To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Worthy4England » Sun Mar 13, 2022 10:04 am

LeverEnd wrote:
Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:15 pm
I genuinely thought we were 50-50 to go down at one point, so 10th-11th is a decent result and I'll think that's where we'll end up now the wheels have come off a bit.
We're not mathematically safe yet! :-)

I also think it's way too early talking about next season like it's "job done" as DSB pointed out our results against the teams above us haven't been stellar. And when you 11th, there's a lot of 'em.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by officer_dibble » Sun Mar 13, 2022 10:12 am

Yep, we’ve dealt with Ipswich, Oxford and Sunderland at home. Everyone else has beaten us. I think Wigan and MK will join Rotherham so that’s still a lot of teams who will fancy finishing above us next season. I don’t think there’s a player out there for us that can’t be improved on. Thankfully it’s not a massive rebuild job.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Sun Mar 13, 2022 10:18 am

Talk of flat-track bullying and while that's not entirely true in either direction - we've recently scored thrice at the fourth-placed team and whacked six past the fifth-placers, not to mention getting done 3-0 at Fleetwood and scraping two draws against Morecambe - there is clearly a season-defining pattern in our results:
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Against the current top-eight teams we've Pl 14, W3 D1 L10 (0.92 ppg), F15, A25.

Diving a little deeper, 14 of our 15 goals came in four games (Sunderland & McDons H, Oxford x2). Nine times in 14 we've scored zero; only once have we managed our own clean sheet.

Back when autumn slid into winter, we all worried about the defence and many of us worried about the attack too. Obviously some of these results are legacy from that earlier squad but we've now had defeats to nil against both McDons and Plymouth.

None of which means baby should be defenestrated with bathwater. Clearly what we've been doing has been enough to establish us in upper midtable. But we need now to examine how to kick on. It might be a formational switch, especially against the better sides; it should certainly involve some tightening up on the training field; I suspect it might also take a fresh face or two in defence.

Interesting summer coming up, and before it a couple of games (v Sheff Wed and Wigan) that I sincerely hope I don't have to watch between my fingers. Our manager's still learning; let's hope he continues to do so.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Mar » Sun Mar 13, 2022 11:24 am

Dave Sutton's barnet wrote:
Sun Mar 13, 2022 10:18 am
None of which means baby should be defenestrated with bathwater. Clearly what we've been doing has been enough to establish us in upper midtable. But we need now to examine how to kick on. It might be a formational switch, especially against the better sides; it should certainly involve some tightening up on the training field; I suspect it might also take a fresh face or two in defence.

Interesting summer coming up, and before it a couple of games (v Sheff Wed and Wigan) that I sincerely hope I don't have to watch between my fingers. Our manager's still learning; let's hope he continues to do so.
In those games we've had guilt edged chances go missing and its not all down to one player but several. I think Evatt can have cause for frustration here as we've had mistakes up top and at the back. We could afford one but not both of those and whilst I don't think its down to tactics the form against the top sides would clearly suggest there is a cause for concern.

Since January, good wins against the top sides in Sunderland and Ipswich but faltering against Plymouth and MKDons.

Slipping up on the odd occassion, ala Burton, is to be expected but that month but October to mid January really did a number on our aspirations.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Worthy4England » Sun Mar 13, 2022 11:44 am

I reckon the biggest month that did a number on us was October. When you look at Oct -Jan in League, November wasn't too bad W2, D1, L1 and the loss was to Wycome away (which you might have had on your coupon if everyone was fit.

Clearly everything was tough for the 2 games in Dec and with any aspirations you'd hope to win both (notwithstanding that you have to go all the way to the bottom 3 to find a team that's lost more aways than us)

But October, we were full strength for a lot of it and it just showed us really that the squad needed change.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Worthy4England » Sun Mar 13, 2022 11:59 am

Sept wasn't brill either W2 D1 L2. I guess overall, pre-season I went for 8-12th as being realistic (and not unhappy). Anything above that would have been a bonus.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Mar » Sun Mar 13, 2022 12:29 pm

Worthy4England wrote:
Sun Mar 13, 2022 11:59 am
Sept wasn't brill either W2 D1 L2. I guess overall, pre-season I went for 8-12th as being realistic (and not unhappy). Anything above that would have been a bonus.
For a newly promoted side, September seems a good month to me with Rotherham, Ipswich, Charlton and Sunderland to play. For us to get promoted we needed to be beaten three of those and not slipping up against Burton but thats what happened.

0-0 draw at home to Burton
2-5 win away at Ipswich
0-2 loss at Rotherham
1-0 loss away at Sunderland
1-4 win away at Charlton

DWLLW

Sunderland were one of the favourites going well at that time. Thats a tough set of fixtures, even Burton parking the bus is more of a challenge than it looks and we've not done well against those teams all season. The idea of getting Dad Bod looks to give us that extra option to break down the likes of those parking the bus and it seems to be working (come back vs Morecambe for example albeit too late).

