Based on what I've seen so far - the standard of the league seems similar to the old Southern League's Eastern Division we got out of in 01/02, I keep hearing people say what a poor level it is and how well we should be doing in it. I also find myself comparing the two teams and what we had back then was better purely due to the Premier experience it had in it. But even that side took three attempts to get out of that division - getting it right over 42 games is never easy.
The only bad performance I have seen is Merstham away where nothing went right - it was truly awful to watch. The Faversham display became that poor after they were awarded a contentious penalty and the Sudbury game was frustrating too. But other games - in my opinion - have seen United not quite there, that final pass going awry after good build up but still generally better than the opposition if not on par with them. Defensively we are doing pretty well with the best goals against number - BUT only 9 teams have scored less than us.
Not that that is paramount - I still think (going back years again, I know) the best semi pro side I ever saw was Dover Athletic in 92/93 when they won the Beazer Premier with gallons left in the tank - only scored 65 goals but conceded a miserly 23, 7 of which were at home. Unreal. So well organised defensively, they didn't need to score many goals. And we are close to getting that organised at the back once LB is sorted.
As to where we are now - well, it's odd that with a record of W 10, D 3, L 2 and 2nd in the division with games in hand - many are still not happy. Possibly that reflects more on the standard of the league - but then the Premier Division isn't anything like as strong as it would've been before Conference North and South were created. Which - on a truly depressing note - takes me back to 03/04 when a top 8 finish in the Eastern Division would've at least seen us back to a revamped Southern Premier - and with Steve Lovell doing his best, we bumped along the bottom of a poor division for several weeks and never got remotely close to that top 8. Jeeez - now that was poor! And so was the pitch - check out the tram lines on the attached still from the Corby game at the start of that season.
Anyway - regardless of how we are playing - we carry on with results as they are, we are in with a great shout of getting out of the division at the first time of asking - if the new signings do the business and we start to score more - lots of ifs when it comes to winning a league but let's see how we go.
Leatherhead are the best I've seen so far, good all round side, Guernsey too but they rely hugely on one player - Peacehaven are the surprise package to watch out for - there's always one in there somewhere!
About the same for me but will go 80%... Mainly due to the fact that a lot of people thought we would be around mid table in this league at the start of the season so to be where we are is pretty damn good really. If we can sort out the strikers and a LB ( hopefully Bruno Pacheco is the solution to that and he's already on board ) then i cannot see any reason why we cant win this League. ( SS will know how many times in the last 50 years or so that we've ever won the league we've been in? cant be many! )
Would love to see Ade in as the missing piece of the jigsaw then i think we're good to go.
Simon. I think what is really frustrating some of us is the lack of goals because we can't / Won't sign a decent striker. The standard is poor, but if we had a striker we would probably be top and with a left back we would certain to be top. The inability to pass in this division makes me realise it's not a lot better than county league level.
From what I have seen we have 3 players that look like they could play in the premier, Pelling, Judge, Kelly, with Adams, Ellis, and Olarunda all capable if they play their best football, apart from that we have county league and unproven players in our squad, obviously we wait to see what the new signings bring, but initial thoughts are not enough.
If we don't make the top 3 the season will be a disaster, and I believe we ought to win the league, as Guernsey can't strengthen if they stick to their islanders policy, and no one else looks capable at this stage, though don't underestimate Peacehaven as they appear to have money and a ground that gives significant home advantage .
Re: The tram lines on the pitch; that must have been the season after the new drainage went in. It didn't help passing the ball along the ground.
There were also a few years where we had caravans stay during the summer break which didn't help the pitch.
I can't see Simon allowing that one.
Apart from the obvious problems at left back and up front my biggest disappointment has been our inability to dominate sides for long periods. We seem to be very slow starters in games and have sporadic periods of 20 minutes here and there when we get on top but seem unable to keep the momentum. We do though seem to have this useful knack of pulling out results when not playing particularly well. Horsham, Hythe, Burgess Hill, Walton at home, Leatherhead, Ramsgate, all games we could quite easily have lost, but I guess that shows a good togetherness along with some good mental strength, something we possibly lacked last year.
For me personally, the team has exceeded my expectations with the squad we have had and i would give them a 8/10. The squad looks much stronger with the signings over the past week and I am really confident we can win this league. Obviously a bit of luck along the way and no injuries will help but things are looking good. I just hope if they are serious about getting Ade in, then they just get on with it. We do seem to let these things drag out and I understand conversations need to be had but I hear both parties are willing to move on so lets get him signed and in the squad this week. As Dan says, the final piece of the jigsaw in my opinion.
