The performances have been consistently poor all year (since the Dagenham game), but clearly there’s not been a positive reaction since Ian Burchnall was installed and Neal Ardley ousted. The owners may have predicted that, since they always say changing the manager mid-season doesn’t improve things, but they must have hoped for better than this garbage.
There’s a lethargy about the team which suggests they’re weary from the Sat-Tue-Sat routine since January (though why would that affect us more than anyone else?), but the biggest problem is the lack of confidence that’s preventing them from doing the most basic things.
I heard Charlie Slater talk about players arguing among themselves on the pitch, and there definitely doesn’t seem to be any team spirit there, which is also concerning.
Part of the imbalance in the squad is how few players we seem to have aged 23-26 - it’s either inexperienced kids or journeymen professionals. I felt a bit sorry for Griffiths and Knight today as they were being asked to deliver so much more than their actual experience shows they’re qualified to do. That’s the result of poor recruitment.
It's the last one from me regards laddo, can't be bothered with its handbags stuff.
Absolutely dreadful today, if the manager can't even pick a team that looks like being on the front foot at home against a completely average Eastleigh then it's fair enough to ask questions of him even this early.
Correct. I don't know what our pre-match lunch is, but performances suggest it consists of a couple of sleeping pills. For much of the game today it looked like Eastleigh had an extra man. When we had the ball they were snapping at our heels, when they had the ball they had time to pick a pass. They looked a moderate side at best, but they still had more than we could cope with. I can't offer any reasons as to why, but we seem to have a team of frightened players who are sh!t scared to try anything risky, and are consistently performing to 50% of their true ability. Is that down to them, the management team, or both?
I gave IB a free pass until the end of the season, wrongly assuming that we would at least maintain our playoff place. The appalling cup defeat to part timers and 3 consequtive defeats now makes me think he is out of his depth in this League and the squad just ignore him.
Both, for me. We have become such a dream team to play against - sterile, passive football where we seem to forget that the aim is to score more goals than the opposition, preferably by a wide margin.
The most convincing home performance in recent months was the 2-0 win against Yeovil when the players did the basics, fought for every ball and tried to get the ball in the opposition half (including Slocombe kicking out from the back). Now, though, we’ve reverted to type against bang-average sides like Aldershot and Eastleigh and never get out of our own half. It’s genuinely agonising to watch - give me a gritty, no-frills performance like the one against Yeovil any day of the week.
If anyone wants to get really depressed, just remember the last time we played Eastleigh at Meadow Lane. Notts 4, Eastleigh 0, then compare it to today: Spitfires 1, Useless Fokkers 0.