Mclean was the best opposition player seen at our place in a competitive game for a long time. And Grays even with 10 men were probably the best team we’ve played so far. That’s no excuse though – we should have won. But we are not going to win every week, there are bound to be disappointments. Listening to some after the game you would have thought we are bound for a mid table finish now. I would have been more worried if we had not created chances. I counted 7 or 8 at least half decent chances in the second half. The keeper made a couple of good stops. While we could conceivably have lost the game we could also have run out winners by a couple of goals.
The disappointments for me today were: Robinson – would he have scored if he had not been pulled back? He had a little spell in the second half when he got involved but did very little. Often out jumped, didn’t put himself about and didn’t seem that interested. Hutchinson – I argued the other day that he is good enough. On this showing I was wrong. We must get Hargreaves back in. Burgess – Too much fancy dan stuff when simple football was required.
To end on a positive note – Basham looked fitter than of late and looks well capable of scoring at this level. Quality goal – superb cross and the finish would not have been out of place in the Premiership.
On reflection - not such a gray day
Well we have played the 3 games I thought would tell us where are at this year (Morecombe, Exeter and Grays).
We have possibly been outplayed and lucky in two but we are still unbeaten, top of the league and look capable of going all the way.
Maclean was exceptional. Surely Grays won't be able to hold on to him in January. Wonder if Mr Lenaghan is tempted to reach for the cheque book.
We had luck today, showed brilliance and most important for me showed grit and determination.
Quick player review.
Turley, only call on once and didn't have much chance.
Anaclet, watching Brevitt shows he lacks strength and experience. Not a crime for a 19 year only 9 games into a professional career. Stick with him until Christmas everyone. Would like to see him get forward quicker, like a wing back should and also take alook before crossing.
Willmott, looks a big player in this league.
Quinn, was blamed for goal but I blame someone else.
Gilly, didn't look fit to me and certainly didn't seem keen to pick up Maclean.
Brevitt, love him. Rarely wastes a ball, moves into right areas and is committed in the tackle.
Pettefer, what is it about him. He isn't spectacular but he just does the simple things (like Les Phillips). Seems to have loads of touches.
Burgess, get of his back. If you want creativity in the side you have to accept the odd cock up (like his swing acrossfield in second half). His close ball skills are exceptional. That sort of player doesn't tackle like Makele.
Hutchinson, 3 year deal anyone? He was not outside the box closing down the midfielders, that allowed them to cut through us like a knife and score the goal. Second half he looked more dangerous but I am sad to want Hargreaves back ASAP.
Robinson, Anthrobus? Which is no bad thing if we use him correctly. A goal might change everything but he keeps knocking holes in defences so I accept his deficencies.
Basham. Drives me mad. Yes an excellent finish. But he does so little unless the chance is set up for him. He never uses his own skills to create a chance. Duffy back to push will be good. But for all that, 3 in 3.
Yemi. Look at Maclean mate. He is your target to copy. I like Yemi a lot, but being sub for last 30 minutes is his best role at present.
I would have liked to see Dempster brought on to compete with their big strong midfielder in second half.
Lets drag ourselves through Monday, give the lads a few days off and then keep the run going.
6,500, excellent. Aldershot could be the record.
We have possibly been outplayed and lucky in two but we are still unbeaten, top of the league and look capable of going all the way.
Maclean was exceptional. Surely Grays won't be able to hold on to him in January. Wonder if Mr Lenaghan is tempted to reach for the cheque book.
We had luck today, showed brilliance and most important for me showed grit and determination.
Quick player review.
Turley, only call on once and didn't have much chance.
Anaclet, watching Brevitt shows he lacks strength and experience. Not a crime for a 19 year only 9 games into a professional career. Stick with him until Christmas everyone. Would like to see him get forward quicker, like a wing back should and also take alook before crossing.
Willmott, looks a big player in this league.
Quinn, was blamed for goal but I blame someone else.
Gilly, didn't look fit to me and certainly didn't seem keen to pick up Maclean.
Brevitt, love him. Rarely wastes a ball, moves into right areas and is committed in the tackle.
Pettefer, what is it about him. He isn't spectacular but he just does the simple things (like Les Phillips). Seems to have loads of touches.
Burgess, get of his back. If you want creativity in the side you have to accept the odd cock up (like his swing acrossfield in second half). His close ball skills are exceptional. That sort of player doesn't tackle like Makele.
Hutchinson, 3 year deal anyone? He was not outside the box closing down the midfielders, that allowed them to cut through us like a knife and score the goal. Second half he looked more dangerous but I am sad to want Hargreaves back ASAP.
Robinson, Anthrobus? Which is no bad thing if we use him correctly. A goal might change everything but he keeps knocking holes in defences so I accept his deficencies.
