Five game assessment

[lucy6lucy]

We may sit in 11th place after 5 games, but I take many positives from this.

We are unbeaten and only Gillingham match that.
We have played 2 tough away matches against sides that have just today won 4-0 and 6-2. Infact it makes that Port Vale result last week a bloody good one, considering they had just today wiped the floor with Rotherham...shame.
We have been able to assess our bench early on in the season and with very good success
We are financially sound as a club
We are 1 point of the playoffs
According to sky sports news, this is our best start to a season in 18 years. I presume because we are unbeaten as we did win our first 4 games the other season before our 5th game we lost 2-1 at Southend.

Come on you yellows, I am very encouraged by the start and why should we be scared of a backlash from Rotherham and the fat t""t. Just maybe Yellow monkey is Steve evans....if not no offence but you are way out of order in your assessment of the team and fellow supporters

[AustrianAndyGull]

Despite my protestations and disdain at the team's lack of attacking impetus at recent away games i happen to agree with you lucy. If we take our 5 games at face value and in comparison to how the teams we have played have fared since then it actually makes impressive reading. First of all Fleetwood who are beginning to find their feet and wiped the floor with Morecambe at the Globe today. Bearing in mind that Morecambe have themselves had some immense results already comfortably beating Bristol Rovers 3-0, Accrington 2-0, Exeter 3-0 and Blackpool in the cup 2-1 ALL AWAY from home then Fleetwood today must have played out of their skins. Our 0-0 draw up there looks a fine one in context.

Add to that our 0-0 draw at Vale Park with a much depleted squad and i'm now beginning to bow in deference to the wisdom of Bengull, Matt, Jeff and other posters who were totally happy with this result and performance. At the time i wasn't particularly enamoured with it but, again, in context Vale beat Morecambe 3-1 at Morecambe and we also saw what they did to Rotherham today. With Vale probably playing with exactly the same style and tempo today that they employed against us it becomes clear how much of a quality, solid performance ours was. We COULD have been beaten 3 or 4 but we weren't and maybe today the Millers just weren't prepared mentally AND tactically by Fattyman which is where respect and credit must go to Mr Ling for assessing the situation and setting us up to go out, be realistic and be competetive and well drilled. We should have won that game.

The Cheltenham game was IMO a decent point and a point earned. No worries about that.

The Rochdale game looks like one in which we should have comfortably won anyway given their relegation form and we did and today we perhaps should have come away with the 3 points but didn't. Again my clamour for a regular finisher is still there but we'll be fine with what we've got.

Two final points, firstly i'd like to point out that in our man of the match assessments it is interesting to note how our goalkeeper and mostly defenders end up in the top 5. This is surely a sign that we are slightly negative in our overall play and invite periods of pressure from the oppostion? Just a theory. AND FINALLY, i've got to praise Pokey on how well he has done and some of the saves i've seen from him so far this season have saved us points no doubts in my mind. I think he is doing really, really well and must be commended. OK he's not Bobby and never will be, he doesn't command his area nor is particularly vocal but he can save shots and that's a massive bonus. Well done Pokey! Oh and if you're reading this mate, next time we chant your name at away games at least have the decency to acknowledge us you ignorant c**t!

[bengull]

I can see what you mean about the top 5's mate, however in some cases it can be misleading. In a lot of cases what Poke and the 2 centre backs do is a lot more noticeable than players in other positions. Its lot harder to appreciate what, say, a Morris or an Easton contributes rather than a goalkeeper who can keep a clean sheet through making 3 world class saves, or a central defender who doesn't give a striker a sniff all match by being dominant in the air throughout. It doesn't necessarily mean that we are ultra defensive, just more that these guys stood out because their job is more blindingly obvious and clear cut.

Against Rochdale, Downes appeared in many top 5's simply because in the early stages of that match he dominated their forward line to such an extent that they became completely obsolete, allowing us to get a foot hold in the game and turn the deficit around. His performance then allowed Rene, Niall and Bill to run rot.

Both Fleetwood and Vale were different circumstances as they were rearguard actions. I would concede that we are nowhere near as positive away from home, but I wouldn't call us negative as such. It is my belief that you should aim not to lose your away games, or at least not roll over and die like someone like rotherham did today. We should obviously try and express ourselves when the situation allows but as you have already pointed out, a point in both our away games so far looks favourable in terms of the league.

