Chesham United 1-3 Enfield Town

[The Crowing Cockerel]

5 hours ago, djwilf said:

Really bizarre how our best run of the season and results have coincided with the clown critics going so quiet.

 

Who d have thought it.

Clown critics? What are you talking about??

1. We're still odds on for relegation;

2. The upturn in form coincides with the manager finally regularly fielding 2 up front - one of whom has a bit of physical presence;

3. The change in formation has married-up with a change in tactics - getting it forward quickly - something which has come more naturally since Alfie Tuck returned home.

What I'm basically saying is that it seems to have taken the manager 2/3 of the season to assemble a squad and work out tactics which work at this level. So even with our budget it is possible. Why couldn't he have managed that during pre-season?

[symptomless]

4 hours ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

What I'm basically saying is that it seems to have taken the manager 2/3 of the season to assemble a squad and work out tactics which work at this level. So even with our budget it is possible. Why couldn't he have managed that during pre-season?

Both the board and management team have been honest to admit that this step up a level has been difficult. Professional clubs, established clubs, clubs with dedicated recruitment managers, clubs with vastly more resources and money, extra commitments and costs at this level

Add to that losing 4 top players at the start of the season the fact that they've managed to get us to this position at all is worth appreciation rather than judgement. 

[Towningaround]

Looks to me like the clown manager had been reading the forum, read what the clown critics had been saying and done exactly what they said.

The clown critics seem to have spotted a way of making life easier and getting some results, way before the clown manager and his clown assistant managed to work it out 🤣

That said, we far from out the woods and there are plenty of things that could be better…and there are many things that are no better now than they were when we were losing games. We’ve had some very nice rubs of the green and we’ve played some teams who haven’t been able to hit a cows backside with a banjo!!

15 games is still one hell of a long way to go to start talking about how well everyone’s doing. 

[DonnyNo6]

Another great result fellas.....👏

[Benjrider10]

I thought our performance away at Chesham was one of our best of the season, especially as we were without 2 of our starting back 4 (Henry Hawkins and Xavier Benjamin). I thought Hawkins in particular would be a huge miss, he has been in very good form, but Saturday's back 4 of Oyenuga, Parcell, Thompson and Stallard were excellent.

Bates in midfield is a breath of fresh air, always looking for an early forward pass which is just what the front 2 need. Kasimu and Chukwu did very well on Saturday receiving the ball with their back to goal, then either turning and attacking or laying off to another Town player. This run of wins is building confidence. Good that Kasimu was MOTM, the off the ball running that he (and Chukwu) has put in the last few games has been immense - a real difference maker. It is a matter of time before he starts scoring.

And a big shout out for Stallard who has taken his chance superbly. He is deceptively quick and has been excellent on the left. Lennon Peake had been one of our best players in that position and was terribly unlucky to have been injured by that disgraceful tackle at Weymouth, but football is all about being in the right place at the right time - well done to Stallard for slotting in so admirably.

Talking of being in the right place at the right time - we have an absolute master (Sam Youngs again!!) Though I can't see him being fit for Eastbourne if he went off with a tight hamstring.

Lastly, so good to see Ollie Knight back and playing well. I've always felt he was one who can cope with Step 2 and I hope he continues to get the chance. Give Kasimu and Chukwu a little time to get on his wavelength and his crosses from the left should be just what they need. Whatever starting combination the gaffer chooses, we have a strong starting 11 plus genuine options on the bench.

Amazing how much can change in just over 3 weeks. I'd given up hope after Weymouth 😉. Eastbourne at home tomorrow night will be tough but they won't be looking forward to it .....

Edited Monday at 13:39 by Benjrider10

[DonnyNo6]

1 hour ago, Benjrider10 said:

I thought our performance away at Chesham was one of our best of the season, especially as we were without 2 of our starting back 4 (Henry Hawkins and Xavier Benjamin). I thought Hawkins in particular would be a huge miss, he has been in very good form, but Saturday's back 4 of Oyenuga, Parcell, Thompson and Stallard were excellent.

Bates in midfield is a breath of fresh air, always looking for an early forward pass which is just what the front 2 need. Kasimu and Chukwu did very well on Saturday receiving the ball with their back to goal, then either turning and attacking or laying off to another Town player. This run of wins is building confidence. Good that Kasimu was MOTM, the off the ball running that he (and Chukwu) has put in the last few games has been immense - a real difference maker. It is a matter of time before he starts scoring.

And a big shout out for Stallard who has taken his chance superbly. He is deceptively quick and has been excellent on the left. Lennon Peake had been one of our best players in that position and was terribly unlucky to have been injured by that disgraceful tackle at Weymouth, but football is all about being in the right place at the right time - well done to Stallard for slotting in so admirably.

