⚽ Match Thread vs. Lincoln City 08.08.23 [EFLC R1]

[slack_pie]

I have a feeling that we are. The squad is too lightweight to compete. The fact that we are rumoured to be signing another right back who might be able to play RCB but is smaller than Brindley is concerning. Sure we need skillful players, but you need height and strength as well

That's it. We don't need to rip up everything that has made us successful and start again, but we do need to be realistic and adjust our approach to fix some of the issues we have. When a team concedes tons of corners or gives away sloppy goals due to misplaced back passes, it's clear that the very basics are being overlooked. Get the basics right first, then focus on the other stuff.

[OldBanksy]

All of the pre season signings apart from DM in my opinion are just not good enough. And I also question as to whether he was really a necessity, in view of the other striker options at the club. Our priority without any doubt should have been the defence. Bringing a 19 year old academy player in is not the answer...I just hope we are not on loan to the EFL..

A 19 year old, slightly built academy player does seem rather a strange addition and doesn't seem to fit the bill for what appears to be required.

[OldBanksy]

There were three telling actions.
The way they scored their two goals had nothing to do with height or strength or physicality.
The first was all about nous in losing markers all over the box and our naivety in coping with it.
The second was a naive, loose pass that was pounced upon.
The sending off was a completely unnecessary, self destruct moment.

[countygump]

So called best starting 11 did worse against a league 2 side

We lost against Sutton and conceded several sloppy goals that's true, but at weird as it may seem, at least we competed. We had several chances in their goal mouth that we could have done better with. You couldn't remotely say the same against Lincoln who we could just as easily have shipped 5 goals against, were luck not on our side.

[BanjoPie]

It's pretty easy to work out why we only had 1 shot on goal? I mean, Luke in his PM was adamant he wanted to win the tie, but then he fields a team who have very little chance of doing that against a more than competent L1 side. I really don't understand it? Give us half a chance Lukey...

I guess he is trying to keep the whole squad happy

[matt_magpie]

I guess he is trying to keep the whole squad happy

I think it’s the timing of the tie really. It’s not sensible chucking just after pre season the same players into 3 competitive games in the space of 8 days.

[Proactive not Reactive]

Agree with this. I can’t comment on the Sutton game as I didn’t see it, but there was a painful gulf between the sides last night - we still looked like a non-league side most of the time and escaped with a 2-0 defeat. 70% possession is meaningless if most of it is in your own half.

Someone mentioned us possibly paying the price for poor recruitment this summer, and it does seem a little strange that while we went out and bought a couple of players last summer, we haven’t made similar moves this time - especially when we knew RR was leaving and we were stepping up a league. It has taken a long time to replace Jason Turner (I think the replacement only started this week), and this may have hampered things. Then there are the questions about who is actually doing the recruiting right now. Something just feels a little off, but let’s hope things start to click from Saturday.

I don't think I've ever seen a game where a non- league side have had 70% percent possession ?
Complaining about our tippy tappy is old hat and LW and the players proved the fans wrong last season by continuing to play it including the short corners(which he explained why) 117 goals and 107 points.
Now whether we can play this way in League 2 only time will tell but we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater after two games, at present the players aren't playing anywhere near how they were last season(whether they have believed the hype of the bookies or the so called experts I don't know)
LW tweaked it last night playing with a back 4 and I'm sure he will need plenty of other tweaks in the coming months, but one thing is for sure he will continue to play a possession based brand of football because that is the club's model and the players we have were recruited for that system.
We brought in McGoldrick,Crowley,Randall and Stone aswell as signing Jones and bringing Tipton in on loan and I'm sure if we don't sign anyone else in August we will in January.
I think a lot of people are speculating and adding 2 + 2 = 5 because of the start we have made - some possibly scaremongering.
All we can do is be patient(tough for Notts fans) and get behind LW and the players and it will certainly be required on Saturday with over 3000 noisy Grimsby fans

[Proactive not Reactive]

There were three telling actions.
The way they scored their two goals had nothing to do with height or strength or physicality.
The first was all about nous in losing markers all over the box and our naivety in coping with it.
The second was a naive, loose pass that was pounced upon.
The sending off was a completely unnecessary, self destruct moment.

I totally agree with you the fans said before the start of last season we were too lightweight in the middle of the park but the midfield ran virtually every game.
The first goal which was pivotal last night came from their player being sharper than TAR and then Crowley losing his man at the far post

[keldsyke]

I don't think I've ever seen a game where a non- league side have had 70% percent possession ?
Complaining about our tippy tappy is old hat and LW and the players proved the fans wrong last season by continuing to play it including the short corners(which he explained why) 117 goals and 107 points.
Now whether we can play this way in League 2 only time will tell but we can't throw the baby out of the bathwater after two games, at present the players aren't playing anywhere near how they were last season(whether they have believed the hype of the bookies or the so called experts I don't know)
LW tweaked it last night playing with a back 4 and I'm sure he will need plenty of other tweaks in the coming months, but one thing is for sure he will continue to play a possession based brand of football because that is the club's model and the players we have were recruited for that system.
We brought in McGoldrick,Crowley,Randall and Stone aswell as signing Jones and bringing Tipton in on loan and I'm sure if we don't sign anyone else in August we will in January.
I think a lot of people are speculating and adding 2 + 2 = 5 because of the start we have made - some possibly scaremongering.
All we can do is be patient(tough for Notts fans) and get behind LW and the players and it will certainly be required on Saturday with over 3000 noisy Grimsby fans

You can have 70% all day long, but if you're not switched on in the other 30% and you concede or don't have an edge in the 70% to score then either the system / players or a combination of both isn't good enough for the level you're playing at.

[countygump]

You can have 70% all day long, but if you're not switched on in the other 30% and you concede or don't have an edge in the 70% to score then either the system / players or a combination of both isn't good enough for the level you're playing at.

Errr, both?

The Real EFL
@RealEFLSocial
Lincoln City had 30% possession against Notts County last night but registered 20 shots and two goals.

Is it a case of pointless possession for Notts or poor defensive performance?