Enfield Town vs Salisbury

[Towningaround]

You could stick Ronaldo up front for us at the moment and he’d struggle to score.

Losing Harley was a blow. He was one real outlet for deliveries into the box that we’ve replaced by playing a defender there. I imagine Hutchinson or any striker playing is probs as disheartened as anyone when they look at what may be created for them!

Alfie displays some lovely technique in tight areas in his own half and he loves to spray the ball around sideways but I’m yet to see a forward pass or something that opens up a defence. Have you?

Yesterday we toiled away with a line front man, with no wingers, no support and relied on banging the ball upto him in the hope something fell for us.

It was a thankless task.

I believe Hutchinson will get goals but we need to offer a little more help than we have recently. He has a decent goal record at this level and the one above which is more than anyone else in our squad has and so with some patience and some support I’m hopeful he’ll find some form.

I imagine having no game last weekend was probably the last thing he wanted having scored his first goal and I think it was a mistake to have not gone full strength v Athletic Newham last midweek and followed up the chesham game with a win and a few goals which would’ve done him and the teams confidence the world of good. 
 

[The Crowing Cockerel]

11 hours ago, Towningaround said:

You could stick Ronaldo up front for us at the moment and he’d struggle to score.

Losing Harley was a blow. He was one real outlet for deliveries into the box that we’ve replaced by playing a defender there. I imagine Hutchinson or any striker playing is probs as disheartened as anyone when they look at what may be created for them!

Alfie displays some lovely technique in tight areas in his own half and he loves to spray the ball around sideways but I’m yet to see a forward pass or something that opens up a defence. Have you?

Yesterday we toiled away with a line front man, with no wingers, no support and relied on banging the ball upto him in the hope something fell for us.

It was a thankless task.

I believe Hutchinson will get goals but we need to offer a little more help than we have recently. He has a decent goal record at this level and the one above which is more than anyone else in our squad has and so with some patience and some support I’m hopeful he’ll find some form.

I imagine having no game last weekend was probably the last thing he wanted having scored his first goal and I think it was a mistake to have not gone full strength v Athletic Newham last midweek and followed up the chesham game with a win and a few goals which would’ve done him and the teams confidence the world of good. 
 

Morning Jake!

I can only say it as I see it. Hutchinson seems to be more of a No.10 rather than an out and out goal-scorer. He has yet to convince that he can - or will - be prolific at this level now. Worthing obviously upgraded him for an ETFC old boy in Mo Faal. He had opportunities on Saturday and either blazed over or lost the ball. I very much hope he comes good, but I currently feel RBR offers a bit more.

[ETFC2001]

Agree TCC, I just don’t think he is a great player at all and he looks shot of confidence. I’ll back him every game when he starts or comes on but we need to be looking to get an actual striker that can create or help himself in situations, with a bit of pace and someone that puts in a bit more effort, that can hopefully put the goal in the net which would be alright too.

Yes, I agree Mills is a big loss but I think Payney done just fine on Saturday, obviously he’s not gonna be the same asset going forward but defensively looked sound, and he did come up when needed. Deliveries into the box weren’t great Saturday but he didn’t really look like he wanted any of them anyways. 

[Towningaround]

1 hour ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

Morning Jake!

Brilliant 👍👏👏 Genius that is. 🤡

 

1 hour ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

I can only say it as I see it. Hutchinson seems to be more of a No.10 rather than an out and out goal-scorer

Even more of a problem if he’s played as a lone striker then wouldn’t you say?

Gavin has said he’s looking for a mother striker, I’d very much imagine that given Ottaway seems off the radar and we’ve shown a desire to play two up front recently then it would be to play with him not replace him. 

Also seems odd if you consider him more of a 10 that your main complaint seems to be that he doesn’t look like scoring? 

1 hour ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

Worthing obviously upgraded him for an ETFC old boy in Mo Faal

Faal hasn’t set the world alight at Worthing but is probably being paid upwards of double what we’re paying. Are you going to dip your hand in your pocket?

 

1 hour ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

He had opportunities on Saturday and either blazed over or lost the ball

I don’t think he was great Saturday but he “blazed over” as you put it from 25 yards possibly trying a little too hard. He had 2 efforts inside the box that both got blocked but other than that I don’t recall a single clear cut chance created or missed other than midway thru first half where he did all the work to move it wide for a decent delivery for Leonard I think to force a save. It was probably the best move of the game for us. Other than that he was very isolated and did t get much help at all. 

