Just back

Poor. So so poor. Play offs it is, nothing else needs saying, very down tonight

That was awful. I don't understand how they didn't see that the long balls weren't working after the first 10 mins against a much bigger team?  Everything they did looked slow and no one looked like that wanted it, I think JPP for bogle was a mistake. Taking off Arnold for Straker was silly (he played poor, there's a reason York didn't want him!)

No polishing today's turd.

Just bizarre that in windy conditions against inferior opposition we tried to play long ball.

Even during the game, on the odd occasions when we did get it down on the ground or out wide, we did look better, but then didn't learn from it and resorted to ling hoofs from McKeown, Toto and Tait.

Genuine question: What is the reason for such tactics?

The lack of a big target man was painfully obvious today. I know the conditions didn't help but what a disappointing performance that was.
Disley's tackle at the death was immense.

I'm waiting to hear Hurst's explanation....

Quoted from chaos33

I'm waiting to hear Hurst's explanation....

Hurst will say we was rubbish, which we was, was is there to explain?

Cold. Miserable. I dont understand the concept of passing it around the defence to simply just hoof it, why not just hoof it in the first place. Also,I'm a fan of disleys, but against such limited opposition why does he feel the need to constantly play a simple back pass, its a complete lack of urgency which makes defending against us easy. It'd be interesting to know how many passes he completed to defenders as opposed to fellow midfielders or attackers today.

Sorry relegation plaice, but "big target man" is just dark ages football for the likes of Lincoln, not us.

The painfully obvious part is not that we didn't have a Matt Rhead-like clogger up front, but that despite having superb footballers like Nolan, Amond and Arnold on the field we CHOSE to hoof the ball up in the air in gale force winds against a relegation-threatened team with two massive centre halves.

Quoted from Fat Cobra

Get with it sharp object

Time of the month?

We huffed, we puffed but yet again we couldn't blow down the house. Another tactical masterclass in how to draw a game against limited but organised opposition, to whom we gave much heading practice. Never did i feel that we would get a charge on and force a goal like title winning sides do. A game that was crying out for a big bustling target man to get among them, only we don't have one still. The good run we had is looking more and more like it was down to Townsend, who often made the difference and got us over the line. Without him, we have no spark and we have never really had a killer instinct under Hurst. Another poor January transfer window and post christmas drop in points gained. It's a never ending cycle. Hoping for a play off bit of fortune with a third of the season left doesn't seem a very appestizing prospect to get the juices flowing for the rest of the regular season. Ah well, there's always the Trophy.

Apart from all that, i am half frozen and trying to get a hot drink today was nigh on impossible. Not a happy bunny.

And that Clay substitution in the 88th minute for a guy the furthest away from the dugout was genius.

Probably the worst 90 mins of non football i have witnessed..

Hooooooofff

He'd been limping on and off for about 20 minutes so understandable really. (should have been sorted 20 mins before though)

Quoted from Fat Cobra

Get with it sharp object

Fatty, attention seeking again...
Get from your computer and go outside, you never know,
you might just make a friend, trouble is you will maybe react to vitamin D overload.
Bless, mummy will make it better xxx

Crap that, Hurst is now killing clay who was an integral part of a winning midfield, good to see Monkhouse stealing a living again, Hursts best mate maybe ?

Dismal day, dismal performance, dismal game, dismal result.

Most disappointing was the lack of nouse throughout the team - the problem wasn't so much that we were just hitting it long, it was that we were hitting it long aimlessly. No plan on show at all as far as I could tell. It seems that none of our defenders were capable of hitting the ball forward with a flat trajectory so it was endlessly scooped forward to be held up in the wind during the first half and Pittman actively seemed to be running away from the ball for most of the first 45. The fact that they dealt with with kicking unto the wind much better than we had is worrying. The number of simple passes which we put behind our players is getting beyond a joke and some extremely experienced players looked as though they didn't know what they were doing. First touch of the forwards was just abysmal throughout the game though the delivery into them was also poor.

No doubt about it, we're just not good enough to get away with such poor performances and we're not looking anything like a promotion-winning team at the moment.

Disappointing, really. If we'd had a Palmer-like player since the start of the season, we'd probably be right up with Cheltenham and FGR but the squad is lacking.

We tried playing football, which I like, but until the 80th minute, there was no urgency!

Tait the only half decent player today

Tinkering again has copulated with the whole team dynamic.
Where was the desire and football we have seen for most of this season????
But nevermind we will make the play offs and intercourse it up again.
Hurst should have gone Xmas 2014.
He will never get us out of this excrement league Fenty has put us in.

That game reminded me of the time I spent 90 minutes stabbing myself in the face.

Also, for all the criticism in the past that we don't have a plan b, I couldn't even decipher what plan A was today, which is slightly concerning

Poor. That is all.
UTMM

Such garbage on display today. Can we send Straker back to York? It was comical how awful he performed. Horwood seems a poor version of Robertson, we have never been anything more than average on the left since Townsend departed. That lad was pure class and unfortunately far too good to be playing here. Oh well, another year in this hell hole of a division to look forward to.

4 years and still no plan b to beat these stubborn teams.

