Just back.

Strange old game that. They seemed so much more comfortable on the ball than we did; retained possession well, had some skilful players, but never really looked threatening, apart from a couple of moments.

We harried and chased and never let up, but we kept giving them the ball back for them to weave pretty patterns and get nowhere, while we scored three excellent goals, all left footed finishes, with the pick being the first from Glennon which left their keeper rooted to the spot.

Despite the win and the goals, the game never really got that exciting and there wasn't much noise from the home crowd.

Great win all the same and we kept a clean sheet which was a bonus. Tough to pick an outright man of the match, but Glennon, Clifton and Holohan all played well, as did Smith again. Efete looks hesitant and caused a bit of kerfuffle a couple of times with indecision and I still don't know what Kiernan bring to the table. He seems to make the wrong decision more often than not to me.

We are off and running at home.

Despite winning 3-0, I thought the performance was very poor. Our inability to retain possession is surely deliberate. Far too many 50/50 balls punted to Taylor, or put into channels, and far too few instances of any pass and move.

Entirely forgettable, and on to the next one.

Quoted from ginnywings

Strange old game that. They seemed so much more comfortable on the ball than we did; retained possession well, had some skilful players, but never really looked threatening, apart from a couple of moments.

We harried and chased and never let up, but we kept giving them the ball back for them to weave pretty patterns and get nowhere, while we scored three excellent goals, all left footed finishes, with the pick being the first from Glennon which left their keeper rooted to the spot.

Despite the win and the goals, the game never really got that exciting and there wasn't much noise from the home crowd.

Great win all the same and we kept a clean sheet which was a bonus. Tough to pick an outright man of the match, but Glennon, Clifton and Holohan all played well, as did Smith again. Efete looks hesitant and caused a bit of kerfuffle a couple of times with indecision and I still don't know what Kiernan bring to the table. He seems to make the wrong decision more often than not to me.

We are off and running at home.

Agree with most of that. Kiernan sort of shows why he was allowed out on loan, he doesn’t have an end product nor does he get close enough to Taylor.

I think Crocombe deserves a mention, one terrific save and, in general, in command of his area. Harry my MoM.

Very well put(better than how I wrote it). Utm

Not convincing by any means but a win and a clean sheet is all we’ll remember in May.

MOM:  Their keeper, thought he had a cracking game for us today 👏

Quoted from LH

Not convincing by any means but a win and a clean sheet is all we’ll remember in May.

Spot on, but Holohan, Clifton, Khan and Glennon made the difference. All played very well with my MOM split between Glennon and Holohan.

Ver odd game. Their disallowed goal and Taylor's goal could have come out of a football sitcom.   MOM was hard to say.  Crocombe for his save.  

Kiernan doesn't add anything to the team. IMO Effete was poor - very hesitant, ball watching and caught out of position several times. I only hope that when Cropper is fit he is given as much time as Effete has been given to justify his place. I think Cropper is a better defender and deserves an extended run when he is fit.

Agreed with Hursty. We didn’t play very well in H1 but were very comfortable after the second went in, they then looked like a side low on confidence at the bottom of the league. Even in the first half they didn’t really get near our goal despite their possession, even their ghost goal was ably created by us not them!

Thought Holohan was excellent, he looks so much fitter this year. Harry is now nailing down a spot in the middle of the park, he must be delighted. Taylor’s influence should indisputable, he was very good again today. I don’t really see why Keirnan keeps getting picked. Yes he’s good at tracking back and running at players but his quality and vision is severely lacking. Early in the second half we had two men over with him running and he either couldn’t see or didn’t back himself to make the pass as one of them would’ve been in if he’d made the ball. Glennon was pretty ordinary apart from that wonderful free kick, which was top drawer no doubt.

Next week will be a tough game, they’ve won at Bradford today, which is an excellent result and may be getting up and running, then it’s a massive test against Bradford. It’s a tough League no doubt, all the sides are difficult to differing degrees.

Kiernan is basically just Erico Sousa

Hurst must think Orsi is terrible if he is not worth trying up front with Taylor ahead of Keirnam

3 points is the most important thing but as others have said, it was a strange 3-0.

The atmosphere is poor because we fail to entertain for vast periods of football matches, Crawley were there for the taking and we didn’t really seem arsed.

It says a lot when it’s hard to pick a MOTM. Clifton, Holohan and Glennon were good, Kahn not far behind.

Kiernan is a downgrade on Sousa, 99% of what he does is the wrong decision and he seems incapable of striking a football cleanly.

Pleased to see Efete look much better too.

Onto Stockport and a good points total so far.

Yeah weird to say for a 3-0 win but very poor performance. We were awful first half and mediocre second half a d the atmosphere was non existent. However we've got that first home league win at last,maybe that'll help confidence at home.

Thought the passing was rank throughout the team but glennon was surprisingly off it today in terms of passing and attempted balls down the line, phenomenal goal though. We just seemed very disjointed. Kiernan is as abysmal with end product up front as he is out wide. Such a frustrating player but he does work hard.

I think Crawley must be doomed if they are able to play us when we were so poor and still come off beaten 3 -0. Absolutely fantastic save by Max though, he is getting better and better, albeit his distribution wasn't up to his usual standards today.

We just have to stay in touch with the pack until mcatee comes back (and scanz too) and I think we have a real shot at the playoffs,and we seem to be doing that.

