Darlington V Telford

[My opinion]

I have seen a few posts on here saying how poor this player was and how poor that player was. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Well, I have to say in my opinion how poor Liddle was today and last Tuesday. He was responsible for the first goal on Tuesday by leaving his man to get the cross in. And again today he went missing giving there lad all the space and time in the world to get his cross in.
Yes, the centre backs should have sorted it but it should not have been crossed in the first place.
Someone said earlier that maybe he needs a rest. I am thinking he was right.
Don't understand why Campbell was taken off and why Reid got to stay on for the full game.
Of course these are just my opinion but something need to be sorted

[LoidLucan]

Campbell looked seriously pissed off to be subbed.

[50 years]

I thought Reid played ok first half, but quickly tired in second, and same for liddle, agree he should cover but he was very prominent in the first half, interchanging with others in the team going forward and played well, again second half looked tired and slowed down considerably, just my opinion of course.

Think I might have been unhappy if I was campbell as well, as thought he looked our most mobile player at the time of being taken off.

[Darlofan97]

We can't play the same team every week due to the amount of matches. We have to rotate.

We have played nine games in six weeks. We've had busier starts to a season.

We do not have to rotate yet.

When we are flirting with the relegation zone, we should be playing our strongest available team. And that does not include Reid.

We do have to rotate, yes we have ‘only’ played 9 games in 6 weeks but we also have to be mindful not to cause serious injuries.

Some of the changes have also been down to injuries. Hunt Hatfield, Atkinson, Charman, Campbell & Reid have all suffered knocks/muscle strains 9 games in.

[jjljks]

Why not try a third substitute with 15 minutes to go, Hudson?

Yes, should have been a swap for Campbell, but there were others I would have taken off first. Reid looked tired in 2nd half but really lost our composure in defence without Hunt. Sousa must have added some value after a well-deserved MOTM display.

[JasonDeVos]

As soon as I saw the team today I just went meh. Don’t like to go at players but one or two seem like they will never be dropped.

[Old Git]

Why not try a third substitute with 15 minutes to go, Hudson?

Yes, should have been a swap for Campbell, but there were others I would have taken off first. Reid looked tired in 2nd half but really lost our composure in defence without Hunt. Sousa must have added some value after a well-deserved MOTM display.

Disagree regarding Sousa. He looked good in the first half and took his goal well but went missing after half time. Maybe Telford took steps to nullify him but he hardly had a touch let alone created anything dangerous in the second half.
No doubt he is an exciting player but he will have to play consistently week in and week out to get a move back in to the professional game. Think he can do it but perhaps this is why he has not succeeded in the past.
On a separate note AA please let Sousa take all the corners because at least he puts it in the danger zone. Personally I never want to see another weak Rivers corner that doesn’t clear the first defender. Drives me bonkers !!!

[tdk1]

The last minute short corner made me want to pull out what little is left of my hair

[darlo_baron]

It's truly baffling how Reid appears to be the first name on the team sheet every week. I thought he had a good first half but don't see how he fits into our best midfield 3.

As for the defence, what a car crash. Hunt is a massive miss and that was highlighted today. It is also worrying that in the last 3 games goals have been conceded from our left hand side.

Sousa was a positive and looked the best player on the park in the first half, but we couldn't get him near the ball in the second.

We also miss Charman massively and need to find a way to win when he's missing. At the minute we look like we lack presence across the pitch and got bullied today.

[bga]

Why not try a third substitute with 15 minutes to go, Hudson?

Yes, should have been a swap for Campbell, but there were others I would have taken off first. Reid looked tired in 2nd half but really lost our composure in defence without Hunt. Sousa must have added some value after a well-deserved MOTM display.

Disagree regarding Sousa. He looked good in the first half and took his goal well but went missing after half time. Maybe Telford took steps to nullify him but he hardly had a touch let alone created anything dangerous in the second half.
No doubt he is an exciting player but he will have to play consistently week in and week out to get a move back in to the professional game. Think he can do it but perhaps this is why he has not succeeded in the past.
On a separate note AA please let Sousa take all the corners because at least he puts it in the danger zone. Personally I never want to see another weak Rivers corner that doesn’t clear the first defender. Drives me bonkers !!!

Agree with you about Sousa going missing he did exactly the same on Tuesday night and missed his one chance in that half to score. Not sure how you get MOTM for only playing for 45 mins in both matches speaks volumes for the rest of the team.

[bga]

I have seen a few posts on here saying how poor this player was and how poor that player was. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Well, I have to say in my opinion how poor Liddle was today and last Tuesday. He was responsible for the first goal on Tuesday by leaving his man to get the cross in. And again today he went missing giving there lad all the space and time in the world to get his cross in.
Yes, the centre backs should have sorted it but it should not have been crossed in the first place.
Someone said earlier that maybe he needs a rest. I am thinking he was right.
Don't understand why Campbell was taken off and why Reid got to stay on for the full game.
Of course these are just my opinion but something need to be sorted

Just stating a fact but look how badly Liddle was caught out of position for the Swindon goal last Saturday as well. I like him but if AA wants to rotate please give the Lad a rest if you can.

