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[casper]

I am sick and tired of Alty fans on here having a go at the players and GH about performances and about the team.

Lets look at the results so far:-

EXETER CITY  1-4 
Halifax Town2-2
 Forest Green Rovers 1-3 
GRAYS ATHLETIC  0-1 
Stafford Rangers 1-1
ALDERSHOT TOWN 1-2
York City 2-2
OXFORD UNITED 1-3

Out of that lot we have played 3 of the top 6 sides and 5 of the top 11. We have played 3 lower teams all AWAY from home.

I ask who expects to win against Exeter, Aldershot and Oxford? NO-ONE I hope.
I then ask should we have gained some points from these games? Yes in my opinion we could have.

Put those two questions together and what do you get? An improved Alty team who are now challenging against this sort of FULL TIME side and scaring the likes of Oxford.

Lets now look at the other games -

Halifax away a draw and a good result perhaps as expected.
FGR away and a defeat to a current top 6 side a result as expected perhaps.
York away and a draw a point gained.
Grays at home and a defeat -not a good game and 1 point lost.
Stafford away aweful and 2 points lost.

So in my opinion maybe 3 points lost so far is realistic and 1 point gained - a net loss of 2 points.

We have a team who is currently gelling together and I see them improving every week at the moment.

Lets look at the players perhaps now :-

Last year you nearly ALL slag off Joe at the start of the season - he ended up fans player of the season.
This year you slag off Joe again, to be honest I dont think he has done much wrong again.
You slag off Sedgemore who perhaps has created most of our goals.
You slag of Whally who you are now perhaps seeing is a quality player.
Tinson got slated at the start of season for some mistakes, without him things I think would have been worse.
First game Logan plays and all I hear is shouts to him to go and get the ball, yet when he is on the wing he creates problems - funnily enough he cannot be in two places at the same time. I do think most fans recognise though that he is a class above the rest.

How fickle can you lot be with your comments?

Get a grip of your pendulum comments, get behind the team and you will see what a massive improvement is ahead of us. If we continue the way we are going there is no way we will go down.

In my opinion our season will start on the 13th October. If we can pick up a few poiints before then to help us along then great (maybe 3 points is all we will get to be honest). I therefore fully expect us to be bottom or bottom 2 by this time.

End of my rant and rave, see you all at home against Cambridge a side in the top 4 so please dont expect us to win 7-0.

I think the last three performances have been much much better than the previous five. yet we have played eight games and have three points, that is the realism we have. This squad IS better than last season's, positively we have scored in all but one game. We are not privalaged to the information GH has regarding players, but it does seem strange when the most creative player we possesed has not started a single game, but shows his class whenever he eventually comes on. It is easy to be critical of the members of the squad, but when players are being played completely out of position or not at all then i think anyone is allowed to question why certain decisions have been made.

I previously stated that we needed at least 4 points from the first 6 games. We still havent got this after 8. Aldershot and oxford were unlucky, we did deserve a result from both games, but unfortunately we didnt get them. Grays was crap (3pts lost), i didnt expect anything from FGR, (good manger has done wonders for them). Stafford should again have been a win, but a draw is a point on the board.

The last 3 performances have been good, just need better tactical decisions to enable us to beat the other side.

As for players, we all knew tinson was a quality player. he needed a few games to gell into the squad. O'neill didnt have the greatest game against oxford, work rate aside, i think senior would offer more of a goal threat. Sedge and whalley are both decent players, again needed time to get into a new team. Lane has played very well, and looks better when potts rather than lawton is in front of him. Im sorry but Asa is not a left back. Either put clancy or peyton there with logan or peyton ahead. We are all behind the team, those who show frustration and those who do not. those who vent their feelings and those who hide away.

We are all behind these players, and are all looking forward to seeing coburn celebrate our first win.

[louise1925]

We could all see how good Logan was when he came on against Oxford, so you've got to start with him on the left. With Clancy at left full back, we'd actually have two decent quality left footers in the side for the first time in ages. I really don't know about the right. I'd be inclined to go with Pottsy, or Senior. I don't buy all this talk about needing to play a more defence minded 'winger'. Surely, you play the best of what you have available. I personally believe that we'd benefit from having a bit of balance in the side and playing players in their best positions. Having said this, I don't know which two of Robbie, Val, Sedge and Whalley I'd go for. I don't envy GH that decision.
To be fair to the man, he has brought in a lot of good quality players over the summer, real crackers like Lane, Whalley, Logan, Senior and (by all accounts) Clancy - they just need to play a bit!