Atmospheres been shite for years at home to be honest.

Too spread out, pontoons full of children, dont know what the answer is tbh

Agree with most of the above, Smith mom imho, the critism of Kiernan is a bit harsh, yes, he failed to make the killer pass once or twice, but his running off the ball and pace up front kept Thier defense on Thier toes all game, if he had it all he'd not be in l2 would he? I think sometimes people expect a bit too much from players at this level of football.
Jmd did a lot less than Kiernan today but not one mention of this.

Would rather play crap and win than have those games where we play some pretty football keeping lots of possession and lose because of a couple of mistakes.

No player sets out to play poorly. It can happen..multitude of reasons…confidence, form, opposition, off field stuff…trying too hard..whatever..

There was a bit of pressure today with the home results thus far, and the team needs the support and the support needs the team. Generally takes one to get the other going, but as has been said above the atmosphere at BP isn’t great noise wise..but also the crowd hasn’t turned on the team/players as such (not that there’s a reason too) - sometimes you get games where it just doesn’t happen..it’s flat all round. Today one. There were a couple of tactical tweaks during game that helped, Khan has a bit of quality about him and of course Taylor’s return to the side helped.

take the positives, home win and clean sheet, comfortably mid table.

Start getting scrappy wins at home and win beautifully away.

Not how it’s written in ‘the book’ but whatever it takes to get points on the board.

Another here who thought it was a strange game.

First half we were well short. They are a poor side but to their credit they try and play the game the right way but it’s a case of trying to run before they can walk. They take so many risks it’s crazy. They look like this years basket case club who will be down with one other.

Second half we upped it a bit and made it look comfortable.

Side note - I would have liked to see Orsi get some minutes against a poor defence. Frustrating how little game time he gets.

Bit of a meh game but not to worry. Three goals and as many points. On to the next one now. Table is looking pretty good!

Certainly the worse we have played at home so far & yet we take 3 points did someone say funny old game

Quoted from Quagmire

MOM:  Their keeper, thought he had a cracking game for us today 👏

Our keeper was man of match. 2 excellent saves, collected the ball well and vast improvement in his distribution. No comparison between the 2 keepers.

Weird game, the crawley side was a very 'coaching badges' team, well coached in passing and positioning but looked like the players werent thinking for themselves or adapting to the game.

We seemed to take our foot off the pedal too much after our first and were lucky that comical goal was ruled offside. Second half was alright really, just seemed happier to let crawley faff about then hit them on the counter.

Positives for me were holohan looked renergised and did well. I liked kiernan playing off taylor, seemed to find himself in great positions to break through their defence many times but still would like to see if he can find more end product. Smith looked back on form too.

Quoted from WHYWONTYOULETMESIGNUP

Weird game, the crawley side was a very 'coaching badges' team, well coached in passing and positioning but looked like the players werent thinking for themselves or adapting to the game.

We seemed to take our foot off the pedal too much after our first and were lucky that comical goal was ruled offside. Second half was alright really, just seemed happier to let crawley faff about then hit them on the counter.

Positives for me were holohan looked renergised and did well. I liked kiernan playing off taylor, seemed to find himself in great positions to break through their defence many times but still would like to see if he can find more end product. Smith looked back on form too.

Good phrase to describe them that. They seemed casual almost to the point of arrogance at times, especially first half.

At the beginning of the game, I thought that they were either a very good side, totally confident in themselves, or are naive to the point of stupidity. Given their league position and their soft underbelly on show today, it seems to be the latter.

When you play badly and score 3 goals it's a sign of a team that's going places. We've played a hell of a lot better and lost. Stockport and Bradford will be the telling matches as to how far we have progressed and if we will be heading for a promotion spot.

12 games gone, 1/4 of the season, and we are 2 point off a playoff place. Not bad for some pundits who had us as relegation fodder. With injured players we're not firing on all cylinders, barely 1 today, but when they return we will have something to look forward to.

The next marker will be after the Christmas games and hopefully, with a full uninjured squad, we should be in the promotion places. Going up, definitely for me.

UTM

Quoted from ginnywings

Good phrase to describe them that. They seemed casual almost to the point of arrogance at times, especially first half.

At the beginning of the game, I thought that they were either a very good side, totally confident in themselves, or are naive to the point of stupidity. Given their league position and their soft underbelly on show today, it seems to be the latter.

I watched a lot of second tier football in the US and it’s like that. Teams coached well beyond the ability of the players. It didn’t make for particularly entertaining game. I’d have loved to compare it to MLS but that only arrived in Charlotte this year.

Quoted from Phil the cod

Agree with most of the above, Smith mom imho, the critism of Kiernan is a bit harsh, yes, he failed to make the killer pass once or twice, but his running off the ball and pace up front kept Thier defense on Thier toes all game, if he had it all he'd not be in l2 would he? I think sometimes people expect a bit too much from players at this level of football.
Jmd did a lot less than Kiernan today but not one mention of this.

It’s fine saying ‘if he had it all he’d not be here’ but he has extremely little, there’s no excuse for a professional footballer to misplace almost every cross and shot he has.

He gets into good positions, that’s about his lot

Very poor game and I still can’t determine what our style of football is, or is meant to be. Bizarre that you win 3-0 but leave the stadium feeling down as we just didn’t put together any decent moves. Kiernan just not good enough and it’s unlike Hurst not to identify pretty quickly when he’s got a signing wrong but to keep selecting this guy ahead of Orsi is baffling.

