The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Have had a while to think about the game now, I did mention Jake Newman in a previous post, I don't agree that he doesn't want to be at the club.

Wasn't he quoted as saying he wanted to sign for us originally, but it didn't happen, and ended up going to Sileby?

Was checking his twitter account, and he said;

yeah it was nice to score but I'd rather not score and win to be honest

Also his attitude that some mentioned, could have been mistaken for him showing frustration.. which won't be helped by his lack of confidence.
I do remember Starms giving him a right earful when he should have converted a chance in the second half.

I think it was a bad day all round, and I'd much rather it happened in October, rather than an important game at the end of the season.

Well I've taken stock of that performance and I agree with the comments by many I here with regards to certain areas. We need a solid keeper, unfortunately Quincy isn't that keeper. We need at least one centre midfield, Gilsenan had a good start but he has been a passenger recently. I'm really unsure about Sean McBride, he is a battler but I don't see any quality there. I believe Elliot dent has been a big loss and I hope he returns sooner rather than later. Jake Newman seems to have upset the harmony in the squad, he does give the impression that he is it in for himself unfortunately. I hope that I'm wrong with this assumption. Anyway that's just my take on things!

The only highlight of yesterday was the cracking pie and mash I had in the pub before the game

For the record, AFC Wimbledon’s first season saw them finish in third place (W36, D3, L7) and fail to gain promotion, and that with an average crowd of around 4 or 5 times what we get. Although they were placed one step higher than we are, it is just about the nearest comparison we have with a totally new side. I think results in the first few games saw expectations rise, but we have to be realistic. The teams we are playing have been together for years and know each others strengths and weaknesses. Injuries to three key players (Dent, McDonald, Taylor) haven’t helped us gel as quickly as we might have liked either, but there were also several uncharacteristic errors yesterday which contributed to the defeat. We probably have one of the smallest squads in the League despite what everyone else says so we just have to exercise some patience.

BTW – AFC Wimbledon went unbeaten in the League in their second season.

Defeat must not be feared, it must be used to motivate and strengthen our resolve to build our club the right way. There's a long way to go, we're 2 points off top spot with all to play for.

Any one else wonder why the Eynesbury keeper was allowed to wear specs yesterday? From my experience in junior football, I'm sure that specs have to be of the 'safety goggle' variety. From where I was standing, they looked like your run of the mill Specsavers variety. Surely a potential danger to the keeper, and to other players? To be fair, they didn't seem to affect him much, even during the downpour in the first half! 8-)

Scarey wrote:Any one else wonder why the Eynesbury keeper was allowed to wear specs yesterday? From my experience in junior football, I'm sure that specs have to be of the 'safety goggle' variety. From where I was standing, they looked like your run of the mill Specsavers variety. Surely a potential danger to the keeper, and to other players? To be fair, they didn't seem to affect him much, even during the downpour in the first half! 8-)

one of their officials called him MILKY mmmmm cant think why :lol: :lol: (not meant to be anti glassizm or what ever or politicaly incorrect :roll: why am i having to say it??? to cover my backside ;) before anyone starts)

Scarey wrote:Any one else wonder why the Eynesbury keeper was allowed to wear specs yesterday?

I spoke to an Eynesbury fan in the first half and he said they were approved safety glasses and he has the necessary approval to wear. He also added he was an ex-St. Neots reserve centre-half and he wore them when he played for them ala Edgar Davids.

Three of Diamonds wrote: There's a long way to go, we're 2 points off top spot with all to play for.

Actually 4 points behind Sileby in the updated table.

http://full-time.thefa.com/ProcessPubli ... ue=1625657

Noddy wrote:For the record, AFC Wimbledon’s first season saw them finish in third place (W36, D3, L7) and fail to gain promotion, and that with an average crowd of around 4 or 5 times what we get. Although they were placed one step higher than we are, it is just about the nearest comparison we have with a totally new side. I think results in the first few games saw expectations rise, but we have to be realistic. The teams we are playing have been together for years and know each others strengths and weaknesses. Injuries to three key players (Dent, McDonald, Taylor) haven’t helped us gel as quickly as we might have liked either, but there were also several uncharacteristic errors yesterday which contributed to the defeat. We probably have one of the smallest squads in the League despite what everyone else says so we just have to exercise some patience.

BTW – AFC Wimbledon went unbeaten in the League in their second season.

I made this point in another thread, just to make people realise that it really is not the end of the world if we don't get promoted in our season, Scarborough Athletic is another example of a phoenix club that weren't promoted til their second season and like us they started at step 6 (albeit with a slightly smaller fanbase and quite a trek to home games), and incidently struggling to get out of step 5 I see, they've spent a few years there now. I still think a top 3 finish is definitely achievable imo with our full strength team available, we looked very decent at times in August and September and I still expect us to win the majority of games against teams outside the top 4 or 5, we struggled to beat teams like Wootton and Olney cause they had to adopt very defensive tactics and its their cup final, so its not gonna be easy for us and as like someone said earlier in the thread we need time to gel

3rd place, 4 points behind with a game in hand.....I'll take that :-)

Yes, we may have had a couple of poor performances, but what team doesn't, atleast it's happening now, not april/may!!!