Enfield Town v Cray Wanderers

[The Crowing Cockerel]

303?!?!

Spurs playing away.

Arsenal not playing till Monday.

The current situation really does not match the Chairman's lofty ambitions (as broadcast on the radio recently).

Something has to change.  

[4wembleyfinals]

AsI have just said CC actions mean more than words. 

[Rebel without a clue]

Didn’t attend today’s game I’ve reached the end of watching that dross week in week out I would normally be looking forward to the game at Margate and a trip to Hornchurch but not now, going shopping with the wife is a more enjoyable prospect, maybe one day it will dawn on AL that we are in dire need of some centre half’s, on the plus side were not going to get relegated but I’m afraid to say we’re just going to finish mid table

[old towner]

The session included our inspirational Skipper who answered all questions honestly and made a very bold statement when he said we will reach the playoffs,So hold on to your hats guys we are in for potentially an exciting end to the season.

a very bold statement look at the real world     3 more goals conceded 3 more points dropped  fu** knows how many defenders on the last 5 mins  and STILL lost

2-1 up and take off your only striker GREAT MOVE Andy

Ryan red card Blackman it was only time when he was going to go he is losing us points and costing us money in fines   

why o why can we not play football on the ground Billy 5 ft something  defenders 6 ft plus play a high ball guess who wins it  play it to feet he has a chance

 

[Wildlife rescue]

Yep they have the three tallest defenders in the league at at the AGM Andy said we have had them watched we know what there about so why oh why did we continue to play high balls into Billy who was never going to win them.

Had enough of this negative football.

303 fans says I'm not the only one.

[ETFC17]

Before today , there has always been an excuse for the low attendances. Yesterday, Spurs were away, Arsenal didn’t play, Harringey were away, Cheshunt were away and the weather was ok (not windy or rainy) . It’s a playoff 6 pointer match and only 303 turned up. Tells you all you need to know. 
All the previous excuses are red herins. People are not coming because it’s simply not entertaining to watch and they have no faith in the management and team. Well we warned them pre season not to give Leese another year. The ignored us, stuck with him because he is cheap and doesn’t take a wage, this is their reward.
 

The board are just as responsible for this dire on field situation we are in as Leese is 

[Raingod]

Very very frustrating afternoon .. and in the space of 7 days we have lost our only chance of a trophy on Tuesday, and given ourselves a mountain to climb in terms of getting to Top 5.

Ryan Blackman - the challenge was unnecessary, we had plenty back .. but that is the player he is. He plays with absolute commitment and is so passionate for us, so I cant criticise him. Ryan is the player who turned down Conference South teams back in 2017 to stay with us, he's the player who comes over to the fans after all games, and I bumped into him in the carpark at Kingstonian - despite being suspended he had driven 3 hours to watch the team play! How many others do that? Personally he is a Towner through and through 

The interview with Andy post match says that Ryan had been warned a couple of times - so to me the management at 2-1 should have taken him off as a precaution at that point. 

Didn't get the substitutions - Della Verde was playing v well, and then taking Ken then Billy off so we had no outlet up front was crazy - yes Billy looked tired having put in a great shift up front, so why not replace with youngster Esan to chase balls or experiecned Ibe to hold it up?

Goals we conceded were very poor - the long ball over the top was a misjudge by Wethers - and Nathan was stranded - Uruquart was back so Nathan didn't need to be so far out.

Throwing on extra defenders but without a plan meant we were just sitting back letting them come on to us - so it felt inevitable. Free header from a corner (Wethers again) - but no one on the post to have cleared it? 

Ironically I don't look at any of our defenders and think they are not good enough, but collectively they are not working together. Do we need a defensive coach to work on this side of the game?

 

I don't subscribe to the manager out position at this stage of the season ..

- we can still make the play offs, though need an almighty run like 2016. This time next week I hope this is still the case.

- Andy has been making good signings in Uruqhart & Delle Verde - and I do believe the management team are committed and doing their best for us.

- I believe the squad is strong on paper - especially with Hockney, Taffe and Higgs to come in - there are not 3 or 4 players that I  don't want at the club. Issue is depth - we don't seem to have faith in our bench to make earlier changes

BUT

- we must bring someone in to sort our defensive organisation - as its not working 

- we must use subs better - Nathan Livings on the bench would have been a perfect replacement for Ryan after his first warning from the ref

- have we invested too much of the wage bill in the starting 11 .. so less competition for places?

- we aren't great to watch at present

I am still "glass half full" but do understand and appreciate the more negative views - haven't been to as many games this season!

 

Up the town

[4wembleyfinals]

R, not sure the whether the last 3 words of your post were meant to be praising our derogatory ...... my only reply has to be " Up yours"!!!!!! 

No offence intended.

Edited January 26, 2020 by 4wembleyfinals

[Wildlife rescue]

I Think Andy has lost the dressing room even players were questioning his substitutions when we ended up with 4 centre halves and no strikers asking him dont we want to win this game.

We were 2-1 up and well on top at the time.

Why not push on and make the game safe.

Crazy substitutions imo.

[Castorman]

Afternoon all. I haven’t posted for a while (but always read this forum), as I haven’t got to many games this season for numerous reasons, however I have been to the last two and I agree completely with Raingods post above.

