Our game against Greenwich Borough will also be off on Tuesday if they draw their Trophy game against Mildenhall on Saturday.
Looks like Greenwich Borough beat Mildenhall 4-2 after extra time which seems strange as all the other drawn games have gone to replays! Still I'm not complaining as at least we have got a game on Tuesday now.
Phil, I think it was like Malcolm Mitchells old place, a girl I once knew said, she used to get her work cloths there, and she also said you could pick up some funny contraptions as well, don`t know what she meant!
Phil, I think it was like Malcolm Mitchells old place, a girl I once knew said, she used to get her work cloths there, and she also said you could pick up some funny contraptions as well, don`t know what she meant!
🤣🤣🤣🤣. That’s got to be the best post of the season 👏👏👏. Malcolm Mitchell’s !!! Hastings High Streets version of Harrods 🤣🤣. I loved it there . When the punk movement came about in the late 76 , he was never so busy . They had so much army surplus. I remember asking him for some army boots ... he pointed to this pile that must have been 10 foot tall and said “help yourself “ . It took me an hour to find a matching pair 🤣🤣. Worth it though 50p !!!! He was a miserable old git . Even more miserable than me some might say 🤣 ( yes Sandy 🤣). Good luck tonight lads ! I understand there’s live commentary on the Periscope app. Check it out via Leafes twitter feed
Awful performance Climpson correctly sent off, no shot on target, lucky it wasn’t 5 or 6 , We won’t get out of this division playing this type of football!!!
Loads of possession but not one shot on target in 90mins of football. We were really no better before the sending off so cannot put all the blame on that and ironic that Cray had a player sent off around the same time on Saturday but still managed a clean sheet and an important point. Never looked like winning tonight and our record against the top four sides is now played four lost three, we have just five clean sheets in twenty three games and just three away wins in seven in the league. I have thoroughly enjoyed the season so far but not sure all is as rosy as most make out. A long way to go but already thirteen points away from the top and in desperate need of a defender or two.
Will add that i believe we don’t lose that game with Adams, Dixon and Ibrahim all available. Even more frustrating that Whyteleafe best player, top scorer D’sane had just left as well.
-- Edited by johnw on Tuesday 27th of November 2018 10:42:42 PM
-- Edited by johnw on Tuesday 27th of November 2018 11:07:19 PM
Must have had 70% of the possession even with 10 men, but not one shot on target. We make fifteen excellent passes , the opposition get the ball and it’s a big punt upfield. Similar tactics used by Faversham on Saturday.
Very little help for Daniel upfront and as John says we need a right back and another centre half. Is it too late to bring back Christie.?
Have to agree with the last assessment. It’s tricky - we’re second in the league so it seems churlish to complain, but in the games I’ve seen we’ve looked incredibly vulnerable at the back, simple long balls causing us trouble. Climpson really isn’t the answer at centre-back. But... I think our biggest issue is the way we go forward - so so often we have Ajakaiye or Bamba or another winger doing brilliantly and running to the byline or into the box in wide positions, and there is nobody in the middle. I know Daniel is quick but midfielders should be busting a gut to get in the box and I just don’t see it. If any of us are versed enough in football to explain how we expect to create chances and win games with this system of defensive vulnerability and lots of possession but few chances please let me know. P.S. would love nothing more than to be proved wrong and have these words thrown back at me, but I worry a bit about where we’re going in terms of playing style. For the record I’ve seen: VCD home 3-2 Sevenoaks away 3-2 Hitchin away 0-2 Whyteleafe home 2-4 Cray away 1-2 Whyteleafe away 0-2
Perhaps this isn’t a fair reflection of the season as a whole as I’ve seen 6 games and we’ve lost 4 and only just won the other two, but I can only go by what I’ve seen.
-- Edited by Londontownfan on Tuesday 27th of November 2018 11:19:43 PM
very poor again in defence and another defeat I know its early days but the way we are defending I cant see us getting out of this league cray are starting to get ahead so our only way up will be the play offs but at the moment we don't even defend like a team to win in the play offs .
We keep leaking goals. The numbers don't lie. Did well to come back Saturday but a canny side like Whyteleafe was always going to be a different story.
