Today

[hopeful]

well said emily,sometimes hoofing it does work with 10 mins to go and youve got big strong players, which we havent, so why do we do it, is it the players or mr L Ds tactics. talking of tactics why are we so late in bringing on subs when we go behind,last week we were 1-2 down at half time with sodje and debolla on the bench and thats where they stayed.L D should mix it up much quicker than he does.Also with no keeling weve got no one to get past defenders and get a good cross in.

[Harry J Allstars]

"The Goal" definitly looked in to me but as Slarti says if it had of gone in it would have meant the reply would have been Tuesday in Norbiton which is a horrible place to get to. The ground is about 15 minutes from the station. Plus I'm going to a gig on Tuesday night so didn't want to miss that.

[BustaGut]

Look on the bright side, If fax lose there replay, we can play them again when the next FA Trophy round is played.

[GaryFB]

Have to say that I'm always loathe to criticise officials, especially as anyone who saw me referee would know what I was like. However I thought the referee was poor today, his positioning wasn't very good, his interpretation of handball, for both teams, was dreadful and his decision making wasn't too good either.

 

Having said that I don't think we deserved to win but we didn't deserve to lose. AFCW scored from their only clear cut chance of the game and we failed to convert ours, not that we had many either.

 

My feelings regarding the team echo most previous postings in that we certainly miss Macca defensively but also for his distribution. How many time today did James Smith hoof the ball forward rather aimlessly? And for all that Liam thinks of Luke Moore, and he does loads of running, he hardly ever wins a header and is easily knocked off the ball. His choice of pass is more often than not wrong as well.

 

Still, at least we won't have any cup competitions to distract us from pushing on in the league. Today was just very disappointing all round.

[Hirsty]

Originally Posted By: Chatham Gary

OK, AFC were dirty, the ref was a bufoon, but we were bloody awful too!!
Why wasn't Quinny replaced until 70 mins?
He had a mare, and must have been glad to be taken off.
Smudger kept treading on the ball, roll on when Macca is back.
This only shows up our shortcomings;
Lack of defensive cover,
Lack of striking otions,
Lack of strength when we neen to outmuscle opponents.
Lack of squad depth at present.
As Emily said, why play hoof it football?
We all know it doesn't work, so why do it???????

The usual old sh*t CG ( your posting that is !)

oh....just one more thing....roll on when Macca is back...would that be the same Macca who you said was not fit to be captain as he always got sent off ( or words along that line )......you continue to twist and turn like a big twisty turny thing ( as per Blackadder series two ).

Cheers,

[Hempstead Gaz]

You must be the only person out of the 2000+ who were there who thinks that route 1 works then, Hirsty.

Sorry if you disagree - but we were crap today.

The substitutions should have been made at 60 minutes - Purcell for Coleman, DeBolla for Quinn and Akinde for Smith.

 

And what changes would YOU have made Hirsty?

 

Or would you have made any as you seem content with the performance?

 

[PatMan]

Originally Posted By: Chatham Gary

You must be the only person out of the 2000+ who were there who thinks that route 1 works then, Hirsty.
Sorry if you disagree - but we were crap today.
The substitutions should have been made at 60 minutes - Purcell for Coleman, DeBolla for Quinn and Akinde for Smith.

Perm any two from that three Gary - the way AFC were kicking lumps out of anything that moved, there was always a chance that a sub may have been needed!

[Hirsty]

1 in 2000....makes me feel very special...thanks.

 

I have my own ideas on the game & in football in general.....but don't like to shout them from the roof tops, so to speak. ( ok....put Ronaldo, Gerrard & Fabregas in midfield !!! )

 

There is always room for improvement....which is mainly bringing in better players ( or maybe management ?)....but they cost money...usually lots of....so, unless you empty your Post Office account and chuck yer money in.....and maybe join that gentlemen's club that you have referred to ( i.e. the Board )....then we have to make do with the current situation.

 

One week you say Liam is the dog's [****!!****]...the next you say it's just [****!!****]. You turn more than the tide !

 

I respect your right to voice your opinion, but, without loads of dosh, what do you propose to rectify the points/criticisms that you have made ?

 

..and nice to see you avoided responding to the Macca comment !

