Chelmsford game

Team: Mellor, Bowman, Ball, Gallinagh,Simpson, Walsh, Allen, Addlesbury, Pratt, Watkins, Artus.

Subs - Stearn, Kington, Hemmings, Keary, Slocombe.

0-0. Improved performance, should have won albeit against a poor Chelmo.

improved performance as in we didn't concede and went incredibly close to scoring with the shot which almost broke the bar and the excellent save from the long range shot late on. but i doubt if we'll see a worse team than chelmsford at TP this season and they were there for the taking.

best wishes to phil walsh for a speedy recovery from what looked like a serious injury. we can't afford to be without him for a long period...

Better performance but that really is relative to Tuesday. I can't honestly say that there were any issues with the formation or line-up today. Good to see Bowman starting and was impressed with FrankieArtus (who actually deserved his man of the match today) and Kington. Stearn seemed to have a bit more of a passing head on when he came on. I thought the defence looked better - let's give that line-up a couple of starts, please. The only one I was underwhelmed by was Addlesbury. Still don't really know what his place is and I am not sure he does.

We could have won that by a couple but, as time went on, you could see them nicking one as well. Unfortunately, after the first two games, that is where the confidence is. Let's hope Walsh is fit again and we can start again with a settled line-up.

word has it Walsh looked like he had a broken ankle
some off the players were seen to take a look and quickly look away
if this is correct then he will be out for a few months
as for the game we were the better side
should of won
poor attendance only 429

Yes, terrible attendance. I can only hope that, as the next home ga,e is on Bank Holiday Monday and most will be back from hols, the next game will be a well-attended win otherwise it be a tough season.

Marc Monitor wrote:Yes, terrible attendance. I can only hope that, as the next home ga,e is on Bank Holiday Monday and most will be back from hols, the next game will be a well-attended win otherwise it be a tough season.

 Wouldn't be at all surprised if the attendance is even lower for the next home game. A terrible start to the season   with no redeeming features as far as i can see. Except for FrankieArtus the new signings have less to offer than those players who left during the summer. I am afraid that as the seasons go by i have less and less confidence in the management team and i think that this season is more likely to see a relegation fight that a promotion challenge.

 Remarkably there has been little criticism so far of Howells and Britton on this board but if we suffer another defeat on BH monday against Havant ( who have lost all 3 games albeit against 3 playoff favourites) then Howells position as manager must be quickly becoming untenable.

Thought we improved second half. First half poor against a Chemsford side with not much to offer. Like so often they were physically stronger than us and we got knocked off the ball easily, particularyly Allen in the first half.
Phil Walsh injury looked nasty, his foot was at a bad angle. Physio took one look and called for the stretcher. Best wishes to him, don't think we shall be seeing him for a while.
Crowd was predictable after the first 2 results.

[quote="Micawber"]

Marc Monitor wrote:Remarkably there has been little criticism so far of Howells and Britton on this board

I was fairly critical but, fair play, they mostly made the right decisions today (I would have possibly started with Stearn) and were a crossbar and a couple of good saves away from a decent win. After the disaster of the first two games, we needed to build confidence, we hopefully did and should progress on from here.

If they start buggering about with the line-up again - Walsh's possible absence excepted - then I will criticise them again.

No doubt we would have stuffed this side if it hadn't been for our first two games. But as Marc says we needed to build confidence which was visibly shot to pieces.

I would hope we can kick on from here as we have some decent players FrankieArtus looks top quality and I like the look of Kington. Personally I thought Adelsbury had a decent game.

Defence was understandably jittery at times and I think in part that is because Walsh and Gallinagh are off their game. Keary looked comfortable and I have high hopes for him although it leaves us lacking height at the back.

Can't really fault the administration (can't call it management because they don't appear to want to) as they did what needed to be done.

I actually enjoyed the game. I thought we did everything better.

comrade powell wrote:but i doubt if we'll see a worse team than chelmsford at TP this season 

apart from us on tuesday against b/stoke of course!

chronicle update on phil walsh...

http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bath-City-defender-Phil-Walsh-set-long-lay/story-22758767-detail/story.html

i wonder if we will look for a replacement.

That's a serious blow losing Walshy. I wish him a speedy recovery.
All to play for this season then. If we can stay up, we can look forward to local derbies against the Gas, though knowing our luck they'd be put in Conf North.
  

Micawber wrote: Remarkably there has been little criticism so far of Howells and Britton on this board but if we suffer another defeat on BH monday against Havant ( who have lost all 3 games albeit against 3 playoff favourites) then Howells position as manager must be quickly becoming untenable.

