Maybe I just watched a different game, thought Dobson was wasteful in possession, and chasing shadows in the second half. He was frantic, especially when you want that deep lying midfielder to be the sensible one at times
He was having to clear up Innis’ mistakes, think he did well and played some good balls out
Tempo was too slow for Dobson, but he doesn’t hide and I like he always wants the ball. Hats off to Cambridge tho, their manager done his homework. Stockley has got to show more when teams sit like that tho, he was far too centralised and static when we had the ball and they just kept their shape. Like to see him drag their centre back out more like he did for the build up to the goal.
Innis is not capable of playing this style. He was all over the shop today and he invaribaly takes so long to sort his feet out when playing out from the back that it becomes pedestrian. He went walkabout in the build up to their goal as well. Add in the hospital balls out to Dobson then all in all Lavelle must be pretty pissed off to be left out.
Thought we looked tired all round and the whole thing was flat. Can't believe we are 5 league games in and already starting to see injuries rack up.
Enjoyed the day and seeing the bigger picture: I wasn't surprised as I felt Rak Sakyi would be double marked but the disappointment for me was CBT getting injured when some heavy tackles came in as I thought Corey would help us win today from the bench but it felt like 10 mins and he was injured. So neither of our X factor players were on the field at the business end of the match.
I thought we would draw most of our games in August so we are doing fine but frustrating after getting the lead we couldn't create more clear cut chances and put the game to bed.
I understand what Ben Garner wants to achieve but having Jack Payne going wide and having both Stockley and Leaburn playing closer together would seem a better idea that a 6ft 5in striker out wide when we are desperate for a winner ? No comparison with Miles coming on when the game was won against Plymouth and today when it was 1-1. Great prospect is Miles, but the best finisher at Cafc is Daniel Kanu and he could still end up as a great option to have off the bench. Not yet, let's wait until to September 2nd !
We win together, we draw together, OTT on Tuesday especially about young Rak Sakyi, so let's admire the improvement but as I said after Plymouth, the 10 game mark will be the time when we have a clearer idea if we have a chance of being a top 6 club.
Chuks Aneke missing is the 3rd X factor player that we can't afford to be with out as his goal every 100 minutes are needed.
Terrible ref. Cambridge parked the bus. We knew they came just to stop us play beforehand. We didn't have an answer to that. They went home with a point. Pretty much deserved. No probs with the lads or with Garner tactics. We move on. Brilliant effort from The Albie. Clarke-Harris banged in another couple today. If we had brought him in it would have completed the squad. As it is we still don't have A ruthless number 9 and in games like today we dropped two points because of this.
Cambridge deserved their draw. Won the toss and made us kick the wrong way, good reaction from their manager and players to going a goal down. Very disappointed. My schedule of home wins and away draws is under serious threat. If we win aT Wycombe we are still one point short, so we have to win at both Wycombe and Bolton (which would us only a one point cushion going into the Exeter game.
More points lost because Sangaard didn't buy a decent forward. Stockley cannot hit a barn door. Very decent chances on both halves missed that decent forwards would have buried.
Precisely..Making a fairly ineffectual striker your captain is a curious choice. Stockley is neither quick or prolific. I'd put Miles on to start and bring Stockley on later
Thought Dobson did more good positive stuff with the ball today than Albie. Morgan’s radar was slightly off today, but that will happen once in a while because he is often trying a difficult pass.
A lot of stick for Stockley but I think it’s harsh and some people had made their minds up about him in this system before the season even started. He didn’t get great service today but the ball mostly stuck when it went up to him, he won some headers, and only had 3 chances - one he rushed on his weaker foot (could’ve done better), one was a difficult volley that he got a good connection on (not fair to dig him out for not scoring that), and one the keeper saved at point blank range and Fraser buried the rebound. The guy has been significantly involved in a number of our goals this season, and he’s occupying centre backs on his own every week. Apart from maybe having a goal or two more to his name, which will come because he is getting chances, he doing what is needed of a lone striker.
Bad feeling from the start, having to attack the Covered End in the first half. can't remember the last time that happened.
It's what all teams should do if they win the toss away from home. Turn the home team around & get them all discombobulated, as well as the home fans knowing it wont be the same 2nd half not attacking the home end.
