Oldham Athletic (H) League 1 Tuesday 13/9/11.

[Neuromantic]

Relegation fodder. Pure and simple. Anybody that says different needs to take off the rose coloured spectacles and book a ticke tback to the real world.

Someone on anothe rchaps Facebook was blaming Grof for the defeat :shock:

Smith, was his MOTM to the player that could hoof it aimlessly up field the furthest? Granted there were a number of candidates for this but I can't think what else he won it for.

Oldham wor great but they could knock it round like Barcelona compared to our 2 passes and losr it strategy. We have no pace, no inventiveness, no power in midfield, no overlapping ..... the list goes on.

...it still amazes me that some one here predicted we would finish in the top ten with this squad! :lol:

[Darth Vader]

Relegation fodder. Pure and simple. Anybody that says different needs to take off the rose coloured spectacles and book a ticke tback to the real world.

Someone on anothe rchaps Facebook was blaming Grof for the defeat :shock:

Smith, was his MOTM to the player that could hoof it aimlessly up field the furthest? Granted there were a number of candidates for this but I can't think what else he won it for.

Oldham wor great but they could knock it round like Barcelona compared to our 2 passes and losr it strategy. We have no pace, no inventiveness, no power in midfield, no overlapping ..... the list goes on.

...it still amazes me that some one here predicted we would finish in the top ten with this squad! :lol:

Indeed....I always said we'd be around the 16th mark max. Squad's so threadbare it's laughable - I'd adore to have Julian Gray back.

[tinned]

Relegation fodder. Pure and simple. Anybody that says different needs to take off the rose coloured spectacles and book a ticke tback to the real world.

Someone on anothe rchaps Facebook was blaming Grof for the defeat :shock:

Smith, was his MOTM to the player that could hoof it aimlessly up field the furthest? Granted there were a number of candidates for this but I can't think what else he won it for.

Oldham wor great but they could knock it round like Barcelona compared to our 2 passes and losr it strategy. We have no pace, no inventiveness, no power in midfield, no overlapping ..... the list goes on.

...it still amazes me that some one here predicted we would finish in the top ten with this squad! :lol:

Just saying that to my mate Mark on the train station. They must live in La La Land. Mark was given a free season ticket by our mate Over The Moon. Mark says he wants Over The Moon to refund his train fare :D

[saddler79]

What exactly does Chambers do? Our 'star signing' has done a total of nothing. I honestly would rate him at a similar level with Taundry (that is to say, not very good). Both run around like headless chickens chasing shadows and yet neither of them can put their foot on the ball, slow it down occasionally and pick an incisive pass. They also never get into decent positions. The wingers are constantly isolated and everytime one of our defenders looks up there are no options available (not that Smith could land a pass more than 10 yards anyway). Cue...the long ball. You'll struggle to see many sides with less cohesion than us on that showing.

And what was plan A? Lump the ball to 2 strikers who barely won a header all night, have little strength and who's first touch is abysmal. In my opinion there is only Butler, grof and Sadler who can walk off that pitch with their heads held high tonight.

Painful viewing tonight against a side that look stick on relegation fodder. Very worrying. Things need a shake up. The trouble is, what effective options do we have!?

[Chapin]

That was as bad as anything we saw under Hutchings. I'm not talking about the performance but the players desire and attitude. Too many were just going through the motions and almost hiding.
An amazing transformation from Bournemouth when there was a team performance, players supporting each other and moving off the ball. Today it was totally the opposite. One instance in the first half Hurst was surrounded by 5 black shirts with no offer of assistance from a colleague. Needless to say he conceded possession with a poor pass under pressure.

The performance was poor. For the first 40 minutes we would have struggled against a pub team after they'd had 5 pints. No nouse and no idea. Why did we keep pumping balls up to their number 2?. We were always second to the ball. Oldham were that much faster over the first 10 yards and reacting to where the ball was.

The Manager in the past has shown himself to be aware but tonight the team seemed tactically unaware. Sadly that was a situation against Brentford also. We were beaten by 2 teams who were there for the taking and yet their set up and tactics left us with odd goal defeats.