 

1 hour ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

I very much hope he comes good, but I currently feel RBR offers a bit more.

If you were at Hampton and Rich (the last game RBR started you’ll have witnessed what I witnessed which was possibly the single worst display by a CF I’ve ever seen. RBR is a winger not a CF and it shows. Unfortunately we do t play with wingers which is a shame brocade I think it would make a huge difference.

[Towningaround]

1 hour ago, ETFC2001 said:

but we need to be looking to get an actual striker that can create or help himself in situations, with a bit of pace and someone that puts in a bit more effort, that can hopefully put the goal in the net which would be alright too.

Aaah that mythical striker who can conjure up chances from nowhere all by himself.  Yeah they exist. In Narnia. 

 

1 hour ago, ETFC2001 said:

I think Payney done just fine on Saturday, obviously he’s not gonna be the same asset going forward but defensively looked sound, and he did come up when needed. Deliveries into the box weren’t great Saturday but he didn’t really look like he wanted any of them anyways. 

Which is what I said isnt it? How is Payney doing well defensively helping the fact that we didn’t really look like scoring? More likely that was a contributing factor not a mitigating one!!!

As I said deliveries into the box weee dire if not non existent. And as for balls in behind…….well….🤯

[Towningaround]

In summary, I think Hutchinson will come good. He’s played 6 games and had 3 goal involvements. I think the only other player to have done that in the same period is Ottaway and both his goals were created by Hutchinson!

Minutes per goal involvement are circa 160 so a goal involvement just over every game and a half. He needs minutes and patience and some help! Albeit I would concede Saturday was probably his least effective game. 

Overall we look a far better side now than two months ago. Tuck, Thompson, Scott and Hutchinson are all improvements on what we had when the season started and signs are of gradual improvement if not the obvious ones we’d all like to see. 

We should’ve held on for 3 points v Chesham and we should’ve held on for 3 v Salisbury. That in itself puts us level on points with Bath.

Personally I’d have played a full strength side v Athletic Newham and won the game on the back of the disappointment v Chesham but this may not have been possible with injuries Hutchinson was clearly injured in that game and Ottaway only came on late and hasn’t been seen since) and id play a full strength tomorrow and go for a win which on the back of Saturdays draw would hold us in good stead before a winnable albeit cup game Saturday. 

Edited November 11 by Towningaround

[andyetfc]

Gavin brought in players with good intentions who did not come up to scratch and have left. Can anybody really see a quality goal scorer coming to the club at the moment?

[The Crowing Cockerel]

33 minutes ago, andyetfc said:

Gavin brought in players with good intentions who did not come up to scratch and have left. Can anybody really see a quality goal scorer coming to the club at the moment?

Well, I couldn't see a quality centre half coming to the club (Adam Thompson) or a decent ball-winning midfielder (Christian Scott), so maybe, just maybe, he can tempt Jermaine Defoe to have one final stint in North London?

[ETFC2001]

3 hours ago, Towningaround said:

Aaah that mythical striker who can conjure up chances from nowhere all by himself.  Yeah they exist. In Narnia. 

Not really what I said though is it, at every step there is strikers who can create chances for teammates or create chances for themselves. Hutchinsons best game was against Chesham, where he showed a little bit of grit and effort in winning second balls and latching onto loose balls, which got us our first goal in that game.

You can say that Hutchinson isn’t getting service or he isn’t getting that or this or that excuse, maybe he’s just not very good? I’m not one to be negative about players at games or be negative about players on this forum but what if he’s just not very good? 

Why do you think we need world beaters around him for him to get chances and score? He doesn’t occupy defenders, he doesn’t run, he doesn’t come short and look to help the buildup and he doesn’t look dangerous when he gets on the ball. His confidence looks shot and every fan will still support and back him every game but he shouldn’t be a starter at this level, I also don’t think RBR should be a starter upfront so we should be looking to upgrade.

Edit: I’m also not saying Hutchinson is the ONLY reason we struggle every week to score and have a negative 20 goal difference but I think we do need an improvement up top. 

Edited November 11 by ETFC2001

[The Crowing Cockerel]

4 hours ago, Towningaround said:

Brilliant 👍👏👏 Genius that is. 🤡

 

Even more of a problem if he’s played as a lone striker then wouldn’t you say?

