V Bath City H. 8th Jan

[Irishadrian]

After two consecutive defeats I expect the lads to be fired up for this one but I expect a tough game Only the top two clubs have lost fewer away games and if we don't win tomorrow that will be their ninth consecutive unbeaten away game  Just depends on our mindset  but I'm more than hopeful we'll get something from this one

[Reading Rebel]

Very tough game against an in form Bath City side who are 4th in the league having won 4 and drawn one of their last 5 games scoring 13 and only conceding 2.

[Mark44]

Betting on this one is strange.....we are evens favourites with the draw at 5/2 and Bath at 11/5

For me this is an incredibly tough game.....

[Reading Rebel]

Bath to win at just over 2/1 and us at evens?

Not sure what the bookies are on but anyone into betting might just have a few quid on this one.

As Mark44 say's coming on the back of the Torquay match this is one tough game.

[rebelbrewer]

17 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

Very tough game against an in form Bath City side who are 4th in the league having won 4 and drawn one of their last 5 games scoring 13 and only conceding 2.

Against a home team that have won 3 and lost 2 of their last 5 scoring 7 and conceding 6. Bath will be tough, they always are, but if we remain confident and play our game it will be at least as tough for them.

I still maintain that had we scored in the 1st 15 minutes against Wealdstone when we had them rattled the result would have been very different.

[3spirit]

1 hour ago, rebelbrewer said:

Against a home team that have won 3 and lost 2 of their last 5 scoring 7 and conceding 6. Bath will be tough, they always are, but if we remain confident and play our game it will be at least as tough for them.

I still maintain that had we scored in the 1st 15 minutes against Wealdstone when we had them rattled the result would have been very different.

Agree about scoring early against Wealdstone in the home match. They grew into that match by our failure to create much. Feels like we let them off the hook but it's gone now, so not worth dwelling on.

Tonight's match looks a whole different prospect. Ironically, we have turned our away form around and seem to be doing better away from our home ground, than on it. I had hoped for a bit better at home but of course,we are playing better opposition this season and we need to be realistic in what we can and can't do, to gain the points. We do have a tendency to panic when we find ourselves a goal down, and to then resort to over long passes and bog standard set piece play but somehow we will need to address this in the weeks ahead.

Bath City will be a tough side to get anything from but our team is more than capable of giving them a hard time. If we can get a win, it will be a great one to get us back on track.

[SloughFlyer]

Draw was probably a fair result in that one. Thought we played well across the board and were unlucky not to go in at half time leading. 2nd half was a bit more Bath, with their new lad having a couple of great shots and was also unlucky not to score. They certainly are a decent side.

Thought the ref was pretty poor but for once in our favour and the Bath managers lost their heads after 10 minutes and never got them back.

Good home point against a tough side. Looking for more of the same performance wise but hopefully a couple of goals to back it up on Saturday.

[Irishadrian]

Yes I don't think we can be too unhappy at that result  After the Torquay game Bath overtook us as second best defence in the league so scoring was always in doubt They seem to have chosen an excellent loanee who I understand is only 19 and must be a great prospect  Three goalless games is a bit worrying but plenty more to play  Bath move up to 3rd  We stay where we were.

[rebelbrewer]

16 minutes ago, SloughFlyer said:

Draw was probably a fair result in that one. Thought we played well across the board and were unlucky not to go in at half time leading. 2nd half was a bit more Bath, with their new lad having a couple of great shots and was also unlucky not to score. They certainly are a decent side.

Thought the ref was pretty poor but for once in our favour and the Bath managers lost their heads after 10 minutes and never got them back.

Good home point against a tough side. Looking for more of the same performance wise but hopefully a couple of goals to back it up on Saturday.

A point home against 3rd is ok. A clean sheet is good.

[Rebellier]

Interesting shout for MOTM, personally i'd have gone for any of our defence, and possibly Jack for keeping us in it.

[Stan]

That’s a good point against a very strong defensive side . Thought they set up very well and were never going to be easy to break down. I thought we were much better 2nd half and got behind them a few times but could not find the final ball. Jacks save was phenomenal but apart from a couple of other flashes at goal not sure they really got at us. Ben led the line superbly and gave them trouble all game ( without getting booked ) .?