Clever stuff & probably what earned them the point.
Stockley's hold up play and distribution have improved and his defending set pieces is good, but his goal attempts are generally poor, I hope once he scores in open play his confidence will help bring back the goals
Maybe I just watched a different game, thought Dobson was wasteful in possession, and chasing shadows in the second half. He was frantic, especially when you want that deep lying midfielder to be the sensible one at times
There were three or four really good bits, but the majority, you're spot on.
Bad feeling from the start, having to attack the Covered End in the first half. can't remember the last time that happened.
It's what all teams should do if they win the toss away from home. Turn the home team around & get them all discombobulated, as well as the home fans knowing it wont be the same 2nd half not attacking the home end.
Clever stuff & probably what earned them the point.
Agree with you, love it when we do it to the opposition away.
Good after game thoughts from the usually downbeat Browny and an upbeat Lisbie. Both came to the same conclusion that the draw was fair and the team are gelling, however a striker needed and 2 midfielders. Browny seemed to think we were letting McG, JFC and Gilbey go, without anyone coming in, just to balance the books. We'll see what he knows!
Stockley's hold up play and distribution have improved and his defending set pieces is good, but his goal attempts are generally poor, I hope once he scores in open play his confidence will help bring back the goals
I was so excited for that Volley, he hit it clean too... Shame it was inches wide
Too many players off the boil today. Hard to win when so few are at it. Thought Innis was poor, seemed like he was playing in last season's team at times. Giving it away when under no pressure.
Still, the 3 points could've been ours if it wasn't for some dreadful play. Our CB has lost the ball 40 yards up the pitch, leaving a giant hole... So just foul the opposition player and take the bloody yellow and you stop the whole sequence of play where you're dangerously pulled out of shape.
Instead he's held his hands up to show the ref he's not touching him? I was screaming at him to just foul the guy. And they break away and score. Brainless.
Stockley... How many great chances does he want. It's bad that five games in he's got none from open play because he's had really clear-cut chances in every game. That effort on his left foot when he got put through in the first half was sadly what we've come to expect.
The guy does some simple hold-up play better than I expected but his finishing is letting us down at the moment. And we can't forget that he was 5th in the league for chances missed last season, despite missing 1/3rd of the games. It is a problem.
Bonner is obviously a very good manager and set them up well today. Other managers with half a brain will mirror that so interesting to see how Garner reacts. Still it's a decent start to the season from a tough run of games, and I think with some better finishing we probably could be doing even better.
The first half was reasonably good. We played some nice passing football and our ability to hold the ball in the middle drew their wide players inwards giving Rak-Sakyi and Kirk, or more often the marauding Clayden, the opportunity to go around the outside. Sadly we made little of these opportunities; either the final pass or the man on the receiving end were not quite good enough. We were worth our first half lead, but we weren't convincing. We allowed them too many chances and we squandered too many of ours. The second half was far more huff and puff as we lost our rhythm and allowed them greater control - at one point even getting involved in a game of head tennis. No surprises when they equalised then, but at least we didn't collapse like we've seen Charlton teams do too often in the past. The biggest plus for me was the crowd. I didn't hear any moaning and the singing stayed loud throughout. Well done all.
Thought Cambridge did ok and were far more entertaining than the Beckesque team they put out last year. I agree with Seth about them switching ends. I really don't understand why more teams don't do that. Surely upsetting the home team's rhythm is worth for more than kicking off first, or not. Cambridge fully deserved their point. I don't think we can have any complaints, even though the ref was awful.
Just seen the highlights. If Miles squared that opportunity in the last minute to a free Payne, you never know. He's got dynamite in his boots and would have leathered a decent effort.
We looked tired today and much slower moving the ball compared to last Tuesday. Thought Cambridge played the right tactics to stop us but also felt we were under par today. I, like Seth, thought the Cambridge choice of ends surprised us all and maybe threw us a bit. (threw me) Good tactic for us to consider in away games? A draw was a right result as Cambridge deserved their point on the day.
Bang average performance and probably a fair result.
Looked to me as though Garner had tinkered with the way midfield set up today. Fraser was playing very advanced most of the time. It almost looked like 4-2-4 at times. It seemed to leave us a bit short in central midfield.
