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Post by Dave1952 on Feb 18, 2017 18:34:53 GMT
Every team had strengthened Macclesfield Guiseley Southport etc we don't have the lowest budget in the division and a couple of loan signings were needed in January - if it's that bad that we can't bring in a couple of loanees then I'm really worried about our sustainability under the fans owner model g i am old enough to remember when Chester definitely used to blow it on purpose (in the fifties and sixties) many times we would be going for promotion only to fade away dramatically, the only club never ever to be promoted until Crewe made a massive mistake and let us in by default. |
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Post by Wortleyblue on Feb 18, 2017 18:36:17 GMT
Well that was disappointing utter dross first half the defence were completley useless and we had no answer 3-0 after 13mins you could tell every time they went forward they were going to score. Playin Alabi up front on his own is a total waste of time I think he got the ball more half a dozen times. They must have had a dozen corners in the first half and scored from 3 of them we had none I dont think their goalie touched the ball he certainly didnt have save to make. However second half with Richards playing up front and Killock replacing the totally ineffective Joyce it was totally different we could and should have had 3 or 4 and we stopped the threat of them scoring again. I have to agree that Jon has to play 4-4-2 for the remainder of the season and Im sure James will get a bagfull if he persists with the 1st half formation we will be in the relegation mix come April. All said it was great to see the Blues again talking to fellow blues fans who made the journey (and I must say there were more than I expected so hats off to you all)and look forward to a couple of local games next season including I think Maidstone who should stay up. Lets just hope we can get to that 50 point mark ASAP and we can relax and start planning for next season
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coybs
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Post by coybs on Feb 18, 2017 18:46:25 GMT
get sam either partnering astles or move him to midfield drop the useless carthorse george and strip him of the captain armband and give it to shaw
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Post by sirfred on Feb 18, 2017 18:50:13 GMT
The fated 50 point target set by Macca at Christmas and since then 4 points on the board
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Post by dmcnally on Feb 18, 2017 18:51:30 GMT
We all said it last week. Reverting back to 442 is the way we need to go. I honestly expected us to line up with a 442 today after the shocking display last week. I couldn't believe the line up to be honest. Then the scoreline.. Half time at least he changed to the 442 we all cried out for last week and put Kane and James up front together. But it was far too little too late. Jon. If you read this (and I doubt you will) but please stick with 442 and use wide men in the wide positions. It served us so well in the first half of the season, now is not the time to start experimenting with formations and players in different positions. Keep faith in the system and get us over that 50 point mark. Southport is massive now next week. It is so painful that it is glaringly obvious what we need to do (4-4-2) and everyone is calling for it, yet it's not happening! He changes it to 4-4-2 today and the score whilst using this formation is 2-0 Chester. I've even tweeted Jon telling him to stick with this formation form the START next game. Please Jon. |
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Post by Charfield Blue on Feb 18, 2017 18:52:05 GMT
O'Brien wanted to come here and is costing us nothing. Macca clearly thought he was someone who could come in and not upset the applecart. With regards Lloyd and Vasell - yes, it was strengthening. Their deals only ran until the end of the year. Without them we are weaker, we struck a new deal to bring them back, hence we are stronger. That's just being picky for pickys sake, you know exactly what he meant From a financial point of view it was strengthening. They were only budgeted up until the end of the year. |
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Post by Dirge on Feb 18, 2017 18:53:25 GMT
Wow. Just wow. That was horrendous. 4 nil down to Maidstone without having had anything resembling an attack is a new low watching Chester. Alabi possibly the only player who can hold his head up at the end of that because he never stopped trying, but what he's meant to do on his own surrounded by defenders as another aimless hoof is launched in his general direction is beyond me. And lets be honest, 4 - 2 flattered us, they could easily have added another couple in the second half.
Such as shame, because otherwise enjoyed my trip Maidstone, really friendly club and a nice little ground, obviously the away end wasn't all that but it will be much better when that new stand is open. But what really impressed me was the atmosphere they generated behind the goal, would love the Harry Mac to be like that every week. I mean, obviously if we could go three up in 15 minutes each game that would help.........
