Exeter City v Barrow AFC Match Day Thread

[Red Devon]

He is lacking in finesse agreed but the dilemma though is the alternative. The more 'complete' player you could argue is Henderson of Salford he has scored 3 more than Ryan but you look at his stats they are broadly identical (1 in 3) over past two seasons though he has been doing it at L1 level as well. The dilemma though is can we attract someone like Henderson. I use him as an example but clearly having left Rochdale Salford meant he didnt need to uproot. He is probably on three times the salary of Bowman though. You could point to Quigley but he had nothing on his CV until last season having failed everywhere else up to Barrow

Someone like Connor Wilkinson at Leyton Orient technically very good, brings others into play and scores goals himself...but where do we find one.

 

[SaintJames]

No it's not, it's knee jerk reaction. If it wasn't, opinions would be measured and acknowledgeable of the good things the side has done. You've only got to read JayPob's post as an example. Teams that are s4it don't top the table during the season, don't score the amount of goals we have this season, don't end up with the third best goal difference in the division. It is fair to say we have lost our way at the back third if the season and that has cost us. For me, Matt has to take responsibility for the mismanagement of central midfield which in my mind was a major factor in our downfall. He didn't replace the creativity lost when Nicky Law went and he didn't rotate the midfield enough to allow Taylor and Collins chance to recharge and go again. Both have been playing on empty both physically and mentally for the last month, six weeks.
There is plenty there to build with as much as there are things that need improving in the squad.

I agree 100%. There are also factors that none of us as fans are privy to. For example for all we know the board told MT they wouldn't sanction any signings in January over a certain wage etc etc. Certain players didn't hit the standards expected such as Nigel who should have been the player to allow Collins and Taylor a rest but was abject when played

 

[Grecianpasty]

My view is that playing balls into a lone target man to hold and then lay off has not worked well enough this season. We’ve resorted to hoof ball too often.
We need to change our system.

Surely based on our goals scored record and the 32 goals scored by out front men would suggest it has worked?

The issue with the games where we haven't scored for me was:

- no replacement for bowman
- no replacement for Jay (law leaving)
- injuries to Randall and Williams
- no replacement for Collins/Taylor

The crux of it being a lack of quality in our squad.

 

[The Proper Chap]

It hasn't worked since Xmas, we have often been very poor during 2021 and Bowman's record during this time has been dire. One of the main reasons for our failures in 2021 is Bowman and the way Taylor has continued to use him pretty much all the time barring suspension.

Yesterday we put a lot of good balls into the box however not once did I believe Bowman would score, he isn't good enough in front of goal and his movement is very poor at times. Not sure what the coaching team are doing at times as one thing we should have been doing was work on Bowman's movement in and around the 18 yard box, it's very poor.

Willmott put in 4 or 5 delicious crosses yesterday, crosses that were wasted on Bowman.

Fisher should have been given more opportunities, he isn't a league 2 star however I think he would have given us more than Bowman has at times.

 

[IndoMike]

My view is that playing balls into a lone target man to hold and then lay off has not worked well enough this season. We’ve resorted to hoof ball too often.
We need to change our system.

We miss that link between midfield and attack, i.e Law.

 

[andrew p long]

Hugely disappointing. This season was a big missed opportunity. Big clearout coming and it'll be fascinating to see how many of the 18 in today's squad are in the 18 for the first game of next season...

about 50% of them

 

[SEA Grecian]

He is lacking in finesse agreed but the dilemma though is the alternative. The more 'complete' player you could argue is Henderson of Salford he has scored 3 more than Ryan but you look at his stats they are broadly identical (1 in 3) over past two seasons though he has been doing it at L1 level as well. The dilemma though is can we attract someone like Henderson. I use him as an example but clearly having left Rochdale Salford meant he didnt need to uproot. He is probably on three times the salary of Bowman though. You could point to Quigley but he had nothing on his CV until last season having failed everywhere else up to Barrow

Sometimes you just get lucky with a signing. There was very little evidence to suggest that Paul Mullin would have the sort of the season he's had for Cambridge and arguably the same was true, though perhaps to a lesser extent, for Eoin Doyle at Swindon the season before.