Early thoughts..

[Plymouth Gull]

This post is exactly what the title says. As some of you know/may have realised (or maybe not), I haven't been away for 3 weeks, missing all of pre-season. I was looking forward to today because I'd been able to keep up to date with the friendlies but I couldn't do much more than that. However, some thoughts from seeing todays game..:

1) The "solid back line" we supposedly have. Today may have been a one-off and I sure as hell hope it was! It was alarmingly bad! Every ball over the top caused mayhem, and without Olejnik, we'd have been 4/5 down. It was schoolboy stuff, pushing too far forward at times. Saah and Robertson are too alike, and the back line needs a bit of work on, to work together aswell. I do hope it improves before we go to Rovers or we could be embarrassed.

2) Kee & Howe. Too similar aswell. Absolutely no pace whatsoever, which means that a quick passing game won't ever work. Thought Kee was shocking, to be fair. Howe was good, a right handful. Quite impressive, although I expect he'll get sent off more than once this year. Atieno offered pace, which is needed, but in my opinion, the longer it is Kee and Howe upfront, I'm worried.

3) O'Kane. Best player on the pitch by an absolute mile today. Really cannot see him being here much longer, unfortunately. I just hope we get a fair deal when the inevitable occurs.

4) Oastler. I thought he was solid at right back, he looked at home, and (I haven't read the match thread yet) I don't know if people are blaming him for the 2nd goal, but for me the blame goes to Saah there. Oastler went to mark the first guy out of the game, but nobody filled in, hence the big gap. I'm confident he can make that spot his own.

5) Wingers. Impressed with Morris, surprisingly tall aswell. Macklin and Stevens didn't offer much more than before, which is a worry, if they're our back ups.

I know these might seem quite negative but I thought we were shocking for 70 minutes today, and we only improved when we were up against it. I'm hoping that Ling & Taylor work on the defence through the week as otherwise next Saturday could be embarrassing.

Thanks for reading, and it's good to be back

[Dave_Pougher]

1) Kee, (maybe doing him an injustice if he was involved in the first goal, missed the build up) get fit or move on, harsh maybe but too many times players got in front of him whilst he was waiting for the ball to come to him and didn't chase a lost cause once.

2) Stevens, suprised me, actually had a better game than I though he would passed several players a delivered a couple of good passes.

3) Morris, several times saw him in acres of space advancing and didn't get the ball, why ? can only be a lack of communication which will hopefully right itself in time as players get to know each other better

4) Worried that wel will lack pace, the game smacked of Maccesfield at home last year, we will get sussed there and exploited.

5) Every time we water the pitch heavily at half time it works against us! Today was no different.

[AustrianAndyGull]

I am worried by the fact that i actually thought our defence was pretty much solid and if anything i was mostly concerned about where our goals were going to come from. I didn't go today but from what i can piece together we were appalling at the back with Nico being quiet and Robbo not playing well and up to his usual shirt pulling tricks. Oastler was culpable for one of the goals but i believe one poster said if it weren't for him we could have conceded more. Olejnik was solid in goal with a few outstanding saves and Saah looking totally out of his depth. Only one game in but much to ponder. We scored twice and it is good to know that when Kee puts in a stinker then we have Atieno as back up, although going on reports it looks like Atieno and Howe would be a more productive partnership with Kee on the bench. All in all its only the first game and there is a long way to go but i am very concerned about Saah. If its any consolation Branno got skinned for Aldershots first goal at Bradford today so it can happen to the best of them!!

[Southampton Gull]

I put this on the matchday thread but I guess my comments are suitable for here.


Olly: Well, he is certainly a good shot-stopper and his handling is superb. I think he was at fault for the second goal and was too slow to react to the attacker in front of him. He also made Robertson look bad a couple of times when he obviously didn't give him the right call or any call at all, I can remember two situations clearly where an early call would have had Robbo dealing with the ball rather than expecting the keeper to come and get it. Still a quality addition to the team and no worries from me about his ability, reminds me of a certain Michael Poke, calm head.

Oastler: Quality, very good at doing the basics of defending and is a real asset when going forward. Why oh why wasn't he used there last season.

Nico: Average display from him today, what you see is what you get with him, solid reliable and good at getting the ball forward and to feet.

Robbo: Looked very good to me, made to look daft by Olly a couple of times but was a solid performer today.

Saah: Looked slow to react a few times today, seemed to me he played too far apart from Robertson which invited Richards to exploit the space to good effect. Major worry, more than once he was caught lacking with a ball hit over his head, some very good tackles showing an ability to read the game well but based on that performance a bit of a worry.

Mansell: Tried hard as always but didn't really offer much today, pretty average display.

O'Kane: Worth the entrance fee on his own, he's beginning to dominate games at times and with a little more strength is going to be a very very good player. Good showing from him today.

Stevens: I thought he was dire, gave the ball away so many times and is always going to be the same frustrating player, bags of ability, lots of expectation but zero end product. I thought he should have been substituted at half-time, slightly better second half but still not good enough.

Morris: You can see he has ability, he gets stuck in but was just average today, didn't seem to understand that Kee wants the ball played to his feet, not 20 yards behind a defender, he was responsible for making Kee look poor at times with wayward passing.

Kee: Looked dangerous and linked well with Howe despite Matt saying otherwise, he can play with Howe if he gets the ball to feet, he won't run the channels like a Benyon or Atieno but he has better finishing skills than the both of them and was unlucky when through on goal that his shot skewed wide as the keeper rushed out. He'll score plenty this season.

Howe: Looks lazy at times but has a real ability with the ball, he took his goal with a real cool head making the keeper look stupid.

Subs: Didn't really have much chance to contribute and so I'll save those for another time.


Not a great display in all honesty but it was a match that eventually had you thinking we would win it but there was always that thought at the back of your head that Burton could sneak it. No doom and gloom for me, a point on the opening day and the chance to see another masterclass from Eunan made it worth every inch of a horrible drive down the A303 in holiday traffic.

[ferrarilover]

Not strictly fair Dave. I'm not suggesting that they don't link together well, but between them, they are both so glacially slow that they end up playing in front of the opposition back four and it takes a really, really good ball through and an equally well timed run to produce a goal. They are just of such limited goal threat because of their abject lack of pace. I love Billy as a footballer, and I think, given tine, I will rate Rene just the same but as a strike partnership, their limitations are too great to make them effective

Matt.

[Southampton Gull]

You did actually say that from Day 1 Kee and Howe cant play together though. I happen to think that they play very well together and their link-up play is superb to watch, both strong, both with skill to burn and both with an eye for goal. What they do need however, is the ball played into their feet so they can do what they do best. Stevens, Mansell and Morris all seemed intent on playing the ball down the channels as if expecting Benyon to run down from Wycombe and chase it, I'd wager he'd still beat both Kee and Howe to it.

I happily admit that neither are blessed with a turn of speed, but their brains make up for that with their ability to beat a number of opponents in a confined space and create a chance.