Horsham 3 Billericay 1

[GazzaBTFC]

Well I said it on another thread, we are the masters of tripping ourselves up and today was no exception. Out thought and out fought until the last 20 when up steps their goalkeeper and make three or four superb saves. And we had an effort cleared off the line.

 

If I had a question to ask it would be why did we start with Billy Holland? Apart from working hard today, in my opinion, Joe Flack is our main striker next to Nathan Elder and I can't see any reason why he wasn't in the starting line up. Still, no one man can change a "team" performance but I would've preferred to have our strogest side out against Horsham.

 

I suppose we'll file that under "best forgotten" and look forward to next Saturday...

 

(PS - their number 2 and number 3 were quality...Both play acting got three of our players booked...nice one...[****!!****]).

[jl]

We defended poorly today and were punished for it.

 

Horsham looked one of the better teams we have faced this season but even so we should have converted more than one of our opportunites.

 

We played much too high up the park "against the slope" in the first half and were continually exposed by straightforward balls over the top. I was also surprised that at no point did we switch our wingers over giving Whelpdale a run at the fatboy 2, especially as he was getting no change out of the 3 who was a much better player.

 

I actually thought Holland worked hard today, but crucially missed his big chance when shooting straight at the keeper. There were a few players AWOL out there for most of the game - too many in the comfort zone and it's happening too often - mid-table obscurity beckons and it's quite hard to stomach.

 

Worster

Macca Heffer Blewitt Kerrers

Whelpdale Game (Dormer) Hunter Hodges (Burbridge)

Elder Holland (Flack 84th minute)

 

snu: Hill, Wayman

[Rick the Dick]

Quote:

jl said:
- too many in the comfort zone and it's happening too often - mid-table obscurity beckons and it's quite hard to stomach.

I think we're exactly where we were last season after 13 games in terms of W/D/L/Pts., so we know we can still get "in the mix" from here. But we'll need to shift up a gear to do it.

[The Town Crier]

 

Guys, I don’t know the answers to you questions but I think your own postings may point in the right direction.

 

Gazz,

you say we were out fought, so I would assume that you would have preferred our team to work harder...you then comment on how hard Billy worked.

 

I thought he worked his socks off for the team yesterday.

 

 

jl.

you mention their no 3 as being a good player, do you think if swapped, Lee could have done a suitable defensive job against him...might we have been further exposed?

……………………………………

 

We do seem to be getting one good performance, one bad performance at the moment, and that's why we get frustrated, and as was pointed out to me last night, we do at times become complacent, and that’s not acceptable.

 

Rick makes a good point re our position though, it's all to play for, and do-able. So let’s remain positive.

[jl]

Quote:

The Town Crier said:
jl.
you mention their no 3 as being a good player, do you think if swapped, Lee could have done a suitable defensive job against him...might we have been further exposed?

Let's be honest we don't have Lee in the side to do a defensive job on anyone. Wheldpdale was struggling against the three, it was surely worth 10 or 15 minutes to see how he got on on the other side. It's not as if we had a load to lose at 1-3.

You are right, it is frustrating. Of course we can't expect to win every game and Horsham looked decent. What I feel we can expect though is for every player to give it everything while they're on the pitch and IMO on Saturday some of them didn't do that.

We're still close enough if good enough.

[Simon BTFC]

We created chances, and on another day could have escaped with something from the game. The operative word there is escaped though, we defended poorly both individually and as a unit.

 

We have a poor recent record in league games at new grounds - in 3 seasons we've won just once, at Tonbridge in 04/05.

 

I thought Billy Holland played well, however I would like to see him do more in the box as a lot of his work seemed to be outside the danger area.

[Reading Rebel]

But, IMO your not as good this year as you were last year.

[Reading Rebel]

BTW why did Warren Ryan leave, again, IMO he was your best player.

[The Town Crier]

As I said jl, I didn't know the answers ,I merely offered an opinion that maybe it was the defensive qualities of Chris that led to him being matched against their left back.

It’s a good question though and one that Mat would be more than willing to answer.

 

Yep I have to agree, some of our players have underestimated what is expected and required week in and week out. One in Two isn't good enough.

