Vital Verdict – AFCB v Stoke City

Written by kirsikka

It’s never nice when refs mess up and change matches, even when it is in your favour. That happened today for us but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. That was never a sending off. Aside from that, the referee was all over the place for both teams. Not a good performance.

Having said that, I never want to hear from Stoke fans moaning about AFCB time-wasting, falling over, feigning injury and other such gamesmanship. It actually started before the sending off but what we saw after from them was simply ridiculous. Shows they’re just as bad as everyone else despite their hilarious hypocritical holier than thou rantings.

The changes were rung but the first-half performance was every bit as bad as vs Blackpool. We were lucky to go in with zero on the board. Given the attacking line-up, we were bereft of ideas going forward. The first 15 after half time was much more like how we should be playing only to then lose the plot again. Someone on the pitch needs to take this team by the scruff of the neck and lead them as they’re aimless at times.

It felt like it was never going to happen but Stoke did eventually tire and one of the near misses finally went in. Twice on the trot, we’ve got out of jail. I think there are only two such cards in the Monopoly deck so we shouldn’t try and rely on it a third time.

All in all, it was a poor performance against ten men but three points. At this stage, the points are what matter.

At the same time, more injury news hitting the squad with Jaidon Anthony now out. What the heck is going on? It’s madness and we need to get a grip of it as we average a game every four days from now until the end of the season. It’s going to be intense and we need options available.

Positive performances:

Smith – Good to see him motoring before he understandably ran out of steam. Was the only positive thing in the first half.

Travers – Another match, another point winning save. Surely time to close the book on the player of the season?

Room for improvement:

Cantwell: Suicide pass nearly cost us and, in a game that demanded tricky skills and clever balls to break down a packed defence, he only flashed in and out of the match. I would have hoped for more from him.

Schrodinger’s Player:
Lowe – I was all ready to eviscerate him for another ineffective performance only for him to bag that goal. I’ve still no idea what kind of player he is but he doesn’t look to have the qualities of a winger. If we can get someone else fit maybe we should see him as a central option when we want two up top?

To add:
When they watch the video back, the free-kick after the sending off with Stoke still trying to reorganise and so we have a chance a man might be free… passed back to the halfway line. There should be a pause there and Parker must address that situation. Retaining possession is fine as a tactic but there are times when you have to try and go in for the kill.

I think Parker still has a lot of work to do with this team. It doesn’t help not being able to have much consistency with selection with all the injuries etc. Still… get them on the training ground and drill, drill, drill until those partnerships emerge.

Your say…

AFCB_Liam wrote…

– Good spirit again today at the end from the boys and another huge 3 points. At the end that’s what really counts and what we will remember. BUT
– I think Birmingham home (for 45 mins) is the only time we have played well so far this year. The quality of this division is dire except Fulham, so we could somehow go up playing like this, but performance levels so far off the 2014 team it’s laughable. Will sound like a spoilt brat but that thought of this side in the PL actually fills me with dread a bit.
– Travers…what more can we say?! We are watching someone special here, possibly best keeper I’ve ever seen at DC for his age. Unbelievable talent.
– We are such a confidence team – the likes of Cantwell, Lowe, Solanke, Zemura, Billing all transformed with a bit of momentum.
– Why did it take a whole 45 minutes for us to wake up?! Where are the leaders on the pitch to gee the team up, not just work rate but bravery on the ball, passing forward etc. That first half was pathetic and it shouldn’t have taken half time to realise it.
– Thought fans were very good 2nd half today and fed off the little the players gave them. Really good noise for most of the 2nd half except a little lull.
– More ridiculous time-wasting with players going down and getting the physio on for nothing. It’s got to be stopped, ruins the game as a spectacle. Quite nice seeing us time waste in the corner at the end though!
– I thought Stoke have every right to feel aggrieved at the ref today. Never a red for Fox, Zemura should have had at least a yellow and looked like a clear pen for them at the end?
– Kelly remembered how to pass forward in the 2nd half. More of that PLEASE.
– Thought Cook, Smith and Mepham did ok, most of the rest were poor for 70 minutes. Cantwell, Lowe and Dom turned it on for about 20 minutes.
– Phew!

NWCherries98 added…

Need to watch back the red. Live, it looked like a shocking tackle.

Think we were well worth the win by the end, created and fluffed a lot of chances, hit the bar, special save to keep Cantwell out.

Waz afcb said…

First of all GET IN as I said after the Blackpool game, if you can’t enjoy moments like that then you’re following the wrong sport.

However- we surely can’t just ignore how unacceptably bad we were up until the sending off. I’m not saying that from a position of entitlement, by the way, had we the resources of Peterborough United I’d be saying the same. As a fan I can take losing, I can take it when a player has a shocker, but what I find it very hard to stomach is intentionally going out with such a conservative and frankly illogical game plan. What on earth do we actually hope to achieve by knocking it around at the back for a bit and then eventually lumping it forward to a hopelessly isolated Solanke? How can anybody in their right mind believe that this game plan is the optimal way to get the best out of what we’ve got? It’s the same issue every game and it only ever changes either when we change formation or the opposition has a player sent off. It’s insane that he keeps lining up with this God awful starting formation and even more insane that he keeps getting away with it!

TCherry wrote…

Not sure how we won that to be honest.
Poor in the first half. Red card, not sure. I’ll watch on Quest tonight. They were trying to get one of our players sent off from then on. I thought Zemura was a gonner, not even a yellow! Good job Jeff wasn’t playing!

Such a lot of time-wasting from Stoke from quite early on really. ‘Injuries’ in the second half. It amusing that they got a dose of their own medicine later.
I couldn’t see us scoring be we persevered. I hope we don’t miss Moore.
I thought we missed Christie today.

Absolute brilliant save from Travers at the end. What a player.
Good to see Smithy back, I thought Kelly played well. Mepham OK. Dembele a tricky player.
The points all count, talking of which I said after the Blackpool game on the 12th Feb that we needed 30 points for promotion. 10 wins or a combination of wins and draws.
We had 58 pts with 16 to play. One win down. 61 pts with 15 to play, 27 pts needed. – Join the conversation, click here.