Hastings Supporters Forum - 100% Unofficial!

Tough watch tonight as Hastings were pretty much outclassed from beginning to end against a classy Brighton youth side. Apart from one goalmouth scramble first half and a shot over the bar from Bamba in the second, Hastings created nothing all match and looked bereft of any ideas going forward. There was an instance in the second half where Daniel was closed down by five Brighton players on the edge of their area and there was not another Hastings player in that half of the pitch.

Really tough night and not sure it would have done much for the already fragile confidence. Beale was carried off with what looked like a bad injury, Lovatt was also limping heavy when taken off and no Daniel for next two games. Surely, if there is any chance to get Dajonne and Christie back from their loans, loans they should have never been on anyway, then lets get them back. Cannot remember the last time a Hastings team  lost 4 in a row so drastic measures now needed, however good Brighton were tonight. 

ChrisB wrote:

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I don’t understand why some of you stick up for Chris then slag off his decisions with regard to players and loans. 

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Because it's possible to disagree with individual decisions without calling for someone's head (or phoning them a taxi). That's not very hard to understand, surely? I mean, I wish my wife would tidy the great mountains of clothes in our bedroom more than once a year, but that doesn't mean I want a divorce...

This might be rambling and inconclusive, so apologies in advance...

I tend towards trusting the manager when it comes to Christie. He sees training, he's inside the dressing room; he makes his decisions with information that we don't have. And the information that we /do/ have doesn't really point to Christie being a magic bullet for our defensive issues, although I concede that there's a case for saying he might've been part of the solution. For better or worse, Chris's comments here (http://www.hastingsunited.com/news/tucker-a-ufor-now) make it pretty clear that he isn't in his long-term plans.

As for Golding...well, that one I'm less understanding about. I felt in pre-season that Dayshonne really needed to step up. Too many occasions when he saw loads of the ball yet failed to deliver anything of consequence; he had a way of looking like he'd had a much better game than he'd actually had, if you know what I mean.

However, I thought he'd really responded, and had relieved much of the responsibility that was weighing heavily on Daniel's shoulders early on, by providing assists, being an additional threat and chipping in with goals of his own. The chemistry between the two of them appeared good and, while I haven't seen the away games, it seemed like I spent a lot less time watching Dayshonne flouncing around in a huff and a lot more time watching him hurt the opposition. Again, we don't see what goes on behind the scenes, and he never gave the impression of being the easiest player to manage, but I found the decision to very obviously sideline him and then loan him out pretty questionable.

Chris's fulsome praise of Azeez, and some positive early performances from him, rather confused the issue. Now that the dust has settled, though, we have Azeez on the bench (frequently unused) and Walker-Barth in the starting line-up...and in the light of that, the talk of 'upgrading' that part of the squad seems pretty daft. If you're going to bring a player in and knowingly shove aside one of your regulars in the process, you'd better be damn sure that player is worth the upheaval. That doesn't appear to have been the case, at least so far.

That's a criticism of that particular decision and its outcome. I'm not sure that it's really been that pivotal: we continued to (mainly) win with Azeez in the side initially and recent results seem to have had much more to do with defensive chickens coming home to roost (if chickens can be defensive). It doesn't mean I'll be needing an "AGUTTER OUT" placard either; I think it ought to be possible for supporters to respectfully question and constructively criticise where appropriate.

There we are, then. Rambling and inconclusive. You were warned... 

Azeez is quick and works hard but even when fit his final ball is dreadful, and that’s not being harsh. Barely seen him put a decent ball in the box since he joined. No way is he anywhere near the best right winger in the league. Golding is as is Bamba down the left.

See we have signed a new striker today from Billericay, Jordan Mongo. Know nothing about him and being a keen follower of the trials and tribulations of Glen Tamplin and his Billericay side I am not sure he’s started many if any of their games over the past two season but nevertheless a much needed addition to the squad.

With regards to the resigning of Ollie Black I do hope that doesn’t mean Sam Beale is out for any length of time. Seen a fair bit of Ollie and unless he has improved greatly over the past 18months I don’t see how that improves the squad in anyway. Really lacked pace and strength when he last played and the long throw just became boring after we saw twenty every match which amazingly hardly ever resulted in a goal. I guess the positive is he is cheap.

And finally good luck to Mensah with his break from football. Whole hearted player who gave his all but just lacked the physicality required.

hammerfan wrote:

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It should be noted that Azeez was initially injured, not dropped, although no-one from the Club has mentioned his fitness/recovery but presume that's why he is on the bench at the moment..

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I missed that, I must admit. Thanks for pointing it out.

+1 for John's well wishes to Manny. Something really likeable about him as a player, despite his flaws and fragile confidence. Good luck to him.