Cheltenham town match thread

[Exile on Spencer St]

Can only endorse Revived Red's summary. That was the worst Stanley performance I've seen for quite some time.
I was embarrassed for a fellow southern exile who persuaded a crowd of his mates to forego the Bristol City v Cardiff game to watch an appallingly inept performance.
Cheltenham totally out-played, out-thought, and, with the exception of our back four (and especially Pearson), out-fought Stanley.
The ref was poor, but no worse than we've come to expect in League 2 and I for one immediately said "that's a red" when Brown when flying in, missed the ball, and took their player off at the knees. As for the 'unfairness' of the yellow cards, Stanley's second was because Gornell, having failed to persuade the lineswoman that he'd won a corner (which he hadn't), he then said something to her that she reported to the ref. Unprofessional is probably the kindest explanation for Gornell's stupidity.
It was as if Stanley were show-casing all their frustrating short-comings in the one match. Predictable, slow, over-intricate passing in over-crowded areas, poor control, blasting over the bar from 8 yards (does McCarten practice in front of a barn door?), rarely running onto balls put through into space, not even using the width of the pitch to find space, standing still waiting for the ball to come to them, half-hearted tackling especially from midfielders, confusion over who's ball it was (can't blame the keeper who, as RR said, was actually being introduced to the rest of the team in the warm-up).
It wasn't a bad day at the office, it was a bad month and a half.

[Lord Stiffupperlip]

Two excellent & concurring reports from Exile & Revived Red, who actually went to the game.
I think those whose knee-jerk reaction was to rush to blame the ref as soon as the whistle went now have egg on their face.
Perhaps they were influenced by the new Hollywood blockbuster just out - 'La La Land'

[Lord Didsbury]

From the telly it's pretty obvious Brown got a deserved red card.

The back pass was also an obvious back pass.

On to the next match....

[deeayess]

Originally Posted by Lord Didsbury

From the telly it's pretty obvious Brown got a deserved red card.

The back pass was also an obvious back pass.

On to the next match....

That just about sums it up based on what the highlights show

[AccyMad]

Originally Posted by Lord Stiffupperlip

Two excellent & concurring reports from Exile & Revived Red, who actually went to the game.
I think those whose knee-jerk reaction was to rush to blame the ref as soon as the whistle went now have egg on their face.
Perhaps they were influenced by the new Hollywood blockbuster just out - 'La La Land'

No dippy egg running down my chin this morning - I don't think anyone was wholly blaming the ref, just bemoaning yet another inept performance from the man in the middle backed up by the report in another thread from a neutral observer.
We're obviously struggling & yesterday's game was never going to be easy, imo throwing the new keeper in straight away was a mistake - just hope shipping three on his debut doesn't sent his confidence too much as his loan conditions will probably mean he's first choice for most games.
I'm not blaming the lad either, Billy's not getting the service he needs as he did last season & it's not the fault of those who are filling Josh & Piero's boots, they're doing their best as far as I can see.
But we're a fickle lot, as are most football fans - last week we were wonderful & awaiting the draw for the 4th round with bated breath, this week we're awful & deserved all we got - the truth is probably somewhere in the middle & we go again, Carlisle next week before the big one at the Riverside - maybe our lads had one eye on that game yesterday, who knows but whatever happens we need to be 110% behind the team & just be grateful that we're not in Morecambe's shoes

[monkey hanger]

[QUOTE=AccyMad; Carlisle next week before the big one at the Riverside

no next week is the big one the boro game is just a side show. we can,t just rely on notts county and newport being poor. we need points on the board quickly. its time some start to smell the coffee as its going to be a long 3 months infront of us to keep our football league place. need to put all our differences behind us over the next few months and try to sing out of the same songsheet.

[Revived Red]

Originally Posted by monkey hanger

try to sing out of the same songsheet.

We may have the same song sheet. The problem is that it has too many wrong notes and missing notes.

