Northampton Town (H) League 1 Saturday 1/11/08.

[DanWalsallFC]

Hi, im new :D
Whats the rumours then?
Also, Jimmy Mullen out, anybody can get into a lead vs Hartlepool and Northampton with our team, so lets get someone in who knows how to defend it!!

[4143]

Also, Jimmy Mullen out, anybody can get into a lead vs Hartlepool and Northampton with our team, so lets get someone in who knows how to defend it!!

I hope you're on a wind-up.

[walsallforprem]

One thing i can't understand was the substitutions. Why on earth bring Reich on!? I knew as soon as he came on he would do nothing. If your going to sit everyone back to defend, at least stick someone up front like Nicholls who is going to chase down hopeless balls and not leave Jabo to be burned out by chasing all game.

Reich offered absolutlely nothing and looking at him, he couldn't be bothered.

Why on earth was Ishy not even in the 16!? There RB who came on was slower than an elephant, Ishy would have walked past him!

Taundry again was quality, i just love watching him play because he puts so much effort in. MOTM by far. I still think he is very vunerable when long high balls are played to him and he finds them difficult to defend. I think Deeney had a decent game putting effort in as usual and Palmer scored one and assisted two so no-one can moan at that.

Overall i think the match was extremely poor and like others have said seemed like a loss. We've played so much much better in other games and have come away with nothing. It really was a very hollow victory

[DanWalsallFC]

Also, Jimmy Mullen out, anybody can get into a lead vs Hartlepool and Northampton with our team, so lets get someone in who knows how to defend it!!

I hope you're on a wind-up.

Maybe I worded that wrong..
I just dont think, at 3-0 vs Northampton..or 2-0 vs Hartlepool we should welcome them onto us, let them just attack us for the 2nd half, pathetic, sooner he goes the better this club will be!

[Graydon48]

Ince - 8 - Fine form, made a few great saves and was confident in catching

Taundry - 9 - My MOTM, superb all game
Gerrard - 7 - Solid at the back and scored?
Roberts - 7 - Solid display
Boertien - 7 - Look better today, abit more confident than in recent weeks. Decent display

Deeney - 7 - Was brave to score his goal in that manner, gave his all, but was still only average
Hughes - 7 - Decent first half but dissapeared second half
Mattis - 7 - Good game from him. Solid in thee middle for the majority of the 90 mins
Palmer - 8 - Another good game from him. Wonderful goal and picked up two assists

Ibehre - 7 - Posed a threat but his decision making was poor. Poor first half, better second, gave his all but not his best performance
Ricketts - 6 - Poor game from him, never realy got going.

Bradley (for Mattis) - 6 - Didn't realy get into the game when he came on, putting us under more pressure
Reich (for Ricketts) - 6 - Ran around abit, but never got into the game. Looked out of place upfront.
Nicholls (for Deeney) - 7 - Did well with what he had to do for his limited time on the pitch





Overall, we never got out of 2nd gear, but didn't need to. Northampton could have scored anothe, but Ince was in good form making a vew very good saves. It was a routine win against a poor Northampton side. We weren't convincing but good (and brave) finishing won us the match. It could have so easily gone the other way.

Bit over the top with your player ratings.
If the majority was 7/8 how come we was so crud :shock:

[4143]

Also, Jimmy Mullen out, anybody can get into a lead vs Hartlepool and Northampton with our team, so lets get someone in who knows how to defend it!!

I hope you're on a wind-up.

Maybe I worded that wrong..
I just dont think, at 3-0 vs Northampton..or 2-0 vs Hartlepool we should welcome them onto us, let them just attack us for the 2nd half, pathetic, sooner he goes the better this club will be!

Firstly, we won the Northampton game. 3 points on the board, the most important thing.

Secondly, you can't sack a manager for two games - especially when you've won one of them. Remember, sacking someone means paying off their contract, reducing money in the coffers.

Continuity pays off in the end - chopping and changing managers is bad news. We're in the top-half of the table, for goodness sake!

[DanWalsallFC]

Its not just those games, take for example the Peterbrough game...admittedly it was a shock to everyone going 1-0 down after a few minutes but even when it was 2-0 we didnt exactly look like we wanted to attack.