A good example of how Ling tries to set us up away from home would be Macclesfield last year. A solid enough first half meant we were never chasing the game, and once we got our noses in front and the game opened up, we simply picked them off on the counter attack and could have scored as many as we wanted, if for better finishing. THeir only attempt on target, a class header as I recall, took the gloss off that performance. Once we get our first XI back and playing cohesively i would expect to replicate that sort of performance time and time again, especially now we have added pace. Said it all along, our first 11 is a match for anyone.

It would be nice to think we could win every away game 3-0, or in your case just once! But when I look back on my 15 years supporting TUFC I can only think of a handful of times that we have dominated start to finish away from home. It probably only happens once or twice every season, especially now that the league is so competitive, but that Is why being a lower league fan is so rewarding, it is all the more sweet when you witness these big away day victories.

To bring this back to the original post, which I agree with in it's entirety, there is so much to be confident about at our club at the moment. Didn't get the result we wanted today but it wasn't through lack of effort or team spirit. We should remember where our club was as little as 4 years ago. We are light years ahead of that. Some tough games to come undoubtedly, but absolutely no need to fear anyone. As proved last year, we can give the top 3 a big head start at November and still catch them up. 7 points out of 15 isn't as great as it could be, but no team has got he better of us yet. I happen to think we have a team for any occasion, and I am very excited!

[ferrarilover]

We may sit in 11th place after 5 games, but I take many positives from this.

We are unbeaten and only Gillingham match that.
We have played 2 tough away matches against sides that have just today won 4-0 and 6-2. Infact it makes that Port Vale result last week a bloody good one, considering they had just today wiped the floor with Rotherham...shame.
We have been able to assess our bench early on in the season and with very good success
We are financially sound as a club
We are 1 point of the playoffs
According to sky sports news, this is our best start to a season in 18 years. I presume because we are unbeaten as we did win our first 4 games the other season before our 5th game we lost 2-1 at Southend.

Come on you yellows, I am very encouraged by the start and why should we be scared of a backlash from Rotherham and the fat t""t. Just maybe Yellow monkey is Steve evans....if not no offence but you are way out of order in your assessment of the team and fellow supporters

Except Gillingham are averaging 2.6 points per game, giving them an aggregate of 119.6 points (the largest total ever, probably). We are averaging 1.4PPG, giving us an aggregate of 64.4 points (sufficient to see us finish 12th last year).
We have also played against the same teams who lost 2-0 to Accrington and 1-0 to Bradford. Seem to recall Morecambe beating Cheaty 6-0 around this time last season, look what happened to those clubs respectively.
Our bench looks lovely, with NC, Tommo Macklin, etc, but Jarvis for Howe, it's not all sweetness and light.
We have been financially sound for many years, nothing relevant to the first 5 matches of this season. We would have been equally well off (or whatever) had we won our first 5 games.
1 point off the Playoffs is the first placed loser in this division. Come back to me in mid-May, you know, when it actually matters.
I preferred our start a few years back when we had 12 points from 5 games, rather than 7.

Not a negative Neddy, just the flip side of the positive. Overall, I'm not particularly enamoured with 7 points from 5 games. We should have beaten Vale, but for an OG and we should have beaten Argyle but for the shit ting referee, but the thing is, we haven't, and we're now somewhere in the order of three points behind where I'd like us to be this season. We need to get sorted and settled now. We had enough chances against Cheltenham to have won the game three times over. We were unlucky and a little bit cheated at Vale and against the Janners. We did beat Rochdale, and handsomely too, well done chaps. Fleetwood was an odd game for a couple of reasons. So, we've had a couple of silly matches where needless points have been lost, we've had the worst officiating performance we're going to get, we've had a big chunk of bad luck, time to get our heads down now, cut out the silly mistakes all over the park, find a settled XI and kick on with winning matches. Convert your chances and keep the opposition at bay, it's a simple game, and we're very good at it, the time to start showing that is now.

Matt.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Jesus Matt, i trust your Mathematics are accurate and for half two in a morning we can forgive you if they're not.

[brucie]

Did not see the Argyle game so can't really comment, although with their best player out I would have thought we could have won that. Port Vale was a bonus point as the team we fielded was diabolical.
We played well enough in the two home games against Cheltenham and Rochdale.
I think we are where we might finish mid table. If you compare our start against Exeter - well it isn't very good.
We are two players short - a decent forward and a decent midfield player, and until Ling does something about it we will continue to struggle.

