Season so far

[redjed]

WE are now a Third of the way into the season, how do you think your team is performing?, are they delivering your expectations ? or are you totally pissed of with the way your team are performing!
Swindon are doing much better than i thought we would do, our away record is brilliant, home form, meh, the football is a bit hoofball but I'm happy that we are in the playoff zone at the moment. We are scoring goals from all position and the defence seems to be doing ok, looking a damn sight better than last season!
Overall I'm a happy reds fan.

 

[Indian Dan]

I always thought that league position was all important and being in contention was enough for the majority of fans to turn up.

Boy, was I wrong. The dreadful standard in this league is truly eye opening. Only one team, Exeter, have tried to play football - everyone else competes in the lottery that is hoofball. Bang it up there and let the gods decide who fortune will favour this weekend. We play no better or worse whether we win or lose - like every other team in this shite league. It’s generally down to the rub of the green.

I know funds are tight at most clubs but, hey, these players should be capable of actually playing the beautiful game if given the opportunity.

How these managers can hold their heads up when explaining how they want the players to set up and play.

And what happens when the favoured 4 get promoted? Continued hoofing? More fans drifting away, bored shitless by the soulless spectacle churned out week after week? Getting promoted shouldn’t be the only aim. It should be club progression and growth.

God knows what it’s like having to watch this shite and be at the wrong end of the table.

 

[valefan16]

First 12 games a complete fucking disaster! Lowest ebb in our history looked to be unfolding...Didn’t score for something like 9 hours and as mentioned above the standard of opponents has hardly been great, only a thirty minute blitz from Wycombe impressed.

The return of messiahs Aspo and Rudge though have triggered a remarkable transformation so far as we’ve swept aside in form Cheltenham and battered Morecambe before a suprisingly efficient win at Exeter, spearheaded by the rise to 2012/13 levels of form from Tom Pope with six goals and one assist in four games.

Defence looks solid and the earlier mistakes now a rarity and we’ve gone from looking incapable of creating chances to scoring goals and in truth the seven this week could of been more. A team that looked disinterested and disorganised now looks to have a plan and are battling to the end...

Hopefully it continues and we keep climbing, long was to go but after a disastrous first third of the season we head into the second full of optimism and hope that seemed unlikely eight days ago.

 

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

I'd have ripped your hand off at the start of the season for this especially after Coventry the first day who ravaged us. We were absolutely flying but have are beginning to be found out a little but we are still tricky to beat. I think we have enough to finish in the top 7. We've had some great results beating Lincoln Swindon Wycombe away in particular and some rather disappointing ones like the defeat to Mansfield. Ironically the bar Chesterfield Morecambe and Crawley I thought FGR were the best footballing side I have seen play us this season followed by Crewe. The league is so inconsistent and anyone can beat or frustrate anyone on their day. Every time we drop points so does everyone else in the top half like Luton are Crawley yesterday Exeter at home to Vale.

As delighted as I am I just hope we can keep ticking along and picking points up. With some of our more fickle supporters I think we went top too early and they see being second as a problem as the clubs form slipping etc rather than enjoying being up there. Many of our fans are concerned about the lack of forwards scoring but I'm happy the goals come through the team.

 

[Optipez]

I'm shocked and delighted at where we are. Pre season we looked awful. Slow, no guile and still letting in soft goals.
The last five games have been LDWLD which feels like a more realistic run of form than five straight wins which preceded it.
If we can stay in the mix til the transfer window opens and get a striker in as well as Noble who will add something then top seven seems possible.
I put us down for seventh in the table predictor out of loyalty and faith at the beginning of the season, in truth I was expecting bottom half mid table and we've massively overachieved so far.
Keeping Nolan could be our biggest challenge if he carries on as he is.

 

[Chris FGR]

We've gone for the "fool everyone into thinking you're utterly shite before suddenly exploding into form and beating every team in sight" tactic. Well something like that anyway.

I would give our season a 5/20 so far. But we seem to be turning a corner.

