ETFC v Aveley

[lovely stuff]

On 19/10/2024 at 20:10, No bull Towner said:

It surprises me how quickly people turn. I know the game can be ruthless but I don't think a new manager would be the saving grace some think. The budget will still be the budget. Location will still be the location. You can't make players come or stay if they don't want to. As time goes on we become less attractive than we were at the beginning of the season as not many players want to come to a struggling side and try to pull them out of a hole. I would imagine Gav went after lots of players and probably still is but if there are more attractive propositions with fatter wallets that's not exactly his fault. What else should he do short of kidnapping them? We don't know the reasons behind the 'revolving door' but it is likely down to a variety of reasons. Gav might have got rid of some, some might have got better offers if not playing enough, some might have been too expensive long term, some might have work problems, some might have big egos, the commute to training/matches might not suit after all....the list could go on and on and doesn't necessarily mean that there is unrest in the changing room or that it is all down to poor judgement. It is very disappointing to not have got a few more results but I would hazard a guess that the team we had today isn't going to get improved much and hopefully they will be a regular starting line up rotating the starters and bench as today our bench could easily have started too. I'm hoping this is the start of a settled squad and with less changes they will start to read each others minds and cover each other seamlessly. I get that you won't all agree with me but I just can't be as negative and feed into conspiracy theories as that won't help at all. Our position is still the same though a little more precarious but it's not yet beyond hope....let's go get Welling on Tuesday 

Location is not really a factor. Enfield has a far bigger demographic/population and pool of non-league players within a short drive than the majority of clubs in this league. Apart from a couple of long trips to the West, the travelling times to away matches are not much more than last season. Yes our club currently is in the bottom pool of teams in terms of finances available to fund the squad. That is why we are not asking miracles and have been generally supportive of the manager in these difficult times.(Gavin has acknowledged that himself). We also like the way Gavin operates and his professionalism. That does not distract from the fact that no settled formation or style of play has been achieved as yet this season. Plus the majority of the many players brought in have been a disappointment and the large turnover has unsettled the team negatively. Letting in 4 nearly every week and the manner of goals conceded is not meeting the brief we had for this season. We need to shut down the ball far quicker as a team and making life far more difficult for these 'better' teams.

Edited October 20 by lovely stuff

[ETFC2001]

38 minutes ago, lovely stuff said:

Location is not really a factor. Enfield has a far bigger demographic/population and pool of non-league players within a short drive than the majority of clubs in this league. Apart from a couple of long trips to the West, the travelling times to away matches are not much more than last season. Yes our club currently is in the bottom pool of teams in terms of finances available to fund the squad. That is why we are not asking miracles and have been generally supportive of the manager in these difficult times.(Gavin has acknowledged that himself). We also like the way Gavin operates and his professionalism. That does not distract from the fact that no settled formation or style of play has been achieved as yet this season. Plus the majority of the many players brought in have been a disappointment and the large turnover has unsettled the team negatively. Letting in 4 nearly every week and the manner of goals conceded is not meeting the brief we had for this season. We need to shut down the ball far quicker as a team and making life far more difficult for these 'better' teams.

Agree, don’t think location is a factor as I know we’re on the outskirts of London but it isn’t hard to get to on a matchday except maybe when Tottenham are playing at the same time.

Also agree that we are very poor at shutting balls down, winning the second ball, and picking up the extra man when they’re on the counter. Seems like we lack a bit of fitness that there’s always a man free on the edge because someone hasn’t tracked their man properly etc.

While I don’t think it’s right to sack Gavin just yet, we do need to stick to a style of play and a formation and just see where it takes us and if we need to switch some stuff up then do it. Seems like it’s one extreme to another with how we’re setting at the moment and it’s becoming costly as games go on and we look more leggy. 

Also, I saw something about the atmosphere yesterday was not the best (only 700 yesterday) and I do agree at times it seemed very quiet and only really got rocking after we scored both goals, then we let it die down again and I understand we’re in a rough patch but the players need us more then anything at the moment.

Edited October 20 by ETFC2001

[The Crowing Cockerel]

For some bizarre reason I watched the highlights of yesterday's match. Despite the scoreline, I actually started to feel as if there were some positives. Perhaps there is hope? Harry's goal came from a nice bit of interplay and developing understanding with Jake. Jack Smith looked as if he offered something decent in midfield (great run for the goal and almost broke through for another chance) - until he ran out of steam. The two loanees (Mills and Tuck) can certainly hold their own at this level and with a bit more support I can see Alfie beginning to really run games. And at the end of the day we managed to score 2 (TWO) goals in a game!

