How long must we wait before we can start wondering whether this team could really surprise us this season?
Maybe not after five games. But 10? 15? Who knows - but at the moment let's try not to get carried away, but just enjoy a refreshing start to the season which - come on, hand on heart - none of us really expected.
I will happily admit that I didn't and I am enjoying being proved wrong at the moment, and while the editor of Four Four Two magazine might not be sacking his League Two pundit just yet, it's nice to be at least preparing the recipe for some humble pie.
If we were called AFC Cheltenham Town, we could claim to be top of the league, but because Burton Albion come before us alphabetically, they get that pressure. For the moment at least...
Today's win over Hartlepool was, especially in the second half, as one-sided a 1-0 win as you could ever hope to see, and had we won by three or four, there could have been few complaints.
But we found the goal, from our modern-day Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer (or David Fairclough for those of us from an older vintage... kids, look him up on Google) Koby Arthur, and the irony was not lost on me that probably the smallest guy on the pitch scored with a fantastic header to win us the game.
Once again, it was credit to the manager and his staff for making the changes, and timing them in such a way as well to give them time enough to make that impact, but all over the pitch, we have players showing real commitment and work-rate.
They are being used in a system which they seem to understand, and which seems to be a good fit for the personnel we have. Overall, there seems to be a method and pattern to what we are trying to do that didn't seem evident last season.
I don't think I was alone in wondering about whether the loss of players like Scott Brown, Jamie Cureton and Jermaine McGlashan would have a big effect on our prospects, and whether the 'young and hungry' mantra would be a sensible way to go. Seems to be panning out okay so far.
Off the field, the manager seems refreshed and enthused - whether that is down the one-year (almost 'last chance') contract and the necessity for a good start, or whether Shaun North's arrival has helped to lift the standard of coaching and organisation is open to conjecture, Maybe a bit of both - but whatever it is, long may it continue.
There is also a Plan B, and even a Plan C - flexibility and options within the squad which is working so far.
And the feelgood factor is filtering through to the terraces - the crowd was 400 up on the Carlisle game with 100 or so less away fans - and the Wymans' resurrection in the Paddock has been another positive.
The noise in the ground and among the away support has lifted in encouragement and volume and this can only be helping the team.
Our biggest enemy today could have been complacency. This could have been viewed as one of those 'turn-up-and-win' afternoons which we have seen go wrong in the past.
But if a team cannot get confidence from a comeback result like the one last week at Tranmere, it's never going to happen and we were up and at it from the off.
I thought it was good management to start the same 11 which began the Tranmere game - I can understand the terrace clamour for Arthur to start, or for the loanee John Marquis to be thrown straight in, but it's a nice choice for the manager to have and I thought he made the right call.
Terry Gornell would have been the one whose place was seemingly most at risk from Marquis' arrival or Arthur's impact after his long goal drought, but once again, having been given the vote of confidence, his work-rate could not be questioned.
But once again he left the field after his hard-working hour with his famine going on, but again having done everything but score - and I was delighted to hear a really good ovation for him when he came off. He deserved it.
Once again, his shots were blocked or deflected, or he just delayed for that vital split-second. He hit the outside of the goal frame and had one cleared off the line. When it isn't going for you, it really isn't - but you wonder whether that might be his last chance for a while.
That is not only because Arthur is knocking on the door, but also because Marquis made a very good impact as his replacement.
His work ethic is equal to Terry's, with that willingness to run the channels, but he looks a bigger threat aerially, and also more of a 'target' player with more body strength to hold the ball up.
Like Terry, he was really unlucky not to score a couple of times, with the post and then the bar via a good save from Scott Flinders denying him, and there is no doubt that he looks a decent acquisition on this evidence.
Alongside them, until Arthur came on with 12 minutes to go, was Byron Harrison, and he again was a pain in the backside for the Hartlepool defence all afternoon.
He might not have been our most potent goal threat, but his control, touch, movement and hold-up play was excellent, and allowed Gornell and Marquis to flit around him to good effect.
It follows on from last week's display, where he had a direct hand in all three goals and drew praise from Rob Edwards, and any scouts from a club looking for a number nine would not fail to be impressed by him - and we have to hope they don't dip their toes in the water and I really hope the club are actively looking at trying to extend his contract.
We know these days that players have all the power and can bide their time over these things to take advantage of all the options, as we have seen from Brown and McGlashan amongst others in recent years, offered contracts and opting to exercise their right to go - but I do hope the club will start early with the attempts to keep Byron for longer.
Much of the service for that front pair came from Lee Vaughan and Craig Braham-Barrett, and there is no doubt that the latter has been the revelation of the season.
After being roundly castigated last term, he once again turned in an excellent performance backing up last week's 'Roberto Carlos' display at Tranmere, being a huge threat going forward and - possibly more importantly - rock-solid defensively when he had to be.
His delivery from the left-hand side was as good as it has been, some wicked balls crying out for a touch, and he was always available as an outlet - as was Vaughan on the other side.
I felt at times Vaughan's passing was disappointing, but that's a small grumble - he too was a threat and looked to be positive, getting into the final third whenever he could.
For Craig Braham-Barrett, also read Jason Taylor. Another player who wasn't flavour of the month with the fans, and seemingly the manager as well, but is answering any critics he might have in spades at the moment.
In the first half, he was right at the hub of everything, almost the heartbeat of the side as everything was going through him. Three or four times, he broke up the play with strong tackles, and then kept it simple - looking for either of the wing-backs, or one of his midfield colleagues, not wasting many passes.
Also, for a player who doesn't seem to be the greatest natural athlete, he wasn't shy to close down any Pool player in possession, and even though he wasn't as prominent after the break, his influence was still important.
Much is made of the much-vaunted 2011-12 midfield trio of Pack, Penn and Summerfield, and how well they knitted together. Now, I am not actively comparing them to what we have now - but we do have a decent little mix in there with Taylor, Matt Richards and Jordan Wynter.
There is the scrapper Taylor, the calming influence of Richards, who had another quietly effective game and has started the season very well, and the energy and box-to-box athleticism of Wynter.
Promising beginnings for those three, and with Joe Hanks' youthful enthusiasm and new-boy Asa Hall also keen to make an impact when he recovers from injury, we seem to have lots of options in there.
That leaves the back three, and they too, like the midfield, are knitting into a decent unit.
We know all about Steve Elliott's desire to run through brick walls, which shows little sign of abating.
Troy Brown looks a lot happier in a back three, and I thought today he was the pick of the trio, barely missing a header or a tackle all afternoon.
Matt Taylor definitely seems a top acquisition. No frills or fuss to his game, we know what we are going to get from him and he has done very little wrong in the five league games so far.
Today, the trio gave excellent protection to Trevor Carson, who had his quietest afternoon so far from the point of view of making saves, but was there when he had to be, patrolling his box with confidence once more and doing what he had to with the minimum of bother.
Marlon Harewood and Charlie Wyke were marshalled with little trouble, and that feeling that Hartlepool could pinch something as teams often do when being under the cosh so much was a really tiny worry.
Overall, our attitude was spot on. There was no complacency, and even when we got to those final stages, no panic, as the manager made the changes to personnel and system which deservedly paid off with Arthur's winner.
As it stands, we fully deserve to be unbeaten, and fully deserve to be where we are, and hopefully we can carry it on for as long as possible. Who would have thought that next Saturday's game at Morecambe would be a top-of-the-table clash...!
But, difficult as it is, I just feel we mustn't get carried away. We will lose eventually, and then we must not immediately go the other way and lose all the positivity which has been built up.
Marquis seems to be the last piece of the outfield jigsaw, with Bobby Gould's grandson Matt likely to win a contract as our back-up keeper.
As long as teams stay away from Byron in the next 48 hours, I don't see any other business before the end of the deadline - unless we try to turn the loans for Wynter and Marquis into longer-term, window-to-window agreements.
If I understand things correctly, the pair are on monthly deals which can only last a maximum of 93 days.
Therefore, these would end in late October/early November - another drawback of the short-term loan agreement.
We could yet find ourselves short again unless we get other loans in after that time until January, or extend these two before Monday night, while our new super-sub Arthur and Omari Sterling-James, whose impact today was not as great as last Saturday, are here until January at least.
But let's leave those worries about whether they will stay or go back for another day, and just try to enjoy it for a while.
After a season of disappointment and disharmony, it's nice to see smiles back on faces and a positive air about the place again. Feet on the ground yes, but there's no harm in also having some optimistic thoughts, is there...?
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Sunday, 24 August 2014
Comeback kings
MARK Yates started the season as a man under pressure, and with plenty of critics among the CTFC supporter base.
A one-year contract instead of the two years he was initially offered, a new management team shorn of his faithful right-hand man Neil Howarth, and a new-look team assembled on a smaller budget all added up to a man in the (nearly) last-chance saloon, and needing a good start to the season.
His critics say he is tactically poor, cannot react during games and find a Plan B when things are not working, and either leaves his substitutions until its too late or when he does make them, he gets them wrong.
Not today. Today he spotted his tactical problem quickly, rectified it to great effect, and made two substitutions which turned the result in our favour in an amazing way - and he deserves all the credit for a victory which will live long in the memory.
As expected, loanee Jordan Wynter for Joe Hanks was our only change, as we kept the 3-5-2 system which has worked well so far - but we didn't get out of the blocks well.
Tranmere settled the quicker, and with Eliot Richards finding a lot of space between our midfield and back three, it wasn't really a surprise when he put them ahead.