Surprised to hear the guy on RH suggesting that bringing Green on made the difference as he doesn’t even look capable of running never mind playing. Disappointed with a few of Hurst’s signings but Green and Kiernan just don’t look good enough.

Oh well still 3 points and we can obviously play better than we did today so moaning over and now will just enjoy the fact we won 3 points.

Awful game fir an hour and arguably our worst performance so far. Crawley were dreadful barring one half decent shot which was easily saved although Max made it look significantly harder.

We’re a better side with Green and Taylor in the side. Taylor took his goal well and Peppel worked hard and probably deserved the goal himself.

I’d agree that Crawley looked overly coached but had little to offer. Who on earth said the number 50 was a footballer has never seen football.

Smith back to his usual self, Glennon played well as did Taylor. Kiernan…I’ll refrain from saying what I think and just say I’m glad he goes back in January.

Very pleased with the three points, which I what I was hoping for given Crawley's recent form. The first half certainly didn't turn out how I expected. An early goal for once and an excellent one at that which from my angle in the Upper, looked very much set for Khan rather than Glennon. Brilliant start.

But then Crawley got hold of the ball and didn't look like a side struggling at the wrong end of the table. For all their possession and neat football, I didn't feel that that were on the cusp of scoring. Having said that, we couldn't get hold of the ball and equally I couldn't see us scoring further goals.

Second half we looked more solid in midfield. Holohan marked their no. 9 (Nicholls) out of the game, which seem to turn the tide as in the first half he dropped into pockets to receive the ball and made things happen.

Honourable mentions for Green who I thought got stuck in when he came on and also for Crocombe who made a wonderful save in the 2nd half and looked very comfortable in his 18 yard box.

3 points is 3 points and I would have taken a 3-0 without any qualms prior to the game.

On we go, UTM!

Odd thing to say but I think the early goal killed it as a spectacle. We tend to prefer to generate an atmosphere when we’re pushing for an equaliser or have been on the end of a series of bad decisions. That’s not to say I’m pleased to see 3-0, but the air seemed to go out of it early on. And the disallowed goal just added to the weirdness.

Bit of an odd game, thought they were slightly better first half, but I'll take the three points, thought Kiernan got into some good positions but Crawley knew they only had to force him onto his right foot, might be a better idea to play him on the left hand side instead. Would love to see us take more chances and shoot more often,all in all I'll take the points and move on to the next game. UTM

Green did well when he came on. Won the ball several times, linked up decently. No reason to criticise him on that short appearance.

On the other hand, Kiernan was so frustrating today. Did some good things and worked his socks off, but never successfully managed to get the final shot or pass away. In the second half there were a couple of occasions when he was away down the right and he quite simply didn't even glance across to see if anyone was up with him. If he had, a simple square ball would have led to a 1 on 1 with their keeper (who looked incredibly young and naive - academy player?).

Crawley had 3 or 4 good players, most of them playing on their right hand side and Glennon struggled at times, to be honest. A great free-kick to open the scoring but I don't feel confident with him defending at the moment. Luckily, they had very little up front or in the box so we managed to get away with sloppy play way more than would normally be the case. The fact that we were poor but still scored three despite managing to waste lots of opportunities to put someone through on goal shows why they are around the bottom of the table at present.

Efete still doesn't look like a full-back to me. His positioning isn't right and he gets caught ball-watching too often but, that said, he wasn't too bad today.

I thought Taylor did well today so was pleased to see him get his goal. I can only assume that Hurst thought a full game would be helpful for his fitness because, otherwise, you'd have expected him to come off before the end to rest his legs.

Crocombe didn't put a foot wrong today and the difference between the two keepers was night and day. If anything, I'd say he looks a better player this season than he did last, which is a pleasant surprise.

Quoted from Maringer

Green did well when he came on. Won the ball several times, linked up decently. No reason to criticise him on that short appearance.

On the other hand, Kiernan was so frustrating today. Did some good things and worked his socks off, but never successfully managed to get the final shot or pass away. In the second half there were a couple of occasions when he was away down the right and he quite simply didn't even glance across to see if anyone was up with him. If he had, a simple square ball would have led to a 1 on 1 with their keeper (who looked incredibly young and naive - academy player?).

Crawley had 3 or 4 good players, most of them playing on their right hand side and Glennon struggled at times, to be honest. A great free-kick to open the scoring but I don't feel confident with him defending at the moment. Luckily, they had very little up front or in the box so we managed to get away with sloppy play way more than would normally be the case. The fact that we were poor but still scored three despite managing to waste lots of opportunities to put someone through on goal shows why they are around the bottom of the table at present.

Efete still doesn't look like a full-back to me. His positioning isn't right and he gets caught ball-watching too often but, that said, he wasn't too bad today.

I thought Taylor did well today so was pleased to see him get his goal. I can only assume that Hurst thought a full game would be helpful for his fitness because, otherwise, you'd have expected him to come off before the end to rest his legs.

Crocombe didn't put a foot wrong today and the difference between the two keepers was night and day. If anything, I'd say he looks a better player this season than he did last, which is a pleasant surprise.

Good post. To pick up on a couple of things, imagine McAtee and Scannell replacing Kiernan and JMD in that side with possibly Hunt or Morris also available.

