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Bodin is in the team because he is better than anything else we have got in that position. I can scarcely believe that Niall Thompson cannot get in the squad. I appreciate that he is young and raw but whenever I have seen him he displays the quality that all the other "wingers" that we have ie Craig,Halpin,Stevens,Macklin seem to lack - the ability to go past his man.
Craig is clueless as a wide man but is played there week in week out.
We have some decent players Poke,Saah,Downes,Mansell and Howe. As has been said these players more or less peform heroics week after week. Other than that though we have bugger all in reserve and this is the problem. We just don't have enough good players to make a team. Thats why we hardly ever win a game - tactics/formations, it doesn't make any difference. We just are nowhere near good enough.

NickGull wrote:More later/tomorrow but Bodin was one of our better players today. Howe and downes were our best, Nicho was crap. Jarvis ineffective, Craig invisible on the wing. Saah distribution is shocking.

Only people who turned up were Howe, Billy, Poke and Downes. Fans turned up in good numbers and loud first half but we were so so bad in the second half it soon died. 2-1 certainly doesn't reflect the gulf in class between the sides, it was huge.

I wasn't there Nick so i do feel it somewhat inappropriate to comment but he hasn't scored again and set anything up so there is that. I'm actually starting to lose faith with Nico too and from what you have said he had another poor game. He is my favourite player but if i am to afford Billy such criticism for being consistently poor then i have to start dishing the same out to Nico. I have given him the benefit of the doubt this season because of what he has done for us but in short, when i've seen him he has been atrocious. Delivery poor, never shoots, often gets out of position, often gets skinned just a total shadow of his former self and maybe it should be his last season.

austrianandygull wrote:I just happen to think that when he plays badly it has a far more detrimental effect on the how the rest of the team play in terms of linking defence and attack and also offering some resistance to opposing midfielders coming at us. That is why i would prefer it if he wasn't picked. Not because he is really sh*te but because we cannot afford to keep persevering with something that isn't working or showing any signs of working( apart from winning a penalty against Exeter ) . I don't hink i'm being unfair, just that they are my reasons i don't want him in the side.

Hey Andy,
I'm fairly new to the board and have never replied to any of your posts before but you should be aware that it does often come across as a very unbalanced witch hunt that you have against Bodin. For sure, the guy hasn't had a very good season, and certainly hasn't justified his price tag, but he does have some obvious ability and is still very young. Some new signings hit the ground running, others take a little longer to mature, maybe just maybe he is the latter. Probably the last thing he needs is people constantly snipping at him. In truth, he actually made a few very telling contributions in the Exeter game (he set up two very good chances early in the second half springs to mind), but your blinkered view has chosen to ignore that.
Again, you weren't at the game today so your opinion on his performance can only be speculation, and frankly if you do express condemnation without having witnessed what he did makes it difficult to give any credibilty to you.
There are several other players in the squad, for me Oastler, Nicholson, Mansell, Jarvis, Stevens, to name a few have been very below par this season and could come in for equal amounts of questioning. Is it just Bodin's price tag that fuels your rather unproductive rants?

Have you read what i said to Scott about 7 or 8 posts back? Obviously not. I said that if he were a free transfer then i would still be appalled at what he has offered my team so far this season. Why is it a witchhunt to criticise somebody who plays poorly at least in EVERY SINGLE one of the 12 or so games i have seen personally and a lot of the ones i haven't but views from people on here that went saying he was poor? If he was doing his job sort of properly then he wouldn't get criticism would he? If he had shown us something ( other than the penalty he won against Exeter ) to suggest he is worth paying each week then i wouldn't be at all bothered. Yes there are others like Nico and Oastler who have been well below par this season but there are other aspects of their game that kind of absolves them a little bit. When Bodin has a stinker then the team get nothing and it's not acceptable when we have the likes of Downes, Saah, Poke, Mansell working their b*llocks off most weeks just to afford someone like him to be able to pansy around. If he is going to do something then i suggest he get on and do it as the season is nearly over and we've got a won penalty against Exeter and a goal against Aldershot to show for this 'great talent'. Come on. I'm not on a witchhunt, i just want him to do what he is paid to do in more than half the games he plays in. Is that so unreasonable? To me it's common sense.

I could go on about Lings tactics again but i wasn't there so won't.

Hooray

Wheres that sarcasm button !!


Just listening to Tisdale on Radio Devon...he knows how to piss off the City fans.... hilarious. Not a popular bunny now !!

Dutchgull wrote:Fair enough Andy we all want the same thing and its frustrating when things don't go as well as we all hope but after supporting this club for forty odd years I have see all this and a whole lot worse many times over !!