 

Have a nice week....

 

 

 

 

[Stu M]

I think this, from an AFCW report, sums it up exactly. And it's not just today, it's every time we play a lower-league side:

 

"We expected a response, but the Fleet never got their act together. The Dons' harrying stopped them working any decent moves, and a Quinn header cleared off the line by Daly (the home support seemed to feel it might have crossed the line) was as good as it got for them. They never had a spell of pressure, or forced us onto the back foot, and even when they were in the box their general standard of finishing was so poor you never felt a goal was genuinely in the offing."

[Hempstead Gaz]

Originally Posted By: Hirsty

1 in 2000....makes me feel very special...thanks.

I have my own ideas on the game & in football in general.....but don't like to shout them from the roof tops, so to speak. ( ok....put Ronaldo, Gerrard & Fabregas in midfield !!! )

There is always room for improvement....which is mainly bringing in better players ( or maybe management ?)....but they cost money...usually lots of....so, unless you empty your Post Office account and chuck yer money in.....and maybe join that gentlemen's club that you have referred to ( i.e. the Board )....then we have to make do with the current situation.

One week you say Liam is the dog's [****!!****]...the next you say it's just [****!!****]. You turn more than the tide !

I respect your right to voice your opinion, but, without loads of dosh, what do you propose to rectify the points/criticisms that you have made ?

..and nice to see you avoided responding to the Macca comment !

Have a nice week....

Not good enough, Hirsty.
You are quick enough to criticise - but are too defensive when asked to form an opinion yourself.
Why not share your thoughts on here?

If we had a better centre half available, then Smudger would no doubt have been on the bench. BUT, as we are so short of defenders at the club, there was simply no one who could play. Macca this season has played very well - far better than I thought he would. He still gets caught out by pacy forwards - only to be expected from someone the wrong side of 33.
I said we could do with another defender - make that at least 2.
Trying to run a full time Conference team pushing for a play off spot requires better numbers than Ricketts (injured) R Smith, J Smith, MaCarthy, (banned), Hawkins and Opinel (who has yet to start a game as a full back!!).
No wonder Liam prefers playing only 3 at the back, he hardly has any spare defenders.

Today we had none.

As for rectifying the situation - we need more fans.
Simple really.

How we get them is more difficult.

The problem is, every time we get the chance to shine - improve our publicity, get extra prize money, get a higher profile, we blow it. Every time. Without fail.


It is not just a question of wealthy board members throwing money at the club, we must get and keep new fans.
Without fail, we spurn the opportunities afforded to us.
Perhaps the club don't feel the Kent Senior Cup. or the FA Cup or the FA trophy are worth winning, but all carry prize money, which can be used to improve the squad.

How we win those matches I do not know.

That is what LD and AK are paid to work out.

Well as we are doing in the league, I cannot see us realistically making the play offs unless we add to the squad.

We desparately needed a good cup run to help that cause, but it now looks as if we will have to stick with the squad that we have.

[Hempstead Gaz]

Oh, and one more question.

Do you agree with our tactic when kicking off, of striker, passing to co-striker, who passes it to midfielder who then blasts the ball into touch towards the corner flag.

Pure class.

Not.

 

So WHY, do we do it?

[David Holden]

Quote:

Opinel (who has yet to start a game as a full back!!).

Sure about that?

[Hempstead Gaz]

For the pedants, he rarely stsrts as full back!!

 

And why did Harry leave the 50/50 draw until injury time?

 

Thought he had forgotten to draw the winning ticket!!

[Graham S]

Originally Posted By: Chatham Gary

And why did Harry leave the 50/50 draw until injury time?

Thought he had forgotten to draw the winning ticket!!

It took him ages to get round, so a lot of the AFC crew must have bought tickets. He always comes to the centre stand last & the ticket is drawn straight after that.

Can't have been far into injury time, if at all, because I was there to see the bloke 2 to my left win it. I vacated my seat shortly after the 5 minutes extra card went up, to watch out the remainder of the match from the corner flag at the Plough End, because I could not bear to be in the stand at the final whistle & be deafened by the noisy Wimbledon contingent in the wing stand.