With regard to Crawley, I thought their number 38 stood out, turns out he’s a loanee from West Brom, most of the rest flattered to deceive.

It's not too bad when you are sitting just outside the playoffs with a game in hand over some, yet we have not remotely hit top form yet, don't seem to have a preferred system, don't know our best 11, have had a raft of injuries and our talisman has been out since the first game.

We can play some lovely football, but ironically not today and we win 3-0. It will be very interesting to see how things develop when most players are fit and ready for selection, including McAtee, and whether we will settle on a formation/lineup as the season develops, but I guess at the moment Hurst is just taking things one week at a time and trying to get enough points on board to keep in touch till everything settles down.

When it does settle, I hope to see a lot more of Cropper (not just for those throws, but what a weapon to have).

Quoted from pontoonlew

3 points is the most important thing but as others have said, it was a strange 3-0.

The atmosphere is poor because we fail to entertain for vast periods of football matches, Crawley were there for the taking and we didn’t really seem arsed.

It says a lot when it’s hard to pick a MOTM. Clifton, Holohan and Glennon were good, Kahn not far behind.

Kiernan is a downgrade on Sousa, 99% of what he does is the wrong decision and he seems incapable of striking a football cleanly.

Pleased to see Efete look much better too.

Onto Stockport and a good points total so far.

Efete only looked better because he didn't go near the ball.  When he got up the pitch he was too slow in his decision making to do anything effective with the ball.

i noticed richardson wasn't on the bench any news on his injury /illness i'm presuming it was one or the other

Richardson has a groin strain

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Very poor game and I still can’t determine what our style of football is, or is meant to be. Bizarre that you win 3-0 but leave the stadium feeling down as we just didn’t put together any decent moves. Kiernan just not good enough and it’s unlike Hurst not to identify pretty quickly when he’s got a signing wrong but to keep selecting this guy ahead of Orsi is baffling.

Surprised to hear the guy on RH suggesting that bringing Green on made the difference as he doesn’t even look capable of running never mind playing. Disappointed with a few of Hurst’s signings but Green and Kiernan just don’t look good enough.

Oh well still 3 points and we can obviously play better than we did today so moaning over and now will just enjoy the fact we won 3 points.

I kind of agree about Greens introduction and the change of us shape that came with it, I think it helped pin them back as we were then pressing higher.
Someone said post match they had over 60% possession so keeping that possession in their third of the pitch helped build the pressure.

Have to say I found Hursts post match very refreshing, it’s easy to win 3-0 and say everything is great but he didn’t and he clearly knows there are big areas to fix.

To need those areas to fix but still be where we are in the table is quite encouraging

In terms of the result I’ll take a 3 - 0 win every week. We must pass the ball much better than we currently do and our movement whilst we are in possession needs to be more h better. Crawley aren’t very good if we keep coughing up possession like we did yesterday we’ll get slaughtered by better teams.

Excellent start with the free kick and both Holohan and Taylor took their goals really well. I liked the work Khan did for the second he’s a really good player I reckon and in the 2nd half the position change made a real difference.

Felt a bit sorry for JMD yesterday, he can only hurt sides if others win and give him the ball. In the ball, I don’t think we did that very well to be honest.

All that said a win is a win, with more composure in our attacking play that win may have been by a much bigger margin as we seemed to squander some good positions. Away from 3 well taken goals I thought Max’s save in the 2nd half was top class.

We plenty of decent players at this level and once PH can field a settled 11 including McAtee and hopefully Scannell we could once again be a play off contender.

Bigger tests await for sure.

UTM!

Thought first half we were very lucky to go in 1-0 up - and not just the disallowed goal
Sloppy - disjointed - nervy - flicky - just no one taking control or responsibility
Second half better and it had to be - Glennon, Efete, Holohan, Khan all improved but it was still one of the most underwhelming 3-0 wins I can recall
They were toothless up top and it was a good job - we will get pasted by better teams if we continue to give the ball away so much and be so sloppy in final third

Harry was my MOM - centre midfield is where he belongs, not least as it allows us to play two natural wide men

Never at our fluent best yet this season. We are in every game because the players work so hard and are well organised.

Add Mcatee and a couple more bits of quality in January and we will be some team at this level.

Thought Crawley were pretty between the boxes but lacked the heart to beat town.

I thought Clifton was fantastic in the middle, gets a lot of stick for his passing but he displayed quite a range of quality and he won the ball back all over the place.
Holohan and Taylor both played well. I know Efete is out of form but some of the criticism is wide of the mark. He will hit form and there will be another boo boy.

I know Pepple is a bit raw and looked a little lost leading the line last week, but I'd like to see him play off Taylor.

Crawley reminded me of some Town teams from the past. Some 'pretty' stuff at times but toothless up top, dodgy at the back and just a bit soft generally.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Agree with most of that. Kiernan sort of shows why he was allowed out on loan, he doesn’t have an end product nor does he get close enough to Taylor.

I think Crocombe deserves a mention, one terrific save and, in general, in command of his area. Harry my MoM.

That's just what we were saying after the game.

Also that even though we won 3-0 the match really wasn't up to much to get the crowd excited hence the quiet atmosphere.

I didn't think they looked that bad as a footballing side, just no real threat up front and some dodgy defending which we seem to be guilty of at times.

