The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Firstly I would like to thank the 50 or so RDFC fans that bothered to make the short trip to Eastwood.
That is the only good thing that is going to be written in this post so here we go..... Joe Day; can’t deal with crosses, simple as. Poor in the air and he’s kicking isn’t getting any better. The defence couldn’t deal with the route one football Eastwood were playing for some of the game. Never seen Osano lose so many headers in the life and as for Jamie Day and Miller, I don’t think the 300 people there (including Eastwood’s wide players) even knew they were on the pitch, About as useful as a Condom vending machine in the Vatican. The Midfield wasn’t in the game at all, Max porter is a great attacking player but when he’s put in front of the defence, all you see him do is run around like a headless chicken all night running after shadows. Farrell played OK but compared to Eastwood’s attacking players, he couldn’t hold up a ball for toffee, his goal was luck, right place right time. Although I think it was a mistake to take him off, Smith offered something different upfront, Farrell was the best out of the 3 strikers at the time. We went into half time at 1-1 with the game in the balance. As they came out for the second half we did the same as we have done in the last 3 or 4 games, come out the worse team. I don’t know what JE says in the dressing room at HT but it obviously isn’t working because we just sat back and watched Eastwood put the ball in the back of the net to go 2-1 up. We were shell-shocked after that but was being outplayed in every department and soon after came the 3rd. We were lucky to get back into it and it went into extra time. Once again at the restart Eastwood came out the better team and scored the 4th. Then they stuck bodies behind the ball and we couldn’t really get through apart from the odd good play, and that is where the pen came from, although I’m glad he missed because we would of lost in Pens anyway, Joe Day is shit and we would of missed most of the pens we took so that how the game went.
Now this is what gets me anger. The team we played were not grieving, not depressed. Just utter shit. So don’t pull the Dale card out. How long are some of you lot going to pull that one. When we lose 3 or 4 in a row again, we all going roll over and say o well they are grieving the death of a former player. f*** sake, we were shit before he died. We played exactly the same in November and early December. It’s why we drew to Eastwood at home. Played exactly the same last night and that why we lost, they read like a book. We NEVER try something different, its 4-3-3 or more like 4-3 because the midfield don’t get in the game. It doesn’t work, CHANGE IT. It’s too late changing the formation when we are 3-1 down, half way through the second half. We need to try different tactics during the game, mix it up, swap the wide players. No point playing the same in the first minute and the last minute. It didn’t take long for Eastwood to work us out and then its game over for us at the moment. I could of told you at the start of the game then hitting wide balls into the box when both of their CB are 6 ft + wasn’t going to work, so what do we do, use that tactic all game. It’s pretty simple!
Another thing that pisses me off is the ‘without Justin we wouldn’t have got to the play-offs last season’ Now I’m not one of the dickheads that wants JE out, but that just pisses me off when people say that. Last season’s counts for nothing, We don’t go to game and the away team say ‘OO Rushden you got into the play-offs last seasons, have a 2 goal lead’ No, last season was last season, We did well, but this season we are out of the FA Cup, FA Trophy and sitting mid-team in the league. JE needs to make changes. Joe Day OUT, Osano OUT, Sam Smith OUT. We need new players and decent ones.

Rushdenjim wrote: The team we played were not grieving, not depressed. Just utter shit. So don’t pull the Dale card out. How long are some of you lot going to pull that one. When we lose 3 or 4 in a row again, we all going roll over and say o well they are grieving the death of a former player. f*** sake, we were shit before he died. We played exactly the same in November and early December.

Thanks for your honesty, its the truth that usually hurts some people.
As for you JE part, I AM one of those that think JE is out of his depth, he needs to learn his trade. Last season he had an assistant that "may" have been more influential than we all know.

My honest opinion is to really concentrate on DEFENDING, lets sort that out. If we stop conceding goals we CANNOT be beaten. A top defencive unit would then pass on to the rest of the team.