[ETFC2001]

Just now, The Crowing Cockerel said:

For some bizarre reason I watched the highlights of yesterday's match. Despite the scoreline, I actually started to feel as if there were some positives. Perhaps there is hope? Harry's goal came from a nice bit of interplay and developing understanding with Jake. Jack Smith looked as if he offered something decent in midfield (great run for the goal and almost broke through for another chance) - until he ran out of steam. The two loanees (Mills and Tuck) can certainly hold their own at this level and with a bit more support I can see Alfie beginning to really run games. And at the end of the day we managed to score 2 (TWO) goals in a game!

In the first half we could of put the game to bed really. I understand they had a chance that hit the crossbar and bounced out but if we make other decisions then we could go into the half 3-1, 3-2 up. Sadly we do what we always do which is concede before half-time which is really frustrating and makes the game wide open for both teams. 

Second half, we could of scored another 2 goals where no one is in the box and we play two great balls straight across the box which is two easy tap ins and we’re on this forum today celebrating which would of been a great win. 

Mills and Tuck are great individual players with a lot of quality and we need to make the most of the games we get with those two.

Overrall, lots of positives going forward, same mistakes defensively which is costing us massively down the stretch.

[Barney]

Wasn't at the game on Saturday, so no long posts from me - obviously hugely disappointed at the result, the people I spoke with said that we created chances, but were wasteful, and should have won the game against an average Aveley side. I guess this is a double edged sword, the fact that despite losing, we could and probably should have got something out of the game against one of the sides in and around us is a plus. Flip that around, we lost at home to a side at the bottom - and we really cannot afford many more results like that in games we'd be looking to pick up points from.

I like to think that I'm usually one of the more positive/optimistic people on here - I was dreading coming on and reading wall to wall negativity, but I'm finding myself agreeing with most posts and there are a lot of constructive points being made. I think we all want Gavin to do well and turn this around, and that we're not where we are through lack of effort on the management team's part - we have to keep the faith and believe that we can get ourselves out of this - 34 games left is a lot, and even a mini run of results at any point in the season could make a huge difference with sides around us struggling to pick up points. 🤞🤞

[WHY DO I BOTHER]

the majority of negativity comes through the continual criticism of every player that has worn a town shirt not being good enough or disappointing and that they are all we can afford …They must all feel great reading this ..no wonder they can’t wait to get out….Normally a manager protects their players and take the criticism but with us it’s the opposite protect the manager and hang the players…is it beyond us that actually the players are decent but the team set up tactics and coaching is way off… as stated on here many times closing down players is basic… paying another £50 a week shouldn’t make a difference for players to know where they should be… people seem to think i’m negative but actually i’m one of the positive ones  because i believe the players have the ability if helped out by  simple positional instructions….

[The Crowing Cockerel]

Controversial opinion: I would play Dylan instead of Mickey and therefore have the more attacking combination of Dylan and John Oyenuga on the right hand side.

p.s. How is Mickey still only 28?!

[ETFC2001]

2 hours ago, WHY DO I BOTHER said:

the majority of negativity comes through the continual criticism of every player that has worn a town shirt not being good enough or disappointing and that they are all we can afford …They must all feel great reading this ..no wonder they can’t wait to get out….Normally a manager protects their players and take the criticism but with us it’s the opposite protect the manager and hang the players…is it beyond us that actually the players are decent but the team set up tactics and coaching is way off… as stated on here many times closing down players is basic… paying another £50 a week shouldn’t make a difference for players to know where they should be… people seem to think i’m negative but actually i’m one of the positive ones  because i believe the players have the ability if helped out by  simple positional instructions….

To some point I agree that maybe the tactics and set up are affecting the players negatively but once again you can’t teach the basics it’s something you have or you don’t. Simple things like closing a player down or picking the extra man up or simply just hoofing the ball instead of messing about in the box is all things you get taught at a young age.

Like a few people have said, I think we have a lot of individual quality but whether we can put it together as a team is a different story and how fast we can do it is another because we are running out of time every week. I hope Cox starts tomorrow or next week and offers us a something bit different at the back so we aren’t letting in 4 a week. If not then back to the drawing board I would guess and we’d probably try a new system with a CDM or sticking another man in midfield.