Marlow 2-0 Slough

[Chris]

Another defeat for the Rebels in a strange sort of game. Thought we bossed the game in terms of posession, especially first-half but you just had the feeling that Marlow would score and it would be one of those days.

 

Played some nice football first-half especially but create little apart from a rocket shot from Terry Davies that cannoned off the bar.

 

Second-half they missed two early chances before a player a use to play against reguarly at kids level Scott Webb scored for Marlow.

 

I personally thought when CJ went off injured Wilko should have bought Deaner/Faircluff and pushed Davies wide left.

 

Still worries in central midfield. George, Mets and Roddis all want to be the holding midfielder and whilst we only have them there seems to be nobody pushing forward from midfield.

 

Also need a right-sidedplayer desperately IMO for what it's worth.

[Martin]

I'll post this here instead.

 

First half was adequate. Marlow failed to threaten much. We had a stonewall penalty appeal turned down after Terry was tripped in the box. He got angry and thundered one against the bar but that was our last threat.

 

Second half was woeful. Mills and CJ went off with knocks and we lost our shape and attacking threat. Woody and CJ seemed to work well on the left but no-one was attacking CJ's crosses and Woody's didn't even stay on the pitch.

 

Roddis and Deaner are not fit enough or good enough to be playing in the team. Nick should concentrate on coaching and Deaner should leave playing to people who can run and make decent connections with the ball. I also think Daly should be pensioned off. If we can't afford decent players then we should get young hungry players in who are prepared to run their nuts off.

 

Team and my rating out of 10: France 3, Mills 7, Daly 5, Harper 5, Bartley 5, George 5, Davies 6, Mets 4, Woody 5, CJ 6, Miller 5.

 

Subs: Deaner 1, Roddis 0, Browne 3.

[Guest Poor]

Ok we were unlucky to go in at 0-0 and them still have 11 outfielders on the pitch. But, WTF happened in the 2nd half. They should have got 3 or 4. Barts and Mills were MOM for me, but Daly really worried me, he goes up to attack, wanders back to defend for a bit, stands in the semi circle and put his hands on his hips whilst they attack and score.... Is this a captains example? And whats was Roddis doing with his passing, on the ground i think he only ever passed to blue shirts and then he topped it off with a moon ball 80 foot up to out strike force (average size 5'7) to compete against theior defence (Average height 6'2) Marlow were poor and deserved a better result in the end. If we cant sort this out i see us dropping another league. AND WHY NOT PLAY FAIRCLUFF (SP?)

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

I think you mean 'centre circle' not semi circle.

[Martin]

I share your opinion Poor.

[Nathan]

Terry Davies - is the only player who looked like scoring.

 

Matt Miller - granted he does not get much service, but wastes what he see of the ball and has little ability in the air.

 

Andy Deaner - typical 100% Andy Deaner commitment, but no skill.

 

Leon Woodruffe - can run occasionally, but can't cross the ball to save his life.

 

Nick Roddis - can't pass the ball or tackle. Waste of space.

 

Christian Metcalfe - Another waste of space.

 

Clement James - MOTM IMO. Faded a bit in 2nd half.

 

 

Today Marlow, with alot of muscle but very little skill made us look like a complete bunch of muppets, especially in defence. After an okay first half, we rolled over and died and didn't have a single shot of note on target in the second half. Leon Woodruffe's scuffed crosses were the closest we got to actual efforts, yet Marlow wasted at least 3 very good chances.

 

Granted they should have had a bloke sent off in the first half, and we should have had a penalty as well, and the officials made lot of very odd decisions, but there is no excuse for falling apart like that, especially as we were well on top in the first half.

[Tom]

Faircluff strikes me as another Gibson case (young striker from last year) bags of potential but what whatever reason can't get a game. Shame really as he looked good against Taunton.

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

Agreed, hope he can get a few games so we can see what hes got.

[Slough_Duck]

I agree that it was a bit of a strange game, we probably had more possesion, but never really looked like scoring. First half thought we were better, especially towards the end. How it wasn't a penalty and only a talking to for the punch on the floor I don't know, but to blame refereeing decisions would be wrong, we just didn't have the killer instinct.

 

Second half we started ok, but as soon as CJ went off we lost all shape and went to pieces. Marlow missed a couple of sitters and although were poor themselves had the better of the second half, in fact all through the game looked most likely to score.

 

Our trouble is playing long ball game to two of the shortest strikers in the game, leaving them chasing down balls to try and provide for themselves. But when we played football on the deck and particulary on the left, we looked a lot better (admittedly couldn't get much worse). We got some very good crosses in but no one attacked it.