We have a small budget but performances and results of the last 2 home game will not help that. Attendances (you can hardly call them crowds) are sinking faster than the Greek economy. Add to that is Butler missing on Saturday as think that may well have been his 5th booking -all in 8 games!.

[SaddlerCraig]

Everything was poor tonight, we were poor, Oldham were poor and so was the ref who really didn't let the game flow at all which was ridiculous.

Overall no real positives to be taken today other then another solid performance by Grof and seeing Patterson finally get a chance to come into the first team.

Grof- Solid performance he had no chance for the goal another Butler deflection, Butler had no right to tell Grof off for that when again he was in the way, sometimes his passion overrules his footballing brain I think. Grof made 2 great saves in the first half and he and Butler did well together in the 2nd to stop Reid scoring to make it 2-0 8/10

Beevers- Very poor missed a lot of passes and was beaten fair few times, for all the abuse Westlake gets he is a lot better then this lad at this moment in time. 4/10
Butler- At fault for the goal and as said before poor move by the captain to berate your keeper for your mistake that's 2 own goals by Butlers fault now where he's blamed someone else. Otherwise general solid performance for him 5.5/10
Smith- General solid performance did his job well against their best striker and was Match sponsors MOTM. 6/10
Sadler- He seems to be the only player not affected by the downturn in results did his job at his usual level and tried to play a few less long balls. 6/10

Hurst- First two games I thought Hurst looked like a good player, however since then he has seemed slower and seems to of developed a bad attitude. His game as a whole was very very poor today couldn't get a cross in and couldn't beat a player so had to pass backwards always. 2/10
Chambers- He ran around a lot and made a few good tackles but overall did nothing worthy of merit, he was a little better in the 2nd half however. 4.5/10
Taundry- He worked hard did his usual style of hard tackles and lots of huffing and puffing, he had moments of quality sadly however this did not last which is a shame as he started off really well and seems to be going backwards now I hope he turns it around. 4.5/10
Martin- Think it's to early to judge him he showed the occasional moment of quality but looks like he needs some confidence to run at his man, seems like he can cross a ball pretty well when he does though.

Grigg- I really don't see what people see in him, so far he has scored one from 3 yards out that my nan could of scored, he isn't strong enough or quick enough to be a effective striker needs to either hit the gym or work on his speed as all teams just put a big defender on him and muscle him out the game. However he was not helped by hoofball service and having to come back to defend, he clearly missed Macken a lot as he compliments his game more. Though he did have a very good chance heading it at the far post which the keeper just about stopped with his feet 3/10
Jarvis- He did ok made a few runs to the edge of the box but never quite had that edge to turn it into a great chance other then the odd moment, think he tries for screamers more then trying to get into the box which often left us a bit empty up front when we eventually got crosses in. 4/10


I thought Paterson looked very good when he came on making a nuisance of himself and making some good passes, clearly has good pace and looked to find his team mates. He may however need a little more strength I really think if he stays at that work rate he could be one to keep an eye on for the future.


And I am sorry to Blazing who used my spare free ticket they should of paid us to see some of the rubbish that was on display today.

[We-ARE-Walsall]

Feel sorry for Smith, dire budget and having to scrape the barrel of cast offs. only the leech to blame for that.

sorry never ever will agree with that. Smith has exactly the same budget Hutchings had, no one felt sorry for him. I'm not saying that Smith is a bad manager but this is his team and if im honest i reckon i could have signed better players than what smith has.

I agree.

Smith was happy enough to take all the credit he got last season, and quite rightly so. He now has to earn his money and sort this mess out, or we are going down, simple as that. He knew he would have a small budget when he accpeted the job, every Walsall manager does.

There is no doubt in my mind you can get a better center forward even for the money we pay, than Jarvis, pathetic attempt to be a footballer, he clearly isn't one, another Parkin type signing. Hurst plays on the right wing each week, even though his right foot is so weak, he can hardly stand on it. Nicholls had at least 3 chances to put a decent cross in, and none of them even got of the ground, yet when he had a shooting chance on goal, that was crying out to be hit hard and low towards the far post, he blazed it so high, the moon ducked for cover. Every where you look around our squad it has mediocre to weak 3rd division players. In desperate need of some quality from somewhere, someone (other than Macken) that actually has some kind of a football brain please.