See where we are at after the next 2 games... I'm hopeful of 3-4 points.

Did anybody else notice the giant man mountain that came on for them. Reminded me of the giant that Solihull brought on and won them the game last season.  They played him at full back putting crosses in! What a waste of a massive height advantage.

Quoted from mimma

Did anybody else notice the giant man mountain that came on for them. Reminded me of the giant that Solihull brought on and won them the game last season.  They played him at full back putting crosses in! What a waste of a massive height advantage.

The brilliantly named Ludwig Francilette. I think he was brought on to help lift the spirits of the Crawley players; apparently they look up to him.

Would be delighted with 3-4 points.
Zero is just as likely 🥲

Not the best of performances but done very little to change my view on where we are at the minute.

The makings of a very good side.  Solid and organised, lots of energy and a fair amount of depth in key areas.  Just lacking that extra bit of quality that a promotion side needs.  Quite hopeful though if we can stay in touch until McAtee and Scannell come back into the fold.

The prospect of those two and Khan working off Taylor is very exciting.  Potentially a little bit extra quality in the transfer window too?

Two points off the play-offs at this stage is absolutely fine.  Especially when our best player got injured 2 seconds into the opening game of the season and hasn't played since.  

Quoted from MarinerDevil

https://twitter.com/playmaker_EN/status/1579446431559340032

Interesting stat. Forest Green presumably the lowest with 11 (outside the Prem at least).

Quoted from Poojah

Interesting stat. Forest Green presumably the lowest with 1 (outside the Prem at least).

FGR have 11 points!

Am I the only one who would be perfectly happy with Town at mid table at season end, but also having a better newly located training facility, better behind the scenes work for upgrading of toilets and food outlets at BP, more ongoing fan debates and participation, settled coaching and teaching at all levels including the ladies' team, good player education for any that may not make the grade?

Several of the above will please new and regular fans - some could influence players to join us on the remote East Coast- some could influence higher level managers to loan out their players from being well looked after here - and Hurst could then perhaps have better success with his players A1 list in the next couple of transfer windows?

Then, next year, a full blooded promotion bid with few kick backs??

Who would want to see a scraped promotion bid as we are, and maybe a relegation season to follow?

We have several players not yet on top form, several long term injuries, several young loan strikers alongside an experienced guy, who would struggle to play well twice in a week, some liked and some unliked players, according to where played and how long they manage in minutes, so a very mixed bunch.

Are we being flattered with results, as Hurst is still not happy with some aspects of pressing, pressure and speed of play.

McAtee missing has been hard to take as he runs, draws defenders, sees gaps, scores goals, and no one has fitted into that place in the team yet.

Both he and Scannell have been missed for their individual skills and vision. Two hard to replace areas - just lucky that Harry C hasn't had to try himself in goal !!

Perhaps pick who we have, and let them try to settle into form over time. Have some of our better players last season now found their limit at a regular league higher?

Why has the passing and running suddenly dropped in quality?

2 hard games coming up so let's get behind those picked and look for an increased consistency of play !

As ever - UTM !

Kiernan was one that caught my eye in his first few games, but has failed to do anything once in the final third unfortunatley.
Would like to see Wearne have a run of games.
JMD was disappointing as well, reminds me of a kid in an U12 game that's scared of getting hurt, so doesn't go near a challenge.

Quoted from acko338

Am I the only one who would be perfectly happy with Town at mid table at season end, but also having a better newly located training facility, better behind the scenes work for upgrading of toilets and food outlets at BP, more ongoing fan debates and participation, settled coaching and teaching at all levels including the ladies' team, good player education for any that may not make the grade?

Delighted we're making inroads off the pitch, but I don't see it as a choice of success on the pitch and improvements off the pitch. They're not mutually exclusive, that I'm aware of anyway.

The fact we're all largely disappointed in a display that resulted in a 3-0 win probably tells you the actual level of potential in this team.

Would mid-table be a disaster? Absolutely not. But I've not seen anything to be worried about so far in this league, even if we're not at full strength yet.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Delighted we're making inroads off the pitch, but I don't see it as a choice of success on the pitch and improvements off the pitch. They're not mutually exclusive, that I'm aware of anyway.

The fact we're all largely disappointed in a display that resulted in a 3-0 win probably tells you the actual level of potential in this team.

Would mid-table be a disaster? Absolutely not. But I've not seen anything to be worried about so far in this league, even if we're not at full strength yet.

1878 may have been caught out a bit by the promotion and the subsequent demand for STs and their programme for behind-the-scenes and Blundell Park improvements was probably a bit more sedate, but we can't not want Town to mount a play-off challenge with fully fit and firing McAtee in the second half of the season.

We may only need 2 or 3 players next summer to strengthen if this squad stays together. Mind there are 2 big ones - replacement for McAtee and an alternative to Taylor.

Main priority off the pitch, though 1878 keep claiming we are not filling BP (we are selling it out or nearly doing so every game even if BP is not full) is to to add some capacity in the corners - needs to be covered and good quality and circa 1,000 capacity. An extra £15k per game after VAT and child ticket reductions - that's another £300k in turnover if we sell it for most games.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Delighted we're making inroads off the pitch, but I don't see it as a choice of success on the pitch and improvements off the pitch. They're not mutually exclusive, that I'm aware of anyway.

The fact we're all largely disappointed in a display that resulted in a 3-0 win probably tells you the actual level of potential in this team.

