JY, is getting too blunt and brutal; there is a line between a frank analysis of the team's performance and being destructive and risking alienating the squad.
Totally disagree, honesty never hurts
In the words of Jack Nicholson ...... You can't handle the truth !
Not quite sure what alternative spin anyone realistically believes that JY had at his disposal... Best I can think of is along the lines of:
"We so very nearly got away with spoiling the party for a club & a crowd that were desperate to celebrate their return to the league with a win...!"
I don't mind him calling out the players but this kind of thing happened a lot last season as well (losing away games to late goals). I guess at some point it would just be nice to see him acknowledge that, as the manager, there's a possibility that performances have something to do with him as well.
Well, what to say about the game? Firstly, it was fantastic to get to a match again and away days are always good days out - this day lasted over 15 hours though! five trains to get there, four trains to get home, with some very tight change overs - luckily every train was on time - 8.00am to 11.30pm, with a game squeezed in the middle.
It was great to see Hartlepool back in the Football League and there was a real buzz around the ground from both sets of supporters. It was disappointing though that the loos had broken seats, there was no hand drying facilities and the card machine had gone down and they were only taking cash at the refreshments stalls - which we didn't have. This was the first game, you would have thought they would make sure everything was working for the new season.
Overall, this was the poorest performance from a Crawley team I can recall for some years. Nobody was up for it. We struggled to string more than two passes together all game, we were hesitant, slow and poor in closing down and tackling throughout. The only players who deserve any credit were Tunicliffe (until he went off injured - limped out on crutches at the end of the game), Dallison and Craig, who were immense and nothing got past them all day - Dallison didn't lose a header all game. Other than that, very disappointing (indeed).
We set up to play on the break - with only one forward available due to injuries, Nadesan was up front on his own. We packed the midfield and tried to feed balls through to him but he had one of those days when his head goes down, if the ball wasn't played straight to his feet, he doesn't bother. He also had his lazy knack of ducking under headers (I don't think he won anything in the air all game), he couldn't control the ball - one touch and he lost it, so the pressure was always on us.
It is unfair to single him out though as everybody (except the three mentioned) were dreadful. We couldn't string any passes together, there were no periods of possession or pressure - we had maybe two buzzy chances and that was it - nothing clear cut and no shots on target. The midfield didn't seem to know what to do with the ball when they got it and as the Hartlepool players pressed, there was a lot of long balls hit down the line in desperation, most going out of play resulting in their throw ins.
Powell especially seemed lost which was strange as he is normally pretty good in the middle. On Saturday he was very hesitant and kept holding onto the ball until he lost possession. Tyler Frost was invisible - he picked up a loose ball in our area around the 40 minute mark and it was the first time we realised he was playing. I think he only touched the ball four or five times in the whole match. Sam Matthews was our best midfielder and he had some good touches and tried to get the others going but with no support he didn't get anywhere and there was no end product.
In pre-season, one of the things that impressed me the most was the crosses into the box, delivered with pace and energy. I don't think one of our crosses on Saturday beat the first man.
We never looked like scoring but then, neither did Hartlepool. Our defence was solid and impressive - Archie Davies had a good game although Gallagher needed some luck a few times but other than the cross shot in the first half (which was always going wide - the home supporters reaction made it look closer than it was) and a real scare when their man at the back post missed a cross ball, they had very few chances. The goal was hugely annoying. Both Hess and Tony Craig stood and watched as their player took the ball down, took a week to turn and shot past a wrong-footed Morris.
All in all, a pretty poor performance. It also didn't help that the referee was very poor and favoured Hartlepool in most of his decisions.
The only real plus was the defence which was very strong and coped very well. Tony Craig has tremendous anticipation and he stopped a lot of their moves before they really began. Keep the defence this tight and no matter how poor the rest of the team plays, we have always got a chance.
Finally, there were numerous incidents on the train back - too many idiots being too drunk and giving the club a bad name - the train crew announced several times that they needed to sort themselves out out or the police would be called. The train manager said he had never seen so many incidents on one journey - very disappointing and totally unnecessary - we saw one incident at a station where several supporters(!) were arguing furiously with the police and they were lucky they weren't arrested.
