agree that our cup runs have scuppered any thoughts of the title but that we are still in prime position to make the play-offs

[GlenSTFC]

Shredding Green you’ve just quoted RR but not added any comment or have I missed something?

[Shredding Green]

Whilst it is no forgone conclusion yet that Hereford will win the title, they will be most people's favourites. 

 

They exited the FA Cup on 14th. December (Rebels 4th. December) and the FA trophy on

13th. January (Rebels 28th. November). So I don't agree that Rebels cup runs have scuppered their thoughts of the title. They simply haven't been playing well enough for the full 90+ minutes in mid-season matches.

 

Could the late equaliser conceded at Chesham United on 1st. January or the two late goals conceded against Hereford on 6th. January be blamed on the long ago ended cup runs?

 

Could the 3-0 defeat at Tiverton Town on 3rd. February and the 0-1 to Banbury United on 10th. be blamed on the even longer ago ended cup runs?

 

Home crowds of just 350 against Redditch United and 514 against Banbury United do not help the promotion cause either.

 

At any level, putting an excellent squad together is one thing and keeping the results going for the whole of the season is another.  

[GlenSTFC]

I think we can all concede we won’t win the league this season without going into the reasons. But we’re right in the mix for the play offs and we’ve just added another decent striker to the squad with 1 or 2 others joining imminently. Obviously we have now aim for 2nd or 3rd at worst to give us the best opportunity to get promotion via the play offs.

[Reading Rebel]

Whilst it is no forgone conclusion yet that Hereford will win the title, they will be most people's favourites. 

 

They exited the FA Cup on 14th. December (Rebels 4th. December) and the FA trophy on

13th. January (Rebels 28th. November). So I don't agree that Rebels cup runs have scuppered their thoughts of the title. They simply haven't been playing well enough for the full 90+ minutes in mid-season matches.

 

Could the late equaliser conceded at Chesham United on 1st. January or the two late goals conceded against Hereford on 6th. January be blamed on the long ago ended cup runs?

 

Could the 3-0 defeat at Tiverton Town on 3rd. February and the 0-1 to Banbury United on 10th. be blamed on the even longer ago ended cup runs?

 

Home crowds of just 350 against Redditch United and 514 against Banbury United do not help the promotion cause either.

 

At any level, putting an excellent squad together is one thing and keeping the results going for the whole of the season is another.  

 

 

I don't think you can compare us to Hereford who have a far bigger squad that can cope with a back log of game and injuries.

[Irishadrian]

Shredding Green. You are correct The cup runs have not impacted on our season This week last year we had played 27 league games This week this year we've played 27 games We've not been held back by cup runs

[Jon Underwood]

You are obviously entitled to your opinion on the impact of the FA Cup run but your info is factually incorrect. On this weekend last year we beat Cambridge City 4-3 away in our 32nd league game of the season.

[Irishadrian]

My bad and of course my apologies Too many old bits of paper to wade through

[3spirit]

Whilst it is no forgone conclusion yet that Hereford will win the title, they will be most people's favourites. 

 

They exited the FA Cup on 14th. December (Rebels 4th. December) and the FA trophy on

13th. January (Rebels 28th. November). So I don't agree that Rebels cup runs have scuppered their thoughts of the title. They simply haven't been playing well enough for the full 90+ minutes in mid-season matches.

 

Could the late equaliser conceded at Chesham United on 1st. January or the two late goals conceded against Hereford on 6th. January be blamed on the long ago ended cup runs?

 

Could the 3-0 defeat at Tiverton Town on 3rd. February and the 0-1 to Banbury United on 10th. be blamed on the even longer ago ended cup runs?

 

Home crowds of just 350 against Redditch United and 514 against Banbury United do not help the promotion cause either.

 

At any level, putting an excellent squad together is one thing and keeping the results going for the whole of the season is another.  

 

Fair point, Shredding Green but I think it's not straight forward to compare Slough to Hereford.

 

Hereford have a distinct advantage to Slough with their crowd sizes, thus imitating lesser supported sides and obviously the advantages of the revenue thetr crowds generate.

 

Slough have a lot of local-ish derby games to contend with ie Chesham, Farnborough, Kings Langley, Basingstoke and possibly, Banbury.

It also appears we are lagging behind them on players wages.

 

On the plus side, I thought Slough were the better team in our home match against them and considering we beat them away, as well, I think our squad is as good as theirs.  

 

On the negative side, Slough have a knack of dropping important points against lesser sides by not being clinical or savvy enough.

To me this is the biggest denominator as to why we've dropped off the pace.