Take Hunt Off

Hope Santos does make the bench , can’t be far away . The striker from Cardiff doesn’t even look like a footballer let alone a 6’6 ball retainer.Hope my observations watching him at HT are very wrong but Rasiak springs to mind

Bill Riding was in the managers chair when I started watching the whites .He didn’t even pick the team , the directors did that on the Friday night before the match in the Pack Horse , neatly written on a serviette.Having said that it rarely changed ie Hopkinson, Hartle, Farrimond….etc. Armfield did a great job turning around a sinking ship & giving us all some hope which Ian Greaves then turned into relative success. McGovern , Wright, Mulhall all found themselves managing in difficult times with zero investment from the board at the time . Neal did a decent enough job trying & to some extent improving the playing staff over a few seasons against the backdrop of tiny crowds (4.5k) he just didn’t quite have what takes to get us over the promotion line. Rioch was a different kettle of fish managed to corner the board into some commitment & signing players like David Lee & McGinley. His tenure was probably the most enjoyable period, although Todd managed to eclipse him with our runaway championship season. Allardyce is still our best by a country mile even though some folk still think he was a big headed oaf , he was backed substantially later by Eddie Davies but early doors it was Frank Passie free transfer types he had to bring in. Sammy Lee ,Coyle , the least said the better .Freedman was a weirdo .We won 5-1 away at Leeds playing swashbuckling footie , next game Derby away he changes the team around & we crab a 0-0 draw playing mainly defensive .He did have a nice line of Italian suits though. Megson I grudgingly did have some time for .His PR was a disaster but he didn’t give a shit , we beat the Stretford lot at home & he kept us up that season .I know some will never ever forgive him for the European debacle followed by another abysmal visit to Wigan ,at the end of the day he was only obeying orders , & his end was always imminent , but careful what you wish for eh ? Parkinson did a good job , in the end he was engulfed with the financial sunami & sweaty Ken’s chicanery. Evatt, we know rescued us from the bottom tier & gave us a good day out at Wembley & that in itself will be remembered.

We are all ‘fed up ‘ At times , but surely you can see the cards SS has been dealt are a mismatch & nothing profound is going to happen in the near future ? He has to curb any criticism of ‘his’ players & soft parade them through the rest of the season , my expectations are minimal given our defensive weakness. His big challenge will be to move out the deadwood & bring in more resilient players with limited funds given our financial position. Just hoping for a win tomorrow to help dispel the recent pessimism.

We need a defensive rebuild , can’t possibly succeed conceding so many soft goals. In some ways it’s better this is highlighted now because basically SS can’t polish a turd .He needs to recruit his own defenders in the close season plus a seasoned striker & midfield ball winner. Watched Stockport v Burton earlier & actually Burton were unlucky not to get at least a draw.What was noticeable is that Burton matched Stockport physically with that lump Sweeney generally taking care of Stockport’s forwards in a way we couldn’t last week. Today we were at it again , leaving a huge space on the edge of our box when they had a corner which directly led to their first goal. Thought Cogley & Morley were decent , Thomason had a stinker & the rest were average to say the least . How Gomez Mendes failed to connect with his head from two yards out defies logic , he has disappointed so far .

Just watched the highlights (need a couple of days recovery) Toal was mugged by their guy but still ran another 10-15m with the ball I know Sheehan is a lightweight but he could have taken one for the team & tripped their player up without an ‘after you Claude ‘ gesture . Could have done him outside the penalty area got yellowed & possibly saved a goal , don’t think Stockport would have offered such courtesy at the other end.

Don’t think we’ll do another 16k , expecting 12k-14k . I’ll be nipping down this week with the ageing luddites to renew at the ticket office , if I don’t forget in the meantime that is.

Aye it’s gotta happen sometime so in as well , although I am the biggest Wiggin Jonah on the planet. My grandson’s first ‘away’ game .

Even during our recent good run under Schumaker we concede far too many goals , with Santos on his way I think the defence needs a re-build in the close season .In this league at least one large agricultural unit is required maybe two . I think Southwood is ok but only as backup.Again more physicality required . Pretty sure our manager will address these issues when he can , maybe too much of an ask to gain promotion this season , something I am not too unhappy with . Too much work required imo to transform us into a Championship unit.

Wiggin were decent tbh , good & quick on the deck , pacy wide men got the ball delivered with a bit of venom. two brick shithouses at CB invincible in the air , although Aimson turned like a bin lorry as Charles sped away to set up Hudds goal . Darcy tidy as was the giant rwb . Huddersfield were gash though dare I say Evattesque in their pondering. suffice to say it won’t be easy at the Brick.

