Match Thread vs. Hartlepool United 10.04.21 [NL]

[Elite_Pie]

What a disappointing game. As I sat down to watch it I just hoped that we would start with energy and on the front foot but it was clear from the very first whistle which team were more organised, coherent, energetic and threatening.

We played far too deep and left the forwards isolated. On the rare occasion the ball did find its way to them there was absolutely no support from midfield as they were still in their own half...and when the ball eventually, and inevitably, found its way back to Hartlepool they had the freedom of the pitch to charge down on our defence under very little pressure.

Poor Enzio, please let that be the final game he has to suffer at WB. What is the point when we have a perfectly decent option to play there? I don’t know how many free crosses they got into our box from that side, but that’s eventually where the goal came from with Enzio not having a clue where he should be positioned.

People alluding to the 2nd half being better, don’t delude yourselves. Hartlepool managed the game perfectly and could have played all night without conceding. I bet they couldn’t believe how easy it was for them tonight, they barley had to break sweat. Real promotion contenders.

If we can make the playoffs then great, you never know, but I wouldn’t fancy us against any of the sides in there at the minute. We are too disjointed, unbalanced, slow and lack strength and energy. There is something of a rebuilding job to do over the summer, I just hope IB is up to the job or it’s another two seasons at least in the National League.

Very good summary. We started badly, and got a bit worse as the first half went on. Was Enzio really a wing back? He seemed to play as a right back. We were better second half, mainly because Hartlepool got themselves into a position where they could apply 'game management'. Far more negatives than positives to take from today.

[Kelton]

I agree with this to an extent, but I think both Sam and Rodrigues (Sloth you can’t really say much about) have done about as much as you could reasonably expect adapting to a new country in extremely difficult circumstances. They aren’t stand out players yet, but they’ve contributed.

I would look more at our long line of experienced EFL professionals. Slocombe, McCrory, Chicksen, Rawlinson, Lacey, Ellis, Doyle, Reeves, O’Brien, Boldewijn, Turner. These are all players who are playing at this level because we’re paying them handsomely, and how many can you say are putting in the stand-out performances that their experience and wages should really warrant? Slocombe, Rawlinson and Lacey is probably about it, McCrory perhaps excused because of injury.

I also think you’re slightly overestimating how good we were last season. I think we were an above average team which was on course to finishing 5th-8th or something until we unearthed Roberts out of nowhere.

This is rambling nonsense tbh. 7 of the ex EFL players you refer to as not earning their wages. This is rubbish. Our club have the best defensive record in this league weve kept loads of clean sheets and Ellis has scored 3 in 6 or 7 games as a CB.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

Credit for trying to change things, or criticism for getting it wrong in the first place?

It depends how people view it. For me starting the game with the 3-5-2 made sense as we had won two games previously playing with this formation and the players had two games under their belt playing to the style and should have had confidence built up. I also felt the starting 11 was predictable and settled and should be after winning two games in a row. Our top goal scorer returned to the starting eleven so that for me was a positive. We were also going toe to toe with Hartlepool with the same formation as them.

What the problem was for me is that we were too passive to start with and slow lacking energy and intensity and that allowed Hartlepool to get a foothold in the game dominate possession and then they pushed us and pressed us into an inadvertent 5-3-2 at times. We should have been confident coming on the back of two wins but were not showing that mentality. Some may say that might have been the manager telling them to play like that and absorb the pressure but this new manager seems to be more attack focused. We could not get a foothold on the game in midfield and Griffiths was being passed by. Likewise Enzio and Barnett were deep but were not stopping the crosses so the manager must have saw where this was going and decided to change tactics.

So rightly or wrongly I put it more down to lack of consistency in player performances, lack of energy and intensity in the first half an hour playing 3-5-2 rather than managerial error from the start.

[optipez]

I agree with this to an extent, but I think both Sam and Rodrigues (Sloth you can’t really say much about) have done about as much as you could reasonably expect adapting to a new country in extremely difficult circumstances. They aren’t stand out players yet, but they’ve contributed.

I would look more at our long line of experienced EFL professionals. Slocombe, McCrory, Chicksen, Rawlinson, Lacey, Ellis, Doyle, Reeves, O’Brien, Boldewijn, Turner. These are all players who are playing at this level because we’re paying them handsomely, and how many can you say are putting in the stand-out performances that their experience and wages should really warrant? Slocombe, Rawlinson and Lacey is probably about it, McCrory perhaps excused because of injury.

I also think you’re slightly overestimating how good we were last season. I think we were an above average team which was on course to finishing 5th-8th or something until we unearthed Roberts out of nowhere.

