McPie

You get the feeling that because it's taken so long to bring someone in, that the most likely scenario is we are waiting on premiere league club transfer chain so they can release a loan player.

I like the way Matt Palmer passes the ball to another player and then follows it, ready to receive a pass if the player is closed down. That worked well on Saturday. There were a few times he received the ball back and was in acres of space as result to run forward with the ball.

Are we happy with where the club is currently? Some may feel under the Reedtz brothers in their 6-year tenure we have gone backwards. Recruitment has been poor and uninspired by the appointment of Martin Paterson. We might look at Wrexham and Stockport who were with us in the National League and compare their progress to ours. Personally, I think we have to put our current situation into context. There are significant differences. For the most part Wrexham and Stockport have had the same manger from the start of their “journey” till now. They play the same style of football but have had the finance to bring in players from higher levels who play that same brand of football. (hence why we couldn’t keep Didzy) In our case since the Reedtz brothers took over we have had 5 head coaches in 6 years. Two of them were poached by clubs higher up the football pyramid. We have also had our best players poached. Wooton, Roberts, Rodrigues, Langstaff, Crowley and Bass. With Wrexham and Stockport their so-called best players have been sold to lower-level clubs. They have replaced them with better ones due to their financial status. In a word these teams have had continuity, but our progress has been hindered by the above. So where does that leave us now? We play a brand of football that when the team is gelling is great to watch. It takes time to achieve. Especially with the interruptions to our progress as already mentioned. We have also had to tweak the way we place to make us more solid at the back without losing our potency in the final third. I thought we started to see signs of that against a very physical Bromley team. Yes we are not the finished article, but I feel Paterson has the drive and work ethic to make it work. With the transfer window still open and the January one to come, I think in view of the context, our progress report for now doing ok, but there is still more work to be done. COYP!

There is a real player there in Matt Dennis. Scores a great individual goal and then scores a great header against Bromley of all teams, that in itself deserves the man of the match award!

Overall we were better today I see definite progress. We played some good football at times and generally defended well against a very physical side that pump balls into the box. We could have won that game but for a deflected equaliser. We have started an unbeaten run. Onwards and upwards.

I think MP will start the same 11 from the last game providing there are no injuries. He could changed things to try and outwit the opposition, but sometimes you can over think it tactically to the detriment of the performance.

That conspiracy thought has crossed my mind. Just doesn't seem in keeping with MP's "being honest" mantra.

Jatta being injured is definitely sounds suspicious. MP's interview suggested it to me. He said he had trained safely and that Jatta had reported the back spasm. Not something found by the medical team. Sounds like advice from his agent if you ask me. Five games without playing you would be desperate to be involved. Watch this space. It's seems transfer activity is afoot!

What should be our tactics for the Bromley game? One thing for sure Andy Woodman will have analysed our recent matches. What conclusion will he have made? Roos doesn't come for crosses, punches rather than catches. Simple: get crosses into the box. After all Cheek scores a lot of his goals from inside the box. Lots of crosses into the box will cause all kinds of panic. What do we do to counter it? Stop crosses, don't give up possession needlessly. Anything else?

This will be a tough one. No doubt Andy Woodman watched the game last night and picked out our weaknesses to exploit. Let's hope Martin and the boys are prepared and ready. Probably just as important, lets hope the ref is ready to clamp down on the dark arts and time wasting.

I think we would all agree last nights win and the goals scored were very welcome. However we did look a bit disorganised at times, wide open in midfield. A better team than Shrewsbury would have exploited the wide opens spaces. With Jodi and his free spirit role we it's easy to lose our shape. Tsaroulla who played well as a whole, was caught out of position, which allowed for a free cross for their goal. Something we need to work on I feel.

I agree Tsaroulla. I noticed just before he scored, he was calling for the ball to be passed to him. I think that shows his confidence to score in those positions.

Have you ever wondered why the Premier League has so many coaches from overseas? I think we only need to look at League 1 and League 2 where the majority of coaches are British. Especially in League 2 the style of football is physical, direct, full of the dark arts. Stifling skillful football and suffocating technical players. We see serial achievers at League 1 and 2 level like Phil Parkinson, Nigel Clough, Steve Evans and the Cowley brothers, struggle at the Championship level. It seems for a lot of lower league coaches, it’s all about winning no matter how’s it’s achieved. A philosophy that doesn’t seem to work higher up the pyramid. The Challenge we face is are we going to change our footballing philosophy to play percentage football, pumping as many balls in to the opposition box waiting for a knockdown, a penalty, or even a mistake leading to an own goal to win matches? Or are happy to persevere with passing football looking for the chance to create a clear cut opportunity to score. Playing attractive football pleasing on the eye with the same aim? Our owners are from overseas, playing passing football using technically gifted players is in their DNA. So I don’t think things will change any time soon. I for one share their vision. I don’t like watching tennis football, seeing the ball toing and froing in the air and talent being suffocated by physicality. The constant stop start with free kicks for fouls. Everyone is not the same of course. We all have our own preferred style. The challenge then is one for Martin Paterson to overcome! Let’s hope he does. Some may feel playing the style of football the owners want doesn’t work in League 2. However, Eddie Howe did it with Bournemouth. Ironically he is one of the few British coaches still in the Premier League. I wonder why? Keep the faith. COYP.

