Northampton

[Bluedog]

They lost 3-0 0n Friday so if we play as we did in the second half we may get at least a point,when you put three centre forwards on they can only be as good as the service they get, why did Whalley move into the middle,he should have stayed out wide to get crosses in,Zen i agree what you said about Rodman he also will not make a tackle,our sleepy defenders will need to keep an eye on Richards he was always a thorn in our side when he played for Port Vale he may be 34 but he has scored 12goals so far this season.

[zenfootball]

They lost 3-0 0n Friday so if we play as we did in the second half we may get at least a point,when you put three centre forwards on they can only be as good as the service they get, why did Whalley move into the middle,he should have stayed out wide to get crosses in,Zen i agree what you said about Rodman he also will not make a tackle,our sleepy defenders will need to keep an eye on Richards he was always a thorn in our side when he played for Port Vale he may be 34 but he has scored 12goals so far this season.

I dont know if this tactical but Whalley had more pace when he was running shorts bursts from higher up the pitch , the last few games he seems to be playing deeper he does not have the stamina to do long bursts of speed for the whole games. he was one of many players who ran out of steam .

[zenfootball]

Oldhams back to back wins puts them 6 points clear of vale and a lot closer to safety, Northamptons top scorers are Mark Richards ( 12 goals) Johm O'Toole (10 goals) Alex Revell (10)
they should be safe on 51 points but after only getting 2 points out of a possible 12 and back to back defeats they will be very keen to end the losing run.they are stronger at home.
looking at the goals from the there 3-0 Milwall defeat ,they looked less than convincing against pacey counter attacks and wingers hitting crosses and getting behind the defenders with a low pass .( you could say the same for town!)
They play Bury away after us and Norhampton have a weak away form and ship considerably more goals on there travels if i was the Bury manager i would be hoping for 3 points from that game, we have to beat the teams in front of us as things are so tight between us ,Bury ,Vale and Swindon . we have to cut out the soft goals ( some hope as they have done it all season) and press Northampton ( my other concern was the way town players faded , ran out of steam and many were bent over holding there legs as we play again within a very short period of time) and player options seem very limited as the team seems to be picking itself,Can Payne score again for the third match in a run.
to just highlight the contrast towns top 3 scorers Dodds (10 goals) Ladapo (4) Whalley (3) total (17) two of the three have struggled to get regular starting places, Norhamptons top 3 scorers total (34) another reason why we are at the bottom, we still cant score or defend ,if we are going to stay up we will need to do both.

i wonder if the strain is starting to get to hurst , his after match interviews over the last few games have changed he blames the refs (and i dont blame him) then he blames the players ability to cope with pressure ( whilst previously criticizing fans for having a go at players), in the last game his assistant was up and down like a cat on a hot roof.( i would not wont to be one and i dont envy them at the moment)
week after week swindon keep closing the gap so only a win will do so no pressure then.with the season nearly at an end Town badly need to discover some consistency, Town must score first !

[Bluedog]

I think the only hope for us is Bury Vale and Swindon losing all their remaining games,no pressure.

[zenfootball]

I think the only hope for us is Bury Vale and Swindon losing all their remaining games,no pressure.

Walsall need to do us a big favor and beat swindon(swindon have the best form of the bottom clubs but have drawn the last two games , Oxford play Vale this is difficult to call as both teams have had a recent dip in form vales have lost the last three games oxford have lost two and drawn one(there last win was a 5-1 thrashing of bury) , on paper you would expect Bolton to beat bury bit Bolton have just lost there last two games most recently to oldham, whilst Bolton have some breathing room mathematically they could still lost there automatic place so will be keen to win.
at the end of day this boils down to town doing something they have struggled with all season keep a clean sheet score more than one goal.players wanting, to win fight for every ball and be more consistent (nothing to worry about then we have to win as the next two games are even tougher

[zenfootball]

out of the last three games this was the one i thought town had the best chance to get something from, town made a bright start. town had seven corners but Whalley delivery was poor ,in free play Whalley was causing problems his one shoot on goal forced a good save, towns best chance fell to payne four yards out and any contact and it would be a goal . considering the seriousness of the injury all credit to Agogo and the physio team to get him back for today amazing performance which gave town some badly need bite in the midfield he covered an amazing amount of ground.
yet more sloppy defending gave Northampton a free header which Leutwiler saved, towns defense got pulled out of position leaving a gaping gap in the back leutwiler made one save but no surprise that Richards slotted in the goal.how many times have town conceded ,how many times have town failed to defend properly that is why we are were we are!

spent the second half jumping up and down and screaming at the radio.Leutwiller early and crucial save was the only thing he had to do in the second half as it was virtually one way traffic,town had 60 % of the possession 16 attempts on goal and 12 corners . Northamptons lack of discipline caused there own problems two yellow was the first departure leaving town with over 30 minutes to win this game the one quality cross from Whalley lead to a saddler equalizer, Whalleys pace tormented Northampton defense and caused panic Northmapton were rocking and creaking as the results started to go towns way the only thing missing was the second goal, a combination of a lack of quality decent balls in the last third ,poor finishing, calm minds and clinical finishing eluded town ,so much possession was wasted by aimless kick and hope balls.
five minutes to go Northampton go down to NINE men and still Town cant win!!!
Dodds blew a chance, Yates free on goal heads wide, humphrys shoot gets deflected and lots of desperate last ditch defending 1-1
other results just could not have gone any better Gillingham, Oldham, Vale and Swindon all lose
Fleetwood and Scunthorpe win and close the gap on Bolton as they play Bury next a win by Bury and they go above us this is possible as Oldham recently beat them.we have to hope that not only Bolton win but also thrash them as Bury have a better goal difference and with things so tight it could just make the difference.as Bolton then go on to play vale they and walsall also play vale both could have a big say on who stays up .


i cant say what i think at the moment as i might get kicked off this site( utter frustration) as town blow a chance to get some valuable breathing space( a win would have sent us up to 18th with 50 points)

[lazchamp]

I was "following" the game on my PC as I did other things and the stats strongly indicated that we should have nicked the win. We looked all over them in terms of possession, shots, shots on target and corners - and players on the pitch by the end. It's never that easy of course and on balance I'm happy with a point.
Paul Hurst seemed pleased with the performance and what a boost to have Abu Agogo back and completing 90 minutes! I hope he doesn't suffer any reaction and is fit enough for Saturday.
We're in a better position this evening than we were this morning!