[sloppyattheback]

Despite conceding a 20 second goal I thought we would take control of the game in time, 1st half creating chances Payne had 3 efforts all saved loads of possession in control, too much sideways and going back for my liking we do need to be braver.

2nd half we barely threatened them in the box, where we have no height V Div 1 defenders ,they broke away and stole the winner the changes didnt work, Stankovic replaced a booked Hoggy but he didnt do enough to stake a place in the team at the weekend.

Lowe a solid defender but seems not to want to push forward willingly, Scanz never at it, VLP a touch too many, Mooy looked to tire as the game went on, not a great evening amongst a sparse 2800 crowd.

600 or so town fans, tidy little ground, usual Town cup competition outcome, my 19 year old 6 '3 " got in for a £1 the only hghlight so lets move on !

[jjamez]

people have said that mooy struggles to keep fitness up, probably a good thing that at some point we will have billing to replace him.

VLP does seem to complicate things as does lolley, think it is a trait of the modern winger. we will see this from all of our wingers, one week they will tear a team apart the next week they will look poor. think the same can be said of payne at the moment, but again thats the positive of having someone like palmer.

today showed we are one striker short, two if wells leaves, but if he does then we will have enough to fund a couple to come in. there are options out there and i for one dont mind if we bring in another striker in on loan. but it will make a few town fans cry that we always get players in on loan...

[EastLondonTerrier]

Just got back from Shrewsbury after staying in a premier inn last night so apologies if this match report repeats what others have said, this thread has gotten very long and I don't have too much time to go through it. First of all, I hope this is a wake-up call to Wagner and the rest of these players. At the start of the game I literally said 'Let's not concede 30 seconds in like Bournemouth'...Should have kept my mouth shut. Then the second half right at the start we almost conceded again. Shambles. First half if Payne had taken those two big chances the game would have been over. But we didn't and we were too soft all over the pitch. No fight at all. Only when Hef came on at the end did we start getting stuck in. The atmosphere before the game felt like a pre-season friendly and I think the players thought they could just turn up and win. I hope this gives a lot of them a rude awakening. Our final ball most of the game was also dreadful, Scanz was probably our best source of crosses. Salisbury me and my Dad have both known was a shit ref for years so we knew what we were guna get. Books Hogg for first foul and then lets their keeper time waste from minute 1 with no bookings. Hef clear shove in the back in the penalty area late on and his booking was one of the most ludicrous I've ever seen. I also have no idea if we were playing 4-2-3-1 or 3-5-2 but if we played the latter we should not do it again. My main concern is goals. Keeping Wells now is imperative if we are to really beat teams this season. I made some player ratings below:

Ward - 8. Assured, made some great saves at the end to keep it to 2-1 and did everything right.

Crainie - 4. Poor. Looked like a centre-back playing right-back. Poor crossing and poor position-ally. Never thought I'd say it but we missed Tommy Smith badly.

Stankovic - 5. Looked composed on the ball but did nothing special. Him and Schindler far too pedestrian in possession. They must have passed it between themselves about 60 times during the match. Underwhelmed by the hype and needs to bulk up a lot but one average game does not a player make.

Schindler - 7. Assured and made very little mistakes. Needs someone big and a communicator alongside him. If he was captain at 1860 Munich he probably was a captain that led by example rather than barked orders. Need the Hef to organise our defence and bring some aggression.

Lowe - 6. Has good pace and grew into the game but given very little cover by VLP at times. Definitely needs time to adjust to the CL. Will get better. Keep the faith. Good cross on him.

Hogg - 6. Good energy and ran about but why is he the player picking up the ball from defence when he can't pass more than 5 yards? Surely a player like Dempsey in here is required or even Whitehead would be better.

Mooy - 9 MOTM. Bossed the midfield, picked passes and tried to make things happen. Faded towards the end of the second half but magnificent. What a find.

Scannell - 6. Got some unfair stick from the fans but wasn't given a lot of the ball. Put in a shift and some decent crosses in but he was playing far too narrow as was VLP to affect the game.

Payne - 8. Before he came off he was my MOTM. Missed two sitters but he is an absolute pocket rocket. Was always asking questions, taking the ball forward and looking for gaps to exploit. An arm around him this week and set him loose on Saturday.

VLP - 5. He will inevitably this season either win us games on his own or be a complete passenger. This will be what we get. Consistency for him is the key otherwise he will get dropped.

Kachunga - 7. Has good pace, led the line well but needed more support. Got a goal and it's now 2 in 2. Can't ask for much more.

Subs:

Paurevic - 4. Was not impressed. Slow and cumbersome and was at fault for the second goal. Don't think Hogg or Whitehead will be sweating.

Palmer - 8. This kid even from the short time I saw him looks a star in the making. Wanted to do something everytime he got the ball. Would try and get him and Payne in the same team together. Gets you off your seat.

Hef - 7. Didn't get time to affect the game but gave us impetus, aggression and got on the end of long balls. Put him at the back and we could get a brick wall.

Anyway, a lot to think on but I'm not doom and gloom. Just bloody frustrated we've gone out the cup to a pretty joke team AGAIN at the first time of asking.

[SHEP_HTAFC]

Very good assessment ELT....and sloppyattheback.
I think this result gives us all some food for thought. When I saw the team and there were only 3 changes, I knew Wagner wasn't treating this as a joke game.
However to lose to a team 1 place above the relegation zone in League 1 last season is very disappointing. I'll be very interested to see the team and the performance on Saturday.
I'd take a point right now.

[EastLondonTerrier]

Apologies for that intro, should have amended it as I posted it on DATM and that fred had 25 pages. Already got people trying to belittle my analysis. There's already people on there questioning Kachunga. The state of affairs that is. I'd take a point as well Shep but they're beatable, I'd actually prefer playing them now than when Fat Raf has had more time to work with them. I think he'll put Lolley back in no question and Hudson if his body is up to it as well as Smith. I don't think many players really put their hands up to make them undroppable bar Kachunga at the moment although I'd love to see him put Palmer on the wing and Payne in the 10 role and then see some real fireworks.

[jjamez]

Can palmer really play out wide. I know he has done but is he a natural winger or is he a central player who can play wider?

One option for later in the season would be to put mooy palmer and payne behind kachunga and have them not playing as wide. But would be worried about them getting tangled up with each other