Dulwich v Slough Town Monday 26th August 3pm

[The Balance]

Change of something. Reese needs to play down the middle.

After reading rave reviews about the current squad, I was somewhat underwhelmed, the football was pretty average hoof it up to the big guy, never thought I would see that under Gav.

Granted I missed the first half, due to work, but for the second half, from where I was standing, it looked like we switched to a more orthodox 4-4-2 with Reise playing far more central and closer to Mills. Then a midfield four of Clunis-Ijaha-Monlouis-Monakana.

 

[blueheaven]

I don't think the performance was as bad as I've seen some suggest, but hopefully it'll provide a reminder that we still need to work bloody hard for results in this division and we can't allow ourselves to get carried away with our opening results. For me, that match was evidence that, as well as our new players seem to have gelled, Gavin still isn't 100% sure on what his best line-up or formation are with this new team, and I felt our players looked a bit confused about their roles at times with so much chopping and changing. There also seemed to be a lot more specific instruction coming from the bench than normal, althiugh perhaps that was partly because of the water breaks.

Personally I'd like to see Hunte given more game time if he's now fit, as he looked great for us last season before his injury. I also think Clunis should be starting. Still Allasani's looking a lot stronger and fitter than I remember him, and it's great to see him already banging them in. Him and Mills up front could become a frightening partnership for us.

Still think this has the makings of a very, very strong team, but clearly we're not quite there yet.

 

[Ben Caldecourt]

I think our performance has been kicked down quite a lot. We weren't that bad, we were beaten by a Slough side who have been in the division for long enough and on the day looked like a decent outfit as well. A draw in my eyes would have been a much fairer result, but given that the deciding goal was from a penalty (which didn't look like a penalty from where I was) suggests that we weren't completely off the level. It has been mentioned already but we had 90 minutes on Saturday as well and the heat would have played some part, yes it's the same for both teams but these factors have to be considered as well.

No, it wasn't our best performance yet - but if Mills puts that chance in then we go 3-1 up around the 70th minute and in my eyes the game is then pretty much ours and we would have been able to manage it a lot better. The constant changing of shape didn't help, I'm not sure what was wrong with Connors but Yannis was bleeding from his face just before the half time. I'm not Case's biggest fan so far, but I think I'd have rather seen him come on as opposed to taking Chapman out of the middle and decreasing our numbers there, where I think we were looking over-run when the shape changed to 4-4-2. Barnes plays extremely high at full back, his recovery runs are pretty good but he was leaving gaps.

Now we've got Allassani, we have to play him really. What does that mean? Allassani out of position? Or changing our shape which seems to have worked pretty well so far? It's a nice headache for Gav to have and I'm excited to see it gel when it really does all come together.

Dorking away Saturday and I hope we batter them, a club that I dislike.

 

[Pink Panther]

I don't think the performance was as bad as I've seen some suggest, but hopefully it'll provide a reminder that we still need to work bloody hard for results in this division and we can't allow ourselves to get carried away with our opening results. For me, that match was evidence that, as well as our new players seem to have gelled, Gavin still isn't 100% sure on what his best line-up or formation are with this new team, and I felt our players looked a bit confused about their roles at times with so much chopping and changing. There also seemed to be a lot more specific instruction coming from the bench than normal, althiugh perhaps that was partly because of the water breaks.

Personally I'd like to see Hunte given more game time if he's now fit, as he looked great for us last season before his injury. I also think Clunis should be starting. Still Allasani's looking a lot stronger and fitter than I remember him, and it's great to see him already banging them in. Him and Mills up front could become a frightening partnership for us.

Still think this has the makings of a very, very strong team, but clearly we're not quite there yet.

Yes, it was disappointing but Slough deserve credit for their fightback. Their management duo of Neil Baker and Jon Underwood have been adversaries of Gavin & Junior since the Isthmian D1S days at when they were at Godalming and their teams are never a pushover. I think there's little to choose between most of the teams on this division, we'll usually have a stronger defence than yesterday (what with the two half time substitutions) and Mills and Allassani won't waste too many chances.