Would mid-table be a disaster? Absolutely not. But I've not seen anything to be worried about so far in this league, even if we're not at full strength yet.

I think it’s worth noting that Saturday was the first time we have won by 3 clear goals in League Two since we beat Port Vale 5-2 in August 2019 during that early season purple patch under Jolley. It’s the kind of result that hasn’t been routine since 2005/6, and to hear one or two grumbles leaving the ground speaks volumes about how far we’ve come.

There were issues with the first half performance no doubt, but on the whole we were as clinical as we have been at home. An excellent (if saveable) free kick and two decent finishes from Holohan and Taylor was encouraging to see.

Quoted from acko338

Am I the only one who would be perfectly happy with Town at mid table at season end, but also having a better newly located training facility, better behind the scenes work for upgrading of toilets and food outlets at BP, more ongoing fan debates and participation, settled coaching and teaching at all levels including the ladies' team, good player education for any that may not make the grade?

Several of the above will please new and regular fans - some could influence players to join us on the remote East Coast- some could influence higher level managers to loan out their players from being well looked after here - and Hurst could then perhaps have better success with his players A1 list in the next couple of transfer windows?

Then, next year, a full blooded promotion bid with few kick backs??

Who would want to see a scraped promotion bid as we are, and maybe a relegation season to follow?

We have several players not yet on top form, several long term injuries, several young loan strikers alongside an experienced guy, who would struggle to play well twice in a week, some liked and some unliked players, according to where played and how long they manage in minutes, so a very mixed bunch.

Are we being flattered with results, as Hurst is still not happy with some aspects of pressing, pressure and speed of play.

McAtee missing has been hard to take as he runs, draws defenders, sees gaps, scores goals, and no one has fitted into that place in the team yet.

Both he and Scannell have been missed for their individual skills and vision. Two hard to replace areas - just lucky that Harry C hasn't had to try himself in goal !!

Perhaps pick who we have, and let them try to settle into form over time. Have some of our better players last season now found their limit at a regular league higher?

Why has the passing and running suddenly dropped in quality?

2 hard games coming up so let's get behind those picked and look for an increased consistency of play !

As ever - UTM !

I'm kind of the other way - we have mcatee for the second half of the season, the chances of replacing the talent off a 300k player purchased by a championship team who also puts as much work rate in as Mcatee is highly unlikely. I think if he stays fit second half of the season and we are still top half when he rejoins us we are unlikely to be better next season in all honesty. If we can get a dozen games out of scannell as well I'd take that as he is highly unlikely to stay fit consistently.

We will also have record season ticket sales still burning a hole in our pocket in January as we have t spent big, so we may be able to strengthen then too.

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

Kiernan was one that caught my eye in his first few games, but has failed to do anything once in the final third unfortunatley.
Would like to see Wearne have a run of games.
JMD was disappointing as well, reminds me of a kid in an U12 game that's scared of getting hurt, so doesn't go near a challenge.

Wearne hasn’t done anything to warrant a run of games. Other than a decent 10 minutes at home to Northampton he’s not shown anything at all.

Quoted from acko338

Who would want to see a scraped promotion bid as we are, and maybe a relegation season to follow?

I get what you mean, but wasn't last season a scraped promtotion, and we seem to be doing OK at the moment.

If we are promoted then our income increases and we attract and pay for better players, so promotion scraped or otherwise will mean we will be able to get better players to hopefully improve further.

Quoted from davmariner

Wearne hasn’t done anything to warrant a run of games. Other than a decent 10 minutes at home to Northampton he’s not shown anything at all.

He’s disappointed me for sure. Whilst Maguire Drew wasn’t effective on Saturday, he does seem to have something about him compared to Wearne (and Kiernan for that matter).

Quoted from davmariner

Wearne hasn’t done anything to warrant a run of games. Other than a decent 10 minutes at home to Northampton he’s not shown anything at all.

Kiernan hasn’t shown a single thing to show he deserves his place though, for that alone, Wearne deserves another shot.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Kiernan hasn’t shown a single thing to show he deserves his place though, for that alone, Wearne deserves another shot.

What about his goal?

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

What about his goal?

There was also that delicious flick late on against Salford, that set former boo-boy target Clifton away. It should have resulted in Orsi winning the match for us; even after two bites of the cherry.

I thought Kiernan played a major role in our late rally against Salford. He’s had a few bright moments, including the abandoned Carlisle match. Just a typical inconsistent L2 forward / wide man; perhaps a quarter yard short of pace and goal threat but with a decent touch.

If Kiernan is a super strength, reliable condom, Wearne is featherlite and prone to splitting and JMD is bareback (pleasurable at times but very risky).

Quoted from mimma

If we are promoted then our income increases and we attract and pay for better players, so promotion scraped or otherwise will mean we will be able to get better players to hopefully improve further.

It does get a bit trickier though given we have generally offered longer contracts, so less less scope for new signings.

Quoted from SouthLakesMariner

It does get a bit trickier though given we have generally offered longer contracts, so less less scope for new signings.

Crocombe
Amos
Cropper
Pearson
Smith
Kiernan
Morris
Wearne
McAtee
Maguire-Drew
Pepple
Richardson
Scannell
Simmonds
Taylor

That’s 15 senior players who will have either reached the end of their contract or their loan no later than June next year. Contrast that with just 10 senior players contracted beyond the end of the season, I’d say there’d be scope to improve regardless of what league we find ourselves in next August.

