These slumps have always been the most frustrating part of Ainsworth's tenure. Whilst we did have such issues with previous managers it does seem to me that psychological factors are a bigger factor under Ainsworth. When we're up we seem unstoppable for weeks, even months. When we're down then, even with the same players, we find it very difficult to get out of it.
Given the type of club we are and our general ambition level it's something I've come to terms with over the last nine years, but I do wonder whether it raises concerns with other prospective Ainsworth employers.
@FlyingPostman said:
Totally embarrassed by that shite. No creativity until Mehmeti came on. Bayo awful. Grimmer possibly the worst performance I have ever seen from a professional footballer. We play hoofball against a league 2 side. We have lost all confidence and McClery is clearly irreplaceable. Might not bother Saturday
Worst performance you've ever seen?
It's either your first season or you're ever so slightly prone to over exaggeration.
@Glenactico said:
This must be the worst ever crowd at AP for a competitive game (outside then tinpot whatever it is cup)?
£16 cheapest ticket to stand in a terrace on a Tuesday night with ridiculously overpriced food once you’ve rushed down after work, where the prospect is an away trip to Lincoln and we’ve been shite of late. No surprise really!
@FlyingPostman said:
Totally embarrassed by that shite. No creativity until Mehmeti came on. Bayo awful. Grimmer possibly the worst performance I have ever seen from a professional footballer. We play hoofball against a league 2 side. We have lost all confidence and McClery is clearly irreplaceable. Might not bother Saturday
@FlyingPostman said:
Totally embarrassed by that shite. No creativity until Mehmeti came on. Bayo awful. Grimmer possibly the worst performance I have ever seen from a professional footballer. We play hoofball against a league 2 side. We have lost all confidence and McClery is clearly irreplaceable. Might not bother Saturday
Worst performance you've ever seen?
It's either your first season or you're ever so slightly prone to over exaggeration.
Ironically I think John Williams aka The Flying Postman put in some pretty bad performances ?
Dismal performance. Certainly in a very poor run of form. A lot of the players playing well below their best. Absolutely no creativity without GMac. Seems to me that Saturday’s game has greater significance than before. If we continue to play as we have been, we will quickly fall out of the promotion places.
@FlyingPostman said:
Totally embarrassed by that shite. No creativity until Mehmeti came on. Bayo awful. Grimmer possibly the worst performance I have ever seen from a professional footballer. We play hoofball against a league 2 side. We have lost all confidence and McClery is clearly irreplaceable. Might not bother Saturday
Worst performance you've ever seen?
It's either your first season or you're ever so slightly prone to over exaggeration.
Yes, Grimmer was appalling and I've been going 33 years
@FlyingPostman said:
Totally embarrassed by that shite. No creativity until Mehmeti came on. Bayo awful. Grimmer possibly the worst performance I have ever seen from a professional footballer. We play hoofball against a league 2 side. We have lost all confidence and McClery is clearly irreplaceable. Might not bother Saturday
You'll be missed
My advice is dial down the hyperbole setting. I thought Grimmer was okay actually. I will be there on Saturday. Teams having ups and downs is unheard of in football...I blame that Ainsworth. Imagine how bad ast few last few games wpuld have been if we did not have home advantage? ?
@FlyingPostman said:
Totally embarrassed by that shite. No creativity until Mehmeti came on. Bayo awful. Grimmer possibly the worst performance I have ever seen from a professional footballer. We play hoofball against a league 2 side. We have lost all confidence and McClery is clearly irreplaceable. Might not bother Saturday
Worst performance you've ever seen?
It's either your first season or you're ever so slightly prone to over exaggeration.
Yes, Grimmer was appalling and I've been going 33 years
Upon reflection I can think of quite a few worse performances. Massive exaggeration, I'm just really frustrated by the whole performance tonight. My apologies Jack Grimmer
Why do we look so vulnerable to a quick counter attack all of a sudden? It's become really apparent in our last 3 home games.
Really disappointing tonight wasn't it? I think Horgan was the only one to come out of it with any credit. Tried his hardest to spark us into life but found no willing teammates. He must miss McCleary as much as we all do.
Not sure what the thinking was behind playing Bayo and Vokes but the instructions surely couldn't have been to stand next to each other for the entire time they were on the pitch together? It was tantamount to playing with ten men.
Very disappointed really, absolutely hate going out of the FA Cup
@username123 said:
£16 cheapest ticket to stand in a terrace on a Tuesday night with ridiculously overpriced food once you’ve rushed down after work, where the prospect is an away trip to Lincoln and we’ve been shite of late. No surprise really!
