Winning Ugly

[A-Ro]

My God! if the Exeter manager ever teaches his players where the goal is then they are going to be an awesome side.

I knew after half an hour that the trick of bringing Yemi on was not going to work because they were so much fitter than any side we've played this season, or likely to play.

Our heads went down after the pen miss but you can't take anything away from Exeter - we weren't in the game in the second half.

I was a little disappointed with Robinson who did a lot of good work to get hold of the ball, then gave it away too easily, but apart from that I can't think of another Yellow who had a bad game.

Exeter will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season but let's hope we'll be well clear by then.

If the luck's going with you then you've got to go with it, we rode our luck tonight (and the ref had an alright game as well)

Why am I being so reasonable? I think I need another beer.

[Baboo]

Five points clear. Still unbeaten. Yet another clean sheet. A bogey team beaten. Another 6000 plus crowd. Isn’t life great.
But this was one of our worst performances so far. If the penalty had been converted we may well have won with ease. But it wasn’t and we didn’t. Agree our heads did seem to go down.
I’ve said previously that it is the defences that are so much poorer in the Conference. Not so with Exeter. Their finishing was abysmal – thankfully.
There was some great defending from our boys but we missed Gilly’s organisation and drive &amp Hargreaves midfield presence.
A good turnout from the Grecians.

[Snake]

Not so much that we were ugly, but that Exeter were prettier than us tonight. And hey, we’re not going to stuff everyone at home this season are we?

So there we go, another monkey off our back with a lucky win on a Tuesday night – the Gypsy Curse thing is obviously something personal between Les Wells (“I want £6m

[Matt D]

agree with baboo, it was very much exeter's defence that made this game different. anaclet looked too scared to take on his man 'cos he was bigger and uglier than him. he took him on right towards the end, went straight past him, and lo and behold was tugged to the floor. now if he could've started doing that earlier in the game...

at 1-0 it did look worrying, even if the threat was shots from distance and crosses in. still, i am genuinely having trouble adjusting my optimism levels. not that i mind.

[DLT]

The penalty certainly turned the game. I thought the decision was harsh and Quinn was never going to score from his body language.

They were fit, strong and quick, just couldn't hit a barn door. On another night we would have benn lucky to lose 4-1.

Anaclet, how quick is he. He obviously has a great engine but I am not sure he has that extra yard of pace. If he did he would be more prepared to go round the outside of the defender. And he needs to mature enough to take a look before crossing.

I thought we defended very well, players staying on their feet more than in previous seasons.

Very good turnout from the Grecians. I expect only Aldershot will bring more.

[GodalmingYellow]

The penalty certainly turned the game. I thought the decision was harsh and Quinn was never going to score from his body language.

They were fit, strong and quick, just couldn't hit a barn door. On another night we would have benn lucky to lose 4-1.

Anaclet, how quick is he. He obviously has a great engine but I am not sure he has that extra yard of pace. If he did he would be more prepared to go round the outside of the defender. And he needs to mature enough to take a look before crossing.

I thought we defended very well, players staying on their feet more than in previous seasons.

Very good turnout from the Grecians. I expect only Aldershot will bring more.

We certainly got out of jail last night.

I think Anaclet has the pace, but he doesn't have the confidence.

Definite penalty. Quinn's execution was rubbish though. Worst possible place to put a penalty apart from outside the woodwork.

Exeter's finishing was abysmal and they had at least 4 really clear scoring opportunities. That for me is the biggest difference between League sides and Conference sides. If you don't score you don't win.

Agree we defended very well, but we missed Gilly who was being rested for Saturday.

We also badly missed Hargreaves in central midfield. Neither Hutchinson or Dempster are good enough.

As the game wore on, we defended deeper and deeper, the old old story. The wing backs didn't get forward enough and the midfield ended up defending the edge of the penalty area.

Anaclet MoM? The sponsors are having a laugh.

Generally a well below par performance, but as the cliche goes, if you win when you play poorly, you've got a decent chance of success.

[Ancient Colin]

I'm predisposed to like Anaclet but am pretty unsure of his overall value. I've been boring on for ages about his lack of pace. I really don't think it's confidence, I genuinely think he's just not very quick (you can see that when he's running back to cover or chasing as well as when he's got the ball at his feet). There's almost a racial stereotyping going on that assumes he must be fast because ... Add to that defensive frailties (poor positional sense and a struggle to defend headers against any normal sized attacker or midfield) and it creates a weakness that a good side could exploit. He's engaging to watch though!

The shape (or lack of it) yesterday was horrible - we were often overrun and when the ball broke there was rarely a useful outlet. If one of the strikers ran into a channel, no-one seemed to want to get into the middle to receive. Maybe just a bad night at the office and - hey! - three points to boot.

As Hog (I think) remarked after the game, we've been down so long that it is hard to know how to react to a winning run - we don't know how to behave! We spent the after match beer wondering how we'd won that and talking about deficiencies, the thinness of squad, obstacles ahead ...

