Let's face it...

Anything yellow and blue
SmileyMan
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Let's face it...

Post by SmileyMan »

...it wouldn't be us if we romped home with several games to spare.

At least the goal difference makes it (bar some freak results) a straight shoot-out and it's still in our hands.
OUFC4eva
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Re: Let's face it..

Post by OUFC4eva »

A battling point on a truly awful surface
against a side, who, despite having lost six on the trot,
we're determined to stop the rot and were well
worth a draw. It was difficult for the U's
who started well but were pegged back instantly
after scoring the opener on 13 mins.
Newport finished the far stronger team
and Buchel earned a point with what looked to
be a breathtaking save in the final few minutes.

Without COD, MacDonald and Roofe, United
were devoid of flair, width and quality
and their narrow play meant they
just got bogged down in a sand laden midfield.


I think John Lundstram was always
only going to get 60 mins and his exit
meant a tough final 30.

Wright came back in and did well
and Roberts started for the first time in a
year and found the going tough I felt.

United still in the top three
but need key players to return
to health ASAP with at least three cup
finals remaining.We can do this.
theox
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by theox »

The situation has not changed after last night, we can still win all our games and go up. In fact, we are in a slightly better position as there is 1 game less to play.

Obviously winning them might be a problem now that we have an injury ravaged first team which is always the risk with the quality over quantity approach.
ty cobb
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by ty cobb »

Other results did us a massive favour last night, not only did it mean it's still in our own hands but Carlise have no hope of making the play offs now so will hopefully have one eye on their summer break in a couple of weeks and given Wycombes run in I think they will be out of it as well by the time they play us, and if not they will need to have beaten both Pompy and take something from Accers which will do us a massive favour.

If we can't beat three mid-table teams, two of which are at home we don't deserve to go up in the autos.
YF Dan
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by YF Dan »

Despite our injuries, despite our rivals' relatively easy run-ins, the biggest danger to our promotion is the fans.

We are the ones who are panicking. Somehow we have to remain confident, and roar the team to victory. It's about belief. For many obvious reasons - such as three decades of despair - we the fans lack that belief, which permeates through to the players on the pitch.

This will be the club's biggest challenge over the next few games. I'm not sure what the solution is.

But somehow, we need to recapture the mood of our Conference Play-offs when, from the moment we walked out at Rushden, I think everyone knew we were going to win.

It was only two tricky games ago we demolished Crawley and everyone was confident. That's where we need to get back to.
SmileyMan
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by SmileyMan »

YF Dan wrote:It was only two tricky games ago we demolished Crawley and everyone was confident. That's where we need to get back to.
I think given our track record of failing to close out the business end of a season, a little nervousness is understandable.
YF Dan
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by YF Dan »

No doubt about that Smileyman, but the only constant in all of those failures are the fans. (And Jake Wright of course).
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Were you there last night Dan? I thought the backing the team got was pretty immense, especially given that most away fans didn't even have a roof over their heads to keep the noise in. Maybe fans nervousness gets to the team at the Kasstad but I don't think it happened last night at all.

As OUFC4eva says it was a horrible, horrible pitch to try and play football on and our depleted team worked hard enough but it just looked like all the confidence has sapped out of them. They looked frightened and edgy. Our formation didn't help, as the four centre forwards got in each others' way with no-one making an effort to stay out wide or make any runs down the line. I would have been tempted to try Giles as a winger at the end rather than introduce Waring, just because it felt like we needed something different to unlock them.

Having said that we did create a few chances - Hylton hitting the post from a tight angle after rounding the keeper, the goal-mouth scramble in the first half, Dunkley's close-range shot which their keeper did brilliantly to keep out. But we rode our luck as well. Benji might have pulled off a wonder save (did he actually touch it before it hit the post?) but he also got away with a ridiculous body check on John-Lewis when he misjudged where his area ended while coming to try and claim a through ball. Very lucky not to give away a free-kick and yellow card or worse.

Losing Evans is a massive blow. Is it true he's out for the season? Someone said that last night. Our injury list is by far the biggest worry at the moment. But incredibly it's still in our hands. All we have to do is win three games in a row. But I can't say we looked like a team that were about to do that yesterday...
slappy
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by slappy »

No plan B as usual. Perhaps we haven't got tall enough players to lob high balls in over the top. But the alternative was trying to pass the ball through a sandpit of a bobbly pitch, and just not being able to accurately make those passes. We may as well have played Dunkley up front as a centre forward.