I just want to know why we ALWAYS go so defensive and let them come at us when we are comfortable and doing fine the way it is??
And bringing Ishy on the 90th minute when we were losing summed him up, doesnt know what hes doing.

Anyway, whats the Rumour in the suite?!?!

[4143]

Its not just those games, take for example the Peterbrough game...admittedly it was a shock to everyone going 1-0 down after a few minutes but even when it was 2-0 we didnt exactly look like we were attacking...

I just want to know why we ALWAYS go so defensive and let them come at us when we are comfortable and doing fine the way it is??
And bringing Ishy on the 90th minute when we were losing summed him up, doesnt know what hes doing.

It's still not justified in my opinion, because we're in the top half of the table. I admit the Peterborough performance wasn't good at all, but it still doesn't justify a sacking.

Of course we're not a perfect team, but nobody in this division is - that's why we're here.

[4143]

P.S. Welcome to UTS. :D

[Duke]

we were very lucky to get away with that , shocking dreadful second half worse than anything I witnessed under Merson.

Questions have to be asked .
why against a side that caused us very few problems in the first half , did we defend so deep in the second.
Why after a good first half on the left midfield did Palmer play as an extra defender in the second, not the players fault obviously he was instructed to do just that.
why again was a fully fit Weston left out of the 16 . Taundry did a good job at right back but i worry about his height he was caught out in the air a couple of times.

to coin a phrase from the Merson era papering over the cracks , against a better side we would have left pointless again today.

[Pedro]

Happy Clapper here, but not so happy after todays game. Like most people it felt like a defeat. The ground todays was quiet very quiet, even Kev hardly did any running.

Strange team line up from the start, no Ismel or Weston, and Deeney starting ahead of Nicholls, not sure what Weston has done to upset Mullen so much that he not even in the 16, its shocking and the lad would walk into 95% of the teams in this league.

As for the match, have to say it was boring, once again we started ok went 2-0 but sill looked like letting one in, Gerrard and Taundy both doing very good jobs in defence though

3 points are a good thing, but Mullen looks to be a very weak manager with the players. We have GOOD squad of players who are capable of getting into the play offs, its just a pity I feel Mullen is holding them all back

[Duke]

Happy Clapper here, but not so happy after todays game. Like most people it felt like a defeat. The ground todays was quiet very quiet, even Kev hardly did any running.

Strange team line up from the start, no Ismel or Weston, and Deeney starting ahead of Nicholls, not sure what Weston has done to upset Mullen so much that he not even in the 16, its shocking and the lad would walk into 95% of the teams in this league.

As for the match, have to say it was boring, once again we started ok went 2-0 but sill looked like letting one in, Gerrard and Taundy both doing very good jobs in defence though

3 points are a good thing, but Mullen looks to be a very weak manager with the players. We have GOOD squad of players who are capable of getting into the play offs, its just a pity I feel Mullen is holding them all back

totally agree , our second half tactics were a joke from the moment we lined up for the restart is was clear we were sitting back .

[Stu]

I really do question anyone who thinks this squad, note I said squad, is capable of making the Play Offs. I really do not believe that based on our defending and lack of squad depth.

Tonight we sit where I thought we would, ambling around mid-table, and I fully expect us to be sitting here next May.

Gobsmacked to see Taundry at full-back, he struggled there last season. Regardless of what Jimmy Mullen says, he has clearly had a falling out with Weston and as for Ishmel, I feel sorry for the lad, he'll go on and make a career somewhere else with a manager who believes in him and lets him do what he does best with a run of games in the team.

[Exile]

A 3-1 victory at home, and where are all the moaners now?

erm, I mean - A 3-1 victory at home and all some people can do is moan.

There's no pleasing some people, etc. etc. :wink:

[WFC_Rob]

I'm struggling to comprehend the rave reviews Taundry has been getting. He did OK, but nothing more. I know he can't do much about his height, but they always looked for the long ball over to our right, and Taundry really struggled.
Boertein on the other hand had his best game for a while I thought. He's a good footballer and never looked ridden with panic when he had the ball at his feet. That calming influence helped us out a fair bit in the first half.

For a change I thought Roberts looked better than Gerrard. He won more than his fair share of headers and generally looked well aware of what was going on when they broke forward. To be fair to Gerrard, he didn't hve a bad game, but his distribution wasn't generally as good as what we've come to expect.