I like the way Tsaroulla takes players on, he is better than Gordon who doesn’t seem to have that ability. Totally agree his finishing has been poor. Surely though with some help from the coaches, he should be able to improve this part of his game. If he can he would be a real threat in the final third.

As @Wheelbarrow repair man says, MP said judge me after 10 games. At the time it seemed he was very confident in his own ability to produce a successful team. Listening to his interview after the Barrow game I’m not so sure. It seemed he couldn’t confidently say he knew what the problem was and how to fix it. It reminded me a bit of John Sheridan during his overseeing 9 consecutive defeats. He always struck me as if he didn’t really know how to turn things around. “We just need to work harder on the training ground” comment doesn’t seem to work. Let’s hope MP does know and how and will succeed.

The second question is a good one! Not sure there is an easy answer. The worrying thing is the lack of playing style, there’s no real patterns of play, no identity. If we could see what the head coach is trying to do, but just needed more time to Gel, that would be an easier fix. It feels like he’s told the players to be aggressive in the press and move the ball forwards as much as possible. Resulting in constantly giving the ball away with poor passing and aimless long balls. I know the previous passing sideways and back was very frustrating, but at least it was done with a purpose to commit the opposition and create space. What we are doing at the moment lacks cohesion or purpose with very few clear cut chances and ultimately fewer goals. This looks like we have a head coach who is currently not able to get his ideas across to the players. What’s the fix? New head coach? The brothers won’t sack him any time soon. Sign several better players? That won’t happen till the January window now. More time for the head coach to sort things out? Looks the most likely. That being the case, I think it’s going to be a long season!

New head coach and a lot of new players. Doesn't seem to be a clear pattern of play. Doesn't look good! Something has to change. We need more creativity, inspiration and a goal and we bring on Grant! I think that says everything.

As I understand it Scotty, when the opposition play with a high press, they leave space behind which we need to exploit. The problem is when players in that situation panic and just hit the ball long aimlessly, you concede possession and usually the defenders use that space to start another attack. It would seem rather that just hit long balls aimlessly we need to find a way to pass forward through the lines to players who can received the ball on the half-turn and use the space to our advantage. Of course we are talking about league 2 quality players so this is not easy. That's why league two games are often a war of attrition. The survival of the fittest and strongest and not always pretty to watch.

The newly formed Technical Board has been met with a great deal of scepticism even outright opposition. However after the performance against Salford, is this where we actually start to see its value? After all a “technical board” is nothing new. We as supporters since football began, have been every clubs “technical board”? Is it not so that supporters often can see what a coach sometimes does not. Team selection, tactics, players played out of position. It’s not the the coach or players don’t know what they are doing, they know far more thane ever will about the professional game. Still sometimes they can so immersed in a situation they can’t see the “wood from the trees” so to speak. A view from the outside looking in can be so helpful. Surely then the technical board can see what we saw. Looking at the Salford game what did we see. We saw much more physicality which was welcomed, but not a lot else. Lots of long aimless balls, a lack of creativity etc. The head coach knows all this, but the regular meetings give a platform for discussion. He can be reminded of the need to stick to our playing philosophy and in turn he can remind the club to provide the right tools to do the job. This clarity of thinking will surely pay dividends as the season progresses. This regular analysis is what we need. We don’t want to wait until we are on a losing streak rooted near the bottom of the league before something is done. COYP!

I think this game would be a good opportunity to play Griffiths. MP can include him without casting any negativity towards Roos, as most teams give their second choice goalie a place in cup games. If he does well then he could play him in the the Barrow game and simply say he deserves to keep the shirt!

The problem with pre-season as a time to gel @Wheelbarrow repair man is that players only get 30 or 60 minutes and don't play with the same players each time. So once Paterson picks a settled 11 they will need time. However that being said, yesterday we seem to be playing with no plan or strategy. We seem to be a team of strangers. That of course is not surprising with 7 players making the league home debut. Maybe the head coach is trying to change things too quickly. Let's see where we are after 10 games.

No doubt we are all feeling down after the result and performance yesterday. Having just watched the full match replay and comparing it to what I watched at Meadow Lane yesterday, I see reasons for optimism. Firstly we need to put things into perspective. It's only the second game in and we had 7 players making the league home debut. They need time to gel. Also Paterson is still learning what players can and can't do. he might for example realise that Palmer and Norburn can't pay together, this would allow for another creative player to start. Luker and Hall look like the creative spark we are missing and with Iorpenda height and physicality we will not be bullied in midfield. If Jatta had been playing yesterday, I think we might have taken one of the chances we had. Also let's not forget that although Salford were better with the the ball than we were, they came with tactics determined to waste time, stifle and frustrate, which is so anti football and horrible to watch. I am confident we will learn from this. Paterson said judge him after 10 games. It may well take that long for things to work out. So lets all cheer up and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

I thought Keanan Bennetts showed touches of real class in the match yesterday. When he’s fully fit, he’s going to be a real asset. I know we are all feeling down after the team’s performance yesterday, but it is early days. It takes time to find the best starting eleven and getting them to gel. I think back to previous seasons and a lot of teams that were promoted started slowly. Teams that make a fast start often fade. Who remembers Torquay in the national league. Walsall last season.