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...underwent ankle surgery yesterday.

Hopefully back for the start of the new season I guess.

Gutted but best wishes for his recovery - huge loss.

Quote from: TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe on March 24, 2024, 07:28:21 PM

Aside from the opening 30 minutes or so, I thought that Gateshead were the better team and ultimately deserved their victory.

We really struggled to get going in that second half and our defending was well below its customary standard this season. Two uncharacteristically poor headers by Jake Cooper which teed up their second and third goals.

Superb strike from Dan Mooney, but their debutant in goal largely had very little to do. The introduction of Linney for Kosylo came far too late, to my mind.

What troubles me is that Gateshead exhibited far more facets to their game overall. Yes, we are fully aware that they can play it out from the back and always have good technical players in midfield who can pass the ball around nicely, but they were also not afraid to be more direct (as demonstrated by their first goal).

We rarely take the opportunity to put a speculative cross into the opposition penalty area, after which we might profit from a defensive error. I can't help but feel that on too many occasions we overelaborate and appear to be on a mystical quest to score the 'perfect' goal.

Ironically, Alex Newby's goal did result from an enforced 'route one' punt from Ethan Ross, which their defender duly made a complete hash of.

I thought that the booing of Dinanga when he was being substituted was rather uncalled for. If he scores the winning goal for Gateshead in their forthcoming FA Trophy Semi-Final against Macc, I will consider crowdfunding for a statue of him to be erected on George Street.

The booing was embarrassing......do not recall him slagging us off after he left the club (unless someone can remind me)...... do not remember him being lazy or half arsed either.....think his crime might be that he is much improved at another club and may well be playing in a Trophy Final soon

I don't condone the booing at all - some might argue it's part of the pantomime, but given he got a fair bit of stick when he was here it doesn't sit well with me at all.

He didn't exactly force the move - most of us were pleased to get a fee for him - and I still maintain the move was best for all parties, it just wasn't going to work properly here for him.

Personally, on a human level, I'm pleased he's done well.

I don't think we should drop Jake Cooper after one poor performance unless he's struggling for fitness.

We decided to over-react after the Aldershot game - and look where that got us. It'll be a one-off, he struggled with the conditions.

Lewis Banks back to right back for me, Justin Donawa should be considered as a forward option off the bench. Hancox at left back if Eddy is still unavailable.

The main rotation we should be considering is obviously Regan Linney - and I'd also be keen to give Dan Mooney a go from the start too.

If - and it's a BIG if - anyone moves on in the summer, the proceeds will help to push us to the next level - I'm confident of that.

We sold the player that had swept the board at last season's awards, and it hasn't affected us anywhere near as much as we thought it would at the time.

There are seven teams currently higher than us in this league, and they have achieved that without having Chris Conn-Clarke in their side.

Given that there's always plenty of free agents around, it'll probably help us to add 10-20% on top of the wages we can offer, which might make the difference.

Of course if there's a legitimate way to keep CCC (and others) that would obviously be everyone's first choice - but life does go on.

I recall there were plenty around these parts that couldn't fathom why we'd just sold John Johnston to a promotion rival.

New heroes come along.

Quote from: robininstockport on March 23, 2024, 06:32:12 PM

good for 30 mins poor for 60.

whoever thinks donawa should start over banks needs a new hobby

wherever we finish will be an improvement on last season.

don't fancy a wednesday night in barnet tbh

Thought Banks had a stinker second half mate. Was beat time after time, but he was on his weaker side. Hancox can play left back, might have been a better option today.

You've just made an excellent point that completely passed me by... why wasn't Hancox started at left back?

I do scratch my head sometimes at how we seemingly decide not to take simple selection decisions, like starting our only centre forward.

Even without Regan Linney, Justin Amaluzor would have caused much more havoc in a swirling wind than CCC (before he was withdrawn), this stuff is simple.

Do we need more Kevin Hulme / Eddie Hussin / Val Owen types? - too many of our players weigh about 6 stone wet through and just lack a bit of calming presence.

Hopefully by the time we play Dorking and Kiddy they'll have run out of steam, and then there's the Wealdstone and Oxford home games.

Four wins should do it, but it certainly doesn't leave us much wiggle room - and we really need to avoid defeat against Oldham.

Quote from: Saughall Robin on March 20, 2024, 09:20:02 PM

And we're down to 7th.
We really need to win on Saturday don't we?

We definitely need to beat Gateshead and Oldham after tonight’s result.

Avoiding defeat is the first priority - I think we'll be OK as long as we do that.