Best/Worst opponents this season

[E10rifle]

Okay, I think we're just about far enough into the season to start dishing out widespread offence/praise to all and sundry. Who are the best and worst three League Two opponents you've seen this season? Only rules: you have to have been at the game/seen the whole match on t'telly, and you have to name three in each, even if you've struggled to name three good ones like me. We'll see if we can start to get some sort of consensus.

Best:

1. Wycombe, the cheaty bastards. The only decent side I've seen. Very organised.
2. Carlisle. This is sort of by default as we played them off the park, but they managed a win so fair play. McQueen was excellent - meep meeped our rapid left back a couple of times.
3. Er. Northampton I suppose. This is in no way an endorsement of them, but they were slightly less bad than Bristol Rovers and Notts County.

Worst

1. Dagenham. Offered literally nothing apart from the one chance they scored, including effort.
2. Cambridge. As above, but with a bit of effort and an on-form goalkeeper.
3. Barnet. Great effort and good discipline, but essentially a team of gigantic hoofaholics with no discernable ability.

Not seen: Exeter, Newport
Not yet played: Plymouth, Portsmouth, Oxford, Mansfield, Accrington, Olympilutos, AFCW, Morecambe, Hartlepool, York, Crawley, Yeovil.

 

[LeonTheGreen]

Best; from the games ive seen, Portsmouth. They were a different class the day they played us, but I reckon if we gave them a game next Saturday it would be different.
Worst;
Crawley, tried and tried but they have no real quality and I can see them just about staying up.

 

[Hatter86]

Ok so from my point of view.

Best:
1. Pompey. Caused us a lot of problems. Felt they were playing within themselves some what and then took their chance to win it late
2. Accrington. Really impressed me up there. Bags of energy, kept it on the deck. We were lucky to draw.
3. Bristol Rovers. Bit difficult this one as it was comfortably our worst performance of the season. However they were strong, organised and gave us nothing.

Worst:
1.Cambridge. Was worried about them at the start of the season, seemed to recruit well. Fears swiftly allayed at their place. Robberts and Berry look like shadows of their former selves.
2. AFC Wimbledon. Route one. Came to spoil the game and get a draw. Didn't.
3. Notts County. Struggling on this one as I suspect Yeovil, Hartlepool or Morecambe would fill this spot had I gone. So County have to take it as the least impressive of the other sides I've seen.

Not seen. Yeovil, Morecambe, Hartlepool

Not yet played. Plymouth, Wycombe, Carlisle, Northampton, Exeter, York, Barnet, Stevenage, Crawley, Dagenham, Newport.

Wasn't sure about Orient as we played them in the JPT which isnt a great barometer of quality.

 

[Laker]

I've seen the following teams this season:

1. Crawley. They did a job on us. Fair enough we were dire (we have been practically all season so not Crawley's fault) but they equipped themselves well and it was a classic away performance.

2. Wycombe. For all their play acting and ref management, they do actually have a decent side which makes all that shit even more frustrating as they could probably have beaten us without all that.

3. Leyton Orient. A bit tippy-tappy but they had a fair amount of control in our game and probably should have scored more than they did. The draw that day was probably our best result this season which sums up how bad it's been.

4. Luton. They weren't any better than us until Dunk was harshly sent off. Played well once a man up but not much excitement beforehand and we were there for the taking all game. Probably the poorest performance from a Still/Luton side we've had at the Abbey.

5. Barnet. Typical performance from a side who have just been promoted - plenty of endeavour and can't fault the honesty and work ethics but very little quality. We were exactly the same in lots of games last season.

6. Newport. No quality, no fight, nothing to get excited about at all. The fact we won 3-0 without getting out of second gear sums up how bad they were.

In truth, the quality of teams and games this season has been awful in comparison to August/September last season.

 

[Laker]

Oh and if we're not the worst that other fans have seen I'll be staggered. I'm amazed we've got as many points as we have given our performances.

 

[shoddycollins]

We've only played five home games in the league and I haven't been to any of the away ones so can't give three best and three worst. Instead I'll give two best one Wimbledon and two worst.

Best:

1. Cambridge - came to us as fancied promotion contenders, and played their part in an entertaining game, this is probably the only reason I've picked them over Barnet though as the game was such a crazy game, and some of the goals they scored were such gifts, it's hard to really judge them on it.
   
