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Post by casper on Sept 18, 2015 20:16:00 GMT
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Post by Hatboy on Sept 19, 2015 9:18:04 GMT
This weekends best available odds:
Basingstoke Town (13/10) Draw (27/10) Wealdstone (23/10)
Concord Rangers (53/21) Draw (27/10) Whitehawk (11/10)
Dartford (5/6) Draw (3) Truro City (18/5)
Gosport Borough (3/4) Draw (11/4) Margate (21/5)
Havant & Waterlooville (17/4) Draw (31/10) Ebbsfleet United (9/13)
Hemel Hempstead (15/13) Draw (13/5) Bishop Stortford (52/21)
Maidenhead Utd (15/7) Draw (13/5) Chelmsford (13/10)
Maidstone (6/4) Draw (14/5) Bath City (27/14)
Oxford City (11/12) Draw (3) Eastbourne Borough (68/23)
St Albans City (7/5) Draw (27/10) Hayes & Yeading (21/11)
Weston Super Mare (43/19) Draw (27/10) Sutton Utd (13/10)
Form guide:
Saints @ Home LLLDW F 6 A 8 Pts 4
H&Y away form WLLLL F 4 A 13 Pts 3
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Post by Saint on Sept 19, 2015 13:34:19 GMT
One change- Gibson in for Green.
Gayle and Yussef both on the bench.
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Post by casper on Sept 19, 2015 13:54:16 GMT
St Albans: Welsh, Sow, Chappel (c), Longe-King, Martin, Locke, Krans, Comley, Theophanous, Hilliard, Gibson
Subs: Simon Thomas, Yusuff, Gayle, Kyriacou, Coulton
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Post by brummie on Sept 19, 2015 14:32:28 GMT
No updates on here or Twitter??
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Post by casper on Sept 19, 2015 14:55:39 GMT
HT Saints 0 H&Y 1
Scored by Elliot Benyon, ex-Saint from Conference National season.
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Post by casper on Sept 19, 2015 15:09:59 GMT
1-1 Theo
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Post by casper on Sept 19, 2015 16:16:03 GMT
FT 1-1
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Post by Boomer on Sept 19, 2015 17:34:55 GMT
A pretty dour match. We have played Hayes so many times over the years at CP and it always seem to turn out the same so not too surprised with today's game. We could have won but, then so could Hayes and Yeading so probably a fair scoreline, in the end. One of the main differences today was the work rate of the two sides. Hayes & Yeading worked not stop from start to finish and were very combatitive in midfield, challenging for everything. If we had got somewhere near to their work rate, maybe we could have rescued all three points. Another good strike from Theo and a very tidy performance from ex-Saint, Elliot Benyon for Hayes, who scored once and really should have scored another. His ball control was excellent throughout. Would love to see Elliot in a Saints shirt again, partnering Theo up front. It would certainly put a stop to all our goal scoring concerns.
COYS!
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knockers
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 283
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Post by knockers on Sept 19, 2015 17:58:12 GMT
Agree with above message, still 1 defeat in five big difference, be nice to get some of walking wounded back soon been very unlucky with injuries. A nice long fa cup run be great for team and club with confidence and get some bigger crowds down to cp.
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Post by casper on Sept 19, 2015 19:54:46 GMT
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Post by bob666 on Sept 19, 2015 23:06:01 GMT
For me Hayes shaded it slightly. In the second half we only really looked dangerous, after the equaliser, on the break. Given we are the home side and Hayes were in worse form then us you like to see us be more assertive and control the game. Also we were very direct, we hit a lot of long balls (not for the first time this season) whereas Hayes at least tried to get it down and play. I know some people say results are all that matters but I think aesthetics is also important in football ( "The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish"). I come football to be entertained and I do not find this style of football appealing to watch. i rather see St Albans lose a entertaining game than win a dour one. If the only way we can stay up is by hitting endless longballs I would rather we were relegated. If you going to charge £15 you have a obligation to at least attempt to entertain. What is entertaining is subjective but for me at least that means this means at least trying to play out from the back regularly, humping it should be a last resort not the first.
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Post by essexgirl on Sept 19, 2015 23:24:27 GMT
Hi Guys long time no post,for me Margate good, Truro bad, Basingstoke good, Hayes & Yeading average.
inconsistent so far, looking for improvement. Wanting an end to injuries.
Seen every game this season.
