Tuesday 23rd March 2021

[RLC]

Good open entertaining game of football down in Colchester I thought. Definitely a point gained, could of been 3, could of been zero.
Can’t fault Keith Hill, but I just can’t fathom out why Corey Blackett Taylor doesn’t make the match day squad more often?

Yes, I was happy with the performance and the result given the number of players we had missing.

We actually looked sharper and played better football than we have for a while, but defended pretty terribly, probably due to the changes in the back four and Hill swapping the full backs over at the start of the second half. He compensated for that error with his substitutions.

If we win on Saturday, we might finally break into the top three.

 

[Shrimper92]

See you in a few seasons

 

[hellogregory]

That was our worst performance since Jolley got the boot - no attacking intent whatsoever until it was too late. Grimsby didn't have to do a lot, just one chance where we just opened up for him to strike. Even McKeown was trying to gift us a goal.

We're still shit, but there's probably two shitter teams than us.

Carlisle and who is the other?

 

[T.A]

how can you be sure?

This is 12 games, almost like a quarter of a season. If we started a season in this form we’d be well adrift at the bottom after 12 games.

HG is the guy that comes home from work and tells you that he could have got hit by a bus IF the driver didnt use his breaks when he crossed the road.

 

[valefan16]

If you beat Crawley ! If we get a point I'd be surprised.

Have we ever beat you ?

Casey

Only once at home... and we were winning until having a man sent off! It is a strange stat our away form is generally dire in recent years but have 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss (5 wins if you include the friendly).

Cant think of any away record we have done as well at where we’ve played a few games. FGR probably second with 2 wins and 2 draws in 5?

Always close games though so will be a big test of our improvement at the weekend.

 

[saddler78]

Crap again fans going mental online that we could be sleepwalking to relegation need a real manager and now southend should of won that tonight we are awful worst team ive seen us put out in 36 years of watching Walsall.

 

[Son of Cod]

Get the fuck in. What a goal from Spokes. I hadn't really seen much of what other Town fans had seen but he was decent tonight. Rose was good too, I thought. Matete was class, not sure if other Town fans agree, haven't read The Fishy yet but MOTM for me. I couldn't believe it when I saw all three big strikers starting haha. It didn't really work in terms of chances created really but Lenny and Hanson cause problems. Still didn't see enough from Payne. Clifton was bullied by Quigley who looked dangerous.

 

[Boz]

Could easily have ended 6-5 to Colchester and that after an opening 25 minutes that was nearly all Rovers. It's clear that a lot of players are running on empty at present. A few puzzling things from Keith Hill tonight, the freezing out of Blackett-Taylor already referred to, the switch of the full-backs at the start of the second half, which made the defence more brittle and substituting Danny Lloyd, just after his tail was up with scoring the penalty. Can't complain about a battling point when at one stage it looked unlikely we'd get anything, but more shuffling of the pack likely at the weekend.

Colchester look like they've got enough to stay up on this showing.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

Get the fuck in. What a goal from Spokes. I hadn't really seen much of what other Town fans had seen but he was decent tonight. Rose was good too, I thought. Matete was class, not sure if other Town fans agree, haven't read The Fishy yet but MOTM for me. I couldn't believe it when I saw all three big strikers starting haha. It didn't really work in terms of chances created really but Lenny and Hanson cause problems. Still didn't see enough from Payne. Clifton was bullied by Quigley who looked dangerous.

Thought Quigley was awful! Had two or three defenders on him everywhere he went.

Manayese looked like he had a mistake in him but we never really put any pressure on - I'd agree that Matete was man of the match. Kind of player we should be looking at for next season...

 

[Monkey Tennis]

Carlisle and who is the other?

Hopefully the two teams below us.

 

[GTFCfish]

Hopefully the two teams below us.

There will be at least 3 below you - Carlisle, Carlisle reserves and Carlisle youth team.

 

[Gladders]

Get the fuck in. What a goal from Spokes. I hadn't really seen much of what other Town fans had seen but he was decent tonight. Rose was good too, I thought. Matete was class, not sure if other Town fans agree, haven't read The Fishy yet but MOTM for me. I couldn't believe it when I saw all three big strikers starting haha. It didn't really work in terms of chances created really but Lenny and Hanson cause problems. Still didn't see enough from Payne. Clifton was bullied by Quigley who looked dangerous.