I think we are almost there with the players we have plus the new signings when they are bedded into the team. I would like to see Branco given a run to see if he is the answer and if we can play to his strengths rather than hit high balls. Agree with Dan and think 80% so far and with SS that Leatherhead are the best team we've hosted this season. More consistency and a proper left footed midfielder as well as a left back will see us safely to promotion.
I think it also shows how good we've been when you compare us with Thurrock, who went down with us. They're 3rd in Ryman North, having picked up 29 points from 16 games, 4 short of us having played 1 game more. I know it was a ridiculous thing that they were relelgated over, but after finishing above us and avoiding the drop on the pitch, we've adjusted to this season just as good as them
I am only able to base my opinion on the home games I have seen and otherwise on reports. From that, I think we are very fortunate to be in the league position we are in. We have dominated very few games and had a large slice of luck to get something out of many games.
Others have commented in other threads on the rather odd nature of this league - results go one way or that; unfancied sides get good results; we struggle against poor sides and do better against apparently better ones and so on.
There are many positives with our current team - the success of new and returning players like Josh, Kenny, Matt, Sean Kelly, and Tim has been exceptional as has the really excellent continuing commitment of more established players; and I do not deny the the significance of the points we have already accumulated.
I think though that we have yet to get to grips with the realities of the league we are in. We struggle against sides that sit back and counter attack. We do not get forward quickly enough. We lose the ball when over-committed; and, when we do, we do not get back quickly enough to cover. Although our defensive record is good, think of the goals we have conceded when we have lost possession high upfield! So while I agree with a great deal of what Mick has to say, I would not emphasise the apparent absence of creativity. Rather, to my mind this league demands simplicity. I suggest we should adopt a more direct approach than the one we are currently employing. We need a traditional central forward and despite the genuine merits of Sam, Kenny and Branco they cannot fulfill that role. Get the right front man; get the midfield tighter; stop giving the ball away; get forward quicker; get back quicker; go more direct and we will in my view get a solid platform for success. As things stand, I would give us 65 out of 100.
-- Edited by GeoffM on Thursday 14th of November 2013 09:01:08 AM
Interesting that this thread is entitled 'performance so far'. Based on that title I would give us a fairly unimpressive 65%..... because if I am totally honest that's just about all we are worth if we are judging overall team 'performance'. Clearly we have made ourselves hard to beat and that is a factor that is easy to underestimate when we are considering 'performance'. Our 'goals against' tally is very impressive, despite some defensive failings, and I think overall we can say we have certainly done 'well enough' defensively if promotion is our goal. Josh, Ben, Sean and the other Josh have all done consistently well so far. For me, defensively we score 80%.
However we have definitely fallen significantly short at times where creativity is concerned. As far as I am concerned we have had too many games in which we have had far too long periods of utter offensive cluelessness. (75 minutes at Hythe, about the same against Horsham twice , 88.5 minutes at Mertsham etc.) So offensively we only score 50%....hence my 65% overall score.
However of the four games I picked out, we actually won THREE of them......and that's where the anomaly comes !
If you had asked me for a score with regard to our ACHIEVEMENTS this season I'd have said about 85%. We did OK in the cups but our league record really is pretty impressive.
However we rarely look as good as our league record suggests and that's the worry. I just feel the bubble may burst and all the narrow victories will become narrow defeats. We NEED to be dominating games, particularly against bottom third opposition, but there's no real sign of that yet. We are relying on evenly poised games and nicking a win....it's just not convincing enough for me.
I'm seriously hoping that soon we will 'click' and our dominance of games will increase and the unconvincing narrow victories (that we happily all accept because 3 points is all that really matters) turn into far more clear cut triumphs.
good post mick. decent sides that get promoted are usually built on stong defence so sort out left back and we have one major piece of jig saw. need to pass better and create more and have more of a plan up front really want to see rodrigo and kenny up top as a 2 as i think they could work well together give a few games.
overall marks out of 100 for enterainment 50, for where we are in league 90 based on teams i have seen we should be top and with better goal dif.
Such a pity that i am not able to give a decent note for the performances so far. It will always for me depends on the match reports and the comments gave on this board.
Then i can go between the lowest ( ChrisB " /> ) and the highest results ( Johnw, FatherXmas,Dan ) but i think it's better i won't.
If we all are round 90-95% at the end of the season then it was a great season
-- Edited by BertNEC on Thursday 14th of November 2013 03:05:43 PM
" /> ) and the highest results ( Johnw, FatherXmas,Dan 
) but i think it's better i won't. 
