Sunday 31 August 2014

Top of the league? Well, almost...

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 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

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.

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.


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.

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.


Thursday 7 August 2014

Ready for the rollercoaster

With less than 48 hours to go until the new season gets under way, it is fair to say that expectations among CTFC fans for the new season are not high.
Most are expecting a tough campaign ahead, with many fearing that this may be the time we fall through the dreaded trap door.
The so-called experts with their pre-season guides concur with those sentiments, with one, FourFourTwo magazine, tipping us to finish bottom.
I am not that gloomy - but have to admit that the Kidderminster performance last weekend has given me a bit of a jolt (and yes, I know that goes against my belief that you cannot set much stall by pre-season displays or results).
It has been a strange pre-season. For some parts of some games we have looked decent, especially the games against higher-level opponents Wolves and Bristol City, and the overall display against Bristol Rovers was the most encouraging.
But I think we have played too many games, and also that they were in the wrong order. I would rather see us try to increase the level of opposition as we go along, rather than jumping about from a side in the Southern League, to a Championship team, back down to Conference North or South opposition and so on.
I also feel some players have not had enough football, and we haven't taken time to test out viable alternatives in some positions, notably right back and centre-forward. Only one player, Jack Deaman, played some part in every friendly, but never was tried at right-back, where we are told he can play.
While nine players have come into the squad, there is no doubt that a few of them are gambles who might come off, or might not - players like Deaman, Omari Sterling-James and Koby Arthur - while the likes of Matt Taylor, Paul Black and Andy Haworth come to us without much first-team football in recent times.
Other clubs of a similar stature to us have brought in what amounts to more proven quality at this level, while we have gone the other way it seems, either by the manager's choice or because the budget at his disposal is such that this is all he can afford to do.
I also have a slight concern that, as we get ready to go to Bury, that the manager is still hunting for two players he wants to go straight into his team and make a difference - hardly a ringing endorsement for the ones he has already brought to the club.
He ended last season under pressure, and the award of a one-year contract with a much-changed coaching team allied with this summer's dealings have not done much to ease that, and there is no doubt that the first 12-15 games are very important for him.
The first 15 games takes us to the end of October, and FA Cup time, the part of the season where chairmen get twitchy - and by then we will have played a lot of the sides being tipped by many to be at the top of the table.
His interview yesterday was interesting and I was pleased to hear him come out in optimistic mood about our chances, but to be honest we shouldn't expect anything different.
I have not, however, been impressed by the building-up of Bury as some sort of world-beaters.  It's Bury, not Barcelona.
"They're going to be right up there" and words like that have been used - it smacks of getting your excuses in early, and also I found it strange when he said "we're not expecting it all to be singing and dancing on Saturday" suggesting that deep down he maybe isn't too optimistic on our chances this weekend.
Tactically as well it all seems a bit muddled. We thought we were going to get 4-3-3/4-5-1 and we have seen a lot of that, but we have seen 4-4-2 tried again (without success again) and also all of a sudden we try 3-5-2 and a bit of 3-4-1-2 as well. I guess we must be grateful to have missed out on the despised diamond.
The three at the back idea seems to have been a late, spur-of-the-moment experiment from the manager, who has never shown any inkling of using it before. It may well be a success down the line - but with a lot more work on the training ground, and I certainly would not try it out this weekend.
So how will we fare? To be honest, we could be anything with this new look squad. I do not share the view of some that we will be nailed-on relegation candidates, but I fear may have to bear some pain on the way to a lower-mid table finish again, finishing in the bottom eight.
I have divided the league into three sections of eight, and think (in no order) Luton, Shrewsbury, Southend, Burton, Northampton, York, Plymouth and Bury are the leading candidates.
The next eight, bubbling under, who could, with a good run, break into that section for a play-off bid are Carlisle, Stevenage, AFC Wimbledon, Oxford, Portsmouth, Dagenham, Newport and Tranmere.
That leaves the rest - ourselves, Accrington, Morecambe, Cambridge, Exeter, Hartlepool, Wycombe and Mansfield in the lower section.
Obviously, I want to be totally and spectacularly wrong, and I'd love to see us improve on last season and finish comfortably in the top half and even flirt with the play-offs, but realistically I cannot see that unless key players stay fit and others step up to the plate and have strong consistent seasons.
The spine of the team will be crucial - the performances and fitness of players like Trevor Carson, Matt Taylor, Matt Richards and Byron Harrison will, in my view, hold the key to our ultimate fortunes.