Talking of being in the right place at the right time - we have an absolute master (Sam Youngs again!!) Though I can't see him being fit for Eastbourne if he went off with a tight hamstring.

Lastly, so good to see Ollie Knight back and playing well. I've always felt he was one who can cope with Step 2 and I hope he continues to get the chance. Give Kasimu and Chukwu a little time to get on his wavelength and his crosses from the left should be just what they need. Whatever starting combination the gaffer chooses, we have a strong starting 11 plus genuine options on the bench.

Amazing how much can change in just over 3 weeks. I'd given up hope after Weymouth 😉. Eastbourne at home tomorrow night will be tough but they won't be looking forward to it .....

You can beat Eastbourne, just keep it on the deck, use pace and shift the ball quickly.

We played them a few weeks ago and they are huge, I'm 6'4'' and at least seven of them were my size or bigger, biggest side I've ever seen in person against Slough.  We drew 0-0 but you can see why they are up there.

[Barney]

7 hours ago, DonnyNo6 said:

You can beat Eastbourne, just keep it on the deck, use pace and shift the ball quickly.

We played them a few weeks ago and they are huge, I'm 6'4'' and at least seven of them were my size or bigger, biggest side I've ever seen in person against Slough.  We drew 0-0 but you can see why they are up there.

Unlikely to be one for the purists tomorrow then, we're pretty direct ourselves, or at least we're happy to get the ball forward quickly... Eastbourne is probably a free hit in my eyes - off the back of 4 wins we'll be confident at least, but the top sides in the division are a step up from the rest, so I'm not expecting much.

[The Crowing Cockerel]

20 minutes ago, Barney said:

Unlikely to be one for the purists tomorrow then, we're pretty direct ourselves, or at least we're happy to get the ball forward quickly... Eastbourne is probably a free hit in my eyes - off the back of 4 wins we'll be confident at least, but the top sides in the division are a step up from the rest, so I'm not expecting much.

The trouble is that with 14 games remaining, I'm not sure we can afford to write games off as 'free hits'. If we do then that means that we're writing off the fixtures in red. I don't know about you, but the rest of those fixtures look really really tough. Best guess would be that we need at least another 14 points to give ourselves a chance. There are some very tricky away fixtures there - Hornchurch, Salisbury, Slough, Hemel, Chelmsford. It means we most likely have to win our home games against Tonbridge, Hampton, Chippenham and St Albans, with a win or a couple of draws elsewhere.

Tue 18 Feb    H    Eastbourne Borough    National South    7.45pm          
Sat 22 Feb    H    Tonbridge Angels    National South    3pm          
Tue 25 Feb    A    Hornchurch    National South    7.45pm          
Sat 1 Mar    H    Dorking Wanderers    National South    3pm          
Sat 8 Mar    A    Salisbury    National South    3pm          
Tue 11 Mar    H    Hampton & Richmond Borough    National South    7.45pm          
Sat 15 Mar    H    Truro City    National South    3pm          
Sat 22 Mar    A    Slough Town    National South    3pm          
Sat 29 Mar    H    Chippenham Town    National South    3pm          
Sat 5 Apr    A    Hemel Hempstead Town    National South    3pm          
Sat 12 Apr    A    Chelmsford City    National South    3pm          
Fri 18 Apr    H    St Albans City    National South    3pm          
Mon 21 Apr    A    Boreham Wood    National South    3pm          
Sat 26 Apr    H    Worthing    National South    3pm          

Although, clearly if we keep up the current form we'll be safe by the middle of March!

[Barney]

Maybe free hit was the wrong phrase, I'm sure we'll do everything we can to try to get something out the game... I guess I'm saying that our survival doesn't hinge on the outcome of this one.

In spite of our recent form, I still think we're totally up against it, but there's a little hope now, whereas a couple of weeks ago there was pretty much zero (from me at least). We need to keep finding ways to pick up points, keep key players fit and get a fair bit of luck.. I'm just happy the season is still alive.

[The Crowing Cockerel]

The only way to play it has got to be to try and win every game. If we're going down lets take it to the final couple of games - and you never know, Boreham Wood and Worthing might just be looking to rest players with play-off places already in the bag...?

[andyetfc]

20 hours ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

The only way to play it has got to be to try and win every game. If we're going down lets take it to the final couple of games - and you never know, Boreham Wood and Worthing might just be looking to rest players with play-off places already in the bag...?

Shouldn’t the Town be doing this for every game?

[No bull Towner]

5 minutes ago, andyetfc said:

Shouldn’t the Town be doing this for every game?

We just have to accept that we are going to be outclassed by some and lose no matter what we do