Skem away

[maddenmcr]

Not a great day at the office. Don't think they were a good side at all, the difference being the few chances they had, they took. We're making a habit of giving away soft goals. As individuals our back four is brilliant, I don't think any of them are bad players, just seem to be really shaky at the back recently for whatever reason. As he says above, something needs looking at.

Let's hope we're not playing ourselves out of this top 5 spot, back to winning ways Tuesday!

[ElChapo]

One positive, plenty new faces in the away end

[returntosender]

A terrible performance today,right throughout the team.Just not convinced in regards to Josh Hine,

[Chris P. Bacon]

Mar 12, 2016 18:51:45 GMT returntosender said:

A terrible performance today,right throughout the team.Just not convinced in regards to Josh Hine,

Not been convinced with Hine for a while now. I don't know if he isn't as good as we thought, or his heart's not in it? Great with the long throw-ins when we're in attack. But the one person you want in the box when a throw like that comes in.....is our striker! Needs far too many chances to score a goal, and that's no good for a striker at this level.

Wasn't at the game today, but with all due respect to our opposition, a team in second place should be beating a team like Skem. We defend great most of the time, but have a habit of switching off at least once in every single game. Teams are playing us, even at home, knowing they can get something out of the game, and that isn't right a for a team that fancies their chances of getting into the play-offs.

Other teams take their chances. They shoot on sight of goal and it works. We still have a tendency to try and walk the ball into the net. I've no idea if that's a management tactic....doubt it?.....or they lack confidence?

We may still get in the play-offs and if we do, the form book goes out of the window. It's two cup finals. But we'll struggle in the league above, and I don't think there will be time for the gaffers to switch and change the team in the early part of the season, to get it right?

My heart still hopes we stay in the play-off places, but my head says we need another season where we are. We are clearly better than most in this league, but the likes of Darlo have adapted and know exactly what this league's about. We don't.

[tangerinedream]

After two steps forward - against promotion rivals Ashton United and Workington - comes another big backward step against a side who couldn't even remember the last time they won a game and who we comfortably beat at home just a few weeks ago. After having received a lifeline with the penalty equaliser by Danny Webber that really should have signaled a concerted assault on the Skem goal with us also having the advantage of playing on the 'decent' half of the pitch with the other half resembling a plowed field. Despite a number of frantic scrambles in and around the Skem area and one noticeable miss from Josh Hine it was the home side who retook a late lead - albeit a clearly offside one - with the ball being moved from their defence into the back of our net in double quick time.

It was a particularly bad time to fall behind and unfortunately matters didn't get any better after the re-start as some of the most inept officiating - from both the referee and the linesman - it has been my misfortune to witness together with our own fruitless efforts at trying to make an impression on their goal made for a hugely depressing afternoon. Danny Webber really should have pulled the trigger instead of hesitating but yet again the chief culprit was Hine who picked up on a poor back pass to again completely fluff his chance. I really don't like getting personal or pointing the finger but how many more gilt edged opportunities is he going to add to the ones that have already cost us dear this season. Being able to launch a long throw is hardly a profitable return for the money we have evidently paid for his services.

I know a few seasons ago we had Mark Battersby and Rio Armadi upfront together who initially couldn't hit a barn door between them for a while but then eventually found their scoring touch with a vengeance. I really hope that this is the case with Hine as I am rapidly losing my patience with him. Unfortunately the rest of the team in the main also failed to deliver and the constant hoofing up front demonstrated an overall lack of invention. Skelmersdale's breakaway third goal sealed the game as we were never going to score again in a month of Sunday's with the home side then employing some outrageous and blatant time wasting tactics which went completely unpunished by a weak referee who spent more time wanting to book players - mainly ours it has to be said - for completely innocuous looking challenges and then stopping the game even longer by talking to players for seemingly minutes on end. This idiot is certainly the worst 'referee' I have seen for a very long time who had absolutely no idea as to how to stamp his authority on the proceedings and even less man management skills. I sincerely hope we don't get him again.

I will however not apportion any blame on the clown in black for our own abject display. That was entirely down to ourselves as we simply ran out of ideas and creativeness as to how to overcome a fairly limited opposition who made the most of their few chances that they created.

Tuesday night at Halesowen becomes even more important now after this disappointing missed opportunity. See you there!

[Chris P. Bacon]

If we can praise when praise is due......we can tell it as it is, when players don't perform. Some think it's actually a positive thing that we are creating chances. But we've been fluffing chances for weeks now.

If we had been mid-table all season, I wouldn't have any complaints. I don't think promotion is a right. But to be in such a position that we could have been ahead of Blyth with our games in hand....then to waste our chances, game after game........poor!

I'm not sure all our lads are playing for the shirt? That's the best way I can put it.

By the way.....where was Stopforth today?

[tangerinedream]

Mar 12, 2016 20:13:21 GMT Chris P. Bacon said:

By the way.....where was Stopforth today?

Suffering from tonsillitis. A big miss!

[Chris P. Bacon]

Mar 12, 2016 20:26:03 GMT tangerinedream said:

Mar 12, 2016 20:13:21 GMT Chris P. Bacon said:

By the way.....where was Stopforth today?

Suffering from tonsillitis. A big miss!

Might still have done better than some today? But yes, big loss. Standout player this season.

[macca]

Great day out. Shame about the result. Brought 9 lads who'd never been before and they absolutely loved it and will do a couple more before the season is out! Up the Ammies!!!