It was a goal reminiscent of those we conceded last season - he got the ball 30 yards out and we didn't get close to him or put in any sort of tackle as he went through too easily to score.
Our midfield was all at sea, and there was a lot of finger-pointing going on. Troy Brown got a booking, we were giving away lots of unnecessary free-kicks and really struggling - so, to his credit, the manager changed it straight away.
From a narrow midfield trio with Wynter just ahead of Jason Taylor and Matt Richards, we went to a flatter three with Richards left, Taylor central and Wynter right.
This was to combat Eliot Richards' impact and to stop Jason Koumas getting on the ball, and it certainly worked. Yates said he should have started with that system, after a report on Tranmere's win at Wycombe, and took the blame for the opening goal.
Jason Taylor took over from Eliot Richards as the game's focal figure. He was breaking things up, and then spraying passes left right and centre.
Mainly left in fact, and mainly out to Craig Braham-Barrett, who was wreaking havoc down the left hand side.
Yes - you read that right. Jason Taylor spraying passes, and Craig Braham-Barrett wreaking havoc. They couldn't handle him, and he gave Danny Woodards a torrid time.
Taylor was also playing passes into the left channel for Terry Gornell to run on to, and the man back at his former club showed once again that when your luck is out, it is really out.
He sent a cross inches ahead of Wynter, then fired in a shot which hit Owain fon Williams, and was cleared away. He got free in the box several times, but either a last-ditch block denied him, or the ball would just not sit properly for him to have a shot.
We won six corners in a half-hour spell between the Tranmere goals and how on earth we failed to at least equalise I will never know. Even though they were winning, the home fans were getting very restless.
Then, as so often happens, we got caught on the break when Marc Laird fired the second on the stroke of half-time.
It looked like it was going to be one of those days - make all the chances and fail to take them, but then it was enter the manager again with a half-time change.
Off came Steve Elliott, and on came Omari Sterling-James for his league debut, just in behind Harrison and Gornell in a 4-3-1-2 system.
Elliott, as the manager revealed post-match, had been ill (and not told Yates he wasn't feeling well) and was sick at half-time, so off he came.
Straight away, Omari was a breath of fresh air. No rabbit-in-the-headlights fear from him - he was positive from the off.
We carried off where we left off. Braham-Barrett's efforts got the hapless Woodards the hook - and his replacement Danny Holmes' first action was to get a booking for hauling him down.
But when Omari's diving header hit the post and somehow stayed out we may as well have packed up and gone home. We could have been there until Christmas and not scored.
It seemed that the missed Accrington penalty and Billy Paynter's not-offside offside goal was coming home to roost sooner than we thought.
Then it changed - and again it was Omari who sparked it with a shot from the edge of the box which the keeper should have done better with, and Matt Richards picked up the pieces to score.
Then, after Omari's impact, it was Koby Arthur's turn. He'd come on for Gornell, and took Harrison's flick-on to smash home the equaliser.
There was no thinking about it - he just took it in his stride, and whack - his first two league goals haven't been bad efforts, and we weren't finished there.
Harrison found Richards, and his fabulous cross was asking to be finished off, and Wynter - who grew into the game as it went on and had an excellent second half - did just that with a great finish.
Maybe I should change my views on bringing in inexperienced short-term stop-gap loans...!!
Tranmere were shellshocked, and having made a second change between our first and second goals to take Eliot Richards off for the more defensive-minded James Rowe, their manager Rob Edwards only had one more weapon.
That was Kayode Odejayi, who was ineffective as they went more direct, but we never looked like losing our lead, and we certainly didn't deserve to. Justice, eventually, had been done.
After a season when we lost 37 points from winning positions, and only earned seven coming from behind showing little resilience at times, this was fantastic to see.
Effort, commitment, resilience, backbone, will to win, perseverance. Things which were missing at times last season, but which were there in spades today.
We had 21 shots in total. TWENTY ONE. Last season, we'd have taken five or six games to have that many. And 12 of them were on target - so don't let anyone tell you we didn't deserve to win this game.
I've been racking my brains to think of many comebacks from 2-0 down to win a game in recent times - it happened at Burton of course, in the 6-5 special, when we were two down at half-time, but I can't remember many more, so that's how special this was.
(UPDATE - Thanks to Dave Nelson on Twitter for remembering that we were 2-0 down at Northampton in December 2012 and came back to win 3-2 with Darryl Duffy's winner, and also 3-1 down at home to Crawley last season in the Capital One Cup, winning 4-3 in extra time)
No wonder the manager said this was one of the best moments he has had in charge of the club - and his celebration of the second goal was brilliant to see.
Ten points out of 12 and third in the table, with a great feelgood factor around. Smiles have come back, and while I am not getting carried away with things, with results and performances like this it would be great to think they are here to stay.
With a free week, the manager wants to complete his transfer business with another forward and a back-up keeper - but Emile Sinclair won't be coming after turning us down - and he scored today for Northampton. Oh well. Your loss Emile.
We want people who want to play for our club, and who will show the enthusiasm and hunger to succeed and impress that we saw from Sterling-James and Arthur today - and people playing for the shirt with the commitment of people like Jason Taylor.
Hopefully Yates can find someone with those characteristics at the right price in the next week to complete the jigsaw and try to carry on the momentum.
My BBC Glos commentary of today's five goals here
Videos courtesy of hEaLeRCTFC
Omari's header which somehow stayed out here
Matt Richards' goal here
Jordan Wynter's goal here
Yates post match interview here
A one-year contract instead of the two years he was initially offered, a new management team shorn of his faithful right-hand man Neil Howarth, and a new-look team assembled on a smaller budget all added up to a man in the (nearly) last-chance saloon, and needing a good start to the season.
His critics say he is tactically poor, cannot react during games and find a Plan B when things are not working, and either leaves his substitutions until its too late or when he does make them, he gets them wrong.
Not today. Today he spotted his tactical problem quickly, rectified it to great effect, and made two substitutions which turned the result in our favour in an amazing way - and he deserves all the credit for a victory which will live long in the memory.
As expected, loanee Jordan Wynter for Joe Hanks was our only change, as we kept the 3-5-2 system which has worked well so far - but we didn't get out of the blocks well.
Tranmere settled the quicker, and with Eliot Richards finding a lot of space between our midfield and back three, it wasn't really a surprise when he put them ahead.
It was a goal reminiscent of those we conceded last season - he got the ball 30 yards out and we didn't get close to him or put in any sort of tackle as he went through too easily to score.
Our midfield was all at sea, and there was a lot of finger-pointing going on. Troy Brown got a booking, we were giving away lots of unnecessary free-kicks and really struggling - so, to his credit, the manager changed it straight away.
From a narrow midfield trio with Wynter just ahead of Jason Taylor and Matt Richards, we went to a flatter three with Richards left, Taylor central and Wynter right.
This was to combat Eliot Richards' impact and to stop Jason Koumas getting on the ball, and it certainly worked. Yates said he should have started with that system, after a report on Tranmere's win at Wycombe, and took the blame for the opening goal.
Jason Taylor took over from Eliot Richards as the game's focal figure. He was breaking things up, and then spraying passes left right and centre.
Mainly left in fact, and mainly out to Craig Braham-Barrett, who was wreaking havoc down the left hand side.
Yes - you read that right. Jason Taylor spraying passes, and Craig Braham-Barrett wreaking havoc. They couldn't handle him, and he gave Danny Woodards a torrid time.
Taylor was also playing passes into the left channel for Terry Gornell to run on to, and the man back at his former club showed once again that when your luck is out, it is really out.
He sent a cross inches ahead of Wynter, then fired in a shot which hit Owain fon Williams, and was cleared away. He got free in the box several times, but either a last-ditch block denied him, or the ball would just not sit properly for him to have a shot.
We won six corners in a half-hour spell between the Tranmere goals and how on earth we failed to at least equalise I will never know. Even though they were winning, the home fans were getting very restless.
Then, as so often happens, we got caught on the break when Marc Laird fired the second on the stroke of half-time.
It looked like it was going to be one of those days - make all the chances and fail to take them, but then it was enter the manager again with a half-time change.
Off came Steve Elliott, and on came Omari Sterling-James for his league debut, just in behind Harrison and Gornell in a 4-3-1-2 system.
Elliott, as the manager revealed post-match, had been ill (and not told Yates he wasn't feeling well) and was sick at half-time, so off he came.
Straight away, Omari was a breath of fresh air. No rabbit-in-the-headlights fear from him - he was positive from the off.
We carried off where we left off. Braham-Barrett's efforts got the hapless Woodards the hook - and his replacement Danny Holmes' first action was to get a booking for hauling him down.
But when Omari's diving header hit the post and somehow stayed out we may as well have packed up and gone home. We could have been there until Christmas and not scored.
It seemed that the missed Accrington penalty and Billy Paynter's not-offside offside goal was coming home to roost sooner than we thought.
Then it changed - and again it was Omari who sparked it with a shot from the edge of the box which the keeper should have done better with, and Matt Richards picked up the pieces to score.
Then, after Omari's impact, it was Koby Arthur's turn. He'd come on for Gornell, and took Harrison's flick-on to smash home the equaliser.
There was no thinking about it - he just took it in his stride, and whack - his first two league goals haven't been bad efforts, and we weren't finished there.
Harrison found Richards, and his fabulous cross was asking to be finished off, and Wynter - who grew into the game as it went on and had an excellent second half - did just that with a great finish.
