Saturday 12th December

[Boz]

Stevenage had an expected goals of zero yesterday. First time I ever saw a team get that. They took one pot shot early on but wasn't even good enough for their xG to round up to 0.1.

Based on yesterday I'd tell Southend fans we've found a team worse than you. Stevenage haven't really put their reprieve to good use, they were putting together a conference team following their apparent relegation and haven't adjusted to try and compete in L2. Makes it all seem a bit pointless really, the fight their owners put up to avoid relegation just to delay it for a year. They'd have been better off just accepting relegation.

They might be looking like world-beaters after Tuesday night...

 

[The Terminator]

First time I've looked at the L2 table for a while.

Harrogate I could've sworn were up there but they're absolutely bombing at the minute. Did Cambridge overachieve at the beginning of the season and are now settling down?

Orient finally got rid of some of their NL players and rebuilt the squad? McCall out at Bradford, surely?!

Barrow's issue an inexperienced manager or a not changing their squad up enough after promotion? Or a bit of both?

Not quite, still 12 of our NL winning side are there and 6 started yesterday, plus 2 whom played in the NL in the same season but with different clubs.

We've just looked alot calmer since Lawrence Vigouroux signed and became our number one keeper, also it would appear that Ross Embleton is slowly learning the ropes since he took over on a pernament basis, we've been harder to beat in these last 2 months. Plus we've managed to play to Danny Johnsons strengths, which has meant he's got 14 goals which always helps.

The owners have said they expect to bring in one or two players in January, unless they're world beaters for this level I still expect us to slip down the table.

 

[Brox]

Stevenage had an expected goals of zero yesterday. First time I ever saw a team get that. They took one pot shot early on but wasn't even good enough for their xG to round up to 0.1.

Based on yesterday I'd tell Southend fans we've found a team worse than you. Stevenage haven't really put their reprieve to good use, they were putting together a conference team following their apparent relegation and haven't adjusted to try and compete in L2. Makes it all seem a bit pointless really, the fight their owners put up to avoid relegation just to delay it for a year. They'd have been better off just accepting relegation.

Financially we wouldn't have but I do agree we've wasted the reprieve. We were lucky to stay up. Change is needed and has been for a while.

We are the worst side in the league in my view. Our attack is powderpuff. Having no shots on target isn't a new thing for us unfortunately. We didn't register a shot on target vs Southend and only registered one shot on goal vs Walsall (and that was a penalty). Prior to that we had no shots on target vs Harrogate, we had two vs Colchester but those were a missed penalty and then the rebound. Against Salford, FGR and Newport we worked the keeper just once in each game, vs Morecambe and Barrow just twice and two of those were penalties.

We just don't create that much from open play and rarely muster meaningful efforts on target. Don't get me wrong Carlisle were impressive yesterday but we're a dreadful side. It's painful watching us at the moment.

 

[Shrimpurh]

Of all the teams we've played so far this season, I've got to say that Barrow and Mansfield were the two teams who appeared to be very (even very very) much better than their league position suggested. Bolton too, for that matter, but they seem to have finally got a grip. No of course they won't be promoted.

Southend have relegation nailed on, Oldham are doing better than I'd have foreseen at the start of the season, and Scunthorpe are not great, but still better than Stevenage, who barely seem to be offering much more than they were last season.

Wanna see Barrow get their act together and stay up, fairly sure they will, too, but some inspired and intelligent signings in January might be the thing that seals it. Even given the usual difficulties that newly promoted (or as here re-promoted) teams face, they looked like having quite a bit more than a basic level of competence and skill And they seem to have had an extraordinary amount of either bad luck (goals against them at the very ends of numerous games) or a failure to hold out until the final whistle.

As for today's game against Cambridge, I think that might be the best all round FGR performance, across the whole team, that I can recall for ages. We took time to get off the ground, a lot of the first half was classic Mark Cooper "lots of possession but no shots on target that turn into goals" approach, albeit a lot of it in the attacking half, but devoid of any major or obvious mistakes, but eventually what was evident did come through. I really expected more of Cambridge - they've had a really good run. That's a great away kit, even if is half Oxford blue.

Yeah nailed on 100%

 

[Casey]

Max Watters has had a great start to his career..

One for the future or just on a good run?

Only seen him live the once so .....

He is quick, ten yard pace is pretty good. The usual league 2 striker will slide the ball by the post and sky one over the bar every now and then. Watters makes the keeper save it or concede.

The thing that impressed me most though was the stepping away from defenders. Defender has him, touch tight. Watters just backs away half a yard and the defender doesn't know he's gone. Gives him a head start.

To be honest, he's not ready for a step up just yet. We need to get him on a long term contract first. ;-)

Joking aside he has had two months of league football. None of the defenders knew anything about him. His reputation is growing, they are going to study him a bit now so I expect his goals tally to drop off but he does look a good 'un.

Casey

 

[shoddycollins]

They might be looking like world-beaters after Tuesday night...

Bad result for you yesterday but I can't imagine Stevenage with their awful away record and inability to even trouble opposition goalkeepers might beat one of the best teams I've seen us play so far.

 

[Essex2Wessex]

Stevenage have been, by far, the weakest team FGR have played this season so far, even if (in part because we were in a COVID-weakened position) we didn't play briliantly against them.

Southend lacked attack (and we played poorly against them), but were, for us, not a pushover.

Obviously freak results happen everywhere....

 

[shoddycollins]

Stevenage have been, by far, the weakest team FGR have played this season so far, even if (in part because we were in a COVID-weakened position) we didn't play briliantly against them.

Southend lacked attack (and we played poorly against them), but were, for us, not a pushover.

Obviously freak results happen everywhere....

The only other thing to mention which might make me feel like I was being harsh on Stevenage / soft on Southend was that when we played them we had just been beaten 3-0 by Cambridge on the opening day, having lost our first three competitive fixtures 4-1, 3-0, 3-0 (and then went on to lose our next game at a poor Scunthorpe).

We went into that Southend game second bottom (to Southend) and were already making wisecracks about it being a relegation six-pointer. We didn't play all that well against Southend, but still beat them easily. If we could play them again now I might get a better idea of whether or not they are actually better than Stevenage.

Most of those teams at the bottom have one thing in common though... they just don't take enough shots. It's not even the quality of the shots, you need to actually take shots before you start worrying about whether or not you're troubling the keeper.

Southend managed 4 shots, hit the target once, Bradford managed 6 but failed to hit the target with any; Stevenage only took one shot... and missed. Barrow in comparison took 12 shots, more than those three combined, and despite being pretty poor when they played us, their six shots on target meant an equaliser was always a possibility, even though it would have been against the run of play.

 

[masi51]

Southend.......and wait for it...........................................................................Grimsby

My prediction on 12 dec when Grimsby stood way out of the relegation spots



Another of my predictions that turned out about right