vs Chester
 

G;day. Whats the weather like there today?

Re: vs Chester
 

Portugese bloke couldn't have recieved his international clearence as he's not even on the bench.

Re: vs Chester
 

Oh no 0-1 :(

Re: vs Chester
 

...Meanwhile,over at Boston,Grimsby are going ballistic...6-0 !!!!

Re: vs Chester
 

i just cant beleive that after all the signings we didnt look like we were gunna score in a million years. The new goalie was good though. Does anyone else think that Welsh looked really poor today.

Glad edwards played though, he cleared it off the line 3 times!!!!!!

we live in hope

Re: vs Chester
 

Welsh and Rocky were both very poor and left Shrek badly exposed 2 or 3 times, but he rescued them with some great saves. Thought he was at fault for their goal, however, as he failed to grab the high cross for their easy goal. Their distribution also was absolutely appalling, gifting the ball back to Chester time after time.
We can't physically match big strong teams like Chester and it's very worrying when all our rivals seem to average about 3 inches taller and 14 pounds heavier per man than our lot.
Worried now.:(

Re: vs Chester
 

Edwards was great at the back but i thought toddy was great first half and in the first half i thought we where going to score a couple! However they scored and in second half we was poor i thought, giving the ball away non-stop. Last 15 minutes i couldnt see the game anyway. However i think the best chance we had was mullin with his head. Except from that it was very poor performance!

Re: vs Chester
 

Well I am not sure about everyone else, but I thought todays match was abysmal.The ref was truly appalling and his assistants inept. Fleetwood and Mullin were barged, thumped and literally bullied off the ball more times than I care to count. The number of fouls/handballs they got away with is amazing, mind you I thought we were lucky in the first half not to give away a penalty, it looked clear cut to me, but the ref just waved play on. The players seemed afraid to shoot and seemed more intent on passing around the box to get a better angle, which never came. Rommy seemed off his game (which is to be expected), and yes I agree, thank god for Phil Edwards.
I hope Mauro Almeida's clearance comes through soon, because it looks like we are going to need him. Things can only get better next time out please. Otherwise its back to Morecambe, Burton etc etc.

Re: vs Chester
 

Don't see how anyone can think the goalie had a good game, spilled and flapped, the few "great saves" were more bad shooting than good keeping, I saw Fearon play in the reserves on Tues and he looks the better option IMO.

Re: vs Chester
 

I agree with Samf, I didn't think the goalie was too great at all. Not commanding enough for a keeper of his presence and 'pedigree'. We also never tested their keeper with a single shot, the tame header from 10 yards straight into his hands was the only thing he had to do all afternoon.

Bring on Mauro to bring the back line into order I say, the only thing about that is that the whisper is one of our centre halves aint too impressed and may be away. No you wont pal, you'll stay and fight for your place, you are a hero to many and you will fight to derserve that accolade. What happens if De Silva is pants?

Fleetwood made a couple of intelligent runs but overall seemed lightweight and not up for a bruising battle with some neanderthal centre halves.

I thought Grant played some nice simple stuff and got his toe end to a couple of interceptions by virtue of having read the game better than the recipient of the pass. Tired towards the end and was deservedly subbed, but better things are to come from the Lottery Grant.

My summary of the game is that we got what we deserved from it, nowt.

Again the crowd seemed up for it in the first half, but without the assistance of either the rest of the crowd, or an echoical roof, it petered out in the second half and became a sporadical effort only when a half hearted attck gave any encouragement.

I seriously expected the mini revival to become full blooded today, but there seemed to be inspiration to suggest that any sor tof corner has been turned. But we will grind out enough points here and there to be safe but we will not be safe with a few games to go. Its gonna go near the wire for us I'm afraid, I just hope that the last home match to Macclesfield will guarantee the safe point rather than away to MK Dons!

Re: vs Chester
 

It's interesting to see that there are so few people posting on here tonight after today's appalling display. It was difficult to see any positives from the game, with the possible exception of Phil Edwards and, of course, little Jay, who never knows when he's beaten. The defence in general was poor, leaving Shrek exposed, though I have to say he didn't exactly inspire me with confidence anyway and he was certainlhy partly responsible for the goal. The midfield never looked like creating anything, though there was the very occasional glimpse of what Grant might be capable of. Rommy wasn't himself, though the poor guy never seems to know where he's going to be playing next. Toddy died in the second half. Fleetwood didn't look anywhere near as good as the Hereford fans have talked him up to be and, to be honest, I thought Paul never got a look in today against their big defenders. They were the kind of big, bruising team that we find difficult to cope with and we can only hope that we perform better against others in the future. Today, I felt that, for the first time, we LOOKED like a relegation outfit.Let's just hope I'm wrong!!

