Cheltenham Match Thread

Birmingham 0 - 6 Bournemouth

brum are getting dicked 7-0 at home

Birmingham 0 - 7 Bournemouth

8 now

Make that 8!!!

Blimey, boys are on fire today, Pompey could do us a favour.

Luton have just scored and gone top!

how can they be top !!! shows what a crap league it is

Les Miserable wrote:

It really is coming together nicely, Shezza is our leader

Coming together nicely, lurving the Shez.

Thechriswebb your boys took one hell of a beating.

If a promotion does evolve then let it be free of parasites like Newell, Webb and the rest of the bean can rattlers.

It's all for Charidee

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Punchdrunk wrote:

If a promotion does evolve then let it be free of parasites like Newell, Webb and the rest of the bean can rattlers.

Promotion would be a massive shock and a bonus to me, sharing it with the slugs wont be nice, but i will console myself with the thought of that Brief Synopsis wanker Pedlar having to praise Sherridan after calling for his head five games ago

My word, listened to Sparksy and the game sounded good.

Well done to Argyle. Making the most of this nose-bleed territory Argyle find themselves in.

Cheltenham view on the game


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Very impressive. Argyle started well even before Rooben's great strike and the most noticeable aspect about the team ATM is that they don't actually look like conceding goals even when under pressure-you always have confidence that the back players and Luke have enough about them to make the save or last ditch tackle. Having said that, the second goal converted by Hartley from an excellent free kick from the impressive Kellett made things a whole lot easier for the second half and I never really felt that Argyle were in the slightest danger even before Lewis wrapped things up late on. Very good team performance again, would be fantastic if we could get some of these loanees on a longer term basis.

This current side are oozing confidence at the minute. A number of times today we got crucial blocks on shots that wouldn't have been made last year. There is a tenacity about this defence whereby they doggedly refuse to concede. I truly haven't seen that sort of fight in an Argyle side for many years.

I'm not easily pleased or easily impressed, but this group seem to have clicked and they fight for each other. Kellett got MOTM and was excellent but three or four others were just as good. What was pleasing even more so for me is that Cheltenham are a decent team - you could see that at times, and we still won at a canter. I can't remember a more impressive first 45 mins for a long long time.

I'm off now to put my Jester hat in the wash and it may even get an airing at Burton next week...

Tgwu wrote:

Cheltenham view on the game


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Not much from the first video, sort of thing you would expect him to say. I did like when he said we are up there, when asked if he thought Argyle were the best team he and Cheltenham Town have played so far.

The second video is praise enough for me, he looked absolutely gutted. At one stage i thought the interviewer was going to offer him some tissues, with the comforting words of ''come on lad, dry your eyes now. it's not the end of the World''....

So glad i fecked off a veggie bbq to go today

i had this game down as a draw before leaving today but my word i was pleasantly proven wrong on that and how.
We played like a unit and with confidence and could and probably should have won this by more than 3! Enjoyable game and i am beginning to believe that if we can carry on putting runs like this together and with one or two additions to this squad in January will will go up even with the circus in the background with Brent.

My brief Ratings and non bias like a few are

McCormick good solid keeping today made a few good saves some guy at halftime i was talking too while choking down a cheeseburger said it all... if only he wasnt a stupid feckin idiot on that night he would have been in the prem by now i have to agree.

Mellor far better performance from last week now he is in his prefered option the ref was a dick to allow cheltenham to attack before allowing him to rejoin the game after getting blood on his shirt
McHugh solid game great to see him playing in the centre as a few fans where on his case when he was at left back.
Hartley well timed header from Kellet's free kick again solid game made a few crucial tackles
Nelson he is getting better and better with each game again Shezza must open contract talks with him now before the higher league clubs get winded he is out of contract in the summer
Kellet this boy is good and will only get better great free kick into the box for the second goal and could have been one of the scorers himself

O'Connor typical DM performance today winning the ball many times good game
Blizzard great game bossed the midfield if only he could aim a ball at goal!
B.Reid set up the 3rd goal with vengence he was dangerous on the ball and really making things happen, i really hope he stays another month or two

Alessandra very lively up front well taken 3rd goal
R.Reid great goal but thats about it really. something tells me there is a problem with him as in he is looking like he is either carrying  knock, wants out or the police matter is affecting him as he really doesnt look happy. Plus if anyone knows why he doesnt wear the club's socks i would like to know out of interest.

