L 1-0 vs Harrogate Town (H) - League Two - Sat 11th Nov, 3pm

He simply isn’t that good that’s why. People on here would have you believe he’s John Terry when he’s more like Titus bramble

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He’s not been at his imperious best this season but he’s still an asset, I don’t think it’s helped we’ve changed shape and partners for him several times. Nor has Evans and 2 clean sheets in 21 league and cup games tells it’s own sorry story. Certainly time to get back to basics and making us much harder to break down, whereas under Flynn our shape off the ball was often a joy to watch we seem defensively disorganised under Sadler.

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This is what i cant get my head around , surely MS as a defender who played at fairly high level would this not be his forte defensive shape, positioning etc

A high quality defender at that. For his sake and for ours we really need to settle on a consistent shape, 3 or 4 at the back and then the personnel. I think the defence more than any other position requires a team ethic where players know what each other are going to do, and the keeper also. He’s been given a shocking hand with injuries and retirements but we really need a consistency in strategy and personnel going forward that will help us move forwards and achieve some much needed clean sheets.

You also need to factor in how the players we have operate offensively and offer much more than under Flynn, Previously, we had Kinsella sitting in there, doing a sound defensive job but offering zilch offensively. Now we have Stirk, McEntee, who might try to do some defensive work but, equally, will pop up in attacking positions. That seems to leave us more vulnerable. Balance needs to be achieved - we certainly don’t want the turgid offerings that Flynn’s defensive set up gave us but, equally, we need to have some element of defensive strength.

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The problem on Saturday was not at the back but in missing chances.

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How the goal condeded ? By Mcentee and the defence not closing down the man and giving him acres of space to shoot from , yep it didnt help not putting away our chances but a point is better than none so in effect the goal came from a problem with the defence and gk not doing there jobs in the dying minutes :man_shrugging:

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Agreed, the balance is currently too attacking and we have to build some results which are much easier achieved from a solid base and a clean sheet. Back to basics for me, grind out some 1-0 wins if needs be but we have to be much more solid out of possession and difficult to break down.

At this point last season we had conceded a miserly 16 goals, this season 29 so a whopping 81% MORE GOALS CONCEDED. It’s all very well being easier on the eye and a more entertaining brand of football but it’s a results business. We have to be better off the ball, harder to break down and manage games more efficiently. The result has to become more important, at the moment publically at least Sadler seems happy because performances on the whole have been decent, if that reflects on the players then the winning mentality just isn’t there and we will continue to exist in midtable obscurity.

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think the teams shape was thrown by RAMs substitution and so there was no -one to close down then compounded by goalie error. It was poor, but understandable.

The problem been at the back all season. We can’t keep clean sheets and we have no idea how to sit in and grind a result out we’re all over the place but it’s no surprise when we have no right back and our centre backs aren’t up to it

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This is a good stat. I’ve just looked into it and we’ve only actually scored 3 more goals, so the payoff is not worth it at all.

It just goes to show that the perceived shift in attacking quality is either a myth or totally ineffective. We have much better attacking options this year too.

An 81% increase in goals conceded and a 14% increase in goals scored. We’re just way worse as a unit this season.

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Correct - but last season we had a problem creating chances, and it was only DJ had a high conversion rate that it looks this way.

I think we have been a more attacking side this season. If someone has the time and the ability to see what the stats look like in terms of shots on goal last season Vs this season, then I think you’d see that there has been a shift in balance.

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That’s absolutely fair, but we also have DJ this season, so you’d think we’d be better off adjusting our tactics, tightening up and then just playing DJ. Or play him and carry on as we are and he’d put a lot away.

We’re stuck in no mans land at the moment.

I try not to be too negative, but surely our current approach can’t be dismissed as a lot of unconnected anomalies. Eventually you have to accept that we’re in control of our own fate to some degree and with better tactics, team selection or training could be getting better results.

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I don’t disagree with any of this - but very simply I think last season we had a great defence and (in the second half of the season) a poor strike force, and this year it’s the other way round.

Manny Months and Hayden White ( for all his faults) were a crucial part of one of the best defences in the league. Sure they made some howlers, but generally speaking how many times this season has our defence looked as resilient as it did last season.

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No,no…you must understand, white was one of the worst players ever to play for the club and many couldn’t wait to get rid of him…and yet he was an almost ever present in a defence that let few goals in.

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Currently up a place to 16th with Colchester losing. Sadler in!!! :grin:

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Currently only 4 points clear of relegation with FG and Trannmere winning. Sadler out!! :grinning:

Ffs anyone else starting to feel a little nervous. Ere we gew again :expressionless:

Not me. Still think we will finish in the top half :wink:

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Not a chance we will finish top half imo