2. Barnet - nobody who has visited Brunton Park has been particularly amazing yet so Barnet, who took the game to us well and really should have put some of their chances away are the only other decent team I've seen.

Neither:

1. Wimbledon - Wimbledon don't seem to belong in either list, they weren't too bad, though it was a poor game all round. They may feel aggrieved I've put them in the neither list instead of third-best, but alternatively I could have put them as third-worst and I didn't feel like doing that either.

Worst:

1. Newport - It may seem like sour grapes to say that Newport, the only team I've seen beat us, are the worst team I've seen this season, but they really did offer nothing apart from that one moment where they scored.
2. Dagenham - Despite not looking too bad in other parts of the pitch, had nothing about them up front whatsoever and you really have to have at least that to be considered a reasonable side.

Not seen: Mansfield, Plymouth, Hartlepool, York, Orient, Stevenage
Not played: everyone else.

 

[cufc17]

Best:
1. Barnet - 3-2 Win.
The Bees are the best team I've seen us play so far, they dominated the entire game, yet somehow we took the 3 points. They were dangerous on the attack, and should've scored 5+. Not so good defensively, even with a few decent central defenders.

2. Cambridge - 4-4 Draw.
I thought the U's were a good side at Brunton Park, solid going forward whilst a bit shoddy at the back. Expected them to push on.

3. AFC Wimbledon - 1-1 Draw.
The Dons were a very solid team, thought they were a big, strong side. I don't think they'll be promotion candidates, so they'll probably be midtable as per.

Worst:
1. Dagenham - 1-0 Win.
Although difficult to separate the 3 'worst' teams I've seen, I'd say the Daggers were the worst as we actually won. They offered very little going forward, weren't too bad but had no creativity.

2. Newport - 0-1 Loss.
Newport were very poor, as expected considering they were/are rock bottom. Although they deserve credit for how well they defended, and for the fact that they beat us, I think they'll be down the bottom all season. Still gutted we lost this one.

3. York - 2-2 Draw.
The only away game I've been to this season, and we should've cruised to victory. 2-0 up against 10 men, but York came back for a share of the points. They were another poor team, offering little in attack with no creativity in the middle. Deserve credit for the comeback though, even if we gave them a helping hand.

Not seen:
Plymouth (1-4 Loss), Mansfield (1-1 Draw), Hartlepool (3-2 Win), Leyton Orient (2-1 Win), Stevenage (1-0 Win).

And if we're including Cup games, Liverpool were the worst

 

[AdamStag]

Can't be arsed stating all the teams we've not played.

Best

Though we drew 0-0 it was pretty evident Plymouth have got real quality and if Reid is on form they'll be there or there abouts, their passing good.

I'd be hard pushed to say any other side looked great, though Oxford looked a useful side.

Meh

York and Wimbledon were alright. Nothing special but not crap.

Bad.

Crawley

Useless in all aspects of the play and in all areas of the pitch, offered nothing going forward and their defence couldn't handle pace, hampered by being down to 10 for 40 minutes didn't aid them but were as bad as their league position suggests.

Notts county

Again, not upto much, didn't fancy our physical approach and offered nothing going forward. From goals scored its evident they've got somethimg in that dept.

 

[HertsCobbler]

I have been to all the league games bar Accrington..

Worst sides for me
Morecambe - 4:2 flattered them - how it was not more I have no idea.
Exeter City they seem to have a very soft centre to them
Oxford United was expecting Barcelona - not sure quite what they turned up as
Bristol Rovers very limp

Best sides
Leyton Orient the man mountain Adam Smith stopped them scoring the goals their play deserved
Plymouth clinical brilliant away performance

 

[Carver]

In truth, the quality of teams and games this season has been awful in comparison to August/September last season.

In truth? Well no that's just your opinion.

I think differently and believe that there are more better quality teams this season than the last, Portsmouth are finally living up to their expectations, Plymouth are a much better team all round, Orient really with the class in their squad should of stayed in L1, plus you've got teams who have really sorted their squads out over the summer like ourselves, Mansfield, Oxford and even Accrington.

Cambridge however are not doing as well as I expected them to, brought in a load of good signings but your manager does not seem to be getting the best out of them, if it wasn't for some silly individual errors we gifted you then we'd of hammered you no problem.

 

[Laker]

In truth? Well no that's just your opinion.

