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Post by Hannibal on Jan 11, 2018 9:59:48 GMT
Our away form is pretty decent, mid-table I'd say and we have a system which seems to garner around a point per game.
Home form continues to be gash and 3 wins and 12 points from 13 games will take us down if it doesn't improve significantly. What can we do to get the 5 or 6 home wins that should keep us up. Answers on a postcard ............
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Post by Lobster on Jan 11, 2018 10:27:02 GMT
1. Approach home games with an attitude of trying to win them. There's been a bit too much talk recently of 'not losing' games, but too many home draws will send you down. In my opinion, nobody in this division should be completely satisfied with a home draw against anyone. There's no standout team in this division and really anyone is capable of beating anyone. If it gets to the last 15 minutes and the scores are level, take a few risks. Push forward, and bring on attacking players. It's as well to win one and lose two as it is to draw three.
2. Work on concentration at key moments of the game. Too many goals have been conceded right at the end of halves, or immediately after we've scored. I think this is part concentration, part fitness and part mentality. Regarding fitness, long term I think we need to make our pitch smaller, as I argued recently in the fanzine. Better teams can use all the space to outplay us, and it means we're covering a lot of ground every time we play at home. No wonder we often look tired!
3. Do our bit in the terraces. I hate to say it, but I do think we're a particularly bad set of home supporters. Away from home, much better, but we really struggle to make the Deva an enjoyable atmosphere. Bignot seems to be hinting at it as well, and there was a quote on here a while ago from Southport's forum saying we're biggest bunch of moaners around. I think Chester fans are getting a reputation, and you might say the moaning is justified, but not all of it is. Even when we were making mincemeat of the Evo-Stik league, there was a bit of a grumbly, impatient atmosphere, almost as if we're expecting to be 'entertained' rather than to help the team to three points.
Get chanting from the off, and keep it up even if things aren't going to plan. I think we'll find an afternoon at the Deva is a lot more enjoyable that way anyway than it is if we're all moaning, shouting and hearing dogs' abuse. It's a new year and we're unbeaten, give the lads a fresh start and be a supporter, not a heckler.
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Post by agl on Jan 11, 2018 10:41:03 GMT
Tricky one. Not sure we have the personnel to be gung-ho. All very well saying win one, lose two but what if we just end up losing three? Despite the recent upturn we don't have a great squad so maybe it's a case of being pragmatic. Whether the home crowd will stand for that is another matter. Agree on the atmosphere - it has to improve but the players have to do their bit to get the crowd going. No doubt there's a will for the team to succeed.
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Post by Hannibal on Jan 11, 2018 10:53:59 GMT
1. Approach home games with an attitude of trying to win them. There's been a bit too much talk recently of 'not losing' games, but too many home draws will send you down. In my opinion, nobody in this division should be completely satisfied with a home draw against anyone. There's no standout team in this division and really anyone is capable of beating anyone. If it gets to the last 15 minutes and the scores are level, take a few risks. Push forward, and bring on attacking players. It's as well to win one and lose two as it is to draw three. 2. Work on concentration at key moments of the game. Too many goals have been conceded right at the end of halves, or immediately after we've scored. I think this is part concentration, part fitness and part mentality. Regarding fitness, long term I think we need to make our pitch smaller, as I argued recently in the fanzine. Better teams can use all the space to outplay us, and it means we're covering a lot of ground every time we play at home. No wonder we often look tired! 3. Do our bit in the terraces. I hate to say it, but I do think we're a particularly bad set of home supporters. Away from home, much better, but we really struggle to make the Deva an enjoyable atmosphere. Bignot seems to be hinting at it as well, and there was a quote on here a while ago from Southport's forum saying we're biggest bunch of moaners around. I think Chester fans are getting a reputation, and you might say the moaning is justified, but not all of it is. Even when we were making mincemeat of the Evo-Stik league, there was a bit of a grumbly, impatient atmosphere, almost as if we're expecting to be 'entertained' rather than to help the team to three points. Get chanting from the off, and keep it up even if things aren't going to plan. I think we'll find an afternoon at the Deva is a lot more enjoyable that way anyway than it is if we're all moaning, shouting and hearing dogs' abuse. It's a new year and we're unbeaten, give the lads a fresh start and be a supporter, not a heckler. That's just the reply I was looking for, particularly point 2. Have we got enough ability in the team though to adopt a fully offensive attitude. Without width it'd be difficult and there does seem to be a dearth of wingers generally.