Maybe I should change my views on bringing in inexperienced short-term stop-gap loans...!!
Tranmere were shellshocked, and having made a second change between our first and second goals to take Eliot Richards off for the more defensive-minded James Rowe, their manager Rob Edwards only had one more weapon.
That was Kayode Odejayi, who was ineffective as they went more direct, but we never looked like losing our lead, and we certainly didn't deserve to. Justice, eventually, had been done.
After a season when we lost 37 points from winning positions, and only earned seven coming from behind showing little resilience at times, this was fantastic to see.
Effort, commitment, resilience, backbone, will to win, perseverance. Things which were missing at times last season, but which were there in spades today.
We had 21 shots in total. TWENTY ONE. Last season, we'd have taken five or six games to have that many. And 12 of them were on target - so don't let anyone tell you we didn't deserve to win this game.
I've been racking my brains to think of many comebacks from 2-0 down to win a game in recent times - it happened at Burton of course, in the 6-5 special, when we were two down at half-time, but I can't remember many more, so that's how special this was.
(UPDATE - Thanks to Dave Nelson on Twitter for remembering that we were 2-0 down at Northampton in December 2012 and came back to win 3-2 with Darryl Duffy's winner, and also 3-1 down at home to Crawley last season in the Capital One Cup, winning 4-3 in extra time)
No wonder the manager said this was one of the best moments he has had in charge of the club - and his celebration of the second goal was brilliant to see.
Ten points out of 12 and third in the table, with a great feelgood factor around. Smiles have come back, and while I am not getting carried away with things, with results and performances like this it would be great to think they are here to stay.
With a free week, the manager wants to complete his transfer business with another forward and a back-up keeper - but Emile Sinclair won't be coming after turning us down - and he scored today for Northampton. Oh well. Your loss Emile.
We want people who want to play for our club, and who will show the enthusiasm and hunger to succeed and impress that we saw from Sterling-James and Arthur today - and people playing for the shirt with the commitment of people like Jason Taylor.
Hopefully Yates can find someone with those characteristics at the right price in the next week to complete the jigsaw and try to carry on the momentum.
My BBC Glos commentary of today's five goals here
Videos courtesy of hEaLeRCTFC
Omari's header which somehow stayed out here
Matt Richards' goal here
Jordan Wynter's goal here
Yates post match interview here
Thursday, 21 August 2014
Mixed messages?
“The fans don’t buy into loan players because you have a player for a month and then he goes back to his parent club.
“We’re going to be going away from that and trying to focus more on playing our own players.
“Fans don’t associate with the players and too often they are used as a knee-jerk reaction from managers.
“We have probably had more than we should have done and some clubs rely on them a bit too much. Our fans have given me the firm view than short-term loan signings aren’t popular and we would be much better playing our own players.”
The above are quotes given by Paul Baker in the Gloucestershire Echo on May 13 this year.
He also told the Echo this summer that the club had spent £100,000 on loan players last season - the likes of Michael Ihiekwe, Mitch Brundle, Lee Lucas, Kemar Roofe and Billy Daniels.
Few, if any, of them were a success and I wholeheartedly agree with what the chairman had to say above and was pleased to hear him say that these short-term fixes were going to be a thing of the past.
The bigger squad assembled this summer was meant to help with this - giving the manager enough options within the players at the club that he did not need to go shopping too often.
But then we get the news that Bristol City's 20-year-old midfielder Jordan Wynter is coming to the club, with the deal set to be completed tomorrow - for a month's loan.
Let me state straight away I have nothing against Wynter. If he comes here and plays for us, I hope he does superbly well and helps us keep our good start up - it is just the concept of the short-term loan and his lack of experience which I am concerned about.
It comes less than two months after the above comments from the chairman, and after comments from the manager more recently saying he wants to get a bit of experience to complete his squad, we are bringing in a player with seven league games to his name.
These mixed messages are disappointing. Disappointing for fans like me who hoped the revolving loan door was going to be closed, and also disappointing for our young players, a promising crop who are not going to get the chance to show what they can do. For now at least.
I can understand why Mark Yates has looked to bring someone in.
Asa Hall is out for a few weeks, and he has then had to put Joe Hanks into the side, probably ahead of when he wanted to.
On Tuesday he looked exhausted after four tough games in 10 days or so, and Hanks is only 19.
This unexpected run of games has shown that he will be a very good player for us long-term and looks at home in League football.
But we cannot flog him and burn him out too soon - I understand that he has to be bedded into the side gradually.
So seemingly Yates wanted a stop-gap body to come in and (presumably) play in Hanks' place at Tranmere on Saturday, so he has just got on the phone to a certain Mr Cotterill and asked him for a favour (hopefully a cheap one).
So therefore if he wants another body in for Hall, why didn't he do it straight away after Bury - when he could have looked for a more long -term option as he has been after a central midfielder for a while.
Instead, once again, we are rather disappointingly helping another club develop their youngsters ahead of our own.
We have central midfield players in Adam Powell, who likes to play the deeper role, and Harry Williams who prefers to play more advanced. Could they not do a job?
Evidently not, as Yates said in pre-season he didn't think they (along with Bobbie Dale and James Bowen) were not ready for the first-team yet.
Williams however played two or three games late last season, and was ready then, so what has changed now?
He scored for the reserves on Tuesday, while Dale hit four goals against quite a strong Forest Green side. Surely that impressed the manager?
He also has Andy Haworth, Omari Sterling-James, Zack Kotwica and a long-term loanee in Koby Arthur at his disposal - if he didn't want to use them in a 3-5-2, then why not change the system this weekend to accommodate one of them, and negate the need for a stop-gap solution?
They have been on the bench at some point this season, and all of them bar Zack have been on the field in the first four games.
They also played in Tuesday's reserve game, Haworth and Kotwica as wing-backs and OSJ in an attacking midfield role - all unfamiliar positions, while Arthur played up front alongside Dale.
In fact, in that game, only goalkeeper Harry Reynolds, centre-back Jack Deaman, Williams (for part of the game) and striker Dale played in what would be described as their orthodox positions. He also had a look at the goalscoring triallist Angelo Balanta - and I wonder what the impending arrival means for his prospects and our interest or lack of in him.
That mix-and-match positional switch is largely a result of the late formation shuffle. Wingers Haworth, Kotwica and OSJ, I suspect, were licking their lips at the prospect of finding a place in a 4-3-3 system where they would be the men to play either side of a central striker, with Arthur's arrival supplementing that.
But then Yates threw a spanner in the works with the arrival of Matt Taylor bringing about the change to 3-5-2, which helps some players, notably Lee Vaughan, Craig Braham-Barrett and Terry Gornell, but does nothing for others.
As it stands, with Yates seemingly ruling out the four first-years Dale, Bowen, Williams and Powell from consideration for the time being, the 3-5-2 also rules out Haworth, OSJ and Kotwica - so out of a squad of 22 he has now effectively reduced himself down to having 15 players to pick his starting 11 from - and that is down to 14 at the moment, with the injured Hall.
He has the 11 he has used in the last two games, plus Deaman, Paul Black and Arthur, meaning seven of the squad are effectively redundant, partly due to the manager's decisions and partly due to not fitting into the current formation.
So we need two more bodies plus a second goalkeeper, as the manager has agreed, all along.
But we also need some experience - and they are to be loans, they need to be until January at least so these players can buy into the club (as the chairman said above).
This is not an Alan Hansen-style 'you'll never win anything with kids'-like rant - but we have six teenagers in our squad, while Deaman and OSJ - are only just out of their teens, as is the on-his-way Wynter.
Our starting 11 with a fit Asa Hall plus Paul Black has good experience of games at a decent level (yes, I know Vaughan's is at Conference level only but he has played 150-odd games there) but below that there isn't much know-how at League level there.
I am hoping that Wynter's arrival does not mean Yates won't look for experience in a central midfield recruit and in forward reinforcements as I feel we need a bit more nous in the squad.
Yates has said after Tranmere we have to bring players in - so I suspect we won't be long in finding out the answers to these questions.
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Riding our luck?
SEVEN points out of nine, two clean sheets and one goal conceded.
Even the most demanding of Cheltenham fans would struggle to be disappointed with that return, but will also know it doesn't quite tell the whole story.
Bar a last minute penalty miss and a very dodgy offside flag deep in injury time in the last two games, we could have been sat with four points and mulling over two more home games without a win.
The difference between the two games is that on Saturday we deserved the win and therefore in my view that lucky break, while last night we didn't.
We were second best and none of us could have complained had that offside flag stayed down and Billy Paynter's goal had given Carlisle the win.
The saying has it that these things even themselves out, so by that reckoning we are due to be bitten twice on the backside sometime between now and May...
Last night, they were sharper than us, moved the ball and kept it better than us, used the width better than us and had more of a forward threat than us.
It also shows the value of having options in your squad - Graham Kavanagh had five players out and yet he could still field a very strong side. Lose five players from our side and we'd be struggling big time.
Some of our players looked very leggy after the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday start to the season, especially Joe Hanks, and it was no surprise to see him taken off. That is not a criticism of his performance - he wasn't alone in looking off the pace at times.
I thought the front two were disappointing. Byron Harrison didn't look fit to me and Terry Gornell, excellent on Saturday especially with his hold-up play and non-stop work-rate, was the opposite of that.
His touch looked off completely and overall he and Byron made it a very easy night for the Carlisle back three.