Quoted from SouthLakesMariner

It does get a bit trickier though given we have generally offered longer contracts, so less less scope for new signings.

I'd say that at least half of our squad are out of contract at the end of this season. Some of them will probably get a deal but McAtee will be gone, Taylor isn't getting any younger and it's unlikely that Smith will be back again next season.

The board regularly talk about continuous improvement so I would definitely say there is scope for new signings in January. Kiernan's loan is up in January and one of Richardson/Simmonds is.

Quoted from Poojah

Crocombe
Amos
Cropper
Pearson
Smith
Kiernan
Morris
Wearne
McAtee
Maguire-Drew
Pepple
Richardson
Scannell
Simmonds
Taylor

That’s 15 senior players who will have either reached the end of their contract or their loan no later than June next year. Contrast that with just 10 senior players contracted beyond the end of the season, I’d say there’d be scope to improve regardless of what league we find ourselves in next August.

I think, as the season progresses, injuries permitting, Green and Morris will be the mainstays of our midfield. However, apart from Khan I think the front three/four will need some serious surgery if we’re going to really challenge. Taylor will be another year older, Keirnan isn’t up to it as a winger for a serious challenger, JMD hasn’t done much when he’s started (although that’s more to do with how we haven’t got the ball to him enough I think), Wearne hasn’t shown much more than Keirnan and McAtee and Richardson will have gone. Apart from that, I think we’ll retain basically all the other starters (bar Smith). I don’t know if JS/AP would look at injecting more cash if they thought there was a genuine shot at promotion on offer, we’ll have to put ST prices up to get anymore money out of gate receipts (unless we expand the capacity somehow). So, there is scope to improve but it will be quite hard, Hursty will have to get his recruitment even more spot on than he usually does.

Quoted from Mariner_09

I think, as the season progresses, injuries permitting, Green and Morris will be the mainstays of our midfield. However, apart from Khan I think the front three/four will need some serious surgery if we’re going to really challenge. Taylor will be another year older, Keirnan isn’t up to it as a winger for a serious challenger, JMD hasn’t done much when he’s started (although that’s more to do with how we haven’t got the ball to him enough I think), Wearne hasn’t shown much more than Keirnan and McAtee and Richardson will have gone. Apart from that, I think we’ll retain basically all the other starters (bar Smith). I don’t know if JS/AP would look at injecting more cash if they thought there was a genuine shot at promotion on offer, we’ll have to put ST prices up to get anymore money out of gate receipts (unless we expand the capacity somehow). So, there is scope to improve but it will be quite hard, Hursty will have to get his recruitment even more spot on than he usually does.

Mainstays? Levels of fitness so far have restricted them singly never mind together. What about Hunt, Holohan and Clifton? Or even Khouri later on? Agree with you about strikers. Apart from cash I think our points total at New Year will be a critical factor if we are to counter the geographical issues.

Quoted from Croxton

Mainstays? Levels of fitness so far have restricted them singly never mind together. What about Hunt, Holohan and Clifton? Or even Khouri later on? Agree with you about strikers. Apart from cash I think our points total at New Year will be a critical factor if we are to counter the geographical issues.

Hence I caveated it with injuries permitting. Morris will come straight back in once he’s fit and Green was his main target who’s been playing with a knock for much of the season or just unfit to play. Once he’s properly fit, I think he’ll come in and look very good. We are well stocked in midfield for sure.

Quoted from Mariner_09

Hence I caveated it with injuries permitting. Morris will come straight back in once he’s fit and Green was his main target who’s been playing with a knock for much of the season or just unfit to play. Once he’s properly fit, I think he’ll come in and look very good. We are well stocked in midfield for sure.

We have several good options in central midfield and in defence. It’s not rocket science to work out where we need to improve.

Quoted from Mariner_09

Wearne hasn’t shown much more than Keirnan .

In all honesty I think he has shown considerably less. I had high hopes for him but from tye first time I saw him away at rochdale he has looked badly exposed with his defensive/off the ball work and too lightweight and ineffectual in possession.

Kiernan, although I'm not a fan, at least gets involved and gets on the ball and harries etc. No end product and poor decision making but he doesn't look out of his depth at league 2 (as you would expect for someone who is inbhis prime and has made 50+league 2 appearances).  Wearne may come good in timeas he's only 21, but he isn't going to be any sort of answer this season and has barely played at the level below. I suspect he will be going out on loan further down the pyramid before the season is out to gain some more actual experience of first team football.

Quoted from acko338

Am I the only one who would be perfectly happy with Town at mid table at season end, but also having a better newly located training facility, better behind the scenes work for upgrading of toilets and food outlets at BP, more ongoing fan debates and participation, settled coaching and teaching at all levels including the ladies' team, good player education for any that may not make the grade?

Several of the above will please new and regular fans - some could influence players to join us on the remote East Coast- some could influence higher level managers to loan out their players from being well looked after here - and Hurst could then perhaps have better success with his players A1 list in the next couple of transfer windows?

Then, next year, a full blooded promotion bid with few kick backs??

Who would want to see a scraped promotion bid as we are, and maybe a relegation season to follow?

