⚽Match Thread vs. Accrington 16.03.24 [EFL L2]

[durhampie]

It's very weird, but it seems to me that generally, the longer a game goes on, the worse we get!

Yep, Made worse with his substitutions ..

[BJPIE]

Yep, Made worse with his substitutions ..

Interesting how we all become analysts when things are not going so well.
Only a few people were critical of our defence last year because for most, the fact we were winning was enough.However, the individual mistakes and soft underbelly was very apparent.

As some have said we desperately need a leader on the pitch. A proven, experienced, no nonsense defender. I'm frustrated about Baldwin as he has the pace power and physicality to be a good player at this level, but I also feel he is shouldering a lot of the pressure. The Captain clearly cant defend at this level and how he keeps his starting place let alone the armband baffles me. Baldwin next to a seasoned pro who he might respect with Macari would be a good start.

We need to keep Jones and Langstaff and demonstrating to them that the club is doing something to reduce their defensive workload would go a long way.

The next signing Notts make will be crucial. If we bring in anything but a PROVEN goalkeeper or Central Defender Ill be very disappointed.

I dont expect Radar/The Bros to abandon their philophosy completely, but as businessmen and football analysts both positions should clearly allow them to see what aspects need addressing like any business.

Sadly, Maynard has to go and I cant see The Bros doing that. They appeartoo nice. Whilst I do sympathise with Maynard, he took over a team that were already beginning to falter, he doesnt have the presence to make this club tick.
Im not saying you need a big name manager, you dont. Presence and intensity is ***** to make players believe.

I know the club is in safe hands now, but releasing Maynard would also show its in strong hands

[Notts78]

Given our lack of squad depth, are you surprised? Don’t get me wrong, some of the substitutions have been baffling at best.

As for us being weaker the longer games go on. Is anyone surprised? We have a substantial non league squad that are physically conditioned to deal with the rigours of the NL. EFL2 is a different beast… even the worst teams like Sutton will run all day. There are no easy games where players could coast to a win… how many times did we see that last season?
What is a must in the summer, is more established EFL players. Players who are fit for a full EFL season.
Macca has had a little stick recently and it’s harsh at best IMO. He is a player who has never played at this level. He will consider himself a fit lad but being fit to compete at 100% every EFL2 is nigh on impossible even for players who are conditioned to the level. I haven’t seen stats, but I’d be surprised if any other striker has played more minutes. He’s been flogged due to our complete lack of options.
I’m hoping Jatta comes good and is able to play on his own at times so Macca can be freshened up.
Other players have also suffered ‘brain farts’ as a result of not being conditioned to the level played at. It’s impossible to expect a player to up his fitness levels and was always going to take time.
Established EFL players are a must when we recruit in the summer. We can’t take punts on non league players, hoping they come off. Yes one or two…. Any more and we will see results like we see over the last few months.

[upthemaggies]

The last season we did well at this level, 2017/18 under Nolan, is quite a contrast to the current season for 1st and 2nd halves.....

2017/18
1ST HALF:
Goals For: 22
Against: 19

2017/18
2ND HALF:
Goals For: 49
Against: 29

So a +3 difference in the 1st half, +20 in the 2nd half.
Of the 16 games that we went in drawing at half-time, eight (half) were turned into wins, only 3 were lost (all away)
Of the 14 we were losing at HT, we recovered in 6 of them to get a result (5 draws and 1 win).

[OP67]

Interesting how we all become analysts when things are not going so well.
Only a few people were critical of our defence last year because for most, the fact we were winning was enough.However, the individual mistakes and soft underbelly was very apparent.

As some have said we desperately need a leader on the pitch. A proven, experienced, no nonsense defender. I'm frustrated about Baldwin as he has the pace power and physicality to be a good player at this level, but I also feel he is shouldering a lot of the pressure. The Captain clearly cant defend at this level and how he keeps his starting place let alone the armband baffles me. Baldwin next to a seasoned pro who he might respect with Macari would be a good start.

We need to keep Jones and Langstaff and demonstrating to them that the club is doing something to reduce their defensive workload would go a long way.

The next signing Notts make will be crucial. If we bring in anything but a PROVEN goalkeeper or Central Defender Ill be very disappointed.

