Chesterfield predictions

[Neuromantic]

to add to you geoff, the most amazing decision for me was swapping wright from the left wing where he was causing damage straight to the right wing, now why you want to do that? absolutely incredible. he made this decision at half time, i couldnt believe it

[WFC_Rob]

Rob, if your saying the goals came from crosses that we shouldn't have allowed them to get in, then surely Merson is right to criticise Fox? After all, Fox is a full back.

However, its hard to criticise the lad when he had a fat 37 year old useless lazy player, sorry, I meant our manager, in front of him for protection.

However I have to dis-agree entirely on Wayne Allison. If the bloke caused all defences problems with his height and strength, then he'd be playing every week for them. He is a 37 year old bloke, not a young energetic lad.

Correct me if I'm wrong but two of the goals came from corners which weren't given away by Fox and the all-important winning goal came after Wright fluffed a challenge to allow the cross to come in. I'm not saying Fox was brilliant today or anything along those lines but if I was Daniel Fox listening to that interview, I would be thinking, "Why does he mention my name when there were half a dozen players who didn't pull their weight today?" It's things like this that will cause the players to lack the desire to play well for Paul Merson. He has already publicly criticised Gerrard & Fryatt when there are other, experienced 'professionals' who have not been performing.

[WFC_Rob]

to add to you geoff, the most amazing decision for me was swapping wright from the left wing where he was causing damage straight to the right wing, now why you want to do that? absolutely incredible. he made this decision at half time, i couldnt believe it

Yes, that was what lost us the game, in my opinion too.

[Stu]

Rob, I was fortunate to be asked to work all weekend so I wasn't there to see it.

Jsut the way you said it made it sound like the goals had come from crossess that could/should have been cut out, that was all. My mis-interpretation.

[YGA Saddler]

Well my post at the start of the week told you everything.
I am gutted and really pi$$ed off. Why do people still show faith in this bloke that is ruining our club?!

15th in the league and were improving are we Merson lovers?

I dont want to comment too much on the game, im off to drown my sorrows!

[Ace]

I'm going to start doing everyone's lottery numbers, 50p a go :D

[tinned]

Merson can fudge off right now. Like Geoff I've had enough dreading Saturdays and walking out the ground with a mix of anger and embarrasment welling up inside me. It's time this bloke was put out of his misery.

Can any Mersiah fan really come on here tonight and defend that excuse of a tactical performance ? The first half of las season I spent denying what I could clearly see. I used to convince myself that things weren't really that bad and that an massive upturn in fortunes was just round the corner. Anyone who still has these delusions now needs to give themselves a slap around the face and take another look, we're doomed with this clown in charge, doomed.

MERSON OUT NOW !

[Stu]

Bring back Lee eh Dave? Those were the days.

[YGA Saddler]

Get Tony Pulis in!

[Exile]

Dear oh dear. Presume the match report on the front page is fairly accurate, as nobody has contradicted it here.

[tinned]

Bring back Lee eh Dave? Those were the days.

Now I never said that, Stu :x

We need a motivator and a tactician.

Lee couldn't motivate a 16 year old virgin to have a shag.

Merson couldn't devise tactics to get out of a cul-de-sac

[YGA Saddler]

Club Manager: Colin Lee
Club Captain: Paul Merson

guess that explains it all really. No more Lee posts :D

[Saddler Jim]

Well a lot as been said about this match,but as a so called happy slapper,even I think Merse has got to go,tactictly he's f'ckin lost it,I walked out of the ground with 5 minutes to go I d had enough,to bring himself on was a disgrace,we were under pressure and he made it even worse,there a snail in our back garden with more pace than Merse,he should have got Husbands on instead , his, pace would have worried there back 4 therefore stop them going forward,what gets me is we will always be winning at H/T,but wene the oppossing manager makes changes to try and get back into the game Merson is totally inept to counter these things,I m really pissed off at the moment , one word of praise Gilmarten we have a future Star here,it would have worse without him how ever he kept that one attempt out I do not no.Merse will now blame everybody but himself' but Merse you are to blame nobody else,if you think anything of us leave now before you get us relegated.one last thought,Geoff and son,Cannock,Dave Roe,Evo,A,C and Geordey for the first time,nice to see you all again,smashing hour b4 the K'O,really good company,without you lot the day would have been a complete wast of money. :( :( :(

[Will]

Congratulations Merse, you made Chesterfield - an average to poor team look like Brazil.

