merse
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Post by merse on Feb 22, 2009 0:08:34 GMT
 The identity of the culprit who gave the penalty away is giving us some fun isn't it? Now we have Wroe into the equation. I certainly had a bad day on the roundabouts today that was for sure, but Chas has to admit I found us another class pub for the after match meal and that defining moment to whether it was a good day or a bad day. It was a good day as the Navigation at Stoke Breurne - just 25 minutes after leaving the ground and tucked away behind Towcester Racecourse (now how did I know it was there?  ) and just a slip of a diversion off the M1 - provided us with fantastic food at two meals for a tenner or one meal at £8.75 and a freebie for Anthony, really good real ale and a lovely location right beside the Grand Union Canal. .................and yes, the "horse burger" was quite the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed in a football ground buffet bar (and that's saying something) and fit only for shoving surreptitiously under the seat of the old bastard in front of me who turned round to bellow in my face that our player had fouled theirs who got stretchered off......................whoopie doo, I hope you trod in the melange of onions and gravy as was my intention, and then got it all over the carpet of your car after the game or better still took it into your living room!  I thought such disgusting looking and foul smelling objects only manifested themselves after much squatting, farting, grunting and forcing through anal passages - that's the burger, not the old git by the way!
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 22, 2009 0:09:28 GMT
...To be fair Dave - it was a lovely day for a drive. .....especially the glorious warm spring sunshine  on the open roads of the M5. Poor old merse, battling through that traffic and smog of our capital.  Makes you wonder Jim, what ever was in his head to go and move there, give me wreckwalk anytime |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 22, 2009 0:11:43 GMT
Merse DT said on the radio it was Wroe and he was very sure when he said it.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Feb 22, 2009 0:19:10 GMT
Merse DT said on the radio it was Wroe and he was very sure when he said it. He did. But after halftime he issued a correction, stating that it was Wayne Carlisle. |
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Post by jmgull on Feb 22, 2009 0:22:36 GMT
Dave, btw whose jim  ;D Its justin... I will say that this site is a credit to you....great reading always. |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 22, 2009 0:25:03 GMT
Thanks Rob, you love correcting me mate I turned off the radio as soon as the first half finished as I had a flask of coffee and wanted to give boy wonder some, that was before he missed the pen, we would not have got any if he had already missed it |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 22, 2009 0:28:33 GMT
Dave, btw whose jim ;D Its justin... I will say that this site is a credit to you....great reading always. Sorry Justin, in all the years I have known you as a poster, I have always thought you were a Jim, well I know now and thanks for your kind words on the forum, its a labour of love and its a good job I love it |
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rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Feb 22, 2009 8:09:05 GMT
As usual some very good match reports which is always appreciated, particularly as I missed the commentary this week! I must say that there seems to be a depressingly similar pattern emerging - missed opportunities (mainly from missing the target and much of this by blazing over the bar), lack of a decent left winger, Benyon being out muscled etc etc. The positive that I can take is that Green is back playing in the side as he is someone that I really rate. I am still confident that we will get into the play offs but we are going to have to really work for it which in light of last year , is not a bad thing! Once there, our FA cup run shows that we can beat anyone on our day.  But, that our league form also shows we can lose to anyone as well  |
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jamie
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Post by jamie on Feb 22, 2009 8:48:31 GMT
Thanks guys for all the match reports. I was up a mountain drnking gluwien but my heart was at plainmoor. Really ppreciate first hand accounts of the game.
Off to Italy today
(PS I always thought JMgull was Jim as well ??!!)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2009 11:28:41 GMT
There was a déjà vu thread recently and I certainly had that sense when we went one down yesterday with my mind flashing back to the first goal at Southport. I used the old “not at the races” standby on that occasion and I see Merse used it again in his first posting when he returned home from Kettering. Or, as he asks, were Kettering (and Southport by my implication) super-revved? Either way, it’s not healthy to pose the same question twice in three weeks.
Good match reports, as ever, from one and all concerning a game which was bumpy in the first half, engrossing in the second. For neutrals, it was probably one of those encounters which was more interesting when the goals weren’t being scored. You sensed the game’s fourth goal would be the vital one but, of course, it never came.
Kettering were a changed outfit to the indifferent bunch I saw, on an admittedly difficult pitch, at Tiverton recently. Maybe that was a reflection of how they viewed the FA Trophy this season – sidetracked by the FA Cup from a competition they could have won? - but yesterday showed Kettering (and their manager) know what it’s about. They’ve decent players – with experience – in the right places and a certain method of play.