Finishing anything other than midtable this season would've been a bonus anyway. Perhaps the biggest disappointment is going out to Hartlepool in the cup. Might've been tempted to say Stockport but they've won 15 of the last 16 games so that doesn't seem that disastrous anymore. I think the FLT could've really given us a chance at some silverware and Wembley and to go out in the manner we did was just awful.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Worthy4England » Sun Mar 13, 2022 12:42 pm

Yeah, I'm just saying that Sept/Oct were probably a better "benchmark" on where we were really at (rather than Nov/Dec where we could say with some justification the squad was non-existant (for this level). September wasn't brilliant you wouldn't say off those results we were the best footballing side in the Division :-). It was OK.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Sun Mar 13, 2022 1:14 pm

Mar wrote:
Sun Mar 13, 2022 12:29 pm
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is going out to Hartlepool in the cup. Might've been tempted to say Stockport but they've won 15 of the last 16 games so that doesn't seem that disastrous anymore. I think the FLT could've really given us a chance at some silverware and Wembley and to go out in the manner we did was just awful.
Interesting now to think that Hartlepool reached the semi and were only knocked out by Rotherham – on penalties.

Also interesting to think that's the Hartlepool side that had been promoted by yer man Challinor before he switched to Stockport.

Further interesting to wonder what might have happened if that game had been played a week or a fortnight later. At that point, early in January, we were still playing the back-four system that hadn't worked in a while; after one more game with a back four we switched systems (and goalkeepers) and won four on the bounce without conceding.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Prufrock » Sun Mar 13, 2022 1:28 pm

We still didn't have a midfield either which unsurprisingly I still maintain has been the biggest factor in the turnaround.
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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by Mar » Sun Mar 13, 2022 2:38 pm

Worthy4England wrote:
Sun Mar 13, 2022 12:42 pm
Yeah, I'm just saying that Sept/Oct were probably a better "benchmark" on where we were really at (rather than Nov/Dec where we could say with some justification the squad was non-existant (for this level). September wasn't brilliant you wouldn't say off those results we were the best footballing side in the Division :-). It was OK.
Definitely. There was a clear indication of which areas we were short in and which areas cover or improving. I think the form of Dapo certainly paved over a few cracks, notably in Doyles drop in form but I don't think anyone could say it was sustainable. The fact we struggled with injuries after that was a big indicator of where we needed extra bodies.

Dave Sutton's barnet wrote:
Sun Mar 13, 2022 1:14 pm
Mar wrote:
Sun Mar 13, 2022 12:29 pm
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is going out to Hartlepool in the cup. Might've been tempted to say Stockport but they've won 15 of the last 16 games so that doesn't seem that disastrous anymore. I think the FLT could've really given us a chance at some silverware and Wembley and to go out in the manner we did was just awful.
Interesting now to think that Hartlepool reached the semi and were only knocked out by Rotherham – on penalties.

Also interesting to think that's the Hartlepool side that had been promoted by yer man Challinor before he switched to Stockport.

Further interesting to wonder what might have happened if that game had been played a week or a fortnight later. At that point, early in January, we were still playing the back-four system that hadn't worked in a while; after one more game with a back four we switched systems (and goalkeepers) and won four on the bounce without conceding.

Would've definitely benefitted from the extra delay with the new bodies coming in but by the same token we might've been using that as a reason to get more bodies in.

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Re: To be a Pilgrim..Home v Plymouth Sat 12th March. 3-0'clock.

Post by TANGODANCER » Sun Mar 13, 2022 3:12 pm

"In Plymouth town there lived a maid, mark well what I do say..."

Before putting this one to bed, it'll be a bit hard to forget that the Pilgrims and Shrimps, the two that finally ended the promotion dream, could..and should, have been two we added six points from instead of just one. . Of all the words we use to describe failings, "consistency" or lack of it, must be the relevant villain of description. If we could turn back time,....ah, we can't, just wishful thinking.

In the main, you don't actually lose what you never have at football,like other sports, you just get left behind in the scramble. "Also-ran" is the racing term that describes those who don't win but take part; the majority of contestants in fact, but taking part in leagues is a constant reminder of where you stand and what you can actually lose. In that, we're just one of the hopeful also -rans right now. At least, on the hopeful side, we've come a fair way from where we were not too long ago and hope springs eternal. In the immortal words of our manager, "I'm possible" can also mean not exactly what it says....or summat.. :D

"In Plymouth town there lived a maid and she was mistress of her trade, I'll go no more a-roving with you fair maid..." (he strums his lute and disappears over yonder hill...)

Onwards.. :D
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