[Chrisr]

The sad thing is nothing will change in tactics, communication, substitution timings. and playing one up front. Every club in the league knows how we play and can neutralise us very easily. We can be good in short bursts and we have got by on that so far this season. Last season we had ample opportunities to win promotion and we were not good enough then and we are worse now. Something has to give. There is something sadly amiss with training and development of the team. The players just released were never given a proper chance to help the club as we expected them to. Chris Eagles left to go to Portvale and played in his normal position and played his own game and was credited with 3 assists in their 4-0 win. Is this a pointer to a problem with the training at our club, I then ask why so many left last season to go to other clubs like Portsmouth, Morecambe. Blackpool. We know why Piero left but how many decent players have left Stanley and either improved or even were happy just to be away. something is wrong and needs sorting out.

[Exile on Spencer St]

Good points well made, Chrisr, but, on the issue of the one-up front, the new lad Edwards played yesterday just behind Mr. Kee, and looked lively in brief moments. It was hard to judge from behind the goal how well Kee and Edwards combined in the first half, but someone who watched that half from midway then joined us for the second half did suggest they hadn't yet got their radars on sync.
Unfortunately, despite Edwards physical strength, the Cheltenham back four out-muscled both Stanley's forward players most of the time. Billy also got no protection from the ref who obviously didn't think being pushed, shoved or held from behind is foul. But then that is always going to be the case for a man who always has to receive the ball with his back to goal.
What frustrates me most about Stanley, when they are as off as they were yesterday, is the fact they never seem to use the space behind defences to run into, but always try to ticky-tacky their way through a massed defence as if they are still doing that pre-match training routine. If you notice, that routine simply practices goes round and round in circles, never driving forward.

[ferret man]

Last season we had ample opportunities to win promotion.(un quote) I personally think that was our undoing, too many games to get required result, so when you lose the first game, think's never mind we will do it next game, till we ran out of next games.

[AccyStan1962]

Originally Posted by Chrisr

The sad thing is nothing will change in tactics, communication, substitution timings. and playing one up front. Every club in the league knows how we play and can neutralise us very easily. We can be good in short bursts and we have got by on that so far this season. Last season we had ample opportunities to win promotion and we were not good enough then and we are worse now. Something has to give. There is something sadly amiss with training and development of the team. The players just released were never given a proper chance to help the club as we expected them to. Chris Eagles left to go to Portvale and played in his normal position and played his own game and was credited with 3 assists in their 4-0 win. Is this a pointer to a problem with the training at our club, I then ask why so many left last season to go to other clubs like Portsmouth, Morecambe. Blackpool. We know why Piero left but how many decent players have left Stanley and either improved or even were happy just to be away. something is wrong and needs sorting out.

Did you go the game yesterday or last week? As last week we played 2 up top for most of the game, with Edwards dropping back in when we were out of possession. Also by Chris Eagles creating 3, I think you're referring to a reserves match which is hardly a great barometer for League football. Got to be that game as Port Vale got postponed yesterday so he's yet to play in the league

[AccyStan1962]

Originally Posted by ferret man

Last season we had ample opportunities to win promotion.(un quote) I personally think that was our undoing, too many games to get required result, so when you lose the first game, think's never mind we will do it next game, till we ran out of next games.

We actually only had 2 league games last season where it was mathematically possible to gain promotion. First one we won at Wycombe, second one we drew with stevenage. So I fail to see your point?? I also fail to see the relevance in that to this season

[shakermaker]

Originally Posted by st06nc2

Think he means ones that left on free such as Bobby grant

I know this forum has been practising post-truth since before it was a thing, but Grant left Stanley for a fee of around £250k.

[yonmon]

Originally Posted by ferret man

Last season we had ample opportunities to win promotion.(un quote) I personally think that was our undoing, too many games to get required result, so when you lose the first game, think's never mind we will do it next game, till we ran out of next games.

Irrelevant ?.

[st06nc2]

Originally Posted by shakermaker

I know this forum has been practising post-truth since before it was a thing, but Grant left Stanley for a fee of around £250k.

Compensation yes but it's still classed as a free transfer due to him been out of contract