Town v Athletic Newham - London Senior Cup

[symptomless]

The young centre back, Lambert, had a decent enough game. Didn't put a foot wrong but it was level 5 opposition and their main centre forward wasn't playing. 

[No bull Towner]

9 minutes ago, ETFC2001 said:

Don’t blame him if he moves on, completely undeserved how he apparently has a minus 20 goal difference in the league too. We’re living on an Adam Thompson, Harvey Mills and Alfie Tuck prayer.

Really thought things were on the ‘up’ from Saturday but this just brings us back to square one. Some of these players apparently wouldn’t look out of place in step 5.

Should have played the starting 11 from Saturday and got more minutes together in to them. However, all those players today should be good enough to beat step 5 but they failed miserably. Cut the budget and get rid of some of them to invest in ones who are worthy of NLS

[ETFC2001]

4 minutes ago, No bull Towner said:

Should have played the starting 11 from Saturday and got more minutes together in to them. However, all those players today should be good enough to beat step 5 but they failed miserably. Cut the budget and get rid of some of them to invest in ones who are worthy of NLS

Agree, this is what I said in the chat. I understand we have loanees that might have different arrangements with their parent clubs but we should of fielded as close of a starting 11 as we could get. We don’t have a game until the 9th so I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t get a proper 11 out?

If Gavin thought he’d just give a bit of a bench a runout and stroll through then I’m not sure what to say. We are not in a position where we can stroll through games with just our bench. Thought RBR, Taafe and more would take this chance to solidify more minutes in the league but this is nothing short of disgraceful 

[andyetfc]

Quote

Although the performance on Saturday gave some optimism, it did appear to be just papering over the cracks.

 

[The Crowing Cockerel]

Despite taking us up, I expect Gavin will eventually finish up with the worst win % of any ETFC manager ever.

If he doesn't get another win between now and Christmas do we think he's toast?

[Shep]

I think Forster will stay while Gavin is here but he won’t go back down with us at the end of the season. 

[No bull Towner]

12 minutes ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

Despite taking us up, I expect Gavin will eventually finish up with the worst win % of any ETFC manager ever.

If he doesn't get another win between now and Christmas do we think he's toast?

I don't think half the team are up to providing a win unless we are gifted it by the opposition. We are in danger of losing the only decent players we have either because they will be recalled from loan or they will have had enough of being failed by those around them. We pretty much needed a whole new squad and that didn't/couldnt happen. I am finding it increasingly hard to keep the faith. I am beginning to think Gav will be forced to throw in the towel if he loses crucial players; if the loans get recalled and he loses Forster then it's over!

[ETFC2001]

27 minutes ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

Despite taking us up, I expect Gavin will eventually finish up with the worst win % of any ETFC manager ever.

If he doesn't get another win between now and Christmas do we think he's toast?

It’s a real possibility for both things - not winning a game until Christmas, and Gavin getting the sack by Christmas.

If the board does sack him, they HAVE to by Christmas. Gives the next manager a little time to settle and get his tactics set. But then again, if we don’t win a game till Christmas from now, we’re as good as down anyways. Could bring in Pep and he wouldn’t save us.

Do I think he gets the sack? In all honesty, most likely not. Think the board will give him the whole season and try and help him through it with loanees, or trying to give him any extra bits of budget to try and see what he can bring on.

But, if we go back down, you can say bye bye to most of the core we have now, including Forster, and we’ll probably be flirting with midtable in the Isthmian league.

Edit: Another possibility is Gavin just walks himself before it gets too bad and he damages the good things he done while he was here like getting us up here.

Edited October 29 by ETFC2001

[4wembleyfinals]

I am as disappointed as all of you and in line with many of your remarks.

After all I have been saying for years that if you try to rely on older players, on their way down , you will never progress. No one seems to question why they have such long CV's.  They may have experience but their motivation has worn thin!!!

To night shows that there are young players in the lower leagues with sufficient ability, and the required get up and go, to step up a level. However, I cannot see the three young players on loan staying much longer.  

Also surely Forster needs a break. I thought we had another keeper in the wings. As he must be near his wits end!!  

 

 

Edited October 29 by 4wembleyfinals

[The Crowing Cockerel]

2 minutes ago, ETFC2001 said:

But, if we go back down, you can say bye bye to most of the core we have now, including Forster, and we’ll probably be flirting with midtable in the Isthmian league.