Surprise, surprise, we looked much more solid with Hughes playing. I'm not going to say he was fantastic, brilliant or outstanding because those adjectives don't do his role in the side justice. He went about his job very well and helped us keep our shape. Looked less effective alongside Bradley but that was only to be expected.

I don't want to belittle Palmer's contribution to the game because his goal was fantastic and his delivery for the second goal wasn't bad either, but he really looks like a boy amongst men for 90% of our matches. It's the basic errors like letting the ball bounce and not even challenging for headers that single him out as being weak. Similarly, Deeney is, as we've come to inherently realise by now, nothing but a workhorse. Fair play to him for taking one for the team as he scored, but other than that he looked lost.
Maybe I'm taking a total football philosophy too far, but Palmer and Deeney's presence in the side still bothers me.

Jabo and Ricketts were both reasonable. I felt sorry for Jabo in the second half as we just hoofed aimless balls forward and forced him to chase lost causes up there on his own.

Overall I'm pleased with the result. If we break the game down however, there were a few causes for concern. Namely, the sheer amount of last ditch tackles and blocks we were forced into making in the second half. As good as they may have been from a defensive point of view, the fact that we were letting them get into so many good shooring positions needs to be improved upon. On another day, we could have lost that game despite scoring three.

[Graydon48]

Never seen us dominate a match like today for a long time.
We totally dominated them, Ince didn't have a save to make entire game.
How we only won 3-1 I'll never know. This will stop the whingers moaning because Mullen left Weston and Ishy out of the 16.
What a manager !.
Ps must cut down on the amount I drink before a game.

[Wyrley_saddler]

Ince - 8 - Fine form, made a few great saves and was confident in catching

Taundry - 9 - My MOTM, superb all game
Gerrard - 7 - Solid at the back and scored?
Roberts - 7 - Solid display
Boertien - 7 - Look better today, abit more confident than in recent weeks. Decent display

Deeney - 7 - Was brave to score his goal in that manner, gave his all, but was still only average
Hughes - 7 - Decent first half but dissapeared second half
Mattis - 7 - Good game from him. Solid in thee middle for the majority of the 90 mins
Palmer - 8 - Another good game from him. Wonderful goal and picked up two assists

Ibehre - 7 - Posed a threat but his decision making was poor. Poor first half, better second, gave his all but not his best performance
Ricketts - 6 - Poor game from him, never realy got going.

Bradley (for Mattis) - 6 - Didn't realy get into the game when he came on, putting us under more pressure
Reich (for Ricketts) - 6 - Ran around abit, but never got into the game. Looked out of place upfront.
Nicholls (for Deeney) - 7 - Did well with what he had to do for his limited time on the pitch





Overall, we never got out of 2nd gear, but didn't need to. Northampton could have scored anothe, but Ince was in good form making a vew very good saves. It was a routine win against a poor Northampton side. We weren't convincing but good (and brave) finishing won us the match. It could have so easily gone the other way.

Bit over the top with your player ratings.
If the majority was 7/8 how come we was so crud :shock:

If you play FM like I do then 7 is an average scoring, 6 is not good, 8 is good. :wink:

[jacko9867]

Surprised that people have said Taundry was MoM. 1st half he was Ok but i wouldn't say he was the best player on the pitch for that 45 mins. However, for half of the 2nd half (when it was 3-1) all i saw him do was just give the ball back to Northampton for another attack. I would agree with the 1st Mom as i thought Deeney had a very good game for what he usually does and i thought Ince played very well for all of the game making 2 very good saves. Boertien had an Ok game but he seems to leave his man on the left hand side so much space. Still its 3 points but made it far to hard than it should have been

[Plastic Hawk]

I'm glad I ain't alone because I feel like we lost (cue the happy clappers mithering on about us winning). If we play like that every week we're doomed. Terrible, terrible, terrible. I have never watched so little of a 90 minute game of football. I'd more interest in the pre-season friendlies. Woeful stuff.

Any truth in the big rumours circulating the Stadium Suite at half time? We're a dead club walking I'm afraid.

Not sure about that. We weren't good again today - but we haven't played all the teams yet and I've already seen more than four who are comfortably worse than us (including one today who aren't even that close to the bottom four). I can't see Orient, Hereford or Cheltenham (I know, we only played their reserves) having enough about them to catch us.