 

It was also disappointing to see the team arguing amongst themselves at the end, in the centre circle. But I suppose at least it shows they care.

 

Overall disappointing, but I don't think all doom and gloom, we've shown glimpses, but thats all its been. We need to get it right for a whole 90 mins.

[Chris]

Oh and were bottom of the league!

[brighton_rebel]

[****!!****] great - six hour round trip and i lose my phone.

will we ever win again?

[Reading Rebel]

To start on a possitive note, I thought yesterdays performance was a big improvement on the Taunton and Thatcham games.

 

I think we were the better team throughout the match, especially in the first half and only became ragged when we had to chase the game after the blunder (probably harsh but he did spill the ball) by our keeper gave Marlow the lead.

 

With Mills returning to the defence we looked reasonably solid at the back. Steve Daly would still be my first choice defender if only for his heading ability, without him I think we would leak even more goals especially from set pieces.

 

One question I will ask again though is does Steve Daly attend training because looking at his level of fitness I would say he just turns up for matches. The same could be said of Metcalf because his running ability is zero.

 

We looked good down the left flank with Woody and CJ showing their class, if only Woody could cross the ball.

 

It's the same old chestnut but we are too lightweight/slow in midfield and lightweight in attack and until we rectify this we are going to struggle to avoid relegation.

 

I never saw the Woody incident but if nothing else it does show he took the defeat badly and how much he wanted to win the game.

 

As for substitutions, if I was Wilko I'd dread putting any subs on with these to choose from, Braich, Browne, Roddis, Deaner.

 

Not sure about Faircluth, against Taunton he did a lot of huffing and puffing without looking anything out of the ordinary.

 

 

 

 

[charlie]

I restrained myself from answering these threads yesterday because I was so bitterly disappointed and I didn't want to say things that I regretted later. Having calmed down a bit this afternoon, here's my thruppence worth...

 

Like Reading Rebel, I'd like to start positively. Mills at the back steadied our back four and it was good to see George in the middle again. CJ put in an enormous amount of effort on the left, working well with Woodruffe (who I didn't think had that bad of a game since at least he was running his [****!!****] off though I agree the crosses need work). Bartley also deserves a mention for running up and down the right wing supporting Miller. Then of course there was Davies' storming shot which on a luckier day would've burst through the netting at the back.

 

I also concur that the problems came with the substitutions - CJ clearly had to go off, but I'm with Chris, I'd have put a taller striker up front and pushed davies on the wing - we only had 20-ish left and for me, it was worth adding a new striker.

 

Mills is (I presume) still recovering from injury which would account for his removal from the game, but that caused the defence to lose its shape. I have a lot of time for Steve Daly but I was furious with him yesterday, running up for corners and then nonchanantly wandering back. He hadn't even made the half way line when the second goal was scored.

 

I was hoping that when Roddis came on he could make me eat my words from earlier this week - sadly, he skied several passes and there was a lot of distribution errors again. Would be interested to know excatly why Faircluff wasn't given a game.

 

It's going to be a long, depressing hard season if we continue with performances like yesterdays. There will always be rubbish officials who miss stonewall decisions, particularly at this level, we can't use that as an excuse.

 

[Ted]

Anyone else see the Red Kite that flew over Marlow's ground in the second half? They are somewhat rare, and seeing one closish to Slough was unusual.

[Staines-upon-Thames Rebel]

Not as rare as a Slough win!

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

Yes Ted, myself Martin and a few others did.

[brighton_rebel]

Problem is we know the situation we are in, and i reckon it is up to us supporters to really try and get behind the team and give them as much vocal support as we can, which is hard i know sometimes.

[Martin]

I'd love to give them more support. We did one thing worthy of cheering yesterday when Tel crashed one against the bar.

[BFR]

The problem is BR, and I fully admit I say this as somebody who did not make it to the game yesterday, but we have won only 1 proper match since Wilko became manager in January. Now we all know that last season with all the financial problems we were cannon fodder but we supported the team through thick and thin. Now we have dropped a level, have not been outclassed by the opposition but have still lost all three matches. It is difficult to be vocally encouraging when what you are watching is pitiful.

 

I probably can't make the Paulton match tomorrow but would urge those brave souls who do go to get behind the boys. I get the feeling that if we reverse our fortunes and put one win on the board, more will follow.

[Amber Rebel]

Originally Posted By: Ted

Anyone else see the Red Kite that flew over Marlow's ground in the second half? They are somewhat rare, and seeing one closish to Slough was unusual.

sorry to disagree but they are quite common close to the m40 now