The U's v Cheltenham Town

[OUFC4eva]

Can United win back to back league games?

[SmileyMan]

Hang on, when did we sign Christiano Ronaldo?

[OUFC4eva]

Buckle on CTFC and Saturday's game:

http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Ja ... story.html

[Jimski]

Oh dear.

That was bloody awful overall, right? We played reasonably well up to our goal, in the normal style of dominating possession but not actually scoring, but after that we seemed to take our foot off the gas, and as soon as Cheltenham put us under pressure they got a couple of goals - the first a strike of real quality, incidentally. Our goal was neat too, Hylton unselfishly knocking it across for Burns to head in. Danny Hylton our best player by far as per usual.

The second half was an absolute shambles. Really really horribly poor. What the fuck was that? There was no obvious formation, just players aimlessly messing about in different parts of the pitch, very few decent chances, and Cheltenham were unlucky not to score another couple. Very very poor. And Clarke fumbled and stumbled his way around - what was up with him?

I'm just relieved we're still 6 points off the relegation places. It's gonna be a long, hard ride.

[Werthers Original]

Yes that was desperate. I'm glad I was not the only one who couldn't work out the formation. Meades looks below standard and Mullins would be a better rb. We don't seem to have a midfield, do we?

[Jimski]

No, it's a team of individuals. It was noticeable that Danny Rose looked quite good when he came on, but it didn't really help, because there was such disorganisation around him. It seemed as if there were only 2 in our midfield anyway - Whing and Ruffels. Whing was awful today, Ruffels ok but completely overrun. We had 5 at the back, and Burns supporting the front two - at least I think that was the plan.

And, yeah, Meades was dreadful. I thought this guy was once rated.

[joepoolman]

Meades wasn't great but to have someone as left-footed as him being our only player on the right wing seemed strange and didn't work at all imo, neither did the system at all, which to me felt born out of not wanting to leave out any of Wright, Mullins or Dunkley.

Even in the first half hour when we were on top the ball spent too much time with the midfield and defence and took too long to get to the forward players, our goal came when the ball was played into Roberts (or Burns) early and we exposed space behind the defence.

For the first goal Homes-Dennis let the ball come inside too easily, Wright shouldn't have allowed the player a shot on goal and Clarke shouldn't have been beaten at his near post.

For the second Burns was too slow to close down the short corner and no one got to the player who took the shot quickly enough, and Clarke should have held on.

Overall I thought Hylton was our best player and Holmes-Dennis was the only other who could say they had a good game, which is very dissapointing.

[Shoobedoo]

I thought Dunkley did alright too - commanding in the air and some very good tackling. On the other hand Whing had an absolute shocker and Ruffles was ineffective at best. I fail to see why those two were picked to start over Collins and Rose. Meades did what he could but was obviously out of position and lacked the pace to be an effective force going forward. I also wonder whether THD is best employed as a wing back rather than a (rather good) orthodox full back. Clarke was also disappointing, thought he could have done better with both goals.

All in all a worrying afternoon. If we keep committing hari kiri like that we will end up in big trouble. This game leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

[Kernow Yellow]

What an absolute crock of shit. For the first 30 minutes Cheltenham looked the worst team I've seen this season. How we didn't finish them off is a mystery. For the remaining 60 minutes we looked even worse! Sure, Clarke was at fault for both goals, but let's not take any blame away from what was in front of him. Both 'wing-backs' were woeful (Meades is perfectly right-footed by the way, just not very good on today's performance).

If anyone thinks we're safe from relegation on the basis of some spurious DNA bollocks, think again. That was a relegation performance. And it's not the first I've seen this year. Far from it.

FWIW Dunkley did ok, as did Hylton. The rest of them can hang their heads in shame. The way we were outfought all over the pitch in the second half by such a poor team was embarrassing.

I didn't hear what Appleton had to say after the game but it's probably for the best. I've had enough of his platitudes already.

Absolute rubbish.