Re: vs Chester
 

We played well early doors but Chester, as they did in our first league game at their place out muscled us and stamped their authority on the game. Also when we got into good positions we seemed scared to have a shot (if you don't buy a ticket you won't win the lottery) and passed the ball or took that one touch too many. As has been mentioned our defence looked weak and every time the ball went into our box from long throws and corners it was panic stations. Its all very well practicing free kicks on the training ground but we need to practice defending set pieces also, (which i'm sure they do despite what we witness on match day).

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Agree with points made above in the main, particularly Oldgobbin.

We've got 10 points from last sixteen games, 16 games to go!! :(

David Brown sparked a mini revival on his return, but we have a new lad on loan who's recovering from an illness, why ? :confused: .

Still think we'll be OK, but it'll be an eternity between games.

Re: vs Chester
 

Mostly agree with the above comments. I thought the 'keeper stopped a couple of shots with good saves, but he didn't command his area and he looks very suspect on catches. He fumbled a couple of times today and one of the ones into his body was a carbon copy of the one he fumbled for the reserves on Wednesday.

Grant looked nothing more than average. He played easy balls all afternoon, but nothing above the simple ball. I also wonder if he was one of the main reasons why we played at a much slower tempo than normal? I must admit, I was expecting more from him.

Fleetwood looks exactly as expected. Suffering from a lack of confidence and a load of fitness. Why else would Hereford allow him to go out on loan?

The rest of the team looked so low that it's going to take a gargantuan effort to turn things round. If it's true that Welch (I assume it's him that isn't happy with his place being under threat) is talking of wanting to leave, then that sums the situation up perfectly. We've conceded goals all season, so many times down to inadequate defending. It's not as if the defence is water tight and changes are being proposed. Pathetic!!

I've felt pessimistic for a long time now and I've seen nothing to change that feeling at all.

Re: vs Chester
 

Thats exactly what Grant does. Plays the ball out from in front of the defence to one of his own team mates. He might have played the simple ball but how many times did he give it away, I'll be suprised if you come back and tell me it was often. One thing you won't see from Grant is a 50 yard run taking on all opposition players. Another thing you will rarely see unless you attend about 100 of his games is a goal.

Re: vs Chester
 

I thought Grant did well, he was very comfortable on the ball and kept it until somebody was in a position to recieve it from him. He also set up Rommy with a golden chance early on.

Stanley did well and were in control of the game until Chester scored, then the confidence just evaporated, as it has on many occasions after we concede. (I have noticed at throw-ins, when we are on top everybody wants the ball, but when we are down nobody goes near for fear of getting the ball).

The Chester defenders are solid and strong, they cut out 90% of crosses, corners and free kicks.
Their number 21 was a donkey, was twice the size and weight of Jay Harris but picked on Jay throughout the game. it was good to see Jay put the donkey on the floor late on.

Our new keeper is a bit of a dracula, but stopped at least 3 goals, also very composed with the ball at his feet, he nearly gave me a heart attack on a couple of occasions, whilst waiting to pass on the ball, with a Chester forward bearing down on him.

Re: vs Chester
 

this is doin me head in, HOW can we take points from the likes of wycombe and then 2 weeks later play like we did yesterday its beyond belief. Thought kaz had a reasonable game and kept the score down(good job bavs was injured in my opinion) toddy seems to improve every game but can,t keep it up for 90 mins, granty did well tho and i thought his experience showed,mully was totally taken out of the game and fleetwood looked like he could be good when fully match fit.some hard work needs to be done on the training ground this week shooting might be a good idea and free kicks and corners as we wasted opportunities from both yesterday. some backsides need to be kicked by JC (maybe his own first) we have two big games coming up and we need to take all the points available and get us up that table.

Re: vs Chester
 

I know they were crap, but shooting them is a bit extreme mate

Re: vs Chester
 

they might move a bit faster if you shoot at their feet......

Re: vs Chester
 

Spot on - if anyone thinks they have a right to the shirt just by turning up, then that may be a big part of the problem. Loyalty by the manager is ok so far, but if players think they are untouchable you're not going to get the best out of them.

Re: vs Chester
 

its just the topic i raised in my john coleman thread three weeks ago the players know he wont get sacked so they become complacent they need a kick up their backside theyll be used to his rollickins so itll just go over their heads now..they didnt look happy yesterday and that was before they conceded or am i looking to deep:o

Re: vs Chester
 

nice one macca:Banane10:

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After yesterday's disappointment, I was interested to see what the management would have to say in "The Football Paper". Maybe some reasons or explanation for our lacklustre performance? Not one word did Jimmy Bell utter about our display. Instead, he spent the whole time talking about Chester! "They came here for nothing more than a point but somehow managed to go away with all three. If I were a Chester fan, then I would be going away very disappointed because of the way they played in only coming for a point."

