Before getting on to this week’s match report it’s worth considering the following. We’re mixing together a new team for this season, missing some of it’s more mercurial talent through injury or suspension, under the wing of a newly appointed manager who’s been ten years out of the league. The dough is yet to rise. How good is the yeast?

This week’s match report culled from the musings of regular Old Penk Saddler, who kindly posted on the messageboards his thoughts on the game.

Wrong team. Wrong tactics. Wrong Manager.

You could see after 20 minutes that 4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1 whatever it was, was not working.

Shocking hesitant defending from Smith, Boertien and Palmer. Hughes, whilst he scored a good goal really struggled with his fitness level and Grant made Taundry and him look like donkeys. Apparently Zaaboub was on the teamsheet but he hardly touched the ball.

Jabo played well and Reich impressed in patches.

When Mullen actually got the team and tactics right and brought off Zaaboub for Ishy we began to look useful in a 4-4-2 formation with Ishy up front, scored a good goal and were threatening.What did our glorious leader do then. He brought on Deeney for Nicholls and moved Ishy to the RIGHT wing. Momentum and game over.

Conclusions:

Boertien is no improvement on Sansara
We desperately need a new centre half as both Smith and Roberts aren’t good enough.
We even more desperately need Weston back
Taundry isn’t good enough as a central midfielder and its a scandel Bradley is behind him in the pecking order.
Hughes is good enough but hasn’t got the legs to get round the pitch. He should just sit in front of the central defenders.
Zaaboub is a luxury player that we can’t afford. Ishy should start.
Nicholls is played out of position on the wing and should be given a chance through the middle.
Reich improves each game but you can’t play him and Zaaboub in the same line up as they are both lightweights.
Jabo is carrying the team at the moment.
The manager is clueless.

After the match, the pontifications of the wise. We bring you a selection of gems from around the net - some priceless, some worthless:

“Most shots on goal went in for a change” Bristol R 6-1 Hereford “The squad simply isn’t good enough”

“We kept them in the game” Crewe 2-1 Walsall “Lacking in quality in key areas, namely defence, midfield and attack”

“The most frustrating match in years” Hartlepool 0-1 Stockport “A bit of a smash and grab”

“Sack Ternent now. Total Farce” Huddersfield 1-3 MK Dung “GBP20 in was a rip-off”

“There’s no quality in this league” Leicester 3-1 Tranmere “3-1 flattered them. Their fans were disgusting.”

“We battled boldly for a point” Leyton Orient 0-0 Carlisle “Any away point is a good point”

“We don’t need another striker” Northampton 0-0 Millwall “If they’d had a finisher we’d have lost this”

“Very disappointing crowd” Oldham 4-0 Cheltenham “Very disappointing performance”

“We only score from the spot” Scunthorpe 1-0 Peterborough “Disappointed to leave with nothing”

“We didn’t look bothered” Swindon 1-3 Colchester “We were all over them”

“They struggled to cope” Yeovil 1-1 Leeds “They were there for the taking”