⚽Match Thread vs. AFC Wimbledon 09.03.24 [EFL L2]

[Elite_Pie]

That game had 0-0 written all over it, neither side did anything worth winning it. Wimbledon created very little, but that's where the problem lies. Teams only have to be strong defensively (and Wimbledon were) to beat us. If you keep us out, it's guaranteed we will gift you a goal or two. I thought the effort was there today, but there is no longer any belief. Worrying times.

[Davy500]

Also as others have mentioned i dont think we can under estimate the loss of Jason Turner

[SinceSept1959]

A decent start from Notts but didn't create a goalscoring opportunity.
I predicted a 0-1 defeat at HT
Confidence ebbs away and the same frailties leave us vulnerable to defensive errors and no points on the board.
The three stand out players again were Robbo, Macari and JOB.
Plenty of crosses into Macca but isolated, no height and he's trying to feed off scraps !
Two set pieces conceded and I agree Rawlinson was unlucky .
Why do fans have scapegoats ? Chicksen did ok returning from injury.
Sorry , but Maynard and Co are not up to the task. Players continually changing position have been less effective especially Jones & Crowley and chances for Macca are at a premium.

Substitutions made too late and basically like for like changes.
It was obvious Macca needed a partner in the box and Jatta was unused ??
0-1 down at 80 minutes and we have subs "warming up " for 6 minutes and concede again after 86 minutes.
Tactics and man - management deficiencies seem apparent !

The fact that Jatta didn't get on the pitch raises questions about him and/or Maynard.
Which or both are not ready for the task ?
A good manager would have put an arm round Jatta after about 70 minuted and said go on , enjoy yourself and win me the game ?

[Observerpie]

Maybe Maynard isn't the world's best motivator but that doesn't excuse the lacklustre displays by the players. If they're sulking because Williams has gone then they need to ask how that will work out for them, for the great majority of them the only way is down and on their current performances I can't see a long queue for them.

[Togtastic]

The problems sit entirely on the players shoulders. Maynard may not be the manager many people think Williams was but it was Slocombe not Maynard whose awful clearance/pass gave them a throw in for the first and the players, not Maynard's collective negligence for the second.

[maddogslater]

5 home games, 1 point, just SIX goals scored, TWELVE conceded, says his little tweaks have been a disaster.

[jackal2]

My impression today was that the players individually were trying much harder to do the right things defensively and put in more meaningful challenges, and for much of the game it worked, but ultimately it was ruined by Rawlinson's rather ridiculous own goal from a 'long-throw threat' we knew all about.

I thought Aaron Nemane in particular showed more appetite to track and tackle back than I've ever seen from him before, that the defensive midfield pairing of O'Brien and Robertson continued to look effective, and that Cameron and Baldwin generally did better than they have recently, except for one really poor piece of defending in the second half where they were two on one with a Wimbledon forward and almost let him beat them both, until a last-ditch cynical foul that got Cameron booked.

I thought Macauley Langstaff chose a really bad day not to wear his shooting boots. To my mind he missed at least three great scoring opportunities while we were still at 0-0, when we were desperate for a goal to reinforce what had been mostly a solid performance for the first 75 minutes. I think if we had gone 1-0 up then the confidence boost would probably have seen us go on to win the game, but the longer it went at 0-0, and especially after O'Brien ran out of steam and Baldwin went off, we looked increasingly vulnerable.

My biggest criticism today would be the formation, where we deployed a number of players in positions that are not their best, and consequently diminished some of our attacking potential.

When I heard the team I thought it was certain to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Macari and Chicksen as orthodox fullbacks, Crowley in the number 10 role behind Langstaff, and Nemane and Jones attacking from wide right and left. I think this would have been a balanced set-up in view of the selected personnel:

----------------Slocombe

Macari-----Baldwin-----Cameron---Chicksen

-----------O'Brien------Robertson

Nemane----------Crowley-----------Jones

------------------Langstaff


Instead, we had Chicksen returning as a wing-back, despite the fact he is as uncomfortable from an attacking viewpoint in that position as Jodi Jones is from a defensive viewpoint, while Jones himself was forced mostly in-field, stifling 50% of his attacking ability to go past people and leaving him looking frankly rather ordinary, which he isn't.

What is this obsession with continuing with a wing-back system that simply isn't working as well at this level as it did in the weaker National League, with players who can only do half of the job a wing-back is required to do? Are the coaching staff overthinking things and not seeing the obvious? I hope it changes at Crawley on Tuesday and we can go back to what worked beautifully at Newport.

[Woodypie]

Is Stuart Maynard unlucky I ask myself? Mansfield and Wrexham away now AFC Wimbledon at home. All games where we deserved more but got nothing. Then the Newport and Barrow games a good four points based on the oppositions form.

There were those games that were horror shows or littered with individual errors such as Sutton, Crewe and Gillingham.

For me playoffs are gone now. We've got 7 points from the last ten games and have been stuck in the 40-49 point bracket since we beat Morecombe 5-0 on boxing day. The last eleven games are now a test to see if SM can turn it around. If we can get 15 points and finish around 60-65 points that will be an upturn and should see a top half finish.

It really has been the worst possible start to 2024 we could have imagined but I'm not giving up on SM yet. I want to see how he does against teams that LW beat as there has only been one game Gillingham so far that LW got a better result.

Or, Maynard's ****e and an embarrassing appointment.

[Shropshire_Pie]

Losing Baldwin to injury yesterday was huge in terms of both the game and the chance of Maynard turning this around.

He was our only player properly defending the Wombles high balls into the box and as soon as he was gone they scored from the next high ball in. Yes he makes mistakes but he's hugely important with his pace and ability.

If he's out for the next game or longer I can only see the goals against column growing and the goals for and points staying the same.

This could be a taste of what we are gonna get next season as I can't see him signing a new contract at the end of the season with the current regime.

[Chicken Balti Pie]

Losing Baldwin to injury yesterday was huge in terms of both the game and the chance of Maynard turning this around.

He was our only player properly defending the Wombles high balls into the box and as soon as he was gone they scored from the next high ball in. Yes he makes mistakes but he's hugely important with his pace and ability.

If he's out for the next game or longer I can only see the goals against column growing and the goals for and points staying the same.

This could be a taste of what we are gonna get next season as I can't see him signing a new contract at the end of the season with the current regime.

When Baldwin is your best defender, you have to worry