Yes the midfielders were good and defence solid. Don't think three up top really worked other than making us more direct.
LJL was the only real effective one in holding it up and bringing others in, but missed his chances as usual. Payne ran a bit but didn't do anything and struggle to remember Hanson at all.
Don't think the three of them passed the ball to each all night!
Hendrie and Clifton got forward quite a bit and Hendrie especially seemed to have plenty of space in front of him.
McKeown looked like he had a mistake in him again but luckily didn't come of for Barrow.

We certainly had more shots than previous games but other than the goal I don't think any worked the keeper.
Though after a win and playing against an out of form Walsall on Saturday I think he has to stick to same side again and formation again.

 

[masi51]

Shaping up to be a huge end to the season, you must be made up that everyone around us is tripping over their own feet at the moment!

The gamble of extra games in the cup competitions are coming back to haunt Tranmere and Exeter
Selling your best players,players recalled are coming back to effect FGR and Newport.
We have been on a great run and have momentum but we have some hard fixtures coming up. The two draws in our unbeaten run we should have won, but we have also won games we should have drawn so it sorts of evens itself out.
FGR away Saturday is Huge if and its a big if we win i can see us going up as champions or top 3
Lose its the play offs.......its that tight

 

[masi51]

Good open entertaining game of football down in Colchester I thought. Definitely a point gained, could of been 3, could of been zero.
Can’t fault Keith Hill, but I just can’t fathom out why Corey Blackett Taylor doesn’t make the match day squad more often?

Corey Blackett Taylor is number 91 on the Bingo Balls

 

[GTFCfish]

Just watched the highlights and looks like we got away with one a bit there at the end when Quigley gets a shot away from the edge of the box but scuffed it, if he gets a decent connection on that then it’s a very good chance but thankfully he scuffed it into McKeowns arms.

 

[denzel ecfc]

The gamble of extra games in the cup competitions are coming back to haunt Tranmere and Exeter
Selling your best players,players recalled are coming back to effect FGR and Newport.
We have been on a great run and have momentum but we have some hard fixtures coming up. The two draws in our unbeaten run we should have won, but we have also won games we should have drawn so it sorts of evens itself out.
FGR away Saturday is Huge if and its a big if we win i can see us going up as champions or top 3
Lose its the play offs.......its that tight

Get your facts right, the majority of our rearranged games are due to postponements. The only one rearranged because of the cup was against you, and it was drawn.
We just aren't good enough

 

[BlackHaddock]

Even though we won last night we can't get enough points to reach automatic promotion anymore. Play-off's still a mathematical possibility.

30 Points to play for and we've already got 31 from our first 36 games.

 

[Si Robin]

The gamble of extra games in the cup competitions are coming back to haunt Tranmere and Exeter
Selling your best players,players recalled are coming back to effect FGR and Newport.
We have been on a great run and have momentum but we have some hard fixtures coming up. The two draws in our unbeaten run we should have won, but we have also won games we should have drawn so it sorts of evens itself out.
FGR away Saturday is Huge if and its a big if we win i can see us going up as champions or top 3
Lose its the play offs.......its that tight

It's odd that our FA Cup run actually gave us the kick up the backside to get our form back on track. Before the Man City game we had been in dire form, but have been awesome since (save for the Barrow and Mansfield games).

It's almost like Cheltenham having a cup run did the complete opposite to what you're suggesting it did to Exeter and Tranmere.

 

[BarraMatt]

I must have missed it last night, but I've woken up to the news on our forum that we are mathematically relegated.

 

[Son of Cod]

Yes the midfielders were good and defence solid. Don't think three up top really worked other than making us more direct.
LJL was the only real effective one in holding it up and bringing others in, but missed his chances as usual. Payne ran a bit but didn't do anything and struggle to remember Hanson at all.
Don't think the three of them passed the ball to each all night!
Hendrie and Clifton got forward quite a bit and Hendrie especially seemed to have plenty of space in front of him.
McKeown looked like he had a mistake in him again but luckily didn't come of for Barrow.

We certainly had more shots than previous games but other than the goal I don't think any worked the keeper.
Though after a win and playing against an out of form Walsall on Saturday I think he has to stick to same side again and formation again.