This begs questions as to where Mark Cooper – looking more like his dad Terry by the day – is heading with his managerial career. He’s forty now and in his fifth year of management - having previously been at Tamworth – with an excellent record at Kettering. I guess he didn’t have much cash at Tamworth but has been trusted with rather more at Kettering. What next? Will he become an established Football League manager? Or remain a Conference big hitter? Paul Buckle is two years younger – almost to the day – and three years behind as a manager. They played together at Exeter for a while – maybe as rivals for the same place in midfield? – so it’s tempting to speculate how their management careers will eventually compare.
And what will the future bring for Kettering? They’re certainly one of the bigger never-been-in-the-Football-League clubs and there’s a long history of the club meaning something in a working-class football-minded community. If they’d won that ballot in 1927 – instead of us – their achievements in the League may have been pretty much in line with ours. But there’s also a chequered side to their history – of ups and downs, enterprise and maladministration, big names and cowboys – that can be seen in the ground and its fittings. The present administration – meddling with Gazza aside – seem to be a force for progress but is there a ceiling which will be reached soon? I’d certainly be interested to learn how the current state of the ground fits with Football League requirements.
One last thought about yesterday’s occasion is to give a big vote of thanks for all concerned for not starting the game until 3.05pm. This was probably only noticed by those who had sights on the 1726 from Kettering to St Pancras – which always represented a challenging hike – and our cause wasn’t helped by the five minutes stoppage time (probably justified) and delays on the line due to children throwing stones at trains between Kettering and Wellingborough. I made the 1920 from Waterloo and hope others caught their scheduled trains from Paddington.
Finally, as for Torquay United, I see there is a discussion about whether the manager knows his first-choice team. I, for one, am struggling to name mine and – as with other posters – my uncertainty intensifies as I move from the safer ground of defence into midfield and attack. Like others, I’ve tried to champion Dsane’s cause but I’m finding that increasingly difficult at moment (and would prefer to see him used as a striker). I’ve faith in Carlisle but not to the extent of him starting – or being involved - for ninety minutes of every game. Sills can be a devastatingly effective player at this level – and is exactly the sort of player we’ve craved over the years (to the extent he’ll always be remembered fondly) – but you can see why he’s not succeeded higher up the leagues. We miss Hargreaves when he’s not playing but, equally, demand he produces the goods every time he plays (which, with the best will in the world, asks a lot of your oldest player). And, yes, I’d echo those calling for more of Carayol and Green but I’m less sure about Benyon. There’s something there – just as there was with Ellis Laight? – which suggests a player who’d be a force at just one level below (or capable of earning a contract with a part-time Conference club). But would you offer Benyon a contract extension? Or Danny Stevens for that matter?
But - when it comes down to it - we're talking about Conference players, aren't we? Good Conference players I hasten to add, with a few who could be playing in the Football League, but all seemingly prone to that mixture of talent and application - laced with inconsistencies and shortcomings- which is the nature of the beast. That's true at any level but increasingly so with each little step downwards.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 22, 2009 12:05:23 GMT
Great post as always Barton, a real interesting read full of factual information and great knowledge, let me know when your contact is up as I need to make sure I renew it early |
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merse
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Post by merse on Feb 22, 2009 12:58:34 GMT
The present administration – meddling with Gazza aside – seem to be a force for progress but is there a ceiling which will be reached soon? I’d certainly be interested to learn how the current state of the ground fits with Football League requirements. I loved the piece in the programme yesterday which pre-empted any looking down the nose attutudes from our supporters ............. "When I pay for a view I expect something more interesting than that"This is Rockingham Road or to use it's new monicker The A Line Insurance Arena. "Well it's not good enough"May I ask what you expected to see? Kettering Opera House perhaps. The Hanging Gardens of Wickstead Park. Herds of Wildebeest sweeping Wimpey wrappers majestically................? "I expected to see a ground"You can see a ground, it's over there between the road and the sky "I'm not satisfied, but I have decided to stay; will I get a reduction.........?"Why, because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment? "Because the away end has no roof, the toilets are too small and the tannoy system doesn't work"I'll get your coat! |
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tufc01
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Post by tufc01 on Feb 22, 2009 13:18:02 GMT
As usual by the time I get around to a match report, most of it has been excellently posted already, so I will just add a few things that I noticed.