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Post by Helsby Blue on Feb 18, 2017 18:55:05 GMT
All Macca has to do is revert back to 442, get Joyce out of the team, drop Astles as he has been very poor lately, put Hughes back at the centre of defence with Hudson and use width, I'd happily see Chappell play and get some legs out wide if the Mahon mystery continues. Shaw needs to get back in the middle of the park and not play so high up and have the armband on his arm as George doesn't offer anything that warrants being a captain. I think it's time to bring Waters in for a starting place, he is far better than some of the dross on the field and offers something positive. Hopefully Macca now sees his errors in set up and selection and makes the required changes for next time out.
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Post by North London Blue on Feb 18, 2017 19:32:36 GMT
My last game was the one against Dagenham. What a difference, I guess that sums Chester up.
It wasn't just down to the formation, we were slow and passing it around like a pre-season friendly. Perhaps it was the sun.
As others have said, I can't remember a more shockingly bad Chester performance for quite some time.
It really did look as though they had never played with each other before.
30 minutes into the game and they are still arguing with each other about who should be marking their number 11 who ran the game.
It was like a pub team.
Some Chester fans left before half time, and understandably, why did McCarthy wait until after half time to change the formation and the players? 3-0 down after 15 minutes? What does he need the score to be before he realises something is wrong?
I can't begin to say who played badly, they were all useless, even our good players.
The second half was not just down to our tactical reorganisation, it was also down to the fact that Maidstone were coasting because they were 4-0 up. The stats quoted earlier tell the story.
Yes we could and should have scored another couple of goals - that's how average they were - but they could equally have had 4 more in the first half, and that isn't an exaggeration.
Horrible, horrible game
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Flicker's Left Foot
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Post by Flicker's Left Foot on Feb 18, 2017 20:25:23 GMT
Can someone refresh the stats on goals conceded with Astles/Hughes at centre-back and Astles/Hudson?
Why on earth was Luke George made Captain? I have yet to see a performance from him that climbs above average, and I've seen a number well below that.
Joyce should be given 10 minutes if we're 3-0 up and he's never a first choice if we've 11 others.
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Post by Lobster on Feb 18, 2017 20:38:00 GMT
Can someone refresh the stats on goals conceded with Astles/Hughes at centre-back and Astles/Hudson? Why on earth was Luke George made Captain? I have yet to see a performance from him that climbs above average, and I've seen a number well below that. Joyce should be given 10 minutes if we're 3-0 up and he's never a first choice if we've 11 others. George has been so poor for us really, considering the reputation he came with. Not really his fault he's injured so often, but he hardly looks like he's busting a gut to make up for lost time when he does play, plus he's always getting stupid yellow cards and even got himself involved in a serious disciplinary matter that the club very generously stood by him through. Unless he really pulls it out the bag over the next couple of months, he'd be the first one out the door this summer for me. |
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Post by Yogi on Feb 18, 2017 21:26:42 GMT
Yes we are on an awful run at the moment and we need a positive result next weekend at Southport but I still think with the budget we have available to us and the clubs in our area with much more money available to them we need to have the capability to be scouting players for permanent or loan deals both lower down or in the under 23 league. As many have said we have done very little strengthening, which could be down to cash but surely 1 top player on loan who can make a difference and excite people is better than 3 players that very rarely play.
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Post by MPW on Feb 18, 2017 22:06:42 GMT
The fact of the matter is that this is the same team that went on a log unbeaten run and were very hard to beat. The biggest loss was clearly losing Sharps, the defence simply hadn't been the same without him.
Throughout this season we have rarely put in 90 minute performances and I'm sure someone said that we have only scored 4 (FOUR) first half goals away from home. That simply isn't good enough.
We have been punching above our weight and a lot of that credit has to go to Macca, but this will be the true test of his management ability now.
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Post by Stones TV on Feb 18, 2017 22:45:57 GMT
Swift bit of post match from the two managers for you....
