Town v Hillngdon

[The Invisible Man]

Final score 2-2. Both our goals from Rudi, a 25 yarder and a pen.

 

Town were 2-0 up with about 10 minutes left then threw it away.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Deja vu - I knew it would be a draw!

 

We were walking it 2 - 0 and decided job done so went to sleep! An uninspired substitution by JC of DA for PC also cost us. Could have cost a lot more as we had no spare keeper available as PC had been taken off!

 

Despite the scoreline Richard Hayward was after an initial wobble very solid in goal. My man of the match Steve Magona - I've never been a Magona fan but just felt he was excellent on a number of occasions when we needed a solid defender. Well done Steve. They were easily beatable by a competent Town side but to go to sleep at the end was not impressive!

[lovely stuff]

Shambles! Again played lovely football in sort spells.Again did more than enough to win the game.Again we ballsed up.

 

No killer instinct.No confidence in our own ability.We always tense up instead of having a winning mentality.If we can't beat the likes of Hillingdon at Home,i can't see more than mid table for us this season.Which is wholly unexecptable.These sort of performances are happening far too regulary.

 

Saying that, we still should have more than enough to win the replay,but its criminal that we are not straight through to the third round.

[ENFIELD GRIFFIN]

Did Nicky Turner play against you ?

[lovely stuff]

Might have come on as sub.

[Gazza]

Unbelievable!!

 

12 minutes to go a free kick on the edge of the box, the Town faithful behind the goal awaiting a Rudi hat-trick, goalkeeper makes a good save for a corner, then....

 

Enter the tinkerman!

 

Campbell who for some unknown reason after going 2 up gets moved from right back to left wing putting Kevin Stevens at right back, then gets subbed, on comes Dave Allen who goes to......yep right back!!!! 3 diffrent right backs in 10 mins? whats that all about?!!

 

Why when we are leading 2-0 do we need to tinker with the formation?

 

The back four looked solid, with a welcome recall of Robbie Carroll & agree with DHT that Mags had a reasonable game.

 

Their 2nd goal came from a mistake by Dave Allen, so its off to West London for a totally unnessacery replay.

 

 

[Out_Of_Towner]

Pretty sick wasn't it .Embarrassing end and totally un necesscary substitutions . Enter the Tinkerman Gazza I MAKE YOU DEAD RIGHT MATE .

[lovely stuff]

Did we have a back four? It looked like we had three centre-backs.Campbell at right wing-back, and nobody at Left-wing back.

 

Whoever was on the left (Dickie) and whether he was classed as a fullback or wing-back.One thing is for sure,he never entered the attacking half or offered anything in going forward.Dickie is a centre-back,Full stop! With regard to Carroll,i think he is a great talent,but in my opinion he is a season away from being a regular starter.He hardly won a header and on at least two or three occassions he allowed his player to fire a shot at goal,when he was tight enough to block the efforts.

Haywood looked good at taking high balls and crosses.Not great today with shot stopping or kicking.Don't think he's done enough to dislodge Hasler this time.Although i could be a good fight for the No1 shirt throughout the season.Crace and Hammett looked good and played well today,as they invariably do against less that top flight defending.

[Gonzo]

"How to throw a game away!" - so said JC following the second Hillingdon goal as he wandered along the touch-line. Hang on a minute - he's the one who messed things up!

 

I've had enough. JC has been tinkering about with wing-backs for too long. Paul Campbell today didn't seem to know whether to come or go and was waiting for permission from the bench to push forward. As soon as Hillingdon pushed players forward in search of goals the Town system collapsed and JC had no answers.

 

Long ball after long ball to diminutive forwards is hopeless. I want to see attractive attacking football with play spread from wing to wing. I want to see a team where no player is immune to being dropped or substituted.

 

JC has had his shot. I want a change.

[OldTowner]

Stupid and un-neccesary substitutions cost Town the game.

Just what does Jim think he is doing ?

He ALWAYS takes Paul C off for no reason, so there was no surprise there, BUT why not put Jamie Nay ( a right back ) on at- yes you've guessed it - right back.

Dave Allen has been poor at best, in any game he's played, so why play him. His mistakes cost Town victory, but I blame Jim.

 

I don't agree that Crace and Hammett play well together - they BOTH make runs for the SAME BALL so when one wins it ( which was often today ) and knocks it down, there is no one there to follow up or collect.

 

Finally, agree Mags ( not my favorite player ) did well today.

 

So, off to a replay which should not be required.

[etfc]

when is the replay

[lovely stuff]

This Tuesday.

[Gazza]

Stupid and un-neccesary substitutions cost Town the game.

 

Totally Agree.

 

He ALWAYS takes Paul C off for no reason..

 

Rock Steady bet me £100 it would be Campbell coming off when the subs started stripping off

 

so there was no surprise there, BUT why not put Jamie Nay ( a right back ) on at- yes you've guessed it - right back.

 

Exactly, and what about a dozen fans around me were saying.

