Some thoughts on the Aveley match

[michaelSTFC]

Felt that Aveley, although 2nd in the form guide, looked very ordinary - organised, yes, but didn't really pose a threat. It says volumes when they only scored when none of their players were near the ball. Yes, Blakey made a couple of blinding saves, but other than that, the visitors didn't, in my opinion, ask many questions of us. It was tough on Browne, he was very unfortunate and his confidence seemed to dip after the own goal.

 

Also, I think we should get off Ian Hodge(s?)'s back. By all accounts, he had a very good debut at Barton and noone was at the top of their game today. Yes, he had a bad game, but we have to give him a chance. Us Slough fans are notorious for running a player down even before he's had a proper run-out (remember the fierce booing of Junior Kadi 20mins into his debut last season?). If you're reading this Ian, keep at it.

 

Thought Sammy was out of sorts today, even when reverting back to his normal position, he didn't look 100%. Williams had a stinker today, Wilkinson getting stuck in as usual. Well done to Tony Boot... when was the last time a Slough striker scored 26 in one season?

 

The performance as a whole lacked really incisiveness. We are normally very dangerous at home and yet today, we just couldn't make the killer pass or apply the killer finish. The wind didn't help, but then we are more accustomed to the passing game and playing it in the air seemed pretty stupid given our forward line contains Bubb, Boot and Williams. Should Sammy have started in the middle? Well, I guess Michael Gilkes' injury influenced the team selection. When he was able to come on and give an account of himself, we briefly reverted to the usual Slough way of passing but it fell away again. Ah well. Just one of those games. Not fancying the return match in a few weeks, though. This really puts the onus on us to win at Hemel next Saturday. It's a tall order, but we know that this team has plenty of goals in it and given a good travelling support, next week can be the time to really send out a signal to Hornchurch and everyone that we can win away and that we're the ones to beat if they want promotion.

 

COME ON YOU REBELS!

[Ian]

I'd agree with the assessment of Aveley completely. In fact it's exactly the same as I thought of Hemel after they'd beaten us earlier this season. Both play what I would call industrial football and I'm surprised either are doing that well. Northwood are still the only really good team I've seen this season.

 

A chance to get revenge next Saturday. Come on you Rebels!

[Chris]

Agree with almost everything there. Really disappointed that some people were getting on Hodges (Note the S on the end Gary!) back. It seems if your not Sammy Winston or don't score 26 goals a season then you get slagged off. Your right what you say about Kadi and Deji Davies to a certain extent also.

 

Saturday is a must win game. Be nice to see Mr Hammatt and Gary 'i'm still up in the stand injured' Fitzgerald again no doubt whinging about every decision left, right and centre. Hopefully we can take 150 to the game.

 

As for today, Aveley were half decent. They have beaten Hornchurch, Billericay, Hemel, Harlow (twice), Northwood this season so maybe it's not such a bad result after all.

 

They got so many players behind the ball though and therefore we had trouble creating chances. Williams was awful today - have to agree with that, but he can also be a good player on his day.

 

Thinking about it, we just needed one moment of magic out of nothing today - it was a day where having Veli Hakki back in the side was needed!

 

I just hope for no more injuries!

[Dominic]

The good news is that,acording to their fans,Hemel are going through an awful spell at the moment,maybe we will be able to capatalise on that but there going to be up for it,i just hope we are to.Wealdstones confidence is going to be really low at the moment after their string of defeats,I still think Hornchurch have have bottled it,we'v got a game in hand on Harlow and we'l have two when their loss to Hertford (floodlights) is officialy confirmed by the F.A at the end of March.Aveley could be a threat but i think they MIGHT have just left it to late.Then we come to little o'l Slough Town,have trouble winning away,we are allergic to Tuesday nights in Essex and we have some serious injury problems,on the other hand a great home record,unbeatable on our day and we have a GREAT manager that has total confidence in the ability of the players and really cares about the club!Is it to tight to call,maybe,its ours for the taking..........but????

[Guest]

One of those games where the midfield never really got going---can't win them all,but puts the onus on us to pick up more away points--not our strong point. Its all still there to be played for, and its in our own hands as to whether or not we do it. We are much better placed than we were last season, so lets keep our fingers crossed. That said, whenever we are in a pressure match where we can really make progress, we don't produce our best, and there will be a few of them coming up. I don't think that Browne has the ability to see us through a concerted period of pressure, but I do hope I'm wrong.

[Paul Stephens]

I still feel some people are missing the point. We had a much patched team, with only four subs on the bench - unlikely that Eddie would play. Yes Williams was having a bad day, but he also covered a lot of ground and was playing a defensive role. We were short of mid fielders - so Sammy plays out of position. Not necessarily out of choice. Who can we bring on if someone is off form. Deaner - had to play up front as he did at the end. Or a defender.

 

Yes I think we might have won his one, but it wasn't the end of the world. I was very disappointed with a lot of the fans who think its better to criticize than support, and call for players to be replaced, when there weren't any options.

 

We need to pull together to get promotion, not slag off our own team.

 

 

[Dominic]

Remember Sammy was brought in as a winger from Kingstonaian so he can play in that position,but he is deffinately better as a striker.

[GarySTFC]

The atmosphere yesterday for the large part was poor. We need more group encouragement coming from all around the terraces, especially when we are under pressure. We can all do our bit in raising the team, by continually encouraging. We owe more than we think to some of these players.

 

As for Aveley, they brought out some great saves from Blake, and might consider themselves unlucky to have only gained a point whilst at the other end, continually over hit passes and crosses were seemingly order of the day.

 

It just goes to show that with a budget probably in the region of a third or less of ours, you can play well enough to get sorted in this division through correct management, organisation and determination. If we are due to groundshare, we should be looking at saving as much money as possible to secure the lease or ground for a new site.