Yeovil Town (H) League 1 Saturday 20/8/11.

[Ancient Moaner]

BBC site reckons we've had 7 shots on target. How have we only scored once! Kinda highlights the point.

This sort of result just ain't good enough, this lot should be whipping boys of the league....like I have said, our inability to score goals will be our ultimate downfall, we just dow have a striker on our books. Mid table mediocrity, if we are lucky, which is VERY sad after Tuesdays enthralling display..I expected better...no striker no goals..no wins..simples :(

[Reading Saddler]

I'd imagine Yeovil fans would have the same opinions about us. They've made some decent signings, I doubt they'll be whipping boys. I doubt they'll even get relegated - for all the good teams in this league there are some pretty woeful ones too!

[chesterperry]

Play off's anyone :-D

[latviancheese]

Ive just got in and i think id have rather stuck pins in my eyes all afternoon. Absolutly dreadful. The players looked tired after ten minutes.

Yeovils forwards bumped and thumped our centre halves off the ball. Lancashire was pathetic today, utterly dross. Claude Gnakpa is also the worst footballer in existence. Taundry's old game crept in, although i thought Peterlin did okay at times. The defence was shocking today, they could not hold a line, and on more than one occasion did not play to the whistle. The Yeovil strikers had a field day in between the two of them, thankfully they lacked any real quality other than elbows.

Forget signing a "creative midfielder" sign a left sided player. Its okay cutting in if you can mix it up, but it becomes sooo predictable. Macken looked tired after half an hour, and Grigg is slow. Jarvis lol. Smith made the wrong sub today.

We started brightly and i thought we would muller them, then we let in a pathetic goal, and the ref let them get away with murder.

Walker - He's getting slower, not a lot to do today to be fair.
Westlake - Okay, the only word to describe his performance.
Lancashire- Pathetic, couldnt even jump off the floor and ball watched more times than the linesman.
Butler- Not his usual solid self, but did enough.
Sadler- Best of a bunch today.

Gnakpa - awful, looks the non league player he is. He can whip in a good cross, but he does not have the brain power to think about that.
Taundry - In and out the game in spells.
Peterlin - Felt sorry for him he only had statues to pass too.
Hurst - Played like an injured player i suspect thats why he went off at half time. Big blow if hes out for a few games.

Grigg- Good on the ball, but slow and too similar to Macken.
Macken - Deserved Motm, our only threat for large parts of the game.

Subs

Nicholls - Anonymous except for the last ten minutes he looked a really good player.
Jarvis - didnt see much of the ball but i still think hes useless.

Note on Yeovil. They were rubbish, and we made them look good.

[Jolly Johnny]

Massive hangover from Tuesday night's agonising defeat.

[Ancient Moaner]

I'd imagine Yeovil fans would have the same opinions about us. They've made some decent signings, I doubt they'll be whipping boys. I doubt they'll even get relegated - for all the good teams in this league there are some pretty woeful ones too!

Walsall anyone?

[priestley_saddler]

Well that was a little bit anti climactic after the other day. I said earlier up the thread that the danger was us suffering a post-Sheffield hangover, and that's exactly what happened. The performance was flat, the atmosphere was flat, and too many of our players had their worst game of the season.

I don't care how many shots the BBC said we had, there wasn't any in the game which you would look at and go "we really should have scored", that little bit of quality in the final third was absent. Even Macken's goal, had he curled it over instead of in, wouldn't have been a glaring miss. I can't comment on their equaliser as I was debating Will Grigg at the time with the person next to me.

If we have any aspirations of threatening the playoff places then these are the sort of games we need to be winning. I hadn't twigged that we'd been leading in all games so far until it was mentioned above. This obviously needs to be addressed. On the plus side, Deano said our home form was the key and we're still unbeaten in the league at home.