Basham. Drives me mad. Yes an excellent finish. But he does so little unless the chance is set up for him. He never uses his own skills to create a chance. Duffy back to push will be good. But for all that, 3 in 3.
Yemi. Look at Maclean mate. He is your target to copy. I like Yemi a lot, but being sub for last 30 minutes is his best role at present.
I would have liked to see Dempster brought on to compete with their big strong midfielder in second half.
Lets drag ourselves through Monday, give the lads a few days off and then keep the run going.
6,500, excellent. Aldershot could be the record.
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GodalmingYellow
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Agree in the main with Baboo and most of DLTs.
We should have won this game. Grays were pretty good and solid, but not as good as Exeter in my view, though that is hard to judge as they had only 10 men for most of the game. Grays have a couple of star players in Maclean and Kightley, and I'm amazed Maclean was unable to find another league club (ex Orient I think). He could easily be the missing piece to our puzzle, and he should probably be playing Championship/League 1 level.
Turley didn't have much to do but generally did it well.
Anaclet had his worst game so far. He is getting too cose to the defender when going forward and then doesn't leave himself enough room to go around and consequently end up in too many dark alleys.
Gilchrist looked OK to me and generally in control, although he wasn't getting forward much, which is perhaps self explanatory.
Quinn had a poor game. He had already previously given Maclean a huge amount of time and space in the box and we got lucky. Maclean didn't need to be asked the second time. Against Exeter I was starting to believe in Quinn as CB. Now I'm asking questions again.
Willmott is indeeed big.
Brevett I though he was less good today as well. He looked short of fitness and his crossing was generally poor. He didn't get forward as much as I like wing backs to do.
Pettefer is the unsungn hero of the side and puts in so much work in terms of closing down and forcing errors and being the hub of short passing.
Hutchinson. Well, less said the better. I'm looking forward to the return of Hargreaves.
Burgess is just class and can be forgiven the odd mistake or lack of defensive dutuies. His forward play is too good.
Basham is just beginning to find confidence and some of his better form. Still lacking pace andas has been said, he relies on creativity from elsewhere and is purely a finsiher. I'm quite happy with that provided he keeps finsihing.
Robinson is better than double decker 'Bus, by some margin. He wins a lot in the air, gains us a lot of free kicks. But his contribution on the deck is missing.
Its a luxury at any level to have 2 forwards who do not contribute to the passnig game and creativity.
Yemi had a good game and caused lots of trouble, but I felt it was a mistake going to 4-3-3 instead of 4-4-2. When they went downt o 10 men, it didn't affect them defensively so their back line and midfield were still strong. When we went to 3 in midfield, with Burgess playing so far up the field, we were weakened in the centre, and that's why we didn't win this game. 4-4-2 would have meant a stronger midfield and with some decent passing we would have utilised the extra man better in my view.
Still a fair performance from us, but we now must win at Crawley. And I would expect us to do so.
Ref wasn't bad for most of the game.
Generally it was just a bit frustrating because we made a lot of chances but couldn't put them in the net.
I can't finish without a word for our goal. We've been treated to some really good goals so far this year, but today's would win any goals of the season competiiton.
We should have won this game. Grays were pretty good and solid, but not as good as Exeter in my view, though that is hard to judge as they had only 10 men for most of the game. Grays have a couple of star players in Maclean and Kightley, and I'm amazed Maclean was unable to find another league club (ex Orient I think). He could easily be the missing piece to our puzzle, and he should probably be playing Championship/League 1 level.
Turley didn't have much to do but generally did it well.
Anaclet had his worst game so far. He is getting too cose to the defender when going forward and then doesn't leave himself enough room to go around and consequently end up in too many dark alleys.
Gilchrist looked OK to me and generally in control, although he wasn't getting forward much, which is perhaps self explanatory.
Quinn had a poor game. He had already previously given Maclean a huge amount of time and space in the box and we got lucky. Maclean didn't need to be asked the second time. Against Exeter I was starting to believe in Quinn as CB. Now I'm asking questions again.
Willmott is indeeed big.
Brevett I though he was less good today as well. He looked short of fitness and his crossing was generally poor. He didn't get forward as much as I like wing backs to do.
Pettefer is the unsungn hero of the side and puts in so much work in terms of closing down and forcing errors and being the hub of short passing.
Hutchinson. Well, less said the better. I'm looking forward to the return of Hargreaves.
Burgess is just class and can be forgiven the odd mistake or lack of defensive dutuies. His forward play is too good.
Basham is just beginning to find confidence and some of his better form. Still lacking pace andas has been said, he relies on creativity from elsewhere and is purely a finsiher. I'm quite happy with that provided he keeps finsihing.