I dont expect Radar/The Bros to abandon their philophosy completely, but as businessmen and football analysts both positions should clearly allow them to see what aspects need addressing like any business.

Sadly, Maynard has to go and I cant see The Bros doing that. They appeartoo nice. Whilst I do sympathise with Maynard, he took over a team that were already beginning to falter, he doesnt have the presence to make this club tick.
Im not saying you need a big name manager, you dont. Presence and intensity is ***** to make players believe.

I know the club is in safe hands now, but releasing Maynard would also show its in strong hands

I can see Jones seeing out his contracy as he's enjoying his football and close to home and family which is important to his after all the injuries. Langstaff will be sold to fund hopefully a couple of proven defenders and a goalkeeper able to command his box. A new captain needs to be installed as well.

I think the brothers will reaccess Maynards position at the end of the season and will have names of possible replacement if needed. So far it's not looking good for Stu and the gang though. We should have gone down the Premier/Championship assistant route not someone that had never played at a high level and only been a coach for a couple of seasons in the NL!

As you say we're in good hands and the brothers have been great for the club. We all make bad decisions from time to time though, it's how you resolve them that counts.

[upthemaggies]

As you say we're in good hands and the brothers have been great for the club. We all make bad decisions from time to time though, it's how you resolve them that counts.

They need to be doing better than this. Currently worse than both Trew and Hardy on tier 4 results.

Tier 4 owners PPG table

2.40 Peter Trembling
2.15 Derek Pavis
1.87 Len Machin
1.64 Jack Dunnett
1.62 Russell King
1.35 Fred Williamson
1.35 Alan Hardy
1.32 Ray Trew
1.30 C. & A. Reedtz
1.21 Bill Hopcroft
1.13 Supporters Trust

[slack_pie]

Why is it amateurish? What's the downside to putting two keepers on the bench if they've both travelled and are fit?

It's just another example of how some people will never give Maynard a chance. Everything that goes wrong is because he's an amateur - even the stuff out of his control.

I get that people aren't happy with our form - it's bloody awful - but constantly digging at the coach isn't going to help. Our owners will come to their own decisions in their own time. From what I can see, Maynard seems like a decent, hard-working, honest kind of guy. He's trying hard to turn things around. He might not be the right man for the job, but constantly attacking him doesn't exactly help.

[slack_pie]

They need to be doing better than this. Currently worse than both Trew and Hardy on tier 4 results.

Tier 4 owners PPG table

2.40 Peter Trembling
2.15 Derek Pavis
1.87 Len Machin
1.64 Jack Dunnett
1.62 Russell King
1.35 Fred Williamson
1.35 Alan Hardy
1.32 Ray Trew
1.30 C. & A. Reedtz
1.21 Bill Hopcroft
1.13 Supporters Trust

Trew inherited a side good enough to win the league. Hardy bankrupted the club and got us relegated. I'd take midtable in our first season back in the league and not almost going out of business over what Trew and Hardy did to the club.

[Kent Magpie]

[QUOTE=SmiffyPie;40471369]

I would also say the second half weakness could well be down to our repetitive play. When the opposition see that Notts only "do" one thing (Play it out from the keeper, into the middle, then up the sides, stop, turn back and pass across the middle, pass it to the keeper, repeat) it's not hard to anticipate the pattern and wait for an opportunity (or three). We are weak in key positions and have a squad that have been drilled into one style of play and we haven't got the skill or the ability across the team to do the unexpected. With the exception of the few games when we have clicked we are realitively easy pickings.

I agree with this, and maybe that is one reason we have seen the dramatic drop off with SM; we need to unlearn some of the patterns and adopt new ones. That is not easy to do mid season, with a depleted and fatigued squad.

[Kent Magpie]

They need to be doing better than this. Currently worse than both Trew and Hardy on tier 4 results.

Tier 4 owners PPG table

2.40 Peter Trembling
2.15 Derek Pavis
1.87 Len Machin
1.64 Jack Dunnett
1.62 Russell King
1.35 Fred Williamson
1.35 Alan Hardy
1.32 Ray Trew
1.30 C. & A. Reedtz
1.21 Bill Hopcroft
1.13 Supporters Trust

Certainly not good enough. Looking at that list, we need to be chasing Trembling to come back, or at least look at what he did and replicate it. Having someone like King to help out would be perfect! I can't see any downsides to that approach!