Edit

That post, and any other post is a complete waste of time, as Whitti Steve summed it up perfectly. Absolute Cack.

P.S

Thanks to Craig for the free ticket, really nice of you, thank you so much. Really appreciate it, nice chap too, come and say hello anytime mate.

[Whitti Steve]

Thanks for my moment of fame Exile... but I think you made the report too long winded with your padding out of the story :mrgreen:

[Pedagogue]

Hurst plays on the right wing each week, even though his right foot is so weak, he can hardly stand on it.

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

[fatboyslim]

Last night's game was probably one of the worst I have ever seen. Oldham were poor and I doubt they would have got a point against anyone else in the league with that away display. Needless to say this makes our home performance even worse!

I honestly do not have a clue why Deano didn't berate the keeper and defenders for smashing the ball long every time!!!! How were Grigg and Jarvis supposed to do anything with th supply they received last night?? The big number 2 on their team mopped everything up in the air and was probably man of the match considering there wasn't much else on show.

Grof - made some good saves although was a bit hesitant under the high ball and lacked any options other than to hoof the ball long as Beevers didn't offer much of an outlet. Unlucky with the goal which was calamitous defending!
Beevers - awful. I know Westy hasd a mare at the weekend but this guy offers nothing but the touch of a rapist and no visible qualities either defending or going forward.
Smith - did really well defensively and was one of the better performers, however needs to have more ideas when
Butler - sloppy in comparison to normal but he has set high standards. His distribution needs work though as he has no right foot whatsoever and a few times he made himself look silly.
Sadler - yet another one who wasn't up to usual standards. Seemed to lack a little confidence but I don't think he was helped by Martin who had a shocker and didn't offer him the overlap as he lost the ball every time he got it. Crossing not great and some of the long balls were atrocious.
Martin - hard to judge after only joining the squad yesterday but definitely one of the worst players on the pitch and amazed he stayed on so long. Poor touch, can't beat a man and not great crossing other than the one header from Grigg which was made good by the striker.
Taundry - did the headless chicken work well but not enough height in the midfield and I don't think they have formed a very good partnership yet as there are too many gaps. Their midfielders just played in triangles round them both - perhaps due to lack of support from the wide men? Distribution was also poor apart from a few decent crossfield balls.
Chambers - same as above really. Good in the tackle but not a lot else.
Hurst - no good on either wing really. Runs with his head down too much and gave away some awful passes that put us in danger. Too right footed and erratic and doesn't offer much in defense.
Grigg - not great tonight ut did feel sorry for both strikers as they were feeding off scraps!! Not sure what a pacey striker would have done tonight as the tactic seemed to be route 1 into one of the biggest centrebacks in the league. Touch was good on the whole although needs to be stronger when holding up the ball and quicker to the 2nd ball. Unlucky with the header at the near post which was the only save the keeper had to make. Wrong decision to take him off IMO.
Jarvis - very poor IMO and should have come off instead of Grigg. Did nothing after the subs came on apart from smash a shot out for a throw in. Did nothing all game apart from a few spurious 'trophy' shots.

Nicholls - rubbish. Poor crossing and wasted a good chance by ballooning his shot into the top tier. Didn't attempt to tackle or compete for any of the 1st or 2nd ball.
Paterson - poor start but got a bit better. Needs to be stronger and release the ball earlier but having watched him a lot in the reserves he is a very greedy player so not sure this will change.
Peterlin - not much time to make an impact.

I think Deano's tactics initially and then substitutions were very poor. Firstly he needed to say something to his defence to stop them smashing long balls which Jarvis, Grigg, Macken or anyone else under 6'4'' would have had trouble doing anything with. Even the ones that found space were miles to long and bounced either straight out for a goal kick or to the GK. He then should have taken off both Hurst and Jarvis and replaced them with Nicholls and Paterson. Grigg had the only real effort of the game and then he got took off!!! Unbelievable. I would have also taken off one of Chambers or Taundry for Peterlin with 25 mins to go just to try something different as there is zero creativity in that partnership. If not taking off both wingers then I would have taken Jarvis off for Nicholls and Martin off for Paterson.

