Tonight's Game

Any Commentary going?

Awful performance so far, don't even look interested.

0-1

Rubbish.

Oh dear

Abysmal.

Paralysis off the pitch now matched by paralysis on it.

What's gone wrong since that glorious 5 nil win in late August

We huffed and we puffed but couldn't blow down their house.

I could cope with these sorts of exits if they were once every 10 years or so, but since 2008 in the FA Cup and Trophy we've lost at HOME to a team two leagues below on three occasions, the capitulation at East Thurrock and the non-performances at Gosport and Chesham.

Not sure what else to say. We've been spared a trip to that hell hole Braintree, but we've also been spared a good sum of money. As have I as I lost about a day's wages compiling a programme plus spending an evening witnessing that nightmare.

pete mac wrote:

What's gone wrong since that glorious 5 nil win in late August

I went back to France Pete. Don't worry I'm on the ferry back on Friday.

Awful game, the sort of flat performance I feared. The £7500k should have been an incentive but obviously someone forgot to mention that to the players and management who looked largely disinterested.
On top of that I hear that Nick McCootie has gone on holiday to Australia, does anyone know what is going on? At the moment it is begining to look like a complete shambles.

2weirdtown wrote:We huffed and we puffed but couldn't blow down their house.

A few more shots and we might have knocked down the new houses behind the Bath end

SteveS wrote:On top of that I hear that Nick McCootie has gone on holiday to Australia, does anyone know what is going on?  At the moment it is begining to look like a complete shambles.

I wish I was back there at the moment. He might not have got through customs with that bandage.

Desperately disappointing performance again, following Saturday's sub-standard fare. To answer the question above, we have lost some key players since that great start to the season. But we can't use that as an excuse for failing to see off a Ryman team over two games. Watkins' absence tonight was apparently unavoidable, which is more than can be said of McCootie's.
What really annoys me over these two games is that we have made a very ordinary team look better than us. For such a poor keeper to barely have a save tonight sums up our performance.

Absolute crap tonight. Not sure whether it was worse than the Basingstoke game as, at least, Pratt scored a good header from another great Gallinagh ball into the box and Danny Barrow looked to have a lot of intent and skill. Phillips was again excellent and couldn't do anything about the two well-taken goals. They fully deserved their win and it would have been a travesty if we had got anything out of it. Indeed, even with McCootie and Watkins, I don't think we would have got anything. Although I wasn't there on Saturday, from what I have heard that is three terrible performances out of three. Not only that but we have the inevitable Ross Stearn goal to look forward to on Saturday and, with 6 shots at least ballooning over the bar tonight, I can't see us getting anything in return. Apparently, Stearn is worried he will get booed on Saturday. We should be offering him another contract.

Previous similar F A Cup disasters - Aylesbury and Gosport - lead to management changes (Britton taking over from Relish and then Britton and Howells apparently changing places) which were a bit like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Last seasons disaster at East Thurrock, following the poor start in the league, would have seen off a lot of managers, but Howells and Britton survived with the blame laid firmly at the players' door. I know they took us to the Trophy semi final, but it was the wrong tactics in the first half of the game at Twerton that cost us our place at Wembley as much as the missed penalties.
If City want to keep their current supporters let alone attract new ones (not to mention investors) then the time has surely come for a drastic change - management can't keep living on the glory of those first six wins when the only team they have beaten in the last nine games is Bodmin.

As is quite often the case I guess I will be in a minority of one in thinking we didn't play that badly tonight. I thought up until their first goal we looked in control but one moment of quality and we are a goal down. This allowed Harlow to defend in numbers, slow the game down and try to catch us on the break. And they did all three very well. Even then with a bit more composure in front of goal we could have been level before the penalty or second goal. In the end, over the two games, they had confident (and available) strikers and we didn't, which was the difference.

Of course, we are out of the cup so that is all that really matters. Whilst I don't imagine there will be any off the pitch changes I think that given a majority of supporters now appear to take the view that if we do well (like the first six games) it is because of the players and if we do poorly (ever since) it is because of Howells and Britton maybe something does need to be done.

Anyway back to the photos and programme stuff for Saturday.

yuffie wrote:As is quite often the case I guess I will be in a minority of one in thinking we didn't play that badly tonight. I thought up until their first goal we looked in control but one moment of quality and we are a goal down. This allowed Harlow to defend in numbers, slow the game down and try to catch us on the break. And they did all three very well. Even then with a bit more composure in front of goal we could have been level before the penalty or second goal. In the end, over the two games, they had confident (and available) strikers and we didn't, which was the difference.

Of course, we are out of the cup so that is all that really matters. Whilst I don't imagine there will be any off the pitch changes I think that given a majority of supporters now appear to take the view that if we do well (like the first six games) it is because of the players and if we do poorly (ever since) it is because of Howells and Britton maybe something does need to be done.

Anyway back to the photos and programme stuff for Saturday.

Like many other fans, I am of the opinion that when we are doing well the management seem to be full of self-praise, but when things go pear-shape it is the fault of the players!
We had a fantastic start to the season, and the management must take a lot of credit for that; but since then the management must share the blame for the successive failure in the games played since!!

