Gillingham v Swindon Town Official Matchday Thread

[@mwooly63]

But the biggest concern for me is the total lack of passion shown, and that is something the management have to address and address quickly.

Pretty much sums up what is wrong as a unit
Not sure of the reasons why as seemed to have plenty of it early season.
Maybe the awful away results are getting to them

[corner]

Halls injury could well be a blessing in disguise, maybe troy can be given a chance with us.  we need to get back to basics with a 451 442 formation away from home keep it simple get Kasim back in front of the back four, keep Pritchard out on the wing hopefully Tijane will be back soon because we don't have any other wingers n'guessan more of a foward, ranger needs a storey to play up front with maybe barker. Oh and cooper do some resource on the teams we will be playing it may help. As others have said sofar this season has been better than expected, just need to keep our home form up and pick up afew points away from home and all is rosey again. Coyr

[BruceChatwin]

I know its revolutionary but I think we should go 4-4-2 in our next away game;
Wes;Barthram,Branco,Ward,JMAC;Pritchard,luongo,Kasim,Barker;DNG,Storey

I think it speaks volumes that we're halfway through the season and still haven't settled on a preferred system. What really put it into perspective, for all our talk of how the 4-4-2 was dead, and the 4-5-1 the unavoidable future as corroborated by all the top flight teams, was seeing Tim Sherwood, the shadowy alleged puppet master behind our 4-5-1 system, switching Spur's formation to a 4-4-2 immediately on becoming their manager!

Personally, I don't think the 4-4-2 is the answer, in and of itself at least.

I'm starting to think that the common denominator in our good performances was never the system, seeing as those performances have come in a lot of shapes and varieties, but the attitude and effort of the players.

One thing particularly bothering me at the moment is that we seem to be sitting deep a lot more and allowing the opposition to keep the ball, rather than hunting down in packs, committing lots of men, throwing in last ditch tackles and playing with the high tempo, high energy, high risk/ reward game we seemed to be doing in the first quarter of the season. I remember many of us during that period declaiming that we probably had the best midfield in the division. I think some of us went so far as to say it was Championship quality.

How many of us think that about the midfield now?

Seeing as the players haven't changed, seeing as their technical ability is still the same, and seeing as we still generally play the same 3 man Kasim, Luongo, Mason midfield we were rapturous about at the start of the season, whatever the arrangement of other players around them, what seems the likeliest explanation for the drop off in quality, the way the midfield is set up, or the attitude and effort of those midfielders?

[DiV]

Our squad isn't big enough to have enough competition for each places.
These players have no fear of losing their place - and definitely no fear of being bombed out the club. Ranger has been given enough chances, so anyone else can get away with whatever without fear of running out of chances...

There's something to be said for having a bit of discipline at the football club.

[@mwooly63]

However on the upside we passed the Cov and Posh test both massive wins, providing a bit of breathing space. Had we lost those 2 we'd now be 4 points above Notts County and looking over our shoulder.

Not sure we "passed the test"

Scraped 2 unconvincing wins in games we really shouldnt have and Posh are on a bad a run as we are in the form table



If we lose the luck we enjoyed in those games we will get bugger all at home v the top teams left to come here.

I guess it all depends on how well Cooper can manage to turn our away slump around - pretty soon am sure it will impact on our home results as players suffer loss of confidence.
After 2 bad results away anything but a resounding thumping of the shrews am sure will have the CG making its displeasure heard, which am sure will go a long way to helping the confidence levels  

Halls injury could well be a blessing in disguise, maybe troy can be given a chance with us.

Pretty sure he is still not 100% yet - might have been Cooper who said still needs at least another development game.
But even without Troy going back to a flat back 4 with Thompson as a RB not wing back should be more stable with Branco replacing Hall.Or even use Barthram instead of Thompson
I didnt go yesterday but from all accounts Jmac had a decent game on return, have been one of his critics in the past but am prepared for him to prove me wrong 

[sonicyouth]

Troy is too busy watching Celebrity Big Brother to follow our results let alone turn out for us.

[adje]

Having listened to the Cooper and McEverley interviews I was trying to work out who they thought were at fault ? What I picked out was:

- Cooper not happy with lack of effort from Ranger. Comments about needing someone who runs around and tries for the team. Mentioned that he was dominated all game by the centre half
- Cooper mentioning that we didn't win a header in the box from which they scored. He then praised Branco and was lukewarm when the interview suggested McEverley played well. McEverley however, seemed to be blaming other who don't seem to learn. Was that a dig at Hall? Or was it Thompson who people have said has been poor of late?
- Cooper said that some needed a rocket, but he wasn't sure whether they would respond. Easy to think Ranger might be one, but who are the others?
- Cooper commented on being criticised for not getting a response from his last 1/2 time team talk. He said that today he pointed some fingers and there was an improvement in the second half. So who improved?
- When I have listened to games over the last couple of weeks, I haven't heard much about Luongo or N'Guessan. Are they people who aren't learning or wont respond to the hairdryer treatment? Or are they just doing the donkey work that doesn't often get noticed or appreciated?

Can anyone give player ratings to shed some light on this or any other points?

personally I would say
Fods-4/10
Thompson 3
Ward 4
Branco 4
McEvely 6
Hall 3
Pritchard 6
Luongo 4
Mason 3
Kasim 4
Ranger3
subs
Barker6
NGuessan 5
Byrne 5

[Riddick]

Dare is suggest Mark Cooper isn't a very good manager/head coach?

