Post by Chris P. Bacon on Feb 17, 2021 10:28:26 GMT
Well this is a real 6 pointer if ever there was one and quite an intriguing contest. Carlisle are still slight favourites with the bookies for the title, based on their games in hand. But we know that this is rarely a food thing. They lost what looked like a fairly even contest last night to Harrogate.....on a penalty. Harrogate are playing well, so I don’t see this loss as significant. They will come at us, all guns blazing I expect and after a great performance against Cambridge and a dogged performance last night, This is a chance to see where we really sit in the late-season pecking order.
A win and the proverbial cat will be well amongst the pigeons and will mean a review of odds with the bookies. We think our form has been inconsistent, but that’s mirrored by others in the league. We are 2nd in the form league for home games, with Carlisle sitting 18th on away form. So there is reason for optimism. Not much between us in goals for and against, but we are close to 2 goals a game at home, with Carlisle on less than 1 goal per game away. But stats won’t mean much on the day. More likely who has the strength to control the game and see it out.
Hopefully if Carlisle play a more expansive game it might suit us better than a team set up like Barrow. We remain the only unbeaten team at home so we must be a daunting prospect for other teams to visit so we may have a slight edge there. I’m looking forward to it as it will, as you say, be a good marker of where we are in the grand scheme of things. If we can get our high pressing game going again we have a good chance of another win.
Post by tangerinedream on Feb 17, 2021 23:28:18 GMT
Providing we go out there with a positive attitude then I feel pretty optimitic. Tuesday's game against Barrow saw us revert back to passing for passing's sake and saw us make virtually no headway upfront whereas the previous game against Cambridge saw us go forward with purpose and precision. Just think sometimes that we lack a little forward thinking and don't exploit the spaces enough that opposition sides leave us. Better anticipation and positional sense will see us reap the benefits in terms of goals and scoring opportunities.
A big test, but not impossible. The real test, as we have not in our EFL history, strung three consecutive wins together. Win tomorrow and we crack this bogey.
The two meanest defences in the league (though Cheltenham aren't far behind) so I wouldn't be surprised to see a low scoring game, granted Carlisle's 23 conceded have been in 24 games total so the stats may flatter them a bit there. We're on a good run and at home, they're on a bad run and away... Feeling optimistic but again, feels like it might be a case of who blinks first. Echoing others in that stringing that third win together will put us in the driving seat somewhat. Light rain forecast through the night and into tomorrow but nothing to be too concerned about I shouldn't imagine.
In general we seem to be at a generally topsy-turvy point - in what is proving to be a particularly topsy-turvy season - in this funny old league. You wouldn't want to bet (well, not serious money, I would have thought, Chris P. ) on the outcome of any of this weekend's League 2 fixtures. In fact, if Sam in Cambridge is listening: I trust it won't take your club a full 78 minutes today to work out the code that opened the floodgates at Mansfield ... as it took Bolton on Wednesday. That would have been a great game - that, sadly, Bolton fans couldn't be at.
Well the old game of 2 halves cliche was never truer than today. I thought we were awful first half, passive, negative and slow in our thinking and passing. Henderson was really isolated with neither Gotts or Towell getting forward to help. And Hunter was out of his depth at RWB too. Our defending for their goal was dreadful.
The change in formation in the 2nd half made us more positive and once Wilson and Asante were on we looked lively and threatening. Wilson’s calm finish from Asante’s weak effort was well deserved and we maybe could have sneaked it had we managed to get on the end of a couple of crosses. I think we need to look at players and system as Henderson needs much more support from genuine forward players if we are to create and score chances.
Well the old game of 2 halves cliche was never truer than today. I thought we were awful first half, passive, negative and slow in our thinking and passing. Henderson was really isolated with neither Gotts or Towell getting forward to help. And Hunter was out of his depth at RWB too. Our defending for their goal was dreadful.
The change in formation in the 2nd half made us more positive and once Wilson and Asante were on we looked lively and threatening. Wilson’s calm finish from Asante’s weak effort was well deserved and we maybe could have sneaked it had we managed to get on the end of a couple of crosses. I think we need to look at players and system as Henderson needs much more support from genuine forward players if we are to create and score chances.
And we still can’t put 3 wins together 😪
My lad thought we played well today, and I thought the exact opposite. They struggle to score away from home and we are unbeaten. The commentator said that when Carlisle go a goal down away, they don’t tend to come back. But we didn’t come out with any urgency. In the first half, not a single striker or midfielder tried to take on a defender. They stopped, passed the ball backwards and gave the problem to someone else. Even when they scored, we still plodded along like we had all the time in the world. The first half was so dull, I went out at half time to get my beers in for tonight and came back in at 75 minutes. I saw Assante running at defenders, and Wilson running onto balls, and looking like we actually wanted to win it. But yet again it was too little, too late.