However, I don't really want to spend the rest of the season watching us not get relegated - and with many more performances like the last three at home avoiding relegation will be the peak of our ambitions for the season. I really hope we beat Luton on Tuesday as I don't see us getting anything on Saturday and Wembley in the Johnstone's Paints is currently looking like the most exciting thing that's likely to happen for us this season.

Good to see a performance from Palmer today - I might leave off slating him for the next week or two now! :wink:

Not sure what game the people making Taundry man of the match today saw. He had a decent enough game, but nothing spectacular. Pretty solid defensively (despite them trying to target him aerially - although in general they played less in the air than they might have, and less than they should have), but every time he got the ball he just hacked it down the line, usually straight to their full back. More than anything though, he shouldn't have been playing at right back. Weston is a far better right back than anyone else at the club. Ince was our stand out performer for me (although most of his saves were probably after the sponsors had decided) and Palmer might actually have been next in line (great strike for the goal, took the corner for the second, had the charged down shot that Deeney put away for the third).

[fensaddler]

Shut any of us in a fridge for three hours and we'd struggle for enthusiasm - ye gods it was cold. Very flat game, but we were decent for much of the first half, and for the first third of the second - could have been further ahead, and looking pretty good. The loss of Mattis and Ricketts really knocked our shape about, and then the whole side appeared to remember the Hartlepool game and get the yips again. We then sat deeper and deeper, lost all shape and belief, suffered from the inclusion of two players (Bradley and Reich) neither of whom made any impact,and felt ourselves lucky to escape with the points. Great goal from Palmer, really brave goal from Deeney which sums up his whole approach to playing.

I can understand why Ishy doesn't get picked, but leaving a fit Weston out of the side, and certainly out of the 16, seems very odd, and can only be explained for me by some sort of personality clash. Huge shame,and really needs sorting out, because we need him. It won't help the sour atmosphere on this board. All is clearly not well on the stands or behind the scenes, but those who think they know what is going on (vide rumours in the stadium suite) appear not to want to say - but to question their motives in making gnomic comments will just bring more attacks from the board posse, so I won't bother.

[Stu]

I gather the rumour is we're close to bankrupty, I don't believe that for a minute to be honest with you as the one with the most to lose is JB and the board. So unless the bank is demanding every penny back imminently, then its a load of tosh, and even if they are then JB woud prop it up as he can't risk going bankrupt, 10p in the £ and all that.

Anyway, we're a well run club so JB/RW keep telling us. I believe it to be nothing more than a rumour.

[King Crimson]

In terms of match/atmosphere etc., I agree it was pretty flat (however, I was surprised that a team that had thrown away its last home game, lost 3-0 last weekend and was generally low on confidence were booed by sections of the home fans in the second half - what's that all about?).

Player ratings, I'm more with WFC_Rob than the majority. Taundry was competent, not much more in my view. Deeney did nothing except score, and the goalie should have done better. For me, the best we could say about any performances yesterday were 'solid' and professional. Into that category (for the 90 minutes) I would put Hughes and Mattis (until subbed), Ince, Taundry, Roberts, and particulary Boertien (who for me was the closest any of our lot got to a rating verging on 'good' - he won pretty much everything, made some excellent attacking runs, and played it simple whilst his colleagues, including golden-boy local-lad Taundry, simply hoofed the round thing upfield to see it come back. Palmer was good until half time, then largely anonymous. The crediting of him for an 'assist' for Deeney's goal is charitable, and belies the fact that he did nowt else in that half. Ishmel must wonder what he has to do to get a look in out left.

Disappointed with Deeney (although not surprised), and Reich - played out of position, and going through the motions. Reich is a seriously good footballer, but Mullen did him no favours sticking him 'in the hole', and he himself won't have won many new fans through a lacklustre display.

Delighted we won. Another low gate, flat crowd, and a workmanlike performance against a team that offered very little until late on (when they had three strikers).

[addo]

OK - it wasn't great.

They were always going to press us second half as they needed to get back into the game.
Bringing on a third striker showed that intent.

But - we could have prevented them pushing forward by simply keeping the ball ourselves - something we completely failed to do for the last half hour.
You can only play football if you actually have the ball.

