Tonight's Game, This Season and Beyond

ChallengerDeep

Well-known member
Evening AVFTT


I've been reading the board since the rivals.net days; tonight has moved me enough to make my first post.


How gutting. 2 up in the first half, could've easily been more. On the cusp of our best winning streak since 2007. Talk of "Cole and Yorke" pre game. With the depressing year we've all been through, you turn to football for a dose of escapism. A chance for a respite from everything going on. This amplifies the highs and the lows results-wise, and I feel has lead to plenty of unfounded pessimism, and optimism, on the board this season.


On to the significance of tonight's game. As gutting as the result is, in the long term, it's a necessary lesson for our young squad.


We were over-confident and naive going into the second half. Our foot was off the pedal, and Doncaster made us pay for resting on our laurels. The body language from our players in the immediate aftermath of equaliser was worrying; it seemed there was almost a feeling of entitlement for us to be infront, after a dominant first half and an "arguable" offside goal that contributed to the loss of our lead.


However, overall tonight's performance had plenty of promise. The first half was excellent, and in the second, I felt no player could be singled out as the weak link. Donny upped the ante, and we were collectively caught out.


Going back to the grand scheme of things, all I can say is that I'm excited about our future. We have a plethora of options going forward. CJ is always an effective outlet particularly on the counter attack. Madine has been a serious handful for every centre half he's played against since he's hit form, and offers a long ball/flick on option. Yates is an absolute workhorse, and as his confidence improves so will his goalscoring potency (as we are already seeing). Kaikai, while sometimes going under the radar, often shows moments of brilliance that make the difference. Our defense has come on leaps and bounds since the start of the season, particularly our centre halfs. Dougall has been class, both at the nitty gritty break up of play and linking attack and defense. We have some solid options to play alongside him in Ward, Robson and Williams


The movement of players in and out of the club this year has been staggering. It is abundantly clear that the majority of our signings have made with a thought to the future, as has the appointment of our head coach. This year is stage one, and if we finish in the top half, I will be more than content. Come next season, I'm confident that we will be putting games like this to bed if we play as well we did first half, and will be savvy enough to see the game out.


The future's bright.


UTMP
 
Young sides are prone to extremes of performance. It’s experience that smooths it out into consistent winning performances and results. You either bring in the experience or endure the ups and downs as the players earn it. Charlie Adam in tonight’s match and we win. Simple as that.
 
Evening AVFTT


I've been reading the board since the rivals.net days; tonight has moved me enough to make my first post.


How gutting. 2 up in the first half, could've easily been more. On the cusp of our best winning streak since 2007. Talk of "Cole and Yorke" pre game. With the depressing year we've all been through, you turn to football for a dose of escapism. A chance for a respite from everything going on. This amplifies the highs and the lows results-wise, and I feel has lead to plenty of unfounded pessimism, and optimism, on the board this season.


On to the significance of tonight's game. As gutting as the result is, in the long term, it's a necessary lesson for our young squad.


We were over-confident and naive going into the second half. Our foot was off the pedal, and Doncaster made us pay for resting on our laurels. The body language from our players in the immediate aftermath of equaliser was worrying; it seemed there was almost a feeling of entitlement for us to be infront, after a dominant first half and an "arguable" offside goal that contributed to the loss of our lead.


However, overall tonight's performance had plenty of promise. The first half was excellent, and in the second, I felt no player could be singled out as the weak link. Donny upped the ante, and we were collectively caught out.


Going back to the grand scheme of things, all I can say is that I'm excited about our future. We have a plethora of options going forward. CJ is always an effective outlet particularly on the counter attack. Madine has been a serious handful for every centre half he's played against since he's hit form, and offers a long ball/flick on option. Yates is an absolute workhorse, and as his confidence improves so will his goalscoring potency (as we are already seeing). Kaikai, while sometimes going under the radar, often shows moments of brilliance that make the difference. Our defense has come on leaps and bounds since the start of the season, particularly our centre halfs. Dougall has been class, both at the nitty gritty break up of play and linking attack and defense. We have some solid options to play alongside him in Ward, Robson and Williams


The movement of players in and out of the club this year has been staggering. It is abundantly clear that the majority of our signings have made with a thought to the future, as has the appointment of our head coach. This year is stage one, and if we finish in the top half, I will be more than content. Come next season, I'm confident that we will be putting games like this to bed if we play as well we did first half, and will be savvy enough to see the game out.


The future's bright.


UTMP
Was it a young and inexperienced team last night? If you check their ages and appearances then you'd have to say it wasn't youthful or inexperienced.
 
Was it a young and inexperienced team last night? If you check their ages and appearances then you'd have to say it wasn't youthful or inexperienced.
They are a young squad in terms of the amount of time that they have played together as a group. Additonally, a significant portion of the squad have played few games at this level.
 
I don't think enough are giving Darren Moore enough credit for his half time changes. Sometimes better to look at another team's positives than our negatives.
A good point. While I focused on our team and its development, there's no doubt the effect the half time change of tactics/sub ( and bollocking) had on the result.
 
They are a young squad in terms of the amount of time that they have played together as a group. Additonally, a significant portion of the squad have played few games at this level.
That's why I have always questioned the recruitment process in regard to meeting Critchley's favoured 4-3-3 formation, which he has now abandoned. A mix of league2, out of contract and other club's reserves are unlikely to pull up any trees.
 
Going back to the grand scheme of things, all I can say is that I'm excited about our future
Glad to have a new (and decent) poster giving their thoughts. I think we all got excited, way too soon, about Critchley and this season (especially bearing in mind the backdrop of what we're up against). As was pointed out, we should be about 6 points better off which would mean a defeat like Tuesday's maybe wouldn't be as hard to take.
The problem is we're playing this massive catch up and every defeat is a much bigger stride back because of the start of the season. It's why I would love us to throw everything at the FA Cup on Saturday because that could be a real season saviour.
 
The club is going to bounce back under Simon Saddlers guardianship it wouldn t surprise me to see the
team playing in the Premiership within 4 seasons.
 
Great post @ChallengerDeep - only just caught up with it - I am hoping with this Critchley side playing so well we'll get a few more informed football fans on here because when it's done right, football debate is great.
 
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