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This year's festive offering sees the first of a double-header against Maidstone United as we return to league action following a near-month break induced by the recent sub zero temperatures.
Our last Vanarama fixture brought a surprising defeat at home to Torquay United, albeit with the misfortune of hitting the woodwork four times a contributing factor, and we'll be looking to avoid the same fate against another relegation-battling struggler.
There will be alteration in our now-settled centre half trio comprising Hare, Onariase and Phipps due to the latter being suspended. Onariase could also miss today through injury so one or more of Johnson, Longe-King and Zouma will likely fill in.
Must win - COYD
Maidstone United (H) Thread
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DaggerJoel11
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Diggerthedog
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I guess a win is a win but let’s be honest we won’t come up against a more toothless side all season and we should really be beating these types of sides very comfortably.
We’ve gone back to being very pedestrian, watching the opposition with the ball and not hunting it down, we’re like this in spells under the current manager, is it the coaching or tiredness because half of them never get a rest and with a huge amount of game coming up they won’t get a rest any time soon.
One thing I did pick up on yesterday was lots of arguing amongst players, seems that a few were off their game and were told by others about it.
Like in many games this season the only bit of quality is from Weston, we would be lost without him.
We’ve gone back to being very pedestrian, watching the opposition with the ball and not hunting it down, we’re like this in spells under the current manager, is it the coaching or tiredness because half of them never get a rest and with a huge amount of game coming up they won’t get a rest any time soon.
One thing I did pick up on yesterday was lots of arguing amongst players, seems that a few were off their game and were told by others about it.
Like in many games this season the only bit of quality is from Weston, we would be lost without him.
Tough ol' encounter yesterday - nice goal from Westy to ultimately win it. Bit scrappy 2nd half, although Macallum should've buried his chance when it came along.
Thought Maidstone looked well-driiled at the back & created plenty of chances up front - reckon we'll have to up it a fair bit to take all 3 points next week.
That said, we're often proper Christmas turkeys when it comes to home Boxing Day performances - so will certainly take the win.
C'mon you Daggers!
Thought Maidstone looked well-driiled at the back & created plenty of chances up front - reckon we'll have to up it a fair bit to take all 3 points next week.
That said, we're often proper Christmas turkeys when it comes to home Boxing Day performances - so will certainly take the win.
C'mon you Daggers!
Maidstone are going down unless they find something up front. Really poor.
That said, they were almost able to grab a point which doesn't say much for us.
Thought we were really poor, passive, slow. Gave the ball away so often, made bad decisions. As poor a game as I can remember Robinson having, who is pressed into 90 minutes every single game because we failed to recruit any decent midfielders in the summer. Mussa was shocking, he has a wonderful touch but has no idea in his head how to play the game. He doesn't anticipate anything, meaning players just run off him and he's caught in no man's land. In possession he always wants 5 touches when 2 would do. Taylor, after a promising start when he arrived, looks a bit disinterested to me. I forgot Walker was even playing.
I know this probably sounds incredibly harsh after a win but after all the player turnover and money spent since the manager arrived I just can't fathom how we are at the same sort of level as the likes of Wealdstone and Altrincham. I don't expect us to compete with Wrexham but we're over 20 points off the pace which is an absolute chasm. Even Woking and Barnet are clear of us.
That said, they were almost able to grab a point which doesn't say much for us.
Thought we were really poor, passive, slow. Gave the ball away so often, made bad decisions. As poor a game as I can remember Robinson having, who is pressed into 90 minutes every single game because we failed to recruit any decent midfielders in the summer. Mussa was shocking, he has a wonderful touch but has no idea in his head how to play the game. He doesn't anticipate anything, meaning players just run off him and he's caught in no man's land. In possession he always wants 5 touches when 2 would do. Taylor, after a promising start when he arrived, looks a bit disinterested to me. I forgot Walker was even playing.
I know this probably sounds incredibly harsh after a win but after all the player turnover and money spent since the manager arrived I just can't fathom how we are at the same sort of level as the likes of Wealdstone and Altrincham. I don't expect us to compete with Wrexham but we're over 20 points off the pace which is an absolute chasm. Even Woking and Barnet are clear of us.
A bit harsh on your criticism of Maidstone's performance, but quite rightly of our own team we started slow for the first 15 mins. this was due to Maidstone really putting pressure on us, eventually we started to get into the game, but Maidstone still caused us plenty of problems, they seem to play very similar football to ourselves, Westies goal was a cracker and deserved the MOM award, Macca should have buried his chance but also helped to change the game for the better, and while Maidstone worked their socks off our defence won the day by keeping a rare clean sheet, A very watchable game but one I sighed with relief with at the end, looking forward to my trip for the return game, COYD.
It was a poor performance from us despite the win, not unfair to say that at all. Lack of squad depth is really starting to show and one moment of quality from Weston saved our bacon. I imagine he will retire in the summer and honestly god knows what we will do.
I would say we desperately need Vilhete, Ling and Tavares back for some options to allow us to change things up. But the additional quality it provides to us isn’t much…
As a positive note, excited to see what Ibie could do for us. A player that tall that had some flashes of real pace is going to be quite entertaining to watch
I would say we desperately need Vilhete, Ling and Tavares back for some options to allow us to change things up. But the additional quality it provides to us isn’t much…
As a positive note, excited to see what Ibie could do for us. A player that tall that had some flashes of real pace is going to be quite entertaining to watch
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Diggerthedog
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Tavares is out for the whole season forget about him, also wasn’t impressed with him as he was part of the problem with our woeful early season form although he was played in an unfamiliar position.
The new lad could be a real handful for some sides and from what I hear he smashes it in training both aggression and ability, could be a real fine for McMahon which has been part of our problem not many gems unearthed.
The new lad could be a real handful for some sides and from what I hear he smashes it in training both aggression and ability, could be a real fine for McMahon which has been part of our problem not many gems unearthed.
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DaggerJoel11
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I like the 4-3-3 a lot, especially as it absolves Weston of his defensive responsibilities and enables him to channel his energy doing what he does best in attacking positions.