Definitely need more creativity in midfield and some more threat out wide. It is all well and good berating the strikers but they have virtually no supply let alone anything to allow them to score!! The only striker that would have helped last night would have been Peter Crouch or some other giant target man.

I doubt anyone else will come in before Saturday and not sure when Macken will be back. Need to get back to playing like we did away at Sheff Utd where the full backs got forward and the ball was spread from wing to wing. :x

[SheffieldSaddler]

For people to actual post that it was like a "Hutchings team performance" is very very worrying.
Have we really sunk to such depths? :shock:

[Wendy Mumford]

For people to actual post that it was like a "Hutchings team performance" is very very worrying.
Have we really sunk to such depths? :shock:

Idiot

[Duke]

Absolute rubbish , worse than anything I saw under Mullen or Hutchings , yes Sheff we have reached to that depth .

This cannot continue something must be done now.

[priestley_saddler]

For people to actual post that it was like a "Hutchings team performance" is very very worrying.
Have we really sunk to such depths? :shock:

In a word, yes.

I think describing the Brentford and Notts performances as "Hutchings-esque" was a bit harsh. We weren't THAT bad in either of them, although we were still poor. Last night was different though, it WAS that bad.

[kshammer]

For people to actual post that it was like a "Hutchings team performance" is very very worrying.
Have we really sunk to such depths? :shock:

I'm not saying we are permanently at that level, but last nights showing was every bit as bad as anything under Hutchings.

Must say I really like Dean Smith, and want him to suceed, so I take no pleasure in saying that at all.

[Duke]

For people to actual post that it was like a "Hutchings team performance" is very very worrying.
Have we really sunk to such depths? :shock:

I'm not saying we are permanently at that level, but last nights showing was every bit as bad as anything under Hutchings.

Must say I really like Dean Smith, and want him to suceed, so I take no pleasure in saying that at all.

We all want Dean to succeed although I was against his appointment nothing would give me more pleasure to see him do well

[SWS1]

We need to bloody try those two together then! If it doesn't work get a CM in.

Still need one regardless - we have been saying for weeks and weeks! I can remember in July saying that we were crying out for one or two more in the middle! I cannot believe DS can't see this - I think 99% of people think it too!

More likely he can see this but can't find anyone BETTER than what we've got (hard to believe, I know) at wages he is allowed (easy to believe).

[Mal]

To say last night was as bad as games under Hutchings is exageration at its worse, yes it was poor but bar a deflected goal we would have come out decrying 2 dropped points and hoping for a win on Saturday.

We are one paced and have no ability to change the game plan with the players recruited, Dean must know this so needs to change it fast

Player wise as i have said before come the end of the season Nichols, Taundry and Smith will be gone when there contracts have expired, we are better collectively but mid table at best

Groff, best keeper we have had since Walker
Sadler, quality as good as Fox
Butler, threw himself at everything and took another booking for the team
Smith, a poor mans Roper, Lancashire for me lets get back to playing it off the floor
Beevers, ok better defensively than Westlake who I would have played in midlfield!
Hurst, struggling and Wrack like would do a job centrally
Taundry, for me the only one who tried to zip the ball around an up the tempo
Chambers, can we have the pre red card Chambers back please!
Martin, why waste a wage on a left winger? juggle what youv'e got and bring in a striker, anonymous
Jarvis, for me getting more mobile with each game, needs the ball to his feet and has improved over the last three games
Grigg, starved of service but his header and smart save from Cysak could have saved us a point, his only chance

Nichols, this lad is finished, five years around the first team! Telford beckons
Patterson, sparked some creativity with one superb turn that left three players for dead
Peterlin, shoe in for Taundry alongside Chamber based on pre season if deanno doesn't go five in midlfield

UTS opinions eh :wink:

[Neuromantic]

Oh yeah - forgot to mention this. The Sad-dlers world commentary team said that one of the positives from last night was Lee Beevers performance...

[fatboyslim]

Oh yeah - forgot to mention this. The Sad-dlers world commentary team said that one of the positives from last night was Lee Beevers performance...