For those arguing about the disrespect shown by the club in not honouring the competition I find it very sad that only 1582 people attended.
You can't blame the low attendance on tonight's performance - although clearly it won't have helped Saturdays!
Personally I think tonight's attendance goes a long way to show how the fans see this competition and, therefore, GA was probably right with his team selection in the first game.
Certainly we ought to have been capable of winning tonight and our loss of form is alarming but can't we all agree that, for this season at least, our priority is promotion to the Championship?
Bitterly disappointing night. Long time since I've felt so deflated after a match. I just cannot understand why GA took so long to bring on Mehmeti. We were crying out for his creativity! We actually played some decent football, but Bayo and Vokes just couldn't provide the movement and pace we needed. Vokes wasn't bad at all, very unfortunate not to score, but Bayo was well marshalled all night. It didn't make any sense to keep him on so long.
Mehmeti made such a difference when he came on, but it was sadly too late.
Individually there were actually some good performances. Thompson, Scowen, Horgan were dominant in midfield, but there was a distinct lack of creativity, not helped by having 2 target men. It seemed so obvious what needed to happen, yet we had to wait until 75+ minutes for it to happen.
Fair play to Hartlepool. Defended well and easily mopped up all of our hoof ball. Classic breaking counter attack for the away goal and keep going till the end to defend the lead.
For us, no one played well. Thompson the least bad over the 90 perhaps? Mehmeti should have been brought on at half time (does Gareth know you don’t have to wait until 70 minutes to make a change?) like the seals comparison from @kiscokid - made me chuckle. We were indeed very immobile up front. It’s not working out well for / with Vokes at the moment. Formations aside, I would be very (pleasantly) surprised if he scores 10 goals all season.
Tough next three games - four points from those would be a fantastic return. Not impossible. ?
To be fair Grimmer was absolutely woeful, and I say that as a big Grimmer fan who rates him highly. I thought Mccarthy MOM on Saturday was pure folly and was looking forward to Grimmer staking his place for a start on Saturday but he couldn't do anything right, awful touch, constantly giving away possession, it was up there with some of the woeful individual performances such as JP Pittman at Oxford, Luke Oliver against Brighton and other such nightmares. He knew it too as he trudged round the field after being put out of his misery near the end.
@Glenactico said:
This must be the worst ever crowd at AP for a competitive game (outside then tinpot whatever it is cup)?
£16 cheapest ticket to stand in a terrace on a Tuesday night with ridiculously overpriced food once you’ve rushed down after work, where the prospect is an away trip to Lincoln and we’ve been shite of late. No surprise really!
I wasn’t surprised at a low crowd. It wasn’t an appealing fixture at all. But I’d guessed at somewhere between 2500-3000. 1500 is shockingly poor.
@eric_plant said:
Why do we look so vulnerable to a quick counter attack all of a sudden? It's become really apparent in our last 3 home games.
Very troubling. Surely can’t be coincidence that we keep conceding good chances (and goals) directly from our own attacks. Especially down our right flank it seems.
Gawd knows it was not a great performance but we can rely on the Gasroom for tactical insight, understandable frustration, concerns about formation for upcoming fixtures as well as some screechingly shrill over-reaction.
@Shev said:
I am reading we hit the post three times? Hardly sounds hopelessly awful, but rather a 3-1 on another day?
Vokes’ header that Bayo somehow then put over on the rebound. Other than that I can only recall Vokes’ shot late on hitting the base of the post. Slightly unlucky really as he did well on both chances.
That was almost comically bad. We got next to no change out of lumping it long to their big centre backs, and had pretty much no plan B. Is the downturn in form all down to not being able to find a way to play when McCleary isn't available or something more fundamental?
@Shev Yes, we hit the post 3 times in the 2nd half and had several other chances. We were dominant, although Hartlepool did have chances on the break.
Thing is people will moan about long ball, hoofing etc, but actually we played on the deck much more tonight than we often do (we seemed to switch from long ball around the 35 minute mark), but that just made having both Vokes and Bayo playing all the more bewildering. It was clear a bit more craft and guile was needed up front to compliment the good work in midfield, but the change was far too long in coming.
Wheeler and Mehmeti both made an impact. With hindsight having two players who thrive on knocking the long ball down for quicker feet playing upfront together may have been a mistake. Hartlepool kept them quiet and pressed for every second or misdirected ball...I cannot really complain about the result.