I'm actually glad we lost to Middlesbrough now as I think we could do with the midweek off, the problem with having a small squad with no depth that when we play Sat - Tues - Sat - Tues - Sat, we don't have any options to freshen it up and we end up looking jaded like we did today. Hopefully the lack of a midweek game should see us fighting fit at Bournemouth on Saturday. Sheffield Utd fans said on Tuesday that a better team than us would have buried them, and the same can be said with Yeovil today. A decent team would have beaten us. But, we've played poorly and not lost. That in itself is a positive as we'd have lost that sort of match 12 months ago.

Walker - Reliable as ever. Commanded his box, distribution was good, make a couple of smart saves. Looked to be struggling towards the end, I wondered if he'd hurt his back.
Westlake - After Taundry, is the most improved player of the season. Has added being able to defend to his game. One of the better performers on the day.
Sadler - Solid and dependable. Gets forward well and provides a much needed left footed outlet.
Butler - Ran Macken close for MOTM, unlucky to get booked.
Lancashire - I thought he struggled today. His man ran through once in the first half and had he had a bit more nous he could have gone down and got Lancashire sent off.
Taundry - Another who I thought had his weakest game of the season. Its testament to how much he's improved that it was still better than most of his performances last season.
Peterlin - I really like him. Will be unlucky if he gets dropped for Chambers next week.
Hurst - My biggest complaint against him is that he's far too right footed to be on the left. Went off at half time with what looked like an injury.
Gnakpa - His best game for the club. Strong in the air, is forming a good partnership on the right with Westlake and provided the assist for the goal.
Macken - After Butler, is probably the most indespensible member of the team. If we lost him for a spell, we'd be in a bit of a pickle. We're benefitting from having him fully fit this year. He's everywhere, I just hope he manages to score some simple goals rather than relying on the beauties he's scored today and against Wolves.
Grigg - Appears to be dividing opinion. Had two conversations about him today, one with an occasional supporter who claimed today was the best game he'd seen Grigg play, and one with an ever present who believes he has a work rate to rival Jarvis. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Started the move for the goal but looks lost without Macken.

Subs

Nicholls - Is threatening to have a good spell. Played on the left and did ok, had one good run in the second half that ended with a shot that the keeper comfortably saved.
Jarvis - Got on the end of one Sadler cross but failed to keep his effort inside the stadium. His only real contribution.

[Darth Vader]

Boring, sloppy game of football today. Draw really was a fair result.

Yeovil are far from the whipping boys also, more of a lower mid-table outfit. Can't see them going down, there's too much cack this season.

Ah well, we haven't lost so onwards and upwards - Bring on Ballmouth.

[WFC_Rob]

An underwhelming performance, all in all. That was my first match of the season and the family 'fun' day curse seemed to strike again.

I didn't think it would be possible against a side like Yeovil, but I thought we paid them too much respect and gave them too much time on the ball. That might have been a consequence of our efforts on Tuesday night, but regardless, I thought they had it far too easy in midfield.

I like our style of play. We pass the ball where we can, yet we do have a plan B in Gnakpa who wins an awful lot in the air for a wide man. That said, the simple football didn't get us very far this afternoon, as we really lacked a killer ball or enough movement to give their back four a hard time.

Our goal was top notch. Gnakpa played Macken in at the right time and his finish was superb. Would Macken have tried that last season? I think not, so credit where it's due to Smith for giving him the confidence to try his luck.

Their goal was awful from our point of view. One ball over the top and their striker (who had already got in behind Lancashire once with his pace) lapped up the chance.

I thought Butler and Lancashire were given a bit of a tough time by Obika and Williams. Neither could get to grips with Obika's strength, and Williams' pace got them the goal as well as another good chance. I think our back four is generally quite strong, but Butler and Lancashire just need to be a bit more wary of pace.

Our struggle was ultimately due to a lack of options. Taundry has undoubtedly improved since last season and he does ever so well when required to track back and help defend. His problem is that at the moment, we seem to be needing him to provide the creative part of our play, which he struggles with. Once they brought on a left back to man mark Gnakpa, we had no answer and created very little going forward.