Graham S

[BustaGut]

If by any freak of nature we made the play offs, and then the Football League.Games like today show we are not good enough.Todays game was not a one off this season.Play the big clubs and yes they are up for it, make them favourites and we fall to pieces.I feel we need to make ourselves a feared team in the conference, build up a good fan base, before we even think about promotion.If going pro improved out teams fitness etc,what happened today, In my opinion, the Dons wanted it more.

[John Pearce]

Once again, yesterdays match shows the current squads inability to break-down a team from a lower division.

 

For much of yesterday's game it was difficult to identify which team was full-time and which was from the lower league.

 

The truth of the matter is that Wimbledon wanted it more.

 

Yes their tactics appeared at time to be somewhat robust, yes the referee was poor, but the bottom-line is that a full-time squad of players should have been able to break that down and get the result.

 

Usual big-hoof down the middle got its usual results against a defence that had two big central defenders.....nothing.

 

I don't know whether the ball crossed the line or not, to be honest that is almost irrelevant. The 'Fleet should have been professional enough to have won whether that 'goal' had counted or not. On Radio Kent LD complained that Cronin had had virtually nothing to do during the whole game, as if that was somekind of indication as to how the 'Fleet had deserved something from the game. The truth is that the Wimbledon 'keeper had virtually nothing to do either. Very little pressure was put on their defence during the whole game, quite frankly the Wimbledon defence must have been surprised just how easy Saturday's game was for them.

 

All of that said, I thought the 'Fleet did reasonably well having played the entire game with just 10 men on the pitch. Why Liam Daish continues to persist with Luke Moore is beyond me.

 

In time he just might have the ability etc to make it in the Conference, but for now NO! He is too light weight, can't head a ball, doesn't appear to know how to jump for a ball and his ball control is questionable.

 

With Macdonald injured (hopefully for not too long) and LD's refusal to play DeBolla as an out and out striker, if the club has to rely on a strike force of Sodje and Moore for too long than forget any outside chance of getting into the play-offs. The transfer window is now open, let hope LD takes this opportunity to bring-in a new striker, ideally someone who can head the ball, hold the ball up and be a traget for the long hoofs down the middle that the defence seems to want to continue with.

[Unrecognized Genius]

For once, I almost entirely agree with the last poster.

 

With 1 major exception: feel you are much too hard on Luke Moore. Like most of the younger players, he struggles to play against big physical sides. Yesterday, he was ineffectual & looked lightweight, but he has played very well this season, both up front, eg v Crawley & at Grays & when pressed into midfield earlier in the season.

 

We do need another striker with experience, but my priority would be effective cover at the back for Paul McCarthy. Though I don't think his absence contributed to yesterday's defeat, it has done on many other occasions.

 

EC

[EUFC superb]

Originally Posted By: Chatham Gary

The substitutions should have been made at 60 minutes - Purcell for Coleman, DeBolla for Quinn and Akinde for Smith.

To be fair to Liam Daish, I looked over to the bench, and he was going to make them earlier but we were attacking, and were just about to get that header cleared off the 'line' (if you can call the line a yard into the goal). So if he'd continued to make the change early then it would've taken the subs time to settle in and the attack would've gone.

[jc]

Originally Posted By: kevthegnfcfan

Did not surprise me that we lost, we have a habit of losing to Ryman Premier League opposition, hence Bromley, Tonbridge Angels, Chelmsford City, Boreham Wood, and now AFC Wimbledon. The Ryman Premier League haunts us still.

It's also worth noting that Daish has won only three out of nine Trophy or Cup matches against lower-division opposition since he joined the Fleet - an alarmingly poor record:

3 wins (Slough Town, East Thurrock United, Havant and Waterlooville)
1 draw (Bishop's Stortford (first leg))
5 defeats (Bishop's Stortford (second leg), Kettering Town, Boreham Wood, Chelmsford City, AFC Wimbledon).

People may have commented that we didn't want a replay, but I would gladly have taken one. League matches, apart from Oxford at the moment, bring in little extra revenue, but the Trophy certainly can (for a start, the replay would have provided us with some more money from healthy gate receipts). Our last chance of such a cash boost this season has now passed.

[mikefleet]

slough?