Our midfield three were second best and our wing backs fought a losing battle, having to concentrate more on the weaker side of their game, defending, rather than being able to get forward.
At the back, our trio were troubled by the movement of Jack Marriott and experienced guile of Paynter.
You can see why Yates was interested in Marriott - he was lively, skilful and a real goal threat with his low centre of gravity and good little runs off the shoulder always a worry for us.
Paynter was happy to drop deeper and let his young partner roam about - and he used his experience a number of times to earn dangerous free-kicks.
I am sure some CTFC fans would blame the referee for 'favouring' Carlisle with some decisions, but they (and Paynter especially) were just more streetwise and managed to draw our defenders and midfielders into some naive challenges around the box.
That has often been a failing for us - our game management. Other sides seem to 'draw' these fouls more easily and more regularly than we do. It's not cheating - it's experience, and using your head a bit, something our players never seem to get the hang of.
Our opening two league games have been built on high work-rate, and I do feel we dropped off that slightly last night.
Carlisle played a very high pressing game - one of our midfielders or wing-backs got the ball and straight away there was a couple of yellow shirts in his face straight away.
That led to us either giving the ball away or being forced into a rushed and often aimless ball forward as they forced us to be more direct which just played into their hands.
I don't feel we deliberately played 'hoofball' - rather that we were given no choice to use the ball as a hot potato due to the tight pressing game Carlisle came to play - all credit to them as that's just what we did at Bury.
We gave away the impetus and tempo of the game almost straight away and spent a lot of time on the back foot. There is no doubt that last season we would have lost that game - but one thing we did have in our favour (aside from Lady Luck in those last seconds) was resilience.
Yes, they had their problems with Marriott and Paynter, but Matt Taylor, Steve Elliott and Troy Brown stood firm, aided by the man behind them Trevor Carson.
I know I wasn't alone among CTFC fans in being worried when Scott Brown went. Having had the same and increasingly reliable goalkeeper for so long, change is always difficult.
But in four games, Trevor has almost totally taken those worries away. Browny's strength was his shot-stopping and his weakness his command of the penalty area.
Trevor seems to have that authority, and has also shown his shot-stopping prowess, notably with the one-on-one block from Marriott last night and the late touch on to the post before the 'offside' flag. Early impressions are very good indeed.
Despite our problems last night, we could have nicked the win ourselves, with a Hanks free-kick going close, Elliott glanced a header just wide, then there was Koby Arthur's two chances.
The first saw him go through with Byron making a great run to his left, all alone. He chose to shoot, and there is no question that he should have passed as Byron would had a tap-in. His second effort was a shot which was blocked, possibly with a hand.
But overall, we have to happy with a point and the way we stuck at it against a decent side. Like Bury, I think Carlisle will be up there and this draw may turn out to be a decent result in the long run.
I felt, however, that the manager didn't make the most of what he had available to him.
I thought he should have changed it earlier and also needs to look at the composition of his bench.
He had Arthur, Andy Haworth and Omari Sterling-James on there - but no orthodox central midfielder. He has Harry Williams and Adam Powell in his squad, and I feel, for balance, he should look at having one of them on there.
Williams could then have come on for Hanks - but as he wasn't in the 18, I'd have put Haworth on, and used Arthur for Gornell to get him further up the field with Byron to try to stretch the Carlisle back three. I think that would have given them more to think about.
We will have the same starting 11 at Tranmere again I expect, so I hope that training is a bit lighter this week and the management find some way of keeping some energy in their legs ahead of the long trip north.
But as I said at the top, seven from nine and still unbeaten is a more than satisfactory way to start the season, and overall the new 3-5-2 system has been a success I feel.
It is nice to see that the manager has worked the system around the players he has, rather than deciding stubbornly on his system and then wedging the players - unwillingly at times - into it.
The three centre-halves, lack of pace aside, seem a good fit as a unit, and it definitely helps Lee Vaughan and Craig Braham-Barrett's strengths.
We always look better with a midfield three, and by and large they have looked comfortable with the shape.
Jason Taylor and Matt Richards have had good starts to the season while Hanks has fitted in well and I am sure Asa Hall will do likewise when he comes back. That just leaves us needing to really get the front two firing.
There have been signs from them in the first three league games, especially against Accrington, but I feel we just generally need more from the pair, or find a way of getting them integrated into things better, otherwise it will be time to try a different pair.
There is no doubt we need some reinforcements, and to that end it would good to hear the manager's words after the game last night.
There was no "we'll see what we can do" or "we're hoping to do something" - it was much more emphatic than that. He said "after Saturday we HAVE to bring people in" as he targets the free week after Tranmere to nail a couple of players down. Let's hope he can deliver on that.
It's needed to freshen up the 11 we have and also to bolster further the options off the bench - but then you have to credit those who haven't had a look in up to now for putting six past a decent strength Forest Green side at Seasons, many of them giving the manager something to ponder.
There were a number of interesting and encouraging things to come out of that game, starting with the system - as we played a 3-5-2 here as well to mirror the first team, with some interesting positions for a few players.
Zack Kotwica and Haworth were used as the wing-backs, an interesting development using orthodox wingers there - definitely something that could be used late in games if we are chasing it and would give width and that more attacking outlook.
Paul Black and James Bowen, usually left-backs, in the back three with Jack Deaman, while the midfield three of Williams, Omari Sterling-James and triallist Angelo Balanta was very attack-minded.
Arthur played alongside Bobbie Dale up front and Dale bagged four goals.
Having been on the bench recently, that haul must surely have pushed him further forward in the manager's mind. He did say he nearly put him on ahead of Arthur on Saturday and Bobbie cannot really have done any more than that to impress.
Mark Yates says he will have a 'longer look' at the Colombian Balanta, who was at QPR for seven years and had a few loan spells at MK Dons, playing against us a few times and scoring in the League Cup and then he went to Bradford City.
He apparently turned down the chance to join Bristol Rovers this summer and has also had a run-out for Crewe. As a left-sided wide men or striker he could fit in with us in this system, maybe in an advanced midfield role, or out on the left if we decided to use the 4-3-3 formation at any point.
We'll see what develops there, but seven out of nine is a promising start - and two or three new additions would help give us the chance of keeping that momentum going.
Even the most demanding of Cheltenham fans would struggle to be disappointed with that return, but will also know it doesn't quite tell the whole story.
Bar a last minute penalty miss and a very dodgy offside flag deep in injury time in the last two games, we could have been sat with four points and mulling over two more home games without a win.
The difference between the two games is that on Saturday we deserved the win and therefore in my view that lucky break, while last night we didn't.
We were second best and none of us could have complained had that offside flag stayed down and Billy Paynter's goal had given Carlisle the win.
The saying has it that these things even themselves out, so by that reckoning we are due to be bitten twice on the backside sometime between now and May...
Last night, they were sharper than us, moved the ball and kept it better than us, used the width better than us and had more of a forward threat than us.
It also shows the value of having options in your squad - Graham Kavanagh had five players out and yet he could still field a very strong side. Lose five players from our side and we'd be struggling big time.
Some of our players looked very leggy after the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday start to the season, especially Joe Hanks, and it was no surprise to see him taken off. That is not a criticism of his performance - he wasn't alone in looking off the pace at times.
I thought the front two were disappointing. Byron Harrison didn't look fit to me and Terry Gornell, excellent on Saturday especially with his hold-up play and non-stop work-rate, was the opposite of that.
His touch looked off completely and overall he and Byron made it a very easy night for the Carlisle back three.
Our midfield three were second best and our wing backs fought a losing battle, having to concentrate more on the weaker side of their game, defending, rather than being able to get forward.
At the back, our trio were troubled by the movement of Jack Marriott and experienced guile of Paynter.
You can see why Yates was interested in Marriott - he was lively, skilful and a real goal threat with his low centre of gravity and good little runs off the shoulder always a worry for us.
Paynter was happy to drop deeper and let his young partner roam about - and he used his experience a number of times to earn dangerous free-kicks.
I am sure some CTFC fans would blame the referee for 'favouring' Carlisle with some decisions, but they (and Paynter especially) were just more streetwise and managed to draw our defenders and midfielders into some naive challenges around the box.
That has often been a failing for us - our game management. Other sides seem to 'draw' these fouls more easily and more regularly than we do. It's not cheating - it's experience, and using your head a bit, something our players never seem to get the hang of.
Our opening two league games have been built on high work-rate, and I do feel we dropped off that slightly last night.
Carlisle played a very high pressing game - one of our midfielders or wing-backs got the ball and straight away there was a couple of yellow shirts in his face straight away.
That led to us either giving the ball away or being forced into a rushed and often aimless ball forward as they forced us to be more direct which just played into their hands.
I don't feel we deliberately played 'hoofball' - rather that we were given no choice to use the ball as a hot potato due to the tight pressing game Carlisle came to play - all credit to them as that's just what we did at Bury.
We gave away the impetus and tempo of the game almost straight away and spent a lot of time on the back foot. There is no doubt that last season we would have lost that game - but one thing we did have in our favour (aside from Lady Luck in those last seconds) was resilience.
Yes, they had their problems with Marriott and Paynter, but Matt Taylor, Steve Elliott and Troy Brown stood firm, aided by the man behind them Trevor Carson.
I know I wasn't alone among CTFC fans in being worried when Scott Brown went. Having had the same and increasingly reliable goalkeeper for so long, change is always difficult.
But in four games, Trevor has almost totally taken those worries away. Browny's strength was his shot-stopping and his weakness his command of the penalty area.
