Thoughts v Cambridge

[tarquinbeech]

Another day and the same old rubbish.....321 fans will hopefully back me up.

Firstly, we are completely and utterly toothless up front.....3 shots at goal, without one single one being on target is quite simply unacceptable......I do not know what Forte has done to Nolos missus, but it is not fair to leave him sat on the bench every week whilst we nosedive down the table without looking like scoring.

Secondly, the long ball up to a solo Stead does not work, that is plainly obvious and has been for months now.....not blaming Stead because he puts in a shift but he is chasing shadows most of the time...pointless....we might as well just hand them the ball every 5 minutes

Thirdly, our midfield is now a lost cause since Yates went bye~bye......no idea if Husin is any good or not, because most of the time he never gets the ball....please move Nobsa in centre midfield.

Fourthly, Grant has completely lost the plot, waste of a shirt the last 3 or 4 games.....start anybody else, and I do mean anybody else out there, play Fitz out there just for fun.....at least they might be able to cut inside or put in a decent cross.

Sorry to tell you all once again, do not bother with the highlights ......unless you want to watch wave after wave of Cambridge attacks in the first half.

Toodle pip.....I am off to get pickled in alcohol

[gozzie321]

I think every team knows how we play by now,and we don't appear to want to change it.The same happened to Keith Curle and Shaun Derry,they both started well but wouldn't change their style of play when things went wrong.

[CmonUSexyStylishPies]

To be fair the long ball up to Stead hasn't worked for years yet we still persist in doing it season after season. He was more effective when Moniz played him on the wing than when he's a lone target man.

[jacobncfc]

I think every team knows how we play by now,and we don't appear to want to change it.The same happened to Keith Curle and Shaun Derry,they both started well but wouldn't change their style of play when things went wrong.

I would argue that it's completely the opposite. Things have fallen apart since we've changed to 4-5-1, tried to accommodate more ball players in Husin, Noble and Alessandra, and moved away from the aggressive style that made us so dangerous in the first few weeks of the season.

Nolan deserves enormous credit for his work so far, but his decisions since the turn of the year have been bizarre. Why you would try to change so much on the back of one player leaving, particularly when you're comfortably in an automatic promotion spot, I have no idea.

It's still retrievable but we need to revert to this, barring injury and suspension, until the end of the season:-

Collin
Tootle
Duffy
Brisley
Jones
Hawkridge
Hewitt
Milsom
Grant
Stead
Ameobi/Forte

The closest thing we have to the team that was winning games before Christmas.

[countygump]

I would argue that it's completely the opposite. Things have fallen apart since we've changed to 4-5-1, tried to accommodate more ball players in Husin, Noble and Alessandra, and moved away from the aggressive style that made us so dangerous in the first few weeks of the season.

Nolan deserves enormous credit for his work so far, but his decisions since the turn of the year have been bizarre. Why you would try to change so much on the back of one player leaving, particularly when you're comfortably in an automatic promotion spot, I have no idea.

It's still retrievable but we need to revert to this, barring injury and suspension, until the end of the season:-

Collin
Tootle
Duffy
Brisley
Jones
Hawkridge
Hewitt
Milsom
Grant
Stead
Ameobi/Forte

The closest thing we have to the team that was winning games before Christmas.

This but mine would be:



Collin
Tootle
Duffy
Brisley
Jones
Alice&Sandra
Hewitt
Milsom
Grant
Stead
Ameobi/Forte (after 60 mins).

Oh, and we are playing 4-4-fergin-2.

[jacobncfc]

This but mine would be:



Collin
Tootle
Duffy
Brisley
Jones
Alice&Sandra
Hewitt
Milsom
Grant
Stead
Ameobi/Forte (after 60 mins).

Oh, and we are playing 4-4-fergin-2.

I think Alessandra was at his most effective coming on for Hawkridge with 20/25 minutes to go. Hawkridge isn't the most naturally gifted player, but he's got a decent cross on him, keeps his shape well and works tirelessly. Alessandra is a bit too flaky for me, drifts in and out, flatters to deceive. Useful impact sub, though.

[jackal2]

I would argue that it's completely the opposite. Things have fallen apart since we've changed to 4-5-1, tried to accommodate more ball players in Husin, Noble and Alessandra, and moved away from the aggressive style that made us so dangerous in the first few weeks of the season.

Nolan deserves enormous credit for his work so far, but his decisions since the turn of the year have been bizarre. Why you would try to change so much on the back of one player leaving, particularly when you're comfortably in an automatic promotion spot, I have no idea.

I agree with Jacob. Nolan ranted at the players after the Barnet game, but the truth is that the complete change of a winning formula against Exeter and then Crawley is where this rot started. He suddenly seemed to change the system to accommodate the players, when his whole ethos until then was that the players must plug into the system.

It is indeed retrievable, because Ryan Yates, as good as he was, certainly wasn't a one-man team. After a dodgy first 20 minutes against Crewe we looked more like the team from earlier this season and won that game comfortably with our bullying, physical play, but we don't seem to be able to sustain it game to game at present. I do feel Ameobi is an important cog in the machine and our results dip when he isn't there. Like Lee Hughes he's still a talismanic presence even when he's not at his best, but if you're relying on a veteran in his mid-30s as your key player in the middle of a long hard winter, it's a recipe for difficulties.

All of that said, some of doom-laden posts on here are a bit over the top. The balanced view is that we're over performing against most expectations at the start of the season, but not by as much as we were earlier in the season. Nolan does have a point that any disappointment with the current form should be mild, compared with the consistent dross of recent seasons. This is a bad spell, not a bad season.

[Elite_Pie]

Some interesting views, but maybe a bit of overthinking going on? I think the real reason we are slipping down the table is that we're not particularly good, simple as that. We rode our luck early season and over-achieved, but never looked like a promotion side or even a play off side. 10th - 12th place is our level, which is still a decent step forward from last season.

[jackal2]

Some interesting views, but maybe a bit of overthinking going on? I think the real reason we are slipping down the table is that we're not particularly good, simple as that. We rode our luck early season and over-achieved, but never looked like a promotion side or even a play off side. 10th - 12th place is our level, which is still a decent step forward from last season.

Probably fair comment, although I'm still optimistic we can finish higher than that. We still have it in us to string together another little run of wins somewhere down the stretch, which could secure us at least a play-off place, and confidence is such a fickle thing that if it does return, anything's possible.

That said, I do think we're at least five first-team players short of what's needed to compete in League One, and if we go up before we're ready, we're likely to get mauled and return to League Two in much worse shape. Luton weren't quite ready last season, but look stronger now and will probably do well in the league above. If/when we go up, we want to be strong enough to stay up, and that means building a team gradually, because we sure can't buy one quickly.

[countygump]

Some interesting views, but maybe a bit of overthinking going on? I think the real reason we are slipping down the table is that we're not particularly good, simple as that. We rode our luck early season and over-achieved, but never looked like a promotion side or even a play off side. 10th - 12th place is our level, which is still a decent step forward from last season.

'Over achieved', I would agree with but I don't remember coming away from one match this season thinking, 'Jeez, that was a spawny win'. Grit, determination and team spirit got us most of our results and that seems to have evaporated for now.