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Author Topic: How do you think we are shaping up?  (Read 106742 times)
singingiiiffy

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« Reply #150 on: Thursday, November 8, 2018, 21:49:34 »

January, unless we go on a blinding run, could be another 8 to 10 defeats, and or draws away. If we're not close to playoffs who's going to sign for us just to be involved in a relegation battle? Will the solution be more non league, non fee unpolished turds. What a bad position we find ourselves in, unless we start getting back to back wins and that's not happended for ages. With the benefit of hindsight I can safely say that every season we start with a team which is worse than the last. Difficult times and dark days for STFC, where's our saviour when we need one!

I still can't say that this team is worse than last (obviously points reflect that though), keepers, centre backs and centre midfields have significantly improved. just hasn't come together and the lack of a goal scoring highlights the rest of the teams flaws.
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Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #151 on: Thursday, November 8, 2018, 22:08:19 »

I still can't say that this team is worse than last (obviously points reflect that though), keepers, centre backs and centre midfields have significantly improved. just hasn't come together and the lack of a goal scoring highlights the rest of the teams flaws.

Not only did we lose Norris and Mullin and replace them with a loan kid, but also Matt Preston, who although we offered to, was always going to sign for Mansfield.  Is it a coincidence they've the best defensive record in Div 4 ?  We replaced Preston with Nelson, again on loan, not a bad player but not as good atm.

The defence isn't that much worse, our 22 conceded plays last season's 20 after 17 games, but the 19 scored against 26, tells you all you need to know...... further that is the fewest for any Div 4 campaign at the same stage

We are better in midfield, however Brown punted on the Dia/Doughty axis and it just hasn't worked out due to injury and suspension.
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Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #152 on: Sunday, December 23, 2018, 14:45:58 »

 Time for an update....   the last input into this thread was in the last days of Brown. Since then we've played a further 6 league games under Wellens and accumulated 10 points. So a bit of new manager bounce... if continuing at that rate we'd get 69 points, last season we had 68 finishing 9th.  So half way through and played everybody once. 

We look atm pretty much a midtable outfit, which fits the perception of how the squad was developed back in the summer.

Given that we had a flirtation with the nether regions after the Carlisle game, the cushion to the dropzone is welcome.

Had we picked up 4 points from the 2 difficult games v Mariners and Numb, then perhaps we could have started to look up, but just the 1, although unsurprising is a remnder of our current status.

It would take a PdC style second half of the season to mount a meaningful upward challenge... in 11/12, we lost to Torquay on Boxing Day, then having 37 points, but something like 13 wins from the next 14 propelled us up and away.

I would say it is not going to happen... so how about scraping a PO place.  Well 7th in Div 4 can be a bit variable points wise, but if we take last season's 75 as a benchmark, we'd require something like 12 wins 8 draws and only 3 defeats, or maybe 13 wins 5 draws and 5 defeats.  There's no evidence that this squad is capable of such numbers, especially as Power sides tend to fall away after the window.

So what can we look forward to for the second half?
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Tails

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« Reply #153 on: Monday, December 24, 2018, 13:14:33 »

Well I've gone from thinking we'll be definitely in the playoffs, to definitely in a relegation battle and back to maybe the top 7 is possible.

I think the answer is probably midtable. Wellens has had some impressive performances but also some stinkers, although on the whole I think we look "better" than we did under Brown. All depends on what can be done in January but I'll probably stick with midtable, with perhaps a brief flirt with the top 7.
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Flashheart

« Reply #154 on: Monday, December 24, 2018, 13:19:00 »

I didn't see the game Saturday, but from what I have seen I think we'll make the playoffs. A lot depends on recruitment in the window though, of course. Abedayo needs replacing, he's too inconsistent. It pains me to say that because I thought he looked so good at the start of the season.
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« Reply #155 on: Monday, December 24, 2018, 14:14:37 »

adebayo is a reflection of the team perforces, as Tails said, promotion hopefuls one week, relegation performance the next.

get Sid Nelson signed.
get Dave fit and functioning.
get a goalscorer and a winger, and possibly a left back

tough ask, but that's what I feel the minimum is to get in the promotion mix
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Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #156 on: Monday, December 24, 2018, 14:58:05 »

I didn't see the game Saturday, but from what I have seen I think we'll make the playoffs. A lot depends on recruitment in the window though, of course. Abedayo needs replacing, he's too inconsistent. It pains me to say that because I thought he looked so good at the start of the season.

The fact that Bayo has been average, could work to our advantage.  There could be a player in there, if he was firing we'd have no chance of signing him, but perhaps now we have.

We certainly won't sign anybody of proven quality, unless a Marc Richards style veteran on his last legs.
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Wobbly Bob

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« Reply #157 on: Monday, December 24, 2018, 15:38:24 »


So what can we look forward to for the second half?