Trevor seems to have that authority, and has also shown his shot-stopping prowess, notably with the one-on-one block from Marriott last night and the late touch on to the post before the 'offside' flag. Early impressions are very good indeed.
Despite our problems last night, we could have nicked the win ourselves, with a Hanks free-kick going close, Elliott glanced a header just wide, then there was Koby Arthur's two chances.
The first saw him go through with Byron making a great run to his left, all alone. He chose to shoot, and there is no question that he should have passed as Byron would had a tap-in. His second effort was a shot which was blocked, possibly with a hand.
But overall, we have to happy with a point and the way we stuck at it against a decent side. Like Bury, I think Carlisle will be up there and this draw may turn out to be a decent result in the long run.
I felt, however, that the manager didn't make the most of what he had available to him.
I thought he should have changed it earlier and also needs to look at the composition of his bench.
He had Arthur, Andy Haworth and Omari Sterling-James on there - but no orthodox central midfielder. He has Harry Williams and Adam Powell in his squad, and I feel, for balance, he should look at having one of them on there.
Williams could then have come on for Hanks - but as he wasn't in the 18, I'd have put Haworth on, and used Arthur for Gornell to get him further up the field with Byron to try to stretch the Carlisle back three. I think that would have given them more to think about.
We will have the same starting 11 at Tranmere again I expect, so I hope that training is a bit lighter this week and the management find some way of keeping some energy in their legs ahead of the long trip north.
But as I said at the top, seven from nine and still unbeaten is a more than satisfactory way to start the season, and overall the new 3-5-2 system has been a success I feel.
It is nice to see that the manager has worked the system around the players he has, rather than deciding stubbornly on his system and then wedging the players - unwillingly at times - into it.
The three centre-halves, lack of pace aside, seem a good fit as a unit, and it definitely helps Lee Vaughan and Craig Braham-Barrett's strengths.
We always look better with a midfield three, and by and large they have looked comfortable with the shape.
Jason Taylor and Matt Richards have had good starts to the season while Hanks has fitted in well and I am sure Asa Hall will do likewise when he comes back. That just leaves us needing to really get the front two firing.
There have been signs from them in the first three league games, especially against Accrington, but I feel we just generally need more from the pair, or find a way of getting them integrated into things better, otherwise it will be time to try a different pair.
There is no doubt we need some reinforcements, and to that end it would good to hear the manager's words after the game last night.
There was no "we'll see what we can do" or "we're hoping to do something" - it was much more emphatic than that. He said "after Saturday we HAVE to bring people in" as he targets the free week after Tranmere to nail a couple of players down. Let's hope he can deliver on that.
It's needed to freshen up the 11 we have and also to bolster further the options off the bench - but then you have to credit those who haven't had a look in up to now for putting six past a decent strength Forest Green side at Seasons, many of them giving the manager something to ponder.
There were a number of interesting and encouraging things to come out of that game, starting with the system - as we played a 3-5-2 here as well to mirror the first team, with some interesting positions for a few players.
Zack Kotwica and Haworth were used as the wing-backs, an interesting development using orthodox wingers there - definitely something that could be used late in games if we are chasing it and would give width and that more attacking outlook.
Paul Black and James Bowen, usually left-backs, in the back three with Jack Deaman, while the midfield three of Williams, Omari Sterling-James and triallist Angelo Balanta was very attack-minded.
Arthur played alongside Bobbie Dale up front and Dale bagged four goals.
Having been on the bench recently, that haul must surely have pushed him further forward in the manager's mind. He did say he nearly put him on ahead of Arthur on Saturday and Bobbie cannot really have done any more than that to impress.
Mark Yates says he will have a 'longer look' at the Colombian Balanta, who was at QPR for seven years and had a few loan spells at MK Dons, playing against us a few times and scoring in the League Cup and then he went to Bradford City.
He apparently turned down the chance to join Bristol Rovers this summer and has also had a run-out for Crewe. As a left-sided wide men or striker he could fit in with us in this system, maybe in an advanced midfield role, or out on the left if we decided to use the 4-3-3 formation at any point.
We'll see what develops there, but seven out of nine is a promising start - and two or three new additions would help give us the chance of keeping that momentum going.
Sunday, 17 August 2014
Home comforts at last
Throughout the opening two games of the season, and on the long trips home from Bury and Brighton, the debate among Cheltenham fans centred mostly around two questions.
Will the new 3-5-2 formation work at home? - and can we play it in such a way to create enough chances to win a match?
After 93 pretty eventful minutes today, I think we can come to the conclusion that the answer to both questions is a yes.
The winning margin may have been narrow, and we may only have taken the victory because Kal Naismith chose the 93rd minute to try and impersonate Andrea Pirlo from the penalty spot, but again there were plenty of good things to take away and other things to work on.
We deserved the win, but two wins out of two does not suddenly make us the finished article by any stretch - there is no doubt that Mark Yates needs a couple of reinforcements and he admits as much himself.
But without them for now, his players are scrapping for everything and setting themselves high standards for effort, commitment and work rate which we will now be expecting them to maintain.
We have a decent first 11, but below that we are looking to youngsters and untried new arrivals - today for example of the seven players on the bench only Bobbie Dale (11 minutes against Plymouth last season) had appeared at Whaddon Road before in a competitive first-team game.
So it wasn't a surprise to me that there seemed to be a feeling of apprehension around the place before kick-off today.
Throw a new look team and a new system into the mix with memories of last season's poor home record and some insipid performances and it all added up to a bit of an unknown quantity. No-one really knew what was going to unfold.
A good, positive start was important, and I felt that was what we got. Led as we had been on Tuesday by the energy of Craig Braham-Barrett down the left-hand side, we were on the front foot.
There is no doubt he is revelling in the new system, which means that he gets isolated defensively very rarely and can bound up and down his flank. See also Lee Vaughan on the right, and these two definitely enjoy the freedom they get.
Every successful team (and I'm not saying this is definitely going to be one) is built on the bedrock of a solid defence, and the early signs are that Troy Brown, Steve Elliott and Matt Taylor are just that.
Brown was the pick of them for me - but only just as all three looked commanding in the air at different times, and also strong in the tackle and on the ground generally.
In the first half, Accrington barely had a sniff - one long-range shot saved by Trevor Carson was just about it - while we got a goal and could have had more.
The minus of the first half was the loss of Byron Harrison - just the thing most CTFC fans feared with our striking options not exactly being plentiful.
He was just about to come off after getting a bang on his left leg early on and being able to run it off, and his last act was a tap-in from about a yard after Troy Brown's header hit the post.
Luckily, it does not seem too serious and he might play on Tuesday, but it once again signals the need for reinforcements in that area.
Before he went off, I thought Byron and Terry Gornell had done well. We all know Terry has not scored for a long time, but you cannot criticise his appetite for getting into the positions, and he had a few openings today but last-ditch tackles, blocks and deflections denied him a goal or two today.
He also showed good strength with his back to goal to bring others into the game, and I am sure that if he keeps up performances like today, the goals will come. I hope so.
After Byron went off, we looked a bit lost until half-time I felt - the team looked a bit unsure of themselves, and we needed the break for Yates and his coaches to reinforce things.
It worked, as we again came on strong at the start of the second half, with Koby Arthur and Gornell lively.
After he had a goal disallowed last week, and had one cleared off the line in the first half, the bar denied Matt Taylor his first Cheltenham goal.
Jason Taylor fired over after a good move, and Arthur's blistering volley forced the Stanley keeper into a great save, and Troy Brown had a headed chance.
We needed that second goal, and as time went on we fell into our old habit of defending deeper and just losing our grip on a game we should have been winning comfortably.
Our lack of options didn't help either in my view. Accrington made two changes and looked revitalised, while I felt we started to look a bit leggy, with the two long trips and big efforts taking their toll a bit.
This was especially true of the midfield three. They worked hard once again, and if we had another orthodox midfielder on the bench I'd have thrown him on. We were second to everything in there for a 10-15 minute spell around Naismith's equaliser.
It would have been typical of our recent home displays to have played as we did, carved out the chances we did and not won the game, but Accrington were suddenly the side with their tails up.
But then we snuck ourselves back in front again, and it was all down to quick thinking by Trevor Carson.
It would be fair to say that Carson's arrival as Scott Brown's replacement was not greeted with universal joy - but today's intervention will only serve to endear him further to the fans.
He was a hero last week at Bury with three great saves, and today he was confident with his handling again, and confident enough too to race off his line once in each half to avert a Stanley break.
This time, it was his quick thinking to send a ball downfield after catching a corner which set up our winner. Arthur still had a bit to do, but he beat his man and then finished very coolly, with a decent celebration as well. We'll excuse him the yellow card for taking his shirt off. Stupid rule anyway.
That should have been that, and we seemed to be seeing out the game well, until a mis-timed challenge by Lee Vaughan almost cost us dear.
It looked like a penalty. None of our players had anything to say about it to the referee, but Naismith must also have felt we deserved to win by serving up one of the worst penalties I have seen for a while.
So thanks to that aberration we got the victory, and we have won our first two games of a League Two season for the first time ever. And a home win too - I'd almost forgotten the words to Happiness.
No-one is getting carried away with it. There is a long, long way to go, but we seem to have a united squad which is working hard for their manager and the supporters, which is all we have asked for all along.
Long may it continue.
Will the new 3-5-2 formation work at home? - and can we play it in such a way to create enough chances to win a match?