*Runs away*
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Post by Pauline M on Feb 19, 2017 0:58:26 GMT
So ,he got it wrong again . The fans can predict it before the game kicks off but he cant . And the directors have just extended his contract !!! Oh for goodness sake. Terrible today but it's not been a run of bad performances despite the run of defeats. We are working with what we can afford and I think Macca has improved this team beyond all recognition from last season. He prepares meticulously for each match but I am sure he is honest enough and the players too to admit the plan didn't work today. It's a blow and TBH we are not used to losing and performing badly. Pleased too read a lot of the players have apologised on Twitter tonight. I think Macca is the right manager for our model and we need to support him. One bad defeat in how many matches?  ? Don't think we should over react. |
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Post by Anders on Feb 19, 2017 1:35:54 GMT
Tough to endure, I’ll honestly say that first 45 minutes is possibly the worst I’ve ever had to witness as a Chester fan. We were an embarrassment.
From the kick off Maidstone swarmed all over us and pressed us, the entire first half was wave after wave of attack against us which looked like it would end up in a goal. It should have been double figures. How on earth we only got away with conceding just four by half time is beyond me. I dare to imagine what the corner count was! To be fair, we did improve after the break when switching to a more conventional formation, which was long overdue, but Maidstone also dropped the intensity. They still created numerous chances despite that. Our heads had long dropped.
I don’t know what we were doing to be honest, from a base of Hudson and Astles there was then pretty much just a straight line of players up the pitch, starting at Joyce, to George, to Shaw and then Alabi, with just Lloyd (out of position) and Durrell out wide. The amount of space they had available to exploit was ridiculous. They just went around our straight line in the middle with ease. This formation we’ve been experimenting with is absolute garbage, just get rid of it now. I just want to see 4-4-2 with Alabi and Richards up top together again. Richards has his critics, but his mere presence on the pitch sparked improvement.
The only positive for me was Killock getting minutes. Hauled on to fill in at left back during a crisis was hardly ideal for him. He’s entitled to be rusty after everything he’s been through, he wasn’t foot perfect the entire way through but I thought it was an encouraging reappearance from him. Alabi also did the best he could throughout and Horwood improved a lot after the break moving in to midfield.
Credit to Maidstone, they were excellent on the day and fully deserved the win, if not by a bigger margin. They looked ropey at the back though and I can see why they’re struggling. When we (sort of) got our act together we created numerous really good chances in the second half. They looked a bit of a shambles back there at times in all honesty, maybe that’s a bit rich coming from me today, but anyone other than us probably would have punished them. Friendly bunch on the whole though, good support and an improving setup.
I’m not sure what today is supposed to be, character building!? But I suppose these days happen. I was a bit worried when Macca appeared to almost blame last week’s defeat on Vassell’s injury. Hopefully we can just get back to basics at Southport next week.
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Post by billyw on Feb 19, 2017 8:30:54 GMT
So ,he got it wrong again . The fans can predict it before the game kicks off but he cant . And the directors have just extended his contract !!! Oh for goodness sake. Terrible today but it's not been a run of bad performances despite the run of defeats. We are working with what we can afford and I think Macca has improved this team beyond all recognition from last season. He prepares meticulously for each match but I am sure he is honest enough and the players too to admit the plan didn't work today. It's a blow and TBH we are not used to losing and performing badly. Pleased too read a lot of the players have apologised on Twitter tonight. I think Macca is the right manager for our model and we need to support him. One bad defeat in how many matches? ? Don't think we should over react. If ' Macca prepares meticulously for each match' and we take 4.points from the last 24, surely by definition, he is failing at his job. He has the same bunch of players as earlier in the season, the difference being that he doesn't have Sharps alongside him and it looks increasingly likely that it was Sharps who was responsible for our early season form. Macca may talk the talk but still makes the same mistakes and no doubt we will play the same formation on Saturday which really is a must win game. |
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Post by Hannibal on Feb 19, 2017 9:15:23 GMT