Nolan was the only player to impress today IMO. Why Hurst persists with Monkey we will never know on a day like today. Boreham were a big, slow side and we should have started with our quickest players. Onwards to Halifax, no point in dwelling on 2 points dropped. Heads up and carry on UTM.

What a poor game
Project Promotion?
Now Project " A little bit of luck in the play offs please"
Come on Town you can do so much better than todays seemingly cluelessness showing.
See you at Halifax Mariners..

I love the phrase "You cannot polish a turd" and it pretty much sums up the whole performance. There were very, very few redeeming features. Boreham Wood were limited in what they could do but did it really well. Part of the problem in the first half was that they closed down the likes of Gowling and to a lesser extent Tait and Horwood almost forcing them into hoofball. A couple of their players looked a little weighty to say the least and I fully expected that we'd run them ragged with our movement and the wind in the second half but it just didn't happen. Even in the first half the ball spent a lot of time in wide areas but we collectively lacked the application to get it into the danger area and were reduced to tippy tappy short passes which almost always came to nothing. It is a long time since so many key players had off days on the same day. Arnold and Monkhouse were as poor as I've seen them for a while with the former virtually anonymous in the second half. People were complaining when Arnold went off but it must have been a close call for Hurst to make and I suspect Arnold went because the new guy is clearly right footed. All this left Podge feeding off scraps and hoofing the ball in the direction of Pittman is only ever going to have one result
Horwood took a knock but even before that his lack of match fitness was starting to show with some tired looking passes.
Nolan got sponsors MOM and probably just about deserved it. He looks very good going forward but as many have said his defensive capabilities don't look anywhere near as accomplished as Clay's and with having two wingers who aren't great in the tackle a lot of the heavy stuff fell to Disley which could well explain why he was stretching for the ball when he picked up his tenth(?) booking of the season which could see us without him(?)

Omar was exactly what we've come to expect. A couple of times Boreham Wood struggled to get the ball off him, a couple of snap efforts, a bit of a paddy when he ran into trouble and didn't get a free kick and a bit of poor decision making when a short pass to Horwood out wide could have created real danger.

The new lad had an interesting cameo. On the positive side his first corner was better than Arnold has managed all season. On the negative he didn't look like he was prepared to really roll his sleeves up for the cause.

Which is just what we need in a new player and exactly what the York fans said. We'll done Hursty. At least we can all see the method and the intent. Pathetic.

Quoted from TAGG

Tinkering again has copulated with the whole team dynamic.
Where was the desire and football we have seen for most of this season????
But nevermind we will make the play offs and intercourse it up again.
Hurst should have gone Xmas 2014.
He will never get us out of this excrement league Fenty has put us in.

I must confess to not understanding this tinkering accusation in relation to today. We were at home to a team whose record away from home suggests that they are quite good at shutting up shop. Hurst has a choice between Clay who defends well and Nolan who has already shown that he can pass the ball and drive forward, not forgetting an eye for goal. It seemed to me that if you need to break down a team then you want players who can make things happen.
As for Pittman, he didn't play well today (starved of service) but did more in the 20 or so minutes he was on the pitch on Tuesday from an attacking point of view than Omar did for the rest of the time.

well that seemed like a long drive back to Newark,utter garbage,hoof ball,clueless crap,what is it with JPPs flick ons(a very poor Tony Rees) and dont get me started on F%@KING Horwood  gggrrrrrrrrrrrr

Quoted from Venkman

Such garbage on display today. Can we send Straker back to York? It was comical how awful he performed. Horwood seems a poor version of Robertson, we have never been anything more than average on the left since Townsend departed. That lad was pure class and unfortunately far too good to be playing here. Oh well, another year in this hell hole of a division to look forward to.

Robertson has shown himself to be a more than competent left back in his time here. He was after all part of the team that had the best post Christmas period since we've been down here.

Monkhouse got left on the pitch instead of Arnold wtf was all that about take off the most creative quickest and brightest player at the club and leave on the slowest weakest lethargic bloke ever seen in a town shirt at 35 year old on the wing is unbelievable how he warrants a starting place in the team every week I'll never know like I say UNBELIEVABLE !!!

I very rarely post straight after a game, mainly in order to mull things over and not get carried away with instant emotions of joy or dissapointment , but today no amount of time will dispel the memory of what must go down as just about the worst display from a Town side if not this season possibly the last twenty.
Ok, the weather didn't help, but for goodness sake let's have some method to our game when playing lesser sides. We know we can play football against good sides but why do we always stumble against teams like we played today?.
As others have said no plan B, just constantly hoofing it upfield into the wind with little or no chance of any of our players either being there or being able to chase it, the passing was extremely poor from the start and got progressively worse as the game went on. It seems to me that whilst some of the players have some degree of technical skill, very few have a footballing brain.
Boreham Wood are not a good side but obviously very effective, and went home with what they set out to do, get a point. No wonder they have conceded far less goals this season than the majority of teams in this league, last ditch defending from the kick off, and booting it anywhere with only the odd glimpse of any football. They are in the bottom four, and not just because they stymied us today, but I sincerely hope they do get relegated, just so fans of any club in this division don't have to suffer the same sort of display next season.
Been home nearly two hours now and STILL BLOODY FREEZING!

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

We tried playing football, which I like, but until the 80th minute, there was no urgency!

