Jack - he's behind you

Anything yellow and blue
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Dr Bob
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Jack - he's behind you

Post by Dr Bob »

Got to say something about Jack's performance against the Real Dons. Yes, he had kept some clean sheets but, to be brutally honest, he was never really, seriously, tested in those games. On Saturday - wow! Is this the game when he - cliché alert - came of age? The second of the double saves in the first half was astonishing and his multiple saves in the second half just kept coming. He is also, I would say, the best keeper we have had in a long time in terms of reading the game and having the pace to come off his line quickly to clear danger before it develops. No question he needs to work on his kicking, but his all-round game looks seriously promising.

Good job too, given how the rest of the team lost the plot once we went two goals up and The Wombles changed their own tactics. Our pace and intensity dropped right off, and our inability to string two passes together left us relying on Jack time and again. Still - as Rosie kept saying in commentary - it still says Wimbledon nil.
Kairdiff Exile
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Re: Jack - he's behind you

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

And three more points in the bag tonight... Mid-table respectability, here we come!
slappy
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Re: Jack - he's behind you

Post by slappy »

Well that was a really enjoyable game of football, even if the five minutes off added time had me biting my nails for the ref to blow the whistle.

After a worrying first quarter of the match at 1-0 down with the pace of their wingers and attackers causing us problems, we started to press high and sent the full backs up for set pieces with Josh Ruffels scrambling an equaliser.

Sam Long's goal was a beauty with a lovely 1-2 pointing to where he wanted the ball returned whilst sprinting alongside a defender before a side foot past narrowly past the goalkeeper.

Shadipo's penalty - glad he didn't try a panenka again.

The Plymouth penalty - all round confusion as to who had been booked as everyone thought it was Long who gave away the foul, only not to get sent off when getting a yellow card later. Their penalty was a proper smash into the top of the net, and even though some say Stevens got close, I don't think he had a chance of stopping it.

Apparently Plymouth have now completed the rebuild of the Mayflower stand. I thought it was intitially going to be part of a larger redevelopment including ice-rink etc to achieve a multi-use and perhaps some sort of land grab taking the money-making bits of the rebuild out of the club. A quick look on google and it doesn't look that different from before, except for seats where the old disused terrace was at the front, though it looks like it has been completely rebuilt on the same footprint but with more use of the space behind and underneath the stand.

I also anjoyed Steve Kinniburgh's on the live stream. Apparently two of the normal commentators weren't allowed to travel down, so provided the Radio Oxford version while watching the stream. Kinniburgh added a lot of technical understanding and explanation to the football, and his passion really added to the commentary.

Finally, in a WhatsApp groupchat we had to watch out as at least one person was two minutes behind so we had to hold off celebrating goals.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Jack - he's behind you

Post by Kernow Yellow »

The grandstand at Home Park fully re-opened almost exactly a year ago (I was there to see their top of the table clash against Sw*nd*n last New Year's Day, which I think was the second game played in front of it). I'm not quite sure why, with only 2,000 fans in attendance last night, some were made to sit in the uncovered bit! Nor why there is a double row of seats at the left hand side of that section which requires its own access stairs (just about visible in the first of these photos), and clearly visible at the start of the extended highlights package on ifollow. They're a bit funny in Devon.

Anyway, good game last night in the end, although the first half was pretty low quality (Argyle's first goal aside). It was nice to see us get to grips with their formation and start to dominate as the match wore on after a shaky start. Beautiful goal from Sam Long too, particularly pleasing after he'd been booed throughout the fist half for no particular reason - I can only think the Plymouth fans were still sore about the sending off that turned the game in our favour there in 2014, when Long was brutally dispatched but the home fans accused him of play-acting. He was less good defensively than in recent games though, allowing players to get the wrong side of him on a few occasions, including for their penalty. Thank god Shodipo buried his spot kick, as his play had really deteriorated after the break until that point.

