Morecambe 1 [Weir] Cambridge 2 MATCH THREAD

[Old Man Kensey]

I'm so mad.
Just whimpering out of the league.
A second goal and we would of won today but we lacked any sort of spine.
Should of took the price of a bag of chips for Stockton. He is going to cost us.

[Keith]

Should of took the price of a bag of chips for Stockton. He is going to cost us.

A month ago yesterday, I wrote...

Am I the only one who thinks 'just go'?

Having an unhappy player, moping around isn't good for anyone. The only way we're staying up, is 100% of the squad, giving 100% commitment. Cole doesn't want to be here and doesn't want to play for us. He's not committed to the cause of keeping us in League One, so the sooner he's gone, the better. I'd rather it wasn't to a club who we'll be battling with at the bottom of League One, but if that's the only option...

If he is forced to stay, I doubt if he'll get far in to double figures this season.

"I doubt if he'll get far in to double figures"???
"FAR"???
Anywhere near would be nice.
Double figures of shots on target may be optimistic.

I hope the contract extension has been withdrawn, now Stockton's made it clear he doesn't want to play for us.

[black morse]

Well that's 'the magic' 10 games completed and it's not looking pretty. Until recently we have been saying that we've been facing the better teams in this league but we can't say that now. We've played 5 in the top half and 5 in the bottom half.

We can't blame it all on Stockton. He kept us up last season but he's lost the will to put in the effort. That was obvious when I saw him come on in the second half at Oxford.. He was always prepared to work but not now.

The fact is staring us in the face now that we aren't good enough, have no resources to buy in the next transfer window and will probably be gone by then anyway.

[Born again Bill]

Just seen Risdale going in to hospitality

Don’t read anything into that, Preston on the international break so he will just be freeloading !

[CityShrimp]

Starting the match thread early this week, with news sent to me, about the referee who has been allocated the game.

We’ve got Robert Madden in charge on Saturday for the Cambridge match. He’s one of the top Scottish refs. He's already done World Cup, Nations League, Champion’s League, Europa Conference League, Greek League and loads of International matches all over the world including England v Wales!

But he’s never been in charge of us so he’s now reached his peak.

Given 24 yellows and 3 reds in eight matches so far this season in the EFL.

Everyone who complains about the standard of refereeing in League One, best bite your lip on Saturday!

We’ve seen worse refs in the past but he made quite a few bizarre decisions today. Certainly didn’t look any better than the usual league 1/2 refs we get.

[BerlinWaller]

A bright start but ran out of ideas quite quickly. We have top midfielders who want the ball but they have no forward movement to play with. Stockton isn't anywhere near being arsed and young Phillips is doing the running for 2. No width is starting to hurt us as we are very predictable going forward. Their front 2 put in a proper shift and for me were the difference.

Our squad is poor outside of the starting eleven and Derek doesn't have much to change the game. Connelly is struggling and Obika has no movement.

Crazy to read posts from people that enjoyed just staying up in L2 knocking a Manager who has got us to our highest level ever. The atmosphere this season has been awful. Singling out players, boo's and songs taking the piss out of ourselves is rotten.

[Phil Anderer]

From his display today Stockton doesn't deserve to start. Won't get a decent salary next season and Alan Nixon can shove his criticism where the sun don't shine.

We started well today (bar the above comments) and I think there's still the ability to keep us up - after all it's still relatively early days. How the ref gave a free kick against Phillips for being royally tipped on his ar$e is beyond me. Just goes to show they can all get it wrong, no matter their experience.

[Redalert1970]

The ref had a shocker but our defence were worse

Please stop playing 5 3 2 it's not working

Worse start than last season under Robinson and my god the football was far far better

We are only going in one direction I'm afraid and that is down

[fulwoodshrimp]

It is becoming clear that we are in a relegation fight and some brutal realities need addressing. Love brings nothing to the side and his misplaced pass yesterday brought about the Cambridge winner. Stockton is contributing little and seems well short of fitness. Not sure on current form if anyone will be interested in him in January. Players like Gnaouia, Connolly, Obika and Fane are simply not good enough for League 1. I also think the manager's substitutions yesterday were poor and left us when we had a few minutes to chase the game without any striker. January promises to be an important time as currently we are in serious trouble. As a little further complaint I thought the referee was awful and very biased. His interpretation of what was a foul and what wasn't was seriously flawed. He brings no credit to League 1 football.

[BerlinWaller]

The ref had a shocker but our defence were worse

Please stop playing 5 3 2 it's not working

Worse start than last season under Robinson and my god the football was far far better

We are only going in one direction I'm afraid and that is down

Disagree completely. I thought the back 3 defended well against a good forward line. We win nearly all of our headers these days and it is good to see Ryan and Jacob carrying the ball when they get chance. It was a good battle to watch.

[Redalert1970]

We all see games differently which is good

But both goals we conceded yesterday were far far too easy

Maybe i just prefer the traditional 4 4 2 set up but hey ho i`m not the manager

[BerlinWaller]

We all see games differently which is good

But both goals we conceded yesterday were far far too easy

Maybe i just prefer the traditional 4 4 2 set up but hey ho i`m not the manager

The first goal was well worked and something they had worked on. Getting the ball in to the strikers feet and getting somebody near for the lay off. The 2nd was a poor square pass from Love that led to a soft goal. That's football and good teams are going to score if given the chance.

Just think it is a bit lazy to hammer the defence without giving any reasons.

