Gainsborough v Darlington Match Thread

[tdk1]

Not the one I saw at Nuneaton.

All I really want is for the team to get properly organised and grind out some results. At the moment wright seems to bw pursuing some half-baked "philosophy" which is getting us pasted game after game.

[Vodka_Vic]

To be fair Spyman we were dicked at Nuneaton. Should have lost by 3 or 4.

[Emdubya]

Just seen the starting line up.If Wright thinks that Caton is worth a place in the team in place of,———-well,anyone,it proves to me he hasn’t a fucking clue.

[Quakerz]

3/4 new signings are no better than we had, and why sign Heaton if he doesn't think he is good enough to get into a shocking defense.

I'm pretty sure that Styche is better than everybodies bum boy "Carts". Yes?

Agree about Heaton, although I think Heaton will force his way in and hopefully turn out to be a good signing.

[Quakerz]

Just seen the starting line up.If Wright thinks that Caton is worth a place in the team in place of,———-well,anyone,it proves to me he hasn’t a fucking clue.

Caton may be one of those types that looks good in training so Wright is always going to give him a chance initially. Plus he's contracted until summer 19 on a good wedge (unbelievably) so it's not like we can fuck him off either.

It'll be almost like we have to play him to justify paying him. Caton really needs to step it up and earn his money.

[quakerste]

Once we get Collins back from suspension I would be partnering him with Heaton.

Since Brown has come back from injury he has made far to many mistakes. First goal today was from a stupid cross field to Thommo which was easily cut out. Not good enough week in week out at this level.

[Comfortably_numb]

Not the one I saw at Nuneaton.

All I really want is for the team to get properly organised and grind out some results. At the moment wright seems to bw pursuing some half-baked "philosophy" which is getting us pasted game after game.

I'm worried I'm seeing similarities between us and Hearts FC - they tried something different when appointing ex NUFC coach Ian Cathro. It just didn't work and Hearts took too long to replace him with Craig Levein.

The Cathro experiment set Hearts back a bit year or so and was costly. The darlo board need to have a good think about the current set up. Unless we see some signs of the players 'getting' the new game plan - time to replace wright sooner rather than later....

[lo36789]

Thing is we know finances aren't going to allow us to part with out manager - unless we made a contract insanely easy for us to get out of (which given the protection we had when Gray left we might as well...)

Dismissing Wright would be a complete gamble anyway. We'd be back to a question of who would we get in and frankly right now we are a worse proposition than when we appointed Wright.

I hope he sorts it out. I didn't necessarily expect a win today since we were away but it is concerning that the performance was sub standard and the manner of the defeat doesn't fill me with confidence.

Thing is at the bottom we could feasibly lose the next 3 games and not move anywhere as the teams around us are just as likely to lose their upcoming fixtures. It only takes a couple of wins to completely change things.

[QUAKERMAN2]

We must give Tommy the rest of this season and make sure we finish above the bottom three, we simply cannot afford to be paying up managers contracts, the biggest problem is Gray with average players on long term contracts and unfortunately Tommy has inherited MG's mistakes in this respect.We need to start with a back four to defend., nothing else, forget going forward, just defend.We then need a midfield three, in my opinion Turnbull, Portas and Wheatley.Finally a front three from Styche, Saunders, Thommo, Mills, Gillies and Syers. IMO that will give us a chance to grind out some ugly 1-0 wins, might not be pretty but will make us more competitive.Forget all this rubbish with Thommo as a wing back and starting with four wingers, let's just keep it simple .Really hope Tommy has learnt from that shambles today or we are in trouble big time.



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[LoidLucan]

I don't see any signs that a couple of wins are around the corner. The starting line-up today - which featured four players who essentially normally play as wingers beggared belief. Especially so when a perfectly solid full-back was on the bench. It's clear Caton is not going to suddenly spark into life and, to be honest, Mills is not bringing much to the party. I'd only be signing a Midlands based player if he was far better than what you already have or what was readily available in the North-east.
Tough to say, but we looked a much better outfit when Turbull and Brown stepped into the breach.

[50 years]

Just back from the game, must admit for me an unusual set up with Thommo at full back and Catton, Gillies and Mills also on the pitch.

