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Well that was just complete rubbish all round.
Three teams that didn't have a clue between them, and a winning goal fitting of the standard of the whole thing.
Today showed why there were questions about Taylor not so long ago.
The lack of strength in the squad is alarming and the formation in the first half was poor (as it was in Boxing Day).
Reynolds is shocking. His first two touches seemed to be about getting the ball away from himself as quickly as possible and thenhe only got worse.
Harfield, Blanchfield and Wright are nowhere near good enough to be playing at this level.
Mullings doesn't look very good either, but will get picked out by enough others on here so I won't bother.
Some recent comments about how good a team he's built and challenging for the play offs are laughable.
Least Enjoyable Home Game Since When?
There is no strength in depth despite our large squad and I think the questions about his summer recruitment of quantity over any real quality came back a bit today.
I don't feature playing 5 at the back against them but tbf we were probably expecting them to set up as they had done recently but Currie made changes. At least we tried to plug it after 20 and fixed it more properly at half time, even if the players available weren't really able to do it.
I can't remember a midfield performance worse than Wright offered today in many years. He can't pass, he doesn't know what to do when he gets it, he doesn't use his size at all and he's so timid. He barely got his shorts dirty. If he doesn't find some tenacity and heart from somewhere his professional career will be over very shortly.
Think it was all a bit after the lord mayor's show. Our better players didn't have their best games and our enforced changes simply weren't good enough. You can't win a game with no midfield.
I don't feature playing 5 at the back against them but tbf we were probably expecting them to set up as they had done recently but Currie made changes. At least we tried to plug it after 20 and fixed it more properly at half time, even if the players available weren't really able to do it.
I can't remember a midfield performance worse than Wright offered today in many years. He can't pass, he doesn't know what to do when he gets it, he doesn't use his size at all and he's so timid. He barely got his shorts dirty. If he doesn't find some tenacity and heart from somewhere his professional career will be over very shortly.
Think it was all a bit after the lord mayor's show. Our better players didn't have their best games and our enforced changes simply weren't good enough. You can't win a game with no midfield.
Are we SERIOUSLY going to start questioning Taylor again after a brilliant run?
I got the feeling the run might end in unexpected fashion and Christmas time often throws up funny results across all divisions (Leicester today after beating City, Spurs losing to Wolves).
Today showed how important McQueen and Munns have been playing recently and I agree the replacements didn't play as well. Barnet played okay and probably shaded it tbf, although we a couple of great opportunities, the Mullings header on obviously being an absolute sitter.
Let's not get disheartened after one defeat. We are safely in mid table and no-one would have envisaged that two months ago. And we would have taken that!
I got the feeling the run might end in unexpected fashion and Christmas time often throws up funny results across all divisions (Leicester today after beating City, Spurs losing to Wolves).
Today showed how important McQueen and Munns have been playing recently and I agree the replacements didn't play as well. Barnet played okay and probably shaded it tbf, although we a couple of great opportunities, the Mullings header on obviously being an absolute sitter.
Let's not get disheartened after one defeat. We are safely in mid table and no-one would have envisaged that two months ago. And we would have taken that!
Now the SE27 Dagger
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AVincelotFlyingLeap
- Posts: 642
- Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 10:54 pm
- Location: Walking In A Woodall Wonderland
I thought we looked knackered tbh. I think with a performance like the one we showed against Orient, we had to accept that today was going to be lower on quality. Balanta in particular looked to be feeling it at the end. We miss Robinson a lot when he doesn't play, Phipps had a poor game for me and I was happy when was he taken off. It's frustrating because they didn't play particularly well, they seemed to get a lot of lucky bounces and things going for them, but I did think their defence looked well-organised.
Anyone with any opinions on Harfield ? Thought he showed some nice touches, could be a good player for us, just no idea what position that would be in.
Not sure where this leaves us now. With the loanees up for renewal my inner pessimist says that this will be as good as it gets for the season and we'll drift back down the table. The optimist in me says this is just a blip and I'm looking forward to taking on out-of-form Orient on New Years' Day.
Anyone with any opinions on Harfield ? Thought he showed some nice touches, could be a good player for us, just no idea what position that would be in.
Not sure where this leaves us now. With the loanees up for renewal my inner pessimist says that this will be as good as it gets for the season and we'll drift back down the table. The optimist in me says this is just a blip and I'm looking forward to taking on out-of-form Orient on New Years' Day.
First half the set up was all wrong. It was a back 5 with Wright dropping onto Goodliffe's toes whenever they had the ball, hence Barnet had the majority of the possession as nobody wanted to engage them. I have no ideas why we were trying to play Phipps behind the front two. He's excelled lately in his role and we moved him to accommodate Wright and Harfield.