Oh for goodness sake. Terrible today but it's not been a run of bad performances despite the run of defeats. We are working with what we can afford and I think Macca has improved this team beyond all recognition from last season. He prepares meticulously for each match but I am sure he is honest enough and the players too to admit the plan didn't work today. It's a blow and TBH we are not used to losing and performing badly. Pleased too read a lot of the players have apologised on Twitter tonight. I think Macca is the right manager for our model and we need to support him. One bad defeat in how many matches? ? Don't think we should over react. If ' Macca prepares meticulously for each match' and we take 4.points from the last 24, surely by definition, he is failing at his job. He has the same bunch of players as earlier in the season, the difference being that he doesn't have Sharps alongside him and it looks increasingly likely that it was Sharps who was responsible for our early season form. Macca may talk the talk but still makes the same mistakes and no doubt we will play the same formation on Saturday which really is a must win game. Agreed Billy. Just got up after not getting home til 1.00 this morning. McCarthy is a dud I'll afraid. He is repeating his basic errors, which in my opinion is playing Hudson at CB. I had a wonderful 3 days in Kent, which ended when the Gallagher nightmare began. McCarthy was awarded a contract extension for the team's performances in October and November which were promotion form. The performances in August, September, December, January and February are relegation standard. The only thing I can attribute the October and November performances to were Sharps and Astles/Hughes central defencive partnership. The latest bad performances coincided with Sharps going to Walsall. I remember a period under Curle when we gained 4 points from 17 matches and only avoided relegation because Curle was sacked and Wright won us 5 consecutive games. This run feels like that. Maidstone were the whipping boys and we made them look like Bayern Munich. Oh and a word for David Evans if you read this. It's all very well sticking up for McCarthy with blind faith, but we'll end back in the Evo Stik league with him and Hudson/Waters/AnOther can play at RB, just get Sam Hughes back at CH. |
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Post by Lobster on Feb 19, 2017 9:57:58 GMT
Changing the subject a bit, but why are we always crap at this time of year?
It was most noticeable under Vaughan, but seriously, for as long as I've supported the club, we've always started the calendar year terribly. Even in the Conference and Evo Stik winning seasons, we were comparatively poor in January. It's like this club is cursed with SAD or something.
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Post by Pauline M on Feb 19, 2017 10:01:53 GMT
Maybe not having Jonny Hunt in the side has a lot to do with the defensive formations. We haven't performed well on any of the games that he's been suspended twice!
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Post by Distant thunder on Feb 19, 2017 10:09:00 GMT
Yesterday was so frustrating when you consider how vulnerable Maidstone were defensively. We created numerous really good chances in the second half, despite still being poor. Their centre half said to Kane Richards that he should have started the match once the final whistle blew. It was strange that we were still in the match after the first half, and they would have really panicked had their keeper not made that fantastic save right on the 90th minute. Durrell's miss was also a key moment in reflection, as it would have been 4-3 with well over 10 mins to play.
We were really exposed for a lack of pace today. Maidstone's front men were making diagonal sprints across our back 4, and no one was picking these runs up. Astles looked totally lost out there in the first half. They pressed high up, and they didn't have to worry about any quick breaks, because alabi was so isolated up front.
I actually thought that Horwood did well when he was pushed further up in the second half. He was involved in the penalty, and moved the ball around quickly.
The goals conceded were abject, and mostly came from an inability to clear the ball. Lynch's mistake for the fourth was really poor.
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Post by Hoff side on Feb 19, 2017 10:55:58 GMT
Changing the subject a bit, but why are we always crap at this time of year? It was most noticeable under Vaughan, but seriously, for as long as I've supported the club, we've always started the calendar year terribly. Even in the Conference and Evo Stik winning seasons, we were comparatively poor in January. It's like this club is cursed with SAD or something. |
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Post by Rainstorm on Feb 19, 2017 11:30:13 GMT
Having just watched the managers' interviews, Jay Saunders mentioned targeting us early on after our long journey down south. Did we travel down in the morning on the coach? Teams have traveled to us via train in the past. I know we have a tight budget, but our players did look very slow out of the blocks yesterday.