Wrexham were poor first half today & got a crabby own goal. They were poor midweek v Orient . second half today they were very decent & deserved their win . might be an interesting contest next week but don’t think we’ll get away with winging it for forty five minutes & falling behind again. no expectations though this season , just going to enjoy the ride.

Wrexham were absolutely shite . Orient varied their game and were quick on the break via Randall & Kellman. Pratley , who I never rated , had a good game but got sent off . Not sure that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Anway won’t be easy & plenty of goals again I think. Good test for us , see where we actually are in the pecking order.

An example of the totally inept recruitment conducted by Markham & co.with their spreadsheet player evaluations.Absolute bollocks.

Well it’s happened twice on the spin (away) mainly because of our lack of cutting edge & physicality. One thing Schumacher can’t do is wave a magic wand . Watched Shrewsbury beat Wrexham the other week & they bullied them off the park although hanging on a bit at the end. We need a midfield three for sure & Sheehan will need his best shinpads. Oh and please please put our smallest midget on the edge of our penalty box to prevent the Shrewsbury set play that has stung us twice before.

Horwich , not that far from Martin Dobson

I didn’t suggest bringing him back . Just pointing out on his day best defender we have , but that ship has sailed . He will be hard to replace quality wise.

An on form Santos wipes the floor with all our other defenders & maybe an only 75% Santos is better than the others .I’m hoping our new manager can find a suitable replacement, easier said than done .There is definitely a fragility in Toals game when the big guy is missing, & he unlike Santos doesn’t handle the one on one situations well. Forrester to me is a squad player , good at filling in due to injuries etc but not physical enough for this league. Forino , the juries out as we have seen a few pros & cons in his game but that won’t matter if he’s a sick note which I suspect he is. Santos’s form this season has been indifferent to say the least (the Oxford game lives rent free in his head & he needs a move away ) and explains our poor defensive record because if he isn’t doing the business we are in trouble . As for Johnston he is less affected by Santos ‘s absence , is our only permanent left footed centre back but again lacks physicality & has not regained his pre-injury form. Big job for Schumacher to sort out that defence , despite our lack of a hold up forward we have still scored enough goals to be higher up the league.

Rodney Marsh called Campo a clown . Sam commented that Campo had a European cup winners medal & that Marsh had never won anything close to that. Shortly after that Marsh was jettisoned from sky for some inappropriate comment. Served him right the posing twat.

Don’t think the LWB role suited him , not bad going forward though . Depends what role Orient want him for , think he may well do ok there.

Good shout from Jules bringing on Murphy for Schon who was having a quiet game , shifting the goalkeepers distribution to a six footer in the left wing position.Alleviating & varying the short pass routine that seems to add the wrong sort of pressure when moving the ball forward. Cogley was also a good shout at the time as Tutu is a defensive liability although of course much better going forward. I thought Northampton targeted that side all game , much unlike most teams who tend to play down the other side.

Stoke mate reckons Schumacher was potted way too early , plenty of good signs but impatient board . On balance I think he is the best available. Dont think we have time for someone in a job too many complications & not much transfer window time left . Worrying reading that Markham is still in situ .

Please not Ryan Lowe , talking to a PNE mate he’s 1. Sideways & backwards merchant 2. Never changes tactics during play 3. Blames the players for not implementing plan A nuff said.

Intermediate shite in my view .Useful in the air , bandy as they come got nutmegged a lot.But did once score a worldy from about 40 yards out totally out of context in a game against Pompey I think , the Pompey fans being chased around the embankment Benny Hill style (must have been second half as the opened the gates at half time & let the Lever end out) Can’t have been more than 8k on that day.

Malcolm Darling not a long stay but definitely needs including

Sorry to see Charles go . I am sure he’ll do well & bag goals in a team that should play to his strengths . Evatt as if things weren’t tricky enough for him is now sat on a grenade with the pin hanging out. He needs to coax the pin back in with at least one replacement signing , before Saturday actually . I’m sure at least one board member is aware that when home crowd turns , as it has done before , things get very ugly & there is only one outcome. Cambridge at home is just the sort of game were underachievement will be fatal.

Pretty grim match but not as grim as Rotherham. We still look ropey at the back although I thought Southwood was excellent even though the lot of them over elaborated. Can’t make my mind up about Lolos he seems to see the pass but somehow it doesn’t reach its destination his laconic style doesn’t help but he is quite skilful. Matette had a generally decent game but still managed to get mugged twice in possession in dangerous areas. Good to see Tutu & Gomez get some game time. We are still not marking the edge of our box from corners , noticed on one occasion they had two free players on the edge of our area. I assume Charles has gone & therefore hope & pray we can get someone in who is capable of holding the ball up for longer than a millisecond. Victor can’t even manage that but at least Collins had a bit of space to work in given they had to at least mark Victor. Having said that nothing improved when McAtee came on .