I back Chris 100%. Like predecessors who did the business he needs time and Sillett and Wakeling each took three years to get things spot on. Spot on includes a tight defence and that is still the big work in progress.
Up front? I wonder how Kenny Pogue might do feeding off all that talent. Good old fashioned 9 who works hard, I'd have him back.
We keep leaking goals. The numbers don't lie. Did well to come back Saturday but a canny side like Whyteleafe was always going to be a different story.
I back Chris 100%. Like predecessors who did the business he needs time and Sillett and Wakeling each took three years to get things spot on. Spot on includes a tight defence and that is still the big work in progress.
Up front? I wonder how Kenny Pogue might do feeding off all that talent. Good old fashioned 9 who works hard, I'd have him back like a shot.
But we are not improving as the season goes on, when we play a pragmatic side the same problems keep appearing, simply not learning, we are a Bostik regional league side, trying to play a style of a top premier league side, it will work against the poorer sides but up against a side with good/average players for this level, our style doesn’t work, if things don’t change against the better sides, there will only be one outcome.
I saw the match Live and with full commentary on the Periscope app which was quite good, and could not believe how poor we were.
As people have said we had about 70% play but no shots on goal whatsoever, and Whyteleafe could have had more as one shot of theirs hit the post and went along the goal line and then cleared.
Even the commentators said that we were playing defensive suicide passing the ball back to the goalkeeper and to each other across the 18 yard box and getting nowhere especially with 3 at the back after the sending off.
Saying that I thought that Jahmal was one of our best players on the pitch along with Sam Beale and if anything happened to him I don't know what we would do.
We have lost 3 games in the league already this season away to Cray, Hythe & Whyteleafe and home to Whyteleafe in the Trophy all teams in the top 5 which makes me wonder if we are good enough at present to compete against the top sides and get promotion.
I am going to be in the minority here I know, but I'll always say what I honestly believe. I like Simon back Chris 100% but more importantly back his style of play. I can do nothing else because its exactly the way I teach all my children to play all the way up to u16 level. I don't care what level you play at, its the way the game should be played in my opinion, and its how youngsters at all levels should be taught. Yes, Chris is at a level where results count, and promotion is a necessity, kids footy is different, but I back his style of play all day long. Cray and Horsham play exactly the same way and its doing them no harm at the minute.
I get as frustrated as anyone when we are not winning, but I don't want to see long ball and direct football up to the big man up top even if it gets us promoted, I really mean that, and I don't think that style of football would get us up anyway. I am not sure it will bring new fans and youngsters through the turnstiles either. The Kenny Pogue thing has just been exhausted. Great lad but that is not the way forward. The problems we have is we are a couple of quality players short at the back to carry out this style of play effectively. As so many have said, the right back situation is not good and fans will remember we had a similar situation at left back for a number of seasons until Crutts filled in and we then later signed Sam Beale. We get a decent right back or even a centre back and move Tom over as think he could do a great job at full back, I think we will be okay, if budgets allow!!
Last night was just a poor night at the office with no shots on target and was very frustrating. One of the criticisms this season has been how many chances we miss, so creating is not a problem. We have the best striker in the league, some fantastic wide men, and Dixon, Ibrahim and Adams, all missing last night, are in the form of their life. We just need to tighten up at the back and DONT CHANGE THE WAY WE PLAY, and we will be just fine.....but that's just my opinion.
-- Edited by johnw on Wednesday 28th of November 2018 12:19:10 PM
Sorry totally disagree John Cray don’t play the same style, they are a big well organised side that aim not to concede. The games against Cray and Whyteleafe highlight a massive problem, if a team is playing not to concede ie they go ahead then we don’t seem to be able to create chances. Faversham was different as they aren’t as good. It’s the results against the top 6/7 clubs that count. Not the bottom 6/7. We must change the way we play not completely but we must be able to break down top 5 defences, and tighten up at the back. Otherwise we will end up in 4th or 5th with no chance of promotion.