Still - onwards to tomorrow and hopefully an improvement all round.
Yes thanks for report. Craig I think is a steadier performer than many give him credit for. Tunnicliffe injury rotten news unless it scares away speculative bids!
Dissapointing to lose and last minute but its very early season of course. 'New' teams often start well.
Being nearby I took in the FGR v Sutton game (2-1); nothing changes re FGR ground. No parking (fiver in nrby school if get there early enough) and 30mins to travel down that awful steeped rd just to get to the village roundabout upon exit. Ground is 100% veggie and asking what's in the burger they had no idea, neither did i eating it. Chicken nuggets tasted like already chewed cardboard, yummy, not!
Football served up wasnt great but had its moments. Sutton were physical verging on dirty at times. Ref let lots go including physio on pitch about 15 yd from touchline when restarting game. Also, restarted game w/o his whistle that I imagine if being assessed wouldve got him into lots of trouble.
Enzio played most of match for Sutton before being sub'd. Wasnt used enough and needs to play wide to be more effective. Drifted into midfirld a fair bit. Defending not great from him. Maybe not the player he was. Sutton were very direct especially the keeper who loved pumping it high and long, even in thunderous rain (in amongst the sunshine) and gusts of wind. FGR wanted to play more of a passing game and did better when more got forward and they attacked with pace. Game could've gone either way after FGR led then Sutton equalised. Sutton keeper came up for a last minute corner but FGR held on. Pathetic away support 300+ for their first entry into league football. 1500 Rovers fans in a crowd of 1800.
I look forward to seeing Crawley Town play and a return to the Broadfield. In case anyone was wondering my guess is only 2-3% of fans wore masks at FGR.
I thought 330 Sutton fans going to a ground we have been to in the past was a decent turnout.
Well, what to say about the game? Firstly, it was fantastic to get to a match again and away days are always good days out - this day lasted over 15 hours though! five trains to get there, four trains to get home, with some very tight change overs - luckily every train was on time - 8.00am to 11.30pm, with a game squeezed in the middle.
It was great to see Hartlepool back in the Football League and there was a real buzz around the ground from both sets of supporters. It was disappointing though that the loos had broken seats, there was no hand drying facilities and the card machine had gone down and they were only taking cash at the refreshments stalls - which we didn't have. This was the first game, you would have thought they would make sure everything was working for the new season.
Overall, this was the poorest performance from a Crawley team I can recall for some years. Nobody was up for it. We struggled to string more than two passes together all game, we were hesitant, slow and poor in closing down and tackling throughout. The only players who deserve any credit were Tunicliffe (until he went off injured - limped out on crutches at the end of the game), Dallison and Craig, who were immense and nothing got past them all day - Dallison didn't lose a header all game. Other than that, very disappointing (indeed).
We set up to play on the break - with only one forward available due to injuries, Nadesan was up front on his own. We packed the midfield and tried to feed balls through to him but he had one of those days when his head goes down, if the ball wasn't played straight to his feet, he doesn't bother. He also had his lazy knack of ducking under headers (I don't think he won anything in the air all game), he couldn't control the ball - one touch and he lost it, so the pressure was always on us.
It is unfair to single him out though as everybody (except the three mentioned) were dreadful. We couldn't string any passes together, there were no periods of possession or pressure - we had maybe two buzzy chances and that was it - nothing clear cut and no shots on target. The midfield didn't seem to know what to do with the ball when they got it and as the Hartlepool players pressed, there was a lot of long balls hit down the line in desperation, most going out of play resulting in their throw ins.
Powell especially seemed lost which was strange as he is normally pretty good in the middle. On Saturday he was very hesitant and kept holding onto the ball until he lost possession. Tyler Frost was invisible - he picked up a loose ball in our area around the 40 minute mark and it was the first time we realised he was playing. I think he only touched the ball four or five times in the whole match. Sam Matthews was our best midfielder and he had some good touches and tried to get the others going but with no support he didn't get anywhere and there was no end product.