The signs were there in the first half - How many times did we knock the ball across the back four during the game only for the full back to punt forward an aimless ball down the line ?
( Taundry worst culprit by far - I reckon that less that half of his total passing distribution during the whole game found a white shirt )

So , when we eventually do get the ball to one our players further up the field how many are actually good enough to hang onto it for a while so that the team can push out ?

Ricketts & Jabo can do it. They did it in the first - but in the 2nd half they were more isolated, so therefore you need too be looking at your midfield to also help out with keeping possession.
With Hughes sitting in front of the back 4 that leaves Mattis , Palmer & Deeney.

Only Mattis has the quality to do that yet he was replaced by Bradley, ( who doesn't )
( I do desperately want to like Bradley, but, for me, he does need to get "stuck in" far more than he does at the moment).

I'm not knocking what they might do defensively , but which of those 3 players did you see making themselves available & wanting the ball in the last half hour ?

I'm not knocking the players individually ( I thought Deeney had a decent game ) - but I think that this is where we need a bit more quality.

[OldPenkSaddler]

I gather the rumour is we're close to bankrupty, I don't believe that for a minute to be honest with you as the one with the most to lose is JB and the board. So unless the bank is demanding every penny back imminently, then its a load of tosh, and even if they are then JB woud prop it up as he can't risk going bankrupt, 10p in the £ and all that.

Anyway, we're a well run club so JB/RW keep telling us. I believe it to be nothing more than a rumour.

Bonser and his 'brother' personally guarantee the majority of the Club's bank borrowings. As far as I can see the only way we would be in trouble is if JB had withdrawn those guarantees and then we would be technically insolvent as it is those guarantees that prop us up.

I would question the money wasted on the Essington training ground. All that money from the Stadium name change seems to have gone into a black hole there. That money should have guaranteed our financial security for at least a couple of years.

Rumour only I would say.

Oh, and we won 3-1. Let's just enjoy that thought till next week.

[Duke]

Roberts (Max) was my clear man of the match ,hardly put a foot wrong very solid performance.

[fensaddler]

I gather the rumour is we're close to bankrupty, I don't believe that for a minute to be honest with you as the one with the most to lose is JB and the board. So unless the bank is demanding every penny back imminently, then its a load of tosh, and even if they are then JB woud prop it up as he can't risk going bankrupt, 10p in the £ and all that.

Anyway, we're a well run club so JB/RW keep telling us. I believe it to be nothing more than a rumour.

I agree with you Stu - sounds like a load of tosh. If this club is at risk of bankruptcy, then the entire league can give up now, because the entire edifice is bust. We're probably losing money though, because of poor crowds, and that's likely to mean cuts, sales or limits on loans and new acquisitions which otherwise wouldn't be there.

[aaaae]

I gather the rumour is we're close to bankrupty, I don't believe that for a minute to be honest with you as the one with the most to lose is JB and the board. So unless the bank is demanding every penny back imminently, then its a load of tosh, and even if they are then JB woud prop it up as he can't risk going bankrupt, 10p in the £ and all that.

Anyway, we're a well run club so JB/RW keep telling us. I believe it to be nothing more than a rumour.

Bonser and his 'brother' personally guarantee the majority of the Club's bank borrowings. As far as I can see the only way we would be in trouble is if JB had withdrawn those guarantees and then we would be technically insolvent as it is those guarantees that prop us up.

I would question the money wasted on the Essington training ground. All that money from the Stadium name change seems to have gone into a black hole there. That money should have guaranteed our financial security for at least a couple of years.

Rumour only I would say.

Oh, and we won 3-1. Let's just enjoy that thought till next week.

Nothing to do with the fast approaching January transfer window? :wink: "Oh we've got to sell these players, if we don't we will be bankrupt and the club will go out of existence! And if you don't agree you are divorced from financial reality"

The bank wouldn't allow JB just to unilaterally withdraw guarantees. However, he may have told them he wants to withdraw his personal guarantee (as part of his exit strategy) and the bank have said you have to pay us back before you can do that - hence the January sales scenario above.

[aaaae]

I gather the rumour is we're close to bankrupty, I don't believe that for a minute to be honest with you as the one with the most to lose is JB and the board. So unless the bank is demanding every penny back imminently, then its a load of tosh, and even if they are then JB woud prop it up as he can't risk going bankrupt, 10p in the £ and all that.