Gavin has said he’s looking for a mother striker, I’d very much imagine that given Ottaway seems off the radar and we’ve shown a desire to play two up front recently then it would be to play with him not replace him. 

Also seems odd if you consider him more of a 10 that your main complaint seems to be that he doesn’t look like scoring? 

Faal hasn’t set the world alight at Worthing but is probably being paid upwards of double what we’re paying. Are you going to dip your hand in your pocket?

 

I don’t think he was great Saturday but he “blazed over” as you put it from 25 yards possibly trying a little too hard. He had 2 efforts inside the box that both got blocked but other than that I don’t recall a single clear cut chance created or missed other than midway thru first half where he did all the work to move it wide for a decent delivery for Leonard I think to force a save. It was probably the best move of the game for us. Other than that he was very isolated and did t get much help at all. 

 

If you were at Hampton and Rich (the last game RBR started you’ll have witnessed what I witnessed which was possibly the single worst display by a CF I’ve ever seen. RBR is a winger not a CF and it shows. Unfortunately we do t play with wingers which is a shame brocade I think it would make a huge difference.

Hi again, Jake's Dad!

The main issue for me is: if he's not a No.10, what type of forward is he? He's struggling to hold the ball up / win anything in the air (so not in the Simon Thomas, Jake Cass, Adam Cunnington mould). He's not quick enough to run in behind or beat a player or two (like Lennon Peake, Lyle Della Verde, Martin St Hillaire). At present he seems very much a luxury player. I'm not saying he's not putting in effort, but he doesn't seem to be in the same ballpark as forwards like Liam Nash etc. Granted, I'm sure he's cheaper - but he's cheaper for a reason.

Edited November 11 by The Crowing Cockerel

[ETFC2001]

48 minutes ago, andyetfc said:

Gavin brought in players with good intentions who did not come up to scratch and have left. Can anybody really see a quality goal scorer coming to the club at the moment?

To be honest if you asked me a month back probably not, but with the signing of Thompson and the loans of Tuck and Scott, I’m sure we can find someone that always has a goal in them, or a hungry player that wants to prove and to get some game time and improve before they can start for their parents clubs.

[4wembleyfinals]

Can't add much to what has already been said.

However, I must have been asleep these past few weeks and on awaking I am left wondering from whose hat did Whittiker appear from. Perhaps some one could enlighten me because I cannot find any mention of him on any of the official clubs news before last Saturday.

Perhaps his arrival was announced by word of mouth as he is using a nom de plume to hide is real identity!!! 

Mind you I did enjoy the item about the Irish film. Although there was no mention as to whether anyone in the cast would make a good striker!! 

 

 

 

Edited November 11 by 4wembleyfinals

[ETFC2001]

37 minutes ago, 4wembleyfinals said:

Can't add much to what has already been said.

However, I must have been asleep these past few weeks and on awaking I am left wondering from whose hat did Whittiker appear from. Perhaps some one could enlighten me because I cannot find any mention of him on any of the official clubs news before last Saturday.

Perhaps his arrival was announced by word of mouth as he is using a nom de plume to hide is real identity!!! 

Mind you I did enjoy the item about the Irish film. Although there was no mention as to whether anyone in the cast would make a good striker!! 

 

 

 

Not sure if it’s permanent or a loan or he was just there for the fun of it but the last I can find is him playing for Hemel Hempstead. He was a Spurs U18 academy player who didn’t look too bad from what the stats say. Only 21 though 

Edit: Looks like he’s also played for St Albans this season so who knows where he’s come from. 

Edited November 11 by ETFC2001

[Towningaround]

48 minutes ago, ETFC2001 said:

Not really what I said though is it, at every step there is strikers who can create chances for teammates or create chances for themselves

No they don’t really. They need movement from other players, they need the ball to be put into the right areas - at the right time, (and this doesn’t mean set up as a chance but it needs to be something that can make a defender or a GK make a mistake), they need a little bit of luck, they need to be persistent in being in the right place every time rather than the right place at the right time, they need other players to press and force mistakes…..

No one ever scored a goal by themselves however you want to slice it.