[mortlakebob]

Heathcote
I fear he reached his peak 2 years ago (a bit like Colin Little) and that if we are serious about progession we might be better off without both.
Its ok packing a more defensively minded midfield together but not at home every week, and the results show its not working anyway.
going into this season with Little/Oneill as first choice strikers was a mistake - they didnt get enough goals to keep us up last year, what made anyone think things were going to improve this year.
I'd love someone to dig out a stat showing how many chances we create when Potts is on the pitch compared to when he's not.
But and its a big but, we are only going to stay up this season if GH gets some good resullts in the next few weeks. So let GH get on with it for 6 more games and if its still not happening, then maybe the unthinkable has to happen.

[Baggers]

If we'd taken the chance we had to go 2-1 ahead yesterday with ten minuets to go and hung on for a win I think there'd be a different mood on here and GH would be a hero instead of a spent force. Like many others, I was disappointed by the team selection yesterday but we have a decent bunch of players and the manager knows them better than us. If the formula isn't right after the next 6 games I'm sure there will be increasing pressure on GH but I don't think he's going to sack himself and no one else is going to. As for Colin Little, it does look as if we've seen the best of him but he's capable of proving the doubters wrong if he really wants to. And finally, a bit of simple good luck might help as well. We haven't had much of that so far.

[Jacko]

Heathcote
I fear he reached his peak 2 years ago (a bit like Colin Little) and that if we are serious about progession we might be better off without both.
Its ok packing a more defensively minded midfield together but not at home every week, and the results show its not working anyway.
going into this season with Little/Oneill as first choice strikers was a mistake - they didnt get enough goals to keep us up last year, what made anyone think things were going to improve this year.
I'd love someone to dig out a stat showing how many chances we create when Potts is on the pitch compared to when he's not.
But and its a big but, we are only going to stay up this season if GH gets some good resullts in the next few weeks. So let GH get on with it for 6 more games and if its still not happening, then maybe the unthinkable has to happen.

Think you should give them a little more respect than that, there both prone to the odd touch of class still in my opinion, not bad for our wages anyway

[Bath Alty]

The fact that Gh has managed to attract so many good players that we have major selection debates is surely a good enough reason alone to keep him.  What would the squad look like a month or two after GH left?

[hsmith1]

The Idea of this forum is to be able to air your views amongst other things.I for one have always been and will always be a big fan of GH even as a player.I think he has done a great job under very difficult curcumstances,that said his past record does not mean that fans have to sit back and not have a moan.Fans have always had a right to moan and the manager has always had the right to ignore them if he so pleases.Views expressed by fans on here about who should and should not play are only views for god sake.I would love to see to wide men playing at home,but i am not the manager.GH is doing a good job and the results will come,it would have been nice to have picked up at least 1 home win,i for one thought we might have turned Exeter over as it was the first game of the season and living in Exeter i knew the problems that they had,that said i knew they were very fit and thought a 1-0 was our best hope,sadly we ran out of steam and speaking with the Exeter Players on the Monday they siad the only difference was that they were fitter than Alty.Now were are not bottom and have not lost touch with the pack so a few good results and every body will be happy.Why would people not expect to beat Aldershot they had not beaten us in 4 previous matches.
We lost a couple of good players close season in Bandy and Tabs and i know Tabs was getting slow,but his presence was huge for the team.I think Rod going was proberly the right decision for the club and the player himself even though i was shocked by it.His England and United duties did have a big affect on his playing ability.I would have loved him to stay but to have been able to play more,and that is the only reason why i think it was the correct decision.
The only thing i would moan about is players getting sent off,we have to remain more disaplined than that and then we might stand a chance,again not GH s fault,but the players themselves.
Give Graham the support he needs and the results will start to come.We have some good players.

[bighairedmike]

So let GH get on with it for 6 more games and if its still not happening, then maybe the unthinkable has to happen.

If we sacked him (which i hope we dont) who would we be able to get in to replace him? GH is the only man for the job at the moment. Nobody else could do as good a job with as little available to him and for that you have to respect him and back him. This is the thing that people forget. Limited resources would frustrate any mangaer and most of them would want a lot more so would
a) not come or
b) leave straight away.

This would be so much worse and leave us in a worse position.

[louise1925]

I'm sorry, I just don't agree with this at all. I have never called for GH's head and believe that it is too early to be doing so. However, if four straight home defeats became 6,7 or 8, then it'd be an even greater folly to say let's just stick with GH for the sake of it. I do believe he will turn it around and hope and pray that he does so, but ALL SIDES need to be realistic, not just the fans.

[teasybeaver]

There's no way that certain sections of our support are realistic. We got relegated fair and square last season and nobody in their right mind would have called for GH to go as a result of it.

We've improved the squad but so has every other team, we're still part-time and apart from Whalley we haven't signed anyone who is a 'league' player, maybe Logan in time. Why are people expecting us to be so high up? Were we supposed to trounce any team we've played apart from Stafford? We're scoring more goals and we've got a nice sized squad that will gel together in the next few games. I haven't been suprised by a single result yet. Everyone says we're competing in every game and a bit unlucky, so surely all we actually need is a clinical striker?