I agree that the core will go if we're relegated. The fact of the matter is though that they were carried by a star striker. That is painfully clear. We can recruit a new squad at Step 3 without a problem. The real trick will be unearthing another player who can play higher and be the difference between mid-table and play-offs.

Re losing Rhys - I say we bring back Noel Imber!

[No bull Towner]

7 minutes ago, ETFC2001 said:

It’s a real possibility for both things - not winning a game until Christmas, and Gavin getting the sack by Christmas.

If the board does sack him, they HAVE to by Christmas. Gives the next manager a little time to settle and get his tactics set. But then again, if we don’t win a game till Christmas from now, we’re as good as down anyways. Could bring in Pep and he wouldn’t save us.

Do I think he gets the sack? In all honesty, most likely not. Think the board will give him the whole season and try and help him through it with loanees, or trying to give him any extra bits of budget to try and see what he can bring on.

But, if we go back down, you can say bye bye to most of the core we have now, including Forster, and we’ll probably be flirting with midtable in the Isthmian league.

Edit: Another possibility is Gavin just walks himself before it gets too bad and he damages the good things he done while he was here like getting us up here.

We should be able to pick up players soon as ones that aren't getting enough game time elsewhere because there is so much competition in their squads will look to move on so hopefully we can benefit from that. If we can't make some big squad changes before Xmas then we are done for.

[ETFC2001]

6 minutes ago, 4wembleyfinals said:

I am surprised that so many of you are surprised??

I have said for years that if you try to rely on older players, on he way down , you will never progress. No one seems to question why they have such long CV's.  They may have experience but their motivation is wearing thin!!!

To night shows that there are young players in the lower leagues with sufficient ability, and the required get up and go, to step up a level. At least one or two are worth a try. Other wise what is the purpose of having an Academy??

Also surely Forster needs a break. I thought we had another keeper in the wings. He must be near his wits end!!  

 

 

I don’t get what you mean though, what old players are we relying on? We have mainly brought in U21 loanees to help us. And they’ve been amazing, and it’s sooner rather then later they get recalled or we run out of time with them and they go further up the pyramid because we’re not improving.

But then again, we had the whole summer to prepare for this massive step up and now we’re at a point where we’re saying some of the academy players should step in and play a part in us surviving in the NLS?

And Forster is wearing thin, and I don’t blame him. He deserves this break and to say he is part of a defense that has a -20 goal record in the league is disgraceful. After Chesham you could clearly see it is taking a toll on him mentally.

[ETFC2001]

8 minutes ago, No bull Towner said:

We should be able to pick up players soon as ones that aren't getting enough game time elsewhere because there is so much competition in their squads will look to move on so hopefully we can benefit from that. If we can't make some big squad changes before Xmas then we are done for.

So what do you think it is? I think we are running out of time and we don’t have the luxury to wait till xmas for new players to come through.

Are we just losing bidding wars due to budget restraints or are we not looking at the right areas? I think now we have fixed some of the defensive issues with Thompson, Cox and Benjamin that we have to look at hungry players in midfield and up top looking to prove themselves in a higher tier of football or hungry young players also in midfield and up top looking to prove themselves with their parent clubs. 

Edit: This is obviously easier said then done because transfers take time and agents are a pain so on but it feels like we got it all wrong in the summer

Edited October 29 by ETFC2001

[No bull Towner]

16 minutes ago, 4wembleyfinals said:

I am as disappointed as all of you and in line with many of your remarks.

After all I have been saying for years that if you try to rely on older players, on their way down , you will never progress. No one seems to question why they have such long CV's.  They may have experience but their motivation has worn thin!!!

To night shows that there are young players in the lower leagues with sufficient ability, and the required get up and go, to step up a level. However, I cannot see the three young players on loan staying much longer.  

Also surely Forster needs a break. I thought we had another keeper in the wings. As he must be near his wits end!!  

 

 

Connolly is injured so no stand in there

[No bull Towner]

5 minutes ago, ETFC2001 said:

So what do you think it is? I think we are running out of time and we don’t have the luxury to wait till xmas for new players to come through.

Are we just losing bidding wars due to budget restraints or are we not looking at the right areas? I think now we have fixed some of the defensive issues with Thompson, Cox and Benjamin that we have to look at hungry players in midfield and up top looking to prove themselves in a higher tier of football or hungry young players also in midfield and up top looking to prove themselves with their parent clubs. 