Yeah, there was a moment when he went tp pick the ball up outside the area earlier in the second half. He had a dodgy kick too when he came way out of the goalmouth and looped it about to about 35 yards out and had to rush back. There was that fumble injury time. He's had some spells when he's looked consistently suspect before but this must be the most prolonged now, it's been most of the season.

On the subject of keepers, how massive is the Barrow keeper's kick?

 

[Son of Cod]

Thought Quigley was awful! Had two or three defenders on him everywhere he went.

Manayese looked like he had a mistake in him but we never really put any pressure on - I'd agree that Matete was man of the match. Kind of player we should be looking at for next season...

Yeah Hewitt and Menayese kept him check for most of the match, but there were several times in the last 20 minutes that he got the better of Clifton with ease. To the point that Clifton was giving up on certain balls, one in particular was in the box. I think if Quigley had have figured this out sooner you might have had some joy. He looked most likely to score or create for you from the positions he was getting.

I must have missed it last night, but I've woken up to the news on our forum that we are mathematically relegated.

Meanwhile on The Fishy, we're on for the playoffs.

 

[pontoonlew]

The back 5 of Macca, Hendrie, Menayese, Hewitt, Clifton haven’t conceded a single goal in 3 games of playing together. Pretty astonishing given how hopeless we were before.

I think a combination of it clicking too late and still not really posing a goal threat for long enough will see us go down though

 

[Trapdoor]

FuuuUUUuuuuUUuUuUuUUuuUUUUuuuuck football. Stupid game. Hate this league. We suck. See you next season.

 

[Son of Cod]

The back 5 of Macca, Hendrie, Menayese, Hewitt, Clifton haven’t conceded a single goal in 3 games of playing together. Pretty astonishing given how hopeless we were before.

I think a combination of it clicking too late and still not really posing a goal threat for long enough will see us go down though

Yeah, can't really fault the defence of late. Clifton isn't a long term solution at LB, I wouldn't mind seeing him at RB, he tends to drift in onto his right foot a lot when he gets forward. Having said that, Hendrie's crossing is better. I'd have all three of Hendrie, Menayese and Hewitt in our squads next year. Not sure on Macca and Clifton though, I think their time could and probably should be up.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

On the subject of keepers, how massive is the Barrow keeper's kick?

That will have been the wind - it never really comes across on camera, but it was bloody windy last night.

 

[chipmunx]

That will have been the wind - it never really comes across on camera, but it was bloody windy last night.

yes - but kicking towards the sports and leisure Dixon got it half way into the Grimsby half - but the Grimsby keeper struggled to kick it straight or get near the half way line most of the time

 

[Boz]

The Colchester game was one initially re-scheduled due to their chairman cancelling the original fixture because of Covid issues, though think the revised date was moved due to our Pizza Cup run. Aside from the Final, we've used a lot of squad players who weren't always starting during the rounds, which helped fitness and morale. I don't think the extra games in the cup competitions is haunting us at all.

If we do come unstuck in the promotion push, it will be down to two factors. Firstly Mike Jackson's failure to make the best use of a very strong squad at the start of the season and second the January transfer window. Up front, we released Payne, Ferrier and ended Sam Smith's loan, while bringing in veteran Nugent, who'd barely played in the last year and wasn't initially match-fit and raw youngster Charlie Jolley. Even if Vaughan had stayed fit we'd be short up front. The others loaned in during the window were two attacking midfielders, while it's too early to assess their value, the squad has looked less balanced as a result.

 

[Son of Cod]

yes - but kicking towards the sports and leisure Dixon got it half way into the Grimsby half - but the Grimsby keeper struggled to kick it straight or get near the half way line most of the time

Yeah McKeown's kicking has always been poor. Dixon had a few last night towards the end that got to the edge of our box.

 

[E10rifle]

Two consecutive good away wins with clean sheets at teams above us in the table. Faint playoff hopes beginning to flicker again. Pretty poor Oldham team managed by a dinosaur at home... 0-3.

 

[BarraMatt]

Is McKeown's name definitely pronounced McEwan? Heard it pronounced like that by multiple commentators yet it isn't spelt anything like that.