[bga]

We can't play the same team every week due to the amount of matches. We have to rotate. Our cup run has exacerbated this, but if I'm honest I'd rather have the cup run. 100k in a season of financial uncertainty is a godsend. We look like what we are, a team who can't play together yet and a team with some players who aren't yet fully fit. This is going to be a strange season, and as Stod said, it won't be a level playing field this season as teams will have more of a rest than others from time to time due to Covid. We can't train twice a week which we need to due to the amount of games. The injuries at the start hammered us too and we're still feeling the effects of that. This year more than ever the full time teams and hybrid teams with bigger squads will benefit. I think in time our form will pick up and we'll be more effective as a squad. Will it be too late in the league by then?

"We can't train twice a week due to games" true but we do some even better than that we play matches to build up match fitness. You cant have it both ways!

[Vodka_Vic]

I didn't mention the purpose of training to get our players match fit. It's to work on playing as a team. If there are issues to address, as there are due to us putting in the same performance twice in a row, then you stand more chance of putting it right with 2 sessions a week rather than one. What's up with you bga you're not usually such a sarky bugger.

[Mister e]

maybe it is going to be one of those strange seasons circa 1995-96 where we're better on the road than in our own backyard lack of home support could be hampering a few teams. Even has high up as the championship recently Preston North end had lost four out of four at home and won four out of four away.Warnocks Boro last season couldn't buy a home win but we're constantly winning away. giving our best two performances this season have come at Curzon Ashton and Swindon Tuesdays trip to guiseley may end up being a good benchmark

[real_darlo_85]

Think I'd take a scruffy 1-0 win today. Would like to see the loan keeper Minter given a go, but that is not to say Saltmer has done anything wrong. We could do with more points on the board just so we don't lose touch with the playoff pack and need to start a bit of momentum in the league.

Right now let's just take one step at a time and concentrate on moving away from the bottom of the table before we we aim for a playoff place?

That's sort of what I was implying, however isn't the target to reach the playoffs this season? I'm sure anything less would be deemed a failure, so at the moment after another defeat yesterday it's played 4 won 1 drawn 0 lost 3 (or depending on the abandoned match played 5 won 1 drawn 0 lost 4) and 7pts off the top 7. We need to stop the rot quickly with ugly wins because for all the good of an FA cup run the league is the bread and butter and obviously we are alarmingly off the pace at the moment.

[bga]

I didn't mention the purpose of training to get our players match fit. It's to work on playing as a team. If there are issues to address, as there are due to us putting in the same performance twice in a row, then you stand more chance of putting it right with 2 sessions a week rather than one. What's up with you bga you're not usually such a sarky bugger.

Vic you do have a point. However I just feel that when you have players who haven't hardly featured at all this season, and others returning from injury that building up match fitness is more important than training. It's certainly clear the players would rather play matches than train as well. I'm not saying you would ever say this but can you imagine if we end up with say with a 10 day gap between matches, play and lose and some of the comments on here would be but "it's no surprise we were a bit rusty we haven't played for 10 days"!

[bga]

Think I'd take a scruffy 1-0 win today. Would like to see the loan keeper Minter given a go, but that is not to say Saltmer has done anything wrong. We could do with more points on the board just so we don't lose touch with the playoff pack and need to start a bit of momentum in the league.

Right now let's just take one step at a time and concentrate on moving away from the bottom of the table before we we aim for a playoff place?

That's sort of what I was implying, however isn't the target to reach the playoffs this season? I'm sure anything less would be deemed a failure, so at the moment after another defeat yesterday it's played 4 won 1 drawn 0 lost 3 (or depending on the abandoned match played 5 won 1 drawn 0 lost 4) and 7pts off the top 7. We need to stop the rot quickly with ugly wins because for all the good of an FA cup run the league is the bread and butter and obviously we are alarmingly off the pace at the moment.

I agree with you regards the playoff place especially bearing in mind the budget AA has been provided with by the Board and the fans. Here's hoping for better things midweek. We could jump a whole place up the league if we beat them!

[Vodka_Vic]

I didn't mention the purpose of training to get our players match fit. It's to work on playing as a team. If there are issues to address, as there are due to us putting in the same performance twice in a row, then you stand more chance of putting it right with 2 sessions a week rather than one. What's up with you bga you're not usually such a sarky bugger.

Vic you do have a point. However I just feel that when you have players who haven't hardly featured at all this season, and others returning from injury that building up match fitness is more important than training. It's certainly clear the players would rather play matches than train as well. I'm not saying you would ever say this but can you imagine if we end up with say with a 10 day gap between matches, play and lose and some of the comments on here would be but "it's no surprise we were a bit rusty we haven't played for 10 days"!

Yes. Both team shape and match fitness are important. I'm certainly not trying to defend a poor performance by the team, but we look like team of strangers at the moment and we've had a bit of an influx of players recently too. All this takes work to mould them into a squad and that 2nd training session a week would help quite a bit. I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt at the moment but there will come a time if league form remains poor that the quote from AA which He's mentioned a few times "We know we've got a great squad" will be subject to the Brian Clough concept "We've got a great team on paper but unfortunately football isn't played on paper, It's played on grass".

