Cheltenham Town v Portsmouth

[Jon Palmer]

Team news, live updates and reaction all here this afternoon: https://bit.ly/PompeyH

[Shade]

Left side is letting us down. Williams and Perry not in it attacking or defence. Overall, some good, some bad. Definitely not out of it. Until Portsmouth bring on 5 fresh first teamers, of course.

Portsmouth fans are a disgrace. The irony in them repeatedly calling Nlundulu a scummer...

[Shade]

Also what's with the ref blowing for half time with no stoppage time the moment the ball was headed out of their area? If nothing else he should have added the mandatory 2 minutes for the rehydration break!!!

[Alf]

Who is supposed to be running our back four? Nobody by the look of things.
Freestone doesn’t seem capable of marking successfully and the rest are just a shambles
Have we not worked out that their keeper is 6’ 7” and high crosses won’t be a challenge for him?
Surely we’d stand a better chance working it in on the ground?
I know we’re only three league games into the season but we appear to be struggling in the vital areas.

[Horteng]

Very flat all around.......

[art vandalay]

I thought Portsmouth looked pretty decent and we were disappointing. We look like a team that will probably concede and then will struggle to come back from it. Apart from the first half against Peterborough we simply haven’t played with the kind of conviction we showed last season.

Impressed with Caleb Taylor who should improve the centre of defence although a bit of a mix up leading to the first goal. Sercs had a good game and Ferry looks competitive. Not convinced by the keeper though.

The next three games are all ones where you’d think we “should” be competitive, so I expect we’ll have a better idea of where we stand then.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

I thought Portsmouth looked pretty decent and we were disappointing. We look like a team that will probably concede and then will struggle to come back from it. Apart from the first half against Peterborough we simply haven’t played with the kind of conviction we showed last season.

Impressed with Caleb Taylor who should improve the centre of defence although a bit of a mix up leading to the first goal. Sercs had a good game and Ferry looks competitive. Not convinced by the keeper though.

The next three games are all ones where you’d think we “should” be competitive, so I expect we’ll have a better idea of where we stand then.

Fair conclusion. Tough opening fixtures, each individually we would expect to lose.

Now we are facing teams likely to be in our own mini league in the bottom 10. Nine points would be perfect obviously, seven would show we probably have enough than four other teams. Five the minimum to avoid looking like Crewe or Doncaster last season.

[Shade]

Thought Ferry did a lot more than Williams when he came on.

Thought Norton looked sharper.

Thought Freestone was our best defender of the 5 that started - don't think the first goal was his man that was free but not sure.

Thought Long was too quiet for a captain when the troops needed rallying.

Thought Alfie was below par and a couple of key passes that could have set us up nicely on the attack were poor.

Thought we still dither too much on the ball but was happy to see Southwood decide in the first two minutes to go long with a goal kick.

Thought two moments of brain fade was the only real difference between the sides, although they did obviously look more dangerous when they attacked.

Thought the boos from our own fans at full time were a disgrace.

[robinsrule]

That’s 13 conceded without reply and, whilst not quite yet time to panic, it is a worrying start. There have many examples of teams who have a wretched start then climb the table, but they are often big teams like Ipswich last season who you know are in a false position and have the support and money to get out of it. Let’s see what happens over the next few games. The only silver lining as I write is that I don’t support Man U

[Robin]

Trying to pick the bones out of that, here goes:
1. Southwood has conceeded thirteen goals in three games and I can only think of him saving one or two shots in total.
2. I respect and admire the defence for trying to play out but neither Freestone or Long can really do it well which often means a punt up field and the ball coming back to us.
3. Neither Perry or Bonds did enough in midfield. We need to the ball to stick in there when playing out from the back. Oh what we would do for someone like Marlon Pack right now.
4. We are not playing to Alfie May's strengths and N'Lundulu runs out of steam around the hour mark yet we have nobody to bring on to replace either of them.
5. George Lloyd is simply not good enough up top and even worse at right wing back. That was such a baffling substitution and on a few occasions we were lumping up to Lloyd on the wing to try and win headers.
6. Adshead and Ferry came on and both made a positive impression indicating that they can be assets for this club.
7. Pompey are a decent side, well organised, big, strong and comfortable with the ball I can see them being right up there this season.
8. Will be interesting to see which players are on their way out. Barkers, Ebanks and Horton out on loan, Hutchinson going permanently all appear nailed on but will Raglan or Brown go out too?
9. Caleb Taylor looks good and was easilly out best player today.
10. There is a fair amount of people already questioning Wade Elliott as manager. If positive results don't come it will soon spill over with the team being widely booed at the end.

[Anteros]

ignoring the cup game, we have been very competitive in the first 3 league games, against very good teams.

keep the faith and we will be ok

[robinsrule]

Being competitive is not enough though. You can lose every game by the odd goal and you will still go down. Struggling teams concede lots and don’t score many. That is exactly us at the moment.