Tait the only half decent player today

Tried playing football?  More like hoof ball!

Just realised results have worsened since we stopped the Diz & Clay partnership in mid
Come on Town!!

Right bare with me...

Like everyone had said today was poor, but id like to look at our approach to the game today. We know that at home against teams who get men behind the ball that Hurst likes us to play out from the back, in an attempt to draw the opposition out, and it has worked in the past but today we looked torn between doing that and trying longer balls to get in behind. It seemed like his instructions were for Mckeown to give it to a centre half who then exchanges 5 or 6 passes with fellow defenders, gaining little ground, then bypass the midfield with a long pass up to the strikers. You must let the central midfield (preferably a 3) contribute when in possession to gradually move the ball forward. When your playing a possession based game like we tried today the players who should make the most touches and passes are the central midfielders not the centre halves. I don't think a 442 is suited to playing this style, not enough bodies in the middle of the park to move the ball. I'm also not convinced we have the players to play like this. We don't have that quality dominant midfielder who can dictate the play.

Looking at the weather and the opposition today I'd have gone for a high tempo pressing game, put their back 4 under pressure get them turned and facing their own goal with balls in behind their full backs which the wind would help hold up first half, and make them make mistakes, and then play football on the ground in their half, not ours.

We seemed stuck in between what to do today tactically, and for me that is what cost us victory. Sorry if I've bored anyone with that 😂

Funny how much better players get the longer they are out of the side. Clay is not playing, we are struggling, ergo it must be because Clay isn't playing. If we are missing the dynamic, free scoring, astute passing Clay, then we are worse off than i imagined.

Agree generally Ginny but given the run we were on and the fact we had just won 5-0 I do wonder the effect it has on morale and this much touted togetherness that one of the key contributors to this run is just then consigned to the bench to accommodate a new play thing.

I appreciate no player should feel undroppable but surely should also feel they have the right to a shirt when results are warranting it?

Quoted from Mendonca1995

Monkhouse got left on the pitch instead of Arnold wtf was all that about take off the most creative quickest and brightest player at the club and leave on the slowest weakest lethargic bloke ever seen in a town shirt at 35 year old on the wing is unbelievable how he warrants a starting place in the team every week I'll never know like I say UNBELIEVABLE !!!

Said that a couple of months ago and got slated.

Quoted from blasty

Agree generally Ginny but given the run we were on and the fact we had just won 5-0 I do wonder the effect it has on morale and this much touted togetherness that one of the key contributors to this run is just then consigned to the bench to accommodate a new play thing.

I appreciate no player should feel undroppable but surely should also feel they have the right to a shirt when results are warranting it?

Or it could just be that Nolan's performances thus far have earned him his place in the team.

They came used the wind in the first half and to pot shots , we hump it to that nu be 33 .   half time 0-0  Second on half did we shoot ? no , hump again to their number 33 . Surely the captain can see it ain't working , the manager can see it ain't working . It's the first time that the chap I was with was ready to walk out at 80 mins . Game plan , none , plan B never had one , new players didn't compliment what we have had before .

The weather didn't help but tactics again have proved to be our downfall yet again . Might be too soon to say that the season is petering out , if it is the play offs , the way we have been playing doesn't give me much confidence.

The difference now with Monkhouse is that he doesn't have Townsend behind him, or more importantly running past him. I really don't think the combination of him and either Robertson or Horwood (who I thought had a shocker today) really works, it's too slow and predictable. Monkhouse should have been subbed instead of Arnold today, even if Nathan wasn't at his best today he can still produce something out of nothing and win a game on his own, Monkhouse can't.

Quoted from ginnywings

Funny how much better players get the longer they are out of the side. Clay is not playing, we are struggling, ergo it must be because Clay isn't playing. If we are missing the dynamic, free scoring, astute passing Clay, then we are worse off than i imagined.

Agree mate.

Quoted from jimgtfc

Right bare with me...

Like everyone had said today was poor, but id like to look at our approach to the game today. We know that at home against teams who get men behind the ball that Hurst likes us to play out from the back, in an attempt to draw the opposition out, and it has worked in the past but today we looked torn between doing that and trying longer balls to get in behind. It seemed like his instructions were for Mckeown to give it to a centre half who then exchanges 5 or 6 passes with fellow defenders, gaining little ground, then bypass the midfield with a long pass up to the strikers. You must let the central midfield (preferably a 3) contribute when in possession to gradually move the ball forward. When your playing a possession based game like we tried today the players who should make the most touches and passes are the central midfielders not the centre halves. I don't think a 442 is suited to playing this style, not enough bodies in the middle of the park to move the ball. I'm also not convinced we have the players to play like this. We don't have that quality dominant midfielder who can dictate the play.

Looking at the weather and the opposition today I'd have gone for a high tempo pressing game, put their back 4 under pressure get them turned and facing their own goal with balls in behind their full backs which the wind would help hold up first half, and make them make mistakes, and then play football on the ground in their half, not ours.