We have several players not yet on top form, several long term injuries, several young loan strikers alongside an experienced guy, who would struggle to play well twice in a week, some liked and some unliked players, according to where played and how long they manage in minutes, so a very mixed bunch.

Are we being flattered with results, as Hurst is still not happy with some aspects of pressing, pressure and speed of play.

McAtee missing has been hard to take as he runs, draws defenders, sees gaps, scores goals, and no one has fitted into that place in the team yet.

Both he and Scannell have been missed for their individual skills and vision. Two hard to replace areas - just lucky that Harry C hasn't had to try himself in goal !!

Perhaps pick who we have, and let them try to settle into form over time. Have some of our better players last season now found their limit at a regular league higher?

Why has the passing and running suddenly dropped in quality?

2 hard games coming up so let's get behind those picked and look for an increased consistency of play !

As ever - UTM !

We are years off a new training facility

Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

There was also that delicious flick late on against Salford, that set former boo-boy target Clifton away. It should have resulted in Orsi winning the match for us; even after two bites of the cherry.

I thought Kiernan played a major role in our late rally against Salford. He’s had a few bright moments, including the abandoned Carlisle match. Just a typical inconsistent L2 forward / wide man; perhaps a quarter yard short of pace and goal threat but with a decent touch.

If Kiernan is a super strength, reliable condom, Wearne is featherlite and prone to splitting and JMD is bareback (pleasurable at times but very risky).

Brilliant

I would like to see more of Wearne.  He's only made 3 starts for us (1 of which he scored in against Crewe in the cup and whilst against a poor side looked very good).

The only two starts he's made have been in games where we didn't impress overall as a team (Rochdale and Sutton).

Of his five sub appearances, only two have been for more than 15 minutes - both for a full half.  One was against Forest in the cup when we were 2-0 down, yet considerably better in the second half.  The second against Walsall were we turned the game around in the second half to win 2-1.  Neither improvements/outcomes directly a result of him but he played a part.

He's only 21 and this is his first season at this level.  Other than a dozen or so games in the National League last year, he's only played Academy football.  

Wearne has looked extremely lightweight from the little I've seen of him. I wonder if Hurst's comments the other week about Academy players not being physically prepared for men's football were also aimed at him as well as the young loan players we've got in at present?

One thing is for sure, if he puts in some hard work and shows well in training, he'll get a chance at some point.

Quoted from acko338

Am I the only one who would be perfectly happy with Town at mid table at season end, but also having a better newly located training facility, better behind the scenes work for upgrading of toilets and food outlets at BP, more ongoing fan debates and participation, settled coaching and teaching at all levels including the ladies' team, good player education for any that may not make the grade?

Several of the above will please new and regular fans - some could influence players to join us on the remote East Coast- some could influence higher level managers to loan out their players from being well looked after here - and Hurst could then perhaps have better success with his players A1 list in the next couple of transfer windows?

Then, next year, a full blooded promotion bid with few kick backs??

Who would want to see a scraped promotion bid as we are, and maybe a relegation season to follow?

We have several players not yet on top form, several long term injuries, several young loan strikers alongside an experienced guy, who would struggle to play well twice in a week, some liked and some unliked players, according to where played and how long they manage in minutes, so a very mixed bunch.

Are we being flattered with results, as Hurst is still not happy with some aspects of pressing, pressure and speed of play.

McAtee missing has been hard to take as he runs, draws defenders, sees gaps, scores goals, and no one has fitted into that place in the team yet.

Both he and Scannell have been missed for their individual skills and vision. Two hard to replace areas - just lucky that Harry C hasn't had to try himself in goal !!

Perhaps pick who we have, and let them try to settle into form over time. Have some of our better players last season now found their limit at a regular league higher?

Why has the passing and running suddenly dropped in quality?

2 hard games coming up so let's get behind those picked and look for an increased consistency of play !

As ever - UTM !

I don't think you're the only one that would be happy with midtable and a season of consolidation by any stretch of the imagination. Going off what we've seen so far, midtable is the most likely scenario but that could be anywhere from upper midtable to lower midtable. I don't think we're being flattered by our results though, I think that most of the points we've picked up have been as a direct result of the mentality and ethos that Hurst has instilled.

Quoted from diehardmariner

I would like to see more of Wearne.  He's only made 3 starts for us (1 of which he scored in against Crewe in the cup and whilst against a poor side looked very good).

The only two starts he's made have been in games where we didn't impress overall as a team (Rochdale and Sutton).

Of his five sub appearances, only two have been for more than 15 minutes - both for a full half.  One was against Forest in the cup when we were 2-0 down, yet considerably better in the second half.  The second against Walsall were we turned the game around in the second half to win 2-1.  Neither improvements/outcomes directly a result of him but he played a part.

He's only 21 and this is his first season at this level.  Other than a dozen or so games in the National League last year, he's only played Academy football.  

Agree on Wearne. Would add that he arguably turned the match against Northampton too, looked very lively then.

Quoted from Poojah

Crocombe
Amos
Cropper
Pearson
Smith
Kiernan
Morris
Wearne
McAtee
Maguire-Drew
Pepple
Richardson
Scannell
Simmonds
Taylor

That’s 15 senior players who will have either reached the end of their contract or their loan no later than June next year. Contrast that with just 10 senior players contracted beyond the end of the season, I’d say there’d be scope to improve regardless of what league we find ourselves in next August.

I stand corrected.