Contenders?

Whatever you may think of PH and how the season has started one thing is worth noting and that is in the "pyramid" nobody has scored more goals than us and we have the best GD.

Looking at Luton and Barnet in the last 2 seasons they scored a lot on the way up so does this indicate that we are genuine contenders?



  

We are genuine contenders we have the best squad since the slade days, we have a manager who can spot a player but can he get the tactics right and have a touch of luck on the way ?? I fooking hope he gets it right I hate this league our famous old proud club deserves more

We will know a lot more after the Cheltenham game where we will finish amongst them and
Wrexham, Tranmere and Village Green Rovers.
I think that will be the top five
If we can win on the 30th we will be feared and have a strong chance of challenging for automatic
Come on Town!!

Cheltenham is a huge test - win that and we send out a real message of intent
It may be a so so standard this year and a lot of clubs will be in the mix, meaning we won't need a huge points haul to win the league

I can't work this league out - Lincoln did not impress me at all earlier in season and I thought they'd be mid table at best but they are 7th and if they win their game in hand are right in the mix

It still hasn't settled down IMO

I like the fact we have lost only two games - shows strength and the fact we are hard to beat

Just need to turn a few draws into wins

Can't be many better squads than ours in the league so we should mount a challenge especially when other teams with smaller squads get injuries and suspensions

But, my gut feeling is we lack something but I can't put my finger on it...killer instinct in tight matches??

Quoted from devs

Cheltenham is a huge test - win that and we send out a real message of intent
It may be a so so standard this year and a lot of clubs will be in the mix, meaning we won't need a huge points haul to win the league

I can't work this league out - Lincoln did not impress me at all earlier in season and I thought they'd be mid table at best but they are 7th and if they win their game in hand are right in the mix

It still hasn't settled down IMO

I like the fact we have lost only two games - shows strength and the fact we are hard to beat

Just need to turn a few draws into wins

Can't be many better squads than ours in the league so we should mount a challenge especially when other teams with smaller squads get injuries and suspensions

But, my gut feeling is we lack something but I can't put my finger on it...killer instinct in tight matches??

Good post and the answer to your last paragraph.... Centre midfield is the bit where we are lacking IMO, still not strong enough in there, but all about opinions

Quoted from ackomariner

Good post and the answer to your last paragraph.... Centre midfield is the bit where we are lacking IMO, still not strong enough in there, but all about opinions

Correct Acko , but if some of us mention it we get slated . Forget last Tuesdays game , every other side we have played against seems to have a stand out midfielder who makes thing tick . Not saying our doesn't , just that our tick isn't loud enough .

Wouldn't say every other side has a bossing midfielder, Tranmere may have done with Jay Harris, but FGR were reliant on Parkin, I didn't see Wrexham but they had a 'so called' Number 10 in Vose, Gateshead, Lincoln and Bromley didn't look much to me. I do believe we still need a midfielder who is a bit more athletic, like Jack Payne, someone with a bit of pace, strength and drives into the box.

Quoted from DocTower

Correct Acko , but if some of us mention it we get slated . Forget last Tuesdays game , every other side we have played against seems to have a stand out midfielder who makes thing tick . Not saying our doesn't , just that our tick isn't loud enough .

The best midfielder I've seen in this league so far this season has been Craig Disley.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

The best midfielder I've seen in this league so far this season has been Craig Disley.

Agree. What we need to improve on is winning tight matches. We have only won one close one, against Gateshead, the others have been really comfortable wins. Just need to be a bit more clinical and cut out the silly mistakes (which we seem to have improved on) and we should start turning some of these draws into wins. Then we might take some stopping.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

The best midfielder I've seen in this league so far this season has been Craig Disley.

Definitely not seen one better!

We started being a little sloppy at the back,

BUT

We will always score goals,

We have tighten up at the back now,

So all we have to do now is turn half of those draws into wins,

Then we will pull away nicely.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

The best midfielder I've seen in this league so far this season has been Craig Disley.

