Surprised at how good Boston were, worthy winners, but i did feel they had the rub of the green decision wise. I thought the foul on Simpson should have been a straight red.
Main points to me, prob all covered:
1.Squad too small, player fatigue as a result. I advocated full strength at Leamington for a longer rest period.
2.Cant afford 2 luxury players on the pitch at the same time, Hemmings & Sterling.
3.Mentality affected after West Ham.
4. Unable to cope with being closed down quickly, again.
No doubt the players gave it everything, but didnt work.
MotM: 12-05-22 Boston (H) Hemmings
Moderator: Phil
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Re: MotM: 12-05-22 Boston (H)
What becomes clearer to me from seeing the highlights is that Hemmings had a far better game than I thought, and Sterling far worse.
The best team we ever had- since i've been watching the Harriers (2002-)
-------------------Brock-----------
-------Hinton---Smith-----Stamps
-----Melligan--Bennett-Williams---Flynn-Parrish
-----------Henriksen-Broughton------
-------------------Brock-----------
-------Hinton---Smith-----Stamps
-----Melligan--Bennett-Williams---Flynn-Parrish
-----------Henriksen-Broughton------
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Re: MotM: 12-05-22 Boston (H)
Completely agree. Over the past months I’ve gone from being a big Sterling fan to questioning whether I’d be looking to sign him for next season
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Re: MotM: 12-05-22 Boston (H)
I agree with most of this. For me, the turning point was the Preston injury. We were fine immediately after the West Ham game. But the Preston injury was a huge drop back down to earth that, combined with the fatigue from the previous run and lack of squad depth, we never recovered from. The aggression of the team evaporated, and more players became more likely to protect themselves. That became a vicious circle, as other teams learnt that bullying us worked, and with too many referees allowing too much to go unpunished, we witnessed more than one assault that should never have a place on a football field.Medieval wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 8:27 pmSurprised at how good Boston were, worthy winners, but i did feel they had the rub of the green decision wise. I thought the foul on Simpson should have been a straight red.
Main points to me, prob all covered:
1.Squad too small, player fatigue as a result. I advocated full strength at Leamington for a longer rest period.
2.Cant afford 2 luxury players on the pitch at the same time, Hemmings & Sterling.
3.Mentality affected after West Ham.
4. Unable to cope with being closed down quickly, again.
No doubt the players gave it everything, but didnt work.
I said at the start of the season that we had a very strong first eleven, but no depth. Our best runs came when Bonds and Preston were in the team, which I don't think is a coincidence. We were unable to repeat that loan success, and then missing Austin was the final straw. Would it have been different if we had managed to hang on to Stenson? We'll never know, but he would have at least given us a genuine alternative.
The Hemmings Sterling conundrum reminds me of the Gerrard Lampard England issue of old. Two very valuable players who don't really fit in the same team. That said, I think they're different. Hemmings has a good workrate and seems to have a good connection with the rest of the team. Sterling spends too much time drifting around like a sulky teenager, and the number of times this season he's ignored the option to play Caleb in, preferring instead to run into trouble looking for a free kick, makes me mad. If I was a member of the squad, I would have voted for Caleb as player's player of the season purely for having put up with Sterling's attitude all year. Is the occasional moment of magic enough to tolerate the shortcomings? At least I have an understanding of how someone with such undoubted talent is only playing in NLN. All I can hope for is that Sterling has whatever revelation Marvin Johnson once did- a player that proves a change of attitude is both possible and very beneficial.
Absolutely gutting to have gone out in such a manner, though not a surprise after the last couple of months. The squad have given it their all, but ultimately with the resources available it needed everything to fall right, and it didn't. I just hope this provides a foundation to now build on rather than what we normally experience the year after a good season. If we can keep the team together, recuperate over the summer, add a couple of key players and a bit of depth, we will do well next season. But that's a lot of ifs.
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Re: MotM: 12-05-22 Boston (H)
Thank you, Phil. And no worries, Garth. We’ll agree to disagree
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Re: MotM: 12-05-22 Boston (H)
And no worries, Garth. We’ll agree to disagree
No problem, it would be a boring world if we all agreed.
As I tell my other half, I was wrong once.....July 1987 it was.
"We're all amateurs at this and trying our hardest....." Richard Lane, Jan 2022