On paper the team is strong, individually I believe they are good players, but they aren’t playing as a team. For me, this comes down to training. I ask myself, do they all turn up? Is it excepted that they have to attend? What are they actually learning and putting into place at these sessions? In the games I’ve seen, there doesn’t seem to be any “football intelligence “ or “reading” of the game.

I listen to the management on the sidelines, there’s always criticism and huffing and puffing when it’s not going well, there is sometimes praise for a good bit of play, but I never actually hear any “coaching”.

Hope you are all well ?

[andyetfc]

We could have been three down before getting our first goal and then the soft penalty. We weren't at the races and continually fed their defenders with high balls. Yes, we got back into the game, but signs were there that we would concede another goal.  

I stood behind the bench for the duration of the game and all I could here was the coach telling players what to do, and when. Just what do they do at training which warrants a coach having to tell them what to do all the time? Don't they know what they should be doing? 

As for the substitutions! Baffling! Why take off the only player who could hold up the ball?

Two steps backwards yesterday.

 

 

 

[Theodopolous]

To be honest Castor a few of us have been saying that since last season... tactically we are and have been clueless for a long while .... players scattered about the pitch with no structure.... I don’t know if the coaches have any say or not but I finally think that the supporters are finally realising the truth of Leese’s abilities...

[4wembleyfinals]

Hi Thoe, you must have just read one of my posts of 3 Seasons ago. We are finally singing from the same song sheet. But it doesn't mean we are bad supporters!!!!!!!

Like you, my concerns have always been for the club and I was hoping that after Paul Reeds uplifting report of his plans and hopes for the future we would start to tidy up the back room. I suppose it may happen soon but I still worry that we may have left it too late. 

Also like me, I am sure you don't delight in seeing everyone's dreams start to diminish because of one persons intransigence and those who think that nothings wrong. All we others can do is hope for a miracle.  For me I am not persuaded to sign up next year if he is still in place.

Nb. It's interesting to read in the official report that "the chaotic defending is still continuing" and that " Blackman picked up a second yellow card... both were cheap and unnecessary". Then it isn't just us few!!!!!

 

Edited January 26, 2020 by 4wembleyfinals

[Theodopolous]

Reading the official match report you can see why nothing will change.., it makes us sound like Barcelona until our luck changed... yes it was all down to luck again at least it wasn’t just the referee....conceding two or three goals every match... high balls up to six foot plus defenders... defending all over the place nothing to do with it ... just bad luck 

[andyetfc]

Who are the web team who put together the official match report? I think I was at another game!

[Theodopolous]

18 minutes ago, andyetfc said:

Who are the web team who put together the official match report? I think I was at another game!

It’s like that every week Andy that’s why nothing changes... the old rose tinted glasses come out... wish I could find a pair ...must be lovely to watch that garbage but see beauty ?...

[lovely stuff]

Far too predictable..As soon as we went 2-1 up.Everyone one of us knew we would give the lead away with poor defending.

[Barney]

I wasn't at the game, but certainly understand the frustration. I'm more inclined to Raingod's viewpoint, and don't think that we would gain anything from changing the management at this point, given the playoffs are still possible... however, we are definitely making things hard for ourselves, and need to turn it round sooner rather than later. You'd think that bold statements at the AGM about making the playoffs would be sufficient motivation for the team and the management.

It still baffles me why we go direct to Bricknell - although I'd rather we played nice stuff, built from the back and kept the ball in midfield, I don't object to a direct style per-se if it's part of the plan, but surely to do that, we need the right personnel (i.e. a target man centre forward who can actually hold the ball up and compete physically with big defenders). It was easier to take us playing this way earlier in the season when we were picking up points, but now we seem to mainly be watching poor football and not getting many results.

Not good, but still we go again and hopefully have it in us to turn things around.

[behind-the-goal]

Personally, I'm still glass quarter full. I can understand all the negative comments and don't necessarily disagree with them. But we were playing a club above us and we COULD have gone in ahead at half time. Their goalie made one sensational save, and Ken was in good positions on two or three occasions. Ken isn't Mo, let's face it, but at least it meant the team had got the ball to Ken in decent positions. As for the second half of the second half well, as I said to begin with, my glass is a quarter full.

[MTHead]

Glass half full or half empty, it doesn’t disguise the fact that we were comprehensively outplayed for the first 45 minutes. Cray could have gone in at half time three up and it wouldn’t have been unfair. The second half we battled gamely, and we got some reward, however we were just about holding on to our undeserved lead ( soft penalty ) when the defence started to commit hari kari again. We are not good enough to compete at the top of this ( poor quality league ), at best I expect us to finish 10 - 12th. If it’s true that our budget doesn’t provide resources to get better players in, we must have a business plan which recognises this and not keep saying our ambition is to be in the promotion mix. Most of us weathered , old fogies can see that this team hasn’t got a cat in hell’s chance of gaining promotion this year and heaven forbid if we were -  next year would see us getting stuffed every week. 
The board have to change tack and get realistic, let’s get a young manager in with new ideas, play some interesting football, the current style us boring, predictable and unsuccessful, I’m sure most supporters would prefer interesting, exciting and perhaps equally unsuccessful in the future, but we might come and watch it!