Ugly

Do,s it matter if it was ugly or pretty, 3 yellow cards and a RED now this is open to discussion.
We open our season with a 1-0 win and 3 points.
Tuesday we have a cup match ????? another discussion.
Then away to Crewe, they are either Brill or BAD, lets hope they have an OFF DAY.
Being too far away to be At Preistfields would like to hear from those that were there.
HOTSM Argentina a long long way from home, like me I would love to have been there today with my Family.
3 points !!!!! what BETTER
UTG

 

when you said ugly I thought you meant the referees performance in the last 30 or so minutes ! - when he seemed to lose a grip on any common sense. I thought the whole team ( including subs ) played well. Like I thought and said the midfield and defence made it difficult for Cheltenham to worry Flintney. Kedwell worked really hard up front ( should have scored from THAT header )Only criticism was that at times the midfield were a little slow injoining up with Kedwell.
So = that's 1 of 17 wins. I just hope that the 29 goalless draws are just as entertaining. See you all at Gresty Road. UTG.

 

Rock solid defence with Frampton and Lawrence outstanding. Workmanlike elsewhere goals look likely to be rare this season but that was to be expected. It will need a couple of competitive away games to judge team potential. Rooney got what he deserved.

 

Solid is definitely the word I would use for the Gills performance today, I cannot see anyone getting past our defenders (probably an exaggeration!), although at the same time, not overly convinced on any goal scoring machine either. Looks like it could be 1-0 to the Gills all season

Has Flitney got the same kicking problems as Julian?
Not really tested today imo, mainly due to Framps and Lawrence holding the fortress, funniest moment for me was when Lawrence was arguing with the ref over a yellow card, Framps came along and tugged him away, not many people would get away with that!

Rooney harsh imo, didn't get a clear sight of the tackle, however, was it really any worse than earlier when he was about to break and got brought down?
The unfortunate bit with Rooney, you could see the naivety and distraught in him all at the same time, it was good to see (I think it was Framps) guide him in the right direction away. Rooney was the lively young pair of legs, that started to drain on the Cheltenham players, I'm avoiding suggesting anything but then I don't need to because the ref was the one that had a rush of blood to his head. Even if he was going to show the red, his timing and calmness could have been better, towards the young man.

I saw Gazza in the warm ups before the game, really would like to see this guy given a chance to start.

Montrose, for the first time I agree was the correct man of the match.

Weston good when he came on, really started to undo the Cheltenham players round the back, Rooney's sending off put paid to any further chances in the game though.

 

I thought hess would start Flitney, but I have to say Flitney done nothing wrong so Gazza will have to wait for his chance as Hess is not one to change around the keeper and if Flitney is consistent and does well I don't know when Gazza will get his go.

 

I disagree Hoadie, I don't want to be harse on Flitney in his first game but if your stating he did nothing wrong!

His kicking was no better than Julian's, he also went for a ball that he did not need to, fisting away and appearing to take Martin and a Cheltenham player down with him at the same time.

Ok, he kept a clean sheet, mainly due to Framps and Lawrence, the real test will come when they have an off day, then I will re evaluate my opinion.

I will say one good thing with him though, his communication and understanding of reading situations, especially when Lawrence is coming back with the ball, is by far better than Julian's

 

Opening games to the season are always a nervy affair as players are still trying to adjust to a higher tempo than pre-season. The overall performance may have been ugly but the defending was nothing short of beautiful. Frampton is a born leader and organised the defence brilliantly. It has to be said, Joe Martin was brilliant, unlucky not to be man of the match in my opinion. He showed great pace, awareness and did brilliantly for the goal.

 

I do agree BRB If it was up to me I would go with Gazza but I am saying I think Hess will not want to alter the team too much so I doubt he will want to change the keeper at the moment as he will want to give Flitney a real chance, we will just have to see what he can offer over the coming games.

 

Lawrence was superb today,my man of match.frampton will make great captain this season.think weston can do a job assisting kedwell. Theres quality at priestfied now and things will get better as season progtesses

 

Tbh i thought Rooney deserved the sending off, such a pointless wreckless challenge with both feet off the ground and studs showing. Clearly still very naive to be jumping in tackles outside there penalty box and I also thought him accusing the other player of diving showed his immaturity as well, i'm sure any of our players would have done exactly the same if not to get out of the way of his challenge.

All the signings looked good bar Flitneys kicking and a few times when he maybe shouldn't have come out (he looked much more secure from set pieces then julian or cronin though imo). Also Montrose from throw ins seemed to kick it out every time when thrown to him. Other then that a very well taken goal and a very promising performance from Weston with two great shots which i have no idea how he got out and as previously stated a header kedwell really should have scored.

