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[Alty365]

Having had a day to reflect on Saturday's performance, it goes without saying that things just didn't click for us against Kettering, pretty much from start to finish. The passing was wayward and we looked a little more hesitant than we had been at Woking the previous week, perhaps due in no small part to the defensive problems on Tuesday night.

Having said that, we never looked in any major trouble from their forward line, with the obvious exception of the early penalty and one fine save from Stuart Coburn late in the game. The Kettering keeper made a very smart save in the first half to deny us an equaliser and the double save he made in the second half to deny Little and Denham was as fine as any you will see at any level this season. Add to that Elam's missed header and things could easily have been a lot different.

I think the quality of Kettering's organisation has been overlooked somewhat by a few people too. They didn't come here to launch an all out attack on us but their game plan to me was quite a smart one which was executed very well. There were times when I felt we played into their hands by chipping the ball straight to their big defenders, a ploy which frustrated me a lot considering we have players of the calibre of Elam and Denham who are so dangerous with the ball at their feet.

All in all, a regular repeat of this kind of performance would be disastrous, but I think we will see a vast improvement for the trip to Kidderminster next Saturday.

Come on Alty!

[wayno]

Great post.. i think there are times where we seem to almost lose interest in the game for 15 to 20 minute spells. We need to keep sharp for the full 90 minutes in every game and i think if we do we will be fine.

[Jenga]

What I do like about the team is against Barrow and Kettering we were strong at the finish rather than dieing off due to fitness.

We have commented about the team not clicking yet but look who we have played and there may be a clue somewhere as to why we have not done as well as expected.

Woking - a good performance against a regular conference side.
Barrow - a BSN side just promoted with lots of confidence and a team who kick you of the field.
Kettering - a BSN side just promoted unbeated with big bulky defenders.

Other sides in the BSP are footballing sides. It will be interesting to see how we do against established Premier teams, starting on Saturday against Kiddy.

[blackpoolalty]

What really does worry me is that we have established attacking wingers who love nothing more than the ball played to their feet, but time and time again we play that diagonal long ball in the air to 7ft defenders who say 'cheers' !!!

GB seemed to react to the crowd by pointing to the floor on a few occasions, like was pointed out last season GH can say one thing in the changing room but on the pitch they do there own thing, so frustrating sometimes. Kettering's two centre backs would have took 40 minutes to turn with balls on the floor and they tend to be more clumsy.

Like above I think we will do better against the more 'footballing' sides in the league... Kiddie haven't had the best of starts, their managers on their case and the crowd could turn early doors.

[Alty365]

I don't think we should delude ourselves that just because teams play more football they don't have big strong defenders as well. I expect teams like Kidderminster to be just as difficult to break down as Kettering were, the main difference being that Kiddy will ask far more questions of our defence.

Just as an aside, I would be delighted to pick up 2 points from our next 2 games and we should be under no illusions about the difficulty of both matches. 

[Longman]

I don't think we should delude ourselves that just because teams play more football they don't have big strong defenders as well. I expect teams like Kidderminster to be just as difficult to break down as Kettering were, the main difference being that Kiddy will ask far more questions of our defence.

Just as an aside, I would be delighted to pick up 2 points from our next 2 games and we should be under no illusions about the difficulty of both matches. 

True, however going off a) our trip to Kiddy last year and b) the current form of Kiddy, there is no reason why we can't go to Aggborough and get 3 points!

[thegazelle]

three points it will be on the back of a verbal following from the Knighton Massive

[VofD]

I thought on Saturday the performance was souless and clueless. In order to survive, which I think we will, we should be picking up 3 points against newly promoted teams at home, where we really have to start winning.However, better to have defensive problems at the start of the season rather than at the end, as it gives plenty of time to get them sorted.

[gazwarrington]

I thought Satdee was poor but the difference is we kept plugging away and got a draw where as in the past we would have got nothing. I'm still confident.

[Ballers]

I think it was a game that last season we may well have lost. I mean, goign 1 down after 5 minutes was an absolute pain in the arse to be honest with you wasn't it. Always going to be difficult after that.

We struggled for rythmm perhaps but at least we salvaged a point. Elam possibly needs o play on the right wing or come on as sub. He actually caused Doughty a lot of problems. When the ball came to Dougthy, Elam wasn't getting wide and was hiding inside meaning Doughty had no one to pass to.

I'll reserve judgement for a while longer yet but he's starting to look like a luxury we can't carry too much. Certainly on sat evidence, Peyton helping Doughty followed up by half an hour of Elam looks an option.

Think Battersby and Senior might be close to getting a game too.

[altyf]

The thing that frustrates me most is the fact that now we have a big striker in Dale Johnson, we seem to think we can just hoof the ball and revert back to our long ball game. Dale has shown in all 3 games he's absolutely brilliant with the ball at his feet and the way he lays the ball off and then makes a run opens up huge gaps in the opposition defence for Elam, Little and Denham to exploit. It's a tactic we have to execute effectively more often. I have no problem with a long ball game if it is effective but it's clearly not one for us.

At Woking, we were camped in their half for 45 minutes and we were passing the ball confidently and comfortably on the floor. As soon as we come to Moss Lane, all I could see was Chris Lane leathering the ball to absolutely no-one. We have to get the confidence that we had at Woking and for the first 20 minutes of the Barrow game where we were able to outclass them territorily and pose a real threat.

[CB]

Just because Peyton had a half decent 20 minutes doesn't mean he should play from the start. He's shown ever since he's been at Alty that whilst he gives his all, his distribution on the whole is poor (he's done one decent cross, but many more wardward ones).

I'd rather have someone of Elam's class on the wing. GH has always preferred the 'hardworker' than someone with a little skill. We've managed a player like Elam at the club, it would be utterly foolish not to play him.

[VofD]

Just because Peyton had a half decent 20 minutes doesn't mean he should play from the start. He's shown ever since he's been at Alty that whilst he gives his all, his distribution on the whole is poor (he's done one decent cross, but many more wardward ones).

I'd rather have someone of Elam's class on the wing. GH has always preferred the 'hardworker' than someone with a little skill. We've managed a player like Elam at the club, it would be utterly foolish not to play him.

Exactly. We must play him regularly and he must be allowed to play wide : not pack of the pack which follow each other around the pitch. The same applies to Denholm : allow him the width or why the hell did we sign them.

[Alty365]

Denholm?

[wayno]

three points it will be on the back of a verbal following from the Knighton Massive

Whats the postcode again please? leaving alty at about 10am