We seemed stuck in between what to do today tactically, and for me that is what cost us victory. Sorry if I've bored anyone with that 😂

Not sure why you'd think people would be bored by that. For me the conditions helped dictate how the ball was played out. The wind in the first half meant that Macca wasn't getting much distance when he did try to kick so moving the ball forward via the defenders should have helped. The fact that it didn't was partly at least due to the efforts made to close players down. BW didn't really have a lot of skill (although the number 25 gave Tait one or two hairy moments) but they fought really hard to close us out.

That proves if any was needed we are not good enough to win the league, if we have the best squad then we certainly don't have the best manager In the league, (no I'm not calling for his head) but Cheltenham would have found a way to win that game probably

Gowling Toto Horwood Arnold Disley Monkhouse Pittman and Amond were both very poor, mind you Amond was feeding of scraps

Not Monkhouse type of game

Straker didn't impress, for a start why did Hurst bring him on Right Wing ? I thought he was left sided player, but his short quick free kick he did was absolutely pathetic, when running with the ball he shows no intelligence or awareness, as Barralad said, not one to roll up his sleeves for the course

Toto and Gowling almost cost us with their pathetic passing along the back whilst deciding which one of them hoofed it forward randomly

Toto as always his distribution is absolutely shocking, also going down the tunnel he told a fan to intercourse off when this fan shouted something at him

Pittman doesn't read the game well and is more of an impact sub

Nolan was the only player to come out of that with any credit, he was the only one who tried to make things happen

Quoted from barralad

Or it could just be that Nolan's performances thus far have earned him his place in the team.

Since being in the side done well no doubt but I think you miss my point and appreciate some will defend me hurst and in doing so ignore certain things.

My point was in dropping clay at the point when we had just won 5-0 and were on the run we were might just have unsettled the side. At no point was I questioning the contribution of Nolan since he's been in the side. Seemingly he's been decent, yet others levels have dropped. Coincidence?

Perhaps we would have faired worse with Clay in the side. Who was it that scored a cracker to get us back in the match on Tuesday night? We can't know what would happen with Clay in the side. Perhaps draw at home with Guiseley maybe.

Ah the 1-1 draw with guisely. No mention of the 4-0 and 5-0 wins around it.

Mind you with Nolan in the side heaven help us if we lost to Gateshead and drew with boreham wood.

The tinkering unsettles the side, it has done for three seasons running now and I'm just suggesting that replacing a member of the engine room after a resounding win as part of a fantastic run of results might just have unsettled the rest of the squad and its confidence more than people might think.

Cheltenham and FGR could both reach 100 points this season. Cheltenham's current run rate is above that.

So it sure looks like play off time gain folks.

Let's hope the luck is with us this time.

Quoted from blasty

Ah the 1-1 draw with guisely. No mention of the 4-0 and 5-0 wins around it.

Mind you with Nolan in the side heaven help us if we lost to Gateshead and drew with boreham wood.

The tinkering unsettles the side, it has done for three seasons running now and I'm just suggesting that replacing a member of the engine room after a resounding win as part of a fantastic run of results might just have unsettled the rest of the squad and its confidence more than people might think.

Which is why i said perhaps. No one can know really but for me Nolan is a better all round player than Clay and an improvement. I have never got the Clay love in, as i think he is distinctly average but it's just an opinion. We an both make arguments for and against by picking specific results.

Don't think we were going anywhere bar the play offs whoever was playing.......

For what it's worth, losing Townsend was the biggest blow because he was the reason for that good run anyway, not Clay or Nolan.

Quoted from ginnywings

For what it's worth, losing Townsend was the biggest blow because he was the reason for that good run anyway, not Clay or Nolan.

Agree wholeheartedly. Although again my point was more about the message to the players and impact on morale of the change than the change of personnel and improvement or not in what they bring to the party.

Tinkering for tinkerings sake

Quoted from blasty

Agree wholeheartedly. Although again my point was more about the message to the players and impact on morale of the change than the change of personnel and improvement or not in what they bring to the party.

Tinkering for tinkerings sake

I get your point but i'm not one who thinks Hurst is that much of a tinkerer really, or that it should affect the side too much if he does. All managers tweak the team as the season progresses but some are better at it then others.

Just got in after 3 hours in the car and I still can't believe how bad we where. Conditions where poor but they often are at BP so no surprises there. Also no surprises that we could not break down a team playing 4 - 1 - 4 -1 (well done Borehamwood for doing their home work) no surprises that we did not change the shape.

No surprises that it was not going well before half time and still no changes till 60 odd minutes. No surprises that we drop Bogle who caused them lets of problems earlier in the year at their place, no surprises that both central mid field players never took control of the game but stayed on.

No surprises that JP played so far away from his strike partner that their link play was non existent unlike when Podge & Omar play together. No surprises that the manager broke up a strike partnership that has yielded 36 goals in the league this year, no offence to JP though as I think he's a good guy.

No surprises that on this day last year we had a disappointing result losing to Brizzle and staying 3rd in the table the same place as we are now.

Take a breath.........

No surprises the opposition played the ref and we came away with the skipper suspended for the next 2 games.

No surprises that the gate was just short of 4,000 a crowd that most league 2 sides would call a "good gate" ...................... Support like that surely deserves better from the manager & players.

No surprises that the crowd was a mixture of all ages, ladies, gents, boys & girls, young & old. Many of whom have spent "hard earned" on their tickets, programmes, shirts, hats, scarves, refreshments and mascot packages.