Anyway, we're a well run club so JB/RW keep telling us. I believe it to be nothing more than a rumour.

I agree with you Stu - sounds like a load of tosh. If this club is at risk of bankruptcy, then the entire league can give up now, because the entire edifice is bust. We're probably losing money though, because of poor crowds, and that's likely to mean cuts, sales or limits on loans and new acquisitions which otherwise wouldn't be there.

But the fall in crowds can't have that effect can it? After all revenue from supporters attending games is a fraction of......isn't important....etc etc :wink:

[fensaddler]

In terms of match/atmosphere etc., I agree it was pretty flat (however, I was surprised that a team that had thrown away its last home game, lost 3-0 last weekend and was generally low on confidence were booed by sections of the home fans in the second half - what's that all about?).

Player ratings, I'm more with WFC_Rob than the majority. Taundry was competent, not much more in my view. Deeney did nothing except score, and the goalie should have done better. For me, the best we could say about any performances yesterday were 'solid' and professional. Into that category (for the 90 minutes) I would put Hughes and Mattis (until subbed), Ince, Taundry, Roberts, and particulary Boertien (who for me was the closest any of our lot got to a rating verging on 'good' - he won pretty much everything, made some excellent attacking runs, and played it simple whilst his colleagues, including golden-boy local-lad Taundry, simply hoofed the round thing upfield to see it come back. Palmer was good until half time, then largely anonymous. The crediting of him for an 'assist' for Deeney's goal is charitable, and belies the fact that he did nowt else in that half. Ishmel must wonder what he has to do to get a look in out left.

Disappointed with Deeney (although not surprised), and Reich - played out of position, and going through the motions. Reich is a seriously good footballer, but Mullen did him no favours sticking him 'in the hole', and he himself won't have won many new fans through a lacklustre display.

Delighted we won. Another low gate, flat crowd, and a workmanlike performance against a team that offered very little until late on (when they had three strikers).

Agree with a hell of a lot of that KC - we didn't deal with their three strikers at all well, and we were knocking far to many aimless balls forward which just came straight back at us, especially in the last 20 minutes or so. We were far better when we kept the ball on the deck and ran with the ball or passed it through them, as we did far more in the first half. The Cobblers looked very shaky when we went at them in that way, and we didn't keep doing what worked (or did their change of shape / our subs stop us doing what worked?). And I also fail to comprehend our crowd getting on the back of the team when 3-0 up - how will that help?

[fensaddler]

I gather the rumour is we're close to bankrupty, I don't believe that for a minute to be honest with you as the one with the most to lose is JB and the board. So unless the bank is demanding every penny back imminently, then its a load of tosh, and even if they are then JB woud prop it up as he can't risk going bankrupt, 10p in the £ and all that.

Anyway, we're a well run club so JB/RW keep telling us. I believe it to be nothing more than a rumour.

I agree with you Stu - sounds like a load of tosh. If this club is at risk of bankruptcy, then the entire league can give up now, because the entire edifice is bust. We're probably losing money though, because of poor crowds, and that's likely to mean cuts, sales or limits on loans and new acquisitions which otherwise wouldn't be there.

But the fall in crowds can't have that effect can it? After all revenue from supporters attending games is a fraction of......isn't important....etc etc :wink:

Very true that we are not as dependent on gate income as many other clubs - and others will be better informed than me about how the gates of other clubs are holding up at present. But it is the case that a 15-20% fall in our gates will have a big impact on financial expectations and forecasts, for a business which does not make a huge profit as a percentage of turnover - and it will not take a lot to turn a small profit into a loss - a situation which no well run business can sustain for long. Consequently if last years profit looks like it could turn into a loss this year, you can be sure that, like any business, our club will be looking closely at its outgoings and commitments, and seeking to scale them back in line with its fall in income. Since much of what we spend cannot be reduced, it will be those areas that can be affected which will see the pinch - decisions about whether to retain or sell players, take on loan deals, or sign new players - and I can pretty much guarantee that the club will spend less here than if crowds were averaging 5000+, as I'm sure their financial forecasts will have assumed. So whether people are staying away because they have less money, or because they are fed up with the club's owners, or dislike the on pitch performances, or want to spend more time with their grandchildren/allotment/fishing rod, we should not kid ourselves that it won't have an effect on what happens to the footballing part of the business that is WFC.