If the Chester fans went away disappointed (and the ones I saw certainly didn't look it), then how do you think the Stanley fans felt, Jimmy?

Re: vs Chester
 

thought the game was poor yesterday. have to agree with jimmy though chester were horrible they just spoiled the game made it very slow and absolutely battered poor mullers. Once they scored they never tried to come out at all. Thought the keeper made some good saves but his kickin put us under a lot of pressure he could barely reach the half way line. am goin to reserve judgement on tony grant didnt think it was his type of game yesterday it was too scrappy. only positives for me where phil and jay. thought jay was brilliant he could be the next one to leave the stanley conveyor belt.(i hope not for a while anyway) if he keeps on the way he has been for the last 6-8 weeks he will be my player of the year i think toddy has blew himself out he hasnt been the same player for the last month or so

Re: vs Chester
 

Before the game and after recent results/preformances i thought we would have beat Chester, they were a crap team at their place and they were crap yesterday, but for what ever reasons Stanley didnt` want to know, that is without doubt the worst game i have ever seen, Jay Harris was the only one that stood out, the rest i wouldn`t have paid this week after the ****e we had to watch, i dont think anyone minds if we lose and play well but to go a goal down midway through the first half and throw the towel in is a bit much, also Colemans tactics/selections have to come in to question sometimes, cant believe he put Mangan on before Brown, mind you he could have put anyone up front yesterday and it wouldn`t have mattered the service was very poor to our forwards, i think that is one game i`m going to put to the back of my mind, all in all it was just not good enough for a team fighting for survival.

Re: vs Chester
 

i still think we should be scouring the scottish leagues to add a bit of passion yesterday they couldnt even spell passion :mad:the only way we could have got three points is being on the mobile while driving a car

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I couldnt see the point of making a double substitution on 85 mins. Surely if they were to be used better to have made the switch earlier as it was fairly obvious as the second half progressed towards the hour mark that Stanley didnt appear to be making any lasting impression on the Chester defence.

I dont know about distributing vouchers if the games abandoned but I think we should also qualify for one if given a display as witnessed yesterday.

Re: vs Chester
 

I was not at the Chester game so I have to rely on what everyone is saying - but this does not sound like the Stanley performance we have known so far this season. Even in adversity, there has always been effort and spirit. These two qualities seem to have been sadly lacking yesterday.

For the last few weeks, everyone has been calling for new players. So we now have them - one seems to be unfit. Another appears to play in the Makelele style - and the other players will surely have to get used to this role and style. The consequence is that it will be some time before the impact of these two arrivals is felt in the team. As for the centre back, he sounds promising. I suspect that Michael Welch has been carrying an injury for several weeks - certainly in the games I have seen, he has been limping well before half time.

Others have commented on substitutions and comments made by the management team. I don't know the general feeling is but I have often found it difficult to understand the choice and timing of substitutions. And post-match comments by the managerial team have also been odd. Anyway, that's my two penn'orth.

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I do agree that it wasn't the best defensive leadership by the lad, but in another aspect; he has just come to the team mid-week and he was put straight into the first team. He hasn't actually had an experience with our defence and never seemed to know what they would do next. That being said, the defence didn't exactly put in the best effort to support him...

I agree with the majoity of points made too. We'll just have to let the club know we are still behind them and hopefully it could lift some battered spirits! Sing on Stanley!

Re: vs Chester
 

Was yesterday's match even worse than the hammering we took at Bristol Rovers on 23rd December ? :eek: :eek: :eek:

I thought that was bad enough, but it was very disappointing that we got nothing out of yesterdays game. :( I was full of hope after the match against Wycombe two weeks ago but from the sound of it, this was a poor Stanley performance.

It was a shame that Grimsby won 6-0, but at least this puts more pressure on Boston - and Wrexham also appear to be on the slide. We really HAVE to win a few games now to pull clear of the relegation zone - and I do fear for us if these wins are not forthcoming.:eek:

Re: vs Chester
 

I was at the game and they had the cutting edge of an Ox tongue. The creativity of a dead body. Also the productivity would have made British Leyland in the 70's look efficient. This is not aimed at all players just some. For me the worst crime was the constant seeking out of Paul Mullins even though he was shadowed by up to 3 bodies when making a move. That in its self left oppotunities that were not taken and exploited.