I actually thought Carlisle were pretty ordinary. Well drilled yes, but ordinary. That’s what we aren’t. We struggle to see games out and we are the only team (that’s aiming for promotion) I’ve seen that go a goal down and don’t react. Nothing. We are ordinary too. In this league, ordinary can win you a title as it may well do for Carlisle. But our ordinary will win us sod all. It shouldn’t take substitutions to get a reaction. Yes, the change may win you a game, but there’s no excuse for that first half, with players not wanting to push forward and attack, when you have gone a goal down.
if we do that in future games, I’ll turn the game off again as I did today. On the plus side I got a few bottles of Warsteiner for the family quiz tonight.
In general we seem to be at a generally topsy-turvy point - in what is proving to be a particularly topsy-turvy season - in this funny old league. You wouldn't want to bet (well, not serious money, I would have thought, Chris P. ) on the outcome of any of this weekend's League 2 fixtures. In fact, if Sam in Cambridge is listening: I trust it won't take your club a full 78 minutes today to work out the code that opened the floodgates at Mansfield ... as it took Bolton on Wednesday. That would have been a great game - that, sadly, Bolton fans couldn't be at.
Hi alanb....it took us the first half and then 10 Mins into the second half and we cracked the code. 3-0 didn’t flatter us but it was a very solid, work man like performance without massacring a team ...if that makes sense. If we can do that again on Tuesday then I really will believe we’ll be automatically promoted. As they say ...it’s the hope that kills you...
From a selfish point of view you drawing with Carlisle today was the perfect result for us. Do you see it as a point gained or two points lost having seen the match?
In general we seem to be at a generally topsy-turvy point - in what is proving to be a particularly topsy-turvy season - in this funny old league. You wouldn't want to bet (well, not serious money, I would have thought, Chris P. ) on the outcome of any of this weekend's League 2 fixtures. In fact, if Sam in Cambridge is listening: I trust it won't take your club a full 78 minutes today to work out the code that opened the floodgates at Mansfield ... as it took Bolton on Wednesday. That would have been a great game - that, sadly, Bolton fans couldn't be at.
Hi alanb....it took us the first half and then 10 Mins into the second half and we cracked the code. 3-0 didn’t flatter us but it was a very solid, work man like performance without massacring a team ...if that makes sense. If we can do that again on Tuesday then I really will believe we’ll be automatically promoted. As they say ...it’s the hope that kills you...
From a selfish point of view you drawing with Carlisle today was the perfect result for us. Do you see it as a point gained or two points lost having seen the match?
For me it was points lost, although we didn’t deserve all three. I did miss 30 minutes of the second half, so maybe my judgement is clouded. It appears I missed our best spell. I thought we should have taken the game to them, but we laboured in the first half and for the first time ever, I stopped watching. The lockdown is dismal enough. I don’t need to watch 10 players labouring around a pitch like they’re wading through custard. I always think, ok, we’ve gone a goal down and now we’ll see a reaction. But we don’t, until changes are made. The players seem incapable of reacting to a situation and remember, we have some very experienced players in our team that are supposed to have seen and done it all.
But I may be in the minority. I’m sure others, having watched the full game will have a more balanced view. Well done on your win today. I honestly thought you were heading on a downward spiral, but you did it in style today. I think we got you in a bad patch. It’s the only explanation I can think of. We hit our best form right at the time you hit your worst. But that’s football I guess?
Hi alanb....it took us the first half and then 10 Mins into the second half and we cracked the code. 3-0 didn’t flatter us but it was a very solid, work man like performance without massacring a team ...if that makes sense. If we can do that again on Tuesday then I really will believe we’ll be automatically promoted. As they say ...it’s the hope that kills you...
From a selfish point of view you drawing with Carlisle today was the perfect result for us. Do you see it as a point gained or two points lost having seen the match?
For me it was points lost, although we didn’t deserve all three. I did miss 30 minutes of the second half, so maybe my judgement is clouded. It appears I missed our best spell. I thought we should have taken the game to them, but we laboured in the first half and for the first time ever, I stopped watching. The lockdown is dismal enough. I don’t need to watch 10 players labouring around a pitch like they’re wading through custard. I always think, ok, we’ve gone a goal down and now we’ll see a reaction. But we don’t, until changes are made. The players seem incapable of reacting to a situation and remember, we have some very experienced players in our team that are supposed to have seen and done it all.
But I may be in the minority. I’m sure others, having watched the full game will have a more balanced view. Well done on your win today. I honestly thought you were heading on a downward spiral, but you did it in style today. I think we got you in a bad patch. It’s the only explanation I can think of. We hit our best form right at the time you hit your worst. But that’s football I guess?