2-0 up and cruising, but with a few defensive scares that suggest we need to keep on our toes. We go out in the 2nd half. You change Wright's position for no particular reason. When we are getting over run by pace, aggression and workrate you bring on yourself and proceed to: not track back, not pick up players, not move around the pitch, completely ruin our game by causing all the players to pass to you so they keep on your side.

Too many 2nd half errors to list, but the Paul Smith thing is a major one. He's a liability until he gets fit, or gets his confidence back. Thought Westwood was okay today to be honest - didn't make many mistakes, but came under more and more pressure as our midfield went missing and drifted all over the place, same for Fox and Gerrard really. Forwards couldn't do much with no service - would've liked to have seen Husbands and Fryatt together. Would've loved to have Wracky today in midfield - running back, working hard, tracking and getting behind the ball.
Midfield was rubbish 2nd half Wright drifted out of the game and can't defend, Smith might as well have been off the pitch, Merson was a waste of space and useless - most set pieces he was just stood in space not picking up any players.

Also think it's laughable he's publicly slating Roper for weight issues when he plays himself and Paul Smith who look like fat sunday morning players.

We have been really lucky with our results up until now and have got results while not performing, our league position was a bit misleading, looks like our luck has run out and teams playing us are getting their just rewards now.

The things that we are lacking are:
discipline, organisation, steel, intelligence, workrate, confidence and fight.
Got to be down to the manager hasn't it.

We are following the same pattern as last year. Even though our squad is much much stronger. Play offs should be more than achieveable with our players. It's terrible but I'm hoping we lose the next six or seven games. At least then Merse might go and we can actually get someone in who can organise and install discipline and we might salvage something from this season. This division is pretty mediocre really - look at the points diff between top and bottom. Any consistent team can make the play offs.

MERSE OUT NOW!

[ShropSaddler]

Agree with all of the posts re Merson's lack of tactical awareness and, quite frankly, bizarre substitutions. A couple of points;

i) The critcism of Fox was unbelievable. I would mark him down as one of the players who could hold his head high after the game. If he's going to criticise, why doesn't he start on the midfield, whichis where we lost the game, the lack of fitness apparent in certain players and the poor management of the team!

ii) Stu - I understand why you'd think that the defenders must have played poorly but, in my opinion, they didn't. Fact is that, despite his age, Allison is a very dangerous player if he gets service into the box. The service was made available in the 2nd half by Chesterfield using wingers on both sides AND moving their full-backs up to support. Merson's brilliant tactical genius didn't recognise this (nor for that matter did his "experienced" professionals on the bench) and we continued to play a narrow formation with no-one to mark the full-backs. Hence plenty of crosses into the box and Chesterfield were inevitably going to score goals. Merson's great response to this? Bring himself on to play on the "left wing" and provide even less cover. The really diabolical thing about the game was not even the fact that Chesterfield came back to 3-2, it was the fact that even then, they looked the most likely team to score and passed the ball around us with barely a challenge.

iii) Westwood/Gerrard - no doubt coming in for criticism and I'm sure Merson will be pointing the finger of blame, most probably at Gerrard. Let's be clear about Westwood - I think he's an excellent player but he's not the tallest in the division and against someone like Allison he will struggle. Against players on the ground, he looks a much better player. Gerrard - a young lad still learning the game and Allison is far too clever and very good at out-muscling players like him.

iv) The keeper - sorry, there seem to be some rose-tinted glasses on some people. He was at fault for at least one of the goals and it was clear the defence didn't have confidence in him when the ball was played high into the box at corners etc. Not saying he isn't a "prospect" but let's not get carried away

[Stonnall_Saddler]

Bring back Lee eh Dave? Those were the days.

Now I never said that, Stu :x

We need a motivator and a tactician.

Big Ron is the man

[Cheesebag]

Pants

Pre season prediction = 6th

New predition = 21st :cry:

[geoffwhiting]

Some excellent posts here, especially from Will, which leave me with nothing much to add, except to say that I want Merson out NOW, and someone in who can organise our obviously talented squad of players into a TEAM.

[Geordiesaddler]

Just got back so have calmed down a bit since yesterday. All I can add to the above is "that" REALLY HURT yesterday, for a good hour after the match I had convined myself that the only way to show how I feel about this manager and the way he has thrown away our decent start to the season, and his own decent chance to make a hack of the job was to stay away, just for the good of my own mental health rather than as any kind of feeble protest.