That is unbelievable - they clearly must have been watching a different game. Only Martin was worse.

[Darth Vader]

Oh yeah - forgot to mention this. The Sad-dlers world commentary team said that one of the positives from last night was Lee Beevers performance...

:lol:

[latviancheese]

It does not help so called fans cream their pants when jarvis does something wrong. They forget to see both strikers are being mullered in the air everytime. I thought smith was okay last night if you take away the hoof part. We play such a dreadful line hes the only one quick enough to get back. And i really fail to see what hursts game is. Slow and pretends to be either footed but clearly isnt.

[tinned]

Oh yeah - forgot to mention this. The Sad-dlers world commentary team said that one of the positives from last night was Lee Beevers performance...

:shock:

He was useless. So many times he came inside and left great gaping holes on the right.

[saddlerJP]

Lee Beavers is one of the worst players i've EVER seen, he can trap the ball further then most can kick it. He looked like a park player last night, completley out his depth, he hasn't got the touch of a professional footballer

[We-ARE-Walsall]

Hurst plays on the right wing each week, even though his right foot is so weak, he can hardly stand on it.

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

You telling me he can play with both feet ?

Pull the other one, he cuts inside more than a woman driver on a busy dual carriage way.

[priestley_saddler]

Hurst plays on the right wing each week, even though his right foot is so weak, he can hardly stand on it.

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

You telling me he can play with both feet ?

Pull the other one, he cuts inside more than a woman driver on a busy dual carriage way.

:lol:

I think Peddy was questioning your left and right, as opposed to the one footed element. Hurst plays on the left every week despite being totally right footed, last night was the first time he'd played on the right.

Personally I think he might be worth a run in the middle. He can dribble and has a good engine but lacks the pace to be a winger, he could be a good ball carrier in centre mid though.

[We-ARE-Walsall]

Hurst plays on the right wing each week, even though his right foot is so weak, he can hardly stand on it.

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

You telling me he can play with both feet ?

Pull the other one, he cuts inside more than a woman driver on a busy dual carriage way.

:lol:

I think Peddy was questioning your left and right, as opposed to the one footed element. Hurst plays on the left every week despite being totally right footed, last night was the first time he'd played on the right.

Personally I think he might be worth a run in the middle. He can dribble and has a good engine but lacks the pace to be a winger, he could be a good ball carrier in centre mid though.

Easy mistake to make, in the early hours of the morning , after a few sherberts :lol:

[saddlerken]

A gigantic pile of steaming turd, absolute gash

Appalling squad of players, particularly going forward

Need to get new players in the midfield or up front because goal scoring will do for us, let someone other than Smith sign them though because players like Jarvis or that 'winger' bloke will hinder us rather than help us. Last night was like we had 10 men

No characters in the team nor much experience, utter tripe

I would imagine that Kevthemongsaddler would be better in front of goal than Nicholls

[boringteacher]

Cack was rather generous.

A canininesque performance.

The scary thing to me was that I dont think any player had a poor game relative to their ability.

It might be a long year, but at least we hopefully wont be told every week about rolling up our sleeves, looking at the video etc.

[ToeJoe Jnr]

Very poor last night, and my early season optimism is beginning to wane!

Their goal started from them literally walking through the middle of the park. We have two defensive midfielders and quite honestly they chased shadows last night.

We are reliant on scoring goals from 25 yards as that is where most of our efforts came from last night. Yet the one decent effort we had was from Grigg with a header from about 5 yards. We need a fox in the box. Jarvis is the least effective striker I have ever seen. Most of his passes and runs are backwards and away from goal.

Our depth in squad is chronic, highlighted by bringing on Nicholls and Paterson who have the combined weight of a Quaver against a back four for Oldham who ate everything we launched (in the air!) up. If I was manager and turned round to see Nicholls looking back at me as an option, I would get the white flag out, yet people still think he will turn a game!

Big changes needed, for me I would bring back Walker, and Macken (if fit ), drop Taundry and bring Peterlin in. That way we have Walker, Butler, Chambers and Macken in the spine of the team, which is what Smith surely would have been building his squad around in the Summer? If that doesn't work then serious questions need to be asked.