 

 

I don't agree that Crace and Hammett play well together - they BOTH make runs for the SAME BALL so when one wins it ( which was often today ) and knocks it down, there is no one there to follow up or collect.

 

Totally agree, today was a perfect example of that, however I did think individually they did ok today.

 

Finally, agree Mags ( not my favorite player ) did well today.

Yes he seemed to cut the aimless whacks upfield today to only a couple.

 

So, off to a replay which should not be required.

 

Exactly.

[Gazza]

Originally Posted By: Gonzo

...JC has had his shot. I want a change...

As do others, me included, we have been stagnent for too long, and if we want to rescue the season before its too late it has to be before xmas, unless there is a sudden turn around in fortune, tactics, formations.......etc etc etc

[Steph]

This is so ridiculous. It seemed that Paul was carrying an injury. As soon as he came off Ice was applied to his knee. Because of our successes in the cup we are starting to get a crowded fixture list. We were 2-0 up with only 12 minutes left why shouldn't JC sub Paul. It is the obvious thing to do with such a busy programme.

 

We all know that Dave Allen is an able defender and just because he made a mistake the draw wasn't his fault.

 

As for the second goal. I think that Charlie and JJ would have saved it. RH did not impress me he strayed too far off his line on too many occasions. At many times in the second half he could easily have been chipped a la Mat Mitchell.

 

Frcrsake stop whinging. We were better than Hillingdon for 75% of the game and, if we get behind the team on Tuesday they should be no problem at all.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

To be honest we were head and shoulders better than Hillingdon but we almost gifted the win to Hillingdon on a silver platter. It is better we sort these obvious problems with the team in cup competitions whilst we can still do something more in the league later.

 

We've given JC a free reign for a long time because he is one of us (A towner first and foremost) BUT with the the calibre of players we have we should be doing much better. He said in the Gazette the team has 2 weeks, sorry Jim but in my book so do you.

[Gazza]

This is so ridiculous. It seemed that Paul was carrying an injury. As soon as he came off Ice was applied to his knee.

 

Point taken, but why when 2-0 up & cruising juggle everything about, moving PC to left wing then leaving a natural right back (Nay) sitting on the bench?

 

Because of our successes in the cup we are starting to get a crowded fixture list. We were 2-0 up with only 12 minutes left why shouldn't JC sub Paul. It is the obvious thing to do with such a busy programme.

 

Err two cup games, one of which, the 1st qualifying round, was a planned fixture is hardly a crowded fixture list is it!

 

We all know that Dave Allen is an able defender and just because he made a mistake the draw wasn't his fault.

 

No but the second goal led to the draw, no? However I dont blame Disco he had just come on & was still cold.

 

 

Frcrsake stop whinging. We were better than Hillingdon for 75% of the game....

 

Exactly, that is the whole point! As for whinging is that not what your doing? Take off the rose tinted spectacles, get off the fence & you might see the wood for the trees.

[andyetfc]

What have Schumacher and Haywood got in common?

 

They both got away with a mugging! For those youngsters amongst us, then I refer to 1982 and the World Cup Finals and yesterday afternoon.

 

Why is it that we cannot, I repeat cannot, close down a game?

 

It's always going to be a judgement call as to when to sub players and when not. However, it seems as though the calls are going against us on too many occasions. Injuries I can understand, and PC did get injured late in the second half yesterday at the railway end of the ground right in front of me. But other substitutions, which appear to upset the balance of the team, are really hurting us.

 

Yesterday's game should have been over and done with but we couldn't finish them off and were lucky to end the game with 11 players.

 

Statements made in last week's Gazette may need backing up!

 

An experienced Ryman League manager told me yesterday that the club should be in the Premier League by now because of the infrastructure in place within the club. I did have to remind him that we need to cut it on the pitch as well if we are to progress.

 

 

[lovely stuff]

OK, the formation may be less than perfect,as is selection,but i believe that the closing down of games and the tensing up of players when defending a lead,is as much down to mindset/belief and winning mentality,as anything else.

 

We should be defending with an assured confidence rather than slicing and hoofing at the ball in a panic.We should also be trying to increase our lead rather than sit deeper and deeper.It seems our negative approach to playing 'supposed' big teams, is also transfered into other games when we get into a winning position.But i don't agree with this talk about Jim positions being under threat.The time to look at such things it at the end of this season,or if promotion becomes an imposibility.

[andyetfc]

Originally Posted By: lovely stuff

OK, the formation may be less than perfect,as is selection,but i believe that the closing down of games and the tensing up of players when defending a lead,is as much down to mindset/belief and winning mentality,as anything else.

We should be defending with an assured confidence rather slicing and hoofing at the ball in a panic.We should also be trying to increase our lead rather than sit deeper and deeper.It seems our negative approach to playing 'supposed' big teams, is also transfered into other games when we get into a winning position.But i don't agree with this talk about Jim positions being under threat.The time to look at such things it at the end of this season,or if promotion becomes an imposibility.

I didn't say Jim's position was under threat. I merely indicated that comments made in the Gazette needed backing up. Jim's comments by the way.