Hartlepool Sat 13th Aug.

[BackOfTheNet]

I actually commented on about the 40 minute mark that the ref was having a great game, letting the game flow, using advantage well and not falling for any nonsense coming from either side. I did think the fee kick that led to our goal was a bit suspect and I don't know if he was a bit rattled by the booing as he came off at half time but didn't seem quite as good in the second half. He didn't have a bad game overall though and was certainly a lot better than some of the tossers we saw last season!

[DrillingCobbler]

The introduction of Leanard changed the whole dynamics of our midfield, and allowed us to play the ball through the thirds much more flowingly.

I like Sowerby. Very underrated. But the issue last season with lack of creativity down the middle was in my opinion, purely down to the McWilliams and Sowerby partnership. Whilst it ensured we were very very solid, going forward it cost us...

What came out of today (other than the very appreciated 3 points) is that if Brady can settle on a more 'one offensive/one defensive' midfield partnership then we will create a lot more chances.

I am confident that this season will turn out to be good fun. We've earned 7 points from not playing well (overall). That bodes well when there is clearly so much more to come!

[yayo bayo]

I was really bowled over by Leonard’s willingness to be available for a pass at all times… that quality you see in the higher divisions all the time. At this level though it’s rare and invaluable, him doing that consistently, consistently creates another option for the man with the ball and means you don’t have to pump the ball aimlessly forward. I think Brady’s loyalty to McWilliams and Sowerby will see them maintain the middle for a while yet though!

[TownOwl]

I thought Leonard was fantastic and what a player he could be by the end of the season. However, I'm not sure the strength is there yet to replace McWilliams or Sowerby. I see him playing in behind the striker like he did in the last 15 with McW and Fox holding. That cheeky backheel to set up the cross showed he is more than capable of being the creative force further forward.

Best ref of the season,  but that really isn't saying a lot unfortunately.

Think the sun got to Mitch, but he'll be back. Thought Haynes should have come on there earlier.

By the way, aside from the Burge save everyone is mentioning, I thought the one immediately before their goal was superb - looking forward to seeing it again - just unlucky it didn't prevent the goal.

[CobblerForever]

Think the sun got to Mitch, but he'll be back.

Given Guthrie's contract situation has been resolved might it be that something similar might be happening with him ?

[northamptonnewbie]

Tough conditions out there and £6 for 2 bottles of water made it tougher 

Some players need to be dropped on Tuesday night

Leonard , Fox , need to start

Linnott looks solid 

Pinnock and Sowerby need to watch from the bench

[Melbourne Cobbler]

Good effort in tough conditions. To echo everyone else Leonard was top drawer.

[Peter Frost]

Advantage

If the referee plays the advantage for an offence for which a caution/sending-off would have been issued had play been stopped, this caution/sending-off must be issued when the ball is next out of play. However, if the offence was denying the opposing team an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, the player is cautioned for unsporting behaviour; if the offence was interfering with or stopping a promising attack, the player is not cautioned

Law 12. Booking was the correct decision.

So Pete Walton (a pretty good premiership ref) is wrong in his comment? - I think the point here is the ref didn’t really play advantage as the follow up goal was a split second later so his view I guess the the goal stands (so no pen) but the ref can then retrospectively  give a red for a foul deliberately preventing a goal. So perhaps not as black and white as it appears - personally I don’t think the ref had a bad game and my main only real complaint was their number 9 was buying quite a lot of fouls   

[West Stand]

So Pete Walton (a pretty good premiership ref) is wrong in his comment? - I think the point here is the ref didn’t really play advantage as the follow up goal was a split second later so his view I guess the the goal stands (so no pen) but the ref can then retrospectively  give a red for a foul deliberately preventing a goal. So perhaps not as black and white as it appears - personally I don’t think the ref had a bad game and my main only real complaint was their number 9 was buying quite a lot of fouls   

An advantage was played.The ref made a clear a signal with his arms that he had played an and advantage. By giving the goal and not a penalty he has played an advantage
The ref on the pitch is a current Football League referee.

[1971cobbler]

An advantage was played.The ref made a clear a signal with his arms that he had played an and advantage. By giving the goal and not a penalty he has played an advantage
The ref on the pitch is a current Football League referee.

Yeah, I saw him give the "play on" signal too.

Overall, I thought he did well. No glaringly obvious errors, and handled the game well I felt.

[bungle]

What came out of today (other than the very appreciated 3 points) is that if Brady can settle on a more 'one offensive/one defensive' midfield partnership then we will create a lot more chances.

I still think 4-3-3 is the way to go.

McWilliams and Sowerby together form a formidable defensive pivot which was a huge factor in our solidity last season. I'd want to keep both in the team. However, they offer little in terms of decisive through balls/goal threat/arriving late in the box etc and, as I've said before, the lack of chance creation from central areas was the decisive factor in our failure to win promotion last year.

Both Leonard and Fox would work well as a third central midfielder in a 4-3-3: they are hard-working enough to contribute defensively but offer more in terms of
chance creation and forward impetus. Neither are natural no.10 playmaker types, but both would excel as the most advanced midfielder in a three. We therefore have 4 good central midfielders who can compete for three places.

I also think Pinnock played most of his best football last year as a wide forward in a 4-3-3 where he had license to go out to the touchline and ping in crosses or cut inside and get shots off as he pleased without the defensive responsibilities associated with playing in a 4-4-2. If he's played in the middle as a no.10 then his crossing opportunities are curtailed and he looks lost.

