w / e Saturday 24th February

[Casey]

It's got to happen one season where the champs are relegated then you'll get a chorus of 'I told you it was poor'.

It happens in every division. And every division is slightly better than the one below. I think we should just accept that.

Every now and then a team will go straight through a division (we did it) and every now and then a team will drop straight back down.

Casey

 

[Alain]

Or keep dropping like Yeovil, Torquay, and Scunthorpe have in the past few seasons

 

[Casey]

Yeovil are on the way back (my boss tells me...well ex boss). Torquay have filled for bankruptcy recently (I believe) and I shudder regarding Scunthorpe.

Casey

 

[dedwardp]

League 2 seems pretty forgiving I would say, I mean Colchester look pretty safe and hardly ever pick up a win.

Presumably because there's only the two relegation spots... but then whilst we've been awful for the three seasons since covid, we have still ended with 51, 55 and 49 points which would near enough always avoid relegation in League One too where there's four spots.

 

[WhiteRussian]

Is there any logical reason why they don't change both League 2 and the National league to 3 up, 3 down just like all theother leagues? I know 4 ip and down came from North and South leagues but that is long gone.

 

[Less than a mile (WAFC)]

Is there any logical reason why they don't change both League 2 and the National league to 3 up, 3 down just like all theother leagues? I know 4 ip and down came from North and South leagues but that is long gone.

EFL clubs would have to vote it through I think.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Is there any logical reason why they don't change both League 2 and the National league to 3 up, 3 down just like all theother leagues? I know 4 ip and down came from North and South leagues but that is long gone.

Always been 4 up 4 down since the inception in 1958. The reason was to make sure Northern and Southern teams would mix quicker giving teams newer fixtures each season. At the time it was 2 up 2 down between Tiers 1 and 2 and Tiers 2 and 3. 3 up 3 down was introduced in the mid 1970s but 4 up 4 down remained at this step.

I'm all for 4 up 4 down staying at this step. Our clubs will more than likely never reach the PL barring a miracle so promotion to the third tier for a lot of us is as good as it gets in this cash-heavy era. I'd even argue for 4 up 4 down across all the EFL tiers but not to non league as non league is an unregulated mess and they've shown no desire to sort things out financially so 2 up 2 down is fair until they change.

 

[AdamStag]

I’d back 3 up 3 down if the conference was regulated and/or ran by the EFL.

Not that the EFL are exactly world beaters on standards and operating mind

 

[OneDecentLester]

Not having this comparison between ours and Notts defence, because the set ups are completely different. Notts have a number of wannabe midfielders in their defence and that’s their issue, defenders that are only interested in getting on the ball and playing rather than actually defending when the ball comes into their 6 yard box, so it’s no surprise to me to see them leaking goals for fun at this level. In fairness to the Notts defenders though, they do get asked to do for more than your standard NL/L2 defender in regards taking risks on the ball etc… which makes them more vulnerable to mistakes. Couple that with the obvious lack of confidence they’re playing with atm and it’s a recipe for disaster.

As for us it’s a bit of a myth that our defence is ‘weak’, it’s just that it’s clearly not on the level of our attack so people always point to it as our ‘weakness’, but it’s still the 4th best defence in our league which for a team as attacking as we are, is pretty good going. Most of the goals we concede are from a counter attack where our full backs are caught up field whilst we’re trying to break down sides that just sit in and park the bus against us, which then leaves our centre halves exposed, which is more to do with the team set up than the actual individuals.

Also jacobncfc Grimes has been outstanding this season, and fully deserved his new deal btw. He will be more than good enough for this level, so dominant in the air and no slouch either despite what some seem to think? I sort of get why you’re comparing him to Rawlinson because they’re a similar profile, but come on, Grimes is a better player than him. I’ve no doubt Cook will make a few additions to personnel in the defence though as I can see a few being released in the summer (Palmer, King for example)

 

[jacobncfc]

Not having this comparison between ours and Notts defence, because the set ups are completely different. Notts have a number of wannabe midfielders in their defence and that’s their issue, defenders that are only interested in getting on the ball and playing rather than actually defending when the ball comes into their 6 yard box, so it’s no surprise to me to see them leaking goals for fun at this level. In fairness to the Notts defenders though, they do get asked to do for more than your standard NL/L2 defender in regards taking risks on the ball etc… which makes them more vulnerable to mistakes. Couple that with the obvious lack of confidence they’re playing with atm and it’s a recipe for disaster.

As for us it’s a bit of a myth that our defence is ‘weak’, it’s just that it’s clearly not on the level of our attack so people always point to it as our ‘weakness’, but it’s still the 4th best defence in our league which for a team as attacking as we are, is pretty good going. Most of the goals we concede are from a counter attack where our full backs are caught up field whilst we’re trying to break down sides that just sit in and park the bus against us, which then leaves our centre halves exposed, which is more to do with the team set up than the actual individuals.

Also jacobncfc Grimes has been outstanding this season, and fully deserved his new deal btw. He will be more than good enough for this level, so dominant in the air and no slouch either despite what some seem to think? I sort of get why you’re comparing him to Rawlinson because they’re a similar profile, but come on, Grimes is a better player than him. I’ve no doubt Cook will make a few additions to personnel in the defence though as I can see a few being released in the summer (Palmer, King for example)

You’ve already conceded more goals in the Vanarama than we did last season with eleven games still to play and, well, look at the state of us.

You nailed it with the last bit of the second paragraph - that’s how we conceded all of our goals last season, and it’s how we concede them this season just x100. It won’t be a problem if you come up and change the way you play, if you come up and try and be just as attacking (like we have) with the same players, then the same thing will probably happen.

 

[OneDecentLester]

You’ve already conceded more goals in the Vanarama than we did last season with eleven games still to play and, well, look at the state of us.

You nailed it with the last bit of the second paragraph - that’s how we conceded all of our goals last season, and it’s how we concede them this season just x100. It won’t be a problem if you come up and change the way you play, if you come up and try and be just as attacking (like we have) with the same players, then the same thing will probably happen.

Yeah but it was a shit league last year wasn’t it…

It’s not about completely changing the way you play though. It’s just adapting to the opposition and the strengths they pose each game like pretty much every team in the country does, and it’s a bit mental that you’ve evidently not been doing that this year?

I mean we’ve been doing that this season anyway, we make 3/4 changes minimum most weeks to adapt to the demands of that specific game. If you were to ask me to give you our best XI I honestly couldn’t do it because it changes so often