Cobblers Scorefred Sponsored by Points mean Prizes

[Binghamstag]

Think one incident in the second half ball came into box. No danger. Logan screaming to Hamilton that the keeper had got it but Hamilton just kicked it in to touch giving them a long throw in to the box.

I would not worry about Logan but christ CJ goldenballs who must not be dropped is playing terrible. Just watch how many headers he wins? None

His positioning is awful and at times it's like we have 10 men on the pitch.

[EdwinstoweStag]

Think one incident in the second half ball came into box. No danger. Logan screaming to Hamilton that the keeper had got it but Hamilton just kicked it in to touch giving them a long throw in to the box.

I would not worry about Logan but christ CJ goldenballs who must not be dropped is playing terrible. Just watch how many headers he wins? None

His positioning is awful and at times it's like we have 10 men on the pitch.

....and given Tyler Walker’s influence, that’s 9.

[Conker]

Whats happened to our style of play? it’s definitely not been helped by injuries including to White and Ojenik who we miss the most.

It’s definitely a nerve problem more recently, they look absolutely terrified and to be fair DF chucked Mellis and Rose on yesterday to try and get it down and add some quality but it didn’t work.

I, like all other stags fans will take the points in anyway now obviously for promotion but it’s a concern for the future how we’ve abandoned what we were all bragging about pre-Christmas.

[cassellswasmagic]

The pressure is showing with some of the comments on here

[Parkinsons Perm]

The pressure is showing with some of the comments on here

It's showing on the manager don't you think?

He's gone from Mellis and Grant to three "workhorses" in the middle that create two thirds of nothing. He's frightened of going for it with the footy around Xmas time, his biggest mistake was swapping Elsnik for the over rated Grant.

If he plays CJ put him in his natural position and stretch teams, how predictable has it become that you know the first sub is Jones and CJ to wing back, it's another bottle job from DF

[Kernow]

Flitcroft is too defensive for us to be a success.!

[Jamie]

Flitcroft is too defensive for us to be a success.!

This ties in to what I was just saying about why he's not being chanted about so much. It has got us top 3 though and may well see us promoted though. If we go up like this it will be a great success still.

It will also be a solid base for a L1 campaign. Last time we got there we leaked goals far too easily and although we had goals in the side it wasn't enough. If we stay hard to beat next year it will give us a good chance to stabilise at that level.

[Conker]

Flitcroft is too defensive for us to be a success.!

This ties in to what I was just saying about why he's not being chanted about so much. It has got us top 3 though and may well see us promoted though. If we go up like this it will be a great success still.

It will also be a solid base for a L1 campaign. Last time we got there we leaked goals far too easily and although we had goals in the side it wasn't enough. If we stay hard to beat next year it will give us a good chance to stabilise at that level.

Agreed - DF risked it by bringing in two new additions in Preston and Sweeney and turning it in to a back three and to turn that to the best defence in the league is a brilliant achievement.

[BH_Stag]

The pressure is showing with some of the comments on here

It's showing on the manager don't you think?

He's gone from Mellis and Grant to three "workhorses" in the middle that create two thirds of nothing. He's frightened of going for it with the footy around Xmas time, his biggest mistake was swapping Elsnik for the over rated Grant.

If he plays CJ put him in his natural position and stretch teams, how predictable has it become that you know the first sub is Jones and CJ to wing back, it's another bottle job from DF

Morecambe at home is another game that probably won’t suit CJ playing up top, where just like Cambridge there won’t be acres of room in behind for him to run in to.

I know people don’t like it but I’d start him at right wing back from the start so we actually have some threat down that side. CJ is closer to what White could provide us, and a far better option than Jones, who has poor control, can’t pass it, and rarely beats the first man when crossing (can’t recall a good cross yet). Benning and CJ wide, Walker and probably Rose up top, and a proper no.10 in behind them for Friday, we need to start creating chances!!

[Sneag]

The pressure is showing with some of the comments on here

It's showing on the manager don't you think?

He's gone from Mellis and Grant to three "workhorses" in the middle that create two thirds of nothing. He's frightened of going for it with the footy around Xmas time, his biggest mistake was swapping Elsnik for the over rated Grant.

