I actually think it’s quite harsh to reach a judgement on anyone playing in whatever position in an unfamiliar line up.*
Just because someone didn’t look good in such an altered side today doesn’t mean that they won’t look good if asked to replace a single player in an established team playing confidently and will.
*And I know that Kone has completely ruined my argument by showing how it can be done
Are now saying Grimmer can't even be a backup to Jasper?? Can't agree. Hardly a priority when Skura can also play there, although JMac will likely go. Wheels can also cover there, across midfield and up front although you probably don't want to rely on him for long, his ability to slot in anywhere means it would be silly to chase him out with so many games to go. He wasn't great today but that's not the only consideration.
Similarly Luke Leahy isn't the worst option as a backup for Dan Harvie should we not need him in midfield.
We have had far worse combinations than those as regulars let alone backups.
The FA Cup is still magic though isn’t it? No matter how much football’s stakeholders continue to damage it. There’s still real magic around the phrase ‘third round of the FA Cup.’
Agree with this. We changed the whole team so it's not surprising the flow was a bit off. Not to mention a poor pitch, up for it non league team and unusual kick off time.
You make a good point. In this day and age players sleep patterns, meal times and matchday routines are highly important. An 11.30 on a Saturday throws everything out the window.
Butcher, Hartridge, Wheeler and Grimmer are not suddenly bad players. It was an 11 that had hardly played together. I'm with @bookertease that any of them could step into a settled 11 and do a good job and could cover a few places. Jasper has done well and long may it continue but not convinced he's better than Grimmer myself. Matt has made it clear he is keen for everyone to get minutes so unless someone wants to leg it or we get a good offer, I suspect the squad will more or less stay the same. We're top of the league and still in the cup and almost all of the players we have have played some role in that so far.
Today was 11 changes to a strong side would they have done ok as subs I would say yes . No doubt we will be losing some this season Mcarthy especially and possibly wheeler.
McCarthy is the one who has to go for his own sake. Not even getting a start in the rotation games, and maybe about 10mins in the Bristol Motors cup simply can't be satisfying enough however much it's a lovely club.
Hartridge was sloppy today and so were others. But that’s to be expected considering they’ve never played before as an 11, the pressure of the giant killing expectation and the fact he’s not played for a few weeks.
All in all no downsides from today. Banana skin successfully navigated. Didn’t learn too much from anyone.
I hear folk saying poor performance in a disjointed reserve side doesn’t a bad player make. However, as senior pros on the edge of first team starts I felt the body language / attitude of Barkinson (or however you spell it) , Butcher and to a lesser extent Wheeler (who is usually the model pro) was poor. Taff was (even further) off the pace than usual, to be outpaced by non- league journey men part timers on several occasions is further evidence that his time is up (along with JMac).
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We actually lost 0-1 to Aylesbury in that game (the day after our relegation from the Gola League). The draw was a few weeks earlier.
I actually think it’s quite harsh to reach a judgement on anyone playing in whatever position in an unfamiliar line up.*
Just because someone didn’t look good in such an altered side today doesn’t mean that they won’t look good if asked to replace a single player in an established team playing confidently and will.
*And I know that Kone has completely ruined my argument by showing how it can be done
Are now saying Grimmer can't even be a backup to Jasper?? Can't agree. Hardly a priority when Skura can also play there, although JMac will likely go. Wheels can also cover there, across midfield and up front although you probably don't want to rely on him for long, his ability to slot in anywhere means it would be silly to chase him out with so many games to go. He wasn't great today but that's not the only consideration.
Similarly Luke Leahy isn't the worst option as a backup for Dan Harvie should we not need him in midfield.
We have had far worse combinations than those as regulars let alone backups.
Brighton base?
Unless something has changed since August, he lives in Windsor. I know someone who lives a few doors down!
The FA Cup is still magic though isn’t it? No matter how much football’s stakeholders continue to damage it. There’s still real magic around the phrase ‘third round of the FA Cup.’
Agree with this. We changed the whole team so it's not surprising the flow was a bit off. Not to mention a poor pitch, up for it non league team and unusual kick off time.
Literally everything was different to normal.
Pitch wasn't even bad, just slopey
You make a good point. In this day and age players sleep patterns, meal times and matchday routines are highly important. An 11.30 on a Saturday throws everything out the window.
We've just had one potential banana skin of a game. Don't need another.
Excellent burger and chips in the away end. Perhaps we should go back to such basics after the Couhigs tried to overcomplicate things.
Looked like it was patchy and could break up pretty quickly. Goal mouth reminded me of some of the crapfest pitches I played on.
I think I was a bit harsh on Grimmer earlier. His passing was sloppy, but he defended very well when needed.
Butcher, Hartridge, Wheeler and Grimmer are not suddenly bad players. It was an 11 that had hardly played together. I'm with @bookertease that any of them could step into a settled 11 and do a good job and could cover a few places. Jasper has done well and long may it continue but not convinced he's better than Grimmer myself. Matt has made it clear he is keen for everyone to get minutes so unless someone wants to leg it or we get a good offer, I suspect the squad will more or less stay the same. We're top of the league and still in the cup and almost all of the players we have have played some role in that so far.
Exciting times.
Today was 11 changes to a strong side would they have done ok as subs I would say yes . No doubt we will be losing some this season Mcarthy especially and possibly wheeler.
McCarthy is the one who has to go for his own sake. Not even getting a start in the rotation games, and maybe about 10mins in the Bristol Motors cup simply can't be satisfying enough however much it's a lovely club.
I'm sure he's out of contract in the summer, got to assume we'll negotiate an exit in January of one form or another
Makes sense. Hopefully he gets a decent club - Shrewsbury sounds too obvious, but you never know.
He was a really good servant here, and for quite a long spell a real game changing player - good enough to get bought by a championship club.
Lol didn't Sky move our game at Rotherham on 3rd round weekend? Unlucky guys.
That was a silly one and looked very obviously so at the time too.
JJ a problem area? And now Harvie?
Probably only last year really, as JJ was a bit part player and we had to field a centre mid there most of the year.
How mad is it that we played 10 games in 62 days in September/October and have 10 games scheduled in 35 days in December and the start of January
We have two very good fullbacks in Harvie and Jasper. Harvie is a real class act and Jasper is improving every time he plays.
Hartridge was sloppy today and so were others. But that’s to be expected considering they’ve never played before as an 11, the pressure of the giant killing expectation and the fact he’s not played for a few weeks.
All in all no downsides from today. Banana skin successfully navigated. Didn’t learn too much from anyone.
We do now yes, i think the debate was Flymo's comment about being weak at full back recently.
I hear folk saying poor performance in a disjointed reserve side doesn’t a bad player make. However, as senior pros on the edge of first team starts I felt the body language / attitude of Barkinson (or however you spell it) , Butcher and to a lesser extent Wheeler (who is usually the model pro) was poor. Taff was (even further) off the pace than usual, to be outpaced by non- league journey men part timers on several occasions is further evidence that his time is up (along with JMac).
It's just occurred to me that we were part of history today.
It was our last ever FA Cup 2nd round tie.
Me?
Any team from Manchester will do.
He's certainly had a less than ideal first 4 months here.
Mistakes in the first couple of games, then basically only getting a look in in rotation games.
Hard to see him getting more regular games right now.