Match Thread vs. Newport County 19.02.19

[Warnocks Legends]

Definitely tactical errors. Put under more pressure our defence crumbled and looked every bit as poor as earlier in the season. Added to that the goalie cannot command his box. Against the stags we held it up better up front, won the midfield battle so defence was less threatened.tonight hardwiring strikers to hold the ball up, we were sluggish in midfield and therefore our kids in middle of defence were under pressure and looked exactly like kids

[drillerpie]

Gawd they were a hugeeeee team and excellent at set pieces. They literally just muscled us out of the game and we allowed them to. Their front 2 were swift as well. I can't help thinking starting with Steady would have helped. With his height, he's useful at defending set pieces and corners. CMS improved us as well when he came on but by then it was too little, too late. Tactical error?

They are very physical aren't they? I think we all expected that but what I didn't expect was the lack of aggression from our team.

I thought the days of conceding four goals at home without a single Notts player going in the book were over.

[jacobncfc]

He did ok in that he worked hard, some nice touches, but equally there were sloppy touches and wayward passes too, and most of all he just couldn't hurt that defence if they played all night.

6/10 at best for me. The problem with Hemmings on nights like this is that he's got some pace, some skill, good work ethic, but what actually is he?

He's not a battering ram of a no.9, he's not a poacher (and that's putting it politely), he's not a ome-man high-pressing hurricane like CMS, he's a reasonably skillful forward who does nothing in particular and will be neat and tidy every week while you get relegated.

That’s kind of true but also a bit harsh, I think. To be honest I think he’s a very similar player to Stead, who basically does the same thing, just a bit more slowly. I think having one of those up top for players like CMS, Gomis and Boldewijn to work off is... basically fine.

[Warnocks Legends]

We looked pretty in parts, huffed and puffed but lacked bite, aggression and desire. Newport sat back after 4 killer goals and let us tippy tappy the ball around the park. I sure hope it was a blip but all our earlier frailties came back to haunt us tonight

[Elite_Pie]

Sorry to say it, but I thought we were a bit arrogant and complacent in our approach to the game tonight, starting with the manager and his decision to put Stead and CMS on the bench. I think we fell into the trap of thinking we've suddenly become a good team, and expecting things to happen rather than busting a gut to make them happen. They wanted it far more than we did, and got what they deserved. Hopefully it will serve as a kick up the arse for Saturday.

[nw6pie]

Sorry to say it, but I thought we were a bit arrogant and complacent in our approach to the game tonight, starting with the manager and his decision to put Stead and CMS on the bench. I think we fell into the trap of thinking we've suddenly become a good team, and expecting things to happen rather than busting a gut to make them happen. They wanted it far more than we did, and got what they deserved. Hopefully it will serve as a kick up the arse for Saturday.

The problem is we can’t play Stead, CMS and Doyle 3 times in a week. We kept Doyle in, and he was poor. The other problem is we have absolutely nobody on the bench to do a job in their place.

We’re yet again unable to cope with sides that are physical, direct and closed us down. To be fair, I thought we’d take a tonking against Lincoln and Mansfield, so typical of football, it happened when we least expected it. Credit to Newport - they’ve been playing 3 games a week for the past month, but were still too powerful for us.

[drillerpie]

That’s kind of true but also a bit harsh, I think. To be honest I think he’s a very similar player to Stead, who basically does the same thing, just a bit more slowly. I think having one of those up top for players like CMS, Gomis and Boldewijn to work off is... basically fine.

If you'd said that to me at half seven tonight I'd have agreed with you, I actually wanted Hemmings to start tonight because I thought Stead didn't offer enough on Saturday, but tonight showed Stead can at least grapple with burly defenders and make the ball stick, whereas Hemmings can't.

Maybe he was unlucky in that this kind of team didn't suit his game, he was probably unlucky in that the way the game unfolded meant he had zero space to run into from 15 mins onwards, but Newport are a pretty typical (admittedly useful) League 2 side and we've got the worst defence in the league so players who are nullified by what we saw tonight are of limited use for us.

[jacobncfc]

If you'd said that to me at half seven tonight I'd have agreed with you, I actually wanted Hemmings to start tonight because I thought Stead didn't offer enough on Saturday, but tonight showed Stead can at least grapple with burly defenders and make the ball stick, whereas Hemmings can't.

Maybe he was unlucky in that this kind of team didn't suit his game, he was probably unlucky in that the way the game unfolded meant he had zero space to run into from 15 mins onwards, but Newport are a pretty typical (admittedly useful) League 2 side and we've got the worst defence in the league so players who are nullified by what we saw tonight are of limited use for us.

Maybe, maybe. He did score, though, which has to count for something.

I think we may be reading a bit too much into the game in general tbh. There were other little things that didn’t work, but it was basically over inside half an hour because our two young centre backs couldn’t cope with a very good League Two strike force playing very well. They’ve done well enough recently to earn the benefit of the doubt on that.

[MagpieTony]

The test will be whether we can bounce back on Saturday at Tranmere. Our lacklustre performance aside, I thought Newport were outstanding tonight.

[drillerpie]

Maybe, maybe. He did score, though, which has to count for something.

I think we may be reading a bit too much into the game in general tbh. There were other little things that didn’t work, but it was basically over inside half an hour because our two young centre backs couldn’t cope with a very good League Two strike force playing very well. They’ve done well enough recently to earn the benefit of the doubt on that.

He did score and was in the right place to get the rebound so fair play to him for that, but we only scored and actually only ever looked like scoring because of O'Brien taking pot shots from long range.

I take your point about the deficiencies elsewhere in the team but Hemmings is probably one of the highest paid players in the division and unfortunately we're debating whether he's good enough to replace a 35 year old when he needs a rest.