 

I have to agree aswell I though the ref was right to send him off as Rooney got it all wrong and he had to go, shame we had to get a sending off in the opening game and he is not the player I thought would get our first red card either.

 

It was vital to get that first win at the first attempt after what happened last season and like batch said, the first one or two games are always nervy so the result and the performance on the opening day doesn't make or break the team's prospects.

From what I've read it doesn't sound like Flitney had much too do but I would wait to give Gazzaniga a try; a lad of his age in a foreign country will mean it will take a while for him to be settled. Give him a few weeks before playing him. One thing that did concern me was the well documented fact that we are lacking firepower even if Birchall was fit. Having Kedwell as a lone striker with no strikers on the bench (only 5 subs allowed not helping matters) is slightly worrying.

I thought Rooney deserved to be sent off, in today's football you can't go in like that on a player whether he can tackle or not. I don't know how the guy who writes the match report on the O/S thought it was harsh

 

I can't for the life of me see how Montrose was M-O-M. I thought he did OK,but once again the sponcers pick the guy who scores the goal as the best player. I thought Joe Martin was absolutely out standing. Shows what a good pre season can do.

 

3 points are the main thing to get us up and running... this will start to calm the nerves for all concerned!
the team are still getting to know eachother and can only see things improving for us...cummunication will improve along with performances, and obviously wins are the biggest tonic for that to happen!

thought joe martin for me was motm...looks alot more confident than last season and his touch was good. hess said he would improve as he became fitter and played games...looks like he was right...hope he stays fit?

at this present time the biggest plus for us is having someone like frampton, who will make such a difference in a pressure game or where hot heads are needed to be cooled down!!!

as almost everyone is saying...we need that striker (or two) to play off kedders, and alot is being spoken about one kevin lisbie coming back to us, who would be a good addition to the team.

shame rooney got carded because think he may have got a chance at brighton on tuesday night...don't see his ban being turned over if hess tried to do it either!

did anyone go in blues rock cafe...if so how does it look???

UTG !!!

 

Did anyone else think Matt Lawrence was terrible? Yesterday he was trying to trick the ref every ten seconds and it almost cost us when he was lying down when they had a throw in trying to get something from the ref!

 

having just watched it on the football league show it was always gonna be a red. rooney dived in and the guy did go over spectacularly which wouldnt have helped his caused. just as the ref hadnt helped his cause during the rest of the game which made it seem that every decision he made was questionable in the fans mind. how payne got a yellow for that whole ball fiasco, but anyway..

montrose had a good game but weston looked very sharpe when he came on, would think he'll start on tues, maybe up behind kedwell to see if that works or not. agree with everyone else that martin looked solid and composed, he also did well in the air an area we were not great last season.

my only worry was fuller, he had a good game but the 2 or 3 good chances that cheltenham created or atleast started all came down their left when fuller had gone bombing too far upfield and with very attacking midfielders ahead of him it does leave a big gap which lawrence and frampton cant cover.

oh well 3 points and i'll take that every day of the week

 

I have to agree with much of what has been said, it wasn't a pretty performance but we stuck at it and ground out the win.

I am surprised that no one has picked up on how good Payne was, by far the best player on the pitch yesterday, everything good GIllingham did came through him, he linked well with Framps and Shaggy at the back as well as protecting them with some good strong tackling. Jokey picked up on Fuller being a weak point but I think that was to do with a real lack of pass at the back. We play a very narrow midfield five and the full backs need to "bomb forward" to create the width, Cheltenham picked up on the and palyed the ball wide to ry and give the strikers the space to out pace Framps and Shaggy.

 

Game was infinitely better than the last one I went to (Hereford). I thought we lined up a bit defensively leaving way too much space between Kedwell and the midfield. Was very impressed with Kedwell, he was very isolated and I've seen "better" (for want of a better term) strikers than him be far worse when being the lone frontman. Personally my MOTM was Spiller. Although his performance dropped in the second half, as everyone's did. Back line looked very good and really kept everything away from Flitney. But when he did have something to do he did it well with one exception in the second half when he got a bit stuck in no mans land. Lots of drive and energy from everyone. Ref was right to send off Rooney, it was a poor tackle. But should have sent their number 14 off 3 times and also missed a kick out and a swung elbow when the players were on the floor.

 

Thought he was man of the match,full of passion fighting for the mighty gills.

 

There doesn't seem to be much of a mention for young jack I thought he done plenty of closing down in the middle of the park with some nice touches,but wasn't that impressed with Ross's kicking must try harder.