[spireitematt]

2 GOALS

A CLEAN SHEET

3 PTS

ALL AWAY FROM HOME

I'M I DREAMING????????

[St Charles Owl]

No you aren't, well done, lets hope this is the start of a move up the table!!!

[bluepooch]

There was a sudden improvement in the second half on Saturday ,we started playing attractive passing football for the first time under Jack and creating chances and it seems we have carried that on to tonight .
I will never criticise Jacks team selection again !

[Dancingwilldoit]

Best of all, 2 goals from open play. When was the last time we managed that?

[Devongone]

Like Matt I thought I was dreaming when I saw the result ....... which shows how far and fast we've fallen.

I'm sorry not to be as excited as everyone else, but a 2-0 win against Port Vale gave us hope something might change and kept GC in his job for weeks longer than he deserved.

I like both Hird and Evatt and think they are clearly amongst our best players, but I said weeks ago that although we might win some matches with them as our centre back combination a lot of quick forwards would also find us out very quickly. 0-2 at Crawley doesn't change that. I still think if we put them together they need a really strong defensive midfielder just in front of them. Two slow players alongside each other in central defence just tempt a forward to take one on and head for the space in behind. An extra man in front gives the defence a depth that provides protection.

Course I'm delighted we tried playing without O'Grady and scored two from open play. I notice also we lost out massively in the possession stakes. That isn't always a bad thing if you've got a sharp striker, though I don't half wish we had some pace.

I wish I thought this were a corner we'd turned, I hope it is, but if you made me put my money down on Saturday I'd be backing Cambridge. (Wish we'd got Tom Pope to play with Dennis. Or Christian Doidge.)

And Dancing, any doubts that Jack was the right choice ......... read the fans on Bob's Board. They're off to the Vatican next week to start the process of beatification ...... blimey!

[bluepooch]

If Jack can extract 10% extra fitness,10% extra effort and 10 % extra application we will be a different team .That would make the strikers that bit sharper ,the midfielders that bit more steely and creative and the defenders that bit more aware .
It all adds up to a much more successful team .

[spireitematt]

That 2nd goal is a fantastic strike.

[Devongone]

Well it's a good, well-directed strike, that he kept down nicely. It was a difficult one for the keeper, but it is one of those you think you can reach and that would make you want to find out what you did that little bit wrong.

Those clips show us moving the ball around nicely. I wasn't impressed with Anyon's saves and I have to say he has been looking smaller every time I see him since Pooch's first comment on his height ........... but it was a clean sheet!

I agree with the idea that if Jack can improve a lot of things a bit, it can make a huge difference over all. But he's also showed people that to make a team he has to get some of these players into unfamiliar roles. As a theory, round pegs for round holes is great, but if you've got a squad which doesn't contain several of the holes you have to change something. The nearest we have to an attacking midfielder who can provide a goal threat I suppose is Sinnott and we don't have even one real defensive midfielder, they're all central midfield bit-part players ......... but Flores was a success at Crawley in a more attacking role and Reed was apparently decent as one of the more defensive players. Great, but of course they have to be able to do it every week.

My worry reading Bob's Board is the extent of the hero worship for Jack. If winning remains a real struggle for him all the way to the January window will they become equally disillusioned with their messiah? He himself was clearly trying to keep everyone's feet on the ground. Losing 3-0 at Cambridge would be a downer under any circumstances, but if a bit of nice football and another 2 goal win is what is expected then that one defeat could cancel the good work so far.

What Jim Bentley seems to be able to do at Morecambe is, without any really good players, hold his squads together so that a couple of big defeats don't carry through to the next game. Just as you think they are going into a slump he'll pull them out and they'll win away at Luton, or somewhere. But he doesn't have the pressure of a crowd that think he's the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

One thing Jack or any manager can do is make sure his team is the fittest in the division. In our position being fit, keen, committed to the cause and remaining united carry more weight than a Cruyff turn, a rebona or an original formation.

[spireitematt]

Looks like we've brought back to earth with a bang. Also doesn't help matters that Port Vale and Forest Green Rovers won there games. 6pts from safety and need to get into some sort of form very very soon otherwise we could be left behind.

[bluepooch]

31 games and 93 points to play for yet Matt so its not over by a long chalk.
Sounded like we played ok though carrying on from Tuesday night .Sounded like a inspired substitution from Jack to take Wiseman off and bring on Briggs when he made an immediate impact by creating the goal ,unfortunately it looked like Briggs was partly to blame for both their goals .
I do like Jacks self assured positivity .He talks not about IF we can put a run together but WHEN we put a run together.
I hope his conviction doesn't prove to be unfounded but it looks like we are improving even if the results don't necessarily show it .