[Keith]

I don't think criticism of the defence is founded. I think the three in the centre have been working really well, but we're too deep, inviting pressure and, ultimately, that's what does for us. Zero corners for us, thirteen corners for Cambridge. Eight shots for us, twenty shots for them.

'Adams ball' worked in League Two, giving the opposition plenty of possession, knowing most times, they aren't good enough to do anything with it, then hit them on the break. Perhaps it is simply that in League One, the difference in quality means the opposition can use that possession better, putting us under pressure far more?

That, and starting with ten men.

[Redalert1970]

I agree the 3 centre halfs are working well but we are still shipping far to many goals (1.8 per game on av)

I would just prefer the 4 4 2 system and also be a little bit more adventurous especially at home

[Gone_Shrimping]

Just seen Risdale going in to hospitality

He lives in Kirkby Lonsdale so we are his nearest EFL club.

He was here quite a few times after leaving Leeds and before going to PNE.

[BerlinWaller]

Just seen Risdale going in to hospitality

He lives in Kirkby Lonsdale so we are his nearest EFL club.

He was here quite a few times after leaving Leeds and before going to PNE.

He is on the EFL board as well according to a statement released by PNE last week.

[lancaster shrimp]

I don't think criticism of the defence is founded. I think the three in the centre have been working really well, but we're too deep, inviting pressure and, ultimately, that's what does for us. Zero corners for us, thirteen corners for Cambridge. Eight shots for us, twenty shots for them.

'Adams ball' worked in League Two, giving the opposition plenty of possession, knowing most times, they aren't good enough to do anything with it, then hit them on the break. Perhaps it is simply that in League One, the difference in quality means the opposition can use that possession better, putting us under pressure far more?

That, and starting with ten men.

I agree Keith re "Adams ball" I said after Shrewsbury that averaging 30% possesion won't get your far in League One when you're up against better technical players. I also don't get why we have 11 players back when defending corners. Oh and when did we last score in front of the Bartercard?

[BerlinWaller]

I don't think criticism of the defence is founded. I think the three in the centre have been working really well, but we're too deep, inviting pressure and, ultimately, that's what does for us. Zero corners for us, thirteen corners for Cambridge. Eight shots for us, twenty shots for them.

'Adams ball' worked in League Two, giving the opposition plenty of possession, knowing most times, they aren't good enough to do anything with it, then hit them on the break. Perhaps it is simply that in League One, the difference in quality means the opposition can use that possession better, putting us under pressure far more?

That, and starting with ten men.

The difference in quality can not be overstated, we saw it last season week in week out. You give the ball away or miss a tackle in this league and you are in trouble.

Derek has tried to find a way of playing 2 upfront with attacking midfielders without giving up players in defence. By doing this he has had to lose width and defend deep.

[Little Shrimp]

I kind of get why DA's persisting with a 3-5-2, but it's becoming increasingly frustrating. He said on a podcast last season he likes one up top so he can get overloads from midfielders and wingers, but this formation kind of compromises that.

My guess is the logic is that our three centre backs are all good and playing well, we've got three good central midfielders and Phillips is playing too well to be dropped for Stockton, but DA wants to get Stockton into the side. 3-5-2 facilitates all that, but we just don't look good in that shape at all. Big issue is wing back. Love does well going forward generally but is very suspect defensively in terms of his positioning, and the right sided centre back is Rawson who is very much a box defender so doesn't really have much of an instinct for helping cover that right flank. Gibson on the left is far more secure defensively, and Delaney suits being able to step out towards the flank better than Rawson, but Gibson's not really got much of an instinct to get forward as a wing back and we're getting a bit hamstrung in attack.

Our midfield three is getting pulled about out of possession too, trying to cover the whole width of the pitch to try and help our struggles defending wide areas. Cambridge absolutely hammered us in this way yesterday, particularly our right hand side. Wonder if that's why he keeps subbing them off - tired legs having to cover so much ground out of possession.

Think Stockton needs dropping, he's improved a little over the past couple of weeks but is still way off it. Go 4-3-3, have wingers to help us actually defend our flanks properly and give us some bloody width when we attack. We've seen last season and the season before that 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 tends to be the best system under DA. Maddening that he won't use it now.

[Keith]

The difference in quality can not be overstated, we saw it last season week in week out. You give the ball away or miss a tackle in this league and you are in trouble.

Derek has tried to find a way of playing 2 upfront with attacking midfielders without giving up players in defence. By doing this he has had to lose width and defend deep.

Then he needs to find something else. That may be a flat back-four, to improve the midfield. It may be as simple as leaving a player forward when defending a corner. At the moment, most corners are cleared and come straight back at us, unless Ripley catches it. Leaving a quick player out, gives the opposition something to think about and an 'out' ball for us to clear to. I think Fane is getting a lot of unreasonable criticism on Facebook. He's a 'stopper', breaking up play. He does the ugly side of the game well, but isn't a creative midfielder. So why bring him on when we're chasing a game? Perhaps start with him in front of a back four, with three other midfielders who can create? We need to push forwards when we get our noses in front. Sitting back and allowing the opposition to press us, simply doesn't work. Bristol Rovers are not a good side, but we made them look like a play-off side, rather than another of our 'relegation battle contenders'. We won't pick up much from Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby etc, so we must really go at Shrewsbury, Bristol Rovers... ...and Cambridge.

[RapidShrimp]

The ref had a shocker but our defence were worse

Please stop playing 5 3 2 it's not working

Worse start than last season under Robinson and my god the football was far far better

We are only going in one direction I'm afraid and that is down

Can’t disagree with the last sentenced sadly but the 532 is by far our best shot.