Town v Corinthian Casuals

[andyetfc]

'The ref had a poor game too'. His performance had nothing whatsoever to do with the dire ETFC performance. How many goals did we concede after he went off?

So now it's time some may say to 'get behind the boys', get behind the manager, remember we have a limited budget!, supporters owned club, etc, etc. 

Supporters do want success and pay good money to watch their team. It does make one wonder what else the supporters can do?

 

[MTHead]

Well AW what do you know. We’ve been watching the AL project for over a year now. I’ve no doubt that he tries his best but the type of football we get us far below what we need. It’s not one or two results that have influenced my judgement it is a combination of intransigence, lack of flair and imagination. I can only really recall four or five matches which I could say I enjoyed. Results are not all, I am realistic in that no team can provide exciting, skilful football all the time, but I think we are entitled to expect to see some progress. We have been patient beyond the call of duty. We know we haven’t got the best budget but the Board have a ten year plus history of progress and I am proud, not only of what we have achieved over the past decade and they now need courage to maintain the progress. 

[The Crowing Cockerel]

AL came to ETFC with a reputation - for cup success and producing sides which had performed consistently well in the Southern League. Barring some fleeting FA Cup success last season he has failed to produce a successful and entertaining side. Is the budget too low? Well presumably AL doesn't think so otherwise he wouldn't have hung around as long as he has - or even taken the job in the first place. How long are we supposed to give him? I appreciate that this forum isn't used by the entire fanbase, but everyone on this thread seems to have reached the same conclusion. If the board don't either act or at the very least clarify what constitutes an adequate season, then it would be clear that they are content with mid-table Isthmian mediocrity. I, for one, am not happy with that.

[4wembleyfinals]

I cannot agree more with the last two posts. Welcome lads to the reality. 

I want as much as anyone for this club to succeed.  To gain another promotion in my lifetime what make me happy.  But too many are happy with the status quo. We have have chosen to go down the road of self management so we will have to face up to the reality of what that means. We have to raise more income to resource a better team and manager if we are to go forward. For example we could start by raising a share debenture in the club. But that is if you want it be a Football Club or a Social Drinking Club with a football team. The choice is yours,  

[wilson]

I cannot make any observation on entertaining or effective playing styles, as I am 12,000 miles away in Australia. I can only comment on what I see on YouTube highlights and read as facts on the website and this forum.  All I can say is that I am finding this season disappointing and a mid-table finish is becoming ever more likely. I desperately want ETFC to do well and I started the season on a high given the early performances but that is all drifting away. W are now 14 points off the top and 14 points above the relegation places. That's a good definition of mediocrity.

What makes it all the more galling is we are fourteen points behind a team that four seasons ago was in the Essex Senior League, a team which has a couple of ex-ETFC players and an ex-Enfield FC manager. I am talking about a team that I knew when I reached adulthood as Edmonton, plying their trade in such august leagues as the Delphian League. When ETFC was formed in 2001 they were, as Edmonton & Haringey, in the South Midlands Spartan League playing before minimal crowds.

The question is what have they done that is right and why hasn't ETFC not done as well? I cannot believe that they have bigger and better resources than us. I support many of the above comments. I am not one who advocates change at the drop of a hat but the Board needs to think long and hard about where they want the club to be and what is the right structure to get there. National League South ought to be the minimum.

[Theodopolous]

It seems the quality of the football not the league position is the main comment.... if at the start of the season I had a choice of winning the league cup and finishing mid table I would take that over getting in the play offs and failing to win promotion... winning a trophy to me is the priority but finishing mid table playing the type of dross we do is not acceptable.... as MTH stated ... I have only enjoyed four or five games all season and that is not the way to build a fan base.... to me if the board change manager at the end of season rather than now it will prove to be a big mistake....I can see absolutely no forward planning in ALs recruitment this season only stop gaps .....

[Steph]

Everybody has said it all. I will be at the AGM on Thursday and it will be interesting to see what the manager has to say.

It is my view that the budget is not the problem. We have splashed a lot of dough on a good player who, if he got the right service is clearly an asset to the club. Yesterday I saw him, for the first time running back to collect the ball as he was not getting the service from the rest of the team. His partner is young and may develop but yesterday he was clearly out of his depth. I saw the game last week and though Ibe did not set the world alight he was more of a threat than Josh, so has he gone or looked at the rest of the team and decided it wasn't for him.

The man of the match was clearly Purcell who continues to put in a good performance but let's be clear Purcell struggled to get into the side 2 years ago and even now was not a regular at the start of the season so has he improved? My view is yes but for him to stand out the rest of the side has got worse.

Also what happened at half time, the manager was out early but the teams stayed in the dressing room for at least 20 minutes whilst us on the terraces got colder and colder.

