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[kw]

Not expecting anything today, even if we were in much better form I would still be expecting a loss. Chesterfield have just ran away with the league this year, only hope is we don't get absolutely rolled over by them

[hantslondoner]

They're 16 points clear at the top with games in hand, and we haven't won in seven. What could go wrong? ;-)

I'll be interested to see how many of the loan signings play - I suspect the defenders will, not sure if Ben Reeves is an attacking or defensive midfielder but he may replace Atangana?

They will bring a load of fans (Twitter already advising us to book tickets and turn up early) and it will be one of those 'non-league v league' atmospheres.
We often do quite well in those situations, but I'm not hoping for much either, other than an improved performance.

[hantslondoner]

Hmmmm... pretty even for 35 minutes, then came their goal, which I thought was avoidable.

Then came Macca's red mist - the lino made several poor decisions, but why get a yellow card for moaning about it? You're then on a tightrope and the foul looked worthy of a yellow.

Second half we defended well and were still in the game on 80 minutes when we correctly went for it and brought another forward on (no need for RH to take any blame for that).
It didn't work as they got two late goals but our late penalty (earned by Dotse) gave us something to go away with. 

The Spirites looked very good, as you'd expect, their passing was precise, but they didn't kill it off in the second half. So credit to us for that.
The new defenders fitted in OK, Langston was still the best defender. Martin coming back was a suprise. Reeves gave it a go when he came on, promising. Needed to be as Maguire had an off-game again. Quigley had one of his more lumbering, ineffective games.

Interesting to see Clements start for Chesterfield after his loan spell here.

Unbelievably we're still only eight points off the playoffs. Although, more omiously, only six points off the bottom four.

[efc21]

2023-24 TEAM SHEET - CHESTERFIELD - HOME.pdf (174.7 KB)

[davidcharles]

Is it me or is the whole season now just little underwhelming. Crowds not turning up to the Silverlake. And to cap it all nobody wants to have a proper winge on here. It’s quite sad it’s almost as though nobody cares anymore and we are resigned to yet another mediocre season. It also seems that the players have as well. Although we were in the game for the first 35 mins, I think that was only due to Cfield not playing very well. The new signings did not seem to add anything to the team bar Reeves. The two that started didn’t impress me at all. CB was too slow for their first goal. We now have 6 CB in the squad, surely we need to start looking ant our recruitment aa nothing seems to work. Going by today’s performance Reeves could add some energy to the midfield. Don’t understand why Rutherford is shoved to the bench again. He was the best player last week by a long way and still can’t keep his shirt.

[tenacres]

Thought we played ok today given the circumstances - Playing with 10 men for most of the game and v the runaway leaders.

Would like to see the offside against McCallum, I thought it was well on as did a few others. But he is old enough to know better than say stuff to the ref.

No win since Christmas now, really need to break that run. Hopefully in the coming weeks and months we can identify what we need for next season.

[spitfiresteve]

In a game spoilt by the sending off, we mostly did better than I expected. Don't blame Hill for making changes - I would have made them 5-10 mins earlier. What I do object to is taking the wrong players off. MaGuire is so far out of form he should not be starting (also can't remember a good corner or free kick from him this year), Quigley was poor and as for Taylor he seemed to spend half the game passing the ball to colleagues in tight/dangerous situations. Thought Greenwood did OK, jury out on the CB (thought he was,at fault for first goal) and Reeve did well - surprised me how he picked up pace of game as he does not appeared to have played for a good while. We are a mid-table side on danger of slipping into a relegation scrap. And Chesterfield had an easy day but didn't impress me. Still not as good as Gateshead earlier in the season. And look who we play Tuesday...

[bomber]

Its all so bloody boring.

[hey55]

I don`t know why he took Greenwood off, also why did he leave Taylor on who is slow and a liability, nad take Atangana off? Quigley doesn`t look like the same player since he came back from his trip away.
I thought Longe- king fitted well with Martin and yes might be a bit slow but the new guys don`t appear to have played much competitive football so far this season.
RH obviously doesn`t like Rutherford ,I hope RH retires at the end of the season and leaves EFC behind for us to start again.
Has anybody seen Stuart lately ?

[davep]

I don't think we will get anything from Gateshead away, so Fylde looking like an important game to avoid being sucked in to a relegation scrap. We are bottom of the form table.

[cousysenior]

The one thing you need in modern football is pace. We have NO pace anywhere in the team and that’s why it’s so bloody boring

[spiritofeastleigh]

Feb 3, 2024 21:00:19 GMT davidcharles said:

Is it me or is the whole season now just little underwhelming. Crowds not turning up to the Silverlake. And to cap it all nobody wants to have a proper winge on here. It’s quite sad it’s almost as though nobody cares anymore and we are resigned to yet another mediocre season. It also seems that the players have as well. Although we were in the game for the first 35 mins, I think that was only due to Cfield not playing very well. The new signings did not seem to add anything to the team bar Reeves. The two that started didn’t impress me at all. CB was too slow for their first goal. We now have 6 CB in the squad, surely we need to start looking ant our recruitment aa nothing seems to work. Going by today’s performance Reeves could add some energy to the midfield. Don’t understand why Rutherford is shoved to the bench again. He was the best player last week by a long way and still can’t keep his shirt.

If you go back through all the periods Richard has been manager it's obvious he does not trust young players enough, he prefers experienced players out there, so by and large he plays older players with no pace left in them, whereas Rutherford and Barlow mainly sit on the bench. If Richard feels he can do another season I expect those players to move on this summer. He does'nt mind young defenders, but in the final third he trusts experience over youth all day long. We were looking safe pre Christmas of relegation, now its getting too close for comfort, Richard and the team need some wins pretty quickly before confidence really falls away, first target 52 points, then see where we're at.

[davep]

If we end up in a relegation scrap, then it's total failure given the extra investment on the playing side. If you aren't pushing for the playoffs minimum with the leagues top scorer in your team, then something isn't right.

Agree with the last comment on pace, we've been crying out at least for pace up front off the bench to change the game/occupy their full backs since the start of the season. Plus the midfield is too static.

[blackie]

Funny that it’s taken until now for a lot of the fanbase to cotton on to the lack of pace and attacking punch of the squad.
The shortcomings in the squad our previous manager was allowed to assemble before his departure were obvious at the time and in the few games he was charge of.
Now our current incumbent is having to deal with the squad he sanctioned.
The football is marginally better but the results of late have been dire with no punch going forward and shambolic defending.
It’s time to plan now for next season with a fresh coaching outlook and a squad that has pace, energy and drive to compliment experience.