The crowd tonight of 330 is abysmal - the crowd on Saturday is now likely to be equally so. If the downward spiral of results continues much longer surely management changes have to be made - and I don't only mean in the dugout!!

At the risk of being accused of heresy, I thought some of the play was better than recent games. We played it on the ground and didn't resort to pumping high balls forward.  I thought we failed in the final third.  Too many intricate triangles attempted on the edge of their box.  Apparently afraid to shoot and when we did I lost count of the shots ballooned over.  So its not like we didn't create chances.  Not sure that, even with McCootie and Watkins, (I understand that McCootie had booked a family holiday in Portugal btw, not Australia - one for another thread perhaps) the finishing would have been any better, based on recent form.  Anyway, Harlow had three(?) chances and a penalty and scored 2 goals.  If we had converted the same ratio we would have scored 4/5 goals.  Obviously, its the result that is the most important stat and I'm as disappointed as the next fan but I wonder if there would be so many complaints about the performance overall if our finishing had been better. <reaches for tin hat>

Roman Mike wrote:At the risk of being accused of heresy, I thought some of the play was better than recent games. We played it on the ground and didn't resort to pumping high balls forward.  I thought we failed in the final third.  Too many intricate triangles attempted on the edge of their box.  Apparently afraid to shoot and when we did I lost count of the shots ballooned over.  So its not like we didn't create chances.  Not sure that, even with McCootie and Watkins, (I understand that McCootie had booked a family holiday in Portugal btw, not Australia - one for another thread perhaps) the finishing would have been any better, based on recent form.  Anyway, Harlow had three(?) chances and a penalty and scored 2 goals.  If we had converted the same ratio we would have scored 4/5 goals.  Obviously, its the result that is the most important stat and I'm as disappointed as the next fan but I wonder if there would be so many complaints about the performance overall if our finishing had been better. <reaches for tin hat>

Blimey I'm not in a minority of one!

Obviously after losing to a team two leagues below you (who, apart from their finishing, looked exactly that for most of the two games) it will be all doom and gloom and I fully expected that.

Anyway, having been up until about 1.30am doing the website, pictures and programme I need to get to work to have a little nap.

3 of the top 4 in Nat South out of Cup so we're all targeting the title then. Can't remember such a bizarre start to season. From champion form to relegation form in less then 2 months. Guess the answer is in between. We were never that good, and enjoyed some luck, and now we're not that bad, perhaps things do even themselves out over a season, or less.

Yuffie and Mike, you are further proof that our club has the most patient and forgiving of fans. Of course you are entitled to your opinions of how we played last night - from the stand I thought our performance was woeful. And before management liken it to a freak result as they did after Thurrock, a reminder that in the past 12 months we have failed to see off lower and same level opponents in  8 out of 12 matches.
As for McCootie - 2 questions which only the club can answer - is he on a contract and was he given permission to go away on holiday during a period when games always come thick and fast? At the moment, the episode at St Albans last season with their striker Frendo comes to mind....

I always try to be realistic in what I post and was uneasy about this game since I found the winners would face Braintree. Some obviously felt different but it seemed to me a trip up the road to Braintree would be far more appealing to Harlow than the 175 mile trip would be to to us. I agree this should not be the case as the £7500 on offer last night is very important to this club but I feel the draw certainly gave the Harlow players and management the incentive to raise their game.This concern was increased when I got to the ground and McCootie and Watkins were not in the squad considerably reducing options. We had no width (Barrow did try when he came on) but we were continually trying to play through the centre and as has been said the short passes around the penalty area were not working and there was not a plan B.

I don't know the ins and outs of the McCootie situation but it seems some people have known about this for a while 'but told not to say anything'. Whether he has gone to Australia or Portugal it matters not but if a key player can disappear on holiday at this stage of the season some sort of explanation is needed because it just makes us look like a Sunday league outfit. I think the club should come out and tell us what is going on.

Unfortunately it is begining to look like a bit of a struggle now. I have said before that my expectation for this season was mid table and hopefully stay away from the struggle at the bottom. I saw the points gained at the begining of the season as a bonus. At the start we did play very well in games against Havent and Maidenhead but in others we also had good fortune on our side. Wealdstone could have gone either way and although I did not go I understand we were very fortunate with some of the early away wins as luck was on our side along with some great saves from Phillips.

Things have now turned the other way and we have lost the bit of spark and good passing football plus the luck is tending to desert us e.g. my son was at Maidstone and told me we battered them second half and should have got something from the game. Losing Nicholson has been a big blow.

Saturday will be another big test, I think Stearn has scored in his last 2 games and will be out to torment us but when he tries too hard it can be counter productive. We desperately need to find more width and open the game up as trying to play down the centre either with the long ball or intricate passing is unlikely to work.

Hopefully the slide can be arrested but it needs a spark from somewhere and cannot see where it is going to come from at the moment.

Yes the absence of 2 key players for a big game does not look very professional.

I certainly agree about the lack of width though to me plan B was bringing Barrow on to make that improvement.

Like most people I don't know the truth of the mccootie situation though I notice it is his birthday today so perhaps it has something to do with that in a week where we didn't initially have a game.

Marc Monitor wrote:we have the inevitable Ross Stearn goal to look forward to on Saturday...

I must admit it's going to be difficult to prevent a feeling of perverse satisfaction when that happens...