There are people saying yesterday was the worst performance that they have seen from a Town side. I don't agree the game against Folkestone in 2017 stands out for me but the game yesterday was the worst I have seen at the Donkey Dome and is in the worst 2 games I have seen.

Hooving the ball forward is not football.

[4wembleyfinals]

I cannot agree more with the last two posts. Welcome lads to the reality. 

I want as much as anyone for this club to succeed.  To gain another promotion in my lifetime what make me happy.  But too many are happy with the status quo. We have have chosen to go down the road of self management so we will have to face up to the reality of what that means. We have to raise more income to resource a better team and manager if we are to go forward. For example we could start by raising a share debenture in the club. But that is if you want it be a Football Club or a Social Drinking Club with a football team. The choice is yours,  

[4wembleyfinals]

Don't know why my post of yesterday has come up again, but then I am not that computer literate. Sorry for inconvenience.

But whilst I am on again I would like to give my Pulitza Prize of the week to Aaron Patel for his official report of yesterdays game. No wonder the management think everything is OK. Factually his comments on shots , saves etc were possibly accurate but there was no mention that we never came within a mile of the Casuals movement and interplay. For which I commend their manager/coach. Very rarely did they miss a pass by hoofing the ball 70yds down the ground. The way they played their football I WISH IT HAD BEEN US.!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, like main stream journalism today, observations seem to be given to appease the few and do not serve to inform the majority. As members/supporters I think we are capable accepting both. After all we can see what is happening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2019 by 4wembleyfinals

[Theodopolous]

The best recent one 4WF was the comment ‘against a decent Burgess side’ ?.... tend to agree with Steph about Josh ... playing against a solid premier side is a step up from scoring three againt Burgess reserves but he certainly wasn’t any worse than the others and I would certainly like him to stick around longer than Adams as he has the same potential and next season isnt too far off.... with BB unlikely to stay and Hope well past this class there is an opportunity to make his mark.... but as I’ve bored myself mentioning that planning ahead does not figure in our managers agenda I won’t mention it again 

[4wembleyfinals]

I know how you feel Theo. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duke and swim in water as a duck  it hard for me to accept that it's an eagle.

[72wembleyfinal]

@Theodopolous

I think you will find that BBricknell signed a 2 year deal.

 

[old towner]

BB did sign a 2 year deal

 

[old towner]

another thing can we please play football on the ground and not in the air we are better on the ground !!!!!

[72wembleyfinal]

12 minutes ago, old towner said:

another thing can we please play football on the ground and not in the air we are better on the ground !!!!!

Yep I am with you on that one !

[lovely stuff]

This season was the best chance for ages to actually win this league.Let alone finish top 5..The standard of the league this year is poorer then it has been previously and there are no big teams to compete against.

I feared this season would be a wasted.We are basically playing the same standard of football that saw us finish bottom half last season.Even the big money signing of a proven striker only seems to have made limited differences.

[andyetfc]

I said it at the beginning of the season that the league looks more like s Southern League. I believe the league is a poorer one than last season and so are we. The potential is there but........

[Barney]

What a frustrating afternoon - we can clearly play better than that, and have done on numerous occasions, but I was thinking when the referee got injured that it might actually be in our best interests for it to be abandoned and replayed! We did have the better of the chances before their goals (apart from them hitting the post in the first half), but I agree with much of what's been said above, we didn't look like we either wanted to, or could string 3 passes together. I'm fine with us clearing the ball when under pressure, as we aren't going to concede with the ball in touch, but too many times we just hit aimless long balls down the middle of the pitch which were bread and butter for their center backs. Whilst I'm not totally against playing it long at times if it brings results (obviously we'd all like to see free flowing passing football), we just don't have the personnel to play this way - I lost count of the number of times that Bricknell, Davidson and Youngs were beaten in the air... seriously - if the plan is to go long, then let's sign a proper target man and play off of him! Youngs looks lost on the right, he's clearly a quality player at our level, but needs to be playing an attacking CM role to be effective in my opinion, which would necessitate a change of formation / system. Not a good day at the office ?

[behind-the-goal]

Amid all the doom 'n gloom - and at the risk of giving the game away - Andy's clearly lulling the rest of the teams in the league into a false sense of security, allowing them to think he's not very tactucally astute. If you recall, his target at the start of the season was to average 2 points per game. All is going nicely according to plan: we have 17 games left and all we have to do to reach the target of 84 points is win 15 and draw 1 of those 17. Simples!

[andyetfc]

2 minutes ago, behind-the-goal said:

Amid all the doom 'n gloom - and at the risk of giving the game away - Andy's clearly lulling the rest of the teams in the league into a false sense of security, allowing them to think he's not very tactucally astute. If you recall, his target at the start of the season was to average 2 points per game. All is going nicely according to plan: we have 17 games left and all we have to do to reach the target of 84 points is win 15 and draw 1 of those 17. Simples!

You really need to get out more often.