Your blonde bombshell
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pirate
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 295
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Post by pirate on Sept 20, 2015 6:31:15 GMT
For me Hayes shaded it slightly. In the second half we only really looked dangerous, after the equaliser, on the break. Given we are the home side and Hayes were in worse form then us you like to see us be more assertive and control the game. Also we were very direct, we hit a lot of long balls (not for the first time this season) whereas Hayes at least tried to get it down and play. I know some people say results are all that matters but I think aesthetics is also important in football ( "The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish"). I come football to be entertained and I do not find this style of football appealing to watch. i rather see St Albans lose a entertaining game than win a dour one. If the only way we can stay up is by hitting endless longballs I would rather we were relegated. If you going to charge £15 you have a obligation to at least attempt to entertain. What is entertaining is subjective but for me at least that means this means at least trying to play out from the back regularly, humping it should be a last resort not the first. Really? Getting relegated is highly unlikely to enable the club to attract the quality players needed to play the style of football you are advocating. I have watched two games this season, four points so far. In this game H&Y should have been two goals to the good by half time, only a poor final ball and the crossbar prevented that. Second half we were much quicker and if Martin had not missed that easy volley from 6 yards we would have won. It seems to me that we are missing a defensive midfielder, in both games I have witnessed the opposition had far too much time and space in the middle of the pitch, instantly putting the defence on the back foot. |
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yellowalf
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 301
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Post by yellowalf on Sept 20, 2015 8:32:39 GMT
I know some people say results are all that matters but I think aesthetics is also important in football ( "The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish"). I come football to be entertained and I do not find this style of football appealing to watch. i rather see St Albans lose a entertaining game than win a dour one. If the only way we can stay up is by hitting endless longballs I would rather we were relegated. Really? Getting relegated is highly unlikely to enable the club to attract the quality players needed to play the style of football you are advocating. I agree entirely. That quote from Danny Blanchflower came (apparently) from 1972. We are further away from that in terms of years than Blanchflower was when he said it from the days before floodlights were introduced. All very noble, but sadly the game has changed dramatically in terms of commercialism. That we could attract 2,000 fans to every home Southern League or South Midlands League game would enable us to play nothing but attractive, entertaining football. Unfortunately practically comes first and that means getting points by any means necessary. Not something we are doing at the moment, but it remains the priority. |
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Post by Hatboy on Sept 20, 2015 14:37:12 GMT
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gdog
Saints Trialist
Posts: 57 
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Post by gdog on Sept 20, 2015 14:58:29 GMT
It's great Theo is scoring , but others need to start chipping in , maybe this will happen once we have gelled more as a team
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Post by Hatboy on Sept 20, 2015 15:03:07 GMT
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Post by PaperSaint on Sept 20, 2015 16:05:48 GMT
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Post by bob666 on Sept 20, 2015 22:04:33 GMT
Really? Getting relegated is highly unlikely to enable the club to attract the quality players needed to play the style of football you are advocating. I agree entirely. That quote from Danny Blanchflower came (apparently) from 1972. We are further away from that in terms of years than Blanchflower was when he said it from the days before floodlights were introduced. All very noble, but sadly the game has changed dramatically in terms of commercialism. That we could attract 2,000 fans to every home Southern League or South Midlands League game would enable us to play nothing but attractive, entertaining football. Unfortunately practically comes first and that means getting points by any means necessary. Not something we are doing at the moment, but it remains the priority. But surely both commercialisation and wider social change makes the quote more relevant. There are more leisure opportunities then in 1972 and football is relatively more expensive. If they like it or not football clubs are in the leisure marketplace. It is a completely different level but I argue West Ham sacked (did not renew contract) of Big Sam largely because fans grips about style of play and concern that they could not fill the olympic stadium playing that way- in terms commericalisation at highest level at least this promoted attractive attacking football (Barcelona marketing relies as much on their style as their achievements) . St Albans has a more fluid population, many of whom will not grown up in St Albans, that in the 1970s and there are more alternative leisure opportunities. If we want to increase attendances we need to provide a attractive product - if I moved here and came to CP for first time this season I think it would also be my last. Of course no one expecting us to play like Barcelona but, for me at least, we are much worse to watch than in previous two years and worse than most clubs who play at the same level. As for division I think we did play more attractive (ok it is subjective) in the southern league in 2013/14 season than this year - I enjoyed it far more. The idea that results are all matters ignores that football is meant to be spectacle- it like saying to does matter if a film, music, theatre, art etc is dull. Finally, it seem conscious plan we been overly direct since Oxford City game, it not just developed as we started to lose. If defender under heavy pressure ok play release ball but frequently we hump it long when under limited pressure. When I watched early to mid 1990s the idea that played on the ground was part of the clubs identity and I think something to value. The idea style must be completely subordinated to results is as extreme as the inverse |
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Post by davymac55 on Sept 21, 2015 7:09:00 GMT
I may be a lone voice here but I feel we have serious issues all over the park, goalkeeper excepted. Not great up front . Poor defensively and lacking a midfield.
I am not overly impressed with Theo and don't see his strike rate as anything to crow about-please no' when he gets the service' stuff.
