[ Sat 14th Jan ] v Kidsgrove Athletic, KO 3pm NPL1S HOME

[BartonRaz]

Given myself a few hours to cool off and reflect on a truly dreadful result. Was the performance absolutely horrendous today? Probably not, I thought we actually played well in spells. Somebody on Twitter said we played worse against Bedworth a couple of weeks back and i'd go along with that, certainly the first half of Bedworth. Having said that, it was a poor poor day and one that has been coming. Thank God i won't have to hear the ET bang on about this "incredible" unbeaten run again, it's been doing my head in! That's a positive i'll take from it.

A couple of people on this thread have questioned the management and I think there are certainly questions to be asked at this point regarding our squad. Quite how glaring deficiencies at right-back and on the wing have gone unsolved for such a long time now only they can answer. It really shouldn’t be this difficult. In my opinion we need 3, first team ready signings urgently if we wish to progress and also a management team that selects a sensible starting XI in the first place. That XI should include Ben Heath IMO.

Yes we've not been losing, yes we've been doing well away from home, but it's been masking problems that I sincerely hope will now get resolved.

[Rushden123]

I agree Ben Heath should be starting in goal for us.

[real diamond]

Yes I agree also regarding Heath - although our whole right side today were shocking and I would expect both Harris and Parsons to be warming the bench on Tuesday.

[Oundle Diamond #2]

To find out the Diamonds score nowadays, all you have to do is check the length of the match thread on this forum.

[AFCRD_Dan]

Should have been over at 2-0 up, we actually looked good going forward, but poor defending let us down.

I've always felt Our defence has been reliable, but I think the one thing lets us down in our defence is a lack of pace which, at times is exploited by teams.

I think this result will be a wake up call to the players and management.

[sussexdiamond]

I think this was a "wake up call" for everybody. We have all been deceived by that 19 game unbeaten run. To be brutally honest we have been very fortunate in some of those games, and just how we managed to stretch that run so far is a bit of a conundrum.
Other than Shariff we have no one capable of scoring regularly and even he has struggled lately.
In the past two seasons we signed Berwick and Sandy to see us through the final months and both were frankly disappointing.
But we do need now to find someone with a proven goal scoring record and soon, but that is far easier said than done. Peaksy has given the current strikers plenty of chances to stake a claim to a regular place but we are now coming to the "business" end of the season.

I would also like to see more of the Farrell/Curtis pairing as it still seems some way away from Oultons return and of course Jacko will be back soon but that still does not solve the right back problem.

On a positive note the last time we conceded 5 goals we went the rest of the season unbeaten...so heres hoping for repeat.

[BartonRaz]

I think this was a "wake up call" for everybody. We have all been deceived by that 19 game unbeaten run. To be brutally honest we have been very fortunate in some of those games, and just how we managed to stretch that run so far is a bit of a conundrum.
Other than Shariff we have no one capable of scoring regularly and even he has struggled lately.
In the past two seasons we signed Berwick and Sandy to see us through the final months and both were frankly disappointing.
But we do need now to find someone with a proven goal scoring record and soon, but that is far easier said than done. Peaksy has given the current strikers plenty of chances to stake a claim to a regular place but we are now coming to the "business" end of the season.

I would also like to see more of the Farrell/Curtis pairing as it still seems some way away from Oultons return and of course Jacko will be back soon but that still does not solve the right back problem.

On a positive note the last time we conceded 5 goals we went the rest of the season unbeaten...so heres hoping for repeat.

Agree with most of that. I don't think we have a reliable striker to partner Nabil. By that I mean somebody that can frequently perform well because at the moment we've got 3 or 4 who perform well one week and poorly the next.

Also agree about Farrell/Curtis.

[discodunk]

when i saw the team sheet i was a little dissapointed in the selection to say the least.. midfield selection was awfull,,,considering the players on the bench,,,why wasnt tom lorraine playing....i like taylor ,but hes best coming on late to give opposition something to think about (with his pace) and the other one ,,well !!!,,wasnt great the last time and seams to have gone down hill since his return,,,you know who im talking about,,,,,management decisions left a lot to be desired....have the balls to change it at half time when it was 2:2 ,,,instead of waiting untill we are behind.at 2:2 the teams desire is still there,,,stick a player on who we know can score,desire lifts......3:2 down desire lost,,,,,,you could put sanchez up front and youd struggle today was all about poor decisions from players to management.....we go again,,,i think the unbeaten run has flattered us...we arent as good as we think we are and may need some better quality players to push on

[ParcelFace]

I don't know what our best 11 or formation is and I'm not sure our management do either! We must have so many players on our books that just don't play - Wreh, Maki, Holmes, Stevo, Deeney, Ford, Jackson etc. We've got too many strikers and not enough width. Since Nic left we've looked much poorer.

[Trek]

We must have so many players on our books that just don't play - Wreh, Maki, Holmes, Stevo, Deeney, Ford, Jackson etc.

I saw the squad list in yesterday's programme which was double the number that Kidsgrove had listed. However, I do wonder how many are actually 'active' with the club and still attending training? I suspect it's more a case that we still hold their NPL registration and until such time as they join another club then they are technically still part of our club but not costing us any money.

I hope McNulty returns to full back Tuesday evening with someone else in the wide right midfield position and start with Tom Lorraine upfront with Nabil .