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Rather disappointed with that.
We struggled to create anything at all really. Thought Oldham were the better team, not by a long way but a bit quicker to the ball and better passing.
Goodwin looks a good signing if we can get the support and right ball to him. He has a bit of a confident swagger about him too, can see him playing much higher.
Thought Ryan Hansen had a good game too especially second half and McGavin
did well.
We have to raise the level a fair bit from today though.

Such a disappointing start to the league campaign. First, the positives - Goodwin was a real handful for the Oldham defence and showed great potential although he should have scored rather than hitting the bar. Moxey was as steady as ever and was the steadying influence in a defence which continues to give encouragement for oppositions. And Halstead made some tidy saves. The new winger looks to have something in him too. After them it is difficult to find any real quality elsewhere although Andrews did well before his injury. Our midfield looks very one-paced and even out-of-condition. Both McGavin and Hansen were blowing well before the end although it was a hot old day. The injuries have mounted up quickly and we may well be without three more players for the next game. We had five attempts in the first half, two on target but only one in the entire second half and that one off-target. At times in the second period it was one-way traffic until the sending-off evened things up. And then later we came under the cosh again when we had to face 10 with 10 and were fortunate that their substitute striker dragged a shot wide when a goal looked certain. I remain optimistic though that our recruitment has been a big improvement on last term and that we will start to gel again as the players get more used to working with each other.

Or you could say that we have one fit striker left in Goodwin. Jarvis is rumoured to be out for sometime and if Andrews has a hip injury that isnt likely to clear up anytime soon. Missed the first quarter of an hour but listened to the rest of the game - it didnt sound as though we created anything to be honest.

Maybe it’s time, especially with injuries to switch to 4-3-3? 3 at the back works well if your wing backs are flying, however the opposite happened and we were flat at got overrun in the middle of the park.

Still, it’s a point better than last season and a clean sheet. Hopefully Halstead’s confidence will be building with that too, nice to hear the applause when he made a couple of good claims, and one good stop.

Admiral wrote: ↑07 Aug 2022, 07:42 Maybe it’s time, especially with injuries to switch to 4-3-3? 3 at the back works well if your wing backs are flying, however the opposite happened and we were flat at got overrun in the middle of the park.

Still, it’s a point better than last season and a clean sheet. Hopefully Halstead’s confidence will be building with that too, nice to hear the applause when he made a couple of good claims, and one good stop.

Agree about the formation. If you play 3-5-2 the wing backs have to provide an attacking threat. I can’t remember either of ours getting into decent attacking positions, mainly because we went long at every opportunity. I do think Goodwin looks a decent player though so if we can give him decent service there are goals there.

First league game with such a different squad, so happy with that point, but not with the way we played in continually looking to go long, hence not much created in spite of the width which should come with a 3-5-2 formation. We hardly used the left wing back, the midfield dwelled on the ball and were caught in possession, our throws-in were slow and predictable, and usually not to feet; our zonal defence at set-pieces left us sitting too deeply and leaving opposition unmarked on the edge of our penalty area.
Oldham on the other hand were lively in midfield and upfront with passing and movement off the ball, and should have won the game comfortably.
Goodwin looked a cut above, but needs some decent service rather than having to always jump for the ball; he won a lot in the air, but we were rarely on the end of the hopeful flick-on, so more positional play and support needed if we are to be a long-ball rather than passing team.

Sadly I feel we are short of a first choice center back, I love Ali Omar but strongly feel he is a squad / bench player. Fingers crossed the goals will come.

Why did we play the last 5 minutes or so with only 10 men when Ali Omar went off injured and was not substituted
Does that mean the unused subs were not fit?

kerswellgull wrote: ↑07 Aug 2022, 16:13 Why did we play the last 5 minutes or so with only 10 men when Ali Omar went off injured and was not substituted
Does that mean the unused subs were not fit?

Three subs already used.

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