The squad
1 Trevor Carson - Looks a safe pair of hands, and will prove an adequate replacement for Scott Brown, but I hope fans don't spend all season comparing the two. Carson will do some things better than Brown, and some things worse, but all goalkeepers are only as good as the defenders ahead of them.
2 Lee Vaughan - Shaping up to be a fans' favourite already, and looks to have no shortage of energy and commitment. Looking forward, however, to seeing how he shapes up against Football League wingers.
3 Craig Braham-Barrett - Has the seemingly impossible task of turning round fans' opinions, with a majority adamant he is not good enough, his cause not helped by his part in 'non-trying-gate'. Paul Black's arrival gives proper competition in the left-back position and if Craig starts the season he will have to show more consistency than he has up to now.
4 Matt Taylor - Not seen much of him, with an hour in roasting weather against Bath and 45 minutes against Bristol City, but his record suggests he will be the leader and solid presence we have been looking for.
5 Troy Brown - Solid enough last season, but hasn't, in my view, enjoyed the best of pre-seasons and will need to show, with competition at the back now, that he is worthy of his place.
6 Steve Elliott - Rumours of his demise may be greatly exaggerated. The arrival of Taylor seemingly meant Steve would be put out to grass, but has been our best central defender in pre-season, and he might yet still be a regular - especially if we persist with three at the back.
8 Matt Richards - Unfairly castigated last season and scapegoated over 'non-trying-gate', he was nowhere near as bad last season as a lot of fans made out. Has been good in pre-season and his set-piece delivery will be important, and this is an area where he needs to find more consistency. Will be a key man.
9 Byron Harrison - 15 goals in a team which finished 17th was a superb effort and he needs to at least match that this time around - but will need some help from those around him. Needs to cut out the lethargic displays which creep into his repertoire as on his day he can be unplayable. If those unplayable days happen more often however, we will struggle to keep him.
10 Terry Gornell - Talented player who has not lived up to expectations so far, and no goal since October 22 tells the story of a frustrating time for Terry. Time is running out for him though with Yates looking to bring in forward reinforcements and he could soon find himself the odd man out.
11 Andy Haworth - Looking to find his way back into regular league football, and we have to hope he rises to the challenge. Will be an important man in trying to give Byron the service he needs, and will also have to weigh in with some goals.
14 Asa Hall - Disrupted pre-season with injury but showed that he could be a useful acquisition. He will have to be the midfield player who gets into the box and contributes a few goals, and with his height, especially from set-pieces, he is capable of doing that.
15 Jack Deaman - Very raw but definitely has some promise. Has made some mistakes in pre-season but could develop into an asset with some work on the training ground and in the gym.
16 Joe Hanks - Hoping this will be his breakthrough season. Not used enough last season in my view and shone in the last two games. Hasn't played enough in pre-season in what would be viewed as the first-choice team but I have no doubt he could succeed at League Two level. I'd hope to see him make at least 10-15 starts this season.
17 Zack Kotwica - Last season's great hope, but despite some promising cameos it didn't quite happen for him. Should have had a few starts earlier in the season, but needs to show signs of improvement this term as I feel he has plateaued slightly. Big campaign ahead.
18 Paul Black - Majority of fans would pick him at left-back immediately simply as he isn't Craig Braham-Barrett. Has played more than 100 league games, but has lost his way career-wise recently. Showed some good signs in pre-season and the left-back battle will be a good one.
19 Omari Sterling-James - A gamble, which may or may not come off. Some bright signs in pre-season, while at other times he looked a mile off a League player. Six-month contract worth the risk, and he has work to do to prove himself.
20 Koby Arthur - Comes in with glowing reports from Birmingham fans, and has shown he has ability. Interesting to see if he can produce it at League Two level, and could be a surprise package for us.
21 Harry Williams - 38 youth and reserve goals last season deservedly earned him a contract and some first-team exposure last season, and I have high hopes for him. I hope he is given chance to develop this season with more first-team chances and not to stagnate as Hanks did a bit last season as I view him as a great prospect.
22 Bobbie Dale - Also had a good goalscoring record at youth and reserve level and another who needs the opportunity to develop. May have to go on loan to get regular games, but another good prospect in my view.
23 James Bowen - Tenacious, feisty player with a nice left foot who can play anywhere up that flank, and capable of weighing in with goals. Another with a chance of being a good player for us in the future with the right opportunity to progress, again with a loan in the offing I suspect.
24 Adam Powell - Quite similar in my view to Hanks - tall midfield player, good on the ball and handy set-piece taker. Scored a lovely goal at Redditch last week and as with Williams, Dale and Bowen needs to be given chances to show what he can do. Likely to be loaned at some point.
25 Jason Taylor - His squad number shows where he sits in Mark Yates' plans - transfer-listed and not really wanted by the manager. But he will start the season in the side, although I suspect that if Yates had brought another midfielder in, or given Hanks more game-time that he would be the man left out. He had not had a bad pre-season and showed that he could do a job as the defensive one of the midfield three - until Kidderminster when he had a disastrous afternoon.

