AFC Wimbledon v Torquay United - 21/4/12

[jonnyfive]

Really thought we'd win today. And with all 3 teams above us dropping points...

And for you gloomy defeatists, does that not mean that Crawley are capable of dropping points in their remaining games??

[Glostergull]

I suppose it was on the cards really. Yes it all looked so odds on we were going up in second place with all to play for and cruising easily. But we could see the cracks appearing early on. too many times only 1 goals scored and no clear top striker. Look who is leading scorere this season. a mdfielder. Manse.
But if we think back. we did get a warning from Martin Ling that this was always possible. He had a very thin squad. not too much depth and not too may options from what was available. Don't get me wrong. i am not saying that the players we had weren't good enough but, suspensions (fotunatly not many) and Injuries were always going to play a part and then with so few players used it was down to mental ability to carry a heavy season through.
If you think about it. At the end of a season it is likely that we get a little tired. Mentaly and physicaly. Sometimes you can just about pick up physicaly for a bit, But mentaly is far harder.
We started to look a little jaded a coupld of weeks ago and now it'e telling. Other teams have larger squads with more options to choose from. we havn't
Despite this we have had a marvelous season and over acheived what was expected. if we are playoffbound then so be it. We are now down and out yet. and hopefully a Wembley end to our season. Not a bad way to end our season even if we don't go up. and who's to say that we won't have another good season next year? we've acchieved more than expected despite bigger teams in competiton with us. we could still surprise them all and get into the playoffs again.. Mind you i would be gutted if we did a Lincoln City. 5 times playoffs and won none of them and then got relegated.

[popside_yidlad]

I would not be suprised to see a tweak to the system for the crewe game. O'kane/morris on the left, lathrope and manse in middle, stevens on the right. With tai and Howe through the middle. We might as well go attacking, get on the front foot and offer more support to rene

[bixieupnorth]

should have done that about six games ago, let's hope ar martin isn't a one trick pony? gutted that we've hit the buffers at this stage

[coley in stripes]

I honestly thought that the hard part in the senario was D&R holding Crawley...Silly me. It's sh*t or bust next week, we must win cos Crawley will, Hereford may have found some fight but you also need ability...If we beat Crewe, it's prayers for a week...For the first time in this run in Iam starting to fell very pesimistic..SORRY...COLEY

[northharrowgull]

Obviously disappointed after the result today but its all still to play for. With Barnet getting thumped last night it means Hereford have a real chance of staying up and strange things can happen. Got a feeling we will beat Crewe which will take the autos to the wire. Well there are few more accomplished teams around with the knack of leaving it till the last possible moment and its rather fitting it should be Hereford who will have a major say in the promotion race as well unfortunately the relegation battle. Heres hoping they do us a double favour!!!!

[Wisconsin_gull]

The team needs a freshen up - we have all seen this coming
We do have other players who can step up.
Play offs are a 80/20 now so give it a go, we have absolutely nothing to lose

No question we bench Danny for 2 games to get him fired up for the play offs .He has improved for a rest earlier in the season and when he plays the team does seem to prosper
Bring in LRT for a couple of games, he looks ok and will add pace
Macklin is on the naughty step it seems with Mr Craig
How was Rene's injury today?
Try 2 up front and lets find our scoring boots. Plenty of options.
COYY

[oxgull]

Feel very disapointed but still a little hope left for 3rd place as Swindon, Shrews and creepy all dropped points. Trouble is our boys look like they are all in. I would like to hope ML is thinking about freshening things up, if he can, and resting some for the PO's. Not saying we should give up just yet but it is obvious it's getting to us all, players and fans alike.

On the up side who would have thought us in 4th at this stage of the season??? looking on the bright side of life I suppose Pity poor Macc and Hereford who realistically only have Barnet to catch and they both can't do that. Better up where we are than down there as we all know too well that situation don't we? Keep smiling guys

[Gullscorer]

Deserved to lose today. Toothless tigers caught by two sucker punches. But we're in good company: Swindon also lost (I think that's twice in a row for them). And all is not lost for us; results and performances still being so unpredictable for all teams, we can still make third place, if... if...

I've heard it said that, because it's near the end of the season, we're running on empty, our energy dissipated. Sorry but I don't think that's an excuse. All clubs have played the same number of games and most, like us, have small squads. And we've had fewer injuries and suspensions than most. Only the likes of Swindon, the big clubs with money and big squads, are at an advantage. And Swindon too lost today!

What irks me is that we may have eased up on the training. Injuries notwithstanding, the squad should never be anything other than fully fit. Certainly no less fit than other teams. Don't give up lads. Keep on going..

[jonnyfive]

Lets be sensible here. It's not going to happen. We should be resting players now and make sure this poor form doesn't continue into the playoffs.

Can I have tonight's lottery numbers please mate?

[bixieupnorth]

maybe this will be the kick up the arse we've needed for a few weeks, st martin has to change things around, we need to play both tai and rene and give it the full English system for these last two games, we need automatic as we won't make it thru the playoffs

[yellow]

A disappointing day.

We seemed to lack guile and continuity. It wasn’t a bad team performance but it was disjointed and there were too many aimless flicks and long balls hit in more in hope than expectation.

And so many moves broke down when the ball reached Danny Stevens. Despite more plaudits for the little man this season he has still not yet developed a footballer’s brain. He constantly made the wrong decisions at the wrong time, and at other times his touch was poor. It seemed to me we might as well have played the first half with 10 men.

If I was Rene Howe I would be very frustrated playing alongside him. Rene at times looked absolute class. Instant control and flicks that foundered elsewhere.

To be fair it wasn’t all about Danny. The midfield was generally short of inspiration.

In the end Terry Brown made substitutions that changed the result. They seemed to get more joy from our left flank where Nicho will always struggle against pace.

Still Crawley didn’t take full advantage, for which we must be grateful. A win over Crewe and they only draw next week and we would be back in the box seat....

[jocktheknife]

wouldn't be against a 4-4-2 next week.....we gotta go for it and we gotta win.

However in no circumstances would i start with Tai up front in preference to Jarvis......for the main reason that he is err...crap.

[bobby93]

We are remarkably still in with a shout.

Two more games for tired legs to pick up two wins. I worry that the fatigue is kicking in and our small squad will not welcome a potential three extra games.

[rodneyjackjackjack]

Went to the game today and was very disappointed. Torquay didn't look anything a team fighting for an automatic promotion spot.

The game reminded me if the game against Barnet but this time we didn't get the lucky break.

I was dissaponted with the midfield display today.We didn't pass it around at all well and lacked composure. we resulted to a lot of long ball play up to Howe which didn't really work.

I've noticed Torquays performances decline over recent weeks. It seemed like wimbledon new our tactics and coped with us well.We gotta go 2 up next week and go for it