Chester FC V Dagenham And Redbridge MATCH THEAD

How about Halls off,Astles on but at the back and keep Bell on.

Jimmy Soul would have done a better job up front than Bell today.

Bell was about as much use as his namesake, by that I mean the piece of metal that tends to have a ball in. It was suggested on another thread he's out best striker! God help us if that's what people think.

So much being said about the defence and it was terrible, but it got worse when we went to a back 4 for sure. Must admit though I thought the midfield was just as bad as the defence second half! Dawson played very negative, no forward passing bar a few long balls and he was diabolical defensively today, poor penalty, not close enough to the man edge of box for second (although James could also be blamed for that) I thought KJ and Dawson had the hold of the game first half, then second was like some form of nightmare for them both? What happened?

Gough at fault for three goals, and he wasn’t signed by McCarthy.

Yup he had a shocker but he's been good in other games. Think there's a decent player there. 

Too many hospital balls have contributed to our crisis, exactly why we are missing Halls-johnson.

I think a lot of it was just due to Dagenham playing a lot better second half. On BT you saw Still giving them a right bollocking in the dressing room and you could tell they were going to come out fired up. We didn't capitalise when we had the period of dominance in the first half, and the missed penalty could've been a turning point, but we still seemed unfocused and conceded a minute later.

Just checked and when Still first became a manager, Bignot was two years old!

I didn't realise that it was 4-0, I was on my way after the 2nd and caught the 3rd on TV. I realised at Brisbane Road on Tuesday after the missed penalty that we cannot win even when the ref is kind to us. I not only think we will be relegated, but I think we will finish 24th and I doubt we'll win another 2 or 3 games this season. Bignot must take some of the blame because the defence was crying out to be shored up and he puts Astles up front, which is an experiment that has already been tried and failed. We were given a massive let off by the missed penalty and were behind 30 seconds later. I jokingly said that the ground needs an exorcism because there's something completely sinister going on there. I feel that Bignot's resignation is just around the corner because he's faced with a completely impossible task with this bunch of third raters.

Why not, most companies pay for Christmas parties, we haven't got a game that weekend, Harry McNally took the lads out regularly and it worked a treat for team spirit. Until recently I played national League level in another sport and the occasional night out with your team mates really does bond you. You bring a greater collective sense of purpose and camaraderie onto the pitch when you are with team mates you go drinking with.

The Sunday league tactic of "stick the big lad upfront" it's embarrassing! 

It is a bit, but what else can we do?

Too many players in the squad who are simply not good enough, be they McCarthy recruits or additions Bignot has made. Weak from front to back and side to side, no leadership, and tactically inept. If you think the injured players will make a significant difference, think again. This may be defeatist but if it is possible to start planning for Conference North now we should do it, otherwise the malaise will carry over as it did from last season. I would rather some of the younger players were given the chance to get experience now, even if it will be tough for them, at least we can then see if they are realistic prospects for the future. I remain to be convinced that Bignot is the answer, some improvement in performances but not in terms of results. Notice today he was ranting at players from the side lines, not a good sign, although they were some bad individual mistakes which were punished.