I agree that time is not on our side. If we had a Marcus in the team already we could gamble on looking for hungry ones from lower but without an established striker to work alongside I think this would be a huge gamble. The same goes for midfield. We would be relying on whoever comes in to be the boss of our midfield and again I don't know we can get that from below. I would be more inclined to beg more loans from leagues above by guaranteeing them game time for their exposure to men's football in exchange for end of season loan. At least these players should have quality even if young. The ones we have so far aren't letting us down and in fact they could be our saviours. Our defence looked better on Saturday but if we can't win balls in midfield and play the ball forward to attackers that are going to score then any goals conceded our end will mean losses. Gav should go cap in hand to every club league 2 upwards for help to salvage this season quickly. With half the squad being loans from above we might just pull it off!

[ETFC2001]

7 minutes ago, No bull Towner said:

I agree that time is not on our side. If we had a Marcus in the team already we could gamble on looking for hungry ones from lower but without an established striker to work alongside I think this would be a huge gamble. The same goes for midfield. We would be relying on whoever comes in to be the boss of our midfield and again I don't know we can get that from below. I would be more inclined to beg more loans from leagues above by guaranteeing them game time for their exposure to men's football in exchange for end of season loan. At least these players should have quality even if young. The ones we have so far aren't letting us down and in fact they could be our saviours. Our defence looked better on Saturday but if we can't win balls in midfield and play the ball forward to attackers that are going to score then any goals conceded our end will mean losses. Gav should go cap in hand to every club league 2 upwards for help to salvage this season quickly. With half the squad being loans from above we might just pull it off!

What have we got to lose at this point? Most fans are already writing the football off and just going for the great away days and to have fun and to always stick behind the players. Think loans could be massive in saving our season and it just shows we never had a plan for after Marcus. No replacement, no plan b it was just live by marcus die by him. And unfortunately now we’re feeling it. If we can snag some loans in the attacking third then I’ll have more of a positive outlook on the rest of the season but Gavin did say on the website that he wasn’t done with signings after Thompson so who knows?

Edited October 30 by ETFC2001

[No bull Towner]

16 minutes ago, ETFC2001 said:

What have we got to lose at this point? Most fans are already writing the football off and just going for the great away days and to have fun and to always stick behind the players. Think loans could be massive in saving our season and it just shows we never had a plan for after Marcus. No replacement, no plan b it was just live by marcus die by him. And unfortunately now we’re feeling it. If we can snag some loans in the attacking third then I’ll have more of a positive outlook on the rest of the season but Gavin did say on the website that he wasn’t done with signings after Thompson so who knows?

Here's hoping he can secure a miracle. It would be heartbreaking to go back down but it would be worse to go back down in the manner we are headed right now. It's not impossible to turn around yet and escape the drop but action is needed fast 

[The Crowing Cockerel]

Having recently offloaded Leshabela, Thomas, Nembhard, Mensah, Krasniqi, Tanner(?), Solomon(?)... I would hope that Gavin has at least a little bit of budget for a new midfielder or two?

[Father Jack]

13 minutes ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

Having recently offloaded Leshabela, Thomas, Nembhard, Mensah, Krasniqi, Tanner(?), Solomon(?)... I would hope that Gavin has at least a little bit of budget for a new midfielder or two?

Solomon is injured, Tanner on a dual reg with, I think, Carshalton

10 hours ago, No bull Towner said:

I agree that time is not on our side. If we had a Marcus in the team already we could gamble on looking for hungry ones from lower but without an established striker to work alongside I think this would be a huge gamble. 

Surely Harry fits that category?

[Steph-H]

Hi its me back again.

Forgot my password for the old account so now under a different name.

I will probably be corrected by the moderator but as far as I know there were only 4 players with recent regular first team appearences. I speak of Forster, Parcell, Taafe and Beckles Richards. Of these BR and Taafe are not regular players in the first team.

With this line up we hit the bar twice and at least 2 open goals were very badly missed. The team that was picked was not our first team. Their goalkeeper was busier than Forster. Our defence looked reasonably solid (despite the goal which occurred when we had a period of sustained pressure). In other words it was not all doom and gloom and the manager had a chance to look at our strength in the reserves.

We have the same problem we have had all season we have not got a regular goal scorer and, until we do get a RGS, we will continue to struggle.