After 93 pretty eventful minutes today, I think we can come to the conclusion that the answer to both questions is a yes.
The winning margin may have been narrow, and we may only have taken the victory because Kal Naismith chose the 93rd minute to try and impersonate Andrea Pirlo from the penalty spot, but again there were plenty of good things to take away and other things to work on.
We deserved the win, but two wins out of two does not suddenly make us the finished article by any stretch - there is no doubt that Mark Yates needs a couple of reinforcements and he admits as much himself.
But without them for now, his players are scrapping for everything and setting themselves high standards for effort, commitment and work rate which we will now be expecting them to maintain.
We have a decent first 11, but below that we are looking to youngsters and untried new arrivals - today for example of the seven players on the bench only Bobbie Dale (11 minutes against Plymouth last season) had appeared at Whaddon Road before in a competitive first-team game.
So it wasn't a surprise to me that there seemed to be a feeling of apprehension around the place before kick-off today.
Throw a new look team and a new system into the mix with memories of last season's poor home record and some insipid performances and it all added up to a bit of an unknown quantity. No-one really knew what was going to unfold.
A good, positive start was important, and I felt that was what we got. Led as we had been on Tuesday by the energy of Craig Braham-Barrett down the left-hand side, we were on the front foot.
There is no doubt he is revelling in the new system, which means that he gets isolated defensively very rarely and can bound up and down his flank. See also Lee Vaughan on the right, and these two definitely enjoy the freedom they get.
Every successful team (and I'm not saying this is definitely going to be one) is built on the bedrock of a solid defence, and the early signs are that Troy Brown, Steve Elliott and Matt Taylor are just that.
Brown was the pick of them for me - but only just as all three looked commanding in the air at different times, and also strong in the tackle and on the ground generally.
In the first half, Accrington barely had a sniff - one long-range shot saved by Trevor Carson was just about it - while we got a goal and could have had more.
The minus of the first half was the loss of Byron Harrison - just the thing most CTFC fans feared with our striking options not exactly being plentiful.
He was just about to come off after getting a bang on his left leg early on and being able to run it off, and his last act was a tap-in from about a yard after Troy Brown's header hit the post.
Luckily, it does not seem too serious and he might play on Tuesday, but it once again signals the need for reinforcements in that area.
Before he went off, I thought Byron and Terry Gornell had done well. We all know Terry has not scored for a long time, but you cannot criticise his appetite for getting into the positions, and he had a few openings today but last-ditch tackles, blocks and deflections denied him a goal or two today.
He also showed good strength with his back to goal to bring others into the game, and I am sure that if he keeps up performances like today, the goals will come. I hope so.
After Byron went off, we looked a bit lost until half-time I felt - the team looked a bit unsure of themselves, and we needed the break for Yates and his coaches to reinforce things.
It worked, as we again came on strong at the start of the second half, with Koby Arthur and Gornell lively.
After he had a goal disallowed last week, and had one cleared off the line in the first half, the bar denied Matt Taylor his first Cheltenham goal.
Jason Taylor fired over after a good move, and Arthur's blistering volley forced the Stanley keeper into a great save, and Troy Brown had a headed chance.
We needed that second goal, and as time went on we fell into our old habit of defending deeper and just losing our grip on a game we should have been winning comfortably.
Our lack of options didn't help either in my view. Accrington made two changes and looked revitalised, while I felt we started to look a bit leggy, with the two long trips and big efforts taking their toll a bit.
This was especially true of the midfield three. They worked hard once again, and if we had another orthodox midfielder on the bench I'd have thrown him on. We were second to everything in there for a 10-15 minute spell around Naismith's equaliser.
It would have been typical of our recent home displays to have played as we did, carved out the chances we did and not won the game, but Accrington were suddenly the side with their tails up.
But then we snuck ourselves back in front again, and it was all down to quick thinking by Trevor Carson.
It would be fair to say that Carson's arrival as Scott Brown's replacement was not greeted with universal joy - but today's intervention will only serve to endear him further to the fans.
He was a hero last week at Bury with three great saves, and today he was confident with his handling again, and confident enough too to race off his line once in each half to avert a Stanley break.
This time, it was his quick thinking to send a ball downfield after catching a corner which set up our winner. Arthur still had a bit to do, but he beat his man and then finished very coolly, with a decent celebration as well. We'll excuse him the yellow card for taking his shirt off. Stupid rule anyway.
That should have been that, and we seemed to be seeing out the game well, until a mis-timed challenge by Lee Vaughan almost cost us dear.
It looked like a penalty. None of our players had anything to say about it to the referee, but Naismith must also have felt we deserved to win by serving up one of the worst penalties I have seen for a while.
So thanks to that aberration we got the victory, and we have won our first two games of a League Two season for the first time ever. And a home win too - I'd almost forgotten the words to Happiness.
No-one is getting carried away with it. There is a long, long way to go, but we seem to have a united squad which is working hard for their manager and the supporters, which is all we have asked for all along.
Long may it continue.
Wednesday, 13 August 2014
More green shoots
After shaking up the Shakers in the north, it was time to head south to try to shoot down some Seagulls - but while we couldn't manage it, there were more encouraging signs to take away from the Amex.
The win at Bury was built on commitment and work rate, and we knew we would need all of that again and a bit more if we were to pull off a shock in Sussex.
The stadium is magnificent - well worth the wait for Brighton and a massive change from the Withdean, but they are in a slight state of flux with Sami Hyppia taking over in the summer.
Many sides at Championship level take the chance to rotate their squad, blood a few youngsters maybe, but not Hyppia. He picked seven players who had started on Saturday and promoted four more from the bench, so his intentions were clear.
After Saturday's defeat by Sheffield Wednesday, he clearly wanted a win and wasn't going easy on us in any way.
But whatever team he fielded, this was always a case of us going there more in hope than expectation. One of those times where we have to be right on it, and they have to have an off day.
I was treating it as a chance to find out a bit more about the character in this squad. Whether the bodies-on-the-line grit and determination to play for the shirt and the appetite to put in a shift in we saw on Saturday could be repeated 72 hours later.
And I think it was. Again, we showed good organisation, shape and resilience. There were odd moments of quality, but eventually that little bit of Championship quality, and that quicker thinking and decision-making you get the higher up you go was the difference.
We made two changes, one enforced as Joe Hanks got his starting chance with Asa Hall injured, while Matt Taylor sat out as he was about 75 per cent fit on Saturday and Jack Deaman was handed an opportunity in the back three.
I am not going to lie - having seen Jack in pre-season, especially that game at Redditch where he gave a penalty away and cost a goal with a poor back-pass, I was a little worried, but I thought he slotted in very well for his debut.
He grew in confidence as the game went on, and that was typified when he stepped out superbly to intercept a pass and then bounded forward 25 yards into the Brighton half. He then looked a bit lost for what to do next, but he definitely didn't look out of place overall.
We knew that Brighton were going to boss the possession and we would have to be patient and disciplined, and that is how it worked out - although their formation was fluid to say the least.
Their full-backs were pushed very high up the pitch, and they almost relied solely on their two centre-backs to defend, and also kept two strikers up front, while the other outfield players seemed to be going wherever they wanted, popping up all over the place.
But overall, I thought we coped very well.
Brighton moved the ball very quickly, used runners to good effect, but we kept our shape, for the most part didn't dive in too much, and kept them at arm's length for most of the game.
Trevor Carson was not unduly overworked, one Chris O'Grady header aside - and even that wasn't too alarming, so we did our job again from that point of view.
Most of their chances were from long-range or were blocked almost at source as once again we threw bodies on the line - but I have to admit I thought we were quite comfortable and I almost got to the stage when I felt they weren't going to break us down.
The catalyst for Brighton ending our stubborn resistance was the introduction of Kazenga LuaLua, who added a different dimension to their attacking play.
That was combined with a few tired legs and maybe tired minds unsurprisingly setting in for our lads after a tough couple of games and two massive efforts.
As the game went into the last 20 minutes, there were a few weary challenges, and there again is the difference from the Championship to League Two - Brighton had proven quality on the bench, while we have to rely on our youngsters.
That aside, the manner of the opening goal was disappointing - a short corner caught us slightly unawares and then Lewis Dunk was allowed to make a run round to the far post unchecked and head in. If that was a League game we'd be furious to give that goal away, so this should be no different.
The second goal was well-worked, as we were caught square for the only time in the game, LuaLua's through ball being finished by Craig Mackail-Smith, who timed his run perfectly and sealed the game.
It wasn't a great surprise that we found ourselves on the back foot for most of the game, and we dealt with that well, but again we were not able to get much of any note going in the final third.
Byron Harrison was better and stronger than he had been on Saturday, while I felt Terry Gornell struggled a bit, but we were unable to fashion any chances of note to trouble David Stockdale.
With Brighton's full-backs pushed so high up the field, it gave our full-backs a bit of freedom to come forward more, and Craig Braham-Barrett especially made the most of it.
He had a good battle with Inigo Calderon and had the beating of him on a couple of occasions, and when he did that and got a cross in, we looked dangerous but couldn't get on the end of anything.
We all know Braham-Barrett is not the most popular of CTFC players with the fans, but this was one of his better games. He was our best attacking outlet, and also defended well with some good blocks, interceptions and tackles allied with better positioning.
Hopefully he can keep it up and there is no doubt that he is helped by the 3-5-2 system, and it definitely suits his game better.