No surprises that the manager came on Humberside and blames the conditions & pitch, gave credit to the opposition and never really acknowledged that we lacked ambition and the ability (or direction) to beat a team of part timers.

All being well this is a "bad day at the office" and hopefully not the sign of a group that had given up on the title weeks ago and are allowing any momentum in to the play offs ebb away.

So things are one again becoming predictable................. A cycle we need to break if and when we get into the play off's as another season in this league will test the loyalty of many and may finish it for some.  



      

Not good today. I have to say the conditions were rank and although the same for both teams, I think it certainly killed it as a spectacle.
For me we didn't press high enough up the pitch 2nd half and really didn't create anything.
Unusual to leave BP disappointed in the league this season though. I think as others have said the title looks a little out of reach with the form of the two other teams, but I will be quietly confident if we are in the play offs as we are seriously tough to beat and usually a threat.

No surprises we have brilliant loyal fans like you that travel that far to see that excrement mate.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

No surprises we have brilliant loyal fans like you that travel that far to see that excrement mate.

Our brilliant loyal fans are spoilt remember surely driving 3 hours isn't such a big deal .... Now the truth hurst should give herts his petrol £  after that gruel what was served up today

Quoted from jonnyboy82

No surprises we have brilliant loyal fans like you that travel that far to see that excrement mate.

The worrying thing is that even if we are still in this league next year we will continue to make the trip each week or so.....................    

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Just got in after 3 hours in the car and I still can't believe how bad we where. Conditions where poor but they often are at BP so no surprises there. Also no surprises that we could not break down a team playing 4 - 1 - 4 -1 (well done Borehamwood for doing their home work) no surprises that we did not change the shape.

No surprises that it was not going well before half time and still no changes till 60 odd minutes. No surprises that we drop Bogle who caused them lets of problems earlier in the year at their place, no surprises that both central mid field players never took control of the game but stayed on.

No surprises that JP played so far away from his strike partner that their link play was non existent unlike when Podge & Omar play together. No surprises that the manager broke up a strike partnership that has yielded 36 goals in the league this year, no offence to JP though as I think he's a good guy.

No surprises that on this day last year we had a disappointing result losing to Brizzle and staying 3rd in the table the same place as we are now.

Take a breath.........

No surprises the opposition played the ref and we came away with the skipper suspended for the next 2 games.

No surprises that the gate was just short of 4,000 a crowd that most league 2 sides would call a "good gate" ...................... Support like that surely deserves better from the manager & players.

No surprises that the crowd was a mixture of all ages, ladies, gents, boys & girls, young & old. Many of whom have spent "hard earned" on their tickets, programmes, shirts, hats, scarves, refreshments and mascot packages.

No surprises that the manager came on Humberside and blames the conditions & pitch, gave credit to the opposition and never really acknowledged that we lacked ambition and the ability (or direction) to beat a team of part timers.

All being well this is a "bad day at the office" and hopefully not the sign of a group that had given up on the title weeks ago and are allowing any momentum in to the play offs ebb away.

So things are one again becoming predictable................. A cycle we need to break if and when we get into the play off's as another season in this league will test the loyalty of many and may finish it for some.  



      

Great post that mate.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

Our brilliant loyal fans are spoilt remember surely driving 3 hours isn't such a big deal .... Now the truth hurst should give herts his petrol £  after that gruel what was served up today

With regards to the who should play between clay and Nolan argument, I cant help but feel everyone has taken for granted disleys selection in all of this. Now I like disley, but today showed a big issue of his, in the tempo of his game. It is simply too slow and as I mentioned earlier, is easy to play against. Could it not be argued that clay being the more defensive and Nolan more attacking combo could be effective?

We may well see over the next 180 minutes!

With Disney out for next 2 games we might find out about whether our midfield is good enough without him.

Quoted from Mariner93er

With regards to the who should play between clay and Nolan argument, I cant help but feel everyone has taken for granted disleys selection in all of this. Now I like disley, but today showed a big issue of his, in the tempo of his game. It is simply too slow and as I mentioned earlier, is easy to play against. Could it not be argued that clay being the more defensive and Nolan more attacking combo could be effective?

With Disley taking a self-inflicted two game break, we might be about to find out...

Quoted from wembley_double98

Fatty, attention seeking again...
Get from your computer and go outside, you never know,
you might just make a friend, trouble is you will maybe react to vitamin D overload.
Bless, mummy will make it better xxx

And you're still the second biggest sharp object on this board

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

With Disney out for next 2 games we might find out about whether our midfield is good enough without him.

Or better???

It was like putting lipstick on a pig today - umm I think you know what I mean - enough said!!!

The long awaited slump in form at the top as happened.........................................Pity it's us.

Disley may have had a poor game today, but I'm surprised that some think that Clay plays the ball any more quickly? We've long been anything but dynamic moving the ball through midfield and I'd say Clay is probably worse in this respect than Disley. On a similar note, Bogle needs to let the ball do the work more often as he too often holds onto the ball in a position where there is simple pass on and he simply can't achieve anything by keeping it. By all means take players on in the opposition box, but you're unlucky to get much joy attempting to dribble when surrounded in midfield.