Also hes shown the ability to create chances for others in the way I’ve described. The winning goal v Weymouth was from him putting a defender under pressure to force a weak clearance. He also showed the pace to run in behind in the game when a lovely ball from Mills put him through and the keeper did well. 
 

Against Farnborough he made the goal for Ottaway that put us a goal up and also created a chance late on with a clever reverse pass that lead to Mills having a decent effort. 

Against Aveley he created the second goal for Ottaway. He also tried to hard to create another and should’ve shot (agreed it looked like a lack of confidence).

I thought Welling was incredibly poor from everyone but then as you say he scored and was a threat all game v Chesham.

Saturday was his least effective game but was very isolated up top on his own with the loss of Mills making life even more difficult than usual. 
 

Im not saying he’s been a shining light but I think he’s improved us and I think there’s more to come. As I say he’s had 3 goal involvements in 6 games and no one else has done that!!

1 hour ago, ETFC2001 said:

You can say that Hutchinson isn’t getting service or he isn’t getting that or this or that excuse, maybe he’s just not very good? I’m not one to be negative about players at games or be negative about players on this forum but what if he’s just not very good? 

 

Of course everyone’s entitled to their opinion on that but he doesn’t look like someone who’s not very good to me and anyone who’s scored goals in the national league prem has to have something about them as well as having 4 years as a pro under their belts.

 

1 hour ago, ETFC2001 said:

Why do you think we need world beaters around him for him to get chances and score?

I don’t. But I do think he needs a partner up front who’s also helping occupy more often than not 3 Centre backs and I do think he needs the ball to be delivered earlier and into better areas to either run onto like v Weymouth or to get on the end of from wide. That’s all any striker wants / needs. 

 

1 hour ago, ETFC2001 said:

He doesn’t occupy defenders, he doesn’t run, he doesn’t come short and look to help the buildup and he doesn’t look dangerous when he gets on the ball

No it’s hard to occupy 3 Centre backs on your own (which is what most teams play in this league) especially when most weeks the opposition dominate the ball and the territory. As I’ve said several times now, I agree Saturday he was poor but I’ve seen enough evidence to see that he does run and he can come short and link play. When Ottaway was playing it was clearly his role to show feet and the Hutchinson to run off him. I thought they were starting to look quite effective.

We’re throwing the baby out with the bath water here because 90 mins ago you’re saying he looked a real threat doing those things!!

1 hour ago, ETFC2001 said:

His confidence looks shot and every fan will still support and back him every game but he shouldn’t be a starter at this level, I also don’t think RBR should be a starter upfront so we should be looking to upgrade.

I agree he looks low on confidence which is why I’d stick with him and play him. He’s scored goals at this level and the level above and so we need to find a way of building his confidence not writing it off. He’s been a regular starter at this level previously and scored a lot of goals. I think it’ll come. Hopefully soon!!

 

1 hour ago, ETFC2001 said:

Edit: I’m also not saying Hutchinson is the ONLY reason we struggle every week to score and have a negative 20 goal difference but I think we do need an improvement up top. 

That’s fine and I enjoy the debate when it’s constructive like this. 👍 Well all have varying opinions this is just mine, that’s all 👍

[Towningaround]

1 hour ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

Hi again, Jake's Dad!

Genius again. 

have you ever considered a career on stage?

At least ETFC2001 has the knowledge or intelligence to debate constructively. 

Im neither Jake or his dad or indeed any other family member but if I was it wouldn’t make a difference in debating what I see with other people and what they see. Being different doesn’t make me wrong even if I am challenging a regular forum negative contributor. 

 

1 hour ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

The main issue for me is: if he's not a No.10, what type of forward is he?

You said he’s a no 10 not me. I think he’s a goal scorer and goal scorers need the ball delivered into the right areas. If we’d seen him missing chances and couldn’t finish I’d be worried about his level but as it is I’m worried about those who are meant to be creating them because they’re not!

 

1 hour ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

He's struggling to hold the ball up / win anything in the air (so not in the Simon Thomas, Jake Cass, Adam Cunnington mould). He's not quick enough to run in behind or beat a player or two (like Lennon Peake, Lyle Della Verde, Martin St Hillaire)

Again I think your comments are based on Saturday more than they are previous games. Saturday he was poor but he was isolated and received no real help (and didn’t help himself much either).

But he has shown he can hold it up, and he’s shown he can run in behind. He has scored and he has created. I’d wager he’s miles quicker than Lennon.