An intervention from St Jude?
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The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey

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« Reply #158 on: Monday, December 24, 2018, 16:00:40 »

Duffus was in the house Saturday according to Twitter
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Costanza

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« Reply #159 on: Monday, December 24, 2018, 16:28:33 »

Duffus was in the house Saturday according to Twitter

Cheltenham fan  Smiley
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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #160 on: Wednesday, December 26, 2018, 10:59:08 »

Well I've gone from thinking we'll be definitely in the playoffs, to definitely in a relegation battle and back to maybe the top 7 is possible.

I think the answer is probably midtable. Wellens has had some impressive performances but also some stinkers, although on the whole I think we look "better" than we did under Brown. All depends on what can be done in January but I'll probably stick with midtable, with perhaps a brief flirt with the top 7.
This.

adebayo is a reflection of the team perforces, as Tails said, promotion hopefuls one week, relegation performance the next.

get Sid Nelson signed.
get Dave fit and functioning.
get a goalscorer and a winger, and possibly a left back

tough ask, but that's what I feel the minimum is to get in the promotion mix
I agree with all of that almost word for word.

If Bayo is playing well we look a good solid promotion bet, if hes playing badly the whole team seem to be playing badly and we look mid table at best.

Get Toums fit and he could guide us up the table, Sign Nelson on Jan 1st when his loan expires, or at minimum get him on a longer loan and try and sign him at the end of the season, hes a captain in the making and you can put up with his flaws for the effort and commitment he brings, he may not be good enough for any higher than L1 but I would prefer that to be with us.

Bring in a right winger (McGlashan isn't good enough IMO) a solid attacking LB who can defend (similar to Hussey) and a target man or out and out goalscorer.

Then I do genuinely feel we could be vying for promotion.

Wellens has the players playing more expansive game and being allowed some freedom in attack. The problems seem to stem from us playing the long ball from defence rather than passing, running and crossing which we do well.
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Wobbly Bob

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« Reply #161 on: Thursday, January 10, 2019, 13:11:56 »

Ten games in for Wellens. If the current ppg of 1.5 stays the same then that would give us 64 or 65 points.

Might be a case of turning 3 or 4 draws into wins and seeing if 70 or 71 will be enough.

I'd be happy if last season's total of 68 could at least be equalled or bettered and it's not an unrealistic target if RW can do better in the final 10 games than PB managed last season.
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Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #162 on: Thursday, January 10, 2019, 14:36:07 »

Ten games in for Wellens. If the current ppg of 1.5 stays the same then that would give us 64 or 65 points.

Might be a case of turning 3 or 4 draws into wins and seeing if 70 or 71 will be enough.

I'd be happy if last season's total of 68 could at least be equalled or bettered and it's not an unrealistic target if RW can do better in the final 10 games than PB managed last season.

It's very rare for a Town side to do better in the back end of the season than the front end.

Of course it can happen.... just usually to others; such an example would be in 15/16, when we got a useful point at Blades to give us a record of p27 points 35, nicely mid table after an early struggle and the loss of two managers.

Next up we had Barnsley, who were below us by a couple of points, they somewhat undeservedly nicked it right at the end, in the time added for their time wasting, as they seemed happy with a point.

We then had the sort of standard 6 wins 5 draws 7 defeats finish, and the Tykes stormed away doing a HubCap and PO double.
« Last Edit: Thursday, January 10, 2019, 14:40:10 by Reg Smeeton » Logged
Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #163 on: Monday, March 18, 2019, 10:07:16 »

  So into the home straight, 4 home games left.... Morecambe, Crewe, Yeovil, Notts.  I would suggest, Wellens needs to win at least 2 of those, preferably with a convincing performance. Further a win at Whaddon Road could do a lot of good.

 These are dangerous times for Wellens, he needs to avoid a McMahon late 90's type ending whereby the players were on the beach after getting to 50 points with about 9 to go, and the form  became terrible, watching home games was excruciating and gates fell off to little more than our present 6K and that in Div 2.

 It was this sort of thing which compounded the loathing for him... the true dangers of that era revealed themselves when the whole club nearly went tits up, at the turn of the century, and hasn't managed to get back to that level since.

 It may be a perception thing and everything might be hunky dory, so a respectable end to the seasson with say 4 wins and a couple of draws is required, to give a bit of optimism for next season.
« Last Edit: Monday, March 18, 2019, 10:09:13 by Reg Smeeton » Logged
Panda Paws

« Reply #164 on: Monday, March 18, 2019, 10:37:44 »

As soon as it becomes impossible, rather than unlikely, play the players who are going to be here next year.

No point Woolfenden playing when we could be developing a Conroy/Broadbent pairing for example.


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