I think differently and believe that there are more better quality teams this season than the last, Portsmouth are finally living up to their expectations, Plymouth are a much better team all round, Orient really with the class in their squad should of stayed in L1, plus you've got teams who have really sorted their squads out over the summer like ourselves, Mansfield, Oxford and even Accrington.

Cambridge however are not doing as well as I expected them to, brought in a load of good signings but your manager does not seem to be getting the best out of them, if it wasn't for some silly individual errors we gifted you then we'd of hammered you no problem.

Turn of phrase to say "in truth" - no need to hammer me for it! Maybe I should have phrased it differently to appease your pickiness?

We've been dire this season and we're on 14 points from 11 games, one more than at the same stage last season and I felt we'd played a hell of a lot better last term with some decent performances and some decent games on the whole. I can't think of one decent game I've seen so far this season. That's where my opinion comes from.

 

[Carver]

Turn of phrase to say "in truth" - no need to hammer me for it! Maybe I should have phrased it differently to appease your pickiness?

We've been dire this season and we're on 14 points from 11 games, one more than at the same stage last season and I felt we'd played a hell of a lot better last term with some decent performances and some decent games on the whole. I can't think of one decent game I've seen so far this season. That's where my opinion comes from.

Well we're trying to play football the right way, not the sort that is typically associated with L2, we still have a long way to go before we're playing like Barcelona lol, but as long as we're patient and keep getting the right mix of players in then I don't see why we can't succeed.

 

[Laker]

Well we're trying to play football the right way, not the sort that is typically associated with L2, we still have a long way to go before we're playing like Barcelona lol, but as long as we're patient and keep getting the right mix of players in then I don't see why we can't succeed.

I didn't go to Carlisle so can't comment but that one did sound like an entertaining game, primarily because Carlisle attacked the hell out of us and abandoned defence totally! If you'd seen the rest of our games, you'd understand why I think it's a poorer division. The standard of play from us and our opposition has generally been shocking.

 

[eric read]

A bit early to do a top and bottom three (and most have been much of a muchness) so I'll do a best and worse two.

Best

Accrington. Forget that they're a small club playing in front of small crowds, this is a good side, playing good fast paced football. They are not, though, as good as John Coleman thinks they are. The bloke is a very sour loser.

Portsmouth. Good strong side with no obvious weakness and a manager who knows how to get out of this league. Again though, I didn't think they were as good as other recently promoted sides from this league.

Worse

Notts County. Absolutely shambolic. I've seen them twice this season (as also went and watched them v Mansfield) and they were calamitous both times, like eleven strangers.

Yeovil. I think they could fall out of the league and their only redeeming feature is that Paul Sturrock knows enough about this league to save them.

Everyone else has been very average. Our worse two performances were against Northampton and Bristol Rovers and both return fixtures are ones I expect to win.

 

[WAP]

I've only been to 4 of our 6 home games so heres my top 4.

1. Barnet, despite beating them 3-1, they actually had a go at us and on another day could have got a result.

2. Morecambe, actually got a point at us but it was a very one sided game and the fact their keeper was time wasting in the first 5 minutes was just sad.

3. Dagenham & Redbridge, absolutely dominated them from start to finish, however they did try to get some football going at times even at 0-0.

4. Yeovil, never have I seen a team come to Fratton and offer so little to a football match. We struggled to break them down true but it was 2 banks of 5 to get through. They couldn't even be arsed to counter attack us.

Not seen : Accrington or Exeter.

 

[Habbinalan]

Only missed Barnet this season, which means that I've seen some fairly effective away performances (only lost at Wycombe with 10 men in the league and played fairly well at Rotherham), as well as some frustrating and dire ones (D & R and Crawley) at home. I'm happy to put a positive spin on the Money conundrum until after my month's sabbatical.

The first 4 matches were a pretty positive and encouraging start:

Newport W
Rotherham L
Carlisle D
Wimbledon W

We've since struggled, especially at home, and the absence of Barry Corr is the main common factor - as much for his effect on the team and Money's attitude/confidence as his goals.

I'm glad we got Newport out of the way whilst they were still in turmoil and we were in a positive, first match of the season, mood. The other positives were that BBB Corr was playing and we are clear how we set out our stall for away matches but remain unsure on the right approach at home.

