City v Whitehawk

Whitehawk may have superior resources but the team we put out today should have competed better than they did. Pratt and Watkins were feeding off scraps all game, genuinely feel sorry for Pratt in particular who ran himself ragged chasing balls lumped up into the corners of the pitch, give him some decent service and he'll score bags of goals, why can't the management see that? Apart from the penalty at the end I can't remember their keeper having to do anything all game.

A few more games like that and the managements positions are surely untenable?

If only it was £12 per game. £12 plus three kids at £1 each plus a programme at £2.50 plus petrol from bristol and back plus chips at half time and a drink for everyone (I know I dont have to spend more than petrol plus entrance fee but im happy to do so if we are entertained). Im happy to invest in non league if the management/players give a s**t. I really dont expect the earth but it is definately a 'two way street'. PS I have also bought a childs replica top and a scarf and am happy to do so again if it once again becomes enjoyable but not at the moment. Surely I cant be alone and surely the club must soon realise how much income they are losing through continuous s**t performances.

Their position must be untenable already!

Who do you want as a replacement that would be affordable?

That's up to the board. Would you stick with the current regime?

Of course the board have to make the final decision but you've written them off, so if you were on the board who would you recommend that we could bring in as a replacement? I'm just curious.

If we ever brought in someone like Steve King my days of supporting this club are effectively over. What an absolutely vile human being he is. And that's a common dislike.

Was chatting to my Dad about this today and my ideal (and reminiscent choice) would be to get Paul Bodin back. I don't know if he'd be interested but we played some superb football under him and he's an ex player who knows the club. Sorry, don't know how feasible that would be but that's who I'd try to get.

I am not sure whether it is even a case of finding a replacement. I think that first we have to separate Britton and Howells, find out how results go then and make our decisions from there. If results so improve then we stick with Howells and keep Britton well away from the dug-out leaving him to look after player acquisitions and keeping an eye on all the teams from Academy to U-21s and even youth teams. Mind you, if he has been in charge of player acquisitions recently, maybe he should just be got rid of.

However, if results don't improve, then at least we know it is down to Howells and he should be got rid of and maybe then we could look at Rollo as a possibility with obviously Britton's - from a distance - guidance.

I havent mentioned this before but I had my hair cut by archie during the second premier season when we were dire. In my opinion he was terribly negative and said that maybe naturally we werent big enough to stay up and that going down to the conference south (before we had been relegated) meant that we had found our natural level. In my opinion to have the coach saying this is shocking. He certainly gave the impression of not caring and I now understand why we are where we are. Surely a coach should be 'bigging up' the players and saying we deserve to be there on merit and he will give everything to ensure we stay there.In any other club that I can think of both britton and howells would have gone by now. I can only think that there is more to it than we are being told. Junior - its not our job to know alternative candidates. Thats up to the board and their much greater knowledge of non league football. I refuse to accept that there arent alternatives available. Billy clarke and rollo. W-S-M manager spring to mind but im sure others are available. Its not my job to find an alternative its the responsibility of the board.

Well said bristoldome. I often find Howells is very negative in post match interviews, often blaming the players but never taking responsibility himself. It's time people were made accountable and unfortunately the buck stops with the management.

I really dont want to sound vindictive and I am very grateful for what they have done. Its sad when anyone loses their job (even if they are volunteers) but surely things have now run their natural course. If not then I may have to consider my family's choice of saturday afternoons activities. 'So what' you may say but I am a real champion of lower/non league football and regularly argue against the endless hordes of non attending premier league tw*ts who regularly take the urine out of me for my choice of football clubs. The continued lack of entertainment makes my stance very difficult to maintain and Im begining to feel an idiot defending the 'powers that be'.

Being an exile and not getting to see many games a season I rely on the comments on this forum to keep up with how well/badly we are playing. Having been with my 2 sons to Concorde already this season to witness an absolute shambles I was looking forward to the Bishops Stortford game (local game for us, only 120 mile round trip)to see if we could do any better. However, after reading the comments on yesterdays game I have to seriously consider if it is worth my time and money travelling. I will make my decision after Tuesday but at this moment in time I doubt I will bother.

stillmanjunior wrote:Of course the board have to make the final decision but you've written them off, so if you were on the board who would you recommend that we could bring in as a replacement? I'm just curious.

Andy Tilson. Lives locally too.

Time's up for Britton/Howells in my opinion.
I know there are financial issues to getting someone new in, but I'm fed up of being held to ransom by the fact that they do it for nothing. How bad have things got to get?!
I've never been one of the "sack the manger" types, but for the first time in many, many years I don't want to go any more. As a supporter I was embarrassed by my team's performance yesterday. I really don't want to go through that again.
Nothing vindictive, but to me it's a simple case of the management running out of ideas and/or an inability to translate thier ideas/tactics to thier players.
End of.

Have to agree with most of the comments above, but would expect yuffie and stillmanjunior to take a more generous view towards our failings.

The most frustrating thing for me yesterday was that we persisted in playing long high balls when all of our best moves came when we kept the ball on the ground, especially in the first half. A case in point was when the Whitehawk captain hurt his knee trying to decapitate Andy Watkins.  It was a forlorn hope that we might change our tactics for the second half, but the first time we got the ball after the break it was hoofed forward.

As for Whitehawk having spent a lot of money on their team, I don't have a problem with us losing 4-1 to sides like that if we have a go at them but yesterday, particularly in the second half, we didn't.