He took his goal well but that's to be expected surely? If he needs a good partner and if Benyon is playing this level why not? We have players coming and going every week. And why have someone extend his loan only to start on the bench?
This was a game between two very, very average, at best, teams.
If this is as good as we are then we can be very grateful that there are several teams who appear to be as bad. Sadly, Hayes are one of those and we couldn't beat them. and Howie MOTM? Benyon scoring? We get rid of Howie and never looked at Benyon when he was available.
We got what we deserved from the game and were lucky to keep that. Some truly woeful defending at times. Certainly we should have had a penalty and the hand ball booking was surely a red. But we looked inept at times and lacked shape and ideas.
We are in for a long season. Hopefully a good cup result will get us on track
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Post by notsorecentconvert on Sept 21, 2015 9:21:16 GMT
You definitely raise some interesting points, Bob666 but I think that the memory tends to play tricks a bit and that it is results which determine our perception of the play, not the other way round.
I enjoyed the Southern League promotion season more than this one so far, too, but let's not kid ourselves that we were playing an interpretation of Total Football. I enjoyed it because we were up the top, every game really mattered and the season turned out very happily.
We were one of the best and strongest teams in the division, and we were winning, but in the winter and spring there were some real slogs that ended with three points. We beat Chippenham 1-0 on a Monday night, which was a really poor game. We battled past Redditch the following Saturday, which was little better, but it was six points towards the play-off push so I felt delighted. Similarly, I went down to Bashley and we were mostly abysmal but came away with a 2-1 win. We scrapped past Burnham 3-2 on a pudding of a pitch, having gone 2-0 down early on. Was it glorious flowing football? No, it was sleeves-up, elbows out and get stuck in stuff. I don't recall many 10-pass moves but I do remember getting the ball in the box to create havoc, or Frendo lifting one over the keeper or Kaloczi's brilliant curling winner.
Last year, we were happy to be in the Conference South. For most of you that meant being back in a division you've seen before – for me it was seeing a lot of new teams and visiting some new grounds. And we held our own, despite some sticky runs.
This year, we hoped and expected to push on from there but we are not one of the strongest teams in the division. In fact, I'd say we are in the bottom 6-8 – good enough to stay up, but it will be tight.
Whether the managers have decided to play a bit more basically, I don't know. I do know that Jimmy is an old-fashioned centre half who believes in scrapping first and earning the right to play a bit. So I agree with DavyMac in that it's surprising we don't seem to have many players who consistently do the basics and do them well.
Of course football is a form of entertainment and it's very, very questionable whether £15 represents good value for a Saturday afternoon. I missed the Hayes & Yeading game but I saw Basingstoke, which was a much-needed three points and a reasonable performance. Certainly once we were 2-0 up, we started to relax and look a bit less jittery.
Entertainment value does become more of a factor when the horizons are reduced to aiming for mid-table security. It's why a cup run or two is actually really vital this year. Look at Gosport, getting to the FA Trophy final, or North Ferriby winning it (or Bath City getting to the semi-finals last year). That really could be us, if we get a couple of lucky draws along the way.
It's certainly a far more realistic target to set than the chairman's preposterous 20 points from the opening 10 league games target, which has undoubtedly contributed to people feeling expectations have not been met.
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fatboy
Saints Youth Team Player
Posts: 200
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Post by fatboy on Sept 21, 2015 9:29:59 GMT
Why would Gray and Golds look at Benyon ,Neither were here when he played for us and just maybe they did look at him unless you know otherwise davy. The game is based on opinions and in this I agree with the managers John Kyriacou Gives us more than H Hall did week in and week out.Think you have to remember back to watching Howard some games he played like he belonged in the team other times not so good( dare say Saturday was one of his better games for Hayes). As for Louie think he doing ok for us 5 goals in a team that is in 18th place and only scored 9 goals in total. Why play Ade Yusuff from the start when last week he would,nt play for us because of a sore toe/Knee and we won 3-0. Gayle maybe should be in the team, but Martin and Locke are both City players and we may as use them as the main defenders. As poor defensively -14 in 11 games its not that bad in fact I would say its quite good just look at the table and see the other teams goals against.In my opinion I am glad Martin is back. Him and Locke are doing ok. This team will be ok at this level Krans and sow both look good Comley stills does more than enough to earn his place. Gibson may a good addition. One last thing we still have a few good players to come back into the team.
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Post by notsorecentconvert on Sept 21, 2015 9:42:29 GMT
Agree with a lot of that, Fatboy. We can all sit back and wonder why this player or that player is not in the team.