Anyway, hopefully a Clay/Nolan axis will do well (or a Henderson/Nolan one) when Disley is out (though I thought he was unlucky to be booked today).

Let's face it, every team has a bad day now and again when generally capable players can't do much right and you struggle to think of anybody who has had a good game. Unfortunately, when we have a bad day, we simply don't get the result we're looking for. Championship-winning teams get the right result regardless of how well they have or haven't played and we're not capable of it. Guiseley and Boreham Wood have both taken relatively easy points off us mostly because of our poor performances. Cheltenham and FGR would have won at least one of those games in a similar position.

No plan A today, never mind having a plan B.

No guile,creativity, variety or pace needed to break them down. (Most good work came from Nolan).

We do not have enough players who are different enough to make a (winning) difference.

Todat we had the same performance and result that we had against Guiseley at home. In neither game did we did deserve the 3 points against lowly opposition. This weeek it was said that Hurst learns from his mistakes.  Well he has not learnt from the Guiseley game as to how to win.

Borehamwood looked comfortable in the second half against the wind. This says it all really.

They had the sensible approach in the game to fire in a few long range shots.  The one in the first 5 mins nearly caught Macca out.  This was a good tactic that we seldom used.

We miss Townsend a lot (but BarrattStander said on the way home that I cannot mention this as he was not our player).

Pittman played most balls first time, which usually resulted in us losing possession.  A poor display.

Quoted from Maringer

Disley may have had a poor game today, but I'm surprised that some think that Clay plays the ball any more quickly? We've long been anything but dynamic moving the ball through midfield and I'd say Clay is probably worse in this respect than Disley. On a similar note, Bogle needs to let the ball do the work more often as he too often holds onto the ball in a position where there is simple pass on and he simply can't achieve anything by keeping it. By all means take players on in the opposition box, but you're unlucky to get much joy attempting to dribble when surrounded in midfield.

Anyway, hopefully a Clay/Nolan axis will do well (or a Henderson/Nolan one) when Disley is out (though I thought he was unlucky to be booked today).

Let's face it, every team has a bad day now and again when generally capable players can't do much right and you struggle to think of anybody who has had a good game. Unfortunately, when we have a bad day, we simply don't get the result we're looking for. Championship-winning teams get the right result regardless of how well they have or haven't played and we're not capable of it. Guiseley and Boreham Wood have both taken relatively easy points off us mostly because of our poor performances. Cheltenham and FGR would have won at least one of those games in a similar position.

Not sure I agree about Dis and Clay. The problem we have and it was glaringly obvious today is can you tell me who the holding centre mid id and who the attacking one is? They can't decide.......... And then who sits and who presses, they take too long to decide and thus gives the opponents time on the ball. I love Dis but recently I have noticed the "Dis 180" has come back where he takes the ball does a turn and sends us backwards similar to when he played with Scott Kerr.

What I do know is that the link between Richard & Nathan was not as effective today as it did not have Clay working hard to be the pivot for them in midfield.

Haven't  Borehamwood held both VGR and Cheltenham to draws in the last few weeks?      

Wasn't there today so can't comment on the game but a dreadful result nonetheless.

However, the fickleness doesn't rest well with me. Clay was the too slow, not smart enough CM that meant we had no creativeness in the middle and now he is the industrious game-changing midfielder we've been missing? And Monkhouse two weeks ago was the calm, intelligent ball-player that kept the team ticking and now he is a slow, weak waste of a shirt. Weird how bad performances change people's views so drastically.

In my opinion, the title ispretty much gone. But the POs are not the end of the world; Hurst has been known to consistently get the better of Eastleigh and Woking. Forest Green and Dover don't worry me much. Braintree are solid but lacking seriously upfront. Only team I'd be worried of is Tranmere, mainly because of their resurgence in form.

Quoted from Tinymariner

Nolan was the only player to impress today IMO. Why Hurst persists with Monkey we will never know on a day like today. Boreham were a big, slow side and we should have started with our quickest players. Onwards to Halifax, no point in dwelling on 2 points dropped. Heads up and carry on UTM.

You have got to be kidding.
He was excrement

Quoted from jonnyboy82

No surprises we have brilliant loyal fans like you that travel that far to see that excrement mate.

Actually it is the club, John Fenty, Paul Hurst and the team that has been spoilt by the loyalty of the fans.

Where is "Getyourfactsright" by the way?

Sadly the strong wind reduced us to their level and the quick inter passing wasn't there and once more the lack of many players who are capable of running at a defence and beating them with skill and pace, such as Townsend showed.

Tait did well to nullify the threat of the guy on their left wing, who was fast and direct and in a better team he would be dangerous and to me he is one of the main guys we are missing.

I'm a big fan of Monkhouse and I think the slating of him is undeserved. Monkhouse tried plenty of things on the wing but he's forgotten that Townsend has gone and kept playing it to where Horwood should have been. That being said I would have subbed him rather than Arnold.

Not sure Straker had long enough on the pitch to warrant crucifying him yet. Doubt many will give him much loner though. Corner aside, I wasn't overly impressed either -  but using a cameo in a game like yesterday's isn't fair.