[3spirit]

1 hour ago, SloughFlyer said:

Draw was probably a fair result in that one. Thought we played well across the board and were unlucky not to go in at half time leading. 2nd half was a bit more Bath, with their new lad having a couple of great shots and was also unlucky not to score. They certainly are a decent side.

Thought the ref was pretty poor but for once in our favour and the Bath managers lost their heads after 10 minutes and never got them back.

Good home point against a tough side. Looking for more of the same performance wise but hopefully a couple of goals to back it up on Saturday.

I agree with you on this,SloughFlyer. As you say I thought all our players did well on the night [including Ben Harris!]. I actually thought Ben Harris did particularly well in the first half, with his tracking back and his defensive heading. Didn't get as much joy up front but the right sort of commitment was there from him. I thought Louis Soares had a good game, considering he hasn't featured much. Scott Davis, Louis Soares and Simon Dunn combined well for a fluent move which was among one of our best plays of the game,when we didn't resort to the long cross from the wing.

Taking nothing away from Slough,who worked hard to try and get the points but I was expecting Bath to be better than they were on the night. They showed glimpses of class and certainly had opportunities to win the game ie the splendid Jack Turner save and when they hit the post but I didn't think they troubled us that much and we had just as much of the game as they had.

A good point on the night. We wasn't at our best but we weren't at our worst either. Hope the rumour about Dobbo leaving to play higher up is not true, as that will be a huge blow.

[GlenSTFC]

Regarding Dobbo why would anyone be surprised he’s moving? As soon as he signed with an agency his time was going to be limited with us. Best of luck to him this will be his last opportunity to play at that level so no one can begrudge him this plus if the rumoured fee is true it’s decent business by the club which will no doubt go towards bringing in a quality replacement.

[3spirit]

10 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

Regarding Dobbo why would anyone be surprised he’s moving? As soon as he signed with an agency his time was going to be limited with us. Best of luck to him this will be his last opportunity to play at that level so no one can begrudge him this plus if the rumoured fee is true it’s decent business by the club which will no doubt go towards bringing in a quality replacement.

Agree. I'm not surprised at all. In fact about three weeks ago I was chatting to Reading Rebel at a home match and said to him,that if I was a manager at a National League club, I would take a chance on Dobbo. I wish him every success, he deserves this chance. 

While it is a huge blow to lose him, it might in a strange way be a good time to refresh our creative prowess of our team. Sometimes a couple of new faces coming in can reinvigorate and add invention to our attacking play. We have of late been struggling to carve out clear cut chances and been over reliant on set plays/corners/long throws. We're crying out for a player in the Jake Parsons mould. Someone who is willing to cut inside and take a player on from the middle of the park,who has a burst of speed/dribbling skills and with the nous to play a clever forward through pass. Losing Dobbo who has scored so many of our goals, also highlights the fact we need another forward.

 

[Reading Rebel]

Good performance from the team against a good Bath side.

Point a piece was probably a fair result.

MOTM for me was Jack Turner who kept the scores level with another terrific save.

 

[Guest Wycombe Rebel]

Don't think the Dobbo story is a rumour, good luck to him, anyone who wants to try a level up should always go with the Clubs blessing... Bet it's Sutton United!

[GlenSTFC]

Well it’s a rumour until it’s officially announced tomorrow but yes I think we all know it’s 100%! Just hope the fee is reinvested into 1 or 2 decent players.

[Irishadrian]

Its clear that some club really wanted him and in those circumstances the best outcome for the Rebels If his contract had been allowed to wind down then in the close season he could have left and Slough would have got nothing for him! Good luck in the future Dobbo and thanks for so many memorable goals!

Interesting manager's interview on the Bath site. "I've got to be careful what I say".........

[Irishadrian]

1 hour ago, GlenSTFC said:

Well it’s a rumour until it’s officially announced tomorrow but yes I think we all know it’s 100%! Just hope the fee is reinvested into 1 or 2 decent players.

We'll have to wait and see As recently as 12th December Neil did say that management policy was not to pay fees to obtain players !

[GlenSTFC]

Doesn’t have to be used for a fee but wages/bonuses.