10 is the magic number

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Kernow Yellow
Grumpy old git
Posts: 3075
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 5:16 pm

10 is the magic number

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Can we get a player sent off every game? It seems to help no end! What a remarkable run of form we're on. Almost the exact opposite of the first dozen or so games of the season. Six weeks ago I would never have believed that we would have cemented a top-half finish by Easter. In fact I had us about even money to go down before that Bradford game. Football eh?

Before the season started, when Robinson was beasting the players in the summer heat and making them play two games a day, he said it would mean we would finish the season strongly when others were flagging, and that certainly seems to be the case. Next year there needs to be some happy medium that means the players aren't out on their feet until mid-October though.

I feel very uncomfortable with being able to watch live-streamed football at will, but I guess it's the future, and having decided a couple of weeks ago not to make the long Bank Holiday journey to Shrewbury, I succumbed to temptation and shelled out a tenner, so I'm pleased to say I was able to watch yesterday's frankly glorious win. The dodgy camera work and lack of replays was frustrating, but once the Radio Oxford commentary had synced with the pictures it was an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

Gavin Whyte - what a performance. Before the game I was surprised his name hadn't been mentioned more in 'Player of the Season' discussions, and yesterday only confirmed what a prospect we have. Better than COD certainly. Sykes I was less impressed with - he picked out a few nice passes, but might as well not have been there when Shrews were attacking, and that ridiculous lunge could have left us down to ten men even earlier. Dickie is looking really assured now, which is more than can be said of Curtis Nelson, whose application has generally been admirable for a soon to be out of contract player, but looked like he was already on the beach yesterday. Nico Jones looked very comfortable when he came on (a little too much at times), and the full backs also looked very solid, particularly Garbutt for a change. The togetherness and commitment of the squad is noticeable, and KR must take the credit for that.

Further forward was a bit of a mixed bag. Mackie was his usual self, often very entertainingly. RadOx's description of his 'cloak of invisibility' to referees was amusing, though he did get very belatedly booked. Carruthers and Graham combined nicely for the opening goal, but hardly touched the ball apart from that and the first half passed them by for the most part. Whisper it, but I've not been that impressed by Jordan Graham. He clearly has quality but can be infuriating in his decision making. We looked a lot more secure after Brannagan's introduction, and Hanson looked a lot better than when I've seen him before too.

I've only seen the red card decision once in real time (likewise the penalty), but Kashi was clearly inviting the ref to make a decision. Likewise Nelson appeared to have his hands in the back of his opponent in the area. Criticism of Mr Sarginson's consistency (or lack of) are certainly justified however - how did he find more added time in the second half than the first?

All in all a really encouraging display, but can we keep this team together and build on this progress? Can we even pay our bills to keep the club afloat?
Old Abingdonian
Mid-life Crisis
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Location: Blakeney, Gloucs

Re: 10 is the magic number

Post by Old Abingdonian »

Sykes looked very good against Charlton, before being withdrawn to allow Stevens to come on. He's played very few minutes in English football.
ty cobb
Middle-Aged Spread
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Re: 10 is the magic number

Post by ty cobb »

Nice write up KY, although very harsh on Nelson I thought, for me he was a stand out player yesterday, marshalled things at the back (especially when Dickie got injured) and got on the end of a lot of crosses into the box. When you consider the inexperience of the rest of the back 5 in the last 30 minutes to not concede a goal was excellent going. He has been a big part of our run and will be massively missed next season - shame he doesn't want to stay and be the captain of what looks like a good team, but if a team like sunderland are after him who can blame him?

I think credit must go to Robbo yesterday for getting the tactics after half time spot on. To play with 10 men for so long and come back from 2-1 down away on a ground we never do well at is quite frankly astonishing. It takes time for a manager to put their stamp on the team. Denis Smith came in in September and we got relegated that first season. Appleton took over in July and we finished 13th in league 2 with some awful results along the way. In his last season we finished 8th in league one, a position we aren't going to be far off this season.

Am looking forward to next season, smart move from Tiger to reduce season ticket prices in the East Stand (and freezing them elsewhere) something which hasn't received much comment. With the investment in the academy and Chris Short I think the club deserve credit.

And KY - if you want to see a reply you can just rewind the stream - it helpfully puts a little goal or red card icon for the incidents of note, having done that yesterday I don't think it was ever a pen in a million years and although I can see the justification for the red card a very similar tackle on our hat trick hero didn't even get a yellow.
Kairdiff Exile
Mid-life Crisis
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Re: 10 is the magic number

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

As someone who has been openly and vocally critical of Karl Robinson, I feel duty-bound to acknowledge his role in our excellent recent form. Whilst I still wouldn't shed any tears if he left tomorrow, I feel much more positive about our prospects for next season, especially if the right lessons have been learnt from this one. To have secured such a good run of results - especially when playing with one hand tied behind our back because of red cards, suspensions and injuries - and to have put in good performances too is very encouraging.

Saturday will be my final game of the season, and I'm looking forward to it. I hope that the likes of Lopes and Napa get some game time - let's see what these boys can do and gauge whether they can contribute to next season's squad. My instinct is that they deserve a chance as squad players, and that giving it to them rather than signing more loan midfielders could free up budget for other areas.
Kernow Yellow
Grumpy old git
Posts: 3075
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 5:16 pm

Re: 10 is the magic number

Post by Kernow Yellow »

ty cobb wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:18 am And KY - if you want to see a reply you can just rewind the stream - it helpfully puts a little goal or red card icon for the incidents of note,
Ah cheers, I should have tried that - I was reluctant to fiddle with the controls in case I somehow lost the stream!

Nelson was very casual for the first half hour or so, but it's true that after that I didn't notice him doing much wrong, so maybe I was being harsh. It's credit to the way Brannagan and Hanson played that the defence wasn't much troubled after the break despite being down to ten men.

I take the point about Sykes, and Carruthers hasn't played much for a while either, so it's to our credit that we got the result even with such inexperienced midfielders starting, though notable that we relied on B&H to come on and help salvage things. Sykes definitely looked like a prospect as an attacking player, less so as a holding midfielder. But that's on the basis of one game...
Isaac
Dashing young thing
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Joined: Thu May 18, 2006 9:32 am

Re: 10 is the magic number

Post by Isaac »

Given the last 2 goals scored by Whyte, I can only hope Sam Ricketts serenaded Luke Waterfall with the TLC song after the game....

Don't go chasing, Luke Waterfall
Please stick your head on the long ball like you're used to
I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all
But I think you're moving too slow.

I watched the game via ifollow too and it was a strange game, not that many chances for either side but 5 goals. We at least got the tactics right in the second half and Shrewsbury looked unsure whether to really push for a third and we caught them on the break.

Anyway, overall, we can probably conclude we've underachieved a bit, given the supposed top 8 budget, but given the off-field upheaval this can be justified. For Robinson, he has at least not lost the confidence of the players, we're well organised mostly and eventually he stumbled on the players in the right positions. So while it showed he could work it out which is a positive it should be remembered that our main midfield signing Hansen ended up at right back for most of the season, our first choice left back was a midfielder really, our defensive midfielder was a centre half and our left back ended up as a winger, which shows he (or the scouting team) didn't identify the right players for the right positions initially. Even without mentioning the various crocks we signed too.

As for next season, the biggest question is whether our owners will continue to be incompetent, I still can't see them ever sacking Robinson in the current circumstances and I think he's done enough to keep the job anyway.
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