We were good enough to get to Wembley having given the top six a ten point head start.
Ardley takes some of the blame but collectively we've gone backwards and that midfield is and has been leggy all season.
Fully agree about the foreign pair, moving abroad and being locked down unable to make friends or see family must be miserable and can't help your game.
We've splattered all season very rarely looked like a promotion team and it's gone on right from pre season when York whooped us at home, all our weaknesses were on display then. Conceded soft goals, had no goal threat and got bossed in midfield. Another six or seven players in and the exact same problems were there today.
Last year we needed tweaking, this summer as need an overhaul.

[jacobncfc]

This is rambling nonsense tbh. 7 of the ex EFL players you refer to as not earning their wages. This is rubbish. Our club have the best defensive record in this league weve kept loads of clean sheets and Ellis has scored 3 in 6 or 7 games as a CB.

We don’t have the best defensive record in this league any more - now conceded more than Sutton and Stockport despite having played fewer games. Will probably be fourth or fifth by the time we’ve played our games in hand.

If you think those players mentioned are putting in stand out performances on a regular basis then fair play, we disagree.

[upthemaggies]

Our club have the best defensive record in this league.

Not anymore, based on goals against per game (which is the fairest way to calculate it) we've dropped to 4th.

1. Stockport Co 0.81
2. Sutton Utd 0.84
3. Hartlepool U. 0.89
4. Notts County 0.90
5. Chesterfield 0.97

Last season we finished on exactly 1.00 against per game, the 2nd best in the league behind Solihull.
All time club record is 0.67 in the Munto season.
Worst was a staggering 3.32 against per game in the very first season of the FL.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

We were good enough to get to Wembley having given the top six a ten point head start.
Ardley takes some of the blame but collectively we've gone backwards and that midfield is and has been leggy all season.
Fully agree about the foreign pair, moving abroad and being locked down unable to make friends or see family must be miserable and can't help your game.
We've splattered all season very rarely looked like a promotion team and it's gone on right from pre season when York whooped us at home, all our weaknesses were on display then. Conceded soft goals, had no goal threat and got bossed in midfield. Another six or seven players in and the exact same problems were there today.
Last year we needed tweaking, this summer as need an overhaul.

I completely agree with all of this. Some people say you can't judge a team in pre-season or after the first game but that pre-season game against York and the loss away to Dover showed our weaknesses and they have blighted us all season and will no doubt continue to do so all the way to the end, and that's regardless of who the manager is and what they do or do not do.

The key to any successful side is the recruitment and we have to be honest and ask ourselves the question is this squad better than last seasons? My answer is no.

It would be extremely harsh to point blame towards Sam and Rodrigues and the club's recruitment of them in my view. They are a small part of the jigsaw and as you say have come to a new country in the middle of a pandemic left their family and friends behind and have not been able to do anything to help them settle here or mix with their teammates. It must have been tough. Season one for them was always going to be a case of them finding their feet regardless of the pandemic.

We have had misfortune of the injury to Cal Roberts, Wes Thomas leaving and Casper Sloth walking in and out. That is three key players out of the equation. Likewise we did not secure a proven goal scorer at this level to replace the goals and assists from Dennis.

Should we finish below 3rd and not get promoted then on the field we will have regressed yet again and finish in our lowest ever position in the pyramid which is sobering but we will finish where we deserve to. Apart from the first half against Barnet where we ripped them to pieces (look where they are in the league now) and Dagenham at home against ten men that is the only time we've looked like a team that could win a title. Those performances have since become the exception rather than the norm.

Regardless of what happens from now until the end of the season I believe that lessons will be learned from this season by the owners, our recruitment team and the head coach. They will all have a clear understanding of what is right and wrong with this squad such that the club is better equipped to do it's best to recruit players in the summer who will give us the best chance of challenging at the very top right from the start of next season.

[crazyfists]

We just need to wait until we build a younger, more energetic squad with their peak ahead of them not past them. This will take time so no point worrying about it at the moment as Burchnall isn't going anywhere for a long time.

[queenslandpie]

Things to me are simple. The only time since our relegation that we have looked "the business" is when we had a fit and firing Callum Roberts to paper over the cracks. Burchnall is not a "new manager bounce" type of manager and has inherited the same dross that has stuttered for 95% of the season. How poor this league is is shown up by the fact we are still firmly in the playoffs! Until there is a massive overhaul AGAIN then we will see more of the same unless we have a fit and firing Roberts, which we won't have this season for sure. At best we will make 4th or 5th and I am entirely confident will fall at the first hurdle in any play off. Anyone saying its a disappointing start or questioning him needs to look a little higher as to why our owners allowed Ardley so much time when it clearly wasn't working for some time. A fact not lost on many many posters. It's not possible for him to make a lot of changes at this stage in the season. I think a 4 year contract for Burchnall is madness personally but he's going to need a year or so. Completely deserved to lose today.

[laddo]

Will the Notts faithful understand the situation and give Burchnall the time required for the needed big overhaul?