[DLT]

I think last night just demonstrated,to those who are open to such arguments, that although we are going brilliantly well at present, promotion is far from a done deal.

Yes the squad looks weak in depth. Jim's reluctance to chuck in the younger players make it even more so.

Kennet, Gunn, Beechers and Weedon have come nowhere near getting on the park. That means are squad becomes very small.

Must say I enjoyed watching Brevitt play. Certainly got a good brain and lots of committment. The 'Corbo' tackle was amazing to see from a 37 year old on a short term deal.

[neilw]

&quotYes the squad looks weak in depth. Jim's reluctance to chuck in the younger players make it even more so. Kennet, Gunn, Beechers and Weedon have come nowhere near getting on the park. That means are squad becomes very small.....

What's your point, Dave. If you are suggesting these lads are good enough to play, that implies the squad is[u] not[/u] weak in depth. Why would Jim introduce these young players, as a preference, at this stage of the season?

[DLT]

Oh dear. Neil seems to be picking a squabble with me again.

Neil my point is this (and my maths is not accurate). Notionally we a first team/professional squad of 21 ish players. If Jim decides that, despite putting them on the bench, four of them are not ready for first team football yet, which clearly seems to be his thinking. Then we actually have a first team squad of 17ish.

When we have Duffy, Johnson, Gilly out injured andTardiff as a goalie that makes it 13 outfield players.

Not alot when we play two games in 72 hours next week.

[neilw]

&quotsquabble with me again&quot ....... NO, not at all. Normally, yes, but not on this

His preference is not to use the younger members of the squad right now, if at all possible. Doesn't make the squad small. So far, Jim has, of course, been bang on in his decisions / judgement.

A squad size is not based purely on those who have played to date. Would you prefer squad rotation?

[DLT]

Rotation, not at all.

However, I feel when winning comfortably it is a good chance to throw on a youngster for his first 10 minutes of competitve 1st team football.

A couple of games this year I felt that Kennett should have come on with ten minutes to go, just to let him find his feet.

We might find that we need to throw him in the deep end in a few weeks and he would be more able to cope with that experience under his belt.

When will it be the right time to chance them?

[Resurrection Ox]

My God! if the Exeter manager ever teaches his players where the goal is then they are going to be an awesome side.

I knew after half an hour that the trick of bringing Yemi on was not going to work because they were so much fitter than any side we've played this season, or likely to play.

Our heads went down after the pen miss but you can't take anything away from Exeter - we weren't in the game in the second half.

I was a little disappointed with Robinson who did a lot of good work to get hold of the ball, then gave it away too easily, but apart from that I can't think of another Yellow who had a bad game.

Exeter will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season but let's hope we'll be well clear by then.

If the luck's going with you then you've got to go with it, we rode our luck tonight (and the ref had an alright game as well)

Why am I being so reasonable? I think I need another beer.

Thats why they are in the conference. They don't have finishers.

Like Basham.

Disagree with your second half view. It was pretty even actually.

A draw may have been a fairer result but it was'nt that lucky a win.

[Resurrection Ox]

The penalty certainly turned the game. I thought the decision was harsh and Quinn was never going to score from his body language.

They were fit, strong and quick, just couldn't hit a barn door. On another night we would have benn lucky to lose 4-1.

Anaclet, how quick is he. He obviously has a great engine but I am not sure he has that extra yard of pace. If he did he would be more prepared to go round the outside of the defender. And he needs to mature enough to take a look before crossing.

I thought we defended very well, players staying on their feet more than in previous seasons.

Very good turnout from the Grecians. I expect only Aldershot will bring more.

4-1?? Come off it Dave. We did defend well and defences frequently win games. Anaclet has a very bright future. What contract is he on?

[Resurrection Ox]

I'm predisposed to like Anaclet but am pretty unsure of his overall value. I've been boring on for ages about his lack of pace. I really don't think it's confidence, I genuinely think he's just not very quick (you can see that when he's running back to cover or chasing as well as when he's got the ball at his feet). There's almost a racial stereotyping going on that assumes he must be fast because ... Add to that defensive frailties (poor positional sense and a struggle to defend headers against any normal sized attacker or midfield) and it creates a weakness that a good side could exploit. He's engaging to watch though!

The shape (or lack of it) yesterday was horrible - we were often overrun and when the ball broke there was rarely a useful outlet. If one of the strikers ran into a channel, no-one seemed to want to get into the middle to receive. Maybe just a bad night at the office and - hey! - three points to boot.

As Hog (I think) remarked after the game, we've been down so long that it is hard to know how to react to a winning run - we don't know how to behave! We spent the after match beer wondering how we'd won that and talking about deficiencies, the thinness of squad, obstacles ahead ...

Are you a manic depressive or what?


Anaclet was our best player by a mile last night. He's unpredictable. And that's what wins games.

To add to your woe you were not to know but I nearly ran you over driving past you last night as you were walking to the ground. With the Boogster.