If he plays CJ put him in his natural position and stretch teams, how predictable has it become that you know the first sub is Jones and CJ to wing back, it's another bottle job from DF

Morecambe at home is another game that probably won’t suit CJ playing up top, where just like Cambridge there won’t be acres of room in behind for him to run in to.

I know people don’t like it but I’d start him at right wing back from the start so we actually have some threat down that side. CJ is closer to what White could provide us, and a far better option than Jones, who has poor control, can’t pass it, and rarely beats the first man when crossing (can’t recall a good cross yet). Benning and CJ wide, Walker and probably Rose up top, and a proper no.10 in behind them for Friday, we need to start creating chances!!

I think I'd go along with that, although Jones is nowhere near as bad as people make out, he's an orthodox fullback not a wing back. No way is DF going to change formation or drop CJ.

The issue will be when Danny is blowing out his arse after an hour. If we are more than 1 up at the time no problem, but if we are still chasing a goal or just 1 up, would DF have it in his mentality to trust Hakeem to see the game out, or would he revert to type & invite pressure in the closing stages?

Morecambe are no great shakes, but they carry a threat & are the type of team we've struggled with this season.

[pemill]

Think one incident in the second half ball came into box. No danger. Logan screaming to Hamilton that the keeper had got it but Hamilton just kicked it in to touch giving them a long throw in to the box.

I would not worry about Logan but christ CJ goldenballs who must not be dropped is playing terrible. Just watch how many headers he wins? None

His positioning is awful and at times it's like we have 10 men on the pitch.

....and given Tyler Walker’s influence, that’s 9.

... and quadruple golden balls Danny Rose that's 8 - 2 glorious chances to settle the game in our favour but no complaints from many, simply concentrate on the GK, whether it be Logan or Smith.

We totally bypassed midfield all game and how the hell does anyone expect CJ to win headers against six foot giants is beyond me, generally the balls lumped up to him or Tyler were aimless punts where the defender was always in control of.

As against Cambridge, Mellis started to get us playing, he has to start next game in place of another 'golden balls' MacDonald or what would be a very unlucky Tomlinson.

[Stags 2002]

Flitcroft is too defensive for us to be a success.!

This ties in to what I was just saying about why he's not being chanted about so much. It has got us top 3 though and may well see us promoted though. If we go up like this it will be a great success still.

It will also be a solid base for a L1 campaign. Last time we got there we leaked goals far too easily and although we had goals in the side it wasn't enough. If we stay hard to beat next year it will give us a good chance to stabilise at that level.

Whats frustrating is that he hasn't been defensive all season but since February he has started to become far to cautious where he would rather settle for a draw than go for a win and risk losing it. Even though some of those games we lost anyway - maybe he's protecting the goal difference for now?

What is clear is that when we score we quickly need a second to give the team confidence. I don't agree with his tactics of bringing everyone back for the corner all it does once cleared is invite pressure again because it goes straight back to an opposition player. It was only a matter of time before they did score yesterday. CJ can't / refuses to head the ball so why isn't he on the half way line giving Curle something to think about?

At times yesterday the football was dire which again comes from the defensive tactics, thats why the atmosphere fell flat. Only in the last 5 minutes and extra time did we show bravery to have a go, I don't know why it took so long to do so by which time it was too late after rose missed two chances.

Anyway we have four to go, and are still top 3.

[Tippy Tappy Football]

It was another very disappointing away performance in front of a big following. Only slightly better than Notts County away but on a par with Port Vale away. In fact we probably played a bit more football at Vale Park. We have generally been very disappointing away from home this season for a top side with only 6 away wins. I think only Crewe, Stevenage, Colchester (2nd half), Forest Green (1st half) and Exeter City fans may have acknowledged that we were a decent side.

[Tippy Tappy Football]

I would have kept Will Tomlinson on the pitch yesterday and subbed Macca.

I would stick with Neal Bishop and Will Tomlinson in the middle and play Jacob Mellis further forward.

DF is clearly not happy with Gethin Jones as a right wing back but we were short in this area from the start of the season. However Gethin has done ok as a defender and just tends to get hauled off because our midfield is not working.

CJ Hamilton has to be played further forward as he is one of our main attacking threats and second top goalscorer with 12 goals. However there is no point just smashing high balls up the pitch for him and Tyler to win in the air.