And so to Bury, and I get the idea many - the manager included - would view a draw as a superb result, and I hope Yates does not try the three at the back at Gigg Lane, as I fear that would be a disaster.
I would to see the 4-3-3/4-5-1 system, and I think the team will be something like:

Carson
Vaughan
Two of Brown/Elliott/M Taylor
CBB/Black
J Taylor
Richards
Hall
Haworth
Arthur
Harrison

Subs from: Reynolds (gk), one of Brown/Elliott/M Taylor, Deaman, CBB/Black, Hanks, Gornell, Sterling-James, Kotwica, Williams, Dale, Powell, Bowen




Sunday 3 August 2014

More questions than answers

With a week to go before the season starts, this trip to Kidderminster was meant to be something of a dress rehearsal for Bury next week.
I went to Aggborough expecting to see a starting 11 and system pretty close to that which we will see at Gigg Lane, and hopefully a nice, fluid performance to give some confidence.
But if that was the starting 11 and system we hope to employ, then on this evidence it will be a long trip home next weekend.
Last season we went to Aggborough and came away 3-1 losers in what was a pretty limp display. We had a few youngsters on display then - this time there are no real excuses.
Even the 'it's only a friendly' thing can't gloss over it. It wasn't good enough, and the seeming lack of desire from some players was the worst part of it. Kidderminster simply wanted it more.
After trying out the three at the back system last week against Bristol City, we were without our new skipper Matt Taylor with a slight knock and his absence was keenly felt.
A look at the teamsheet when we arrived led to the assumption that we would play 4-3-3 with Jason Taylor alongside Matt Richards and the returning Asa Hall in midfield.
But no. Taylor was employed in between Steve Elliott and Troy Brown in a back three, and to put it mildly it was a complete shambles.
In the first minute, Craig Reid got through and forced Trevor Carson into a great save, and we were totally unable to cope with the powerful Nathan Blissett.
He bullied his way through some very half-hearted 'challenges' to score the first goal after six minutes, and the first quarter of the game was a mess from our point of view.
At least Mark Yates saw sense and changed it, Taylor moving into midfield and I really do hope that we never see him tried in that role again. He cannot play centre-half.
The formation change, which also pushed Omari Sterling-James and Terry Gornell into wider roles supporting Byron Harrison saw us get slightly better (from a low base) but we still created nothing and looked rocky defensively.
The second Kidderminster goal came after Ahmed Obeng and Blissett again bullied our defenders, Troy Brown this time, and he and Lee Vaughan were helpless as Jack Byrne had a simple finish.
The third was even worse. A free-kick was placed into our box and none of our players were switched on to it - Craig Reid was and he scored.
Then Brown - who has looked poor this pre-season in my view - gave away a needless free-kick which Carson saved well, and thankfully the half-time whistle came. We were three down, and if it had been six we could not have argued with it. It was a mess.
Shape and organisation have been two key factors of pre-season - but they went out the window in those first 45 minutes along with any sense of cohesion, fluidity and - most worryingly - desire.
We were back out for the second half a good five minutes before Kidderminster emerged, and I have to confess surprise that we made one change.
That was Craig Braham-Barrett for Paul Black, who was not the worst player in the red and white - as someone watching the game with me said "it was like getting a cut on your leg, and putting a plaster on your ear".
Vaughan, Brown, Elliott, Taylor, Harrison, Sterling-James, Gornell. Any or all seven of them could have been dragged off at the break, and had no arguments at all.
Carson kept the score down, Hall needed the extra time on the pitch and I don't feel Matt Richards was as terrible as the ones mentioned above - yet Black was the one replaced.
Vaughan and Brown were culpable for the second goal, Elliott was bullied by Blissett, Taylor could do nothing right in either role he was used in.
Harrison was anonymous - bullied by centre halves Josh Gowling and Chey Dunkley, Sterling-James was utterly anonymous for the hour he lasted, and Gornell was, well, Gornell.
I like Terry, but how many chances can he have? He is an enigma, flatters to deceive, and much as I and others like him, the time has come when he has to start delivering performances that show he deserves a place in the side.
Whether he has played in his best position or not, the bottom line is that he hasn't scored since last October, and hasn't often looked like ending that drought - it is now 24 league and cup appearances since his last goal.
So he has still had plenty of chances in the side, and for a player who came here with a decent record for Accrington and Shrewsbury, he just hasn't delivered.
At 24, he needs to kick on now with his career but he isn't producing the goods, and hence it isn't a surprise Yates wants to strengthen our forward line.
At the moment, we are totally reliant on Byron, and what happens if he pulls a hamstring in the first five minutes at Bury, or does a Cureton with a dislocated shoulder or something? I'll tell you. We are stuffed.
We may be stuffed anyway if Byron turns in too many performances like the one we saw today. His movement was poor, his anticipation non-existent and I don't remember him winning a header all afternoon. It was like going back 12 months to the insipid display he put on in the same game last season.