For me you cant play those four in the same team at the same time, they may be really skilful on the training pitch but we need strong players who stand up and be counted at this time while these guys are not natural at getting a foot in and winning balls and chasing back (Thompson to be fair had a good game).

The defence were all at sea in the first half not looking at all comfortable and organised (which was surprising given the amount of time they have had on training and the Boro game).
As per usual the goals came from mistakes (we just seem slow and lack awareness of opposition players positions).
Two subs put on early seemed to show that TW realised he had not got it right but players he took off (Galbraith and Portus) seemed a strange decision given little impact from Catton, Gillies and Mills at that time, in fact Portus looked really unhappy.
Turnbull and Brown played well but both were getting frustrated and were "over trying" to be honest, running all over which meant getting out of position trying to get the ball (Brown always looking to take throw ins slows the game at times when a quick throw could have got the game moving before Gainsborough could organise.

Now for the positives:-
New keeper looked ok.
Heaton and Marrs played well when they came on (why Heaton does not play in first team more often surprises me as he looked comfortable on the ball and won important headers).
Improved performance in second half with several good chances spurned.
We know that we have the players to keep us up and some good young players to come into the team.

Not a good day at the office, with a team lacking confidence and a manager not yet made his mind up on best team or formation and some players possibly not fully committed (TW may have to make some difficult decisions?)

But hats off to TW and AW who came over to the fans at the end and talked to us (and as he said he did not set the team up or ask them to pass the ball to their players to score ). How we get out of this I don't know as I am not a football manager but I personally believe that TW and AW will deliver, keep us up this season and develop the younger players for the future.

Just for fun this would be my team
Talbot -goalkeeper
Brown, Heaton, Collins - 3 man defence (Vaulx on bench),
Galbraith, Marrs - wingbacks (Thompson, on bench)
Portas, Turnbull , Syers - Midfield (Wheatley and new young lad)
Styche, Mills - Forwards (Saunders on bench)

Could be rubbish but "Up the Quakers"

[Spyman]

We must give Tommy the rest of this season and make sure we finish above the bottom three



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How do we do that though?

I'm not saying Wright can't turn it around. There's plenty of points left - but how can we make sure we finish above the bottom three?

We need to decide what our priority is - buying into some kind of long term vision which Wright supposedly has, and accept relegation might be a short term consequence of this, or we go for a short term solution which could be replacing Wright with someone more experienced, or could be chucking money we don't have at better players.


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[LoidLucan]

That makes it sound like relegation is some kind of inevitable consequence of building a long-term vision when of course it isn't and Tommy Wright said when he came that we were gunning for the play-offs. The reason we have become a soft touch is down to selection, tactics and organisation. It wasn't beyond the wit of man today against relegation strugglers to play it tight, keep it solid and hit them on the break. Instead we got a lop-sided team running around like headless chickens. It doesn't bode well at all. There'll be no fans left to watch the grand vision reach fruition.

[JE93]

Just back from the game. That was appalling. First half I don't think I've ever seen us worse. While Wright can't be held responsible for Brown's hospital pass or failing to make a tackle for their second. But he started 2 semi fit players and also started us with 3 luxury players on the pitch in Mills, Gillies and Caton. Non of whom give us anything when we don't have the ball.

Second half we earned a bit of credit for the fight we showed with 10 men. We made chances. And could have even pegged them back to 2-2 but you felt we were always in danger on the break and such was the case.

My conclusions from today:
- Caton can f off. Sell him for glue, may be the only return on investment we get.
- it's great to see Thompson back at his best. Played in 4 positions today and deserves credit for his performance.
- Heaton looked a very good talent. Needs to start against Harrogate.
- we look awful with a back 5 stick to a back 4 atleast then players know their jobs.
- you can't play 3 players who can't defend together as an attacking midfield 3 it leaves us far too open.
- Styche will get you goals in this league. Has a lot of gamesmanship in his locker. But always looked a threat and put the effort in.
- new keeper didn't have any chance with the 3 goals. But thought his kicking was an issue. Needs to add a bit more distance. Seemed to me he was struggling to reach the halfway line.
- Marrs had a very solid Marrs game when he came on.