[slinky_dog]

Thought the boos from our own fans at full time were a disgrace.

Agreed re the booing. A section of fans are so fickle.

I recall a game near the end of last season where there was a lot of booing mid-game. Think it was Wimbledon. We played terribly, but for me that is when Duff realised he needed to leave on a relative high. Interestingly Shane Duff even referred to that moment in one of the reviews when Duff had left.

I am realistic enough to know that at some point we will see league 2 again. Perhaps very soon. The club has got a great balance sheet and a good back room team. Great foundations. I hope a section of supporters don’t encourage panic and pressure to the Board.

Last time we saw relegation, we did it in such a disastrous and reactive way, that it was almost curtains.

[Ihearye]

Trying to pick the bones out of that, here goes:
1. Southwood has conceeded thirteen goals in three games and I can only think of him saving one or two shots in total.
2. I respect and admire the defence for trying to play out but neither Freestone or Long can really do it well which often means a punt up field and the ball coming back to us.
3. Neither Perry or Bonds did enough in midfield. We need to the ball to stick in there when playing out from the back. Oh what we would do for someone like Marlon Pack right now.
4. We are not playing to Alfie May's strengths and N'Lundulu runs out of steam around the hour mark yet we have nobody to bring on to replace either of them.
5. George Lloyd is simply not good enough up top and even worse at right wing back. That was such a baffling substitution and on a few occasions we were lumping up to Lloyd on the wing to try and win headers.
6. Adshead and Ferry came on and both made a positive impression indicating that they can be assets for this club.
7. Pompey are a decent side, well organised, big, strong and comfortable with the ball I can see them being right up there this season.
8. Will be interesting to see which players are on their way out. Barkers, Ebanks and Horton out on loan, Hutchinson going permanently all appear nailed on but will Raglan or Brown go out too?
9. Caleb Taylor looks good and was easilly out best player today.
10. There is a fair amount of people already questioning Wade Elliott as manager. If positive results don't come it will soon spill over with the team being widely booed at the end.

Agree about Ferry and Adshead . The starting 11 were below average, however it was a very hot day. They were just better than us on every man for man comparison.

[Ihearye]

ignoring the cup game, we have been very competitive in the first 3 league games, against very good teams.

keep the faith and we will be ok

I don't believe we were competitive today. May be wrong, but only 1 shot on goal ? A good team beat us

[Sprout Picker]

Thought the boos from our own fans at full time were a disgrace.

Agreed re the booing. A section of fans are so fickle.

I recall a game near the end of last season where there was a lot of booing mid-game. Think it was Wimbledon. We played terribly, but for me that is when Duff realised he needed to leave on a relative high. Interestingly Shane Duff even referred to that moment in one of the reviews when Duff had left.

I am realistic enough to know that at some point we will see league 2 again. Perhaps very soon. The club has got a great balance sheet and a good back room team. Great foundations. I hope a section of supporters don’t encourage panic and pressure to the Board.

Last time we saw relegation, we did it in such a disastrous and reactive way, that it was almost curtains.

I’ve thought exactly the same regarding MD ever since that moment. I can imagine that he would have been really hacked off at that - low-wage players who’d not only won League 2 but were comfortably holding their own in League 1 being turned on by their own ‘supporters’ because we were trailing at home.

[Robin]

ignoring the cup game, we have been very competitive in the first 3 league games, against very good teams.

keep the faith and we will be ok

I don't believe we were competitive today. May be wrong, but only 1 shot on goal ? A good team beat us

3 shots on goal from what I recall in the last ten minutes alone, several half chances in the first half too. I do agree though that we didn't work Griffiths really with any of those efforts and were beaten by a good team.

[Malabus]

SHAMBLES - NO DEFENCE OR MIDFIELD.

[Warwickshire Robin]

Thought Ferry did a lot more than Williams when he came on.

Thought Norton looked sharper.

Thought Freestone was our best defender of the 5 that started - don't think the first goal was his man that was free but not sure.

Thought Long was too quiet for a captain when the troops needed rallying.

Thought Alfie was below par and a couple of key passes that could have set us up nicely on the attack were poor.

Thought we still dither too much on the ball but was happy to see Southwood decide in the first two minutes to go long with a goal kick.

Thought two moments of brain fade was the only real difference between the sides, although they did obviously look more dangerous when they attacked.

Thought the boos from our own fans at full time were a disgrace.

Couldn't have written it better myself Shade! Agree with all of that

I am though worried about the keeper, not impressing me so far, his choice of when to come off his line and when to stay havent been great from where I stand.

Very disappointed by the booing at end. Next three games crucial in showing what we can truly expect from the rest of the season.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Being competitive is not enough though. You can lose every game by the odd goal and you will still go down. Struggling teams concede lots and don’t score many. That is exactly us at the moment.

