tufc01
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Post by tufc01 on Aug 30, 2008 23:03:45 GMT
As bad as our points return has been so far this season, when you look at the table we have not lost that much ground.
The teams at the top and in the play off positions have all dropped points. Everybody has played 6 games and i think we have had 6 different leaders, no one seems to have grabbed the league by the horns this year, unlike Aldershot & ourselves this time last year.
With teams beating each other, we are ONLY 6 points off the playoffs and 8 behind this weeks leaders Forest Green.
With a bit more composure in front of goal and a bit of luck it wont take much to get back amongst the title race. We are certainly not out of it by any means.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Aug 31, 2008 13:41:03 GMT
tufc01, as ever my man, you show the few, how to remain positive. It is true that despite our own poor start to the season, we are still not any great distance point wise, from the top spot.
A run of good results could well see us near, if not on the top, after 6 or 7 games. The problem has always been, that when those around us have slipped up in the past, we have failed to take advantage of it.
Lets hope that we can now put our bad start behind us and start to reel in those teams above us, but we do need to start really taking advantage, when they themselves slip up.
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Post by andygulls on Aug 31, 2008 14:54:23 GMT
As bad as our points return has been so far this season, when you look at the table we have not lost that much ground. The teams at the top and in the play off positions have all dropped points. Everybody has played 6 games and i think we have had 6 different leaders, no one seems to have grabbed the league by the horns this year, unlike Aldershot & ourselves this time last year. With teams beating each other, we are ONLY 6 points off the playoffs and 8 behind this weeks leaders Forest Green. With a bit more composure in front of goal and a bit of luck it wont take much to get back amongst the title race. We are certainly not out of it by any means. A good point about the current gap. However take a look at the table below. PB has had 65 games in charge. I have broken down the results in all competitions into 13 game bands. Spot any trends? It's fine to be positive but we need much more than just composure in front of goal don't you think?  |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Aug 31, 2008 15:14:32 GMT
Looking at your table and it was very well put together, one can see that a trend has occurred. No one can say that in 10 months the table could look so different and show a very upward trend and not the downward one this table shows.
We will have to wait and see, but fans do have faith in the board and I'm sure they will do everything to get things turned around.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2008 16:07:03 GMT
the table is not good reading and shows me its worse that i was thinking it was it is early days plenty of time to get things moving onward and upwards.
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Post by Swanny on Sept 1, 2008 16:09:05 GMT
Good post Andygulls and very revealing ! Let's be honest, since January there has been a gradual decline in results and you can understand supporters concerns. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes so we can only judge the team and manager on the results on the pitch. We don't know why there has been a gradual decline but the facts of the results confirms there is. Many have covered up the decline by pointing to our 3rd. place finish and FA Trophy final defeat as a great successful season. But it does not tell the whole story, the above table does. Let's be honest by the end of the season we stuttered into the play-offs in pretty poor form.
I was hoping that this season with fresh legs new players we would re-capture some sort of form. But it's got worse and again that is a fact. Now Buckle has gone back to using the tried and trusted players and formula from last season. The last 2 games have clearly been an improvement. The trouble is that means we now have a load of new central midfielders who are not required, and other areas of the team (most notably right-back) where we are not properly covered. The whole squad now is a right old jumble, with square pegs trying to fit into round holes etc. In addition you can't expect Hargreaves to keep up his work-rate in midfield.
So as much as I want to believe that we will soon turn the corner once we gel, it seems a long way away to me.
One final comment. I see that Jim Harvey, Forest Green boss, won manager of the month who is on a much stricter budget than us and lost their leader scorer Fleetwood from last season. Harvey's comment was that he was unconcerned losing Fleetwood because his goals last season was really about the quality of the approach play and that has not changed. We haven't really got an approach play sorted, and until we do we can't really expect to climb the table.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Sept 1, 2008 16:33:43 GMT
Swangull, I think we do have an approach play sorted, Its back to hoof ball up to Sills and then hope.
I still firmly believe with the right mix and blend of players, our team can play football, not what we are seeing again now. Aldershot has proved It for me and even the other team up the road, gave us a lesson on how football is meant to be played.