[Dr Pierre Chang]

A very frustrating, but not really surprising 90 minutes. A real grim afternoon stood on that joke of stand.

The pikeys are a poor outfit, lets make no mistake about that but they were comfortable throughout yesterday and we didn't have a clue how to trouble them.

A 20 minute spell I hear Mr Cooper said we had? When the fuck was that? The bloke is lucky there was a mass exodus after the 2nd, because it wouldn't have been a nice send off for him at full time. He was getting plenty of abuse when he trudged off at half time, along with 'Cooper sort it out' being chanted. I stayed until the end, but couldn't bring myself to find the effort to give him any stick. My mood matched the performance - completely flat.

I can accept lining up with FIVE defenders against such a poor side if it means we are resolute. The opposite was the case. All over the place at the back.

As I am sure has been said, McEvely put in a good shift but Thompson cannot play a wing back role. He has no attacking quality and that will prevent him being any use at a higher level. A very good defender in a back four, but ask him to go forward and he is clueless.

Ward was ridiculously good last season and extremely reliable. The same can't be said for this season but I don't put it down to 'his legs have gone'. He had no pace last season but now he is just left stupidly exposed on an almost weekly basis. I can forgive him for awkwardness on the ball as that has never been his game.

Branco never seems to win the first ball but I don't think he deserves any stick for his performance yesterday. Hall is far too inconsistent and it is no wonder he gets stick. If he was a youth lad here then fair enough give him time but I wouldn't be upset to see him return to Spurs.

A midfield trio of Luongo-Kasim-Mason is a luxury away from home. All very good footballers, and effective at the County Ground but we need an experienced head in there for matches like yesterday.

Pritchard huffed and puffed and Ranger was starved of service. Barker was lively and should start next Saturday.

And this leads me to Mr Cooper. A likeable man, who steadied the ship in difficult circumstances in the summer, and for that he deserves great credit.

However, lets be honest here. He is out of his depth. I would be very confident that a reasonable manager would have this side in the top 6. We know what they can do. A reasonable manager would be knocking on the chairman's door for what is needed, and I don't think it is much - an experienced central midfielder.

Cooper knows he can get away with a mid table finish. Next season will be the interesting one, and I think a more difficult one - what will the fans settle for?

Ambition comes from the fans in my opinion. If the fans settle for 2nd best consistently (or mid table in this scenario), then so will the management and players. Lack of ambition is a disease for a football club.

I feel for those who also went to Stevenage on Tuesday. Yesterday was not the worst I have seen this season, that would be Shrewsbury but it was not an enjoyable afternoon.

[ron dodgers]

Dar-es-Salaam?

[Reg Smeeton]

Not sure we "passed the test"

Scraped 2 unconvincing wins in games we really shouldnt have and Posh are on a bad a run as we are in the form table



If we lose the luck we enjoyed in those games we will get bugger all at home v the top teams left to come here.

I guess it all depends on how well Cooper can manage to turn our away slump around - pretty soon am sure it will impact on our home results as players suffer loss of confidence.
After 2 bad results away anything but a resounding thumping of the shrews am sure will have the CG making its displeasure heard, which am sure will go a long way to helping the confidence levels  

Pretty sure he is still not 100% yet - might have been Cooper who said still needs at least another development game.
But even without Troy going back to a flat back 4 with Thompson as a RB not wing back should be more stable with Branco replacing Hall.Or even use Barthram instead of Thompson
I didnt go yesterday but from all accounts Jmac had a decent game on return, have been one of his critics in the past but am prepared for him to prove me wrong  

We won both games, how doesn't really matter....had we not, then we'd be looking at needing 21 points, meaning winning at least 1 away game and 6 more home games with the likes of Wolves, Brentford, Preston and Rotherham to come.

You're right though about Saturday, really need to win this one...massive game.

[sonicyouth]

The negativity on here is really sapping my enthusiasm for the rest of the season.

Congratulations you bunch of bastards,  you've helped save me a few quid

[@mwooly63]

The negativity on here is really sapping my enthusiasm for the rest of the season.

Congratulations you bunch of bastards,  you've helped save me a few quid

 
Tis the team you need to thank
I had at least 3 more away trips planned but they are shelved so will save me a small fortune

[random_five]

Dare is suggest Mark Cooper isn't a very good manager/head coach?

I don't think you're sticking your neck out too much there mate

[Exiled Bob]

The negativity on here is really sapping my enthusiasm for the rest of the season.

Congratulations you bunch of bastards,  you've helped save me a few quid

I'm going over to the UK next weekend and was thinking of staying for a week - taking in 3 games. The performances in the last couple of games has certainly sapped the enthusiasm I had. Normally I'm excited about going home to see The Mighty Reds play......but I doubt that I'll even bother to go Saturday now. It winds me up that such a talented bunch of players are so pathetic against rubbish teams away from home. We have the best striker in the league. The best goalie. Undoubtedly the best midfield. Thompson, on his day, is one of the best fullbacks. Ward, on his day, is a good defender. McEverley's not bad - he's played at a higher level and, again, on his day is a good defender. There's no excuse for being so poor. I'm sick of hearing the excuse that they are young. That's bullshit. They are just a bunch of lazy, apathetic wasters. What they all need is a good kick up the arse and if that don't work send the useless cunts packing. Play Barthram, Storey, Byrne, Barker, Louis Thompson......get rid of the likes of Ranger and bring Ajose back. Get players in the side who give a fuck.