2nd half the set up was better but our better players ran out of legs. Balanta was treading water by the end.
I agree with Mark's comments about Wright. An utterly awful display. No idea how he stayed on the pitch until the end. I'd have left Harfield on simply because he has the legs to get about the pitch.
A disappointing but inevitable day. We all know the squad's weaknesses and this just further highlighted. I wish the club would actually communicate a little bit though. Adeloye and Kandi have now done a disappearing act as well.
2nd half the set up was better but our better players ran out of legs. Balanta was treading water by the end.
I agree with Mark's comments about Wright. An utterly awful display. No idea how he stayed on the pitch until the end. I'd have left Harfield on simply because he has the legs to get about the pitch.
A disappointing but inevitable day. We all know the squad's weaknesses and this just further highlighted. I wish the club would actually communicate a little bit though. Adeloye and Kandi have now done a disappearing act as well.
To be fair Mullings miss was all he did wrong. Wright,Bloomfield , Reynolds to a degree and Harfield terrible terrible players, where was our midfield ?
I don’t know why he keeps playing these players, Davey had a good game though ( yeah I know he didn’t play) he’s usually terrible when he does.
Awful performance,sod going to Orient New Year’s Day well be murdered.
Pile of shit today.
I don’t know why he keeps playing these players, Davey had a good game though ( yeah I know he didn’t play) he’s usually terrible when he does.
Awful performance,sod going to Orient New Year’s Day well be murdered.
Pile of shit today.
Bollix to Shampoo, it's real poo we want !
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EssexDagger!
- Posts: 531
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 5:40 pm
How anybody can blame Taylor for today I don’t know...We may have new investors who have helped bring in 3 or 4 real quality additions to our startling 11, which has resulted, in my opinion, us being able to mix it with anybody in this division ,which the wins against Fylde,Harrogate,Salford & Orient have proved, but if we are unfortunate enough to suffer suspension or an injury or two (today Munns & McQueen) then we look in serious trouble, the likes of Harfield,Wright,Reynolds,Mullins are sadly nowhere near the standard of the players they are replacing...I can’t see another side in this league that Wright & Harfield would get a game in centra midfield for....
Even with a squad as big as ours it shows that we are in desperate need of some squad depth, players who the manager can trust to bring on when Plan A is not working or when key players are suffering injuries or more commonly this time of year, fatigue.
I can’t fault the defence today though, every single one of them was solid as they have been for the past 10/11 matches now.. even Connor & Balanta up top caused havoc for the Barnet back line, they just never had enough support from the midfield where usually they have Munns & McQueen bombing on to support our attacks...
And don’t get me started on Reynolds....
Even with a squad as big as ours it shows that we are in desperate need of some squad depth, players who the manager can trust to bring on when Plan A is not working or when key players are suffering injuries or more commonly this time of year, fatigue.
I can’t fault the defence today though, every single one of them was solid as they have been for the past 10/11 matches now.. even Connor & Balanta up top caused havoc for the Barnet back line, they just never had enough support from the midfield where usually they have Munns & McQueen bombing on to support our attacks...
And don’t get me started on Reynolds....
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EssexDagger!
- Posts: 531
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 5:40 pm
I’m pretty sure the manager said last week he was impressed with Wright (who is due to go back to Colchester in January) and is talking with the club and player about extending his contractor.... Jesus bloody Christ
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Friendly Bee
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:50 am
Barnet view.
Started with a friendly pint in the clubhouse and made to feel welcome.
I've not been to your ground since the new stand looks great with an excellent view.
Onto the game.
First half was fairly even we had a lot of possession but did very little and gradually grew into the game. No idea what our goal was the view from the terrace where I watched the first half made it difficult to see.
Batalanta wriggled through once but I don't recall many chances from yourselves.
Second half I thought we were more aggressive, stronger and passed it better. It just seems like you couldn't really get hold of the ball for any period of time before we pinched it and attacked with purpose. Akinola made his first appearance this season and we have missed his attacking threat.... Add to that shaq coulthirst who is a nuisance really did not let up on your back line.
We had numerous attempts and shots wide and other than the header which looked easier to score you were fairly ineffective up top.
We've had a season of boring hoofball.... Today currie set up with real intent to pass and move the ball quicker than we've seen.
Clearly you had an off day but I don't think many could argue we didn't deserve the win.
Good luck for the season
Started with a friendly pint in the clubhouse and made to feel welcome.
I've not been to your ground since the new stand looks great with an excellent view.
Onto the game.