Think Morgan should have been subbed rather than Fraser, who I thought was excellent.
It was always going to be tough to replicate Tuesday's performance.
Comments
Thought we looked tired all round and the whole thing was flat. Can't believe we are 5 league games in and already starting to see injuries rack up.
I wasn't surprised as I felt Rak Sakyi would be double marked but the disappointment for me was CBT getting injured when some heavy tackles came in as I thought Corey would help us win today from the bench but it felt like 10 mins and he was injured.
So neither of our X factor players were on the field at the business end of the match.
I thought we would draw most of our games in August so we are doing fine but frustrating after getting the lead we couldn't create more clear cut chances and put the game to bed.
I understand what Ben Garner wants to achieve but having Jack Payne going wide and having both Stockley and Leaburn playing closer together would seem a better idea that a 6ft 5in striker out wide when we are desperate for a winner ? No comparison with Miles coming on when the game was won against Plymouth and today when it was 1-1. Great prospect is Miles, but the best finisher at Cafc is Daniel Kanu and he could still end up as a great option to have off the bench. Not yet, let's wait until to September 2nd !
We win together, we draw together, OTT on Tuesday especially about young Rak Sakyi, so let's admire the improvement but as I said after Plymouth, the 10 game mark will be the time when we have a clearer idea if we have a chance of being a top 6 club.
Chuks Aneke missing is the 3rd X factor player that we can't afford to be with out as his goal every 100 minutes are needed.
Work in progress.
No probs with the lads or with Garner tactics. We move on. Brilliant effort from The Albie.
Clarke-Harris banged in another couple today. If we had brought him in it would have completed the squad. As it is we still don't have A ruthless number 9 and in games like today we dropped two points because of this.
Keep going lads!
Won the toss and made us kick the wrong way, good reaction from their manager and players to going a goal down.
Very disappointed.
My schedule of home wins and away draws is under serious threat. If we win aT Wycombe we are still one point short, so we have to win at both Wycombe and Bolton (which would us only a one point cushion going into the Exeter game.
It seemed to vary between a 4132, with Morgan on the left and Payne on the right and Dobson holding, or 442.
Clever stuff & probably what earned them the point.
Decent football but lacked clinical finishing.
Awful referee performance.
Not much to add ref the game. Bit jaded overall and one good striker short of an excellent team.
Apart from one mistake, I thought Sean Clare was.outstanding again today and our best player by far at the moment.
Still, the 3 points could've been ours if it wasn't for some dreadful play. Our CB has lost the ball 40 yards up the pitch, leaving a giant hole... So just foul the opposition player and take the bloody yellow and you stop the whole sequence of play where you're dangerously pulled out of shape.
Instead he's held his hands up to show the ref he's not touching him? I was screaming at him to just foul the guy. And they break away and score. Brainless.
Stockley... How many great chances does he want. It's bad that five games in he's got none from open play because he's had really clear-cut chances in every game. That effort on his left foot when he got put through in the first half was sadly what we've come to expect.
The guy does some simple hold-up play better than I expected but his finishing is letting us down at the moment. And we can't forget that he was 5th in the league for chances missed last season, despite missing 1/3rd of the games. It is a problem.
Bonner is obviously a very good manager and set them up well today. Other managers with half a brain will mirror that so interesting to see how Garner reacts. Still it's a decent start to the season from a tough run of games, and I think with some better finishing we probably could be doing even better.
Thought Cambridge did ok and were far more entertaining than the Beckesque team they put out last year. I agree with Seth about them switching ends. I really don't understand why more teams don't do that. Surely upsetting the home team's rhythm is worth for more than kicking off first, or not. Cambridge fully deserved their point. I don't think we can have any complaints, even though the ref was awful.
A draw was a right result as Cambridge deserved their point on the day.
Looked to me as though Garner had tinkered with the way midfield set up today. Fraser was playing very advanced most of the time. It almost looked like 4-2-4 at times. It seemed to leave us a bit short in central midfield.
Think Morgan should have been subbed rather than Fraser, who I thought was excellent.
It was always going to be tough to replicate Tuesday's performance.