⚽ Match Thread vs. Newport County AFC 23.11.24 [EFL L2]

[Could'vebeenacontender]

This is where I?’m at as on this occasion I don?’t think SM did anything wrong. The manager can only have so much influence.

Along with the 27 shots we also got caught offside three or four times in the second half. So that?’s over 30 chances in which we broke Newport down and could have scored. That comes down to what is the hardest thing to do in football score goals. Shots on and off target were simply not clinical enough.

SM also cannot be blamed for injuries to key players like JJ, Crowley and add to this we have no Macca.

What it needs is patience and once we are back to full strength and some fresh faces in January I?’m confident we will be picking up wins where we have got draws like against Doncaster, Crewe and Newport. With JJ and Crowley I think we win at least one if not two of those games.

We've been unlucky that it's our most creative players who've been out
Curtis Edwards was looking the part in his first few games too, a real threat
With him, Dan and Jodi in the side I suspect we'd see Nick Tsaroulla really blossom
It's basically him and George Abbott who've been our biggest threats recently

[MAD_MAGPIE]

We've been unlucky that it's our most creative players who've been out
Curtis Edwards was looking the part in his first few games too, a real threat
With him, Dan and Jodi in the side I suspect we'd see Nick Tsaroulla really blossom
It's basically him and George Abbott who've been our biggest threats recently

Yes I think it?s important to also remember other players who have been out like Edward?s who I also thought did well when he was in the side and he offered something as well.

Then add to this Robertson who has not really been able to have a decent run in the side this season. The same goes for Grant. Then Scott who has had time out as well. So that?s three other players along with JJ and Crowley who have not been available consistently.

Stuart Maynard or the recruitment team could not have foreseen such misfortune. That?s why time and patience is required. One point from the automatic promotion places means we have dealt with it as well as we can. We need to try and keep in touching distance over the rest of the calendar year.

[Mud Pie]

We've been unlucky that it's our most creative players who've been out
Curtis Edwards was looking the part in his first few games too, a real threat
With him, Dan and Jodi in the side I suspect we'd see Nick Tsaroulla really blossom
It's basically him and George Abbott who've been our biggest threats recently

for me CE looked a bit shaky at first but seemed to adjust really well in the games he's played. From his reputation too, he could almost be as influential as JJ coming back, but he's older, coming off an injury, AND still adjusting to the div4 game. I wouldn't put too much pressure/expectation on him at first.

Abbott seems to be dividing opinion on here a bit. I'm a bit with AntiClough, to me GA will likely become an upmarket Matty Palmer, sorry MP! His energy and engagement/focus, and offball movement and ability to actually impact play, is very good, but still too often his energy and bluster doesn't result in net gains. Having critted him for losing focus after 60 mind before, I thought he was much better 2nd half than 1st against Newport.

Brown's progress seems to be slowing unfortunately, but in his defence against the comments elsewhere about movement up front, there was at least three times he made runs into the inside right channel and Ness or Palmer went left. GB visibly frustrated. There may still be more in him?

[Boomerangpie]

That?s an excellent post from Matt and a point that requires highlight. Are we over reliant on Jones and Crowley, probably. Would people go ballistic if we had sold one of them after the Langstaff sale, 100% guaranteed. The owners would have been accused of being unambitious. Should we have used a chuck of the playing budget to retain Jones, yes yes and yes.

If we don?t finish in playoffs I would change the head coach. The drift away is disappointing but hardly unexpected in the circumstances. We have been top 6 almost all season with key men all out for considerable time, that is higher league positions than I expected.

[Med Pie]

I don't see why the club insist they can't afford another 'Jatta' type signing, not necessarily a tall striker but anyone who would improve our strength in depth and make us more resilient to injury setbacks.

I'm told by a fairly, reliable source (I think) that the Nest alone, is covering the wage bill so then we have the padel courts plus tv, Cup and gate monies so why can't we?

If we can't have an extremely competitive budget in League Two, it will only be harder if we get up, I see Rectum are rumoured to be signing Patrick Bamford for 4.5 million quid.

