Let’s have a reality check

[Theodopolous]

Standing behind the Stortford dugout last Tuesday at Potters Bar I witnessed a superb coaching display by their young coaches ( the manager leaving it to them) every player had a role and the coaches directed every movement… I turned to the bloke next to me who was a board member and sponsor (an ex England cricketer) and said to him “ we haven’t a hope in hell against you Saturday “…. This was coaching at another level…. He seemed surprised but I told him at the start of the season I was searching betting firms to get a bet on us being relegated… we were awful pre season with no players and no hope…. God knows how we were now second… Let’s be honest… the only way we are second is because Andy Leese has got together a load of talented individuals thrown them on the pitch and basically said just go and score more than the oppo… there are no tactics… it’s a mish mash of chaos… but I must admit it’s been fun… Thurrock 8 goals… Kingstonian 5…. Horsham Cray Bowers 4 … fantastic entertainment… I’m surprised it’s taken this long to come unstuck but I don’t think it would have worked any other way….We were never going to win the league but that play off place is still well within our grasp and who on here expected that at the start of the season…

[old towner]

hi Theo nice to see you back it was nice being second ..............But playing sh** last night  (no i never went ) i can't see us staying 3rd or 4th  let alone 5th

i cant remember when we played good football and on the ground  its always kick up to the forwards  and pray

[Pokitren]

9 hours ago, Theodopolous said:

Standing behind the Stortford dugout last Tuesday at Potters Bar I witnessed a superb coaching display by their young coaches ( the manager leaving it to them) every player had a role and the coaches directed every movement… I turned to the bloke next to me who was a board member and sponsor (an ex England cricketer) and said to him “ we haven’t a hope in hell against you Saturday “…. This was coaching at another level…. He seemed surprised but I told him at the start of the season I was searching betting firms to get a bet on us being relegated… we were awful pre season with no players and no hope…. God knows how we were now second… Let’s be honest… the only way we are second is because Andy Leese has got together a load of talented individuals thrown them on the pitch and basically said just go and score more than the oppo… there are no tactics… it’s a mish mash of chaos… but I must admit it’s been fun… Thurrock 8 goals… Kingstonian 5…. Horsham Cray Bowers 4 … fantastic entertainment… I’m surprised it’s taken this long to come unstuck but I don’t think it would have worked any other way….We were never going to win the league but that play off place is still well within our grasp and who on here expected that at the start of the season…

For this reason I stopped betting on sports. No one knows the future - everything is always changing.

[The Crowing Cockerel]

Absolutely agree that AL has assembled a group of talented individuals. That is what is so frustrating! Just imagine if we had the coaching to mould them into a proper tactical unit? Dare I say we may well have won the league!

At the moment I do still think we'll make the play-offs. If you look at the table there are probably 7 teams fighting over 4 play-off spots. The concern I have is that I cannot see AL outfoxing any of the other play-off contenders - let alone two of them in succession. We have consistently shown over the season that we cannot manage that.

[lovely stuff]

A few weeks ago i said we were playing the best football in years.

Now i am thinking that we have a top 4 forward line.But a mid table manager and overall squad?

Am i being too harsh after this latest blip?

[Theodopolous]

55 minutes ago, lovely stuff said:

A few weeks ago i said we were playing the best football in years.

Now i am thinking that we have a top 4 forward line.But a mid table manager and overall squad?

Am i being too harsh after this latest blip?

I was saying the same thing although I knew we couldn’t defend… personally I would keep Leese because he seems to be able to get players in .. they seem to like him but as a tactician he struggles….bring in two young coaches to organise things on the pitch like Stortford… it was an eye opener… there are so many times the oppo has a free man standing right in front of the dugout and no one shouts a word… and surely Nathan must take some blame for not organising things in front of him … he can see everything… but how many on here expected us to be second come February … it’s been great entertainment all season ….

[Bottoms Up]

2 hours ago, Theodopolous said:

I was saying the same thing although I knew we couldn’t defend… personally I would keep Leese because he seems to be able to get players in .. they seem to like him but as a tactician he struggles….bring in two young coaches to organise things on the pitch like Stortford… it was an eye opener… there are so many times the oppo has a free man standing right in front of the dugout and no one shouts a word… and surely Nathan must take some blame for not organising things in front of him … he can see everything… but how many on here expected us to be second come February … it’s been great entertainment all season ….

Well said Theo.

Lets hope we don’t fall away and keep that top 5 place till the end

[4wembleyfinals]

 

3 hours ago, Theodopolous said:

 personally I would keep Leese because he seems to be able to get players in .. they seem to like him but as a tactician he struggles….bring in two young coaches to organise things on the pitch like Stortford… 

All these posts and those relating to the Stortford and W&F matches have made interesting reading. It was particularly good to see Theo's and LS's posts again.

Unfortunately, it is some time since I have been able to use my season ticket so reading all the reports and opinions helps to keep me in the loop..

The one extract above of a quote by Theo caught my eye.  This is because when AL first arrived in 2017, before he got together a team, it was suggested that a good coach to support him would be ideal. However, I stated that from what I new of AL's attitude he did not seem to take too kindly for some one else running the team. But haven't we got several coaches already. Surely that have some input.

But again I revert to my old mantra is that although we have several talented players we really need for all the players to play a well drilled system. 

However, still eleven matches to go and I believe we need at least 7 wins to make sure we have a home game in the play-offs. Let's hope it starts on Saturday. 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by 4wembleyfinals

[Barney]

Definitely a more rational and reasoned thread than the Wingate one, so thanks for all the contributors who have taken their time to post constructively - good to see Theo back again as well! Hard to argue with much of what's been said, we are no doubt a team of very talented individuals and the manager should definitely get credit for that - there have been times at this season where we have looked compact, robust and pretty good tactically, but there have been plenty more times when it has seemed like a case of relying on our talent to score at least one more than the oppo. 4-3s are great fun, and brilliant at times to watch, but I do worry about how we'll fare in the playoffs, if we do finish top 5.