Our midfield three were once again competitive and all put in good shifts - Joe Hanks looked absolutely out on his feet when he came off and when he emerged for the post-match warm-down he was really feeling it.
But Hanks, Matt Richards and Jason Taylor are not blessed with much pace, and are not going to make many runs ahead of the forwards to support them - neither are the three of them the most creative players in the world, so you can see why Mark Yates wants a player who can do those things.
There was talk about us possibly having a good penalty shout when the score was 0-0. From my viewing position, it looked like Byron simply collided with Dunk as the ball came over, but you can make up your own mind here (video courtesy once again of @hEaLeRCTFC on Twitter).
We gave Andy Haworth and Omari Sterling-James debuts near the end, but neither was able to have any impact, and so our Capital One Cup interest comes to an end, but I think we can hold our heads high.
Now we come back home to start our season against Accrington and then Carlisle, and it will be interesting to see whether Yates thinks he can use the 3-5-2 at home.
It has proved so far that away from home it makes us more resilient, solid and hard to beat, which is fine on your travels, but it has also proved difficult to be too creative up to now.
At home, especially after last year's toils and tribulations, we need to put a marker down and be on the front foot, so it will be interesting to see what Yates does. The home form is key.
Above all, there is one thing missing from the team - pace - and he has pacy players including the likes of Sterling-James and Koby Arthur, and he might need to incorporate one of them in the side somewhere, but after two good displays from everyone it will harsh to leave anyone out.
This is, of course, assuming that Yates doesn't manage to bring a player or two in before Saturday, which is an outside bet, so he has some decisions to make.
Overall, two games in there are encouraging signs. All we want is effort, commitment and determination, and we have had that in the opening two games.
The players have set themselves some high standards on those fronts and they need to maintain them now. Let's hope they can.
The win at Bury was built on commitment and work rate, and we knew we would need all of that again and a bit more if we were to pull off a shock in Sussex.
The stadium is magnificent - well worth the wait for Brighton and a massive change from the Withdean, but they are in a slight state of flux with Sami Hyppia taking over in the summer.
Many sides at Championship level take the chance to rotate their squad, blood a few youngsters maybe, but not Hyppia. He picked seven players who had started on Saturday and promoted four more from the bench, so his intentions were clear.
After Saturday's defeat by Sheffield Wednesday, he clearly wanted a win and wasn't going easy on us in any way.
But whatever team he fielded, this was always a case of us going there more in hope than expectation. One of those times where we have to be right on it, and they have to have an off day.
I was treating it as a chance to find out a bit more about the character in this squad. Whether the bodies-on-the-line grit and determination to play for the shirt and the appetite to put in a shift in we saw on Saturday could be repeated 72 hours later.
And I think it was. Again, we showed good organisation, shape and resilience. There were odd moments of quality, but eventually that little bit of Championship quality, and that quicker thinking and decision-making you get the higher up you go was the difference.
We made two changes, one enforced as Joe Hanks got his starting chance with Asa Hall injured, while Matt Taylor sat out as he was about 75 per cent fit on Saturday and Jack Deaman was handed an opportunity in the back three.
I am not going to lie - having seen Jack in pre-season, especially that game at Redditch where he gave a penalty away and cost a goal with a poor back-pass, I was a little worried, but I thought he slotted in very well for his debut.
He grew in confidence as the game went on, and that was typified when he stepped out superbly to intercept a pass and then bounded forward 25 yards into the Brighton half. He then looked a bit lost for what to do next, but he definitely didn't look out of place overall.
We knew that Brighton were going to boss the possession and we would have to be patient and disciplined, and that is how it worked out - although their formation was fluid to say the least.
Their full-backs were pushed very high up the pitch, and they almost relied solely on their two centre-backs to defend, and also kept two strikers up front, while the other outfield players seemed to be going wherever they wanted, popping up all over the place.
But overall, I thought we coped very well.
Brighton moved the ball very quickly, used runners to good effect, but we kept our shape, for the most part didn't dive in too much, and kept them at arm's length for most of the game.
Trevor Carson was not unduly overworked, one Chris O'Grady header aside - and even that wasn't too alarming, so we did our job again from that point of view.
Most of their chances were from long-range or were blocked almost at source as once again we threw bodies on the line - but I have to admit I thought we were quite comfortable and I almost got to the stage when I felt they weren't going to break us down.
The catalyst for Brighton ending our stubborn resistance was the introduction of Kazenga LuaLua, who added a different dimension to their attacking play.
That was combined with a few tired legs and maybe tired minds unsurprisingly setting in for our lads after a tough couple of games and two massive efforts.
As the game went into the last 20 minutes, there were a few weary challenges, and there again is the difference from the Championship to League Two - Brighton had proven quality on the bench, while we have to rely on our youngsters.
That aside, the manner of the opening goal was disappointing - a short corner caught us slightly unawares and then Lewis Dunk was allowed to make a run round to the far post unchecked and head in. If that was a League game we'd be furious to give that goal away, so this should be no different.
The second goal was well-worked, as we were caught square for the only time in the game, LuaLua's through ball being finished by Craig Mackail-Smith, who timed his run perfectly and sealed the game.
It wasn't a great surprise that we found ourselves on the back foot for most of the game, and we dealt with that well, but again we were not able to get much of any note going in the final third.
Byron Harrison was better and stronger than he had been on Saturday, while I felt Terry Gornell struggled a bit, but we were unable to fashion any chances of note to trouble David Stockdale.
With Brighton's full-backs pushed so high up the field, it gave our full-backs a bit of freedom to come forward more, and Craig Braham-Barrett especially made the most of it.
He had a good battle with Inigo Calderon and had the beating of him on a couple of occasions, and when he did that and got a cross in, we looked dangerous but couldn't get on the end of anything.
We all know Braham-Barrett is not the most popular of CTFC players with the fans, but this was one of his better games. He was our best attacking outlet, and also defended well with some good blocks, interceptions and tackles allied with better positioning.
Hopefully he can keep it up and there is no doubt that he is helped by the 3-5-2 system, and it definitely suits his game better.
Our midfield three were once again competitive and all put in good shifts - Joe Hanks looked absolutely out on his feet when he came off and when he emerged for the post-match warm-down he was really feeling it.
But Hanks, Matt Richards and Jason Taylor are not blessed with much pace, and are not going to make many runs ahead of the forwards to support them - neither are the three of them the most creative players in the world, so you can see why Mark Yates wants a player who can do those things.
There was talk about us possibly having a good penalty shout when the score was 0-0. From my viewing position, it looked like Byron simply collided with Dunk as the ball came over, but you can make up your own mind here (video courtesy once again of @hEaLeRCTFC on Twitter).
We gave Andy Haworth and Omari Sterling-James debuts near the end, but neither was able to have any impact, and so our Capital One Cup interest comes to an end, but I think we can hold our heads high.
Now we come back home to start our season against Accrington and then Carlisle, and it will be interesting to see whether Yates thinks he can use the 3-5-2 at home.
It has proved so far that away from home it makes us more resilient, solid and hard to beat, which is fine on your travels, but it has also proved difficult to be too creative up to now.
At home, especially after last year's toils and tribulations, we need to put a marker down and be on the front foot, so it will be interesting to see what Yates does. The home form is key.
Above all, there is one thing missing from the team - pace - and he has pacy players including the likes of Sterling-James and Koby Arthur, and he might need to incorporate one of them in the side somewhere, but after two good displays from everyone it will harsh to leave anyone out.
This is, of course, assuming that Yates doesn't manage to bring a player or two in before Saturday, which is an outside bet, so he has some decisions to make.
Overall, two games in there are encouraging signs. All we want is effort, commitment and determination, and we have had that in the opening two games.
The players have set themselves some high standards on those fronts and they need to maintain them now. Let's hope they can.
Saturday, 9 August 2014
Something to smile about
AT about 5.10pm today, I saw something that I haven't seen very often recently. Mark Yates smiled.
It's true - I saw it with my own eyes. He did it twice in fact - so it must really have been a good day.
It may have been one smile of satisfaction at a small victory over his critics and another at the pre-match doom-mongers (who included me, I fully admit), but I suspect they had more to do with his new look team carrying out the game plan pretty much to perfection.
He allowed himself a sly dig at David Flitcroft's pre-match comments about us 'not having a style' or 'not many good players' - and while, Mr Flitcroft, we may not have the big names or six-figure signings you have brought in, we had many other attributes in abundance. You and some of your fans thought this was a 'turn up and win' job for your team. Think again.
Last season, many of our insipid performances were followed by criticism of a lack of effort, work-rate and commitment. These three characteristics were the bedrock of today's victory.
And that's all fans ask for when they pay their money and travel a long way to watch their team.
By the end of the game, a few players were cramping up, and were on their knees. That's not a sign of lack of fitness, more a sign that they had put everything in. And so they deserved their reward.
Pre-match, I thought we would play a compact 4-5-1 system, with the hope of nicking something we could hold on to.
But Yates opted for the 3-5-2 he had tried with some small success against Bristol City, but none at all against Kidderminster, and it was a big gamble.
The back three of Matt Taylor, Steve Elliott and Troy Brown had only had 45 minutes of match action together, and it did take a bit of time to settle.
That wasn't helped by Asa Hall limping off inside five minutes, with Joe Hanks coming on. More of him later - but nobody typified the effort and desire more than Jason Taylor.
He is a man many Cheltenham fans were hoping to or expecting to see the back of this summer (and maybe the manager was as well...), and when they didn't, were hoping that he would be sat on the bench, or the stand.