Won't happen of course, I'll just stop moaning and get behind the lads next week, but I know now that the blip of the end of last season/beginning of this was a false dawn. Its right back to where we were this time last season.
Ho Hum. At least we're still in the FA cup.

[Evo Boozy Saddler]

Ho Hum. At least we're still in the FA cup.

So are Slough. :(

[Dave Gittins]

Ho Hum. At least we're still in the FA cup.

So are Slough. :(

Who will stay in the longest? On current form I wouldn't like to say

[Bristol Fan]

Have only just calmed down enough to comment on yesterday's shambles. Merson just has to go - now - while there's someone to come in and save the season. As soon as the second half started, he began screaming at Standing to stay on the wing and not cut inside (despite the fact that Standing was one of our most creative players in the first half when cutting inside, but couldn't get into the game while staying out wide). When he didn't - he brought himself on. The Paul Merson of the last 18 months or so is the least disciplined footballer I've ever seen - that he thought he could do a job of staving off attacks from the wing just defies belief.

Merson can't shoulder all of the blame. We were at sixes and sevens defensively. Westwood and Gerrard both made individual errors which cost us. Gilmartin was a joke. I know he's young and nobody else seems to have mentioned him so I assume everyone thinks he was OK, but it's just a joke that someone like that should be playing for a professional football club. The circumstances with Oakes getting injured were bizarre, but to think that the best back-up available was that kid is worrying indeed. Mick Kearns would have made a better fist at keeping the goals out. Whenever they attacked, they scored - except for the one save he managed to make, which of course Merson described as "world class" before saying the keeper hadn't made a single mistake all afternoon.

I've been saying he's rubbish all season, but we missed Wrack, we really did. Playing 4-4-2 - remember a couple of weeks ago, our esteemed manager said we COULDN'T play 4-4-2, before proceeding to try it in each of the following games - without Wrack is difficult. Wright's OK, but there is literally nobody for the other wing. Playing Standing there is no use, playing himself there is no use, playing Taylor there didn't work last week - but he's decided to go into the season with only two recognised wingers, and one of them now has a broken leg. Maybe Daryl Taylor will do all right there, but I wouldn't bank on it.

The substitutions were just extraordinary. Unlike most people, I thought Smith was excellent in the first half, but both him and Osborn faded badly in the second and we were overrun in midfield. We needed Taylor on for one of them, urgently, yet both remained on the field for 90 minutes. Fryatt was brilliant, creating both goals, and our biggest problem was that we just couldn't get the ball to him. To replace him by Husbands was another joke. And everyone's already gone on about the sheer stupidity of the Standing/Merson swap. I can sort of understand Merson wanting to come on, but we can't afford for him to be part of a midfield four, this has been shown ever since he has been here; the only possible place I can see him playing is just behind a lone striker, and even to do that he needs to lose more weight than Ian Roper.

This season's no better than last. Merson thinks we deserve to be top of the league; I say that if it wasn't for a lucky goal at Rotherham and an undeserved penalty against Forest, we'd be right down in the mire. He hasn't worked out a way to play since Joachim left and I don't think he ever will. Time to go.

[London Saddler]

Shambolic, gutless, pathetic, clueless. I still havn't calmed down

Our defense is the worst i have seen in the division so far. I wasnt fooled by a couple of clean sheets against nice teams who play pretty football like Bournemouth or Swindon. I knew as soon as we played another physical team who wud cross the ball or hit long balls to a big front man, we wud b exposed for the crap we r. Even Gerrard struggled yesterday. Westwood was as unbelievably crap as he has been all season. I am sick and tired of calling for Ropers return after every match but cant b bothered now

Midfield wise we r every bit as shockingly incompetent as previous threads have said. Smith wud not get into a pub reserve team and if he is a professinal footballer, i am Gengis Khan. Subsitutions make u wonder whether Merse is living in a parallell universe where he watches a different game. I have no complaints about front 2 as usual. Its not their fault that they need to try and score 4-5 goals per match to b sure of winning

I don't expect Merse to change or learn anything from management as all he has achieved so far is actually getting worse with each passing game. I don't expect Bonser to do anything, after all he never acted after humilation after humilation in the cups and nearly getting relegated last season. What i do expect now is a relegation battle this season. We have now lost to 2 of the worst teams in the division in Yeovil and Chesterfield who themselves will b there or there abouts for relegation this season. My preseason prediction of 12th is wrong. With the present manager, the present players, the present formation(s), we will struggle to stay up