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Post by Lobster on Feb 19, 2017 11:40:41 GMT
Having just watched the managers' interviews, Jay Saunders mentioned targeting us early on after our long journey down south. Did we travel down in the morning on the coach? Teams have traveled to us via train in the past. I know we have a tight budget, but our players did look very slow out of the blocks yesterday. Would that really save any time? My experience of using trains makes me think not, and there's a lot more that can go wrong on the way. |
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Post by Rainstorm on Feb 19, 2017 11:57:49 GMT
For a journey to Maidstone, you'd do it on the train in under 4 hours if you picked the right times, and the players aren't as restricted in terms of movement. Presumably the coach would take around 6 hours, with a meal stop included. The roads can be a pain as well. I remember that Boreham Wood game last season. Obviously an overnight stay would be best, but the costs are high.
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Post by Lobster on Feb 19, 2017 12:00:20 GMT
For a journey to Maidstone, you'd do it on the train in under 4 hours if you picked the right times, and the players aren't as restricted in terms of movement. Presumably the coach would take around 6 hours, with a meal stop included. The roads can be a pain as well. I remember that Boreham Wood game last season. Obviously an overnight stay would be best, but the costs are high. Fair enough, maybe worth considering then. Saying that, Young insisted on overnight stays in our first Conference season and our away form was awful. |
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Post by border collie on Feb 19, 2017 12:19:15 GMT
So ,he got it wrong again . The fans can predict it before the game kicks off but he cant . And the directors have just extended his contract !!! Oh for goodness sake. Terrible today but it's not been a run of bad performances despite the run of defeats. We are working with what we can afford and I think Macca has improved this team beyond all recognition from last season. He prepares meticulously for each match but I am sure he is honest enough and the players too to admit the plan didn't work today. It's a blow and TBH we are not used to losing and performing badly. Pleased too read a lot of the players have apologised on Twitter tonight. I think Macca is the right manager for our model and we need to support him. One bad defeat in how many matches? ? Don't think we should over react. I made three statements and not even you can deny that all 3 are true . And it isnt just one bad performance ,there have been several poor performances at home . And the less said about Southport in the cup the better . Yesterday wasnt the first away game this season where the game has been lost by half time |
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Post by whopper1 on Feb 19, 2017 12:24:31 GMT
Well I paid £63.50 on the train to watch that shower, decent town centre with plenty of pubs, nice social club in the ground with a big screen and tv,s,left just after half time, absolute garbage, should of strengthend in January like everyone else did,shows lack of ambition at the club, no doubt another defeat at Southport, I've said before we're relegation certs next season
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Post by sqzl on Feb 19, 2017 12:30:17 GMT
Oh for goodness sake. Terrible today but it's not been a run of bad performances despite the run of defeats. We are working with what we can afford and I think Macca has improved this team beyond all recognition from last season. He prepares meticulously for each match but I am sure he is honest enough and the players too to admit the plan didn't work today. It's a blow and TBH we are not used to losing and performing badly. Pleased too read a lot of the players have apologised on Twitter tonight. I think Macca is the right manager for our model and we need to support him. One bad defeat in how many matches? ? Don't think we should over react. I made three statements and not even you can deny that all 3 are true . And it isnt just one bad performance ,there have been several poor performances at home . And the less said about Southport in the cup the better . Yesterday wasnt the first away game this season where the game has been lost by half time Technically you've made one statement that is Fact and that is that JM contract was extended. The rest is just your opinion. You honestly think all fans go into games expecting us to lose? I don't think so at all, we're having a very bad run and JM will know he needs change of personnel next season in some areas, but I would have taken staying up at the start of the season and still will now. |
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Post by border collie on Feb 19, 2017 13:10:56 GMT
I made three statements and not even you can deny that all 3 are true . And it isnt just one bad performance ,there have been several poor performances at home . And the less said about Southport in the cup the better . Yesterday wasnt the first away game this season where the game has been lost by half time Technically you've made one statement that is Fact and that is that JM contract was extended. The rest is just your opinion. You honestly think all fans go into games expecting us to lose? I don't think so at all, we're having a very bad run and JM will know he needs change of personnel next season in some areas, but I would have taken staying up at the start of the season and still will now. To be sure of safety we probably need another 8 points . would love to know where you and Pauline think we will get those points on current form . Southport ? How many times have we beaten them since we got promoted ? |
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? Don't think we should over react. 