Smalley did alright for the time he was on
Banton played a lovely ball through when he came on that if someone other than blizzard got on the end of it the game would have been 4-0. He got a run out i dont expect him to be the banton of before and i still would get rid off in jan.
Harvey didnt really do alot but there again he never does

oh and as a side not last week i mentioned that club stooge who seems to be filming games on very unsuitable camera for the website (nb he spent most of it when he was in my eyeline filming the FV blocks) well he isnt the only kid to be doing this i noticed there were another two doing it aswell.

Oh and now when we make substitutions we have sponsors to plug now ie "naval reserves super subsition coming on is smalley for reid and be a super sub with the naval reserves" thats the gist of what was said everytime....

that can stop now i shall be speaking to the trust and the ambassador about this

Well impressed with this result and kudos to Asti and Franny for predicting a good old stuffing!!

Tgwu wrote:

I can see goals in this game.

As I said

Didn't say for who though

One of the best home league games I've seen for a while. Great team performance and we could have scored more. Even Banton looked lively when he came on.

What a performance. What a win. What a defence. What incredible home form. I always said that whilst I doubted Sheridan in the past tactically- what he was always capable of was spotting a very good player and persuading him to come down here. I also always said that whilst his tactics frustrated me, if he found the winning formula with the players that we had at our disposal, we could be seriously good. And with the 3-5-2, I think it's happened. Everything has fallen into place in a most spectacular way. 3 perfect centre-backs and keeper. A great strike partnership in Reuben and Lewi which is finally yielding goals. Good full-backs. And an array of capable central midfielders who have now got their cherry on the top for another month in Bobby Reid. We've finally found that winning formula- the tactical disorganisation earlier under Sheridan seems to have finally come to an end. And by god we look unstoppable for it.

I don't think unstoppable is hyperbole either. This is the third game in a row (!!) where Luke hasn't really had a serious save to make. Our three centre-backs really are that good. Luke collects every cross and half-chance with perfection when he's called upon. But Nelson, McHugh and Hartley are all so solid that that really is all he's restricted to. Nelse is a properly good defender- like, he's really good. And he's still only the third best centre-back we have which shows how good the other two are. Nelson has got unstoppable pace and has improved his weaker mental areas immensely. McHugh is a Coughlan/Timar/Trotman-esque stopper except even better cause he can play a bit too. His long passes are very good, as was his crossing from left-back. Hartley is just the rock on which the whole thing is built. He's the best defender we've had since Seip both in terms of general ability and the technical side as well. He's a fantastic organiser and a clear leader on the pitch. Good goal too. They're not just great individually; they're great as a unit. Our shape as a 3-5-2 with McHugh as the kingpin is so much more organised and coherent. It's gone from good defence to a great one. I genuinely think we've got a chance of setting some kind of all time record for fewest goals conceded.

The full-backs are ticking along nicely too. After a shaky first half an hour, Mellor went on to have one of the best games he's had for the club getting up and down the line and passing the ball superbly. He's good enough to provide width both attackingly and defensively. Ergo, he's the perfect wing-back to accommodate our CB, CMs and Strikers. As for Kellett...I may need to get my tin hat on here before posting this but I didn't quite buy the hype. Going forward he was excellent, no doubt about that whatsoever. Really should have scored and gave their defence a lot of problems. Defensively however, let's just say there's work to be done. How many times did you see a player out in a lot of space down Kellett's side? It was quite a few times as opposed to zero on Mellor's side. I don't want to slate the lad as it's only his second professional game and he undoubtedly showed some promise. But talk of him being the next Joe Bryan is very premature.

O'Connor after what was a shakey September is now back to his start of season best. You never think he'll doing anything but win a 50/50 ball when it's going towards him and he's also got a lot better at doing the scruffy unappreciated work that Hourihane used to do of picking up the loose balls. Cox is a better all round Defensive Midfielder but purely in the tackle I think O'Connor pips him. Blizzard again had a steady home game in his best position in spite of his poor performance at Wimbledon on Tuesday. He's not so much an away game player but in the home games, he's an excellent playmaker who did very well today picking out some clever passes.