I also had a few troubles with getting there. Although it was a pleasant day for it a car fire on the M52, a diversion into Coventry railway station to pick up my daughter, the road leading to the ground closed due to flooding and the one way system in the town meant that it took just over 4 hours to get there. Although we did have a very pleasant ASDA breakfast (Cheapskate) at Coventry (I am sure they filmed parts of Slumdog Millionaire in Coventry).
On entering the ground, the first thought it was a shithole. The away end makes Exeter’s away end seem palatial. However, when you look around for a while your first impressions change a bit. The programme was poor value for £3, took 5 minutes to read and was swiftly given away.
A couple, or three, points to note during the players warm up. Talk of any disharmony amongst the players can be dispelled as soon as you see the spirit amongst them whilst they are warming up. At one point Green, Christie, Carayol and Stevens were playing a game of keepie-uppie, and when one was at fault for the ball not staying up, the other three were allowed to flick his ear. Some may call it childish and poor preparation for a game, however I thought it showed just how much they were enjoying being part of the squad and how well they got on together, although Danny was a bit sheepish when he had to flick Christies ear. Secondly, poor old Mark Ellis cuts a lonely figure, when everyone else goes back to the changing room, he wanders around with Kenny Veyesy collecting all of the practice balls, even though he is a sub. Thirdly, as Matt Green goes back to the changing room, he sees someone in the crowd in the grandstand, goes over to chat with him for a while and comes away with his business card.
I have had never bought into the it is better to watch the game from up high, HOWEVER, never again will I stand at pitch level behind a goal. Apart from being in line with Nicholson’s screamer, there is very little appreciation of what goes on outside the penalty box in front of you. Therefore everything I write about yesterdays game is from this viewpoint and may well differ from what ACTUALLY went on.
The game itself. It certainly was a game of two halves. It could be said that we didn’t turn up in the first half, but in truth we were outplayed, outthought, outfought and outmuscled. As poor a performance as I can remember.
Now, as you allknow, I am a big fan of Buckle, however he and his backroom staff need to take the responsibility for the starting line up. I am also a Benyon fan and was pleased when I heard his name mentioned as being a starter, however once their back four lined up I knew immediately that he would struggle. Their back four were all bigger than Sills, let alone Benyon. One of them was a spitting image of Lennox Lewis, and how we knew Benyon would struggle there. And so it proved, he spent the first 20 minutes, running into defenders and falling over. Unless the Kettering back four were drafted in at the last minute then the Torquay backroom staff would have known what they were up against and if we are supposedly playing players based on horses for courses, then surely Benyon was never going to be an option against them. Sills also struggled as we did have a tendency to play hoof ball in the first half and this time he won very few headers. The case for these two sitting on the bench for this game is hard to argue against.
If you think Nicholson had a big throw you should have seen their guy launch it into the box. Where as Nicholson can reach the front post on a good day, this guy could clear the far post, with unerring accuracy and a great deal of speed. We failed to cope with this at all for the first half. It was from one of these that the penalty came. Strangely enough, in the second half I don’t recall an attacking throw in from them at all.
As for the penalty, I couldn’t make out whether it was ball to hand or whatever, but from a 100 yards away all you could see was an outstretched arm above everything else and the ball making contact with it.
The second half was strange in that Kettering made no real effort to get forward, yet on two occasions had scuffed shots that were dragged a yard wide which, at the time, would have put the game beyond our reach. The substitutions should have been made a lot early (in Benyons case after 20 minutes). This is a difficult one really, because as the game progresses you think to yourself, ‘right we need to bring so and so on for ?’, but you also have to be careful not to make any rash decisions, after all we are only allowed 3 substitutions and you could argue that after 20 minutes, Benyon, Sills, Carlisle, Dsane, Thompson and Wroe could all have made way for someone else. So whilst I do think the substitutes were not very well utilised yesterday, I do appreciate that you only have 3 subs, you cant afford to make rash decisions on the spur of the moment and if you do use all 3 and someone gets injured you are in an even worse predicament. Its a hard call, except to say its not worked over the last few games.
Carayol was an instant success when he came on, it even looked like they double man marked him towards the end, creating even more space on the opposite flank. He beat his man/men at will got in some telling crosses and would have been even more successful had he not over hit a couple, that said, if we had someone with a bit more nonce on the other side they would have seen what was happening and gambled at the back post. I have to agree with those that say a spell in the team would help his game.