[neilw]

There is nothing to suggest that we are'nt going to be sucked in to the relegation battle during January. Once in amongst the mix, I really don't fancy our chances. Whilst teams below prepare for a fight with pragmatic, dull, lower league experienced managers, we continue to delude ourselves in the belief we're building for the future, doing the right things.

To date Appleton hasn't given any indicators whatsoever that he's up to the job. His self centered theoretical experiment is failing fast and I don't trust him with the January transfer window. Quite frankly, he's screwing up massively. I'm also wondering if our senior players are beginning to recognise that there's no substance behind the calm exterior.

As was said over on Yellows forum, it really is about DNA: "Don't Need Appleton"

[Hog]

I didn't hear what Appleton had to say after the game but it's probably for the best. I've had enough of his platitudes already.

Well this is what he had to say and it was the same old same old (starts at 16:30)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02flp25

If the fans stay patient they'll get their rewards!

[Dr Bob]

I thought that during those first 30 minutes or so, we looked OK, Cheltenham looked dreadful, Hylton was playing well, as was Ruffels (imo). On those rare occasions when we did play with a bit of tempo, we looked so much better than in recent matches. But, once we scored, we seemed to sit back, appear to think the job was done, with players shooting from ridiculous positions rather than passing to others in better positions (Roberts' goal at Plymouth is the exception, not the norm), and give the ball away too much, often as a result of ridiculous little flicks and nudges that verged on showboating. Inevitably this allowed Cheltenham back in - it is not just about scoring more goals, but also about keeping the pressure on the opposition to prevent them getting back into the game in terms of possession and confidence.

Their first goal was good skill, and once Wright had been turned, Clarke stood little chance. As for the second goal, from where I was sat I could see a clear line through the defenders which was exactly where their player put the ball (too many in the way from my seat to know if Clarke should have held on or not). What was really scary for me was that once those goals went in, Cheltenham looked invigorated, really went for it, and our players just seemed to fold. As for the second half performance/tactics/formation/general uselessness, I have nothing to add to what has already been said.

Ultimately, it seems to me now to be the situation that the results depend entirely on how the other team plays. When they match our incompetence in front of goal, we might get a draw. If they get a player sent off we might even get a win. But if they show any degree of effort and organisation (such as Cheltenham, let alone the sort of quality that Shrewsbury possessed) then we are done for. This is what makes me so worried about what the rest of the season holds.

Still, falling petrol prices mean I am now paying less to drive down to watch that dross. I know - it would cost me nothing if I did not go down - but lemming-like I keep getting drawn back to that emotional cliff.

[Myles Francis]

I didn't hear what Appleton had to say after the game but it's probably for the best.

I didn't hear what he had to say either, but I know others were fuming at his comments about fans needing to be patient. What stands out for me (and I commented on this earlier in the season) is that in his post-match interviews, Appleton seems completely unable to identify why we have lost any given game. His tactical insights seem no better than the average fan, and that really worries me. If he doesn't know what's gone wrong, then he clearly won't know how to fix it.

[Kairdiff Exile]

I didn't hear what Appleton had to say after the game but it's probably for the best.

I didn't hear what he had to say either, but I know others were fuming at his comments about fans needing to be patient.

The thing that made me cringe was his bit about "If anything, the boys were trying TOO hard..."

Sorry Michael, but if that's the best you can do, fuck right off. What next? "If anything, they've got TOO MUCH natural talent...", "If anything, my tactical nous is just TOO well-tuned..."

We were out-fought and out-thought, and it was a gutless, insipid performance. If you can take that on the chin and explain how you will put it right, people might bear with you. But trite platitudes suggest you don't have the first clue of what needs addressing.

[Brahma Bull]

I didn't hear what he had to say either, but I know others were fuming at his comments about fans needing to be patient.

I heard it.

Having had time to reflect, I'd like to ask all our fans for patience too as the alternative is not worth thinking about. Just for the record, I'd say most/all our fans, until very recently, have been very patient.