Scowen injury didn't look great either did it? Went down with no one around him after passing the ball and went straight off without any hesitation. Could be another key player out.
I thought Grimmer did okay, a few misplaced passes but he put the effort in. Horgan looked our most creative until Mehmeti came on but when he looked up there were simply not enough runners or movement off the ball. Endless diagonal balls into the box from deep were dealt with by the Pool’s center backs.
Early on in the first half Bayo and Vokes came for the same cross and collided and I thought, ‘oh boy that’s a bad sign’.
But credit Hartlepool, massive desire and effort…when they attacked on the break they often had four or five men forward looking for the cross into the box.
I agree Bayo should have come off earlier, he didn’t offer much in the second half.
@FlyingPostman said:
Totally embarrassed by that shite. No creativity until Mehmeti came on. Bayo awful. Grimmer possibly the worst performance I have ever seen from a professional footballer. We play hoofball against a league 2 side. We have lost all confidence and McClery is clearly irreplaceable. Might not bother Saturday
Worst performance you've ever seen?
It's either your first season or you're ever so slightly prone to over exaggeration.
Yes, Grimmer was appalling and I've been going 33 years
Upon reflection I can think of quite a few worse performances. Massive exaggeration, I'm just really frustrated by the whole performance tonight. My apologies Jack Grimmer
He’s put in a worse performance this season, up at Sunderland. I don’t know what’s happening to him, he seems afraid to go past the halfway line now. Could be a result of playing CB for a while I guess.
Comments
These slumps have always been the most frustrating part of Ainsworth's tenure. Whilst we did have such issues with previous managers it does seem to me that psychological factors are a bigger factor under Ainsworth. When we're up we seem unstoppable for weeks, even months. When we're down then, even with the same players, we find it very difficult to get out of it.
Given the type of club we are and our general ambition level it's something I've come to terms with over the last nine years, but I do wonder whether it raises concerns with other prospective Ainsworth employers.
Worst performance you've ever seen?
It's either your first season or you're ever so slightly prone to over exaggeration.
Hartlepool played well. Well drilled, fit and they pressed us all over the park.
Two big Centre Backs and a pacy striker looks like our Kryptonite.
£16 cheapest ticket to stand in a terrace on a Tuesday night with ridiculously overpriced food once you’ve rushed down after work, where the prospect is an away trip to Lincoln and we’ve been shite of late. No surprise really!
You'll be missed
Ironically I think John Williams aka The Flying Postman put in some pretty bad performances ?
Not Rock and Roll football. Well done Hartlepool. Safe journey home.
Dismal performance. Certainly in a very poor run of form. A lot of the players playing well below their best. Absolutely no creativity without GMac. Seems to me that Saturday’s game has greater significance than before. If we continue to play as we have been, we will quickly fall out of the promotion places.
Yes, Grimmer was appalling and I've been going 33 years
My advice is dial down the hyperbole setting. I thought Grimmer was okay actually. I will be there on Saturday. Teams having ups and downs is unheard of in football...I blame that Ainsworth. Imagine how bad ast few last few games wpuld have been if we did not have home advantage? ?
Upon reflection I can think of quite a few worse performances. Massive exaggeration, I'm just really frustrated by the whole performance tonight. My apologies Jack Grimmer
I am reading we hit the post three times? Hardly sounds hopelessly awful, but rather a 3-1 on another day?
Why do we look so vulnerable to a quick counter attack all of a sudden? It's become really apparent in our last 3 home games.
Really disappointing tonight wasn't it? I think Horgan was the only one to come out of it with any credit. Tried his hardest to spark us into life but found no willing teammates. He must miss McCleary as much as we all do.
Not sure what the thinking was behind playing Bayo and Vokes but the instructions surely couldn't have been to stand next to each other for the entire time they were on the pitch together? It was tantamount to playing with ten men.
Very disappointed really, absolutely hate going out of the FA Cup
For those arguing about the disrespect shown by the club in not honouring the competition I find it very sad that only 1582 people attended.
You can't blame the low attendance on tonight's performance - although clearly it won't have helped Saturdays!
Personally I think tonight's attendance goes a long way to show how the fans see this competition and, therefore, GA was probably right with his team selection in the first game.
Certainly we ought to have been capable of winning tonight and our loss of form is alarming but can't we all agree that, for this season at least, our priority is promotion to the Championship?
