Brilliant first half yesterday and to be fair Cheltenham took the game to us in the second half and undoubtedly deserved a point.
What struck me yesterday and on Wednesday was that we need 4 or 5 players. The squad is really lacking in depth. Not only do we need extra players to cover injuries, suspensions and to rotate a bit but we need players on the bench who could make a real difference.
Thinking about it on the way home I concluded that we must surely be down on numbers compared to who was in the squad when the final whistle blew at Wembley.
MAY 2014 SQUAD PLAYERS NOW GONE
Lainton, Hemmings, Hussey, Kee, Symes, Ismail, Alexander, Gray, Holness and Diamond (10).
2014 / 2015 ADDITIONS
McLaughlin, Taft, Moose, Bev, Akins and Blyth (6).
The above lists obviously do not need to feature Fads and The Sheriff.
I trust that I have thought of everyone and that I have reached the correct conclusion that we are 4 down. In fact, it does get a bit worse in some respects;
- Clearly Akins isn't likely to play more than an hour often.
- Bev is naturally knackered after an hour.
- Without Bev I don't know where we are going to get goals.
- Blyth isn't the answer.
I didn't rate Blyth before yesterday and that glory seeking dribble (he lost the ball - quelle surprise) in added time when he should have gone to the corner flag infuriated me immensely.
How the Moose didn't get man of the match yesterday is a bit of a mystery.
Urgent ! Staff Needed !
posted on 28/9/14
Yep couldnt agree more ,we are very very lucky to be perched at the top of the division , Blyth isnt a long term answer for Kee , maybe Gary knows that and is being very shrewed in taking his time for the right player ,but im sorry folks it will all end in tears if we dont do something soon ,Cheltenham totally dominated us second half and should have at least shared the spoils .We are ready to be shot at now ,lets not give other sides the chance to catch us and overtake us at the top , WE NEED AT LEAST THREE QUALITY PLAYERS GARY YOU KNOW THAT THE CHAIRMAN KNOWS THAT LETS DO IT BEFORE WE END UP A MID TABLE TEAM .
posted on 28/9/14
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posted on 28/9/14
It was clear that Cheltenham could not deal with us in the first half. They had ran out of ideas, so second half they just bypassed every one in the middle and went for the big hoof ball up front. This tactic almost worked, but it is football at its ugliest.
Where the Ref found the extra 2 mins at the end from is a mystery?
What a difference it made having all of our first team on the pitch, but we don't have the strength when a few are missing.
GR and KS say when we get Mcory and Philips back it will be like having 2 new signings, but who's to say they will be on the same form as last season. That may take a while.
Yes we need a couple of new faces in the team, so we can rotate players.
A great start to the season with a blip, but we need to push on against our old foes on Friday.
posted on 28/9/14
I was thinking in terms of the wage bill Steve. Of course we can only debate the point as we don't know what the wage column looked like in May and what it looks like today.
Zander and Hussey were on our wage bill at Wembley but I take the point about them being on loan in the spring.
Symes was on the wage bill all season without kicking a ball - not that this was his fault.
You can also have players earning twice as much as others - so the number of faces doesn't necessarily equate to what it amounts to in monetary terms.
I am convinced our wage bill is less than May 2014 and much less than August 2013 - with Rory Delap and Rene Howe presumably earning quite a bit. It also feels like there are fewer players on the books aswell. I sense that we are creaking a bit with a need for extra personnel.
I overheard someone at the game ask 'if we were still going to get that Preston bloke who is currently injured?'