[ferrarilover]

Did not see the Argyle game so can't really comment, although with their best player out I would have thought we could have won that. Port Vale was a bonus point as the team we fielded was diabolical.
We played well enough in the two home games against Cheltenham and Rochdale.
I think we are where we might finish mid table. If you compare our start against Exeter - well it isn't very good.
We are two players short - a decent forward and a decent midfield player, and until Ling does something about it we will continue to struggle.

It never used to stop you, what changed?
Yeah, one player, that'll make a difference...
We should have won, comfortably.
The team featured Mackenzie, who made one mistake in 90 minutes and Craig, who was very good indeed.
We did, **** me, you're right.
What the **** do Exeter have to do with anything? If you compare our start to Barnet, we're doing really well.
We aren't struggling.

Matt.

[Dave]

This for me is one of those glass half full or empty situations, we are as close to the bottom of the league as we are to the top, the team is unbeaten yet has only one win.

That said its far, far to early to start either thinking about where our squad is in terms of a possible league finish, or to compare it to any other clubs squad, as we all know the league does not settle down till 12 games or so have been played, their are allways a few teams in false positions early doors.

So far we have not played a game with a fully fit squad and have maintained an unbeaten start against some of the more fancied teams in the league, there are many things about our club to be positive about, and our start to the season on the field has been ok, still think the team are in second gear, there is more to come and hopefully we will see it soon.

[uberwozza]

We are solid enough but with little creativity.

Playing 4-1-4-1 home and away will see us comfortably mid table at year end, which ensures Lingy another year of employment.

Adding creative midfield player to replace Eunan would see us pushing for playoffs

[AustrianAndyGull]

We are solid enough but with little creativity.

Playing 4-1-4-1 home and away will see us comfortably mid table at year end, which ensures Lingy another year of employment.

Adding creative midfield player to replace Eunan would see us pushing for playoffs

Succinct and correct IMO. A predatory striker too and we'd be pushing for autos.

[Glostergull]

Did not see the Argyle game so can't really comment, although with their best player out I would have thought we could have won that. Port Vale was a bonus point as the team we fielded was diabolical.
We played well enough in the two home games against Cheltenham and Rochdale.
I think we are where we might finish mid table. If you compare our start against Exeter - well it isn't very good.
We are two players short - a decent forward and a decent midfield player, and until Ling does something about it we will continue to struggle.

Wow Brucie. I know you wanna see what we rise to, but after that comment. You rose to your own. Priceless

[Glostergull]

After watching United for More years than I can care to remember. I have come to a conclusion that we normaly start off slowly. Many time slower than a sloth. But raise our game toward Christmas. Then we fade away toward the end of the season.
These last few years has seen us do much the same with very little difference (yeah I know we has a Brilliant start under Buckle one year). Bar the fact that although we start slowly we pick up after 8 to 10 games and then only fade slightly toward the end of the season.
I won't start to worry if this pattern is repeated. I do have to say, that although we have more draws this season. (in Matts case orange ones) I think we have a better start than last season. Although not many points are on the board we are in fact unbeaten in the league so far and as more games pile on, the longer that sitaution remains the tougher it will be for other teams to break us down as we gain in confidence. Confidence breeds confidence and this is just the formula we need to climb up the table and challenge for promotion again. Who knows, after last season we may have grown the foundation for a full automatic promotion push.
Either way we are gaining, this season is promising to be a good one again. Now how many seasons have I been able to say that !

[oldpedant]

... I do have to say, that although we have more draws this season. (in Matts case orange ones) I think we have a better start than last season...

After 5 games last season, we had won two and drawn two, and so had 8 points.

Being unbeaten is a good thing, but we need to turn draws into wins. If you include the end of last season, we have won only once (Rochdale) in our last 12 league games, including the two play-off matches. A little worrying.

[Rifty]

Being unbeaten is a good thing, but we need to turn draws into wins. If you include the end of last season, we have won only once (Rochdale) in our last 12 league games, including the two play-off matches. A little worrying.

I dunno about anyone else, but I much prefer the unbeaten this season stat.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Me too but if we could just add a few more goals to our play then we'll be up there. We're already hard to beat and well drilled so if the strikers pull their fingers out a bit more then we can go all the way this season.