Exeter match thread

Hardly! The lad gives his all & yet is still painted with the brush of being JB's nephew by some! Really gets my goat - if you haven't witnessed the game you don't have the right to say what you think happened - will wait for the returning fans verdict

Was the Verdict from one of our fans who was there, I'm afraid. My goat is bigger than yours!:D
 
AccyMad, it wasn't me who publicly criticised Sean weeks ago
for failing to convert his chances - it was Coley himself. He scored in the next game but since then has reverted to type but still retains his place, so what are we supposed to think? If he had succeeded with only a reasonable proportion of those chances I firmly believe we would be even better placed in the table than now. It is not as if we don't have options on the bench, and just see what McCarten has produced since being given his head. The "nephew business" unfortunately is the inevitable explanation for the mystery, much as it embarrasses me to bring it up, which actually I didn't!:D
 
Maybe you didn't but others do - part of the reason I think Sean absconded to Stockport - not pretending I was happy with him at that time but could half understand his reasoning, that didn't work out & I think it took guts to admit he was wrong & come back.
Let's face it, if he was faultless he'd be playing much higher up the leagues as would some other team members but they're not perfect & they're playing in a red (striped) shirt so lets get behind each & every one of 'em 100%
 
I was there - and I'll say what I think.

Let's start with McConville. To say that he was anonymous would be praising him. He had one glorious chance that he ballooned over but apart from that, he was indeed a passenger. I reckon that Mingoia, Kee and McCartan each covered twice the distance as he did during the game.

And that leads me on to substitutions. These seem to be Coley's Achilles heel. I cannot imagine the point in bringing on Gornell at 85 minutes. And if that was pointless, why on earth bring on Carver at 87 minutes? :confused: Paul Tisdale had already made his three substitutions by the time we made one.

Another big worry is Jason Mooney. For a man of his stature, he should dominate his goal area yet he stays rooted to his line at corners and free kicks. Billy Kee rightly had a go at him after Exeter's second goal. I wonder if it is time to give Etheridge a chance?

We played some neat one-touch football at times but we lacked a cutting edge that Exeter certainly had, especially in the first half. There is no movement to create space for a defence-splitting through pass.

I should say it was a very poor playing surface but that was no excuse. All in all, it was disappointing.
 
Don't know where to start in trying to sum up this game (hope Phil Whalley was there as he will make a better job of it).
On the return journey I listened to Mr.Tisdale's interview with Radio Devon and he was fulsome in his praise for the quality of the football played by Stanley. I suspect he may have been a little less generous if the result was different but it was a pleasant change to hear a balanced opinion from a manager (for the record, I think Professor Coleman has also been pretty fair and shrewd in his post match comments this season).
Once the madness of the first five minutes was out of the way (both very well taken goals) I thought Exeter were the better, or at least more organised team in the first half. Even their kick off was a training ground move that nearly came off and would have resulted in an even quicker first goal. Second half was a mirror image, with Stanley keeping the Grecians pressed back in their own half.
The conditions were not ideal, and the biggest leveller was a very poor pitch, which made it increasingly difficult, especially as the rain set in, to play the ball on the ground. This disadvantaged Stanley as their short, quick passing game suffered.
Mr.McCartan caused problems whenever he ran on with or onto the ball, but was subbed as I suspect he was tiring on a sticky pitch. Crooksy was immense in the midfield, and Billy Kee had another 90 minutes of selfless battling up front on his own. Captain Conneely was my MoM for his ability to always be there to receive the pass and get Stanley out of trouble. Pierro, as often the case this season, rarely had an opponent more than three yards from him but got plenty of crosses in despite the attention he received. One negative though - Stanley barely won any headers in their box from corners or free kicks. Maybe just excellent defending? Stanley's defence were much better in the second half with Matty Pearson man-marking their danger man (Nichols, No.20) so effectively that he was subbed, to boos from the home crowd! Still think Mr.Mooney has to make his presence felt more often and more robustly - if not the entire penalty area that 6 yard box has got to be his and his alone.
Don't wish to take sides on the issue (see above) but McConville has never been a favourite of mine and today was an example of why I think so. He had a good game at Northampton, but today was lack-lustre. We sat near to some home fans and could sense their disquiet whenever Messrs Pierro or McCartan got the ball and attacked their defence. But there was no such reaction when SM got the ball as he creates little threat. Having said that he drifted in and could have had a couple in the first half but, regretfully, today I half expected to see him on the bus back to the Park&Ride with the other passengers.
But, overall, Stanley put in a great performance and this was just not to be their day.
 
Just back from the long journey, summary of the game in my opinion was we were comfortably the better team in the second half with a far more even first half, Exeter were a more than able side with Jayden stockley a big threat for them, we are so exciting going forward an always look a threat but are inability to keep the back door shut could be the failing of us , as for player ratings to single mcconville out is unfair , for me he worked his socks off as he did in midweek against Hartlepool, he missed 2 chances which 1 was created from his own good work, Piero ran himself into the ground an billy shay an Crooksy always looked a threat, mr . Mooney as others have said does not command his box no were near enough for the size of him maybe time to give etheridge a go ? Also not sure on the pairing of wright an Pearson at centre half , is Davies injured ? As I said earlier we deserved 3 points today for a good performance but took none, we move onto Bristol rivers next week with hopefully a similar performance but with 3 points to boot.
 
Probably yer IQ baldy? He did play ok against Hartlepool, but its consistency he lacks, very badly. its not about anyone scoring goals, its simply consistency. if you think hes consistently good then i give up.:rolleyes:
 
Cashy, Redraine seems to think it does!...
He actually asked whats happened to the wonderful ones ultimatum, in the post yeh quoted, His opinion was "passenger", which most of the time i concur with. funny how you have never mentioned his consistency.?
 
not seans no. 1 fan but it seems he does get signalled out when we loose. another thing that I get annoyed about is other managers give us a good mention after they beet us. would prefer them to say we,ve beaten sides than Accrington after we take 3 points off them. we scored first and looking at their goals they could have been prevented. time for new blood at the back and give etheridge a chance in goal. too many long range shots going in.
 
I haven't seen Etheridge in action so can't comment on his abilities but Mr. Mooney just needs to assert himself more forcefully.
Mrs.Exile (to whom I usually defer on such matters) wonders whether, like many big lads, he's been brought up not to use to his size and strength to intimidate others.
But I've rarely seen a keeper penalised for knocking an opponent for six when reaching for a ball in the air. His physical presence alone makes him a good prospect but he has to make the most of it.
His tendency to take short goal kicks, which sometimes leads to moments of panic, is, I presume, down to a decision from the management as, often, both full backs hang around the bye line in expectation of receiving the ball.
 
Ross had a very good game today, took his chance well - was a bit of a shock to hear of the change before kick off in such a vital game but it paid off, wasn't sure before how anyone could say they preferred him to Mooney as we'd seen very little of him so surely was hard to compare but after such an assured performance Coley will have a headache in choosing for the next game
 
First clean sheet at home since august 18th, first in all games since Halloween.

Etheridge can't be dropped. Sorry mooney.
 
Ross had a very good game today, took his chance well - was a bit of a shock to hear of the change before kick off in such a vital game but it paid off, wasn't sure before how anyone could say they preferred him to Mooney as we'd seen very little of him so surely was hard to compare but after such an assured performance Coley will have a headache in choosing for the next game
Quite easy to say i saw him pre season and was well impressed, sorry if that dont concur with your line of thought.:rolleyes:
 
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