I wonder if that's one of the reasons why Leadbitter's quality is standing out so much. Games are a bit less intense and frenetic without the crowds. Suits Grant down to the ground.
The top two to have a draw or two would help us no end, meanwhile, I think we need to win both games this week to pile pressure on them,. We have the strongest squad in this league imo. other teams may have one or two outstanding individuals, but we have strength in depth in most positions and that will surely tell in the long run, if Parky can keep them all happy.
Only conceding one goal after 4 games is well good, especially with the injuries we've had. I'd like us to be scoring a few more but as long as we keep on being a bitch to score against we should keep that 2 points a game average ticking along. Edit. 5 games, not 4. Even better than I thought. H'way the Parky clean sheet there.
pretty sure we have had to do a similar trip before in midweek...never good for players or fans. october being our first '7 game month' will give us all a far better idea of how our squad will cope, so far, anyone who has needed to step in has done a solid job, for a change they seem far more capable of 'just slotting in' and i think this has really been proven with the defence, bailey wright is forever dictating the play/positions and that is paying the dividends. onto our low scoring...one thing i have noticed in this league, (well it actually jumps out and smacks you in the face really) is the lack of real quality in front of goal from teams and anyone who starts to show that quality is quickly snapped up by championship/overseas clubs or premier under 23's...these were plenty of games where we gave the ball away only for the opposition to fluff their lines in the box, this season we have also tightened up and have better cover for our defence so far fewer chances being offered ... remember peter ried's philosophy of 'if we can keep it tight at the back we might just nick one' and i am honestly starting to think that this is probably the best way out of this league, few teams really hammer the goals in.
Good post and quite correct regarding strikers. We should've kept Maja until the end of the first season no matter what. It was our best chance when we had him, Catterole, etc. Even if we'd doubled or trebled that season's wage it would've been cheaper than buying Grigg.
i know of no other club who has let their top scorer leave with half a season to go, greed/stupidity/trying to make a point? ...whatever the reason it did cost us.
He wanted to go. If we'd forced him to stay he'd have downed tools and the crowd would have complained that we should have sold him. It was a genuine lose/lose for SAFC that.
he wanted away but for what reason is the question. A big club brought him on through the academy, introduced him to 1st team football, playing him regularly, making a name for himself, yet he chose to leave... and as others have alluded to, had we not been in div 3 at the time would he have thought twice about another contract?
Sure I remember we had to go to Portsmouth on a Monday night 2 seasons running . We’ve also had Norwich and plenty of Londons
It is a level playing field without fans. I bet 90% of away team talks at SOL were "ok lads, frustrate them for as long as possible and wait until the crowd get on their backs". I think its showing now that we have a slightly stronger squad than most teams in the division.
Ha'way man, fans fault ffs. Joking, i agree and although I can't blame us as fans for getting frustrated due to the shìte that's been endured last few years, I do think it has an adverse effect on players if we go a goal down/ lose a lead etc. It's not the full picture but hopefully all this shìt blows over and crowds return. We're top, everyone is buzzing, the players have the belief and we roar them on to promotion. It could make the difference to an extra couple of points needed at the end. Or we just walk away with the league