I would agree that O'Neill and Little won't keep us up though, they didn't last season. Senior and Berkley must get some chances and Logan, Potts and Whalley would be nice to see play together. The problem is that if we go all attacking get caught out and get walloped 5-0 it will set us back another 5 games, not what the squad needs. At least we're on the verge of confidence now.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions but I have to say that some of the things I read and type   on this forum are just nonsense. Expectations seem to be at an all time high when we've just been relegated and reprieved. Obviously we're all dissapointed and we expected a few more points but only 3 or 4, this negativity is beyond belief to me. Why do people find it so hard to be positive about our set-up and chances so early on?

[Jenga]

There's no way that certain sections of our support are realistic. We got relegated fair and square last season and nobody in their right mind would have called for GH to go as a result of it.

We've improved the squad but so has every other team, we're still part-time and apart from Whalley we haven't signed anyone who is a 'league' player, maybe Logan in time. Why are people expecting us to be so high up? Were we supposed to trounce any team we've played apart from Stafford? We're scoring more goals and we've got a nice sized squad that will gel together in the next few games. I haven't been suprised by a single result yet. Everyone says we're competing in every game and a bit unlucky, so surely all we actually need is a clinical striker?

I would agree that O'Neill and Little won't keep us up though, they didn't last season. Senior and Berkley must get some chances and Logan, Potts and Whalley would be nice to see play together. The problem is that if we go all attacking get caught out and get walloped 5-0 it will set us back another 5 games, not what the squad needs. At least we're on the verge of confidence now.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions but I have to say that some of the things I read and type   on this forum are just nonsense. Expectations seem to be at an all time high when we've just been relegated and reprieved. Obviously we're all dissapointed and we expected a few more points but only 3 or 4, this negativity is beyond belief to me. Why do people find it so hard to be positive about our set-up and chances so early on?

Agreed, it seems we are together on this one teasy.

It is nice to have ambition and our ambition this year is to finish 20th in the league and avoid relegation. Anything else is a bonus, I for one think that a bonus is however acheivable but I will gladly settle for 20th I have to.

[TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe]

Expectations seem to be at an all time high when we've just been relegated and reprieved. Obviously we're all dissapointed and we expected a few more points but only 3 or 4, this negativity is beyond belief to me. Why do people find it so hard to be positive about our set-up and chances so early on?

Possibly because we have seen the evidence with our own eyes.....and we haven't seen Alty win at Moss Lane since last March?!

Believe me, watching the last five minutes of the Oxford game hurt deeply.

[teasybeaver]

There's plenty of people who were at the game who are still positive cult so that repeat offender of not being there doesn't ring true to me this time.

I'm gutted for everyone who was there or at any Alty defeat. I've tasted it that many times I know how it feels. It doesn't really feel any different waiting like a pleb in front of soccer saturday to be honest. I still think the situation we are in now isn't all that bad whether i'm at the game or not. I agree with jenga et al on this one so whats your repost to them if they were there?

I'm not that stupid i can't differentiate between my experience and those who attend, however if I go off the people I trust and watch the match with week in week out for the past 10 years when they tell me how we played I think i'm capable of forming a worthwhile opinion.

If you insist on repeating this line of being at the games or not it will become rather tedious.

[TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe]

There's plenty of people who were at the game who are still positive cult so that repeat offender of not being there doesn't ring true to me this time.

I'm gutted for everyone who was there or at any Alty defeat. I've tasted it that many times I know how it feels. It doesn't really feel any different waiting like a pleb in front of soccer saturday to be honest. I still think the situation we are in now isn't all that bad whether i'm at the game or not. I agree with jenga et al on this one so whats your repost to them if they were there?

I'm not that stupid i can't differentiate between my experience and those who attend, however if I go off the people I trust and watch the match with week in week out for the past 10 years when they tell me how we played I think i'm capable of forming a worthwhile opinion.

If you insist on repeating this line of being at the games or not it will become rather tedious.

Glass half full or glass half empty? - Alty supporters come in all varieties.

You asked why there was negativity in the air and I merely pointed out that no home win since last March probably explains some of that.

In fact, come to think of it, no Alty win in our last 12 Conference matches probably explains it all!

After the midweek comeback at York City (which I was unable to attend but heard extremely encouraging reports about from reliable sources), I think that there was plenty of positivity amongst the Alty supporters (including me) prior to kick-off at the Oxford game....but I know that for quite a few people, this was eroded once they saw the starting XI.

I have stated elsewhere that we are playing well in patches and should have gained more points than we currently possess....but the evidence I have seen suggests that unless we enhance our attacking options (either via different formations of the current personnel or with the unlikely aid of a new recruit) and reduce the defensive errors that are plaguing us, then escaping from the relegation zone is going to prove rather difficult.   

Others will no doubt disagree!

[Mallorca Alty]

Jim Smith says" You can't bit a bit of bully."