Some of the moaning from people around me in the second half yesterday was way over the top, as if Slough were just there to provide wallpaper for our team's performance. One young man was playing to his little audience of friends by criticising anything and everything, shouting for players to get it in the box while they were playing perfectly sensible passes. It was like being in a pub full of Arsenal fans during a televised Europa League match, it actually become even more annoying than conceding the goals in the end.

I thought the penalty looked very soft, but in this day and age you're taking a risk making that sort of robust challenge inside the box. If he'd been more sneaky and just held onto the guy's shirt he'd probably have got away with that. You never see penalties given for shirtpulling in this league.

 

[B.I.G]

I think our performance has been kicked down quite a lot. We weren't that bad, we were beaten by a Slough side who have been in the division for long enough and on the day looked like a decent outfit as well. A draw in my eyes would have been a much fairer result, but given that the deciding goal was from a penalty (which didn't look like a penalty from where I was) suggests that we weren't completely off the level. It has been mentioned already but we had 90 minutes on Saturday as well and the heat would have played some part, yes it's the same for both teams but these factors have to be considered as well.

No, it wasn't our best performance yet - but if Mills puts that chance in then we go 3-1 up around the 70th minute and in my eyes the game is then pretty much ours and we would have been able to manage it a lot better. The constant changing of shape didn't help, I'm not sure what was wrong with Connors but Yannis was bleeding from his face just before the half time. I'm not Case's biggest fan so far, but I think I'd have rather seen him come on as opposed to taking Chapman out of the middle and decreasing our numbers there, where I think we were looking over-run when the shape changed to 4-4-2. Barnes plays extremely high at full back, his recovery runs are pretty good but he was leaving gaps.

Now we've got Allassani, we have to play him really. What does that mean? Allassani out of position? Or changing our shape which seems to have worked pretty well so far? It's a nice headache for Gav to have and I'm excited to see it gel when it really does all come together.

Dorking away Saturday and I hope we batter them, a club that I dislike.

When did Slough get promoted? Did they get promoted same year as us?

 

[Matt The Cab]

It was like being in a pub full of Arsenal fans during a televised Europa League match,

Me & you can easily fall out...

 

[Son of Roy]

If he'd been more sneaky and just held onto the guy's shirt he'd probably have got away with that. You never see penalties given for shirtpulling in this league.

Agree. Because experienced referees know that shirt pulling is purely accidental and mis-timed challenges are always deliberate!

 

[Pink Panther]

When did Slough get promoted? Did they get promoted same year as us?

Yes. I think they've had more stability over the past couple of years though with a secure new ground, a stronger first season at this level than we had, and adding to their existing squad during the summer rather than the total rebuild that we've had.

 

[Moroccan Sunset]

Yes. I think they've had more stability over the past couple of years though with a secure new ground, a stronger first season at this level than we had, and adding to their existing squad during the summer rather than the total rebuild that we've had.

Wasn't there on yesterday, but Baker and Underwood are two cracking managers. Their Godalming side in the Erhun years was one of the best I've ever seen us face. I'd be surprised if they weren't in the mix come the end of the season.

 

[Cat Daisy]

When did Slough get promoted? Did they get promoted same year as us?

They went up via the play-offs in 17/18 the same as us - in a season when the top 5 in the Southern League all accumulated at least 97 points! (The 3 losing play-off teams all got promoted last season just to reinforce the standard!)

But there's been quite a bit of stability in the squad over the past few years during which Baker and Underwood have been in charge.

 

[B.I.G]

They went up via the play-offs in 17/18 the same as us - in a season when the top 5 in the Southern League all accumulated at least 97 points! (The 3 losing play-off teams all got promoted last season just to reinforce the standard!)

But there's been quite a bit of stability in the squad over the past few years during which Baker and Underwood have been in charge.

Cool