[MCFCDarlo3]

I think Liddles a great player but a lot of goals and chances seem to be coming down that side.Maybe he needs to stay back a bit more instead of supporting the attacks or alternatively someone drops in for him if he does.

Laing did a great job bringing the ball out from the back yesterday but I have never liked him as a CB and always feel we will concede with him there.AA obviously feels the same way re Hunts signature and I doubt we could get Laing off the books anyway.

We really need a big horrible b****** at the back to rotate with Hunt, if not I cant see us getting anywhere near the play offs unfortunately.

[bga]

I didn't mention the purpose of training to get our players match fit. It's to work on playing as a team. If there are issues to address, as there are due to us putting in the same performance twice in a row, then you stand more chance of putting it right with 2 sessions a week rather than one. What's up with you bga you're not usually such a sarky bugger.

Vic you do have a point. However I just feel that when you have players who haven't hardly featured at all this season, and others returning from injury that building up match fitness is more important than training. It's certainly clear the players would rather play matches than train as well. I'm not saying you would ever say this but can you imagine if we end up with say with a 10 day gap between matches, play and lose and some of the comments on here would be but "it's no surprise we were a bit rusty we haven't played for 10 days"!

Yes. Both team shape and match fitness are important. I'm certainly not trying to defend a poor performance by the team, but we look like team of strangers at the moment and we've had a bit of an influx of players recently too. All this takes work to mould them into a squad and that 2nd training session a week would help quite a bit. I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt at the moment but there will come a time if league form remains poor that the quote from AA which He's mentioned a few times "We know we've got a great squad" will be subject to the Brian Clough concept "We've got a great team on paper but unfortunately football isn't played on paper, It's played on grass".

True

[lo36789]

We are unfortunate with Hunts injured but we can't recruit with a view to "rotate with Hunt". Hunt played a full league two season last year I doubt he had any intentions coming to us to rotate with another player.

Ultimately McMahon was brought in as our other leader / organiser at the back it is rather unfortunate that both got injured in a collision with each other.

[MCFCDarlo3]

We are unfortunate with Hunts injured but we can't recruit with a view to "rotate with Hunt". Hunt played a full league two season last year I doubt he had any intentions coming to us to rotate with another player.

Ultimately McMahon was brought in as our other leader / organiser at the back it is rather unfortunate that both got injured in a collision with each other.

Rotate probably a bad choice of words but with the amount of games this season there is a need for 3 CBs we can rely on.

[don'tbuythesun]

I've said elsewhere if you remove Hunt, Wheatley and Charman (and McMahon) at our level I think that's going to really create problems. Let's see what we're like at full strength.

[lo36789]

I've said elsewhere if you remove Hunt, Wheatley and Charman (and McMahon) at our level I think that's going to really create problems. Let's see what we're like at full strength.

Basically lost our spine - is it any wonder we look a bit flimsy.

[LoidLucan]

We are operating with a bigger squad now so that we can rotate and cope when important players are missing in this hectic schedule. I'm sure AA was expecting that those who stepped in would seize their chance and deliver. It also needs pointing out that Telford had several key players missing and fielded two players who signed just hours earlier.

[Old Git]

I've said elsewhere if you remove Hunt, Wheatley and Charman (and McMahon) at our level I think that's going to really create problems. Let's see what we're like at full strength.

Basically lost our spine - is it any wonder we look a bit flimsy.

Of course we missed Hunt Wheatley Charman and McMahon but it is not as if we don’t have experienced cover for them. Laing Atkinson Maguire Hedley etc are all part of the squad and should not have weakened the team. Thought the difference this season was we genuinely had a strong squad of around 20 reliable players unlike previous seasons when 3 or 4 injuries would have resulted in a bench full of kids.

[don'tbuythesun]

They may be experienced, decent players but I'm certain we are better with four first choice players than second choice players. Hunt has been such a bonus at the back and I felt we missed Charman's size and ability to hold up play. I'm not denigrating these players as they put a shift in.

[H1987]

Some back to basics required imo.

Less, defensive mistakes, solid formation.

For me, our best team, everyone fit, would be

Saltmer

McMahon Hunt Storey Liddle

Holness Hatfield Wheatley

Sousa Charman Campbell

If we have to change players out, play them in the same role instead of tinkering with the shape.

I have an issue with both Reid and Atkinson in that I genuinely cant tell what their best position is supposed to be. There’s nothing wrong with utility men, but please let’s use them as utility men, not endlessly rotating and losing the shape of the team.

[Old Git]

They may be experienced, decent players but I'm certain we are better with four first choice players than second choice players. Hunt has been such a bonus at the back and I felt we missed Charman's size and ability to hold up play. I'm not denigrating these players as they put a shift in.

Sorry but not sure what you mean by first choice and second choice players. I thought we had a strong squad and no one was guaranteed an automatic starting place. Also not certain AA would know what his first choice starting eleven is.

[don'tbuythesun]

I'm pretty sure you know what I mean. It's my opinion that there are a number of players I would view as pretty certain first names on the team sheet, those above I've named included and I felt we sorely missed on Saturday.