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Post by Swanny on Sept 1, 2008 16:51:38 GMT
I still maintain that the first half of last season was really exciting to watch due to all the goals, attacks and goal-mouth incidents etc. and ofcourse it was successfull. We had players like Zebroski and Phillips who were suitable for that approach. The trouble is that Buckle has reverted back to that approach, namely a physical one of keep pressurising and pressing the opposition back, but we no longer have the appropriate players to make it work. That's why I am confused what sort of approach we will end up doing this season.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Sept 1, 2008 16:57:24 GMT
Fair play swangull and I have to agree, that having the right players last season, It did work for a while. The problem was we were found out only to have the one style and teams soon learned how to play against us.
I would say that trying to play that style again now, Is only an act of desperation, to try and get a win, as all other styles he has tried this season, has so far failed.
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Post by crispygull on Sept 1, 2008 17:03:25 GMT
I still maintain that the first half of last season was really exciting to watch due to all the goals, attacks and goal-mouth incidents etc. and ofcourse it was successfull. [glow=red,2,300]We had players like Zebroski and Phillips who were suitable for that approach. The trouble is that Buckle has reverted back to that approach, namely a physical one of keep pressurising and pressing the opposition back, but we no longer have the appropriate players to make it work.[/glow] That's why I am confused what sort of approach we will end up doing this season. Spot on, Swangull!  I think the problem we have is that if you look at our side now, we have lost some real physical presence, particularly in the wide areas and up front. You can add Hockley and Robertson (who may, or may not be back in favour) and even Rayner to that list of Zebroski and Phillips - all players that fetaured regularly for us at variuos stages last season. Their physical presence made us a real threat last season and were very effective (in both boxes) particularly when allied to the quality of deliver from the wide areas that Zebroski and Nicholson in particular were able to deliver last season. When Steve Evans said we were a "weaker squad" than last season, I think he may have hit the nail on the head, but not necessarily in the way he meant it. I still believe there is a lot of quality in the squad, its just how we get the most out of it that is concerning me, and I'm sure everyone connected with TUFC. |
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Post by andygulls on Sept 1, 2008 17:12:10 GMT
I still maintain that the first half of last season was really exciting to watch due to all the goals, attacks and goal-mouth incidents etc. and of course it was successful. We had players like Zebroski and Phillips who were suitable for that approach. The trouble is that Buckle has reverted back to that approach, namely a physical one of keep pressurising and pressing the opposition back, but we no longer have the appropriate players to make it work. That's why I am confused what sort of approach we will end up doing this season. I actually don't think we have "reverted". During the course of last season we changed. We started the season getting players wide and crossing the ball for Sills from wide positions. We were not lumping the ball up to Sills as we did latterly and the system we have reverted to this season. We also had Phillips up front whose ability to retain a long ball, particularly with control off his chest helped to allow the midfield players including the wingers to take up the attacking positions. Now all we do is lump it down the middle. Sills cannot hold the ball up in the way that Philips did and so, unless his strike partner guesses correctly the ball quickly falls back to a defender. Even where our second forward does read the flick everything has happened so quickly that there is no one up in support and often the play breaks down. It can look like we don't know what to do with the ball around the box, which may also be true, but very often it's just that we have insufficient support available because of the lump forward. For all his ability in the air Sills ain't great in terms of control with his feet. A possible reason why he struggled at Hereford when attempting to play in the football league. We have yet to establish whether the existing tendency of our current wing men to tuck inside rather than go wide is a matter of coaching or individual decision. Whatever it is the result is that we do not use Sills effectively. He will NOT score 20 goals this season if we do not change our approach. The approach is not of course new. We seemed to slip into it as 2008 started and the manager has not changed the focus despite our alarming lack of form and goalscoring (see my table above) |
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Mark L
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Post by Mark L on Sept 2, 2008 11:33:17 GMT
For all his ability in the air Sills ain't great in terms of control with his feet. A possible reason why he struggled at Hereford when attempting to play in the football league. Ah, I don't think that's truly the case. Sills doesn't often lose the ball at his feet because he has good control and awareness. I feel it's just his acceleration which causes him to be less of a strike threat with the ball on the ground. He's mighty good at laying it off for people making clever runs... I think this is what Bucks was hoping to see more of but the runs aren't too clever right now. I witnessed him and Roscoe in their fine days at Aldershot. Roscoe used to make runs into space and Sills would know exactly where to put it whether in the air or on the floor but I think Tim's being let down right now. I'm all for spraying the ball down the wings and getting good crosses in. I think we have the players to do it but we'd be stuffed if Sills got injured with this approach. It's a headache for me, I hate to think how much head-scratching Bucks is doing. |
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