[ Sat 20th Oct ] v Burton Park Wanderers KO 3pm UCL1 HOME

[Formic]

Without wishing to sound all negative again - especially after the positive performance last night - I think a result like that from one of our supposed rivals highlights the need to mix things up within our own squad. It's worrying to think that a team we couldn't beat have been so easily dismantled like that.

Looking at the table, we've only scored two more than Buckingham who are bottom having lost 9/10 games. If it wasn't already, I think Eynesbury is a big game for us. Lose and the likelihood is we'll get cut adrift. Win and we're pulling away from the chasing pack.

I see you've chosen to accentuate the negative there (on the goalscoring front). You omitted to mention we are the top scoring team away from home, or that only four teams have scored more goals than us overall - or indeed that only Oadby and Sileby have better goal differences than us.

You can always make a story with statistics - it just depends what you want to highlight.

As for the comment about getting cut adrift at this stage of the season, I suggest you reflect on the R&DFC experience in 2000-01 or 2002-03.

We are still unbeaten in the League and in our main cup competition (the FA Vase) - I hate to think what the doom-mongers would be saying if we'd lost a game in those competitions !

[rushdenman]

I fully expected BPW to suffer a heavy defeat against Sileby for 1 reason only - they put 110% into the game on Saturday because it was us they were playing. Many of their players were dead on their feet by the middle of the second half ( or first half in one or two cases) so to lift themselves physically and psycologically would have been very difficult. Subconciously they probably felt that after the achievement of getting a result against us they almost didn't care what happened against Sileby.

I think we can expect teams to raise their game against us so we need to be consistantly much better than the other top teams if we are to match their results. In both the BPW and Bugbrooke games we created numerous chances which weren't converted - if we can sharpen up the finishing I think we will be fine.

[Dazzler]

Without wishing to sound all negative again - especially after the positive performance last night - I think a result like that from one of our supposed rivals highlights the need to mix things up within our own squad. It's worrying to think that a team we couldn't beat have been so easily dismantled like that.

Looking at the table, we've only scored two more than Buckingham who are bottom having lost 9/10 games. If it wasn't already, I think Eynesbury is a big game for us. Lose and the likelihood is we'll get cut adrift. Win and we're pulling away from the chasing pack.

Unbeaten, best defensive record etc....

[Pigman]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I'm a born pessimist, its easier that way - you never get disappointed ;) :lol:

We're everyone's cup final and we need to learn to cope with that, its always been that way....... I hasten to add that isn't me "bigging" our club up - its a fact. Teams will play out of their skin to do us over.

You could look at it another way Raz, we're one of three unbeaten teams this year and we showed great character to come from behind on Tuesday to draw with one of the other unbeaten sides.

I agree we need to win as many games as we can ("no s#it sherlock" I hear you all cry ;) ), but talk of being cut adrift at this stage of the season is far too defeatist - all clubs will drop points at some time or other.

I will say scoring goals at home in the league seems to be a problem (if you look at the stats just 5 goals in 3 games) and I'm wondering if the big crowds are getting to our players a bit, making them anxious and too keen to do well, making them a little tense when it comes to hitting the trigger and finding the target? They have to learn to cope with that IF it is the case. That said, the chances we've created have been plentiful and I'd be more concerned if we weren't creating any !!

We're actually top scorers with 13 goals in away games. The match at the weekend will be a tough one for sure, against a side who can score at home (14 so far in 4 home games) but they have lost at home so there is hope - win it and we'll have a 4 point gap between us and the team in 4th place no matter what happens elsewhere - so it is a pressure game for sure, but I have every faith in our lads to do the business and cope with that pressure.........if they didn't want pressure they've come to the wrong club ;)

I still think we're doing really well for a brand new side pulled together by a new management team - we'd have taken this situation this time last year wouldn't we? Blimey, I'm starting to sound like an optimist

[BartonRaz]

I see you've chosen to accentuate the negative there (on the goalscoring front). You omitted to mention we are the top scoring team away from home, or that only four teams have scored more goals than us overall - or indeed that only Oadby and Sileby have better goal differences than us.

We are still unbeaten in the League and in our main cup competition (the FA Vase) - I hate to think what the doom-mongers would be saying if we'd lost a game in those competitions !

Don't get me wrong, I think we've got a great squad at this level and we're fortunate we've got such a great defence. I also said that our performance on Tuesday was a drastic improvement on Saturday's, but I do feel like i'm making a valid point.

Sileby and Oadby are seemingly brushing aside everything in sight (besides each other) with the odd discrepancy, both having knocked up 8-0 scorelines in the process, whereas we're struggling to score without Alfie. To me that suggests that they've both got a ruthlessness and cutting edge that we haven't, although I appreciate that fixtures against Sileby and Oadby won't quite have the 'cup final' effect on opposition players that a game against R&D has - thus making it harder for us.

If our current form continues - with a really tough game at the weekend - we could find that by the time we've got Alfie back we're going to have to reproduce a 00-01 / 02-03 style catch-up! Let's hope MS is right that at the minute we're just not getting the rub of the green.

We'll probably go to Eynesbury and rack up a cricket score now. I hope we do. ;)

[BartonRaz]

I think we can expect teams to raise their game against us so we need to be consistantly much better than the other top teams if we are to match their results.

I think that's essentially the point i'm trying to make, just in far fewer words. ;)

Question is, are we much better than the other top teams?

[SouthRushdenJFC]

We are creating chances though, if we had been a bit luckier in front of goal we'd have scored four in each of the last two games. BSM cam out and played a bit more but BPW essentially had six defenders

[rushdenman]

[Question is, are we much better than the other top teams?

We will only know that when we play them.

I would say we were better than Bugbrooke in most areas on Tuesday.

[bozzer]

i suppose it's also easier to get up for a match with 800 fans watching on a saturday than 30 on a wednesday

[corby diamond]

I was speaking to a lad at work regarding BPW, as he used to play for the reserves. He has heard that alot of the BPW players were unhappy with quincy, as apparently there is some ruling that a goalkeepers undershorts must be the same colour as the main shorts and quincy's wasn't. They want him to be fined...

Is there any truth in the matter and is there such a rule?