I think your being incredible harsh on Joe Day, he's a excellent prospect. Admittedly there are parts of his came that he needs to work but he's a 20/21 year old keeper! Give the lad a chance

rudolph_hucker wrote:

Rushdenjim wrote: The team we played were not grieving, not depressed. Just utter shit. So don’t pull the Dale card out. How long are some of you lot going to pull that one. When we lose 3 or 4 in a row again, we all going roll over and say o well they are grieving the death of a former player. f*** sake, we were shit before he died. We played exactly the same in November and early December.

Thanks for your honesty, its the truth that usually hurts some people.
As for you JE part, I AM one of those that think JE is out of his depth, he needs to learn his trade. Last season he had an assistant that "may" have been more influential than we all know.

My honest opinion is to really concentrate on DEFENDING, lets sort that out. If we stop conceding goals we CANNOT be beaten. A top defencive unit would then pass on to the rest of the team.

Agreed with the MS comment totally, I'm starting to think that he was more important to the club then first thought

Joe Day; can’t deal with crosses, simple as. Poor in the air and he’s kicking isn’t getting any better.

Day is 20. Other than last night's error, he hasn't made many. Keepers take longer to develop, he'll get better with the experience he's getting. And his kicking isn't as bad as some make it sound, why do some people want our keepers to be able to spray it about like Beckham?

As they came out for the second half we did the same as we have done in the last 3 or 4 games, come out the worse team. I don’t know what JE says in the dressing room at HT but it obviously isn’t working

Agreed, this needs sorting out quickly. It's not just a recent problem, though it has got worse.

So don’t pull the Dale card out. How long are some of you lot going to pull that one. When we lose 3 or 4 in a row again, we all going roll over and say o well they are grieving the death of a former player. f*** sake, we were shit before he died.

Yes, we were. No one will ever know what would have happened in the last few games if Dale was still here. We might have won all the games, we might have still lost them all.

By the same token, no one knows how long it takes individual people to get over things. I know I'm gonna get the "It's happened to me, I still did my job" argument, but football is all about confidence and motivation. As you said, we were poor before Dale died, so confidence was already low. I bet his death has changed a few players' persepectives: Would you be motivated to play football now, knowing that it doesn't really mean anything, it's just a game? Yes, it's always only been a game, but that point will have been hammered home.

We NEVER try something different, its 4-3-3 or more like 4-3 because the midfield don’t get in the game. It doesn’t work, CHANGE IT. It’s too late changing the formation when we are 3-1 down, half way through the second half. We need to try different tactics during the game, mix it up

I agree with this. 4-3-3 worked last season because it was different. Everyone expects it now, we need a plan B.

Joe Day OUT, Osano OUT, Sam Smith OUT.

No, Yes, No. Joe should get the rest of the season as first choice IMO. Osano has been shit all season. You said Smith offered something different, others said he changed the game. There's clearly talent there, I'd like to see him given a proper run in the side before deciding to get rid. How many times has he played 5 consecutive games, for example?

Another thing that pisses me off is the ‘without Justin we wouldn’t have got to the play-offs last season’ Now I’m not one of the dickheads that wants JE out, but that just pisses me off when people say that. Last season’s counts for nothing,

Who put together the team - a bunch of mostly rejects from the likes of Barnet and Grays - that got to the play-offs? Yes we had Tomlin, but show me a successful team that doesn't have a stand-out player.

I think everyone knows last season means nothing now (other than making teams want to beat us more), it doesn't mean we should forget that it was a decent achievement for a club of our size and budget.

We need new players and decent ones.

Agreed. But they cost money. Do we have any?

The simple truth is that we don't have the money to get the better players in this league so we have to mend and make do with youngsters and cast-offs. For various reasons we've gone on a winless run, all starting with the one against Yeovil. Before that, we were world beaters and play-off contenders. So long as the team is competing, the wins will come back. I'd take our situation over the Plopps anyday.