Sterling-James looked miles away from someone ready to be thrown in for a debut next weekend. He has shone at Evesham and Bath and sparked a little against Bristol Rovers, but in the last two games looked miles off the pace. If Bowen, Dale, Powell and Williams are not ready, then neither is he.
He played against Bristol City, where he was lively for the first half, and again yesterday 'in the hole' but at Aggborough he barely touched the ball. I would have hooked him off at half-time, but he lasted an hour and his replacement Koby Arthur was much more lively and probably the only CTFC player who looked like making anything happen.
It seems to be between these two for Bury as Zack Kotwica was at Ledbury with the youth team - they won 15 (yes 15!) -1 with Zack getting four goals and Harry Williams five.
In midfield, Richards was his usual neat and tidy self as the shambles ensued around him, while Hall not surprisingly looked like a player who hadn't played for a few games and Taylor just had a day to forget.
I was delighted to see Joe Hanks get a runout and I thought he did well as we switched to 4-4-2 with Joe alongside Taylor as Hall and Richards went off.
I know he went with the Scottish under-21 squad last week, but I do not feel Hanks has had enough football this pre-season. He was a major positive in the last two games of last season, but I don't feel he has been given enough opportunity to carry that on and build on it.
For that reason I don't think he will start next week. But I really think he should, as he put in more tackles and accurate passes in the time he was on the field as anyone.
Defensively, the first half was a horror show. Brown and Elliott never looked comfortable in the three with Taylor, and never recovered from it.
Blissett was a handful for Elliott, while Brown and Vaughan's channel always looked suspect and after that area saw three of Bristol City's goals conceded on Tuesday they were culpable for Kiddy's second.
The first came down the other channel where Blissett came off the wing past three or four players and the third was a total nightmare from the set-piece - so no-one escapes without blame at some point - bar Trevor Carson.
He cannot be faulted for any of the goals as he was let down by those ahead of him, and made three good first-half saves and another in the second.
We did improve overall after the break, but it would have been hard not to, so woeful were we in that first 45.
I thought Arthur and Hanks of the substitutes put a case forward for a bigger role next week, while some of those from the first half got (slightly) better, including Vaughan and also Gornell, who had a shot saved and looked a little more lively - but the others' day got little better.
As someone who has constantly stressed in the past that pre-season results don't matter, I am aware that some may believe I am going wildly against my own words here - but my unhappiness with this outing was more about the performance and the levels of desire, as we simply rolled over far too easily. Friendly or not, that is what was simply not acceptable.
Some of the aspects of the performance were sadly reminiscent of what we saw at times least season - many of the personnel and coaching staff may be different but  in so many ways the on-field issues looked worryingly the same.
Therefore I was pleased to hear the manager afterwards not try to gloss over it with the 'it's only a friendly' mantra, but to admit it leaves him with more questions than answers, and that some players have played themselves out of the team.
It was interesting to hear him say he had tried to sign their centre-half Chey Dunkley, and on this evidence it was a shame he was not successful,  as he and Josh Gowling were infinitely superior to our centre-backs. I assume this bid came while he was unsure that the Matt Taylor deal was going to happen.
It appears our Tottenham target may be going closer to home in Southend, but Yates desperately needs to get some competition in a couple of areas - for Byron up front and in central midfield.
From maybe having five or six places nailed down for Bury before this game, this limp effort may have cut that number down to maybe three or four - Carson and Richards for my money, and also Vaughan and Harrison, but a lot of that is all because of a lack of competition in those areas rather than their performances meriting a shirt.
Like Harrison, Vaughan is another for whom we do not know the replacement if he was to pick up an injury or ban. Jack Deaman can play there we are told - but why has he not done so in pre-season?
Joe Hanks and Craig Braham-Barrett have filled in during friendlies to rest Vaughan but I hope neither does so should he be absent for any reason, so we have not taken the chance to try out viable alternatives.
Since getting back from Aggborough, I have been telling myself not to over-react, and I don't feel I have done so. I have to call a spade a spade and this was a big step backwards after some encouraging signs.
Winning every game in pre-season is not a certain prelude to a great season, as is losing them all not a ticket to relegation, but you hope to see progress as you go along, signs that the team is building gradually to a peak.
But this pre-season has not been like that for me. There have been the odd signs of progress, but nothing has really clicked into place, and after some tentative steps forward this was a big reality check.