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Post by agl on Jan 11, 2018 11:09:56 GMT
Lack of quality in the middle too. I think Dawson is decent at times but he seems to need a lot of time on the ball. He hardly got a kick at Ebbsfleet. Still thunk there's a bit of a gulf in quality between us and mid-table teams. If we throw in Mahon, for example that will leave us vulnerable. Fear we are going to have to scrap our way out of it and it will come down to how many clean sheets we can keep. The big bonus has been White in the last two games - starting to look like the player we thought we'd signed.
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Post by eyeswideopen on Jan 11, 2018 11:53:24 GMT
Its controversial this one but here goes, if we are not going to play with wingers then narrow the pitch. We are using a pitch only 2.5 metres short of the maximum allowed, we could bring that in by 3 or 4 metres either side and still be within the guidelines. If we are not going to use the full width of the pitch, why allow our opponents to, who play with wingers.
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Post by Rio The Ball Bag on Jan 11, 2018 11:54:44 GMT
Can we change pitch dimensions mid season? I doubt other teams would know though.
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Post by massivefloodlights on Jan 11, 2018 12:20:55 GMT
Its controversial this one but here goes, if we are not going to play with wingers then narrow the pitch. We are using a pitch only 2.5 metres short of the maximum allowed, we could bring that in by 3 or 4 metres either side and still be within the guidelines. If we are not going to use the full width of the pitch, why allow our opponents to, who play with wingers. Straws and clutch spring to mind.
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Post by Lobster on Jan 11, 2018 12:35:05 GMT
Our pitch is over a third bigger in area than some others in the division like Maidstone and Gateshead. It's a big difference over the course of a season if you think about it. Given the playing service is usually very good as well, it's ideal if you're a skilful passing side, but we're not. In fact we've seen good passing sides like Woking come here and have, literally, a field day.
It probably is clutching at straws and I doubt anything can be done about it right now, but when we talk of fine margins between success and failure, maybe it's worth thinking about.
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Home form
Jan 11, 2018 12:47:45 GMT
via mobile
Post by Lobster on Jan 11, 2018 12:47:45 GMT
Tricky one. Not sure we have the personnel to be gung-ho. All very well saying win one, lose two but what if we just end up losing three? Despite the recent upturn we don't have a great squad so maybe it's a case of being pragmatic. Whether the home crowd will stand for that is another matter. Agree on the atmosphere - it has to improve but the players have to do their bit to get the crowd going. No doubt there's a will for the team to succeed. I agree. I honestly think though that if we're going to stay up, we have to find a way to win at home. Any home draw between now and the end of the season is a dropped 2 points in my opinion. Most of the sides we've still got to play at home are in the bottom half, and only one is in the top five. I'm not advocating gung-ho from the first whistle, but if it gets near the end of the game and we're still level, take a gamble. Push men forward for set pieces, get the full-backs further up the pitch and maybe try and get a winger on loan.
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Post by Deva Chanter on Jan 11, 2018 14:55:48 GMT
I'm pretty sure the club has to confirm the dimensions of its pitch to the authorities at the beginning of each season, after which point they are unable to make any altercations to those dimensions.
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Home form
Jan 11, 2018 19:30:57 GMT
via mobile
Post by MPW on Jan 11, 2018 19:30:57 GMT
The lack of natural wingers, creative midfielders and big target men means that we rarely cause any real problems to the opposition.
Teams are generally expected to be more attacking at home to try and entertain the fans, so maybe that’s why playing away probably suits our team better.
Our home form has been so bad for so long that the lack of attacking football has almost become the norm for us and the atmosphere is terrible because the expectations are so low.