[jimbo]

Well what can u say about yesterday? First of all I think every player that wore the Salford shirt should have been totally embarrassed about receiving wages for that performance. Yes the ref was poor but we can't keep blaming the officials. That is the worse I've seen us play all season against a poor skem side and didn't deserve anything out of it. They let themselves down the fans and the managers. Are we good enough to play in the league above? On that performance no. What is going on we got totally bullied all over the park yesterday. If we don't sort ourselves out sooner than later we won't even make the playoffs. Yes we look good going forward but it ain't about looking good it's about scoring and we just ain't doing it. We can't keep making excuses that were missing gaz stopforth one man don't make a team. We have some great players at Salford so what's going on? We have been unlucky in some games this season and probably dint deserve to lose but eah it happens we've gotta make it right. That yesterday Imo was a total disgrace and I think we all no it. I think the team we had last season was more hungrier and better to what we have now and we've supposed to have brought better players in to strengthen the squad? Have we?

[Chris P. Bacon]

If the bulk of our team were as hungry now, as they were for the FA Cup games, we'd be top of the league. I refuse to believe that we don't have the team to do better than we are? It must be down to the desire of the players.

There will be changes at the end of the season, that's for sure. Playoffs or no playoffs.

[mozzer]

Mar 13, 2016 13:13:16 GMT jimbo said:

Well what can u say about yesterday? First of all I think every player that wore the Salford shirt should have been totally embarrassed about receiving wages for that performance. Yes the ref was poor but we can't keep blaming the officials. That is the worse I've seen us play all season against a poor skem side and didn't deserve anything out of it. They let themselves down the fans and the managers. Are we good enough to play in the league above? On that performance no. What is going on we got totally bullied all over the park yesterday. If we don't sort ourselves out sooner than later we won't even make the playoffs. Yes we look good going forward but it ain't about looking good it's about scoring and we just ain't doing it. We can't keep making excuses that were missing gaz stopforth one man don't make a team. We have some great players at Salford so what's going on? We have been unlucky in some games this season and probably dint deserve to lose but eah it happens we've gotta make it right. That yesterday Imo was a total disgrace and I think we all no it. I think the team we had last season was more hungrier and better to what we have now and we've supposed to have brought better players in to strengthen the squad? Have we?

That's exactly what I said to my car-share com padre on the way home. It's not our worst performance this season: Ilkeston and Grantham were worse; however, for a club that has stated ambitions of attaining promotion and draw attention to their statements of intent re the signing of certain players and backroom staff, then it has to be judged as simply not good enough.

I've now seen us play at Skem in three different divisions over ten years. I've obviously never seen them win there. This game was, on paper, our best chance at beating them at their place in a while, given that it will be the first season that I will have seen us finish above them in the league. Unfortunately, paper doesn't always transfer into practice - it still has to be earned out on the pitch, and perhaps a few of the lads need to remember that. We do have the quality to perform better than we did yesterday (win, lose, or draw), but far too many times they have under-performed out on the pitch this season. Some players are more culpable than others, but the whole team have to hold their hands up after yesterday. We looked tactically inept yesterday, both on the pitch and from the technical area. 

Though I have said this myriad times, I repeat that I personally do not think promotion is necessary this season. Based on our general performances since mid-January, I now believe that it would be detrimental to the long term to go up this year. This team playing this way would get relegated without a hope in the league above. To stay down at least one more season would give us opportunity to address some of the more glaring issues and improve our squad/staff gradually before any promotion.

[returntosender]

I do not think you just turn promotion on and off like a tap.I think at the start of the season,the play offs would have been the minimum requirements.If we get in them,then it is two cup finals and anything can happen, we will see.Would we be better staying down,I don't go along with that theory, you can't pick and tues.For a start their will be changes in personnel what ever division we are playing in next season.And if we don't make the play offs the changes could be right at the top.We have not had to say this all season,but I think most who were there yesterday,would agree it was a shambles, from the dugout to the pitch.

[Chris P. Bacon]

We can win every league we play in, if we want to go daft with our signings. But we need to build the whole club up, not just the playing side. We need to improve the ground and we need to take the fans with us. It's no use blitzing every league we play in, whilst disregarding the need to build the fan base.

I wouldn't be upset to get in the play offs and I'd be ecstatic if we got promotion. But we're not ready and I fear for our chances in a higher league. Yes, we can buy our way through the leagues, but what would we have really achieved?

I'm with Mozzer on this. It's not about turning promotion on and off. It's about us growing as a club and building for the future. I want our success to be sustainable, not just a succession of journeymen, brought in to get us to the next rung, and then they're gone.

These players should have been more than capable of getting the job done, and by done, I mean seriously challenging for the title, not just the lottery of the playoffs. I can't post that I want us not to go up, but my head says that we still have a lot to learn in this league.

[asalfordfan]

In terms of the result it was absolutely unforgivable purely based on where and what the team is try to achieve. In terms of performance I don't think it was anywhere near them of Grantham or Ilkeston.
I thing Andys report bears testament to that also. Has A's been said a million times on here we missed a host of chances whilst they had 4 and scored 3. Does that make Skem a more clinical team than us? Of course it doesn't it just means on the day our finishing and defending were totally inept!

A couple of mitigating factors however. Firstly it was the end of a very hectic 14 days were we accumulated 3 wind and a last minute defeat to champions elect, 2 other wins against teams who will probably finish in the playoffs!
Secondly after only getting both players back recently and our form turning we find out on arrival that the squad was light of Poole and Stopforth. Burton came in for something like his second start in 2 months and Moses also!

We're 4th in the league with 9 games to go, take Darlos form out of it and every single team amongst the top seven are dropping points willy nilly. Talk of not wanting to win promotion is embarrassing based on a couple of defeats/performances, it doesn't make sense as personnel will be changed anyway to suit the league we are in!
And managers leaving?? Jesus Christ, seriously you need to take a proper look at what you're saying, I actually cringed reading that!