Our best 3 L2 opponents would probably be:

Orient - More effective than Carlisle going forward, without sacrificing numbers at the back. Best all round team by far. Thank God Cox wasn't playing
Wycombe - I expected them to drop back after losing those loanees but still have a decent squad and effective way of playing.
Luton - Especially with Tyler in the team.

Our worst 3

Stevenage - Worst Stevenage team I've seen and we still needed a 97th minute winner.
Crawley - Even though they beat us 3 - 0. We were dire. They have a half decent striker.
York - Main problem seems to be manager but they also seem lacking in height and beef for a L2 team.

So my mid table also-rans were Carlisle, Wimbledon, Hartlepool and surprise, surprise, Newport. Despite us beating them 3 - 0 and although they lacked size/strength and experience, looked like they could play a bit and we thought we were top 6 standard at that stage.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Best..

1. Plymouth. As Adam says you can see they're quality. Fancy them for top 3 this season.

2. Accrington. Organised and very hard working. Never gave us a second on the ball.

3. Oxford. Got the quality, Roofe was impressive.

Worst

1. Crawley, If they stay up ill be surprised.

2. Daggers. Defensively all over the place. Seems they can score goals though, Not sure why Cureton hasn't been starting, He still looks on the next level compared to some down here.

3. Stevenage - Didn't really want to put these in but the other options were all more impressive. Thought they were ok first half but second they never were in the game.

Don't think either Daggers or Stevenage will go down this season.

 

[PoolieTom]

Best

Bristol Rovers, by a long long distance. All over the team, a step above anything else I have seen this season.
Morecambe impressed me, was not surprised to see them top half of the table earlier in the season despite us beating them 2-0

Worst
Cambridge, by a long long distance.
York, but games against York, at York, are always rubbish between the two of us.

The others, Luton, Carlisle, Newport, all looked mid-table teams.

 

[Lee Watkins]

Best

Bristol Rovers, by a long long distance. All over the team, a step above anything else I have seen this season.
Morecambe impressed me, was not surprised to see them top half of the table earlier in the season despite us beating them 2-0

Worst
Cambridge, by a long long distance.
York, but games against York, at York, are always rubbish between the two of us.

The others, Luton, Carlisle, Newport, all looked mid-table teams.

We're the worst but still couldn't score past usWe didn't create many chances but defended well. We've 100% got so much more. That was without Barry corr, Keane btw.
Best: -

 

[Lee Watkins]

Best: Barnet, we weren't great but they looked good. Thought that will probably change after this weekend to Portsmouth.
Worst: newport, and Stevenage.

The others like Luton and Wycombe we matched/bettered them until both sending offs. Orient were good but nothing like I expected them to be.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Best:

1. Wycombe Wanderers - Seen them 3 times now, one of the only teams I look at who I think if we combined line ups with Orient it would actually feature more Wycombe players... Ingram; Harriman, Baudry, Pierre, Jacobson; Pritchard, Payne, McNien; Cox; Simpson, Hayes. Nothing that special going forwards, excellent defensively (yeah, I realise they just let in 3...), well organised, I think they will finish in a top 3 spot.

2. Exeter City - Done us 4-0, gave away a shit penalty then left space pushing forwards, Exeter did well exploiting the space, held firm defensively, look a good outfit.

3. Carlisle United - Seen them v us and Stevenage. Both wins, both professional away performances and the first time I've seen a team play with 6 midfielders.

Worst:

1. Stevenage - Seen them against us and Carlisle. Both times they were poor, struggled to create chances, relegation is looming.

2. Dagenham & Redbridge - Again saw them v us. Poor team, couldn't get anything going bar a late consolation. Think they'll have a bit too much to stay up... just.

3. Newport County - Had a good 5 minute spell v us and put us under some pressure in the second half. Obviously lack technical quality.

Frustrating:

1. Barnet - So obvious what they're missing to be a good outfit.

 

[PoolieTom]

We're the worst but still couldn't score past usWe didn't create many chances but defended well. We've 100% got so much more. That was without Barry corr, Keane btw.
Best: -

Fair enough. I had no idea if that was your first choice XI or not to be honest. I would expect you are much better with Corr though. On that showing, you were the worst team we have played, yes. If I remember rightly, you had 1 shot on goal in the whole match. I am sure the possession figures were something like 65%-35% in our favour. When you consider the fact we rarely have more possession against teams (other than Luton), this highlights something. It was the biggest 'we've only came for a point' performance I have seen so far. Really, you did that well, and got away with the 0-0 you played for, so I am probably not giving you as much credit as you deserve.