Bignot mentioned after Fylde that both the players and fans need to be more positive at home if we are to turn around our fortunes.
Let’s do our bit and we can at least say we tried.
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Post by Jack on Jan 11, 2018 20:06:52 GMT
It has been particularly toxic at times during home games.
Bignot has pointed to it and he is right too. I'm not saying we should politely applaud 4-0 defeats, but against Guiseley on Boxing Day the players got absolute pelters as they came out onto the pitch before the game had even started. It doesn't help, and it does sap confidence from a group of players who aren't overly-blessed with ability.
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Home form
Jan 12, 2018 6:18:00 GMT
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Post by Poe1974 on Jan 12, 2018 6:18:00 GMT
I'm a divorced father of two and have to pick and choose my matches as my ex wife is self employed so I have my kids quite often.
I've just got my own place so money is very tight and I currently can't afford for the three of us to go to all home games (would cost me over (£30 per match including fuel and parking).
My last home game was the Tuesday game against Woking and before that, the bank holiday game against Mac. On both occasions the atmosphere was so flat. All you could hear from about 10 minute when the chanting stopped were people getting on the players backs.
It definitely can't help the players.
I don't know what it is but something needs to change.
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Post by eyeswideopen on Jan 12, 2018 9:09:21 GMT
Its controversial this one but here goes, if we are not going to play with wingers then narrow the pitch. We are using a pitch only 2.5 metres short of the maximum allowed, we could bring that in by 3 or 4 metres either side and still be within the guidelines. If we are not going to use the full width of the pitch, why allow our opponents to, who play with wingers. Straws and clutch spring to mind. Not really interested on what you like to chew on and what you have in bits on your kitchen table to be honest.
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Post by agl on Jan 12, 2018 10:38:08 GMT
I'm pretty sure the club has to confirm the dimensions of its pitch to the authorities at the beginning of each season, after which point they are unable to make any altercations to those dimensions. Maybe we could also take one of the goalposts down? (Although obviously there would be a bit of extra work at half time for the ground staff to move the remaining one to the end we are attacking)
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Post by rcb on Jan 12, 2018 12:25:56 GMT
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Home form
Jan 12, 2018 12:26:29 GMT
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Jan 12, 2018 12:26:29 GMT
Its controversial this one but here goes, if we are not going to play with wingers then narrow the pitch. We are using a pitch only 2.5 metres short of the maximum allowed, we could bring that in by 3 or 4 metres either side and still be within the guidelines. If we are not going to use the full width of the pitch, why allow our opponents to, who play with wingers. Straws and clutch spring to mind. Isn't that a marketing ploy from the Chester branch of the Conservative Party?
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Post by muffinthemule on Jan 12, 2018 15:42:47 GMT
Didn't Stoke city play to minimum Premiershite width measurements when they had that long throw merchant of theirs? and did i read that one premiershite club actually increased the width of the pitch when they played Stoke at home to counteract his throw? i agree the pitch bis far too big for a team that plays as narrow as we do
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Post by chesterken on Jan 12, 2018 16:11:01 GMT
Straws and clutch spring to mind. Isn't that a marketing ploy from the Chester branch of the Conservative Party? Surely they would just reduce the right wing and increase the left
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Post by iandychesterfc on Jan 12, 2018 16:46:26 GMT
Only way to improve the home form is to improve the home fans
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Post by archwhopper on Jan 12, 2018 17:33:46 GMT
Its controversial this one but here goes, if we are not going to play with wingers then narrow the pitch. We are using a pitch only 2.5 metres short of the maximum allowed, we could bring that in by 3 or 4 metres either side and still be within the guidelines. If we are not going to use the full width of the pitch, why allow our opponents to, who play with wingers. do we really need a pitch at all, with the amount of time the ball spends in the air or in the car park? maybe keep the 6m square in the middle that kingsley james looks after every game
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Home form
Jan 12, 2018 17:45:27 GMT
via mobile
Post by norwegianblue on Jan 12, 2018 17:45:27 GMT
Unbeaten in 2018. Keep it going !!!!
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