[Manwork04]

Yeah, I saw him give the "play on" signal too.

Overall, I thought he did well. No glaringly obvious errors, and handled the game well I felt.

Yeah I thought he was great they scored in the 5th min of injury time in the first half when he signalled 3 mins and where did 6 mins come from in the second half??
He wasn’t as bad as the ColU ref but the consensus where I was sitting was he was pretty poor, but I guess that’s the league we are in and refs alway get the blame.

[corno_ntfc]

Each drinks break took 2+ minutes.

So 3 and 6 added on each half was about right.

[west stand oap]

I was not expecting anything less than 5 minutes added at the end of the 90. 2 minutes for the drinks break, 4 stoppages for substitutions and the trainer had been on for an injury (McWilliams).

So we are saying ex Premiership referee Pete Walton does not know the laws of the game as he said it should have been a red card, perhaps Tim can raise this with him again on Tuesday night when he is due to summarise on the Crawley game. I would not say the referee had as good a game as some indicate but he was an improvement on the Colchester referee and tried to let the game flow by playing advantage when possible. As Manny points out the 3 minutes added at the end of the 1st half had long passed when Hartlepool scored and he had the whole stadium wondering what the hell was going on when Appere scored. All he needed to do was point to the centre circle to show the goal stood and then decide what colour card he was going to issue for the handball, instead he let the situation drag out into a 3 act play.

Several times during the game when we had the ball in wide areas we only had 1 or 2 players in the penalty area as Appere played a lot of the game out wide on the right. McWilliams and Sowerby never make runs into the box to support the forwards but hang back outside the area waiting for the attack to be headed clear instead of trying to make something happen, this explains why they rarely score. In the Wilder promotion year when Byrom and O'Toole were the 2 central midfielders O'Toole always tried to burst forward into the box and scored many goal, as Richard Hill use to before him and more recently Ryan Watson. We are missing this type of player.

[everbrite]

Tough conditions out there and £6 for 2 bottles of water made it tougher 

Some players need to be dropped on Tuesday night

Leonard , Fox , need to start

Linnott looks solid 

Pinnock and Sowerby need to watch from the bench

Very harsh, Sowerby is ok . Agree on Pinnock ! As for paying £6 for two bottles of H20 and admitting it = proper supporter. Pretty sure I read in the Chron a notice on water at the forthcoming HUFC Game!! Supermarkets in Northampton selling them from £0.65/bottle upwards!

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Appere started the move for his goal out right and nobody tracked him when he moved into the penalty box where he found himself unmarked to score.
Maybe it's because he is marked too closely when he stays central?

[Peter Frost]

An advantage was played.The ref made a clear a signal with his arms that he had played an and advantage. By giving the goal and not a penalty he has played an advantage
The ref on the pitch is a current Football League referee.

Have to agree to disagree then because to me to signal play advantage when there is (at that point in time ) a clear penalty and a red card - but not knowing we would score is a shocking decision- had we not scored would he have reverted to that decision? - I guess allowable under the advantage rules but I still think a poor decision and knowing Pete Walton despite being retired keeps up to date with the rules would tend to back his thoughts - still end of the day no harm done as 3 points are 3 points.

[west stand oap]

No need to pay £3 for a bottle of water at the ground as you are allowed to take your own water in with you providing it is in a sealed bottle. We took ours out of the 'fridge before leaving home and carried them in without being questioned. I am not 100% certain of this without looking it up but I believe any venue hosting an event is suppose to have free water facilities ie water fountains.

[corno_ntfc]

No need to pay £3 for a bottle of water at the ground as you are allowed to take your own water in with you providing it is in a sealed bottle. We took ours out of the 'fridge before leaving home and carried them in without being questioned. I am not 100% certain of this without looking it up but I believe any venue hosting an event is suppose to have free water facilities ie water fountains.

Allowing bottles to be taken in, is a good change.

Struggle to think of many sporting venues offering fountains though.... should be a big push for it though, £3 is outrageous, not to mention the plastic it creates.

The recent CWG did team up with Severn Trent Water though, offering free water refills.

[lordjord]

I banged on about him to my mate yesterday but Leonard makes all the difference to us. Sowerby is ok, but does not put himself in a position to receive the ball very often.

Sowerby received 7 passes in his 45. Leonard received 28 passes in his 45. Massive difference.

Its so effective how he just dashes into space, always head up to see how much time he has and then either passes one touch or turns and drives us forward. It makes it so much easier for Magloire and Guthrie to be able to have an option always available and just stops us going long more often that not.

Happy for Appere to get another goal but he still takes too many touches and slows play down / gets dispossessed too easily. Him and Hylton have not really shown any signs of gelling yet.

Magloire really struggled against their number 9. Didnt know when to stand off or when to be aggressive and gave away a lot of fouls because of it. Its like he knows he has the pace to recover but makes poor decisions before that.

Thought Lintott did well considering his lack of experience. Also a huge shout out to Burge who has now made fantastic saves in each of the games.


This team is not as solid as last seasons but think when we get the personnel right and everyone starts to gel think we have more ability going forward.

Higher ceiling but lower floor if that makes sense.

Great start to the league season though considering we have not yet found our fluency. Up the brady bunch!