Concord thread

[Luton Roman]

Well Concord played with 10 men for 63 mins and no manager for 60 mins as he was sent to the stands in a 1-0 defeat at St albans tonight. So hopefully they will be tired...not galvanised....on Saturday.

[BenE]

If we were at our best it wouldn't matter. I don't think we have looked very good since Parcelle went to left back. This is a position a loanee would be useful in at the moment.

[stillmanjunior]

Well Concord played with 10 men for 63 mins and no manager for 60 mins as he was sent to the stands in a 1-0 defeat at St albans tonight. So hopefully they will be tired...not galvanised....on Saturday.

They appeared to get really irate about the sending off. I've seen the two yellows, both nailed on. I'll watch the game back fully tomorrow and see what the other issues were.

Watched their match at Havant and it was a massive gulf in class. Could have been 7-0 at half-time. The current top two look the real deal from what I've seen of them.

[LB]

Hopefully the loan signing from FGR will fill in at left back so that Parselle can go back to central defence.

With Concord not having won since the second Saturday of the season and then Cheshunt with 10 defeats on the bounce coming to Twerton the week after this really is a chance to get the season back on track. What could possibly go wrong!

[LB]

Clean sheet, two goals from Cody, 5th place - that will do for a Saturday I think! Oh, and Cheshunt won so at least we can't be the fall guys against them.

[comrade powell]

A far more comfortable win than the score line suggests. Concord on the day were probably the weakest team we’ve faced so far and must be one of the favourites for relegation on that showing. Clinical finishing from Cooke and looking far steadier at the back were the two highlights for me.

[comrade powell]

I meant to add I can’t remember such a low turnout for a Saturday away match for a long time. A very small number from the West Country and a few exiles. It’s great that home attendances are so healthy but few if any of the ‘new supporters’ appear to be travelling further than to our closest rivals.

[Peter Newman]

To be honest Concord is, probably, the least enticing away fixture. It's a long and tedious journey for those who travel by road and requires a lot of detailed planning for those who use unreliable public transport in order to reach an unattractive location.

As for the game itself  I was waiting for us to come under a period of real pressure but it never happened. Difficult to judge whether it was poor opposition or us playing well and so preventing Concord having the opportunity to pressurise us. Hopefully the latter but suspect more a combination of both elements. Anyway certainly more encouraging signs that , yesterday, we looked more balanced and organised.

[comrade powell]

To be honest Concord is, probably, the least enticing away fixture. It's a long and tedious journey for those who travel by road and requires a lot of detailed planning for those who use unreliable public transport in order to reach an unattractive location.

Very fair points. It probably doesn't help that those who have made the trip tend to put off others by describing what they have missed! There were probably matches played in the Somerset junior leagues with more atmosphere than we experienced yesterday.

Although I can't think of another ground/location with less appeal in this league (with the possible exception of Havant's) it's one of several that are very distant - Dover, Eastbourne, Braintree, Chelmsford... - which will only attract the diehards.

There was a good turnout at Oxford and hopefully this will be replicated at St Albans next month - a SC coach will run, it's quite easy to get there independently, a great town and always a decent match atmosphere.

[Peter Newman]

The journey was made worthwhile by the victory and the final part of the it being a candlelit train ride from Bath Spa to Bradford on Avon.

[Luton Roman]

Final straw for Concord who have parted company with the manager

[stillmanjunior]

Third time this year a manager has been sacked/departed after facing us.

Unless someone new has a magic wand they are in trouble. Back end of last season against us I thought they were excellent, played some great passing football and even though it was late arriving it was probably a fair result. Saturday was a case of we've improved and they have not. Centre-backs had no confidence in their own ability to pass, lone striker has scored as many goals since January as Jordan Dyer and players obviously find it hard to motivate themselves when nobody watching seemed that bothered.

Focussing on us, our constant press and organisation throughout was brilliant and it was the most comfortable win we've had for a while. Not as comprehensive as Slough obviously but they made us work damn hard. Similar next week and it should be another win before a tricky midweek game.

[BenE]

Concord have done really well to achieve nat south status but with low gates it is unsustainable. The work our board have done to increase gates is invaluable and gives us a solid platform to work from.

