Slough Town (A) 1/4/24

[middxsaint]

www.sloughtownfc.net/article/3248/Preview:-St-Albans-City

[middxsaint]

MATCH BY MATCH TICKETS
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*(12 year old and under must be accompanied by an Adult)

[Boomer]

Line up this afternoon -

Johnson, James, Partington (c), Bowry, Francis-Clarke, Banton, Wiltshire, Rasulo, Hutchinson, Weiss, Jeffers.

Subs -

Bentley, Blackman, Burger, Mensah, Tripp.

[Boomer]

Slough Town 1 Saints 0

Goddard 1

[Boomer]

Slough Town 2 Saints 0

Minhas 16

[Boomer]

HT Slough Town 2 Saints 0

[Boomer]

Perhaps we couldn't do a lot worse, if we brought on Burger, Mensah and Tripp for the 2nd half.

[Boomer]

Burger on for Francis-Clarke 46 mins

[Boomer]

Blackman on for Wiltshire 59 mins

[Boomer]

Slough Town 2 Saints 1

Blackman 69

[Boomer]

Att 1,162

[Boomer]

Mensah on for James 88 mins

[Boomer]

Slough Town 2 Saints 2

Jeffers 90 + 2 pen

[Boomer]

FT Slough Town (2) 2 Saints (0) 2

[westwalessaint]

It seems we snatched a point from the jaws of defeat 👍

[lagerman]

Well, l don't know how how it went, not being there, other than the result. On the face of it, a nice point on the road, especially after coming from 2 nil down, but is it another nail in our coffin about missing the play offs ?
To make the Play Offs and probably it's the last play off place that we are talking about, nothing less, arguably, than maximum points will do

[EFMTFTV]

It was pretty bad today and we stole a point

I'm getting increasingly confused with the line-ups, it seems we have this abundance of attacking players (Jeffers, Weiss, Banton, Rasulo, Hutchinson) and we seem to want to play them all and it's not working, Banton in the middle didn't work

Bringing Burger on instead of Blackman was baffling, when Blackman did come on he changed the game and set up the first goal (which was Weiss I think and not Banton)

We are still only 2 points off the play offs, only good thing about the point was it's probably finished Slough's chances of the play offs so one less team to worry about

[lagerman]

Apr 1, 2024 18:43:35 GMT EFMTFTV said:

It was pretty bad today and we stole a point

I'm getting increasingly confused with the line-ups, it seems we have this abundance of attacking players (Jeffers, Weiss, Banton, Rasulo, Hutchinson) and we seem to want to play them all and it's not working, Banton in the middle didn't work

Bringing Burger on instead of Blackman was baffling, when Blackman did come on he changed the game and set up the first goal (which was Weiss I think and not Banton)

We are still only 2 points off the play offs, only good thing about the point was it's probably finished Slough's chances of the play offs so one less team to worry about

Yeah, l think Sloughs chances of making the play offs have been gradually dwindling recently and this could be it for them. We are still near the play offs, but are we once again the patsys of this league, l can't help thinking we are, l remain unconvinced that we really can make the Play Offs now Maybe our niche will always be just the NLS level, nothing more, nothing less

[sideshowbob]

We aren't good enough for the play offs, and whoever goes up with yeovil will finish bottom of the national league, it's as easy as that!

[EFMTFTV]

Unless it's Maidstone and their pot of FA Cup cash

[middxsaint]

www.sloughtownfc.net/reports/5679

www.sloughexpress.co.uk/gallery/football/195664/slough-town-let-slip-2-0-half-time-lead-to-draw-with-st-albans-city.html

[lagerman]

Apr 1, 2024 20:28:49 GMT EFMTFTV said:

Unless it's Maidstone and their pot of FA Cup cash

Maidstone can, and probably would, spend some of that FA Cup money on reinforcing their sQuad, should they win the play offs.

[lagerman]

Jon Meakes has done well since coming in to replace Noble, but how much experience has he had in dealing with a team at St Albans level on a poor results streak ?
Well, first of all, has he ever managed at our level before ? I don't think so, which makes it all the more creditable the way he's managed us so far.
If you haven't managed at our level before and things have been going well, and confidence in the camp is high, maybe you can just keep it ticking over.
On the minus side, as Manager, if you are inexperienced and you hit one or two poor results as we have done, it's all about how do you turn it around ?
This is what Jon Meakes is up against at the moment, and perhaps with the level of player that we have at the moment too, at the end of the day, we are just a NLS Club, and not a Club that's going to burst up through the leagues

[bob666]

Apr 1, 2024 21:57:49 GMT lagerman said:

Jon Meakes has done well since coming in to replace Noble, but how much experience has he had in dealing with a team at St Albans level on a poor results streak ?
Well, first of all, has he ever managed at our level before ? I don't think so, which makes it all the more creditable the way he's managed us so far.
If you haven't managed at our level before and things have been going well, and confidence in the camp is high, maybe you can just keep it ticking over.
On the minus side, as Manager, if you are inexperienced and you hit one or two poor results as we have done, it's all about how do you turn it around ?
This is what Jon Meakes is up against at the moment, and perhaps with the level of player that we have at the moment too, at the end of the day, we are just a NLS Club, and not a Club that's going to burst up through the leagues

No idea why but we seem to have been a very streaky team for years. I remember under IA we look like a top 3/4 team for half the season and relegation fodder for the other half. Makes no sense as different players and managers, a bit like Spurs being Spursy. I don't think Meeks needs to qualify for the playoffs to secure longer term future but performances in the next 5 league games need to be better than the last 4. If we end the seaon with a poor 9 game run we need consider our options moving forward.

[jj123]

Apr 1, 2024 21:57:49 GMT lagerman said:

Jon Meakes has done well since coming in to replace Noble, but how much experience has he had in dealing with a team at St Albans level on a poor results streak ?
Well, first of all, has he ever managed at our level before ? I don't think so, which makes it all the more creditable the way he's managed us so far.
If you haven't managed at our level before and things have been going well, and confidence in the camp is high, maybe you can just keep it ticking over.
On the minus side, as Manager, if you are inexperienced and you hit one or two poor results as we have done, it's all about how do you turn it around ?
This is what Jon Meakes is up against at the moment, and perhaps with the level of player that we have at the moment too, at the end of the day, we are just a NLS Club, and not a Club that's going to burst up through the leagues

The appointment of Meakes proves the lack of contacts / experience the 2 owners have.

IA approached them
DN was a coach already and we were lucky to reach the play offs (all down to SJ)
JM already a coach and again went on a lucky run thanks to SJ

We may as well make SJ manager at this rate because we wouldn’t be anywhere near the position we are in without him.

Makes it even more embarrassing that DN didn’t start SJ, he’ll be managing a pub side in no time at all. Clueless.

[saint68]

That was poor. Really poor.

We looked completely disjointed for most of the game, some of our passing was terrible and the inability to lift a cross/corner/free-kick above waist high became almost embarrassing. However, we picked up the pace in the last 20 minutes and managed to salvage a point. However, the only reason we deserved it was because Slough didn't deserve to win. Let's face it, a good side would have finished us off by half-time. As far their antics, rolling about clutching their faces after every robust challenge, the less said the better.

I don't generally criticise the officials, in general I think the standard has improved in recent years, but yesterday was the exception. It must have been a difficult game to referee, niggly from the start and downright bad-tempered by the end, but he didn't help himself with the inconsistency of his decision-making. However, he gave us a soft penalty at the end which makes a nice change.

As for the play-offs, I guess if we win our last four matches we could get as high as sixth, but to be honest I've given up hope and I agree with others that only Yeovil and maybe Maidstone stand any chance of staying up so it's probably not a bad thing that we're going to stay in National League South.

Like with previous seasons, we have the basis of a good squad but clearly need greater quality. Recruitment has been patchy and as usual several summer signings were gone by Christmas. Getting good youngsters in on loan from League clubs is always very well, but there's always a danger they'll be recalled at a moment's notice e.g. Hoddle. I think we really miss him.

Regarding the post above about the owners' lack of football experience and contacts, I suspect that's true. That in itself isn't a problem if they're surrounded by people who do have that experience and probably explains why they're still keen on appointing a Director of Football. I remember when Watford were going through the divisions in the late Seventies and early Eighties, Elton John was asked about his approach to owning a football club. He replied that his aim was to put the right people in the right jobs and let them get on with it.

I'm quite happy that Meakes will be Coach next season, he had ten or more years at Chesham one level below us, so he's hardly inexperienced, but let's hope we can get a wise old head in next season as Director of Football to oversee everything, particularly recruitment.

[middxsaint]

[jj123]

Luke Garrard leaving Wood at the end of the season. We should approach him - worked miracles at Wood.

Very poorly written statement from Danny Hunter below:

www.borehamwoodfootballclub.co.uk/uncategorized/club-statement-luke-garrard/#:~:text=For%20those%20of%20you%20who,be%20in%20the%20people%20business.

[saintsman2000]

Apr 2, 2024 13:31:26 GMT jj123 said:

Luke Garrard leaving Wood at the end of the season. We should approach him - worked miracles at Wood.

Very poorly written statement from Danny Hunter below:
.

absolutely do not want Garrard at St Albans - his style of football is thuggish and just long-ball. he’s now been found out at national league whilst having a mid-table budget and being full-time. Look at Dartford, had a huge budget but decided to play long ball and now they are fighting relegation

[EFMTFTV]

Quite bizarrely and proving they probably just pluck names out of a hat, Rousalo was named in the team of the day
He had one of his worst games on Monday