Hi Chris P. Bacon I’d actually put money on you winning today so I’ve lost a little too ...not that it really matters. After you beating us 4-1 I really thought we were on the skids. Southend at home was dire but perhaps a really important point and today was a really assured win ...I never thought we’ d not win to be honest. You’ll know far more about Salford FC than me but they seem to be a really difficult team to call in terms of results. But that’s true of the league as we’ve discussed before. The team we put out against you was a decent team yet you hammered us. Mullin was anonymous in the first half and, bar his goal in the second, did little. Today he scored two. There are lessons there but I suppose it’s about consistency. We’ve got a testing run coming up with matches against Cheltenham, FGR, Exeter, Newport, Tranmere, Carlisle ...and ..well I think you get the picture. Tuesday will be interesting. Enjoy the rest of the evening and completely get what you say about hoping footy can help lift the spirits at this difficult time ...and it’s painful when it doesn’t!
Post by Chris P. Bacon on Feb 20, 2021 19:06:16 GMT
There doesn’t seem to be any easy games in this league. Southend are really making a fight of it and any team can win on the day. That’s what we want I suppose....competitive games.
Post by tangerinedream on Feb 20, 2021 19:43:11 GMT
If we had lost that game it would have been a complete travesty of justice. Apart from their one shot one goal in the first half we dominated the first half but struggled to create anything of note to trouble their keeper due in the main again to our lack of a final decisive ball and our insistence of trying to make as many passes as possible without actually getting anywhere. I fail to understand why Coutts' 'goal' was disallowed after just five minutes and hope to see some clarification on the highlights and although Hendo was twice flagged up for off-side he missed two one on ones on both occasions which was followed by an even worse miss in the second half when he headed unmarked at their keeper with no Carlisle defender in sight. At the break I felt confident that we'd score at least once but not necessarily twice given that Carlisle had clearly decided from the off that they were at Moor Lane to stifle us rather than going for the win. An improved second half where we certainly upped the tempo but when a bad miss from Lowe when clean through and then Asante misfiring again I was beginning to wonder about my half-time optimism. Fortunately James Wilson had the presence of mind to steady himself and to calmly slot the ball home for a deserved equaliser which was the least we deserved on a dominating but shot shy performance against what has to be said was a fairly limited Carlisle United side. While happy that we rescued a point and kept our unbeaten home record intact I'm less than happy about our lack of quality and decision making upfront. That Cambridge performance seems a long time ago!
Post by tangerinedream on Feb 21, 2021 17:55:56 GMT
Just watched our extended highlights and rewound the Coutts disallowed 'goal' on several occasions and am still at a complete loss to understand why it was disallowed. Absolutely nothing there to suggest that it shouldn't have stood. Poor defending on our part for their goal with two players turning away at crucial moments - the cross that was headed out and the resulting shot into the back of our net. If there's one thing that gets my blood boiling and that's players turning their backs on play. There's absolutely no need for it and all they have to do is to look and concentrate on the ball and not to anticipate what the opponent might or might do. As I said before Hendo's finishing was woeful but give him his dues in having a major role in our leveller with a great run and a sublime pass to Asante who predictably missed the target as well as the superb pass to Lowe who also ballsed-up his shot. Big credit though to James Wilson with his cool collective finish which leads me to reaffirm my belief that he is the only lethal striker we have in our squad who I'd bet my house on if it came to backing him in front of goal. He's just so instinctive and knows exactly where to place the ball rather than hitting and hoping and in my mind he should be an automatic starter in our side.
Just watched our extended highlights and rewound the Coutts disallowed 'goal' on several occasions and am still at a complete loss to understand why it was disallowed. Absolutely nothing there to suggest that it shouldn't have stood. Poor defending on our part for their goal with two players turning away at crucial moments - the cross that was headed out and the resulting shot into the back of our net. If there's one thing that gets my blood boiling and that's players turning their backs on play. There's absolutely no need for it and all they have to do is to look and concentrate on the ball and not to anticipate what the opponent might or might do. As I said before Hendo's finishing was woeful but give him his dues in having a major role in our leveller with a great run and a sublime pass to Asante who predictably missed the target as well as the superb pass to Lowe who also ballsed-up his shot. Big credit though to James Wilson with his cool collective finish which leads me to reaffirm my belief that he is the only lethal striker we have in our squad who I'd bet my house on if it came to backing him in front of goal. He's just so instinctive and knows exactly where to place the ball rather than hitting and hoping and in my mind he should be an automatic starter in our side.
Agree re Wilson, he has that extra quality to his game in being a calm and measured finisher. But for injuries dogging his career he would have played at a higher level than Scotland and L2. He has to be a starter, if only to give us more presence up front.
As for the disallowed goal, I think it was a bit like the Newport non penalty. A couple of their players fell over, screamed and yelled as modern day players do and the ref bought it. I do wonder if empty stadiums contribute to decisions like that as the ref hears the cries loud and clear and reaches for his whistle.