 

[Optipez]

Of the teams I've seen so far, Accrington were the most impressive, they had a real battling team ethic and could play a bit too. No surprise to see them up there, we haven't played Luton but expected them to win the league.
I suspect Lincoln ,Grimsby and Coventry will climb higher, us and Exeter drop a bit.
Chesterfield look to be in a lot of bother, Crawley, Morecambe and FGR despite picking up still look vulnerable, Barnet with players returning from injury should have plenty, they looked decent against us anyway. I think Vale will be ok, they've enough good players and management experience to pull away.
The standard seems about the same as last year, teams who come down always think it's bad, teams who come up think it's better than the National League. That none of the relegated teams are walking away with it probably means the standard isn't too bad.
Any team that's well drilled at set pieces, attacking and defending always seems to do alright in this division and organization seems as important as creativity at this level.

 

[Stripes]

I thought we’d be around top of the bottom of the table mini league. Sadly, that was too optimistic. As things stand we are just about in that mini league as apposed to being caste adrift. Given that, I’m just happy that were getting on with it. Hopefully the hard work being applied will continue to improve our position, even if that’s modest progress. Credit to our lot for having enough about them to show there is some promise ahead.

Please no roller coasters from here in.

 

[Maple Hatter]

You can't moan when you are top of the league but thats not the reason its been a pleasing first third of the season. It has more to do with us finding a style of play that suits the players we have at our disposal. There is also a feelgood factor around the club, with players, fans and management in harmony. For me that is the key. We (the fans) can be our own worst enemies if things are not going well which is reflected on the pitch. After the flying start we had against Yeovil we followed that up with a bad performance at Barnet but managed to get something out of the games at Lincoln and Mansfield, two tough away fixtures. Since then we have progressed enormously thanks more tactical awareness and an improved understanding among the players plus a healthy competiton for places.
We have had fairly tough away games and Barnet apart have an excellent record. Crawley yesterday was just proof that nobody is invincible and if a team has the right tactics they can grind out a result.
We've played all the top teams (mostly away) except Notts County and Coventry and have a decent record. I thought Swindon looked good on the break which is why they have a decent away record. Exeter first half was the best any team has played against us. The likes of Accrington and Wycombe look good when they have a fully fit squad. The key for them will be when they start to get injuires. Strength in depth seems more important in the modern era.
We have an easier second third and I would happily have a similar number of points. As always the league will be very open.

 

[Indian Dan]

Unless any team currently in the top 10 implodes they should expect a similar points tally come season’s end.

I’d settle for 75 on that basis - not good enough to win the league, possibly good enough for autos, definitely good enough for play offs. Obviously injuries can decimate the generally small squads and the January window can help improve those on the fringes. Don’t really expect a huge change at the top

 

[ASFC Tom]

Would give us a mark of 7 out of 10. This might seem a bit harsh considering we are third, 2 points off top, with the current top goalscorer in Kee and best away record. But we have only beat Coventry out of the top teams and have developed a habit of playing great for only one half of a game - makes you think if we can extend that to 90 minutes we could beat anyone.
Saying that if you win home and away against the bottom half that's 72 points - near enough the 85 needed for 3rd place in the last couple of seasons. Only dropped 4 points against the bottom half so far. So maybe not beating the top 7 seven is essential.

 

[mowgli]

I thought about now we would be maybe 10th/11th so to be in 5th and only losing 3 games is a bonus. With our injury problems i reckon we'll slip down but when everyone is fit we should move up again,i'm not saying we'll be promoted i'm not that naive but we would be happy with the play offs as that would be an improvement on last season. 7/10.

 

[cufc17]

3/10 so far and I can't see that improving at any point this season.

1 home win all season, no quality upfront and whilst Clint Hill has shored up our defence, we're still conceding some easy goals. From the games I've seen so far, Swindon or Exeter were probably the best of the bunch, but neither were amazing. Cheltenham easily the worst.

 

[Kenneth E End]

9.5/10 - can't complain being top of the league right?

Top scorers in the country with 15 different goalscorers.
Scored seven twice this season.
P5 W5 versus the top seven before yesterday.

