Maidstone (away) The Match Thread Sinking Stones

[CambsBee]

I don't want to appear to be wearing rose-tinted glasses or make excuses, I streamed the game yesterday and was disappointed with the way we played. When we played the ball on the ground a bit more in the second half, we looked a far better team but it was too little, too late. Remember, we only drew with Maidstone in the Trophy and often a relegated side want to prove they are not as poor as their league position suggests.

I go back to the start of the season and where we expected the team to finish. Recover from the last two seasons, achieve mid table and build, hopefully, to push for promotion next season. Because of the unbeaten run we went on, are we now expecting more of the team than we should? This season has been more than I expected and we have something to play for until the end of the season and, hopefully, beyond.

If we can get promotion this season, brilliant, you never know what is around the corner so go for it and see where we end up.

Dean has already said we need 6 new players, which he would have said if we were mid table and planning to push for promotion next season

Has the team overperformed, probably, but I have not enjoyed a season like this for a long time and because of that have attended home matches far more and attended an away game for the first time in years.

I am going to enjoy the next few weeks, and will probably bitch and complain when we don't play well, but am I immensely grateful to this group for letting me enjoy watching my club again.

[BeesKnees99]

DB says in his interview that "90% of the game plan worked". I thought that was depressing to read.
What was in the other 10%? A plan to score goals, keep possession, entertain?

He talks about the need to keep a clean sheet against an already relegated side who are the league's joint second bottom scorers ( and no longer have their leading goal scorer). I wonder what his game plan will be against the league's highest scorers?

Our manager really does talk shite sometimes. Hard to know if he genuinely believes what he’s saying or is just gaslighting us.

[BeeArmy22]

I don't want to appear to be wearing rose-tinted glasses or make excuses, I streamed the game yesterday and was disappointed with the way we played. When we played the ball on the ground a bit more in the second half, we looked a far better team but it was too little, too late. Remember, we only drew with Maidstone in the Trophy and often a relegated side want to prove they are not as poor as their league position suggests.

I go back to the start of the season and where we expected the team to finish. Recover from the last two seasons, achieve mid table and build, hopefully, to push for promotion next season. Because of the unbeaten run we went on, are we now expecting more of the team than we should? This season has been more than I expected and we have something to play for until the end of the season and, hopefully, beyond.

If we can get promotion this season, brilliant, you never know what is around the corner so go for it and see where we end up.

Dean has already said we need 6 new players, which he would have said if we were mid table and planning to push for promotion next season

Has the team overperformed, probably, but I have not enjoyed a season like this for a long time and because of that have attended home matches far more and attended an away game for the first time in years.

I am going to enjoy the next few weeks, and will probably bitch and complain when we don't play well, but am I immensely grateful to this group for letting me enjoy watching my club again.

Spot on. It’s easy to get caught up in the relative success we’ve had this season compared to the last 2. We’ve not got the 5th best team on quality, and it shows when trying to break down teams who sit off us because of our league position. It bodes well for the play offs (if we make them) that we seem to perform well against the better teams. Get behind the team, get behind Dean.

[meden_820]

Yesterday was abysmal clearly, as was York and the first half an hour at Gateshead, but people are very quick to judge. If you would have offered me a place in the playoffs and an FA Trophy semi final in August I would not only ripped your arm off, I would have questioned your sanity.
This team has given lots of us our football club back. Through a mixture of COVID restrictions and god awful football, a lot of us, including me, had become distant and ambivalent about the club we all love.
I, for one, am truly grateful to these boys for giving me back that knot in my stomach on a Saturday afternoon, the feeling of having to check the score every 5 seconds if I'm not there rather than just checking how many we've lost by at 5 o clock.
I'll admit I was angry at Gateshead having driven all the way up there from Hereford, but once I had calmed down I realised why I was angry, apart from the fact we had blown our best chance of getting to Wembley for 50 odd years.
It was because Barnet FC mattered again, and that is all thanks to Deano and his players. As far as I'm concerned there is absolutely no pressure on us now, to get to the play off final would be incredible but I'm not expecting it, and that's ok.
Whatever happens from now until May, you've done us proud lads.

[barnet34]

Without Kabamba and Smith It's hardly surprising our performances have dropped off, barring Wrexham and Notts county this situation would affect every other side in this league. Any update on this current problem.