[comrade powell]

To be honest, Junior, I'd have expected Hartley Wintney to have beaten Concord on Saturday. As Peter Newman posted, it was probably a bit of both - we did play well but after miserable defeats in our last two home games I'm not predicting three points against Cheshunt with quite as much confidence!

[SteveBradley]

To be honest Concord is, probably, the least enticing away fixture. It's a long and tedious journey for those who travel by road and requires a lot of detailed planning for those who use unreliable public transport in order to reach an unattractive location.

Very fair points. It probably doesn't help that those who have made the trip tend to put off others by describing what they have missed! There were probably matches played in the Somerset junior leagues with more atmosphere than we experienced yesterday.

Although I can't think of another ground/location with less appeal in this league (with the possible exception of Havant's) it's one of several that are very distant - Dover, Eastbourne, Braintree, Chelmsford... - which will only attract the diehards.

There was a good turnout at Oxford and hopefully this will be replicated at St Albans next month - a SC coach will run, it's quite easy to get there independently, a great town and always a decent match atmosphere.

The big problem with Concord for some will be that there's nothing of note there. At least with Oxford, St Alans, Chelmsford, Dover etc they are proper places with decent towns and things to see and do as well as the football. A proper day out really. I've never been to Canvey Island, so this may be uinfair, but it doesn't exactly have a reputation for being worth the trip

[LB]

Third time this year a manager has been sacked/departed after facing us.

Unless someone new has a magic wand they are in trouble. Back end of last season against us I thought they were excellent, played some great passing football and even though it was late arriving it was probably a fair result. Saturday was a case of we've improved and they have not. Centre-backs had no confidence in their own ability to pass, lone striker has scored as many goals since January as Jordan Dyer and players obviously find it hard to motivate themselves when nobody watching seemed that bothered.

Focussing on us, our constant press and organisation throughout was brilliant and it was the most comfortable win we've had for a while. Not as comprehensive as Slough obviously but they made us work damn hard. Similar next week and it should be another win before a tricky midweek game.

I think we were definitely at our best earlier in the season when we started with Spokes, Lines and Hayfield in midfield, and unfortunately it seemed to go wrong when Tom Smith got the nod over Spokes. If we can keep those three together (although doubtful with a spate of Saturday/Tuesday/Saturday coming up until the middle of next month) and with Parselle back in central defence hopefully Mark's optimism will be justified.

[comrade powell]

Steve, you say you haven’t been to Canvey Island. If you’re placing Dover and Chelmsford in the same bracket as St Albans and Oxford then I assume you haven’t been to those two either!
True, Canvey isn’t great but if you can put up with a long walk to the ground from the Lobster Smack, it’s a very decent pub. And Southend is only a few miles along the coast - despite its reputation I had a pleasant couple of hours there on Saturday wandering around the charming Westcliff district.

[City 'til we're relegated]

Third time this year a manager has been sacked/departed after facing us.

Could this mean that we are viewed as a team that can be beaten?

[kermit]

Steve, you say you haven’t been to Canvey Island. If you’re placing Dover and Chelmsford in the same bracket as St Albans and Oxford then I assume you haven’t been to those two either!
True, Canvey isn’t great but if you can put up with a long walk to the ground from the Lobster Smack, it’s a very decent pub. And Southend is only a few miles along the coast - despite its reputation I had a pleasant couple of hours there on Saturday wandering around the charming Westcliff district.

Comrade, I agree with all your comments, however, I can only assume I was drinking with your twin brother in the Last Post in Southend whilst you were taking the air around charming Westcliff!!

[SteveBradley]

Steve, you say you haven’t been to Canvey Island. If you’re placing Dover and Chelmsford in the same bracket as St Albans and Oxford then I assume you haven’t been to those two either!
True, Canvey isn’t great but if you can put up with a long walk to the ground from the Lobster Smack, it’s a very decent pub. And Southend is only a few miles along the coast - despite its reputation I had a pleasant couple of hours there on Saturday wandering around the charming Westcliff district.

Dover is a dump, but at least it has a castle

[stillmanjunior]

Dover currently don’t allow opposition radio and are very strict on away press numbers so it might be a rare one I miss. We’ve covered every game since early 2017 so it’ll be a bit annoying.

[comrade powell]

TBF the Crabble ground is in River which is a very pleasant part of Dover.

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