Grantham

I'm looking forward to this afternoon's game. They're just one point behind us in the league table. A win today could push us to the edge of the playoff places.
Having said that, do you think we could possibly survive in the division above? I know it's very early in the season to ask such a question, and probably irrelevant as personally I don't think we will sustain such a position, but it would be a more interesting ride than last season.
Any thoughts?

From what I’ve seen of other sides I think it’s a league that will spring a surprise cause it’s that open. I still think we’re 2 or 3 players short of a serious attack at it but I assume that’s the limitations of a budget. What I would say is it’s good to be competitive, remember this time last year? We were down

Well I don't know about anyone else,but I enjoyed that! I don't quite know what to make of the fact that we twice gave the lead away though. I think the midfield,where we have a lot of good players,is the problem. I haven't got a clue what the answer is or how to fit the players we have into a system that gets the best out of them. We had a good midfield on the bench this afternoon. Good luck sorting it out Mark & Graham!
The problem this afternoon seemed to me to be that even with Simon Wills playing,the defence had no protection. I think they only had 3 shots on target & scored 3 goals. I liked the referee,he let a lot of physical stuff go & it made the game more interesting & exciting. It's a contact sport,so let the players sort it out (within reason obviously!) He could've handed out 2 or 3 red cards in the incident involving Charlie & their keeper,but settled for a couple of yellows. Well done referee I thought.
We really should've won this game after yet another very poor start. If we could start the 1st half of games like we started the 2nd of this one I think we'd be a real force

I too enjoyed the match. It is the first time this season that I have seen City play their attacking, passing game at home, and it paid dividends in the second half. What a pity, as you say, Steve, that it took 45 minutes for that to click in. Words from the boss at half time?
It was disappointing that we allowed three soft goals, though that Mr. Westcarr is a quality player. And that shot from Paul Dawson which hit the post would have been goal of the season.
Where I do have to part company is in considering the referee. I felt that he would have been better suited to a circus ring than a football pitch. He seemed to lose control completely in the closing stages: it beggars belief that the Grantham keeper received only a yellow card after grabbing Charlie in a headlock. The man in black then added insult to injury by fiddling around for three or four minutes, booking Dawson --if it is true that he was already on four yellows , we will presumably lose him for next week's game--and then turning his attention to our bench. That all this should have happened whilst Mick McManus, or Big Daddy, or whoever he thought he was, stayed on the pitch strained incredulity to snapping point. It seemed to me that the referee was trying to cover for his own incompetence by looking for scapegoats. Had they snatched a winner, as they almost did, with a full complement of players and without someone having been forced to take over in goal, I don't think he would have escaped with his life. (Joke, by the way, if the thought police are monitoring.) For me, Mr. Topp, if that was indeed the referee's name, was well and truly at the bottom.

alasher wrote:I'm looking forward to this afternoon's game. They're just one point behind us in the league table. A win today could push us to the edge of the playoff places.
Having said that, do you think we could possibly survive in the division above? I know it's very early in the season to ask such a question, and probably irrelevant as personally I don't think we will sustain such a position, but it would be a more interesting ride than last season.
Any thoughts?

Perhaps next week's game will give us an idea.

Brocker wrote:I too enjoyed the match. It is the first time this season that I have seen City play their attacking, passing game at home, and it paid dividends in the second half. What a pity, as you say, Steve, that it took 45 minutes for that to click in. Words from the boss at half time?
It was disappointing that we allowed three soft goals, though that Mr. Westcarr is a quality player. And that shot from Paul Dawson which hit the post would have been goal of the season.
Where I do have to part company is in considering the referee. I felt that he would have been better suited to a circus ring than a football pitch. He seemed to lose control completely in the closing stages: it beggars belief that the Grantham keeper received only a yellow card after grabbing Charlie in a headlock. The man in black then added insult to injury by fiddling around for three or four minutes, booking Dawson --if it is true that he was already on four yellows , we will presumably lose him for next week's game--and then turning his attention to our bench. That all this should have happened whilst Mick McManus, or Big Daddy, or whoever he thought he was, stayed on the pitch strained incredulity to snapping point. It seemed to me that the referee was trying to cover for his own incompetence by looking for scapegoats. Had they snatched a winner, as they almost did, with a full complement of players and without someone having been forced to take over in goal, I don't think he would have escaped with his life. (Joke, by the way, if the thought police are monitoring.) For me, Mr. Topp, if that was indeed the referee's name,  was well and truly at the bottom.

We'll have to agree to disagree about this Tony I'm afraid, I thought Mr Topp was tops

South of the river wrote:

alasher wrote:I'm looking forward to this afternoon's game. They're just one point behind us in the league table. A win today could push us to the edge of the playoff places.
Having said that, do you think we could possibly survive in the division above? I know it's very early in the season to ask such a question, and probably irrelevant as personally I don't think we will sustain such a position, but it would be a more interesting ride than last season.
Any thoughts?

Perhaps next week's game will give us an idea.

Perhaps indeed

Just seen his interview, no wonder Felly has no hair. Snatched a draw from the jaws of a win today

My fear is that, if we went up, we wouldn't survive financially. Travel costs might not increase hugely, but the wage bill presumably would. We were in financial trouble last time even before the Season from Hell, and in virtually every decade that I have been Dollywatching , starting with the sixties, there has been at least one financial crisis. The sad truth is that, by and large, the Lancaster public is not interested in supporting its local football team.

On this topic I agree with you totally Tony! With a little fine tuning & luck, this team could probably survive in the national league north. The money required for extra wages & travelling costs would finish us off (again!) I think though. How to get more people though the gate seems to be the unanswerable question.Performances like yesterday's second half on a regular basis might bring in a few more, but not I think enough to sustain a side in the division above.