Didn't think you would agree Chris. Cray were a big, well drilled team but the keeper never kicked from hand all match. The minute he got the ball it was straight on the floor and out to the right or left back who pulled out wide. They had two very quick wide men like us and one up top. Think they probably got the ball forward a tad quicker than Hastings but I thought they were very similar which was why it was such a great game, but its all about opinions. We will have to agree to disagree on this one. Lets see where we sit after the very busy Xmas period but at the minute the only thing that worries me is the amount of goals we are conceding, not the way we play. Last night was a first for this season and can not be compared to the defeats at both Hythe and Cray where we created plenty.
We just need to tighten up at the back and DONT CHANGE THE WAY WE PLAY, and we will be just fine.....but that's just my opinion.
I'm somewhere in the middle on this. For me, there are loads of ways to play and all of them are perfectly valid; I grew up watching a very direct team smashing technically better sides who were playing "the right way" and loved every second of it.
That said, I'm very much with John on the way forward here. If you've invested heavily (in terms of time as well as money) in the recruitment and development of a squad of players under an excellent and popular coach, and if you're still very much in the hunt for promotion, then you have to follow that through. You have to back that coach and his way of playing, perhaps because you believe in it in some profound way...or perhaps just because it represents your best chance of success at that moment. Doesn't mean you can't work on improving things; does mean you don't need Kenny Pogue's number.
Two good posts, but the worry surely is, that come the end of this season "if" we don`t go up, what will happen? we have been here before, new manager changes things, does`nt work in the first season, out he goes, start again etc etc etc, how long will the fans, and the management wait ?
Two good posts, but the worry surely is, that come the end of this season "if" we don`t go up, what will happen? we have been here before, new manager changes things, does`nt work in the first season, out he goes, start again etc etc etc, how long will the fans, and the management wait ?
I mean...yes, absolutely. The stakes are high; there's no way of guaranteeing anything, especially with Cray so far ahead. But all we can do is look at where we are right now and where we want to be by May, and plot the most likely course from here to there. It seems to me that by far the most likely course is backing the current coach and his way of playing (and he's made it abundantly clear that the two are inextricably linked). And it also seems to me that the more determined we are to stick to our guns, the better our chances of success.
So why is it that we have let a very good centre back in Sinnkaye Christie go out on loan to Whitehawk. What did he do wrong. Why hasn't he been given a chance this season. I thought he played well last season and was a good signing for us this season. He must be good enough as he has walked straight into the starting 11 of a team in a higher league.
Yes it would be interesting to here Chris's reasons for not selecting Sinnkaye and then releasing him. Could really do with another quality defender. The first half at Faversham wasn't an easy watch!
Two good posts, but the worry surely is, that come the end of this season "if" we don`t go up, what will happen? we have been here before, new manager changes things, does`nt work in the first season, out he goes, start again etc etc etc, how long will the fans, and the management wait ?
I mean...yes, absolutely. The stakes are high; there's no way of guaranteeing anything, especially with Cray so far ahead. But all we can do is look at where we are right now and where we want to be by May, and plot the most likely course from here to there. It seems to me that by far the most likely course is backing the current coach and his way of playing (and he's made it abundantly clear that the two are inextricably linked). And it also seems to me that the more determined we are to stick to our guns, the better our chances of success.
I've obviously got reservations, expressed in posts on various threads, about the style of play which Chris has adopted. I would feel happier if we didn't habitually play the ball around at the back and often leave Josh suicidally exposed. Without taking anything away from Daniel (who I think is excellent), I would also like to see a more conventional central striker on our books. And, as I've been debating with John for years, I would like us to adopt a somewhat more direct style of play (no, that doesn't mean just hoof it up in the air and hope for the best!) I do think Chris might expect more from his players (or maybe any players at our level) than they can actually deliver. Hence our defensive errors.
But all that said, the point Mr Ig makes is the important one. Chris and his style of play are indeed inextricably linked. He will make his own decisions - some of which, like the departure of Christie - might seem questionable to those not privy to his reasoning. But he really is the best hope of getting as far as we can this season. I accept his tactical and team choices for what they are - part of a package. It would be an absolute tragedy for the club to lose his services.
Just seen a player sent off against Chelsea in the same situation as Tom on Tuesday. Puts it in perspective when a full time professional does it in the seventh minute.