You see this is my problem , many are saying we need a good midfielder , a general in the centre of the park . In the next breath people are saying we have the best in this division . Something doesn't add up .

But we play with 2 central midfielders don't we? I personally think Disley is the best midfielder we've had since groves (albeit at a lower level). I just don't quite think we've found anyone outstanding to play next to him. Don't get me wrong, I like Clay and Brown I just want more quality and power in there. Maybe I'm greedy, but I do think that is the only area of the squad in need of improvement.

Quoted from jimgtfc

But we play with 2 central midfielders don't we? I personally think Disley is the best midfielder we've had since groves (albeit at a lower level). I just don't quite think we've found anyone outstanding to play next to him. Don't get me wrong, I like Clay and Brown I just want more quality and power in there. Maybe I'm greedy, but I do think that is the only area of the squad in need of improvement.

Absolutely correct, disley is still good enough but IMO is sitting deeper this season so far so is not getting into the box as often

Clay IMO again is doing OK in fits and starts but that's it. He's took the game by the scruff of the neck for the second half the other week at home, but apart from that he's been just OK, not outstanding

So I feel this is our weak link so far this season but got brown coming back into the squad again, so that's a bit of a bonus I suppose. I did state on here after Brown's first ten games that he is the best player we've signed for the last ten years, always getting stuck in, good passer of the ball, all over the pitch breaking up play.....then got his first injury then got the defensive mentality drummed into him and never has been the same player since, so yeah, need a stronger man in the middle with disley

Instead of just giving it a negative mark, come back with your own thoughts

Now I didn't give it a negative mark but when reading your post I pretty much agreed with it all until the end when you seem to put a dig in at Mr Hurst for no good reason, almost like you can't resist.  So it wouldn't surprise me if that is why you got red crossed.

The punctuation could also be improved so perhaps that is another reason for the negative mark.

I like the use of paragraphs, it makes the piece easy to read and understand.

The use of uppercase letters for names is somewhat inconsistent, brown and Brown for example.

Try and remember to finish off your sentences with a full stop and those red crosses will be a thing of the past.

Sorry acko, only joking.   I'm bored at work and The Fishy is the only thing that keeps me occupied all day.

I don't think he ever looked as fit after his first injury, rather than having had a defensive mentality drummed into him.

Quoted from ackomariner

Instead of just giving it a negative mark, come back with your own thoughts

Some people just can't take others opinions , I like your posts and your last paragraph  is correct  .

Quoted from DocTower

Some people just can't take others opinions , I like your posts and your last paragraph  is correct  .

Think were on the same wavelength doc, but why can't people post a reply as well as putting a negative cross against the post, just bores me at times

Quoted from ackomariner

Think were on the same wavelength doc, but why can't people post a reply as well as putting a negative cross against the post, just bores me at times

I'm in agreement with your first two paragraphs, but not the last one! For me, Brown started quite well but was hardly running games or being the outstanding player at any point so I'm surprised that some think he was so good. As I recall, back then, a lot of people were claiming Disley would only be a bit-part player last season when he was of course our mainstay and still is!

I'm in agreement with Abdul that Brown never looked to get properly fit after his injury and I think he was generally pretty poor in most of his appearances in the second half of the season. Unfortunately, his operation this season hasn't really given him the chance to get his fitness sorted out either. Hopefully, he will work hard and get himself fit enough to play a good part soon, but I'm far from convinced that he'll be good enough to improve our midfield very much. Certainly not the physically powerful or quick midfielder I think we could use.

Quoted from ackomariner

Instead of just giving it a negative mark, come back with your own thoughts

I do agree with you on this, crosses are a bit too easy, and doesn't lead to reasoned explanations or debate.

Mind you, as soon as you comment on them you can guarantee they'll build up!

Watched Brown today and it looks as if he is trying hard to get back his match fitness and aggression, bit early for him yet but he can still be useful off the bench but not for Disely