First half was fairly even we had a lot of possession but did very little and gradually grew into the game. No idea what our goal was the view from the terrace where I watched the first half made it difficult to see.
Batalanta wriggled through once but I don't recall many chances from yourselves.
Second half I thought we were more aggressive, stronger and passed it better. It just seems like you couldn't really get hold of the ball for any period of time before we pinched it and attacked with purpose. Akinola made his first appearance this season and we have missed his attacking threat.... Add to that shaq coulthirst who is a nuisance really did not let up on your back line.
We had numerous attempts and shots wide and other than the header which looked easier to score you were fairly ineffective up top.
We've had a season of boring hoofball.... Today currie set up with real intent to pass and move the ball quicker than we've seen.
Clearly you had an off day but I don't think many could argue we didn't deserve the win.
Good luck for the season
Never thought I'd see Mullings play again and today with the open goal he put over just proves my point. Just shows how far we've come in the past couple of months when you compare the signings we've made to the rubbish we had at the start of the season like Reynolds. Players went into the game thinking they'd won it before a ball was kicked and didn't start pushing for a goal until the second half. McQueen will be a miss, new improved attacking players are certainly needed if we are to push forward and challenge for the play offs, whether this season or next.
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Pondfield Dagger
- Posts: 409
- Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:38 pm
Poor selection playing five fringe players, no wonder Barnet were on the market movers list today., backed for a reason. Munns, McQueen, Robinson should start every game end of. Thought mullings left the club, stealing a living...
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DaggerJoel11
- Posts: 1223
- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 7:14 pm
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- Contact:
One game too many for us and we looked very tired as the usual spark which we've carried for a few weeks deserted us. Probably our worst display since the cup game at home to Boreham Wood but even then it's encouraging that we still created a number of opportunities. The Balanta one-on-one, Reynolds' dribbling into the arms of the keeper for the 50th time this season and Mullings' superb defensive clearance are all three MASSIVE chances, and if any of them go in perhaps the momentum swings. Add to that the penalty, don't know whether it was or not and perhaps other people with better viewpoints could shed some light, but after scoring from that position against Havant I have no idea why Conor would go down.
All in all though a reality check but some perspective is still needed. Six points from this run of form is outstanding and every other team in the division would struggle to eclipse that tally against similar standard of opposition. Today Barnet were the better side and we were too defensive in midfield, meaning we essentially had the back five and the midfield duo of Phipps and Wright all sitting back. We lacked coherency whereas usually Munns would be that middle ground linking the defence and attack. As a result, Wilkinson and Angelo were isolated at times and we lost the midfield.
Barnet nothing special and it's frustrating to lose to a team who were very limited and quite one dimensional, however nobody can dispute that they were worthy winners. It's a bit of a wake-up call for us and perhaps that isn't a bad thing - we can't keep going 1-0 down to cheap goals and expect to perform last-gasp salvation acts. It's been a great few weeks though and nothing changes that, yes Taylor's tactics were questionable but when he finds out at very short notice that Munns and McQueen, two of our most important players recently, are unavailable then it can't be easy to implement a new system that we presumably haven't trained on.
Still the league's form team, still someone nobody wants to play, still creating big chances - today was just an off day but let's put it right on Tuesday. And, above all else, the visible drop-off in performance today is a testament to just how great that run was.
All in all though a reality check but some perspective is still needed. Six points from this run of form is outstanding and every other team in the division would struggle to eclipse that tally against similar standard of opposition. Today Barnet were the better side and we were too defensive in midfield, meaning we essentially had the back five and the midfield duo of Phipps and Wright all sitting back. We lacked coherency whereas usually Munns would be that middle ground linking the defence and attack. As a result, Wilkinson and Angelo were isolated at times and we lost the midfield.
Barnet nothing special and it's frustrating to lose to a team who were very limited and quite one dimensional, however nobody can dispute that they were worthy winners. It's a bit of a wake-up call for us and perhaps that isn't a bad thing - we can't keep going 1-0 down to cheap goals and expect to perform last-gasp salvation acts. It's been a great few weeks though and nothing changes that, yes Taylor's tactics were questionable but when he finds out at very short notice that Munns and McQueen, two of our most important players recently, are unavailable then it can't be easy to implement a new system that we presumably haven't trained on.
Still the league's form team, still someone nobody wants to play, still creating big chances - today was just an off day but let's put it right on Tuesday. And, above all else, the visible drop-off in performance today is a testament to just how great that run was.
Wright was poor but thought he was a decent centre back as the season started... He's never a centre midfielder so hard to dig him out too much... Never thought the Mullings header was going in... Clear where squad depth needs to improve in January