 

[Laker]

Fair enough. I had no idea if that was your first choice XI or not to be honest. I would expect you are much better with Corr though. On that showing, you were the worst team we have played, yes. If I remember rightly, you had 1 shot on goal in the whole match. I am sure the possession figures were something like 65%-35% in our favour. When you consider the fact we rarely have more possession against teams (other than Luton), this highlights something. It was the biggest 'we've only came for a point' performance I have seen so far. Really, you did that well, and got away with the 0-0 you played for, so I am probably not giving you as much credit as you deserve.

I didn't go but I heard both teams were poor. The fact you came into the game on a dire run of form and we couldn't create anything speaks volumes too. Frankly we've been shocking this season and I feel very compelled to believe your assessment that we were the worst you've seen this season so far.

But Lee is right that we do have more to offer. We have had injuries to some very key players but several others have also underperformed too so one would hope that there's decent room for improvement from us.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Realised I've left Yeovil off my list. They're number 2 bad, although had half their senior players out injured so not really a fair picture.

 

[Tom_CUFC]

I doubt we'll be getting any better under Money, good players fit or not. Corr is our bailout, let's not kid ourselves about the others who haven't played much, they're not capable of pulling things off on their own without some managerial intervention. Hartlepool assesment of us is spot on, as is everyone else's in this thread, we haven't put together a good 90 minutes yet.

Best we've played are Wycombe, more in terms of their organisation rather than outright quality which has been no-one so far, worst have been Stevenage. A lot of "OK" teams, no-one yet who I've seen and thought that they're certain to be top 3 material.

 

[shoddycollins]

I doubt we'll be getting any better under Money, good players fit or not. Corr is our bailout, let's not kid ourselves about the others who haven't played much, they're not capable of pulling things off on their own without some managerial intervention. Hartlepool assesment of us is spot on, as is everyone else's in this thread, we haven't put together a good 90 minutes yet.

Best we've played are Wycombe, more in terms of their organisation rather than outright quality which has been no-one so far, worst have been Stevenage. A lot of "OK" teams, no-one yet who I've seen and thought that they're certain to be top 3 material.

Take it Brunton Park was the highlight of your season then given that myself and CUFC17 have both put you in our top 2.

 

[Tom_CUFC]

Pretty much, I certainly believed the hype for 45 minutes and even at the end still trusted that we'd sort the defence out whilst still being able to play a decent attacking game, apparently I was wrong on both counts. Decent for the last 60 mins against Newport first game, second 45 at Wimbledon, and the first 40 minutes at yours, don't think we've strung together a good period of play that's more than 15 minutes apart from those though.

Whilst no team have stood out Mr. Ibhere is by far the best player I've seen this season, and that's from someone who doesn't normally pay much attention to opposition players (hard to miss when he's scoring every time he touches the ball, to be fair).

 

[Don Tonberry]

I've seen every game so far so I'll go for:

Best

Exeter: Only side to beat us this season (twice if you count the pisspot trophy). Punished our mistakes and played some good football.

Oxford: Clearly have a talented side and we were a little fortunate to get a draw. Manager is holding them back.

Accrington: Defended well and carry some threat up front too despite the game being goalless.

Worst

Dagenham: Only side we've comfortably beaten this season. Nothing up front and look disorganised at the back.

Crawley: Most negative performance from a team I have ever seen. Stuck 10 men behind the ball and got the draw they wanted but would have lost had it not been for an incorrect offside decision.

Bristol Rovers: Didn't seem like they had much about them and although we only narrowly won I felt it was fairly comfortable.

 

[BeesKnees]

Best
Bristol Rovers: Had a point to prove and made sure they proved it by dominating
Portsmouth: Always had a bit too much
Orient: Not that impressed until the game opened up late on

Worst
Wimbledon : Reminded me of some of the teams we played in non league, not pretty.
Dagenham: Couple of decent strikers but defence and midfield was very poor
Stevenage: Very one dimensional and the worst team we have faced

 

[MrGloverLover]

Realised I've left Yeovil off my list. They're number 2 bad, although had half their senior players out injured so not really a fair picture.

It looks like we're already thinking of next season
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=771884049583940&id=282326181873065