Six points from five games is hardly setting us up for the play-offs, let alone holding on for automatic promotion.
joepoolman
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by joepoolman »

I came away from Rodney Parade last night feeling very deflated. Despite creating the occasional chance I felt the team looked shot to bits. The two midfielders looked like shadows of their former selves, the wide players tried but ultimately aren't really wide players. The defence wasn't awful but appeared far from impenetrable. Bowery did what Bowery does; seemingly very little but he scored, so hard to criticise.

This leaves us in a very strange position IMO, when I think about the performance last night, alongside the form and fixtures of our rivals I feel very little confidence in our chances, however we are in the top 3, with 3 games remaining, so we can't exactly be written off.

I think at least 2 of Accrington, Bristol and Plymouth wil get 6 or more points from their remaining games, if not 7 or possibly 9. Matching that is a big ask, and could be heavily dependant on the health of Roofe, Macca and O'Dowda. I will still do all I can as a supporter to help the team through, but it is pretty much impossible not to feel the nerves!
GodalmingYellow
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by GodalmingYellow »

At this point, it is unrealistic to expect fans to believe that we will gain automatic promotion. We all believe that we can, but can is not the same as will.

However, it could do no harm for The Yellow Army to step it up at home games and not allow despondency at the odd mistake to take control.

The notion mentioned above that we are now in a better position than before Tuesday is of course not very sensible. Where we were in second place and 1 point ahead of 4th place with 5 teams able to overtake us, we are now down to 3rd and 0 points ahead of 4th and the same teams still able to beat us to automatic promotion.

Of those teams:

Accy have home games against Yaaark and Stevenage, which they would expect to win, and an away game at Wycombe who will be unlikely to make the play offs. Strong case for at least 7 points from possible 9.
Plimuff have home games against D&R and Hartlepool, which they would expect to win, and an away game at Cambridge who have nothing to play for. Again a strong case for 7 points from possible 9.
Brizzle have home games against Exeter and D&R, which they would expect to win, and an away game at York, which again they would expect to win. Strong case for 9 points from possible 9.
Pompey have home games against Wycombe and Cobblers, which will both be tricky for them, and away games at Hartlepool and Dons, again not easy. I can see them getting 4 points from possible 12.
Dons have home games against Pompey, Orient and Newport, two tough & one easy, and are away at Stevenage, which they should win. Good case for 8 points from possible 12.

If the above occurred, we would need 84 points to go up automatically given our superior GD. We would need 8 points from a possible 9, playing home to Hartlepool and Wycombe and away at Carlisle. In other words they are all must win games. It is hardly surprising that fans are jittery.

I want MA to revert to Mullins and Wright at centre back. It has been the most successful partnership we have had all season, and the extra experience in front of goal is vital with such inexperience in the full back positions. The centre back positions are much more important than the full back positions, so any notion of moving Wright out to left back is a non-starter.

We are desperate for the ill players to recover as once that happens, presumably they will be almost immediately match fit.

The injured players is a different saucepan of haddock though. Even if Kemar can put weight and stress on his ankle, given that he was pulled from Tuesday's starting line up, the likelihood of him making it to Saturday seems small. Recovery from injuries takes time to re-build strength in the damaged tissue and with a rolled ankle, it takes time to tighten up the ligaments again. Playing him would be a big risk of longer term injury.

How to conclude? No idea, but all we as fans can do is give our maximum support at matches and trust in the players and management and hope it is enough. I for one would be very nervous of having to go through the play offs.
Jimski
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by Jimski »

The bookies are still absurdly optimistic about our chances. They seem to have over-rated them most of the season. There is an odd hype surrounding us, which I'm not sure actually helps us tbh. (Probably been there since we outplayed Swansea in the Cup.)
SmileyMan
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by SmileyMan »

Well I'm pretty sure Plymouth losing to the Daggers wasn't on anyone's prediction list! We still have to win it all to be sure, but at least the 'crazy scoreline' scenario is now off the table. With Bristol still to play two already relegated teams we can't let ou foot off the gas, but after today's result, who knows? If Bristol and Plymouth both fail to win next week, we are promoted...
Jimski
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by Jimski »

If we win at Carlisle that is!
SmileyMan
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Re: Let's face it...

Post by SmileyMan »

Jimski wrote:If we win at Carlisle that is!
:oops:
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