[BarneyBee]

I've never understood what Revan or Powell add to our team. DB seems to like Powell though.

Moyo does his best but is simply not good enough to score goals at this level IMO.

I was at the game and couldn't understand why we kept pulling Maidstone shirts/committing silly fouls and getting unnecessary bookings when we could all see that the ref was a 'homer' and blowing up all the time, plus Maidstone players were milking it and falling over constantly. Surely DB could have sorted this? Could impact us if we get suspensions.

My other big frustration is why we waste so many set pieces - stupid short corners and free kicks, and sometimes Laurie kicking the ball to a defender next to him instead of getting the ball up the field - and inviting pressure onto our defenders who would invariably boot it up the field anyway but under pressure and normally waste it.

I do agree that some DB tactics and decisions are baffling but remember we are way ahead of schedule in terms of DB's team development. I was hoping for a top half finish this season and we've surpassed this target massively, so we need to calm down and judge DB next season once he's had a chance to get some more of his players in and get rid of some dead wood.

We are too inconsistent at the moment but a few key signings away from a solid promotion push next season (I hope). COYB!

[becbee]

I don't think the ref was particularly a homer but we did ourselves no favours with some of our behaviour.
I think we are past the cut off date for 3 match suspension for 15 yellow cards and none of our players were at risk of that anyway were they?

[DerekRocholl]

I don't think the ref was particularly a homer but we did ourselves no favours with some of our behaviour.
I think we are past the cut off date for 3 match suspension for 15 yellow cards and none of our players were at risk of that anyway were they?

The ref gave them a free kick when one of their players tripped himself up with none of our players remotely close by. He could have been the author of the Iliad

[Roy57]

Today was a strange one.

It was almost as if we played in a style that suggested that we had Cropper playing at right wing-back, Diarra and Okimo playing with Collinge at centre-half, Gormo playing in the middle of the pitch & Kabamba & Smith up front. The only one of them that played was Collinge, but we still persisted with restart football and nothing else for the entire opening 45 mins. There wasn't even any attempt to play football against the poorest side in the league. I understand that DB wants to play this way, but when everyone in such key positions are out, it just turned today into a bit of a shambles. Was he trying to improve the fringe players playing in this style, or something else? Whatever it was, I'm pretty sure it didn't work. The only thing it managed to do was earn us a point while giving our big players some more rest.

Revan was awful. I'm sure there is a footballer in there somewhere, but he strikes me as someone who's not particularly smart as a footballer. His opposite man today had nothing but physicality and workrate. All he had to do was make him play, but instead he got into a battle with him at every opportunity which played right into his hands. Honestly, had he just let him have the ball I don't think he would have known what to do with it. The reason that Wynts, Collinge & Okimo are such good players is not because they're quick or big or strong or anything else. It's because they're smart.

Don't agree at all about the criticism of Beard. Think we were better after his introduction, (although that wasn't hard). His issue is that when he plays at WB we're comparing him to Kanu and that's a tough comparison. He can't do what Kanu does but he has other strengths. I personally think that our best XI features both Beard & Kanu starting.

Moyo worked hard but there is obviously a gulf in class between him and Kabamba/Smith, but then again the service he got today was appalling. It's also hard to be on the fringes for so long and come into a team that has been shorn of it's best players and is struggling. Stick Moyo in a team with Gorman & Okimo and he would look a different player. Moyo is decent.

Collinge is an absolute rolls-royce of a player. Can't believe I was so wrong about him when he signed. I will never live that down.

We really missed Okimo today.

We missed Gorman even more than we missed Okimo.

Powell was astonishingly poor. Moyo set the standard for workrate

Totally agree with this, not sure why James does not want to ever see Beard in a Barnet shirt again, thought like you we improved when he came on, and felt sorry for Moyo, he won so many headers but cannot remember once any player banking on him doing so and looking to run in off his son headers, the service he has had in last two games is appalling, he is not Smith or Kabambz so stop putting balls in to him as if they were playing, DB said that 90% of match went to the game plan, that was a shock as it looked as if we were playing without any game plan, for the last few months the football on the floor has gone right out the window and our performances have declined at the wrong time, it's now with only few games remaining you want to start finding your form again, 1st to cement our place in the play offs and 2nd for the play off games, from a football aspect the signings of Smith and Cropper has started this long hopeful ball's into the box along with every throw in we get.

