FT: Slough 0-1 Leyton

[michaelSTFC]

According to SKY, goal came on 51.

[Barry Scott]

i was going to resist the urge to post but... if we can make a team that are at best decidely average look like world beaters, lord knows how much we are going to get killed by the better teams in this division. We were absolute [****!!****] pony today

[Tom]

Disappointing 2nd half performance. Defensively I thought we looked pretty solid, but in midfield, which is supposed to be our strongest area we need someone that can WIN the ball. This was missing today and I dont understand why Eddie took Odhiambo off who was having a pretty good game when personally I think Alexis should have come off is beyond me. Wilko was sitting on the bench!

[Russ_Rebel]

Agree with Tom defence looked pretty solid but midfield just wasn't there and as for the strikers well who knows where our goals are going to come from.

Eddie obviously doesn't want to use substitutes either. When your one nil down with 15 min to go surely you bring on the subs to at least try and make a difference.

Come on you Rebels Harrow next lets look interested.

[Matt]

Very poor today. I have no doubt that most of these players have the potential to do well, but there were a lot of poor performances out there today. Ani worked hard but Wallace was under-par and hardly anything was created from midfield.

[Chris]

Right, here we go first rant of the season! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

 

I thought we did OK first-half and was pretty even, but second-half we were all over the place.

 

Plus points: I thought the back three were outstanding. Daly by far our best player followed closely by Lovegrove and Leach. Hopefully we should not concede as many as last season. First-half Anaclet looked lively as well as did Wallace. Drake also got more confident as the match progressed.

 

Minus Points: Really disappointed by the midfield today. That was our best area by far pre-season and we were awful there today. Glynn seemed more interested in arguing with the ref for a five-minute spell more than anything in the second-half and Mason went walkabout leaving Alexis pretty much on his own against the Leyton three.

 

That's why I felt quite sorry for Wallace and Anaclet as they had no service in the second-half from midfield, but they both did look shattered up front after about sixety minutes - Wallace in particular. We really need a targetman up there as well as we no longer win anything in the air up-front without Hodgey.

 

Also I thought Wallace and Alexis were lucky to stay on the pitch.

 

Other Thoughts: People mention the subs, but who is on the bench? Lets face it Harris was the only one likely to be used. Gibson is untried at this level, Wilko's hardly played any games during pre-season, Westy is 90 now, Mark Bartley is simply making up the numbers.

 

It will be a lot better on Tuesday with Jarvis and Dell (In particular) back. Dell can go right wing meaning G can move more upfield into a more attacking area. With two (and maybe more if Duncan and Moleski are back) it will give us more options on the banch.

 

Yes disappointing, but I think Tuesday will be more interesting if we get a few players back.

[Ted]

I didn't think that McCleary looked at all happy today playing in a defensive role, and although Ancalet showed good speed, I think that McCleary would have made more of the through balls had he played up front. I know that sometimes players have to play unfamiliar roles, but I think that McCleary is too useful upfront to waste in a position he was clearly unhappy with.

[Ted]

I didn't think that McCleary looked at all happy today playing in a defensive roll, and although Ancalet showed good speed, I think that McCleary would have made more of the through balls had he played up front. I know that sometimes players have to play unfamiliar roles, but I think that McCleary is too useful upfront to waste in a position he was clearly unhappy with.

[Reading Rebel]

First thought: what a load of s*ite.

 

Minus points:

 

Upfront Wallace was annonimous.

 

Midfield were totally ineffective with not a decent tackle between them.

 

Defensively I thought G was wasted at right back. I know we were short in that position but I would rather have seen Bartley or Rav play there, at least it would have been a more positive move to win the game.

 

Even after we conceded I was disappointed that the only tactical move Eddie made was to take Anna off, who I thought was probably our brightest spark. IMO the obvious switch would have been to push G up front either as a front three or in place of Wallace.

 

On the point of Gibson, I know he's untried but when your losing and one of your front two, and in fact most of your team, are having a poor game I thought it would have been an ideal opportunity to give him 15/20 minutes to see if he could change the game.

 

Plus points:

 

Anaclet, Daly

[Nathan]

Our only real idea was to clear the ball upfield to Odiambo who, although fast, didn't beat defenders and set up one-on-ones with the goalkeeper.

 

Would have made more sense to put three up front in place of a defender.

[Martin]

Very poor second half when we simply did not get going. The centre halves did ok but the problem as we all saw was the midfield did not click and provided no service for the front two. I actually felt sorry for Wallace and Ana as they had little service. Thought Ana tried really hard.

 

The obvious change to make was to get G in the final third which he found hard from right wing back. Would rather have seen anyone fill in there to allow G the chance to get us something from the game. Am sure we will better Tuesday as Dell will give us a better balance. Not sure who Jarvis will come in for but the one who misses out will be a trifle unlucky.

 

The atmosphere at the game was not good - we as fans seem to be waiting for something to happen on the pitch to get us going - when that isn't happening like today we can be pretty bloody quiet.

[Guest]

Yep, target man needed badly alongside Ani who worked his socks off. I know he had a job to do but I hope that ain't G's new posistion, apart from the one chance in the first half Slough only looked dangerous when he got the ball in there half down the flank. Blatent

[Guest]

bad day at the office.three in the middle of the park are all the same kind of players.need a ball winner in there 2 open things up.agree that tuesday will be better with dell back on the right and G upfront.3points needed.

[Staines-upon-Thames Rebel]

I know its ilegal to comment negativly about the manager on this site but is Eddie as great tacticaly as he is made out to be?

 

Todays game saw a single substitution that made no difference and was done too late - unlike the Leyton manager who put on 2 or 3 subs on to secure the points.

 

People will say "who was there to put on?" - well anyone to put us in a more attacking position would have done!

 

Eddie needs to be more decisive with subsitutions and make them count i.e. atacking players when we are down and early enough to make a difference - does he know that its not only injured players who can be subed?

[Reading Rebel]

I'm a bit concerned that the only tactical switch Eddie could come up with was a straight swop Harris for Ani when the game was crying out for G to go up front.

 

A tad concerning wouldn't you say?

[GarySTFC]

When Harris came on I was expecting him to go on the right and G upfront, so was a bit surprised when it didn't happen as G is obviously one of our key players and could have made things happen.

 

In the last 15-20 minutes, when they'd gone 4-5-1, we actually started to try and play it out from the back and through the midfield rather than over it and surprise, surprise, we actually started playing a bit better.

 

Atmosphere was non-existant today and there was little support for the team. Let's hope this can change for Tuesday.

[Barry Scott]

Quote:

Gary-STFC said:
Atmosphere was non-existant today and there was little support for the team. Let's hope this can change for Tuesday.

atmosphere, shatmosphere. As soon as the players start looking like they give a sh*t (wonderful motivational techniques from the manager there) then maybe we'll get behind them

[GarySTFC]

Reactive rather than pro-active then. Perhaps the players feel the same about the support?

[Barry Scott]

well its their job to go out and perform, not wait for the crowd to get behind them before they start playing

[Guest]

yes