On Tuesday we go to Wealdstone, the only team yet to win - I think we can all see how that is going to end up. Still, I expect we will get the usual excuses about the players being tired from yesterday etc - the one certainty is that it won't be the fault of the management.

White report says:

"It’s a very hot day and the crowd are noisey – almost all of the noise is aimed at the referee, who is ‘on the end of it’ from both sets of supporters.

This continues throughout the game.

Bath are a ‘physical’ side and and the referee makes no one happy today."

Wait to they play other sides.

"Sam Deering made it 0-4 to Whitehawk from the penalty spot after 65 minutes, after his own run into the box was interrupted by Bath’s Pat Keary."

and

"A clean sheet looked a possibility, but on 88 minutes Tom Cadmore was given a straight red card and Bath’s Bobbie Dale (a recent loanee from Cheltenham Town) scored the resultant penalty. Cadmore got some of the ball in his challenge and red seemed quite harsh."

Everyone it entitled to their point of view.

I havent mentioned this before but I had my hair cut by archie during the second premier season when we were dire. In my opinion he was terribly negative

Did he criticise your hair?

Where is Tillson? He has disappeared off the face of the earth by the looks of it. He isn't at Exeter anymore.

Have seen him at the University a lot recently, as well as a huge increase in the prominence of that offensive Southampton academy, no idea if the two are linked though.

Oh dear. Ive just heard archies post match interview. Blames finances and injuries. Finances - fair enough we cant compete with whitehawk but we can compete with other clubs and we can chase a play off spot. Injuries - its the same for every club. Its not like we have 5/6 key players injured and we still have the likes of bowman on the bench (who I thought was a breath of fresh air last season) who isnt being used. Funnily enough poor tactics werent mentioned. Other words/phrases not used included; togetherness,positivity,fighting spirit,playing to our strengths etc.These things alone can vastly improve a teams performance. Same old, same old.......

Just heard it too. Obviously down and can understand the loss of Walsh and Artus is critical and perhaps even overstepped the budget to get them and now missing that influence.The general point seems that despite all this we dont appear to be competing, certainly at home. I saw a competitive and combative City at Borehamwood. I plan to watch the Wealdstone and Stortford games to get a better idea against opposition we should look to be beating regardless of missing those 2. As for managerial options, im in the lets see this month camp, winnable games and the FA Cup, but im not persuaded by the emotional pull of an inexperienced Jimmer.

First City match of the season for me yesterday, after returning from a long exile. It was "just like watching Brazil"

Agree with Luton Roman, by the end of the month (and particularly after the Wealdstone and Bishop's matches) the picture could be clearer, especially if we continue to lose and the excuses run out. Sometimes clubs just need to change, even if the new guy is no more talented than the old guy - I hope the board is looking closely at other options.

I'm not a 'sack the manager' sort either. Last season there were calls for Archie/Adie's head and then they managed to turn it round and go on a bit of a run.

The difference today is that we are getting regular tonkings with a defence that is not even doing the basics right and a midfield that is bypassed with ease. Defensively we are fragile.

If Walsh is such a big miss why has he not been replaced? Bringing in another striker, and especially in this context, was nonsense.

At half time yesterday I couldn't see us getting back into it. The Rovers fan commented we had gone three up front and I said I didn't like it because it makes us too light in midfield. Lo and behold three more goals were rattled in (it could have been more) pretty sharpish.

If our management duo are going to sit in the dugout in silence then at least they should be using their time to analyse what's going on. We needed to bolster midfield not weaken it. (we went on to weaken it further by replacing Kington with Dale when we had Burnell on the bench.).

I think a number of players are struggling with fitness. It is clear our pre-season did not enable them to get up to speed. (Walsh wasn't fit either).

These are all managerial reasons why we keep getting stuffed.

We were told in the summer that the set budget was £2000 a week too low to be competitive. It looks like being too low to stay in the division.

I think a lot of what BenE says is felt by loyal supporters. It isn't the sort of club where the fans are shouting for the manager to go after some bad results. I am glad of that and similarly , like Stillman I would never want the likes of that Little thug of a Whitehawk manager anywhere near the club.
Archie and Adie love the club and have down an awful lot for it. They deserve and have received the patience of the fans and the chance to turns things around.
I think the management have simply run out of ideas. I hate the phrase 'lost the dressing room' but the players weren't fighting for the result Saturday, they seemed as bemused as the fans. I can't remember a time in the last ( years when we haven't at least looked competitive in games. With the exception of a draw against a very poor Chelmsford side we have been totally outgunned at home every game. We haven't even been competitive and that is the issue. The point about finances is relevant at any level but I think we should still be able to field a team that causes the opposition a few problems, in three homes games this season that just hasn't been the case. We've been out thought, out fought and out manoeuvred.
If the management team is to be given more of a chance I would prefer to here some positivity and ideas rather than bemoaning finances and injuries which are just a fact of football life.

Blaming injuries is nonsense!
Walsh was playing very poorly before he got injured and don't forget he played the full 90 minutes when we got stuffed 4-0 last time.
Artus is a miss, but he was involved in both the 3-0 and the 4-0 defeats previously.
Archie's clutching at straws and comes across as pretty stupid suggesting all our problems are down to the loss of two players. That's why you have more than 11 players in a squad.