There have bene plenty of calls for us to sign a pacy striker, which would be a great option to have in the squad. If we don't sign someone with a bit more nouse going forward from midfield though, we won't create the chances for this pacy striker to latch onto.

I felt that the draw was a sign of our progress since last season (we lost 1-0 in the same fixture) but to get where we want to be, ie. beating sides like Yeovil fairly comfortably at home, we'll need one or two additions to the squad.

[latviancheese]

It might look good but i thought it was all pretty pointless triangles. They passed but they didnt move.

[Bristol Fan]

I agree with wfc_rob - underwhelming rather than awful. The vastly-improved Taundry had his worst game of the season and the paucity of our squad is really exposed (we have one central midfielder out suspended and can't find another one to put on the bench; Grigg and Macken have absolutely no competition up front).

My big disappointment so far this season has been Claude Gnakpa and that continued.

I won't claim any great credit for saying it (since it's so obvious) but we lost a lot of goals when we lost Richards and Grey and haven't replaced them. While training ground improvements will see us conceding considerably fewer than last season and that should be enough to steer us clear of any real danger - apart from an almighty scramble with their keeper and two defenders from a second half Macken shot, we didn't ever look likely to score a second today - and if we need some zip up front to replace either Grigg or Macken, we haven't got it.

[WFC_Rob]

It might look good but i thought it was all pretty pointless triangles. They passed but they didnt move.

Agreed. But much improved on the aimless hoofball we employed for most of last season.
That said, pretty football only gets you anywhere if you've got someone capable of that killer final ball. We didn't today.

[brummie saddler]

we played cack football simple as that.

why are we playing 15 yard passes in the air? why are we playing floated aireal passes to strikers who have no real areial threat, why are we trying to switch play with floated passes which the left/right back just run onto and clears away? why resort to this cack after the fantastic results we had on tuesday from playing short passing and working our opportunties that way. even when we did go long on tuesday it was direct and even if the deffender got to it first it would most likley be a poor hack of a clearence which seen us regain possesion on the second ball futher up the pitch.

[latviancheese]

Nicholls deserved a goal today for that run and shot near the end. And we could have won at the end if it had hit his toe and not volleyed it properly.

At the end of the day we have lost today because defensively we were mistake prone.Lancashire had a right mare, and the "offside trap" was continually dreadful.

[Jeremy Busby]

Well that was a little bit anti climactic after the other day. I said earlier up the thread that the danger was us suffering a post-Sheffield hangover, and that's exactly what happened. The performance was flat, the atmosphere was flat, and too many of our players had their worst game of the season.

I don't care how many shots the BBC said we had, there wasn't any in the game which you would look at and go "we really should have scored", that little bit of quality in the final third was absent. Even Macken's goal, had he curled it over instead of in, wouldn't have been a glaring miss. I can't comment on their equaliser as I was debating Will Grigg at the time with the person next to me.

If we have any aspirations of threatening the playoff places then these are the sort of games we need to be winning. I hadn't twigged that we'd been leading in all games so far until it was mentioned above. This obviously needs to be addressed. On the plus side, Deano said our home form was the key and we're still unbeaten in the league at home.

I'm actually glad we lost to Middlesbrough now as I think we could do with the midweek off, the problem with having a small squad with no depth that when we play Sat - Tues - Sat - Tues - Sat, we don't have any options to freshen it up and we end up looking jaded like we did today. Hopefully the lack of a midweek game should see us fighting fit at Bournemouth on Saturday. Sheffield Utd fans said on Tuesday that a better team than us would have buried them, and the same can be said with Yeovil today. A decent team would have beaten us. But, we've played poorly and not lost. That in itself is a positive as we'd have lost that sort of match 12 months ago.