Man of the match however has to go to Bobby Reid. He's improved even in the few weeks since being here and he wasn't half bad at the start. He's now learned to track back a lot better and win the ball defensively as well as showing for it going forward. We already had a decent range of CM options before he came but they've just been exemplified with him here. He offers something no-one else can. That burst of pace forward and ability to distribute the ball very quickly which in turn makes all the other players around him pick up their pace too. That and he's the best passer at the club.

Reuben and Lewi showed yet again why they're substantially the best strike partnership this club has had in as long as I can recall- certainly since the Championship days. I think some of the work Reuben does goes unnoticed actually because we take it for granted. He will almost ALWAYS win a one on one duel for any given ball and will shrug off his man at absolute ease to run with it and make a chance. That and his superb finishing were both evident today. Lewi's finishing isn't usually as good (in spite of today's goal) but he's still a striker who makes stuff happen. His body movement is so good and the number of times he chases a defender into a mistake is astronomical. That's why Reid and Alessandra work so well together. One will force the error and the other will make something of it.

This match review is going on longer than usual- you may need to put a quid in the meter this time rather than 50p. But whilst I'm in the midst of my diatribe, can I say that the Banton-bashing really needs to stop? I'm the first to say it isn't going well for him this season but Bloody Nora some of you lot need to give him a serious break in my opinion. He was involved in setting up not one, not two but THREE chances for other players in the short time he was on the pitch. One of them was for Kellett who could have laid it back to him. The last one was the nice little passing move he was involved in in stoppage time. Although the middle one was the one that really took the biscuit- he laid a beautiful pass off to Smalley who was in a fantastic position to lay it back to him for a position which would have been a nailed on goal for Banton. He was in absolute acres of space. Smalley like a prat tried to go with it by himself and got tackled. He then had the sheer brass neck to appeal for a penalty when the ball was won fairly. And maybe, just maybe, that's why Banton didn't clap the fans at the end. He wasn't the only one who didn't clap at all, by the way. Other players who didn't clap included Bobby Reid, O'Connor, I think Mellor and, erm, oh yeah, Smalley himself. So why Banton is being singled out by a minority of folk is beyond me completely. Probably due to a pre conceived idea about his attitude. His attitude, as I keep saying, has improved this season by the way. He has turned into a real team player and always tried to find a teammate in space, he puts in the running/tracking back and is never selfish. What he still lacks is the end product- as I have said all season, I just think he needs that one goal and all his confidence could come flooding back. Last season- was he a lazy sod? Yes. Is he a lazy sod this season? No he's not, he's just lost all of his mojo and swagger. It could have come back if Smalley wasn't so daft. I have no doubt Banton was seething with him and I hope Smalley gets collared for it by Sheridan. Harvey when coming on was quiet and unremarkable.

As a side note...what on EARTH was that idiocy about with the ref not letting Mellor back onto the pitch. Can you imagine the reaction if Cheltenham had scored during that period? There would have been an eruption. We had actually cleared the ball well away from the penalty box at least twice in that period and he still wouldn't let him back on. The referee should be binned from next weekend's round of fixtures for that.

It really is all coming together very well isn't it? Sheridan's proved me wrong in the sense that he's finally found a great tactical formula when I doubted he ever would. We made it tough for ourselves this summer by losing Hourihane and Young- but we've recovered from it well and we now look a stronger team than ever. Our weaker performers this season would have been our stronger performers in years gone by. There is a fantastic vibe around the place at the moment especially with the on pitch stuff and long may it continue. I think we can nick a win at Burton on the weekend- and bring it on too.

McCormick-7

Nelson-7
McHugh-7
Hartley-8

Mellor-7
O'Connor-8
Bobby Reid-8 MOTM
Blizzard-7
Kellett-6

Reuben Reid-7
Alessandra-7

Smalley-4
Harvey-6
Banton-7

two man of the matches and only 6 for kellet yet banton gets a 7 ! its like you watch a totally different game to everyone else