Robinson is better than double decker 'Bus, by some margin. He wins a lot in the air, gains us a lot of free kicks. But his contribution on the deck is missing.
Its a luxury at any level to have 2 forwards who do not contribute to the passnig game and creativity.
Yemi had a good game and caused lots of trouble, but I felt it was a mistake going to 4-3-3 instead of 4-4-2. When they went downt o 10 men, it didn't affect them defensively so their back line and midfield were still strong. When we went to 3 in midfield, with Burgess playing so far up the field, we were weakened in the centre, and that's why we didn't win this game. 4-4-2 would have meant a stronger midfield and with some decent passing we would have utilised the extra man better in my view.
Still a fair performance from us, but we now must win at Crawley. And I would expect us to do so.
Ref wasn't bad for most of the game.
Generally it was just a bit frustrating because we made a lot of chances but couldn't put them in the net.
I can't finish without a word for our goal. We've been treated to some really good goals so far this year, but today's would win any goals of the season competiiton.
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A-Ro
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Comprehensive reviews so far that pretty much say everything, a couple of observations from me are:
Anaclet could learn from Brevett about how to cross a ball, he did well to get in some good positions but the end product was not top drawer. There was 1 occasion in the first half when Anaclet got the ball 3 times is super quick succession and found a Grays man every time.
Robinson just didn't look interested, I'm starting to agree with the Anthrobus comparison.
Burgess Hmmmm, I see a lot of good comment about him but for me he had a poor game, he gave the ball away far too much for my liking and there were a couple of times when he completely killed our forward pressure by kicking the ball out of play instead of finding an attacker (or anyone else for that matter). It's things like that that can swing a game and I felt he was the main reason we didn't kill the game off today. He had a poor game by his standards.
Kightly and Brevett were having a bit of a battle royal but Brevett came out of it on top, I thought he had a great game today and couldn't believe the first caller on Radio Oxford who complained about him with his first breath.
A great goal from us, Wilmot provided the perfect ball to Brevett which Burgess was just not capable of today and the finish was a peach from Bash.
Anaclet could learn from Brevett about how to cross a ball, he did well to get in some good positions but the end product was not top drawer. There was 1 occasion in the first half when Anaclet got the ball 3 times is super quick succession and found a Grays man every time.
Robinson just didn't look interested, I'm starting to agree with the Anthrobus comparison.
Burgess Hmmmm, I see a lot of good comment about him but for me he had a poor game, he gave the ball away far too much for my liking and there were a couple of times when he completely killed our forward pressure by kicking the ball out of play instead of finding an attacker (or anyone else for that matter). It's things like that that can swing a game and I felt he was the main reason we didn't kill the game off today. He had a poor game by his standards.
Kightly and Brevett were having a bit of a battle royal but Brevett came out of it on top, I thought he had a great game today and couldn't believe the first caller on Radio Oxford who complained about him with his first breath.
A great goal from us, Wilmot provided the perfect ball to Brevett which Burgess was just not capable of today and the finish was a peach from Bash.
Whats all this critiscm about Anaclet. Of our starting 11 he is the only person to be able to go past defenders, may not be everytime but he does at least twice a game - if his confidence drops he'll stop doing it.
And comparing him to Rufus crossing is a little unfair, a player at the end of his career playing at the top level should be able to cross the ball, Eddie is learning and I thought put some decent balls into good areas.
He also gets up and down far more than Rufus, not surprising given his age but I feel he adds something different to the team and deserves his place - 10 times better than our previous player of the season right back anyway.
And comparing him to Rufus crossing is a little unfair, a player at the end of his career playing at the top level should be able to cross the ball, Eddie is learning and I thought put some decent balls into good areas.
He also gets up and down far more than Rufus, not surprising given his age but I feel he adds something different to the team and deserves his place - 10 times better than our previous player of the season right back anyway.
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GodalmingYellow
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Re:
Not sure the pass to Bash could be regarded as a cross. So that leaves just one good cross in the game"neilw" wrote:"Brevett ...... and his crossing was generally poor." ........... Ummmmm, sorry, am I missing something? Cross for goal and cross for Robinson's header?
He had more than that of course and comments in games we do not lose whilst sitting atop the league have to be regarded as relative. He certainly wasn't poor relative to Robinson last season for example. It was just poor relative to the level we now expect.-
Resurrection Ox
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Re:
Sorry disagree. Importantly, Brevett kept the very dangerous Kightly very quiet. I like him as a player."GodalmingYellow" wrote:Not sure the pass to Bash could be regarded as a cross. So that leaves just one good cross in the game"neilw" wrote:"Brevett ...... and his crossing was generally poor." ........... Ummmmm, sorry, am I missing something? Cross for goal and cross for Robinson's header?
