Exeter City FC v Cheltenham Town FC Match Day Thread

[geoffwp]

Max, I read thru your post and enjoyed reading your take. I hope you didn't feel I was aiming at you with some of my takes because I certainly wasn't and I say that in public right now.

 

[geoffwp]

Geoff is always criticising posters "in general" about comment they never made. Good old Geoff is always trying to take the high ground, which is why I nicknamed him Mother Theresa. Very few have criticized Matt on here, but some have wished he had more money to play around with. Many are disappointed we haven't made more signings, but so is Matt.
So please, Geoff, descend from your holier than thou throne and let's talk football.
Love ya Geoff.

No you don't.

 

[Grecian Max]

Max, I read thru your post and enjoyed reading your take. I hope you didn't feel I was aiming at you with some of my takes because I certainly wasn't and I say that in public right now.

Good stuff, I wanted to understand your view so went in with the detail

Here's hoping for a solid week on the transfer front, my hope is eternal

 

[IndoMike]

No you don't.

I do, Geoff. We have two big things in common...

 

[andrew p long]

Rugby and Australian Rules have the right idea. Stop the clock every time the ball isn't in play. Play 90 minutes of football not 57. Be prepared to be late home.

This is the essential first step. Whilst it won't stop the time wasting intended to break up flow and momentum, it will take a significant chunk out of the benefit of time wasting.

(its often interesting on televised games to see how long the ball is in play during the time added on. Often less than the half of the allotted time, with final subs delays in restarts etc)

 

[andrew p long]

Max, I read thru your post and enjoyed reading your take. I hope you didn't feel I was aiming at you with some of my takes because I certainly wasn't and I say that in public right now.

FWIW I didn't read your post as a dig at anything Max had said either.

On Max's analysis I think we/MT/ECFC may have misread how competitive financially the market was to be this season for the players we want. There was the telling comment from MT about being outbid by League One, League Two and on occasions by National League clubs. We know there are some League Two clubs who always have and always will have a bigger budget than us, but the increase in the number of clubs with very very wealthy owners (some from abroad) at our level and below has, I suspect, fuelled an unexpected degree of wage inflation in the market we are operating in.

 

[denzel]

Played some good passing football for the first 15/20 minutes without really creating any chances.

Then seemed to decide to bypass the midfield and Dieng was totally anonymous.

Kite had a shot on the turn well saved by their keeper but that was about it.

Meanwhile at the other end Jamal was only called into action once.

Second half Cheltenham came out with intent and their goal which came as no surprise came at the end of a good passing movement.

The first real sign of their time wasting tactics came after they scored when they were allowed to spend an exceptionally long time celebrating with their supporters.

City tried their best to increase their tempo but again Cheltenham’s time wasting tactics thwarted their attempts.

Diabate had a sound game defensively but his limitations were there for all to see when he came over the half way line and unlike Sweenz did not have the passing skills to contribute anything to the attack.

We were still having the greater % of possession but in Jevani’s absence there was no one on the field capable of making a killer pass.

The lack of depth in the squad was once again obvious to everyone as there was no one on the bench who MT could turn to to try and rectify this.

Although Cheltenham’s tactics left a lot to be desired I think a draw would have been a fair result and Sparkes shot from the edge of the area in the last few minutes of added on time would have been a deserved equaliser had it not been brilliantly tipped over the bar by the keeper.

As we all know we need new faces in particularly a striker as cover for Sam but in this particular game despite Sam buzzing around working hard and never giving the Cheltenham defence any rest the lack of the killer pass never provided with a chance to convert and show something for all his efforts so on this evidence we also need a creative midfielder and cover for Jevani.

I'm pretty sure Sparkes' shot was going over anyway. I was surprised it was given as a corner as the touch was barely visible

 

[Egg]

This is the essential first step. Whilst it won't stop the time wasting intended to break up flow and momentum, it will take a significant chunk out of the benefit of time wasting.

(its often interesting on televised games to see how long the ball is in play during the time added on. Often less than the half of the allotted time, with final subs delays in restarts etc)

I like to watch if the referee stops, or starts, his watch.

It surprising how many times after, for instance, the ref has ticked off a player for time wasting he doesn't appear to restart his watch [suggesting he'd never stopped it in the first place]. This was, I think, what Matty T was alluding to in his post-match interview - it's all very well being seen to admonish time wasters but unless you're adding on the time accordingly you're actually punishing the wrong side.

 

[tonykellowfan]

All in all sounds like a horrendous match, although I don't think we can get on our high horses too much as we have used plenty of time wasting recently and last season we benefited from some proper open mouth referee howlers.

 

[grecian-near-hell]

It's all now history, and we move on I think the best way to descirbe the match is as my son put it "I am glad I am not a Cheltenham fan"