 

[Kenneth E End]

You can't moan when you are top of the league but thats not the reason its been a pleasing first third of the season. It has more to do with us finding a style of play that suits the players we have at our disposal. There is also a feelgood factor around the club, with players, fans and management in harmony. For me that is the key. We (the fans) can be our own worst enemies if things are not going well which is reflected on the pitch. After the flying start we had against Yeovil we followed that up with a bad performance at Barnet but managed to get something out of the games at Lincoln and Mansfield, two tough away fixtures. Since then we have progressed enormously thanks more tactical awareness and an improved understanding among the players plus a healthy competiton for places.
We have had fairly tough away games and Barnet apart have an excellent record. Crawley yesterday was just proof that nobody is invincible and if a team has the right tactics they can grind out a result.
We've played all the top teams (mostly away) except Notts County and Coventry and have a decent record. I thought Swindon looked good on the break which is why they have a decent away record. Exeter first half was the best any team has played against us. The likes of Accrington and Wycombe look good when they have a fully fit squad. The key for them will be when they start to get injuires. Strength in depth seems more important in the modern era.
We have an easier second third and I would happily have a similar number of points. As always the league will be very open.

Pretty much agree with everything here.

 

[GTFCfish]

Considering we lost our best player (Jamey Osborne) just before the season to a cruciate injury to be only 3 off the play offs I am very happy with, some truely woeful performances in there as well but we always seem to pick up a win when we really need one.
As a lot of our fans were expecting a relegation battle with this team, above average I'd say 7/10.

 

[Clarkey_GTFC]

The fact it looked like we'd be in serious trouble yet find ourselves in 12th proves just how shit this league is. Or is Slade a genius afterall?

 

[Indian Dan]

The big difference will be that only a handful of clubs - Luton, Mansfield, ourselves and maybe Lincoln - will be able to enhance their squads meaningfully in January. Some other clubs currently up there may lose influential players to other clubs.

If a couple of the smaller clubs - say, Accrington - can stay injury free they may well stay in the top 7. I’d still put Colchester in there as one who could improve.

 

[SkyBluesRose]

Unless any team currently in the top 10 implodes they should expect a similar points tally come season’s end.

We have a history of imploding mid-season; I wouldn't be surprised if SISU decide to sell off Jodi Jones and some of our defenders in January to see us tumbling down the table.

 

[PaulHaddock]

6 points in the first 6 games made us look very bad. Now we’ve only 1 defeat in 9 which makes us look hard to beat but when you consider only one of those teams was top half and we’ve lost 4/6 against the top half makes our record not actually that good.

Couple that with poor football, a lack of goals and a tough run of games coming up, I think we’ll finish at least several places lower than we currently are.

 

[jacobncfc]

The big difference will be that only a handful of clubs - Luton, Mansfield, ourselves and maybe Lincoln - will be able to enhance their squads meaningfully in January. Some other clubs currently up there may lose influential players to other clubs.

If a couple of the smaller clubs - say, Accrington - can stay injury free they may well stay in the top 7. I’d still put Colchester in there as one who could improve.

Can probably add us to that, we were quite open about keeping a decent chunk of our budget back having not managed to get a striker.

Anyway, can't complain, second at this stage with 30 points from 15 games is way beyond what anyone expected. We've started to struggle a bit with players missing - Dan Jones being a massive one - but it's now all about keeping in touch until January.

We've got one obvious problem in that our strikers just aren't scoring regularly. With Noble coming in as well, there's no reason why we can't last the pace if we can get another good option upfront.

 

[valefan16]

We are told Aspin will be backed in January so should see us have a more solid second half.

Imagine a couple of the loans will go back and the likes of Lawrie Wilson be let go to trim down the massive squad too.

Hopefully his discovery of Vardy and Gregory is a sign he will recruit better than Brown and Bruno did!

 

[Cornish Piskie]

Team selection has been the most satisfying thing as far as I'm concerned. Karl Robinson has created a settled team.

Before the Bradford match yesterday (not looked up the stats on it yet), five players have played in every match, one has started all but one and come on as a sub in the odd non-start, and three players have missed only one match, starting all the matches they've played in.