Agyei did a decent job holding the ball up and bringing others into the game, though he fluffed his lines in front of goal twice. The game was won in midfield, where Hanson (and then Forde) picked up a lot of second ball and seemed to find more and more space as the game went on. Nice to see we didn't miss Gorrin too much.

Three wins in a row was exactly what we needed to end the year after the derby debacle. And, to bring the thread back on topic, I think Jack Stevens has played a very big hand in that. Nailed on starter for the foreseeable future. It remains to be seen how much football gets played in the opening months of 2021. Happy New Year all.
recordmeister
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Re: Jack - he's behind you

Post by recordmeister »

agree with all of this.

ooi- what’s the scoop on Long? was he, or was he not, booked twice last night?! Can’t find any one commenting on this.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Jack - he's behind you

Post by Kernow Yellow »

recordmeister wrote: Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:30 pm agree with all of this.

ooi- what’s the scoop on Long? was he, or was he not, booked twice last night?! Can’t find any one commenting on this.
No. He was given a warning in the first half (no-one was booked, though the RadOx commentators thought Moore had been).
Moore was booked for dissent at the penalty award (not sure why - it was pretty blatant)
Long was booked for pulling someone back later on.

Not sure why the commentators were so confused by this. It was pretty obvious on ifollow (even with the Plymouth operator switching between camera angles every 5 seconds just to show off)
slappy
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Re: Jack - he's behind you

Post by slappy »

Kernow Yellow wrote: Wed Dec 30, 2020 5:42 pm
recordmeister wrote: Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:30 pm agree with all of this.

ooi- what’s the scoop on Long? was he, or was he not, booked twice last night?! Can’t find any one commenting on this.
No. He was given a warning in the first half (no-one was booked, though the RadOx commentators thought Moore had been).
Moore was booked for dissent at the penalty award (not sure why - it was pretty blatant)
Long was booked for pulling someone back later on.

Not sure why the commentators were so confused by this. It was pretty obvious on ifollow (even with the Plymouth operator switching between camera angles every 5 seconds just to show off)
I think perhaps we are (I am) still confused by the "new" rule that a foul with DOGSO in the penalty area isn't necessarily a red card, and think it means that if the ref gives a penalty, it's only a yellow.
As it now has to be a deliberate foul for a red card.
Or was the old rule that a foul in the area was always a penalty and a red card?
Or could you foul someone running out of the penalty area so not a DOGSO?
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Jack - he's behind you

Post by Kernow Yellow »

A penalty is awarded for any foul in the penalty area. I think you’re right that you can’t be sent off these days if a penalty is awarded if you were trying to play the ball (even if dogso) - I’m not sure what that’s got to do with this case though. There’s certainly no obligation for the ref to show a card when awarding a penalty.
OtmoorYellow
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Re: Jack - he's behind you

Post by OtmoorYellow »

I was lucky enough to receive the latest Oculus Quest 2 VR machine for Christmas.

It comes with a built in browser, which means I can use it to watch iFollow, and I have to say it dramatically improves the experience of watching via a feed. I even found myself behaving as if I was in my seat, and because the image is spread over almost your full range of vision, it is just about as close as you could get to being there, especially with the streamed crowd noise.

As for the last couple of performances, we are starting to see confidence in our playing style. We’re not at our peak quite yet, but definitely showing periods of domination.

Jack Stevens had been excellent so far. His advantages over Eastwood are that he has confidence to sweep up outside the box, and he comes for crosses. His shot stopping has been as good as Eastwood too, and only his long kicking needs noticeable improvement.

The defensive line is so much better with Long at right back. When Clare has appeared in a more forward role, he has done very well. Both Long and Clare seem happier in those roles, as do their team mates around them. I think this has been a key change in our improvements.

As several others have identified, our high pressing has also been key. It is so much easier to retrieve a 50:50 long ball enforced on the opposition, than relying on one v one tackling without fouling.

Anyhow, our progression is very much in the right direction.
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