In the first half especially, he was like a man possessed. He was pressing on the ball, snapping into tackles and then getting forward for a shot which was tipped round the post.
Hanks alongside him was composed. That is one of his best characteristics - he never seems flustered in that congested middle area, and several times he just got the ball and played a simple pass to relieve pressure or get us moving again.
Bury had a lot of the ball in the first half, but such was our shape and organisation, that we managed to keep them at arm's length, bar one cross which was prodded just wide of the post.
We were on the back foot possession-wise for a lot of the time, but Bury didn't do a lot with it, while we got forward at times to good effect and created some decent chances, with Taylor's shot, a Shwan Jalal save from Hanks after a great build-up, and then our two goals.
Yes, two goals. I know the referee only allowed one of them to stand, but have a look here - http://instagram.com/p/rezGKTgVnP/ - and try and work out why Matt Taylor's fabulous header didn't stand. I can't see it. It just looked to me like three players just ran into each other.
It would have annoyed me more but for the goal which did come along and did count five minutes later, and what a goal it was. See the great moment for Joe Hanks here - http://instagram.com/p/rezrhNAVoW/?modal=true (videos courtesy of the legendary @hEaleRCTFC)
Brilliant scenes behind the goal for the 166 travelling fans, many of whom didn't make it until 3.30pm because of a crash on the M6, then had a puncture on the way home, and as I write this (10.50pm) haven't got home yet due to a puncture on the way home.
And it was great to see the players celebrate it with the fans - we are one club, players and fans united, and scenes like that can only bode well for the season ahead.
They saw a second half where we came under intense pressure, and we came through that test - not exactly with flying colours or without a few alarms, but we came through it.
It was also the chance to see what Trevor Carson was made of.
In pre-season, he hasn't had many saves to make, and we hadn't been able to judge what he can do - but today he made three fantastic saves - the second of which was the best of them - and his catching of crosses was spot on.
Full-backs Lee Vaughan and Craig Braham-Barrett had their hands full with wingers Adams and Mayor plus attacking full-backs Jones and Hussey, but for the most part dealt with it well.
They were helped out by centre-backs Troy Brown and Steve Elliott, and midfielders Taylor and Matt Richards for the most part, and when they were we kept them at bay.
But on some occasions the full-backs were left one-on-one and when they were we looked a bit exposed and they were able to get crosses in.
However, again for the most part either Carson's gloves or the head of one of our centre-halves got in the way, and on the occasions that didn't happen, a body was thrown on the line to get in the way of a shot and the danger was gone. It may not have been pretty, but it was effective and it got the desired result.
I mentioned Taylor and Hanks, but Richards was also key in that midfield. His seeming lack of effort and what some fans perceived as him cruising through games was criticised last season, but he was on his knees at the end, having given everything with some crucial tackles and intelligent passing, plus one or two decent set-pieces.
If there has to be a slight criticism, and I appreciate it is picky after such a committed performance, I thought the front two were slightly disappointing.
Byron Harrison or Terry Gornell never really managed to impose themselves on the Bury centre-halves, allowing themselves to be dominated for much of the game, and were unable to really be an effective target or outlet for us and hold the ball upfield, hence why we found ourselves under pressure - especially in the second half.
But that is a small negative on a day of many positives - we didn't buckle under pressure as we have in the past, notably in dropping 37 points from winning positions last season - I must admit I feared an equaliser might have led to a collapse, but we held firm and showed some backbone.
That, for me, along with Joe's great moment, were the biggest plusses from a fantastic start to the season.
One swallow doesn't make a summer, and there is a long way to go, we all know that.
The starting 11 we had on the field isn't the worst in the division, but they won't all play 46 games, and we definitely need a little bit more quality in to help them put and bolster the ranks a little bit.
But if we can reproduce this work-rate, effort and commitment on a regular basis, and maybe add these couple of players Yatesy wants to the squad, then some of the doom-mongers may join the manager in allowing themselves a smile...or even two.
It's true - I saw it with my own eyes. He did it twice in fact - so it must really have been a good day.
It may have been one smile of satisfaction at a small victory over his critics and another at the pre-match doom-mongers (who included me, I fully admit), but I suspect they had more to do with his new look team carrying out the game plan pretty much to perfection.
He allowed himself a sly dig at David Flitcroft's pre-match comments about us 'not having a style' or 'not many good players' - and while, Mr Flitcroft, we may not have the big names or six-figure signings you have brought in, we had many other attributes in abundance. You and some of your fans thought this was a 'turn up and win' job for your team. Think again.
Last season, many of our insipid performances were followed by criticism of a lack of effort, work-rate and commitment. These three characteristics were the bedrock of today's victory.
And that's all fans ask for when they pay their money and travel a long way to watch their team.
By the end of the game, a few players were cramping up, and were on their knees. That's not a sign of lack of fitness, more a sign that they had put everything in. And so they deserved their reward.
Pre-match, I thought we would play a compact 4-5-1 system, with the hope of nicking something we could hold on to.
But Yates opted for the 3-5-2 he had tried with some small success against Bristol City, but none at all against Kidderminster, and it was a big gamble.
The back three of Matt Taylor, Steve Elliott and Troy Brown had only had 45 minutes of match action together, and it did take a bit of time to settle.
That wasn't helped by Asa Hall limping off inside five minutes, with Joe Hanks coming on. More of him later - but nobody typified the effort and desire more than Jason Taylor.
He is a man many Cheltenham fans were hoping to or expecting to see the back of this summer (and maybe the manager was as well...), and when they didn't, were hoping that he would be sat on the bench, or the stand.
In the first half especially, he was like a man possessed. He was pressing on the ball, snapping into tackles and then getting forward for a shot which was tipped round the post.
Hanks alongside him was composed. That is one of his best characteristics - he never seems flustered in that congested middle area, and several times he just got the ball and played a simple pass to relieve pressure or get us moving again.
Bury had a lot of the ball in the first half, but such was our shape and organisation, that we managed to keep them at arm's length, bar one cross which was prodded just wide of the post.
We were on the back foot possession-wise for a lot of the time, but Bury didn't do a lot with it, while we got forward at times to good effect and created some decent chances, with Taylor's shot, a Shwan Jalal save from Hanks after a great build-up, and then our two goals.
Yes, two goals. I know the referee only allowed one of them to stand, but have a look here - http://instagram.com/p/rezGKTgVnP/ - and try and work out why Matt Taylor's fabulous header didn't stand. I can't see it. It just looked to me like three players just ran into each other.
It would have annoyed me more but for the goal which did come along and did count five minutes later, and what a goal it was. See the great moment for Joe Hanks here - http://instagram.com/p/rezrhNAVoW/?modal=true (videos courtesy of the legendary @hEaleRCTFC)
Brilliant scenes behind the goal for the 166 travelling fans, many of whom didn't make it until 3.30pm because of a crash on the M6, then had a puncture on the way home, and as I write this (10.50pm) haven't got home yet due to a puncture on the way home.
And it was great to see the players celebrate it with the fans - we are one club, players and fans united, and scenes like that can only bode well for the season ahead.
They saw a second half where we came under intense pressure, and we came through that test - not exactly with flying colours or without a few alarms, but we came through it.
It was also the chance to see what Trevor Carson was made of.
In pre-season, he hasn't had many saves to make, and we hadn't been able to judge what he can do - but today he made three fantastic saves - the second of which was the best of them - and his catching of crosses was spot on.
Full-backs Lee Vaughan and Craig Braham-Barrett had their hands full with wingers Adams and Mayor plus attacking full-backs Jones and Hussey, but for the most part dealt with it well.
They were helped out by centre-backs Troy Brown and Steve Elliott, and midfielders Taylor and Matt Richards for the most part, and when they were we kept them at bay.
But on some occasions the full-backs were left one-on-one and when they were we looked a bit exposed and they were able to get crosses in.
However, again for the most part either Carson's gloves or the head of one of our centre-halves got in the way, and on the occasions that didn't happen, a body was thrown on the line to get in the way of a shot and the danger was gone. It may not have been pretty, but it was effective and it got the desired result.
I mentioned Taylor and Hanks, but Richards was also key in that midfield. His seeming lack of effort and what some fans perceived as him cruising through games was criticised last season, but he was on his knees at the end, having given everything with some crucial tackles and intelligent passing, plus one or two decent set-pieces.
If there has to be a slight criticism, and I appreciate it is picky after such a committed performance, I thought the front two were slightly disappointing.
Byron Harrison or Terry Gornell never really managed to impose themselves on the Bury centre-halves, allowing themselves to be dominated for much of the game, and were unable to really be an effective target or outlet for us and hold the ball upfield, hence why we found ourselves under pressure - especially in the second half.
But that is a small negative on a day of many positives - we didn't buckle under pressure as we have in the past, notably in dropping 37 points from winning positions last season - I must admit I feared an equaliser might have led to a collapse, but we held firm and showed some backbone.
That, for me, along with Joe's great moment, were the biggest plusses from a fantastic start to the season.
One swallow doesn't make a summer, and there is a long way to go, we all know that.
The starting 11 we had on the field isn't the worst in the division, but they won't all play 46 games, and we definitely need a little bit more quality in to help them put and bolster the ranks a little bit.
But if we can reproduce this work-rate, effort and commitment on a regular basis, and maybe add these couple of players Yatesy wants to the squad, then some of the doom-mongers may join the manager in allowing themselves a smile...or even two.
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