At least wait until we play teams who we will be battling with in the bottom ten. If we are ‘competitive’ against promotion chasers then surely that bodes well for when we play teams at our level

[Ihearye]

Being competitive is not enough though. You can lose every game by the odd goal and you will still go down. Struggling teams concede lots and don’t score many. That is exactly us at
At least wait until we play teams who we will be battling with in the bottom ten. If we are ‘competitive’ against promotion chasers then surely that bodes well for when we play teams at our level

It depends if you define competitive as chasing shadows for large parts of the game. Early yet but based on last season's competition
We will struggle without a good deal of improvement.

[andgarod]

I am though worried about the keeper, not impressing me so far, his choice of when to come off his line and when to stay havent been great from where I stand.

Perhaps a loss of confidence after conceding 7 on Tuesday

Poor communications

And no goal keeping coach

Its alright them watching the replays but they need someone working with them in the week and on the bench during the game and I mean a former pro with coaching badges
All the keepers need to be coached

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

At least wait until we play teams who we will be battling with in the bottom ten. If we are ‘competitive’ against promotion chasers then surely that bodes well for when we play teams at our level

It depends if you define competitive as chasing shadows for large parts of the game. Early yet but based on last season's competition
We will struggle without a good deal of improvement.

I would say we have been more in games and closer to getting something than the 5-0 at Sunderland, 2-0 at Wigan, 2-0 at Rotherham etc when we had that mini run of three defeats against promotion chasers. Which also include an easy league cup defeat in the middle.

The three defeats so far in the league might be a sign we are undercooked and destined to go down with a whimper. Or the glimpses we have shown in a team which is still gelling in new players might be a sign that we will have enough to beat those around us and finish 20th or higher. We don’t know, that’s the beauty of sport and I am looking forward to see how it pans out.

[Jerry St Clair]

Agreed re the booing. A section of fans are so fickle.

I recall a game near the end of last season where there was a lot of booing mid-game. Think it was Wimbledon. We played terribly, but for me that is when Duff realised he needed to leave on a relative high. Interestingly Shane Duff even referred to that moment in one of the reviews when Duff had left.

Yes, it was Wimbledon and Duff was obviously very narked by it. Mentioned it without any prompt from JP:

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/s ... ng-6832191


You made hard work of it though.

We weren’t brilliant. I thought we didn’t move the ball. I thought it was quite interesting with about 20 minutes to go, our fans start booing us for keeping the ball, which I disagree with because that five minute spell managed to get them really deep into their half and from that moment they never got out. We got on the front foot and managed to build a bit of momentum, which won us the game eventually. We need to be careful because we are a little club in this league and we can’t be disrespecting opposition. We are trying to keep the ball and play football so I wasn’t sure about that.


Does that showwhere the expectations are now?

Yes, but there needs to be a realism within the expectation. We have the 23 rd biggest budget in the league. We try and play the right way and that’s what we were trying to do. First half, I’d have played that type of football, but we couldn’t get the players to do it. You have bad days.

[Ihearye]

Agreed re the booing. A section of fans are so fickle.

I recall a game near the end of last season where there was a lot of booing mid-game. Think it was Wimbledon. We played terribly, but for me that is when Duff realised he needed to leave on a relative high. Interestingly Shane Duff even referred to that moment in one of the reviews when Duff had left.

Yes, it was Wimbledon and Duff was obviously very narked by it. Mentioned it without any prompt from JP:

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/s ... ng-6832191


You made hard work of it though.

We weren’t brilliant. I thought we didn’t move the ball. I thought it was quite interesting with about 20 minutes to go, our fans start booing us for keeping the ball, which I disagree with because that five minute spell managed to get them really deep into their half and from that moment they never got out. We got on the front foot and managed to build a bit of momentum, which won us the game eventually. We need to be careful because we are a little club in this league and we can’t be disrespecting opposition. We are trying to keep the ball and play football so I wasn’t sure about that.


Does that showwhere the expectations are now?

Yes, but there needs to be a realism within the expectation. We have the 23 rd biggest budget in the league. We try and play the right way and that’s what we were trying to do. First half, I’d have played that type of football, but we couldn’t get the players to do it. You have bad days.

There was some real nutjob with anger issues in the CF yesterday (must be around J40), who was on his feet telling Williams how bad he was. He needs to watch his heart rate in this heat!!

[Broadway Brian]

Being competitive is not enough though. You can lose every game by the odd goal and you will still go down. Struggling teams concede lots and don’t score many. That is exactly us at the moment.

At least wait until we play teams who we will be battling with in the bottom ten. If we are ‘competitive’ against promotion chasers then surely that bodes well for when we play teams at our level

Keep hearing this and disagree. If our confidence is on the floor then we aren’t entering the games against the teams around us on an equal footing, and those games take on more pressure.