Only positive from yesterday was Disleys 10th booking of the season. I may get slated but I think he's been poor for a few months now. Some time out the side and a chance to see Clay with Nolan could be what we need. Centre Mid still a massive problem for me. What we needed today was quick tempo crisp passing, not pass it about at the back then hoof it up. Played straight into there hands. What annoys me the most is experienced guys like Hurst, Doig and Warrington sitting there not doing anything to change the system.

Yes opens up the door for clay or henderson who i feel should be next in line for his chance to see if he can take it.

Wonder what happens if whoever takes the chance , does disley slot straight back in ?

Well, even the pitch played badly today. What have they done too it? Players slipping about all over the place, Anyway as for the game, I won't use the word football because it was nearly non existent. We might not like the tactics but Boreham deserved their point that their defensive display warranted, including 2 or 3 excellent saves by the keeper. We started poorly and hardly improved at any time in the game. Nothing changed. We moved the ball too slowly, launched balls into the box which were easy meat for their defenders. Hardly ever ran at them. I am not blaming individual players as no-one covered themselves in glory. Surely Horwood is a stop gap cannot see how he improves the team. Shocking going forward. Did have one good shot and seemed to injury himself and should have been subbed at that time. I too failed to see how taking Arnold off and putting on a left sided wing back would lead to a winning goal. As for Nolan MOM that says how poor we were generally. Yes he does drive forward and looks to get us on the front foot, but defensively is not strong enough. So we are clearly in something of a slump and we have to lift ourselves to secure a playoff place which is not guaranteed yet.

Quoted from Mariners_15

Only positive from yesterday was Disleys 10th booking of the season. I may get slated but I think he's been poor for a few months now. Some time out the side and a chance to see Clay with Nolan could be what we need. Centre Mid still a massive problem for me. What we needed today was quick tempo crisp passing, not pass it about at the back then hoof it up. Played straight into there hands. What annoys me the most is experienced guys like Hurst, Doig and Warrington sitting there not doing anything to change the system.

I won't slate you as I've been slated for saying the same thing . Some players appear to be untouchable and never get dropped, even in times gone by with other managers so it isn't unusual . Certainly needs a serious look at in midfield as you say Clay and Nolan now have the job . Just a shame we still haven't sorted it out with just 3 months of the season left .

Quoted from oldun

Well, even the pitch played badly today. What have they done too it? Players slipping about all over the place, Anyway as for the game, I won't use the word football because it was nearly non existent. We might not like the tactics but Boreham deserved their point that their defensive display warranted, including 2 or 3 excellent saves by the keeper. We started poorly and hardly improved at any time in the game. Nothing changed. We moved the ball too slowly, launched balls into the box which were easy meat for their defenders. Hardly ever ran at them. I am not blaming individual players as no-one covered themselves in glory. Surely Horwood is a stop gap cannot see how he improves the team. Shocking going forward. Did have one good shot and seemed to injury himself and should have been subbed at that time. I too failed to see how taking Arnold off and putting on a left sided wing back would lead to a winning goal. As for Nolan MOM that says how poor we were generally. Yes he does drive forward and looks to get us on the front foot, but defensively is not strong enough. So we are clearly in something of a slump and we have to lift ourselves to secure a playoff place which is not guaranteed yet.

Good Post, I fully agree

Quoted from oldun

Well, even the pitch played badly today. What have they done too it? Players slipping about all over the place, Anyway as for the game, I won't use the word football because it was nearly non existent. We might not like the tactics but Boreham deserved their point that their defensive display warranted, including 2 or 3 excellent saves by the keeper. We started poorly and hardly improved at any time in the game. Nothing changed. We moved the ball too slowly, launched balls into the box which were easy meat for their defenders. Hardly ever ran at them. I am not blaming individual players as no-one covered themselves in glory. Surely Horwood is a stop gap cannot see how he improves the team. Shocking going forward. Did have one good shot and seemed to injury himself and should have been subbed at that time. I too failed to see how taking Arnold off and putting on a left sided wing back would lead to a winning goal. As for Nolan MOM that says how poor we were generally. Yes he does drive forward and looks to get us on the front foot, but defensively is not strong enough. So we are clearly in something of a slump and we have to lift ourselves to secure a playoff place which is not guaranteed yet.

Could not agree more TBH, Nolan was the best of a bad lot he may go forward with the ball but Clay does more work in 15 mins than Nolan appears to do in 90..

I assume Danny East must be injured again as I am amazed that PH thinks Horwood if a better bet than East.  

We looked like a team of strangers at times yesterday.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Could not agree more TBH, Nolan was the best of a bad lot he may go forward with the ball but Clay does more work in 15 mins than Nolan appears to do in 90..

I assume Danny East must be injured again as I am amazed that PH thinks Horwood if a better bet than East.  

We looked like a team of strangers at times yesterday.

Running around a lot doesn't make you a good player.

Think it's also worth giving them a bit of credit. Their defence was very well organised.