In pre-season, one of the things that impressed me the most was the crosses into the box, delivered with pace and energy. I don't think one of our crosses on Saturday beat the first man.
We never looked like scoring but then, neither did Hartlepool. Our defence was solid and impressive - Archie Davies had a good game although Gallagher needed some luck a few times but other than the cross shot in the first half (which was always going wide - the home supporters reaction made it look closer than it was) and a real scare when their man at the back post missed a cross ball, they had very few chances. The goal was hugely annoying. Both Hess and Tony Craig stood and watched as their player took the ball down, took a week to turn and shot past a wrong-footed Morris.
All in all, a pretty poor performance. It also didn't help that the referee was very poor and favoured Hartlepool in most of his decisions.
The only real plus was the defence which was very strong and coped very well. Tony Craig has tremendous anticipation and he stopped a lot of their moves before they really began. Keep the defence this tight and no matter how poor the rest of the team plays, we have always got a chance.
Finally, there were numerous incidents on the train back - too many idiots being too drunk and giving the club a bad name - the train crew announced several times that they needed to sort themselves out out or the police would be called. The train manager said he had never seen so many incidents on one journey - very disappointing and totally unnecessary - we saw one incident at a station where several supporters(!) were arguing furiously with the police and they were lucky they weren't arrested.
Still - onwards to tomorrow and hopefully an improvement all round.
JOHN YEM'S RED ARMY!
Thank you for taking the time to write an in depth report. I only followed the game on Twitter and saw the highlights and it didn’t look like we had a single noteworthy attack on the highlights. 0 shots on target tells it’s own story.
Congratulations to Hartlepool for their first win back in the football league. I’m Sure there fans enjoyed the day and it’s good for everybody to be allowed to watch a game for now. I went up to Fulham on Sunday just to take in a game while I can, what with me working every Saturday at the moment and the ever changing rules.
Dissapointing to lose and last minute but its very early season of course. 'New' teams often start well.
Being nearby I took in the FGR v Sutton game (2-1); nothing changes re FGR ground. No parking (fiver in nrby school if get there early enough) and 30mins to travel down that awful steeped rd just to get to the village roundabout upon exit. Ground is 100% veggie and asking what's in the burger they had no idea, neither did i eating it. Chicken nuggets tasted like already chewed cardboard, yummy, not!
Football served up wasnt great but had its moments. Sutton were physical verging on dirty at times. Ref let lots go including physio on pitch about 15 yd from touchline when restarting game. Also, restarted game w/o his whistle that I imagine if being assessed wouldve got him into lots of trouble.
Enzio played most of match for Sutton before being sub'd. Wasnt used enough and needs to play wide to be more effective. Drifted into midfirld a fair bit. Defending not great from him. Maybe not the player he was. Sutton were very direct especially the keeper who loved pumping it high and long, even in thunderous rain (in amongst the sunshine) and gusts of wind. FGR wanted to play more of a passing game and did better when more got forward and they attacked with pace. Game could've gone either way after FGR led then Sutton equalised. Sutton keeper came up for a last minute corner but FGR held on. Pathetic away support 300+ for their first entry into league football. 1500 Rovers fans in a crowd of 1800.
I look forward to seeing Crawley Town play and a return to the Broadfield. In case anyone was wondering my guess is only 2-3% of fans wore masks at FGR.
I thought 330 Sutton fans going to a ground we have been to in the past was a decent turnout.
I thought it was a bit more than that, maybe 600+ but then my memory is that bad these days I struggle to remember what I had for breakfast! :-) But yes, that's not a bad turnout for Sutton, especially to a place where they don't exactly welcome away fans. The only reason I will go there next week is that it is now the closest ground for me to see us play. At least there is plenty of fresh air on that open terracing!
I thought it was a bit more than that, maybe 600+ but then my memory is that bad these days I struggle to remember what I had for breakfast! :-) But yes, that's not a bad turnout for Sutton, especially to a place where they don't exactly welcome away fans. The only reason I will go there next week is that it is now the closest ground for me to see us play. At least there is plenty of fresh air on that open terracing!
It's also a place where Sutton have been to many times in their non league years!