Match Day Thread - the Gas

Fantastic 3 points...not that impressed with our play overall...poor passing and far too many basic errors.
However we gritted out a win...yea they missed quite a few chances and Roberts again made some ace stops.
Hope we get this back line sorted with the new guy coming in...Williams much better today....top man Mctee........imho.

 

Bristol were 10th on the live score apps before our first goal and victory would have seen them in 9th.

but we can’t beat sides in the top 10…

 

Not as bonkers as booing Luke Thomas. Not the greatest player we've ever had but never lacking in effort and always wore his heart on his sleeve. Seems like a really genuine lad. Absolutely embarrassing that some people saw fit to boo him.

 

True they should have stayed silent. He got light applause when subbed off too.

 

A lot to like first half and equally a lot to dislike second half it’s really annoying how we drop off in games this season .

 

A very predictable poor second half after a decent first half.

We got away with it today as the one bit of good play we mustered got us the second.

But we need to start to put 90 minute performances in. I feel we got away with it a little today. But a welcome and probably just about deserved win, on balance. It could have been different though, Bristol Rovers weren’t without chances.

And I still maintain that it doesn’t matter how ‘bad’ the defenders in the squad are deemed to be, after six months of coaching from a professional head coach who was a centre back himself, they ought to be able to track a run and not be positionally naive. It is down to him that they haven’t improved - I grant him the first couple of months but after that they should have improved, at least in the basics which require knowledge and discipline as opposed to natural skill and ability. They haven’t.

 

I'm so disappointed to hear that. What exactly did Luke do so wrong with us, that deserved him getting boo'ed today.

 

Nothing at all. Just shows how thick some of our “fans” are.

 

Three points better off than last season after 25 games, seven points off the top (not 18, like last season), three less defeats, better goal difference, games in-hand etc.

Onto the next one.

 

I greatly look forward to winning 9 and drawing 2 of the next 11 games then to keep ahead of the pace of last season but at the end of the day it's the league table that's the only thing that matters.

I can't help but think that this season is our best chance to get out of this league and things will be considerably tougher from next season. It's likely that the three coming up will include spenders like Wrexham, Stockport, Notts County etc and the three coming down won't be in the disarray of the likes of Reading and Wigan this season. Clubs like Derby and Portsmouth will continue to get stronger if they don't go up this year. For our part, seven of our normal current starting eleven are loans or have contracts expiring so it seems inevitable we will be much weaker.

You would think that the Board's strategic analysis would be flagging this. If the owners don't want to have to keep putting in c. £4-5million a season ad infinitum (and that's even after transfer proceeds from the last two Summer windows at levels we won't generate again in the foreseeable future) then they need to grasp the mettle in this window. I've never seen Pines play so can't comment on whether he'll be any good or not but assuming he is I'd say minimum one but ideally two more centre backs - it'd feel much better if we had some big home-grown unit like a Mattie Pollock who is proven at this level.

Centre midfield must also now be an area of focus if Connell's fitness is having to be carefully managed as Kane picked up his 9th booking yesterday and will miss two games with suspension as soon as he picks up one more - he would have to go 12 games without a booking to avoid this which ain't going to happen. It's more likely that he'll pick up 6 more tbh and miss 5 games. Russell, no comment, and Benson cannot be relied on. We didn't even have a midfielder on the bench yesterday and whilst Styles is the option he hasn't showed anything thus far this season in a midfield role that suggests he's adequate cover for Luca or Herbie.

I'd also like us to be looking for an attacking midfield player who's quick and runs at people and can give us a different option, maybe coming off the bench. At the moment the blossoming McAtee seems like the only player who really links midfield and the attack.

It's great that we're in the mix at this stage and credit to Collins for keeping us in it with the hand that he was dealt particularly in terms of defenders (we still haven't kept a clean sheet against anyone above 14th place!) I hope he'll get the backing now to strengthen and take us that extra mile.

 

Pretty much spot on .