To be nonchalant about losing games against promotion chasers based on us making up the points against the lower teams is nonsense.

[robinsrule]

BroadwayBrian, I 100% agree with you. I am not saying that we are doomed but we need a positive result soon. The more we struggle the more it looks like Duff performed absolute miracles last season.

We have always struggled at this level and even last season there was plenty of talk of us being dragged into the relegation mix. We took plenty of hammerings but always managed to pull out the odd good result when necessary. I’m not sure this squad has the same ability to do that but I am praying that I will be proven wrong.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Being competitive is not enough though. You can lose every game by the odd goal and you will still go down. Struggling teams concede lots and don’t score many. That is exactly us at the moment.

At least wait until we play teams who we will be battling with in the bottom ten. If we are ‘competitive’ against promotion chasers then surely that bodes well for when we play teams at our level

Keep hearing this and disagree. If our confidence is on the floor then we aren’t entering the games against the teams around us on an equal footing, and those games take on more pressure.

To be nonchalant about losing games against promotion chasers based on us making up the points against the lower teams is nonsense.

I am not nonchalant and of course Wade has a task to make sure the players are positive and confident, and the players have to be brave too. Fans can play a role in that.

[Shade]

In terms of the league, the fixtures haven't been kind. All of the first 3 games, on paper, neutrals would have us losing. Obviously, Tuesday night is huge in terms of placating some of the fanbase but do the players and managers need that pressure already, or a bit of understanding? And maybe we should all remember Duff's first 10 games in charge.

[London Exile]

I’m pretty sure that there were a good few calling for Duff to go after no wins in his first 10. Thankfully things clicked and the rest was history.

Not seen a single minute so far this season so can’t comment on performances but seeing a lot of ‘Wade was the cheap option’ and even some calls for him and players to be bombed out ASAP. It’s almost as if some supporters want us to fail so they can have a good moan.
Irrespective of not seeing these games, I think 3 games is far too early to be calling for Wade to go.

Looking at some of our signings it seems like we’ve gone down the route of players with potential in the likes of Ferry and Adshead but could do with a little bit more experience. Hopefully the irons in fires we have will be that little bit of experience we’ve lost. The season being underway might just mean player wage demands have dropped and hopefully we’ll land on 1 or 2 that give us what we are missing.

Keep the faith

[plymrob]

Turning out last Tuesday might have helped too...

[Benctfc]

As disappointing as this start has been it is crazy to be calling for Wade to go. Worth looking back at the two goals conceded on Saturday. The first we left a man unmarked at the back post twice with no player writhin 10 yards of him. The second a silly challenge from an experienced defender. Not much the manager can do about that. The players need to take some responsibility.

The worrying thing for me would be how sluggish we have looked as games have gone on. I think we can all admit teams will have more quality than us in this league but as Duff always emphasised we need to be better at the basics than them. Whether that be winning second balls, Being organised or fitness something other than Peterbrough first half we havent been doing. If we cant get the basics right we will be in for a long season. It always dangerous to write off games against the better teams as it will mount pressure onto games like tomorrow night. We all need to get behind Elliott and give him a fair chance as getting on the backs of him and players is not going to help anyone. Give him until the end of September and then reassess.

[robinsrule]

All sensible replies and I can’t argue with any of them. I certainly am not calling for the manager’s head either, far too early for that, hopefully we’ll get some points on the board soon and start looking upwards.

[Shade]

Picking up on Ben's point about looking sluggish in the latter stages, it should be cooler tomorrow evening, which hopefully will mean the lads will have more energy late on, assuming they have recovered fully from Saturday's efforts. I've said it before, but when it's 30-35C, the clubs we have been playing can afford 16+ first team players and 5 subs are allowed, we are at another disadvantage to the big clubs.

Obviously, I'm not including the Exeter aberration in that, but it does prove we probably don't have 16+ first team players like the clubs we have faced in the league so far.

[paperboy]

Picking up on Ben's point about looking sluggish in the latter stages, it should be cooler tomorrow evening, which hopefully will mean the lads will have more energy late on, assuming they have recovered fully from Saturday's efforts. I've said it before, but when it's 30-35C, the clubs we have been playing can afford 16+ first team players and 5 subs are allowed, we are at another disadvantage to the big clubs.

Obviously, I'm not including the Exeter aberration in that, but it does prove we probably don't have 16+ first team players like the clubs we have faced in the league so far.

We will start picking up points once we start
playing teams in "our division", but we urgently need back up strikers. We've got nobody to come off the bench that anyone has confidence can get us a goal.
Ebanks, Lloyd, Brown all show fleeting moments, but nothing more.
Start praying that Norton or the loan striker we're waiting for come good.
I'm thinking that the permanent midfielder that's been talked about for weeks must be Ryan Broom.