[jerroll]

I don't think the ref was particularly a homer but we did ourselves no favours with some of our behaviour.
I think we are past the cut off date for 3 match suspension for 15 yellow cards and none of our players were at risk of that anyway were they?

15 yellows runs to the end of the season but no one is in danger of hitting that mark.

[Roy57]

Powell’s legs and guile have gone, coaching awaits.

This made me laugh, but suppose he could be added to our apparently growing list of coaching staff, not sure how many coaches we now have, ex Borehamwood player Smith, Okimio was brought in as player coach, now Hall.

[Roy57]

I do agree that none of us expected us to be anywhere near the play off's this season, and I bet even DB was surprised at how quickly the players he brought in clicked so well, and not just clicked but playing some good football as well, and by doing so we found ourselves and rightly so in the play offs, and playing like this was a delight and shock at how much of a transformation from previous year, but after bringing in Smith who was and is a good addition but for what ever reason all the good football we played up til then went out the window and we just resulted in long balls played up to him and Kabamba, and this is when Nicki's goals dried up, have we over achieved ? Maybe yes, but by getting there does not and should not mean "ok we were lucky to be in the play offs so if we miss out it was only to be expected" the players earned the right and to miss out not because of somebody else but because we stopped playing, we stopped the desire, that would be unfair on the players who got us there.

[PBBee]

Realistically we can dissect everything but our overall game has dropped in all aspects of the game & especially:

- Pressing - we were unreal at this earlier in the season (Notts manager did say we couldn't keep it up)
- Scoring - almost all players have dried up especially Kabamba, RDH, Kanu
- Set pieces - whilst we are still scoring the odd one we were relentless from corners a few months ago

[djhdjh]

Our last 4 goals have all come from set pieces and our 2 best chances yesterday were also from set pieces including a very good clearance off the line. They're still really good, which is why it is so frustrating when we play the short ones rather than getting it in there.

[bzzzzz]

There's a really subtle difference to what Gorman does and what everyone else does who plays his role, and the impact it has on the team, (and in particular the areas we play in), is enormous.

Gorman's skill is that with the minimum of touches, (usually either just 1 or 2), he puts the ball over the defenders head, (or between centre-half and full back), so that either they can't head it, or of they can head it they are effectively just heading it down to where he knows Pritch & RdH will be attacking into and what it does is allows to push them back, regain good possession in their half with players ahead of the ball and disrupts their defensive line.

Play the ball too slowly, (more than 2 touches), and you get challenged and risk being countered with players ahead of the ball.
Play it too short and the ball is returned over his head and the next phase is our centre-backs clearing the ball.
Play it too long and the GK sweeps it up or a covering defender has time to exit.

Nobody else can do it and I've not seen anyone at any level of football so proficient at such a tiny thing that has an absolutely ENORMOUS impact on games. Even when he gets it slightly wrong and gives the ball away, he's giving it a way in a position and situation that actually it's still a good area for us, (as long as we don't give away a foul). Kabamba has absolutely bought into this and the relationship they have is ridiculous. Kabamba is making the run even before Gorman has the ball. A lot of the time it's in the channels and it's not about creating a chance on goal, but the pressure it builds as they have to keep facing their own goal is huge.

The fifference with Gorman in the team and not in the team is that when we press them in and turn the ball over, it's then that we can start to play, especially when they're out of shape. WIthout him though, eveb though we were able to build some pressure from throw-ins today, when they cleared the delivery it stayed cleared and even tunrned into a counter simply because Gorman wasn't there recycling the ball. Gorman is often my favourite player to watch because what he does is so different to everyone else. It's really simple, but that's not the same at all as it being easy.

We played today like we had Cropper & Okimo to take long throws, Gormo to push us up the pitch and Smith & Kabamba to win headers. The only problem was that none of them were playing.

Great comment and observation. It's comments like this which make this forum worth visiting.

I'm going to watch him more closely when I next watch the bees. I've always seen him as a useful player in the middle of the park who was capable of delivering a competent dead ball, but our whole play is better with him in the side than not.