That has to be a contributing factor in any run of decent results and I think it shows a clarity of thinking about team selection which gives the players confidence that the manager knows what he's doing. Once a manager has the belief of his players, everything goes from there.

There is still uncertainty about the situation off the field and it would be good to get all that sorted. Hopefully it will be resolved soon. Watch this space.

All in all, a very satisfactory situation so far, especially compared to where we were this time last season. Onwards and upwards, I hope.

 

[TimeyWimey]

Worse than expected. Decent set of players who are underperforming. Showed glimpses of quality but 7 defeats in the last 9 with no real sign of a fix is Davis-esqe.

Artell currently C-. Bright, likeable guy who is enthusiastic but may need extra support in match day set up. Also needs to reign in his constant barrage at referees in the technical area, it's a bit tiresome.

Overall, 17th is probably where we'll be in May.

 

[Greenacres]

Not too happy with being in the bottom two but I think most would agree that it is better to have a dodgy spell at the start of the season and look nailed on for relegation than at the end of it. I am a realist and hadn't expected the league to be easy but I don't think I was prepared for how physical some of our opponents would be, most teams seem to have a couple of bullies in midfield and fit the rest of the team around them, contrast that with the now injured Cooper and Traore who have plenty of ability but look lightweight in comparison. We recently added Ozzy Osbourne, who is a bit of a lump, and we have looked far more balanced since his arrival...I can see why Walsall fans liked him so much! So far our discipline has been pretty good, in most games we have been out-fouled by the opposition but haven't reacted to this, as long as that continues we shouldn't suffer from too many suspensions when it really counts.

It is easy to be negative, I think we deserved a point each from our home games with Swindon and Accies but we made errors and received our punishment. However, I cannot fault the effort of our players, even last weekend when we were on the end of a bit of a drubbing they never gave up trying. We have only won four games so far, but in two of those we have come from behind to earn victory, that sort of effort must surely stand us in good stead. The best team I have seen us play so far is Exeter, they looked pretty good, well organised and caused us constant problems...I had tipped them for promotion before the season started and still think they may achieve precisely that, pity they couldn't beat the Vale yesterday to let us escape the bottom two after our recent success...but that is football, you don't always get what you hope for.

 

[Andy Proctor]

We are told Aspin will be backed in January so should see us have a more solid second half.

Imagine a couple of the loans will go back and the likes of Lawrie Wilson be let go to trim down the massive squad too.

Hopefully his discovery of Vardy and Gregory is a sign he will recruit better than Brown and Bruno did!

We could get 3m for hugill if Preston sell him for 12m or more like Smurf would pocket it.

 

[shoddycollins]

This has been a crap season so far, I would have said playoffs as a minimum target and under no circumstances continue our form from the end of last season, but we just don't have the players to mount a sustained challenge and we have a small squad and lots of injuries and suspensions. Looks like we'll continue to hover around the lower mid-table area (honestly I barely even check where we are in the league) with the occasional fantastic performance that just increases the frustration around the place when we go and flop in the following game. We might pick up after Christmas having hopefully signed a proven striker on loan a la Jamie Proctor and might even be one of those teams who harbour distant hopes of snatching a playoff place only to fall away in April.

 

[valefan16]

We could get 3m for hugill if Preston sell him for 12m or more like Smurf would pocket it.

Possibly! Would at least erase the directors loan down.

 

[shoddycollins]

Not too happy with being in the bottom two but I think most would agree that it is better to have a dodgy spell at the start of the season and look nailed on for relegation than at the end of it.

This is the league of great escapes. Newport did it, Hartlepool did it, Northampton did it, Wycombe did it, there always seems to be a team that is written off in December and survive. FGR though aren't the adrift team they looked like they were going to be for a while so maybe Chesterfield will pull it off.

 

[Trapdoor]

This season we have looked both amazing and abysmal.
I've come away from some games thinking we are Barcelona in disguise but then in the very next game we seem to decide that crossing the half way line and having a shot is a punishable offence.

We are simply too inconsistent for promotion. Realistically we are only in with a vague chance of the playoffs this year.