[jl]

Quote:

Reading Rebel said:
But, IMO your not as good this year as you were last year.

BTW why did Warren Ryan leave, again, IMO he was your best player.

Just out of interest how many times did u see us and Ryan play last season and this season to form your opinion?

[Ryan.c]

Yesterday was disappointing for so many reasons. Not least because I thought we had enough chances throughout the game to take a point. But that's the difference I suppose. The successful sides take the chances when offered, the rest don't. Was suprised to see that Flack and Elder wasn't the preferred partnership and even more so to see Dormer on the bench. On a brighter note I thought Burbridge had a decent game when he came on. Consistency is the key word, we don't have it, and if we are to have any aspirations of a play-off place then we need to find it at Walton & Hersham next week and keep hold of it.

[GazzaBTFC]

I was just annoyed. There was nothing special about Horesham apart from the slope of the pitch, which they played to those conditions in the first half (with the exception of the "back pass" mix up between Heffer & Worster).

 

I agree with Ryan, consistancy is what we need. IMO we have the players to do it but have we the will? I'm sure that we do but it appeared to be missing for most of Saturday.

[nws]

Gazza

 

i didnt think they were' nothing special' when we played them and they made full advantage of the slope in the first half against us as well.

[The Town Crier]

Lets not get disrespectful of Horsham, they beat us fair and square and their League position is not to be sniffed at.

 

On paper we have quality in abundance, but as is often said, we don't play on paper.

 

Complacency crept into our game on Saturday, A decent pedigree will not win us games, our players need to work harder, and keep it simple. IF they do this, we will win more games than we lose.

[GazzaBTFC]

Apologies to Horsham...no disrespect was intended...I was looking at both teams from a quality point of view and not an effort point of view...Of which I BELIEVE we have "in abundance" (to quote TC)...unfortunately, we appear to lack on the effort at times.

[westy1234]

Having looked at the comments made i agree with most. We were out fought and we also didnt look like we wanted it enough saturday. Usually we look hungry to win the ball back and to keep possesion but this wasnt the case on sat. I felt Billy Holland ran his legs off and the other only player that seemed to have a bit of spirit in him was our keeper worster who made a decent save in first half and a very good double save on the line in second half with the goalmouth scramble, But if we are to move up the table we do need to beat teams near the top.

[paulc27]

as its all about opinions, here's mine!

against Dagenham on monday I thought we looked a very good 'team'. Yesterday we didnt really look like a team where as Horsham seemed to be more aware of each other. Pretty certain the slope tactic has been used many times by them. Also, against Dagenham we passed the ball really well,against horsham we didnt. Our lads against dagenham seem to thrive with the little bit of extra time they got on the ball but in our league its much more hurried.

I was surprised Leon played the 90 as he didnt have a good game at all. Lost possession way too much (nice that he applauded the travelling fans at the end when most of the others hurried off)

As for Billy, he certainly worked hard for the team but he didnt work their keeper enough, the one chance he had, which was a good one, he didnt take.

Matt Jones must feel like he is banging his head against a brick wall. How can we perform one week and not the next?

[Lufbra_Paul]

OK here's my take on things....

 

Yes we do have more technical ability than most teams in the RPL.

 

I also think our players are very well treated, given good support by fans who on the whole don't get on players backs too quickly and are fairly patient and understanding.

 

Our pitch is in good condition, the wages aren't the worst in the league.

 

Generally the players have it quite good, especially when you take a look at the condition of other clubs in this league. Yet I think some players take their favourable situation for granted and become complacent at times (echoing some of TC's points here). I think you have to take a look at our away record so far this season to see that maybe we've turned up at grounds just expecting to win, and with such an attitude have been well and truly beaten by teams we have the ability to beat (harrow, slough, ramsgate immediately spring to mind).

 

I believe that as a result of favourable conditions players have become a little complacent and 'comfortable' and as a consequence have lost a lot of 'hunger'. Technical ability will only take you so far. You have to be motivated and you have to be 'hungry' - the players must want to win the game, not just expect to win it.

 

I think therefore that some players have to take a long look at themselves and ask whether they really want to go to harrow on a tuesday night (for example), roll their sleeves up and get stuck in. If they don't want to then get players in who do.