⚽ Match Thread vs. Shrewbury Town FC 01.12.23 [FAC R2]

[MapperleyMagpie]

He does. Listen to his interview. By all accounts from the performance the team were well good enough to win tonight, in fact it sounds as if we thrashed them 2-3 thanks to comedy play at the back.

I listened to his interview but the facts speak loud and clear on our cup performances this season and the choice of personnel in those Inc being beaten by an academy side.

[Glad2BeAPie]

Luke not taking this competition seriously then, poor team selection

[marky]

Langstaff should have started and Jones should have been on at half time. Imagine how our attacking players feel scoring all these goals yet we still lose matches.

[countygump]

I listened to his interview but the facts speak loud and clear on our cup performances this season and the choice of personnel in those Inc being beaten by an academy side.

Agree about the team chosen. Luke needed to show a bit more respect to what is a mid table L1 team. But even so, you still feel we could have and should have beaten them even with our 8 team changes if we hadn't had absolutely gifted them 3 goals. Until we sort the defence you can put any thoughts of promo on the back burner, IMHAHO. I left that match feeling the most disappointed I've felt coming away from a Notts match for a good while. Absolute wasted opportunity.

[Big Bob]

LW post match interview sounds like he's not happy at Notts.

[Eastcoastultra1977]

That was a complete waste of time and money,and I don't give a shiny ****e what any of you say.
Shrewsbury had scored 12 goals in 20 league games this season.
I am getting fed up to the back teeth of Williams putting out weakend teams in these cup matches.
When is he going to ****ing sort the defense out?This has been going on too long now.
We had a great chance of getting a good draw against a Prem. side and making a bit of money.
No doubt the same lame excuses will come out....tiredness,(it's the same for all teams at this level)the opposition were 'brilliant' etc.Yawn,yawn,bore,bore.
FFS Williams for once and for all get shut of your ****ing 'mates' in defence or **** off.

[Stall is God]

Why can’t everyone see, Luke is not disrespecting the competition, he’s managing a small squad. Remove the calamitous defending and that could have been a decent result and performance. Clearly the defence needs an upgrade but what can we do right now, apart from playing on loan youngsters? I’m as frustrated as anyone but I trust the process.

[jackal2]

Unbelievably crass defensive errors cost us the game and potentially a big pay-day. We should have won that 2-0.

Notts dominated and played well for most of the 90 minutes, but you can't have players who go by the description 'central defenders' or 'back three' making the kind of errors ours do, game after game.

If there were signs of improvement and fewer errors being made as time went on, then maybe you could make allowances for them being "brave/creative on the ball", but a team can't keep absorbing the kind of sloppiness we're seeing time and again, especially when you remember that there have been various other errors that haven't led to goals, more by luck than judgement.

As another poster says above, you have to reach a point where you say enough is enough and you either change the personnel, or play more conservatively in defensive positions to reflect the vulnerabilities and limitations of the players at your disposal.

On the plus side tonight, I thought Dan Gosling looked far fitter and more in tune with the team, and he and Bostock give us far more physical presence and height in midfield, not to mention ability some way above League Two level.

I agreed with the MoM for Sam Austin, back in arguably his best attacking midfield position and proving that he's one of the best crossers of the ball at the club. You could see he was much more confident in everything he did and was central to many of our best attacking moves, whereas in the deeper role in recent weeks he has looked comparatively ineffective if not lost.

All in all, a damn shame. Much to admire in our general play against League One opposition, but also proof that if we take that defence into League One, against players who will take full advantage of such ridiculous errors, we'll get eaten alive. Whether it's personnel or tactical improvements, that problem needs addressing.

[Robertomac]

I was disappointed to hear Williams say what a great team Shrewsbury were. I know it's his MO and he says tge same of every team, but they were really poor. I thought Crawley were a better side.

Shrewsbury never looked like scoring and struggled to keep the ball or string any passes together. We have literally gifted them tonight's game.

[uysapie]

Why can’t everyone see, Luke is not disrespecting the competition, he’s managing a small squad. Remove the calamitous defending and that could have been a decent result and performance. Clearly the defence needs an upgrade but what can we do right now, apart from playing on loan youngsters? I’m as frustrated as anyone but I trust the process.

The only way to remove the comedy of errors at the back is change the selection but thanks to no recruitment, that means playing the lyounger players. We cannot keep on playing the same culprits game after game. Tonight was an absolute joke of a defence.