We shouldn't be too disheartened by that.

We played ok, but Chesterfield were the better team.

Their best player was their left winger, so him up against a centre mid playing right wing back was a recipe for disaster. Right back is really an area that needs to be strengthened - they exploited it all game. Williams had a rough time and made a costly mistake, but again he was against their best player.

The forwards also didn't contribute much. Had a few chances but couldn't capitalise. Wilkinson took his goal well but looked pretty weak - need a proper danger man up front. SSW was quiet.

BUT...

The 3 centre backs looked really solid. Roberts won everything, and Nyatanga looked really strong. Smith did well at wing back too, but didn't contribute much when playing at left mid late on.

Crowley has definitely got some magic about him - created our goal and they couldn't get near him. Tried to do too much at times, but a really exciting prospect.

Davies was a rock.

I'd like to see Watkins up front on Tuesday too

 

Agree. Need another right and left back and a striker or two.

I thought Crowley ran the game at first but when they got tight on him he had less influence which affected the game

 

I'm saying ten pints.

 

We should be totally disappointed by that result.

 

Disappointed, yes. No reason to be devastated or anything though.

 

We should be gutted.

Playing a Chesterfield team that have lost their players & lost a manager who did a very good job.

It was a great chance to take 3 points & we even had the lead but through a combination of bad tactics & players out of position we ballsed it up

 

Three centre halves all solid again yet we concede three goals?

 

The 3 centre halves and the keeper were the very least of oit problems today. Scowan is our best player. Lost at right back though. Smith isnt up to it and hasnt been since the day he made the first team. Williams looked pretty average when he came on. Hourihane would have struggled to get 0 out of 10. If there was an award for looking pretty and waving your arms he'd have it sewn up. Wilkinson looked interested until he got booked then gave up. Winnall needs a proper partner up there.

Bright spots.

Roberts can throw it a long way and did well first halt.
Crowley looks to have something about him.
Watkins didn't do too badly when he came on.
It wa a right nice day. Got a bit burnt but it's better than being rained on.

 

Maybe that because we have only got central players, none that are comfortable playing wide today !
Had since May to sort it out and we go into the season with no width, but plenty of central players.
I thought Watkin was a winger but we play in central !
Anyway plenty of time to get it sorted .

 

That's not a fair comment on Smith.

There were several very promising performances by him last season.

 

Sorry mate I see it as completely fair. Unfortunately never rated him at all and with performances like that I never will.

 

Yep... and got ripped to bits down the wings, The problem with 3-5-2 in a nutshell

 

352 should give us 2 defenders to mark a winger running at us, if the the wing backs aren't any good however it doesn't really matter. scowen is our best midfielder and smith is promising but a novice. Therein lies the rub

 

I don't care if Holgate might be sold next week. We needed him today so should have played him rather than Scowen out of position getting the run around, in place of our third choice RB. Rowley has plenty of skill but needs to cut out the fancy ****, toughen up and we've also to be patient with him getting upto the speed of the league. Chesterfield must have had double figures worth on target (not seen official stats) and did well stopping it from being a cricket score. Roberts wins everything in the air but needs to work on his pace and strength. We never seem to be able to start a season with a win It's very rare.

 

Yes we should we were comprehensively outplayed by a Chesterfield side I fancy for relegation. Our best players Sowen, Winnal, Hourihane were completely ineffective in the positions/tactics chosen. Piss poor.

 

Smith did all right - got a few decent balls into the box and did well positioning-wise. Everything went through their left as Scowen was out of position (I groaned beforehand at our best midfielder being shoved out there).

Centre backs won almost everything - they had everything but the kitchen sink chucked at them and did as much as can be expected.

Winnall and Hourihane were played in hteir natural positions - you blaming Johnson for them having quiet games?

 

Sometimes in football, one team just performs better on the day.

A major factor in our defeat was not having a RWB - was exploited for 2 of their goals, and could have been the reason for our downfall.

A striker to hold it up could also have won us that game. I'm sure LJ is looking to sign players for these two positions.

Chesterfield reached the play-offs last year, and only had 1 debutant starting today: we lost away to a good team!


Chill

 

Both Winnall and Hourihane play best when they have someone with pace at the side of them.

I thought the centre backs did ok. No more or less. Smith will be a good player. With no cover its a lot of pressure on a young lad. Still if he gets injured I guess we could play 1 of our 4567 central midfielders as left back.

I may be wrong but I don't see a Dean Saunders led Chezzie being far above the bottom 4 ( in fact I hope I'm wrong as I have a soft spot for them) so to comprehensively outplayed for 50/60 minutes is disheartening.

 

From watching the goals the defending in and around the box was pitiful. Nowt new there.