Edited November 11 by Towningaround

[ETFC2001]

You make some good points Towningaround, and maybe me and a number of other towner fans are being a little harsh on him. I think he’s just really struggling for confidence and I hope we take a strong team to Hanwell tomorrow, including Hutchinson so if it is just a confidence thing he can bag a couple hopefully. Then again, I don’t think he does anything else well but if he’s scoring he could be invisible for 85 minutes for all I care!

I agree Ottoway and Hutchinson didn’t look too bad together but now Ottoway has broken his toe (what I heard behind the goal on Saturday) I don’t think he can play as a lone striker up top. He needs someone to play off him, which is why I think we should get a little more pace until we get a SS. Peake is another player where he should be a luxury, not starting up front. I reckon Gavin will keep changing it (Hutchinson - RBR, Hutchinson - Whittaker) etc until something sticks or maybe he diverts from playing 3-5-2. 

 

[The Crowing Cockerel]

3 hours ago, Towningaround said:

Genius again. 

have you ever considered a career on stage?

At least ETFC2001 has the knowledge or intelligence to debate constructively. 

Im neither Jake or his dad or indeed any other family member but if I was it wouldn’t make a difference in debating what I see with other people and what they see. Being different doesn’t make me wrong even if I am challenging a regular forum negative contributor. 

 

You said he’s a no 10 not me. I think he’s a goal scorer and goal scorers need the ball delivered into the right areas. If we’d seen him missing chances and couldn’t finish I’d be worried about his level but as it is I’m worried about those who are meant to be creating them because they’re not!

 

Again I think your comments are based on Saturday more than they are previous games. Saturday he was poor but he was isolated and received no real help (and didn’t help himself much either).

But he has shown he can hold it up, and he’s shown he can run in behind. He has scored and he has created. I’d wager he’s miles quicker than Lennon.

I don't care whether you are Jake, Jake's Mum or Gavin! In fact, I would positively welcome players/management contributing on here! Your detailed defence of Jake suggests that you have some kind of vested interest, but I repeat: I have no problem with that provided you are transparent. The fact of the matter is that we are all on the same side. We all want Town to succeed and pull off what would now be a Great Escape. I will be delighted if Jake bags another 20 goals this season and rescues us. If Gavin can recruit a quality striker to play alongside Jake then we shall see whether your faith is well-founded. We are already making more chances than we did 10 games ago. Fingers crossed we can continue the upward trajectory with some tough games coming up.

[ETFC2001]

51 minutes ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

don't care whether you are Jake, Jake's Mum or Gavin! In fact, I would positively welcome players/management contributing on here!

I would love for this to happen actually. Didn’t someone say that another clubs players/manager do this on here aswell? Correct me if I’m wrong because I haven’t been on here long but has any ex or now Enfield Town players came on here and explained or just answered a few questions?

[The Crowing Cockerel]

1 hour ago, ETFC2001 said:

I would love for this to happen actually. Didn’t someone say that another clubs players/manager do this on here aswell? Correct me if I’m wrong because I haven’t been on here long but has any ex or now Enfield Town players came on here and explained or just answered a few questions?

We've had a couple of guest appearances on here over the years - one promotion-winning former Town manager got a little feisty a few years back, and a couple of players have also commented in the past. For the most part they watch quietly from the shadows though. The Slough player-manager, Scott Davies, has been known to interact on their forum.

[Benjrider10]

The changes Gavin has made to the back 4 and the midfield have clearly strengthened the squad but we're still missing team spirit. I hope the player turnover rate slows because team spirit is what got us promoted last year. Can't put a price on it, nor it it easy to build. Last year's "European tour" (including Wales!) was a complete game-changer for building that team spirit. 

Re the Salisbury match, it's been interesting to read all the views here. I missed the first half entirely - A10 traffic was beyond a nightmare - but thought we played well in the second half. But our set up i.e. lone striker up top, means we don't create many chances. I was disappointed to read that Ollie Knight has gone out on dual registration - he is the one true winger in the squad who can put in the type of cross that Hutchinson/Ottaway/[enter name here] etc. need. Without crosses into the box we're relying on half chances/lucky bounces. Having said that, I thought Lennon Peake played well on Saturday, but he's not really an out and out winger. I agree with others who think we need further reinforcement up front.