Eliott Buchanan is banging the goals in for Bishops Stortford but I doubt many of us thought it was the wrong decision by Gray and Golds to let him go early last season? Maybe he would have settled and would be here scoring goals instead, who knows? But a football team is a funny thing and it doesn't necessarily follow that every player will make the impact we imagined.
We have got a lot of new faces and perhaps we should give them time to see if they can become a team.
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yellowalf
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 301
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Post by yellowalf on Sept 21, 2015 9:56:54 GMT
Why would Gray and Golds look at Benyon ,Neither were here when he played for us and just maybe they did look at him unless you know otherwise davy. The game is based on opinions and in this I agree with the managers John Kyriacou Gives us more than H Hall did week in and week out.Think you have to remember back to watching Howard some games he played like he belonged in the team other times not so good( dare say Saturday was one of his better games for Hayes). As for Louie think he doing ok for us 5 goals in a team that is in 18th place and only scored 9 goals in total. Why play Ade Yusuff from the start when last week he would,nt play for us because of a sore toe/Knee and we won 3-0. Gayle maybe should be in the team, but Martin and Locke are both City players and we may as use them as the main defenders. As poor defensively -14 in 11 games its not that bad in fact I would say its quite good just look at the table and see the other teams goals against.In my opinion I am glad Martin is back. Him and Locke are doing ok. This team will be ok at this level Krans and sow both look good Comley stills does more than enough to earn his place. Gibson may a good addition. One last thing we still have a few good players to come back into the team. I wasn't a supporter when Benyon was here before so maybe I am looking at the situation with a different perspective. I wouldn't say he was rubbish on Saturday but he did little to impress me. He huffed and puffed, missed a sitter in the first half and then scored when unmarked (how exactly?!) a few metres out. At his age you would expect him to be at the peak of his game yet looking at Wikipedia he seems to have plummeted down through the levels over the past four years. I agree with faboy in that I don't see why the management would bother with looking at him - I don't think he is what Saints need at all. I would also agree that Louie is doing okay for us. He should have had a hat-trick on Saturday had he been more clinical. That's not meant as a criticism just that I think he has the ability to play better than I've seen him so far this season (I've only seen three games this season). Certainly six goals from nine suggests we would be in dire straits without him. I also thought Ben Martin was immense on Saturday. He's had his vocal critics on here and even though I wouldn't be surprised if they disagreed with my view, I thought he was one of our better players. I think we're playing better than we were earlier this season, and the form guide sees us sitting nicely in mid-table. No time for complacency but things are looking brighter IMHO. |
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yellowalf
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 301
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Post by yellowalf on Sept 21, 2015 10:00:51 GMT
Certainly we should have had a penalty and the hand ball booking was surely a red. But we looked inept at times and lacked shape and ideas. We are in for a long season. Hopefully a good cup result will get us on track I thought we should have had TWO penalties as Comley was taken down before the Yusuff incident. Of course, Coms may say he slipped and that it wasn't a penalty but it looked like one from where I was standing. Interested in the red card call, davymac - why do you think it was a red card? Deliberate handball isn't a red card offence and I felt it was too far away from goal for a goal-scoring opportunity to be called. I agree though - we definitely need a good FA Cup to raise the spirits of everyone around the club. |
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Post by Boomer on Sept 21, 2015 10:00:53 GMT
Buchanan is certainly a strange one. He had a great start to his career at Northwood and did very well at both Hayes and Newport and is also clearly doing well at Bishop's Stortford but he has misfired at a number of clubs in between (including ourselves). Benyon has played and scored goals at a much higher level.
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yellowalf
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 301
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Post by yellowalf on Sept 21, 2015 10:02:56 GMT
Agree with a lot of that, Fatboy. We can all sit back and wonder why this player or that player is not in the team. Eliott Buchanan is banging the goals in for Bishops Stortford but I doubt many of us thought it was the wrong decision by Gray and Golds to let him go early last season? Maybe he would have settled and would be here scoring goals instead, who knows? But a football team is a funny thing and it doesn't necessarily follow that every player will make the impact we imagined. We have got a lot of new faces and perhaps we should give them time to see if they can become a team. I agree totally! Just because a player scores for team A doesn't mean he will score for team B. Buchanan could be the perfect example of that as I didn't think he could hit the proverbial cow with a banjo but something on the Herts/Essex borders has brought him success. |
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yellowalf
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 301
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Post by yellowalf on Sept 21, 2015 10:12:07 GMT
Benyon has played and scored goals at a much higher level. Not for the past four years he hasn't - 10 goals in 100 League Two games since he left Torquay in early 2011. Most of his goals have been scored at National League which is only (ha - I say only!  ) one level above us. |
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Post by Boomer on Sept 21, 2015 10:31:34 GMT
Regardless, I believe he could still easily do a very good job for us in the National League South.
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) one level above us.