Walker - Reliable as ever. Commanded his box, distribution was good, make a couple of smart saves. Looked to be struggling towards the end, I wondered if he'd hurt his back.
Westlake - After Taundry, is the most improved player of the season. Has added being able to defend to his game. One of the better performers on the day.
Sadler - Solid and dependable. Gets forward well and provides a much needed left footed outlet.
Butler - Ran Macken close for MOTM, unlucky to get booked.
Lancashire - I thought he struggled today. His man ran through once in the first half and had he had a bit more nous he could have gone down and got Lancashire sent off.
Taundry - Another who I thought had his weakest game of the season. Its testament to how much he's improved that it was still better than most of his performances last season.
Peterlin - I really like him. Will be unlucky if he gets dropped for Chambers next week.
Hurst - My biggest complaint against him is that he's far too right footed to be on the left. Went off at half time with what looked like an injury.
Gnakpa - His best game for the club. Strong in the air, is forming a good partnership on the right with Westlake and provided the assist for the goal.
Macken - After Butler, is probably the most indespensible member of the team. If we lost him for a spell, we'd be in a bit of a pickle. We're benefitting from having him fully fit this year. He's everywhere, I just hope he manages to score some simple goals rather than relying on the beauties he's scored today and against Wolves.
Grigg - Appears to be dividing opinion. Had two conversations about him today, one with an occasional supporter who claimed today was the best game he'd seen Grigg play, and one with an ever present who believes he has a work rate to rival Jarvis. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Started the move for the goal but looks lost without Macken.

Subs

Nicholls - Is threatening to have a good spell. Played on the left and did ok, had one good run in the second half that ended with a shot that the keeper comfortably saved.
Jarvis - Got on the end of one Sadler cross but failed to keep his effort inside the stadium. His only real contribution.

Great report, thanks mate, but were you really at the same game as latvian???

[Darth Vader]

Nicholls deserved a goal today for that run and shot near the end. And we could have won at the end if it had hit his toe and not volleyed it properly.

At the end of the day we have lost today because defensively we were mistake prone.Lancashire had a right mare, and the "offside trap" was continually dreadful.

Oh yes! That run was Kaka-ish! Wouldn't mind him starting in front of Hurst against Bournemouth...

[Jolly Johnny]

I'd imagine Yeovil fans would have the same opinions about us. They've made some decent signings, I doubt they'll be whipping boys. I doubt they'll even get relegated - for all the good teams in this league there are some pretty woeful ones too!

Walsall anyone?

Back to normality AM!! :wink:

[We-ARE-Walsall]

As said above, that is the kind of game we would have lost last season, at the same time, if you are going to do any good, it is the kind of game you have to win.

I think we were the best side in the first half, I wouldn't like to see us with an extended spell without Macken though, he really is the only one who ever looks like making anything happen. We also can't defend basic situations, I can't really pick serious fault with any one of the defenders individually, but something somewhere isn't quite right. To many times the defence just opens up, and players are left free.

I like Butler. but his behaviour at the end of the game was pretty stupid. Just booked, and he is gobbing off for ages at the linesman, and continued later while the game was still going, very proffesional.

[priestley_saddler]

Great report, thanks mate, but were you really at the same game as latvian???

I did wonder that myself. But football is a game of opinions and I respect his. After a performance as frustrating as that you are going to get view points ranging all sides of the spectrum.

[latviancheese]

To be fair, in the grand scheme of life. Priestleys is more accurate.

Gnakpa frustrates me to the point of tears. He is a beast in the air and damn useful to aim at from goal kicks, when he can be bothered. I still think he lacks any sort of brain, and produces his best pieces of play when he doesn't have much time. For instance when he hit a beauty of a first time cross. Perhaps he isnt the worst footballer ever, but i feel he will dissapear into obscurity sooner rather than later.

The defence was pathetic today i dont know how anyone can defend them, but like said, opinions :mrgreen:

Im probably more pissed off than most because i had to sit through that in constant pain (backs gone).

[Sadders]

Started well and went flat. Lovely goal from Macken on the break and from there on in I thought we'd win comfortably. We seemed to resort to hoofball a bit though and there big centre back N'Gala had a field day. Defense looked a bit shaky, particularly the right side, the ball squeezed between Westlake and Lancashire far too much for my liking.