[Notts78]

I don't see why the club insist they can't afford another 'Jatta' type signing, not necessarily a tall striker but anyone who would improve our strength in depth and make us more resilient to injury setbacks.

I'm told by a fairly, reliable source (I think) that the Nest alone, is covering the wage bill so then we have the padel courts plus tv, Cup and gate monies so why can't we?

If we can't have an extremely competitive budget in League Two, it will only be harder if we get up, I see Rectum are rumoured to be signing Patrick Bamford for 4.5 million quid.

Isn?t it Sheff Utd looking at Bamford?

Has the club insisted they can?t afford another Jatta type signing? I have not seen anywhere that the club won?t sign anyone due to finances. What I did see is that we?d only sign players that the club felt were right for us. If those players haven?t been available and at the right price, then how is that the clubs fault.
The reality with is at the moment is that our most creative players are injured. Even players that could be more creative than what we have been able to put out in recent weeks are injured?missing Edward?s, Grant and to a lesser degree Robbo on top of Crowley and JJ has taken away so much of our attacking ability.

[cjpieman]

I don't see why the club insist they can't afford another 'Jatta' type signing, not necessarily a tall striker but anyone who would improve our strength in depth and make us more resilient to injury setbacks.

I'm told by a fairly, reliable source (I think) that the Nest alone, is covering the wage bill so then we have the padel courts plus tv, Cup and gate monies so why can't we?

If we can't have an extremely competitive budget in League Two, it will only be harder if we get up, I see Rectum are rumoured to be signing Patrick Bamford for 4.5 million quid.

The Nest is paying the wages ???

Where did you go to school ?

Let?s say our wage bill is ?3m ? That?s ?250k per month or ?60k or so a week. That?s a lot of pints of carling?about 10,000 a weekend !!!!

[PedroTheFisherman66]

We have now achieved consistency, can't win regularly home or away. We are as unlikely to be promoted as we are to be relegated. It really is very disappointing.

Do you think theres a fair possibility of us being relegated with a full uninjured squad to choose from.??

[upthemaggies]

If the 3 and a half week run of wins continues to be the anomaly it has been since Maynard arrived, then on this season's form in the other 13 games we will end up with 64 points. Last season 64 points would have seen us finish 12th.

I'm not a manager but I'm not going to accept that there's nobody else out there who could do a better job than Maynard with the players currently available. He's been here 10 months and he's got the best out of what he's got for 1/10th of that period.

[jacobncfc]

It?s a worry but what I saw yesterday and quite a few times was a decent L2 team that controlled the game with 100% effort and had 27 shots, a few speculative but really if you have 27 shots and in around the box that much you should be scoring.
We?re missing 2 players with massive goal contributions, does it beg the question we?ve put all our eggs in one basket with them two budget wise ? maybe, but if we had let even one go people would have gone ballistic. I?m not saying SMs pep but I?m struggling at the moment to see regarding team selection/tactics/commitment what he?s doing that wrong, what was glaring yesterday bar Jattas/Didzy proven goal scoring records no one else really is a goal threat.

The problem is that we?re still playing like we have Crowley and Jones available when, as we know, we don?t. Our game plan is generally to control matches by having lots of the ball, and trusting that we have enough to break teams down because we have two players who can create something from nothing and against massed, deep defences. Teams also generally double up on them, which creates space somewhere else - there?s no one else who required that kind of attention, so it?s easy for teams to do what Newport (and Crewe) did last week and just get back, keep their shape and restrict us to hopeful crosses into the box. The only time we ever looked like scoring yesterday was when Newport had the ball in their own third.

Ever since Jones got injured we?ve just been asking Tsaroulla to be him which, with the best will in the world, he isn?t. I?d like to see us sacrificing some possession and ?control? while those two are out injured (and even when just DC is back) to try and get some of our other threats into the game, particularly Jatta running in behind and McGoldrick on the ball around their box rather than in his own half.

As an aside, I thought the Gordon for Brown sub yesterday was bizarre. Not that Brown was doing much, but he was taking up attacking positions in a way that Austin was never going to.