Need a big improvement for Harrogate on boxing day. I'd set us up:

----------------------- Talbot ----------------------

Marrs/Trotman, Brown, Heaton, Galbraith

-------- Wheatley, Turnbull, Scott ---------

Thompson ------------------------------- Mills

---------------------- Styche ------------------------

Subs: Syers, Gillies, Saunders, Collins, Marrs/Trotman

[QUAKERMAN2]

We must give Tommy the rest of this season and make sure we finish above the bottom three



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How do we do that though?

I'm not saying Wright can't turn it around. There's plenty of points left - but how can we make sure we finish above the bottom three?

We need to decide what our priority is - buying into some kind of long term vision which Wright supposedly has, and accept relegation might be a short term consequence of this, or we go for a short term solution which could be replacing Wright with someone more experienced, or could be chucking money we don't have at better players.


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What I am saying is, it is not the time to bring somebody else in , firstly because it would be costly and secondly TW has a good enough squad to keep us out of the bottom three providing he plays them in their accustomed positions with a formation which suits their strengths .

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[Spyman]

That makes it sound like relegation is some kind of inevitable consequence of building a long-term vision when of course it isn't and Tommy Wright said when he came that we were gunning for the play-offs. The reason we have become a soft touch is down to selection, tactics and organisation. It wasn't beyond the wit of man today against relegation strugglers to play it tight, keep it solid and hit them on the break. Instead we got a lop-sided team running around like headless chickens. It doesn't bode well at all. There'll be no fans left to watch the grand vision reach fruition.

I haven't seen anything other than highlights (there hasn't been many!) since Wright's appointment but I did say relegation "might" be a short term consequence. I'm not suggesting we roll over and accept it, and I fully believe that we have a squad capable of more than we are seeing right now.

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[Spyman]

We must give Tommy the rest of this season and make sure we finish above the bottom three



Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

How do we do that though?

I'm not saying Wright can't turn it around. There's plenty of points left - but how can we make sure we finish above the bottom three?

We need to decide what our priority is - buying into some kind of long term vision which Wright supposedly has, and accept relegation might be a short term consequence of this, or we go for a short term solution which could be replacing Wright with someone more experienced, or could be chucking money we don't have at better players.


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What I am saying is, it is not the time to bring somebody else in , firstly because it would be costly and secondly TW has a good enough squad to keep us out of the bottom three providing he plays them in their accustomed positions with a formation which suits their strengths .

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My thoughts exactly.

But what happens if he keeps experimenting or trying to reinvent the wheel rather than just keeping it as simple as he can for the players?

He's asking a team low on confidence to learn a new system and that's rarely a good idea. Go back to basics, get them doing what they feel comfortable doing and build from there once confidence is restored.

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[darlo2001uk]

why Thommo at RB when we have Mares for gods sake

We are having a total mare !!

I think it was said that Marrs wants to leave - so thats probably why Thommo was at RB

So what? He's not left and we're still paying him. Get him in the team.

A back four of Marrs, Brown, Collins and Galbraith is 3/4 of the back four that finished in a play off spot last season and should be capable of more.

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It's 3/4 of the back four that conceded 71 last season. We finished 5th last year but we didn't have a top 5 defence. I recall several matches where we got shredded - Curzon at home being particularly embarrassing.

It's only because we scored shed loads of goals last year that we did so well, it masked the deficiencies somewhat. The likes of Gillies, Syers, Beck this season were a shadow of last season so the goals dried up and now the defence can be seen for what it has been for a good 18 months - a shambles.

Marrs isn't good enough, to be honest Brown isn't the same player since his 3 months out injured and Collins is always carrying a knock. Burgess is utter pants which is why he's currently at Whitby, and Galbraith is also maxed out as high up as he can play.

We need an entire new back line consisting of players like James Curtis.

Spot on Quackers.

[HarrytheQuaker]

We are having a total mare !!

I think it was said that Marrs wants to leave - so thats probably why Thommo was at RB

So what? He's not left and we're still paying him. Get him in the team.

A back four of Marrs, Brown, Collins and Galbraith is 3/4 of the back four that finished in a play off spot last season and should be capable of more.

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It's 3/4 of the back four that conceded 71 last season. We finished 5th last year but we didn't have a top 5 defence. I recall several matches where we got shredded - Curzon at home being particularly embarrassing.

