Portsmouth

[gazan]

Well, I'm glad we've got that out of our system!!
Not much to say. Beccles has always lived on the edge and this game he fell off it. Two awful unforced howlers. At that point we were in unfamiliar territory being 2 goals down and the players looked somewhat in a state of shock.
Third goal would have looked soft if we hadn't already conceded 2 goals that were practically runny.
I won't bother with the fourth apart from saying it was representative of the awfulness of the referee.
The last 30 minutes was a waste of time and substitutions should have been made more quickly.
The game was bizarre really and has to be put down to experience while we move on to the next one. Zanzala will hope to do better as will a number of players. I thought, despite everything, Finney had a decent 1st half.
However we're back in the bottom half and now start playing more midtablers.

[gazan]

I'm also hoping Mandron isn't seriously injured

[gazan]

I forgot to mention how good it was to have commentary that stuck to telling you what was happening on the pitch rather than McGarry's ramblings.
Not one reference to Crewe Alexander🙂

[AstonAlex]

Didn’t see the match (glad I didn’t spend a tenner!) but from the highlights and Sky commentary, not to mention Big Dave’s analysis gazan is spot on. Beckles sometimes resembles a black George Ray, albeit with slightly fewer mistakes, but, like George, he likes to take a chance and we paid for it in spades yesterday.

No need to panic I think as we played some decent stuff and 4-1 didn’t flatter us. Let’s hope Mandron recovers soon and that Lancashire, Nolan and Daniels are around to keep the pressure on Omar.

[ShropshireAlex]

Daniels just had an op to repair his hamstring.

[lukcour]

Think that whoever checked our previous games for Portsmouth accurately realised our strengths and WEAKNESSES. We were well and truly taken to the cleaners. We were awful. Su unbalanced you just do not know where to begin.

But for starters why on the team sheet do we show a right sided midfielder when as soon as the whistle goes he goes immediately up front as a striker? A position he neither has the physical abilities or the talent for. Over the last six games all he seems to do is lose the ball or give it away. Currently it appears that league1 is a step too far for him. I am not doubting Offords capabilities or prospects but to be honest he is just a novice learning the game in a tough league. If he was being paired with with an older experienced centre back who could guide him and talk him through each game that would be fine, but that is not the case. It is far too early in his career to be placed in this position. Unfortunately he appears to be struggling and making bad decisions. I take it that the experts here would have noticed that Lancashire as soon as he came on stopped Offord making square passes and negative back passes, and made him make forward passes. That advice is so important for a young player.

We are not a balanced team. Our right side is a shambles. We do not have a right sided midfielder so Ng is our sole defender with no support. Same goes for Powell who does not have a midfielder to supply him or support him, and of course this effects Mandron.

Last season our main strength was our left side where Nolan, Pickering, Wintle and Kirk were a strong unit that inter linked so smoothly. Currently we only have Pickering and Kirk linking smoothly. Offord and Finney are not the type of players that can make the same contribution.

I believe that unless we make changes to the team we are going to struggle. My outfield team would be Ng, Beckles, Lancashire,Pickering.
Ainley, Wintle, Murphy. Powell/Dale, Mandron, Kirk.

On the subs bench I would give preference to Regan Philips, and Josh Lundstrum(when fit) as I feel they are good prospects that would benefit from game time when possible. Same applies for Offord and Sass-Davies. Obviously the 2 young backs as well and a striker.

[gazan]

You have correctly identified who Offord is,I hope, not like Finney/ Lowery slip of pre-season? He isn't and never plays as a striker. What's more, as Peter Morse said before Saturday's game, he is one of the first names pencilled in. He has fantastic reading of the game and that's why he intercepts so often. Granted he didn't play particularly well on Saturday but after the two goal start we gave them, not many did. Lancashire is slow and not that sharp. On Saturday he didn't close down and allowed them a clear sight of goal for their third. (However, I do have to confess that Lowery sold himself cheaply just before the shot.)
Finally, your point about balance. Having Lancashire and Beckles together wouldn't work. You would have two solidly built CHs, one of whom is really slow and not convincing with his feet and another who has some ability but is always likely to give something away, as per Saturday.
The rest of the team I generally agree with except Lowery needs to play. It's then a toss between Murphy/Ainley/Finney for the third midfield slot. I would also stick with Powell despite his loss of form as he has more goal threat than Dale

[AstonAlex]

Gazan is going to get fed up with me agreeing with him! At CB we need one of Beckles/Lancashire and one of Offord/Nolan - I don’t know enough about Daniels to see if he’s the big stopper or the reader of the game; I imagine he’s the former and that Dave sees him and Offord as first choice. Offord isn’t the biggest (but neither was Bobby Moore) and there is a responsibility for the FBs to prevent decent crosses, which certainly caught us out for the Gillingham winner.

I think we know that lukcour has got a blind spot where Lowery is concerned, but Sky reporters have said recently that he has been the best attacking midfielder on the pitch. He’s not the finished article, but then few of our kids are. As to who plays alongside the club’s best player, Wintle, I think it will depend on the opposition. Murphy is solid and reliable, but a tad slow; Ainley is the most gifted, but can be a luxury; Finney looks very promising and has more goals in him but can drift out of matches and Lowery is quick with good movement and energy - who’d be a manager?! At least Dave has choices.

Up front we’ve certainly seen Mandron’s worth over the past 2 matches - it’s true you’re always a better player when you aren’t playing!

At least there’s no argument over Will, the rejuvenated Perry and Pixie....... or am I mistaken there too?!

[gazan]

I don't think that Perry has yet accepted that he's playing at a higher level and that he has to work harder in that a lot of the old tricks don't work anymore. Pixie has had a couple of quiet games. If he has another at the weekend, I'll start to worry. Will is what he is and the best goalkeeper we've got (but needs to grow another couple of inches!). I agree with you () about Ainley. He plays well when we are dominant and there is a lot of room in front of him. Everyone knows my opinion of Finney. Lowery is also finding things harder. We need at least 9 players fully involved, which in my opinion means we can never have Finney and Ainley playing at the same time. (And Charlie needs to be a lot more incisive)

[AstonAlex]

Charlie needs to believe in himself and take responsibility. He has what it takes and needs to show it.

Regarding Pixie, I guess all players will have a drop in form for a game or 2 (hopefully not too many more!) but, as they say, class is permanent, form is transitory, and I do think that Pixie and Wintle are the classiest players in the team - although Offord and Finney have potential, but we haven’t seen enough of them to form a proper judgement.