Like how Grigg and Macken play together & Nicholls deserves a start after a couple of good bench performances. Hurst's to one dimensional for me and lacks pace. Gnapka has not impressed me at all yet, Jarvis is cack and Taundry/Peterlin wont be effective against better midfields.

We've made a good start to the season, playing some nice stuff with today being the worst performance. My one worry is, looking at this squad from last seasons, Jordan Cook, Ledesma, Matt Richards and Julian Gray would all walk into my first 11, the lack of goals from midfield could also be another concern as the front 2 are only 10-12 goals a season kind of forwards.

Interseting times lie ahead, Bournemouth have started badly, we need something from them next weekend before a tough home game against Brentford.

[latviancheese]

I was thinking how much we missed Julian Gray today. But not so much the others, I think Peterlin looked good.

Infact when Chambers comes back from suspension he will go straight onto the team sheet, but it will be harsh on whoever gets dropped imo.

[Graydon48]

Nicholls deserved a goal today for that run and shot near the end. And we could have won at the end if it had hit his toe and not volleyed it properly.

At the end of the day we have lost today because defensively we were mistake prone.Lancashire had a right mare, and the "offside trap" was continually dreadful.

Today was worse than I thought. I went home thinking we'd got a point.

[priestley_saddler]

Nicholls deserved a goal today for that run and shot near the end. And we could have won at the end if it had hit his toe and not volleyed it properly.

At the end of the day we have lost today because defensively we were mistake prone.Lancashire had a right mare, and the "offside trap" was continually dreadful.

Today was worse than I thought. I went home thinking we'd got a point.

Nope, we lost 1-1 :mrgreen:

[Graydon48]

The boo boys aren't quite in full voice yet but it was obvious Jarvis was going going to be this season's boo boy before a ball was kicked.
I have no idea if he will be any good or not but apart from a few sub appearances he has just one start this season against Middlesbrough when we were down to 10 after 12 minutes. Give the guy a chance, if he doesn't make it fair enough but I hope people give him a chance.

[chestersaddler]

Lots of good points made above. My two penneth:

Cracking goal and performance from Macken.

Decent in the first half but a bit flat in the second. We appeared to run out of ideas and resorted to hopeful balls towards the end. The game was really open in the last twenty minutes but we seemed to lack the composure that we showed for most of the game on Tuesday.

When Yeovil equalised I was not that concerned, but as the second half progressed it looked less likely that we would score.


In fairness, a draw was the right result. I do think that the "we should be beating the likes of Yeovil" comments are a little disingenuous. We take umbrage when it is said about us.

Overall, I'm still loads happier with what's on offer compared with the last two or three seasons. Chambers return next week will be a boost and if Smith can find another striking option, I am confident we can have a decent season

[latviancheese]

Nicholls deserved a goal today for that run and shot near the end. And we could have won at the end if it had hit his toe and not volleyed it properly.

At the end of the day we have lost today because defensively we were mistake prone.Lancashire had a right mare, and the "offside trap" was continually dreadful.

Today was worse than I thought. I went home thinking we'd got a point.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :oops: :oops:

[SheffieldSaddler]

This thread sounds like we have learnt absolutely nothing from last season.
Last season, it was a super performance, building up everyones hopes, to be followed by a bad performance.
Not sure what has gone on in 4 days but it sounds like the same team didnt turn up today against a team who have started the season with 1 win in 3 games.
Disappointing.

[Exile]

Story now on the front page.
http://upthesaddlers.com/wp/archives/20 ... -reaction/

My two pennies: We're a couple of good players (that we can't afford) away from being really decent. As it is, survival is assured, but we're going to see hit and miss performances all season.

[WFC_Rob]

it sounds like the same team didnt turn up today against a team who have started the season with 1 win in 3 games.
Disappointing.

Yeovil may have only won one game this season, but so have we.