It's only because we scored shed loads of goals last year that we did so well, it masked the deficiencies somewhat. The likes of Gillies, Syers, Beck this season were a shadow of last season so the goals dried up and now the defence can be seen for what it has been for a good 18 months - a shambles.

Marrs isn't good enough, to be honest Brown isn't the same player since his 3 months out injured and Collins is always carrying a knock. Burgess is utter pants which is why he's currently at Whitby, and Galbraith is also maxed out as high up as he can play.

We need an entire new back line consisting of players like James Curtis.

Spot on Quackers.

Who wants to is Quackers???

[HarryCharltonsCat]

4 weeks. And so we now buy in to the ridiculousness of the full time game.

[MCFCDarlo3]

Awful performance yesterday in every sense.Went to Southport in 2012 and it reminded me of that game, looked like a bunch of guys thrown together at short notice.

As others have said now is not the time to be pissballing about with formations and putting round pegs in square holes, back to basics please TW.

Thought Heaton played well.

[Vodka_Vic]

In two minds about TWs interview. In one sense, we did have to change formation a few times due to knocks/injuries. However, these sorts of changes of personnel during a game happen to the opposition as well and they don't seem to descend into chaos, so why does this seem to happen to only us?
Also, as someone else said, if we had played Marrs from the start, we would have not have to have played anyone out of position. I guess we just need to trust that these 2 will sort it out, but at the moment it's difficult to keep the faith.

[LoidLucan]

The fact is we had already started the game appallingly and were 2-0 down before the substitutions had to be made and the sending off occurred. We had a mountain to climb not because of injuries and a red card but because we just weren't good enough against a very poor side. Let's be honest about this... we still have a well-resourced squad for this level with a top-eight budget and yet we look out of our depth. This squad is capable of so much better with the right direction.

[QUAKERMAN2]

How do we begin leaking goals and somehow produce a rare clean sheet.....simple.Have a back 4 who stay in their own half and concentrate on defending.....forget going forward.Have 3 midfielder, 2 in a defensive role to protect the back 4 and the remaining midfielder to be more attack minded.That leaves us with 3 forwards where we have Thommo,Styche,Saunders,Gillies,Syers and Mills to choose from.That makes 6 defensive and 4 attacking players in a 433 formation.IMO that would give us more than a decent chance of winning games and give us a better shape. Merry Xmas.

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[QUAKERMAN2]

Meant to start with "how do we begin to stop leaking goals".

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[H1987]

The defence has been rotten for a long time now, completely agree. Unfortunately a big clear out is required. Collins is the best of a bad bunch, but can't be relied on to stay fit consistently. Browny has been poor this year.

I've been an advocate for a while of getting in a defensive midfielder to help out and sit in front of the back 4. Someone who is a ball winner, but can play a bit. Maybe Galbraith could do it, and get someone in at left back who can defend. We consistently have too many luxury players in midfield who offer nowt defensively, and we're awful off the ball. Defending isn't only for defenders. A ball winning midfielder alongside Turnbull could in turn take some of the heat off the back 4, who aren't cut out for this level.

[QUAKERMAN2]

Totally agree H1987, but assuming we don't bring anyone in we have to defend more in numbers than what we are doing and look to get some ugly 1-0 wins as we are well capable of nicking a goal with the forwards we have.Not all doom and gloom when we look at it.

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[MKDarlo]

We are in trouble and going down unless something changes VERY quickly. I couldn't go yesterday so was only listening on the radio but we don't seem to have any direction or system or even a group of players who seem to care enough to offer a professional performance. It is worrying.

Yesterday reminded me of Staunton or Futcher. Wrights recent you tube interview is honest but he looks like a man under pressure and unsure of himself or what to do. I feel for him but I fear that Tommy might not be the man for the job. Is he up to it? I am not suggesting a Gary Monk yet but the next couple of games are tough and could easily return 0 points. What happens after that when we are adrift? The target this season is now simply survival.

PS I am happy to join in the Caton or A N Other abuse but who do we have to replace him? Have the ability to bring anyone in?

[H1987]

Caton offers absolutely nothing, and I suspect is one of the better paid players.

Cheers Martin.

[al_quaker]

as we are well capable of nicking a goal with the forwards we have

Only one team have scored less goals than us this season, and that's the utterly woeful North Ferriby.