Good summaries by you lot aside from that. Enjoyable game again. Not our day but overall 4 points from last 2 is fair enough.
No one has 'outplayed' us this season in my view. We deserve to be where we are. Lets gather the wagons , eke out a result against Crawley and move on to the next phase of the season. Fixture list looks a stack less difficult to me in next 6 weeks.
Re:
Boy are we splitting hairs here. When does a pass become a cross?"GodalmingYellow" wrote:Not sure the pass to Bash could be regarded as a cross. So that leaves just one good cross in the game"neilw" wrote:"Brevett ...... and his crossing was generally poor." ........... Ummmmm, sorry, am I missing something? Cross for goal and cross for Robinson's header?
The cross / pass for the Bash goal was top quality whatever it was called. High ball that had some bend on it and which never touched the ground. That'll do for me. Brevitt also hit a similar cross / pass in the first half from which the disappointing Hutchinson nearly scored. He also plays to feet a lot as well and rarely gives the ball away.
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GodalmingYellow
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Re:
I was thinking it was splitting hairs a bit as a typed it!! Maybe I was being slightly harsh on Brevett."Baboo" wrote:Boy are we splitting hairs here. When does a pass become a cross?"GodalmingYellow" wrote:Not sure the pass to Bash could be regarded as a cross. So that leaves just one good cross in the game"neilw" wrote:"Brevett ...... and his crossing was generally poor." ........... Ummmmm, sorry, am I missing something? Cross for goal and cross for Robinson's header?
The cross / pass for the Bash goal was top quality whatever it was called. High ball that had some bend on it and which never touched the ground. That'll do for me. Brevitt also hit a similar cross / pass in the first half from which the disappointing Hutchinson nearly scored. He also plays to feet a lot as well and rarely gives the ball away.
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GodalmingYellow
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Re:
I agree, we've played many of the toughest sides already and it should get a little easier. Our biggest issue to avoid will be complacency."Resurrection Ox" wrote:Sorry disagree. Importantly, Brevett kept the very dangerous Kightly very quiet. I like him as a player."GodalmingYellow" wrote:Not sure the pass to Bash could be regarded as a cross. So that leaves just one good cross in the game"neilw" wrote:"Brevett ...... and his crossing was generally poor." ........... Ummmmm, sorry, am I missing something? Cross for goal and cross for Robinson's header?
Good summaries by you lot aside from that. Enjoyable game again. Not our day but overall 4 points from last 2 is fair enough.
No one has 'outplayed' us this season in my view. We deserve to be where we are. Lets gather the wagons , eke out a result against Crawley and move on to the next phase of the season. Fixture list looks a stack less difficult to me in next 6 weeks.
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A-Ro
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The NLP has Rufus as our best player with 6 players as rubbish Turley, Willmot, Gilchrist, Hutchinson, Burgess and Robinson.
I'm not sure I agree with the defenders but the rest I absolutely agree with.
Full list
Turley 6
Anaclet 7
Willmot 6
Quinn 7
Gilchrist 6
Brevett 8
Pettefer 7
Hutchinson 6
Burgess 6
Basham 7
Robinson 6
Interestingly they have Quinn as the provider for Brevett leading up to the goal but I thought it was Willmot.
I'm not sure I agree with the defenders but the rest I absolutely agree with.
Full list
Turley 6
Anaclet 7
Willmot 6
Quinn 7
Gilchrist 6
Brevett 8
Pettefer 7
Hutchinson 6
Burgess 6
Basham 7
Robinson 6
Interestingly they have Quinn as the provider for Brevett leading up to the goal but I thought it was Willmot.
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Kernow Yellow
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Re:
Does it say who wrote the NLP report? Last time I looked it was Jon Murray, and I know what I think of his player ratings..."A-Ro" wrote:The NLP has Rufus as our best player with 6 players as rubbish Turley, Willmot, Gilchrist, Hutchinson, Burgess and Robinson.
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GodalmingYellow
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Re:
He also has Willmott at fault for the Grays goal, and I'm pretty sure it was Quinn."A-Ro" wrote:The NLP has Rufus as our best player with 6 players as rubbish Turley, Willmot, Gilchrist, Hutchinson, Burgess and Robinson.
I'm not sure I agree with the defenders but the rest I absolutely agree with.
Full list
Turley 6
Anaclet 7
Willmot 6
Quinn 7
Gilchrist 6
Brevett 8
Pettefer 7
Hutchinson 6
Burgess 6
Basham 7
Robinson 6
Interestingly they have Quinn as the provider for Brevett leading up to the goal but I thought it was Willmot.
Also his scores are nto consistent with his report. He puts Burgess as our most dangerous player and then scores him 6 and says he had a poor game.