One of the main differences between Exeter City away and the last two games is that we were very good at pressing high up the pitch against Exeter and it worked a treat. We scored our goal against Cambridge when we brought on Jacob Mellis and he caught Gary Deegan in possession just outside the penalty area. We need to be brave and push up the pitch.

[CassellsCap]

I didn’t have a ticket yesterday but went with friends regardless and sat on the hill behind the home end...the noise from the stags fans was great from up there but the football was dire. Having said that I did see a lot of the ball as it was in the air most of the time . COYS.

[EdwinstoweStag]

Too many opposition managers have got us sussed. Neutralise our wing-backs’ opportunities to advance and we resort to pumping the ball forward (often from defence) and we really do not have anyone that can compete with a big defender.

Without width in the final third, our “strike force” is somewhat impotent.

[Big yella]

Think one incident in the second half ball came into box. No danger. Logan screaming to Hamilton that the keeper had got it but Hamilton just kicked it in to touch giving them a long throw in to the box.

I would not worry about Logan but christ CJ goldenballs who must not be dropped is playing terrible. Just watch how many headers he wins? None

His positioning is awful and at times it's like we have 10 men on the pitch.

Or maybe just like the rest of the side he just doesn't trust Logan.

[arsene wengers coat]

Just seen the goals.

Logan didn't do well.

[Spiritater]

Just seen the goals.

Logan didn't do well.

listened to the game.
The whole team didn't do well.

[garlic]

Just seen the goals.

Logan didn't do well.

listened to the game.
The whole team didn't do well.

Exactly, it was the whole team, and they didnt start with the intensity of the team wanting promotion, and couldnt up the ante after Northampton equalised, both of which suggest that something is wrong with their preparation. Given that this is becoming a common theme recently, I would not be surprised to find that the end of this season is as disappointing as the end of last season. We will see.

[Tippy Tappy Football]

The view from the opposition.

I don't think we could blame the referee on Saturday. We conceded far too many free kicks and corners. Northampton were going to score from one of them eventually. We needed to get the ball down and play some football as we do not really have a Plan B direct game. The ball was up in the air far too much.

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/spor ... -1-8889767

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/spor ... -1-8890043

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/spor ... -1-8889712

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/spor ... -1-8889870

[arsene wengers coat]

Just seen the goals.

Logan didn't do well.

listened to the game.
The whole team didn't do well.

I was at the game. You could hardly tell what happened up the other end of the pitch from the away end.

Logan should have made it his. Just clear everyone out your way and get either punch or palm on it.

You can blame him for the goal, but not for the whole teams performance. Macca, CJ and Walker were anonymous. Rose should have stuck hi chance away.

[PEAR CIDER]

Just seen the goals.

Logan didn't do well.

listened to the game.
The whole team didn't do well.

I was at the game. You could hardly tell what happened up the other end of the pitch from the away end.

Logan should have made it his. Just clear everyone out your way and get either punch or palm on it.

You can blame him for the goal, but not for the whole teams performance. Macca, CJ and Walker were anonymous. Rose should have stuck hi chance away.

We know CJ is effective in those channels, we just didnt put the ball down there for him.

Rose chance - Torn on this one.. A lot harder than it looked with a stretching leg (although i have not seen the replay)

[MTFCMusings]

Just seen the goals.

Logan didn't do well.

listened to the game.
The whole team didn't do well.

I was at the game. You could hardly tell what happened up the other end of the pitch from the away end.

Logan should have made it his. Just clear everyone out your way and get either punch or palm on it.

You can blame him for the goal, but not for the whole teams performance. Macca, CJ and Walker were anonymous. Rose should have stuck hi chance away.

We know CJ is effective in those channels, we just didnt put the ball down there for him.

Rose chance - Torn on this one.. A lot harder than it looked with a stretching leg (although i have not seen the replay)

Beg to differ on that, that was our only tactic and has been since Exeter away.

[Tippy Tappy Football]

Rose chance - Torn on this one.. A lot harder than it looked with a stretching leg (although i have not seen the replay)

Should Danny have gone for a diving header? You can sympathise if he had second thoughts after his recent bad injury.