On the negative side, I thought that Dsane was woeful, now I know its well documented that I have issues with him, but he spent as much time as Benyon sat on his arse, has the ball control of one of Jims Elephants and gave the ball away more times than I care to mention, missed the target (again) from 8 yards with their keeper on the floor and looks totally lost positionally. I don’t buy into the covering of fullbacks because as much as people get on Carlisles back, him and Mansell link up and cover well, nothing like that happens with Dsane. For the good of the team he has to go, I don’t didn’t buy into the Buckle plays his favourites theme, however I am questioning myself over this as PB persists with Dsane. Play Carayol and Carlisle as your two wingers, don’t assign them left or right, allow them to swap as they please. Yesterday saw Carayol pop up on both sides, it confused the hell out of the Kettering defenders.
We missed Hargreaves yesterday, BIG TIME, not only for his midfield battling skills, but you can bet your life he would not have put up with such an abject first half without shouting at, cajooloing and then encouraging his fellow players.
It won’t be long before Chris Todd is back from his loan at Salisbury and I can see him getting back in the team. Robertson had an OK game, but he was ‘bullied’ by Seddon who must be 6 inches smaller. Robertson needs to turn himself into a much tougher centre half, a bit like their Branston who sacred the living daylights out of Benyon. I thought we missed Woods yesterday, which is something I thought I would never say.
Thompson was anonymous in the first half, I think, I forgot he was playing until someone mentioned at half time that they would take him off.
Wroe didn’t have his best game for the club and doesn’t have that same understanding with Thompson as he does with Hargreaves, which is understandable.
The game was there for the taking in the second half. We created more, but again the number of shots ‘off target’ is worrying, although I do agree with Merse here, I would much rather we had tried our luck rather than walk the ball in, however, missing the target from8 or 10 yards with the goal at your mercy on such a regular basis as we are is a different issue and is undefendable.
There is no doubt that this is a dent in our chances of making the play offs, but at the moment it is just that, a dent. We NEED to get back to winning ways and that starts with a win against Forest Green, who if you listened to the Kettering fans yesterday; “Forest Green are better than you”.
One final note, if you are reading this and you were the one who was saying you wish Wayne Carlisle would break his leg. SHAME ON YOU. Call yourself a supporter. You wouldn’t wish this on any of the opposition let alone your own player. He also heard your shouts of “Bugger off back to Exeter”. Now ask yourself this; Does it help the team when you shout this out?? I appreciate you paid good money to get there and to get in and you are allowed to voice an opinion, but for the greater good I’m telling you it does not help and there is no place for it on the terraces of a football match.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2009 13:53:52 GMT
let me know when your contact is up as I need to make sure I renew it early It's a pleasure Dave although, using the Waterloo line as much as I do, you never know who might be waiting for me with all sorts of under-the-counter inducements. As for next season I'll happily re-sign for a cup of Bovril. However, if this was served at Plainmoor, I might need some reassurance after the last game. I'm still not sure if I was given Bovril, coffee, a mixture or - worryingly - neither. A rare lapse in much-improved catering this season. Almost reminds me of an unfortunate incident at Bournemouth one season when I put milk in my Bovril. After thousands of Bovril-enhanced games, these things happen don't they? Enjoyed going to Kettering yesterday as it was yet another reminder of how people - in a town of which most of us probably know very liitle - have been watching their football team for generations just like we have. Again, as Jon may have once put it (although I can't be certain), it's recalls how much we owe to the people who brought League football to the town in the 1920s in direct competition to the claims of places such as Kettering. That's part of the enjoyment of this league but - before anyone should get the wrong idea - it's the third tier of football in this country (current Lge One) that has always given me the most pleasure. In an ideal world that's where I'd like Torquay United to be for more than one season! |
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merse
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Post by merse on Feb 22, 2009 14:32:42 GMT
Almost reminds me of an unfortunate incident at Bournemouth one season when I put milk in my Bovril. After thousands of Bovril-enhanced games, these things happen don't they? I think it's a twee South of England thing Barton, I thought the widowed matrons of Bournemouth ALWAYS took milk with their afternoon beverage. Then again at Woking (or was it Wimbledon?) last season I was served my Bovril as asked and the disinterested girl who handed to me said in an automaton's voice "Milk and sugar on your left, sweetener over here".......................to be honest I thought she was referring to her tits!  |
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) and just a slip of a diversion off the M1 - provided us with fantastic food at two meals for a tenner or one meal at £8.75 and a freebie for Anthony, really good real ale and a lovely location right beside the Grand Union Canal.
on the open roads of the M5.
;D
But, that our league form also shows we can lose to anyone as well 