Quoted from 2972[b

]Well, even the pitch played badly today. What have they done too it?[/b] Players slipping about all over the place, Anyway as for the game, I won't use the word football because it was nearly non existent. We might not like the tactics but Boreham deserved their point that their defensive display warranted, including 2 or 3 excellent saves by the keeper. We started poorly and hardly improved at any time in the game. Nothing changed. We moved the ball too slowly, launched balls into the box which were easy meat for their defenders. Hardly ever ran at them. I am not blaming individual players as no-one covered themselves in glory. Surely Horwood is a stop gap cannot see how he improves the team. Shocking going forward. Did have one good shot and seemed to injury himself and should have been subbed at that time. I too failed to see how taking Arnold off and putting on a left sided wing back would lead to a winning goal. As for Nolan MOM that says how poor we were generally. Yes he does drive forward and looks to get us on the front foot, but defensively is not strong enough. So we are clearly in something of a slump and we have to lift ourselves to secure a playoff place which is not guaranteed yet.

I understand the pitch was vey soft and in an attempt to firm it up the groundsman ordered a lot of sand and spread it around the playing surface. Allegedly a certain director reprimanded the groundsman for spending money on the sand without his consent !! It would seem that some people are experts on everything, including ground maintenance, and know more than a professional employed to do such a job.

Quoted from ginnywings

Running around a lot doesn't make you a good player.

Think it's also worth giving them a bit of credit. Their defence was very well organised.

Somebody else said similar after the game at about 5.45pm .............95.9 FM and 1485 MW.

Quoted from ginnywings

Running around a lot doesn't make you a good player.

Think it's also worth giving them a bit of credit. Their defence was very well organised.

Whilst I can see Nolan is better with the ball, I do think the way Clay presses the ball high up puts us on the front foot and his desire to win the ball and make challanges was missed yesterday.

Quoted from rancido

I understand the pitch was vey soft and in an attempt to firm it up the groundsman ordered a lot of sand and spread it around the playing surface. Allegedly a certain director reprimanded the groundsman for spending money on the sand without his consent !! It would seem that some people are experts on everything, including ground maintenance, and know more than a professional employed to do such a job.

We have one of the best groundsman in football, that director should hold his head in shame, what a member.

Doesn't surprise you though, look what league the directors, directed us to.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Just got in after 3 hours in the car and I still can't believe how bad we where. Conditions where poor but they often are at BP so no surprises there. Also no surprises that we could not break down a team playing 4 - 1 - 4 -1 (well done Borehamwood for doing their home work) no surprises that we did not change the shape.

No surprises that it was not going well before half time and still no changes till 60 odd minutes. No surprises that we drop Bogle who caused them lets of problems earlier in the year at their place, no surprises that both central mid field players never took control of the game but stayed on.

No surprises that JP played so far away from his strike partner that their link play was non existent unlike when Podge & Omar play together. No surprises that the manager broke up a strike partnership that has yielded 36 goals in the league this year, no offence to JP though as I think he's a good guy.

No surprises that on this day last year we had a disappointing result losing to Brizzle and staying 3rd in the table the same place as we are now.

Take a breath.........

No surprises the opposition played the ref and we came away with the skipper suspended for the next 2 games.

No surprises that the gate was just short of 4,000 a crowd that most league 2 sides would call a "good gate" ...................... Support like that surely deserves better from the manager & players.

No surprises that the crowd was a mixture of all ages, ladies, gents, boys & girls, young & old. Many of whom have spent "hard earned" on their tickets, programmes, shirts, hats, scarves, refreshments and mascot packages.

No surprises that the manager came on Humberside and blames the conditions & pitch, gave credit to the opposition and never really acknowledged that we lacked ambition and the ability (or direction) to beat a team of part timers.

All being well this is a "bad day at the office" and hopefully not the sign of a group that had given up on the title weeks ago and are allowing any momentum in to the play offs ebb away.

So things are one again becoming predictable................. A cycle we need to break if and when we get into the play off's as another season in this league will test the loyalty of many and may finish it for some.  



      

Excellent post Herts....sums things up perfectly - good points and well reasoned.

What we ought to be doing is trying to sign their left winger. He would be brilliant in a side that gave him some support. Fastest player Ive seen all season.

Quoted from golfer

What we ought to be doing is trying to sign their left winger. He would be brilliant in a side that gave him some support. Fastest player Ive seen all season.

Just like that winger from a couple of seasons ago against us....Mackreth...whatever happened to him.  

For me what yesterday highlighted was how little pace and creativity we have. This has been apparent from the beginning of the season,yet Hurst has continually failed to address it.

Quoted from samg

It was like putting lipstick on a pig today - umm I think you know what I mean - enough said!!!

Ye , i told her it was valentines day today and at least make the effort.

If anything this reminded me of this season away at Braintree,however yesterday was not quite as bad as that.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Ye , i told her it was valentines day today and at least make the effort.

Couldn't help but think of this picture I saw earlier today...

[IMG]http://i63.tinypic.com/aevfa1.jpg[/IMG]

Quoted from rancido

I understand the pitch was vey soft and in an attempt to firm it up the groundsman ordered a lot of sand and spread it around the playing surface. Allegedly a certain director reprimanded the groundsman for spending money on the sand without his consent !! It would seem that some people are experts on everything, including ground maintenance, and know more than a professional employed to do such a job.

If that is true, then it mirrors exactly what I have heard over the years from people within and closely associated with the club. His ego will simply not accept that other people know best and it has been his downfall.

We see owners of football clubs all the time getting it so wrong. Their pig headedness creates so many problems for the clubs concerned.