Bitterly disappointing night. Long time since I've felt so deflated after a match. I just cannot understand why GA took so long to bring on Mehmeti. We were crying out for his creativity! We actually played some decent football, but Bayo and Vokes just couldn't provide the movement and pace we needed. Vokes wasn't bad at all, very unfortunate not to score, but Bayo was well marshalled all night. It didn't make any sense to keep him on so long.
Mehmeti made such a difference when he came on, but it was sadly too late.
Individually there were actually some good performances. Thompson, Scowen, Horgan were dominant in midfield, but there was a distinct lack of creativity, not helped by having 2 target men. It seemed so obvious what needed to happen, yet we had to wait until 75+ minutes for it to happen.
Fair play to Hartlepool. Defended well and easily mopped up all of our hoof ball. Classic breaking counter attack for the away goal and keep going till the end to defend the lead.
For us, no one played well. Thompson the least bad over the 90 perhaps? Mehmeti should have been brought on at half time (does Gareth know you don’t have to wait until 70 minutes to make a change?) like the seals comparison from @kiscokid - made me chuckle. We were indeed very immobile up front. It’s not working out well for / with Vokes at the moment. Formations aside, I would be very (pleasantly) surprised if he scores 10 goals all season.
Tough next three games - four points from those would be a fantastic return. Not impossible. ?
The Bolton game is key to us turning things around as we have Plymouth and Sheff Wed away following that game.
To be fair Grimmer was absolutely woeful, and I say that as a big Grimmer fan who rates him highly. I thought Mccarthy MOM on Saturday was pure folly and was looking forward to Grimmer staking his place for a start on Saturday but he couldn't do anything right, awful touch, constantly giving away possession, it was up there with some of the woeful individual performances such as JP Pittman at Oxford, Luke Oliver against Brighton and other such nightmares. He knew it too as he trudged round the field after being put out of his misery near the end.
I wasn’t surprised at a low crowd. It wasn’t an appealing fixture at all. But I’d guessed at somewhere between 2500-3000. 1500 is shockingly poor.
Very troubling. Surely can’t be coincidence that we keep conceding good chances (and goals) directly from our own attacks. Especially down our right flank it seems.
Gawd knows it was not a great performance but we can rely on the Gasroom for tactical insight, understandable frustration, concerns about formation for upcoming fixtures as well as some screechingly shrill over-reaction.
Vokes’ header that Bayo somehow then put over on the rebound. Other than that I can only recall Vokes’ shot late on hitting the base of the post. Slightly unlucky really as he did well on both chances.
That was almost comically bad. We got next to no change out of lumping it long to their big centre backs, and had pretty much no plan B. Is the downturn in form all down to not being able to find a way to play when McCleary isn't available or something more fundamental?
@Shev Yes, we hit the post 3 times in the 2nd half and had several other chances. We were dominant, although Hartlepool did have chances on the break.
Thing is people will moan about long ball, hoofing etc, but actually we played on the deck much more tonight than we often do (we seemed to switch from long ball around the 35 minute mark), but that just made having both Vokes and Bayo playing all the more bewildering. It was clear a bit more craft and guile was needed up front to compliment the good work in midfield, but the change was far too long in coming.
Wheeler and Mehmeti both made an impact. With hindsight having two players who thrive on knocking the long ball down for quicker feet playing upfront together may have been a mistake. Hartlepool kept them quiet and pressed for every second or misdirected ball...I cannot really complain about the result.
There speaks someone with all the authority and track record of five visits to the Gasroom in five years!
Looking at the attendances elsewhere only Altrincham vs Gateshead had a crowd worse than ours and even then only by a fraction.
Scowen injury didn't look great either did it? Went down with no one around him after passing the ball and went straight off without any hesitation. Could be another key player out.
I thought Grimmer did okay, a few misplaced passes but he put the effort in. Horgan looked our most creative until Mehmeti came on but when he looked up there were simply not enough runners or movement off the ball. Endless diagonal balls into the box from deep were dealt with by the Pool’s center backs.
Early on in the first half Bayo and Vokes came for the same cross and collided and I thought, ‘oh boy that’s a bad sign’.
But credit Hartlepool, massive desire and effort…when they attacked on the break they often had four or five men forward looking for the cross into the box.
I agree Bayo should have come off earlier, he didn’t offer much in the second half.
He’s put in a worse performance this season, up at Sunderland. I don’t know what’s happening to him, he seems afraid to go past the halfway line now. Could be a result of playing CB for a while I guess.