I didn't think supporters were allowed to give criticism of the management its frowned upon and usually given the response of 'zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz'.

Richard111 wrote:

Micawber wrote: Remarkably there has been little criticism so far of Howells and Britton on this board but if we suffer another defeat on BH monday against Havant ( who have lost all 3 games albeit against 3 playoff favourites) then Howells position as manager must be quickly becoming untenable.

I didn't think supporters were allowed to give criticism of the management its frowned upon and usually given the response of 'zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz'.

Criticism most certainly is welcome (within reason), so please bring it on if you feel the need.
It is after all perfectly understandable, you may even get me started.

On the matter of Walshy, a massive blow to any chances this year.
A greatly improved and matured player, excellent reader of the game.

Must find a replacement, any chance of Chelmford loaning their number 5 from yesterday, could do worse.

I didn't think overall we did too badly, and probably deserved to win - very impressed by Artus and hope he can keep up that level of performance.

Was Lee Howells okay? He spent quite a bit of the second half standing up, rather than sitting in the dugout, and I think he might actually have shouted at the players once! I shall now await a barrage of vitriol from the Lee and Adie fan club!

Richard111 wrote:

Micawber wrote: Remarkably there has been little criticism so far of Howells and Britton on this board but if we suffer another defeat on BH monday against Havant ( who have lost all 3 games albeit against 3 playoff favourites) then Howells position as manager must be quickly becoming untenable.

I didn't think supporters were allowed to give criticism of the management its frowned upon and usually given the response of 'zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz'.

That was a one-off reply from Palms referring to a comment about Howells referred to as Head Coach instead of manager?

comrade powell wrote:chronicle update on phil walsh...

http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bath-City-defender-Phil-Walsh-set-long-lay/story-22758767-detail/story.html

i wonder if we will look for a replacement.

We may do, but I was quite impressed with Keary, and, personally, I would not take any panic measures to bring in someone else, costing money that we do not have, until we have given the lad every chance to prove himself a capable replacement. He may not be the same height as Walshy, but he isn't exactly small. Now is his chance, and I hope he grasps it with both hands.

Yes, I thought Keary looked fine and, dare I say it, comfortable in pre-season.

SASCHA wrote:...On the matter of Walshy, a massive blow to any chances this year.
A greatly improved and matured player, excellent reader of the game.

Don't agree. He ended last season well, but I have been totally unimpressed and dissappointed with him this season. Misses headers, misses tackles and gives the ball away.
I certainly wouldn't wish the injury on him, but think Keary looked very comfortable.

yes, keary deserves a chance. the problem though is that an already small squad is now one lighter for the foreseeable future.

LB wrote:I didn't think overall we did too badly, and probably deserved to win - very impressed by Artus and hope he can keep up that level of performance.

Was Lee Howells okay? He spent quite a bit of the second half standing up, rather than sitting in the dugout, and I think he might actually have shouted at the players once! I shall now await a barrage of vitriol from the Lee and Adie fan club!

I am not going to comment on that but I did notice that Rollo was standing all the time (and ended up on the end of a bollocking from Stearn).

On the other hand, the Chelmsford City management were out of their dugout throughout the match - shouting, swearing, gesticulating - all of it the epitome of lower league (and, occasionally, Championship and Premier League) bluster. Now, they may have come for a 0-0 draw and, in which case, they succeeded but this still doesn't mean that that sort of management is best.

I remember with Cardiff that Dave Jones was castigated for not showing much emotion on the touchline but was an exceptional manager for them. OK, Malky Mackay was the manner that got them into the Premiership but I am not sure that that was because of pitch side histrionics.

As I have mentioned above, I am happy to criticise the management where needs be but I am not sure that technical area pantomime or lack thereof is the barometer of good management.

Has anyone at the club not had a bollocking from Stearn? But he certainly got one from Pratt for yet another poor use of the ball...

I like that Stearn gives people bollockings. I also like the fact he is as hard on himself as on others. I also like the fact that Pratt - and a couple of others - are happy to give Stearn a bollocking when he deserves it - which he does often.

Some players need to be chippy so-and-sos and Stearn is one of those. He reminds me very much of Paul Dickov in this respect. These sort of players seem to need to be wound up to play but, also, need to be kept in line and focussed.

All of this, by the way, is no criticism of Rollo. I was just pointing out that he was the only one out of the dug-out. My heart says that I would love to see Jimmer as manager (he played in one of my favourite ever Cardiff games - an away win against Fulham) but head says that he has to prove his worth.