No worries Dutch, i just don't have unlimited patience thats all. If any of you who have been having a pop at me for a witchhunt can and will come on here and say that you are totally at peace with what Billy has offered you ALL season then please do so. No excuses about him being young, or anything like that. If this player was Atieno, Stevens, McPhee or anyone like that he would be getting dogs abuse from some of you lot so why is Billy any different? Maybe it is some of you that are brainwashed by his price tag thinking that there MUST be something there. Maybe there is maybe there isn't, i don't care but if you would be happy for Billy to play for us next season with the same performances he has shown this then come on here and say so please. If you don't then it means you aren't happy with him. Just like me but i get vilified for it.

Havent read through the thread, but after my reasonable first half appraisal, second half was truely appalling.

Doubt I'll go again this season after the last 3 games Ive been to!

Also Bitchie Renault, my 'blinkered view has chosen to ignore that' Billy made a significant contribution in the Exeter game.

Well if you'd care to read my comments about Billy after the Exeter game and then wish to come back on here and admit this statement is totally incorrect then i'll wait.

Anyway, i've had another pop at Billy. Most of you don't like it and are fed up about it and so on and so forth but it's happened, it's done and that's it. It's a new year, i'm not rising to anything and i'm not getting into an argument. I'm eagerly awaiting some reports of the game now so i can digest ( so long as it doesn't exacerbate my GERD! ).

Well done Andy. For a minute there I thought you'd leave the forum! You've made your points with admirable clarity, even if I don't always agree.

Haha! It was touch and go at one point.

Cheers Steve. If people rate Billy then they are entitled to come on and say so, i don't so likewise surely? I don't think to my knowledge i have not criticised many people for incessantly saying he is talented and will come good. Yet they do and i don't so leave me alone people.

Anyway, does Howe get suspended for 3 games or just the 1?

austrianandygull wrote:

I wasn't there Nick so i do feel it somewhat inappropriate to comment but he hasn't scored again and set anything up so there is that. I'm actually starting to lose faith with Nico too and from what you have said he had another poor game. He is my favourite player but if i am to afford Billy such criticism for being consistently poor then i have to start dishing the same out to Nico. I have given him the benefit of the doubt this season because of what he has done for us but in short, when i've seen him he has been atrocious. Delivery poor, never shoots, often gets out of position, often gets skinned just a total shadow of his former self and maybe it should be his last season.

So hang on, Downes had a crap game because he didn't score or set up a goal, did he? You weren't there, yet you're moaning. BB was one of four players who can come out with any credit today. Pokey, Howe and Downes being the others. If Nicho is still first choice next year then I'll be very concerned - perhaps the same with Mansell.

Today showed a huge gap in ourselves and Cheltenham - last year we were well-matched, this year, there was a massive gap. They've gone forward while we've fallen back. Howe was carrying us, Downesy was outstanding at the heart of the defence.

The first half was even really, Howe had a good opportunity, we should have had a penalty for a blatant handball that the ref missed (right in front of where I was). They scored a soft goal from a corner which was disappointing as we're normally pretty good at defending set pieces. McGlashan was beating Nicho 9 times out of 10, as I expected. Half time at 1-0 was a bit disappointing as we'd done enough to go in level, I thought.

We needed an early goal in the second half, but couldn't get it, and they did. McGlashan again got the better of Nicho (who stood off rather than tackling him), squared it and Harrad finished. 2-0 and game over. Chelts really then pushed on while we struggled, they could have had more. Poke touched one onto the bar, they missed a couple of others. We had no threat in the second half, Howe got booked for a silly challenge but I can see he was getting more and more frustrated by the lack of help. Bodin was trying to do his role and Jarvis', such was his ineffectiveness. Craig was poor, but out of position so what can we expect?! Mansell struggled, Lathrope was poor. He struggles in a 2-man midfield. Howe's goal was weird, the keeper saved it but it seemed to roll over the line. 5 mins added on, Mansell had a great opportunity to level it but it was blocked/saved. It would have been undeserved anyway.

The fans turned out, at least 600 I'd say. Was loud in the early stages and for most of the first half, but the second half was crap, due to the battering we were having. Some idiots let off a smoke bomb but it didn't really get far before it was extinguished. Disappointing day really.

for once we learnt from our mistakes and ensured that Gow only got scraps to work with. I hope we have learnt the same lesson with McGlashan for Saturday at Cheltenham - possibly why I voice my concerns about this area of the pitch below.

Just got home -feel vindicated now for what I posted about Nicholson following the Exeter game. He only got stuck into MGlashan after he setup their goal. Got what we expected and will never learn. Clueless today and the source if goals with no width on the pitch is a real worry for me. Very frustrated and dumbfounded as to why the management couldn't see where the problem was going to come from today as always when we play Cheltenham. There fans even said on the bus what has happened to your side!