A Sheltered World

There was some booing from a section of the crowd. I was actually listening for it. It wasn't prolonged or loud, but definately there.
I think I was beyond booing at that point and was making my way to the nearest exit having seen enough.

I dont remember any of the Burton players coming over to the stands to thank the fans for enduring the game.
Most of them left the field looking at their boots and so they should.
They deserved booing on that performance

I think we don't mind losing if we have put up a fight and a spirited performance but everything was absent against Hereford and very little craft shown,the only player who showed commitment got sent off trying to retrieve a situation when four Hereford players touched the ball without a single challenge. Players need to accept the plaudits when they do well but also accept the stick if they don't perform to an acceptable standard

There was booing at the end of the first half as I recall.

Call me a Grumpy Old Man but I hate Twitter. Leaving that aside, I particularly hate it when footballers use Twitter to talk about their work. I wish they would just let their football do their talking.

If I was a Manager I would ban my players from using it to talk about anything to do with their employment. I can't see how any positives can be achieved by Aaron talking about the booing - just as I can't see any positives from 'fans' booing the team.

The common theme seems to be that some of the players and the management are at odds with the overwhelming view of the fans that it was generally a poor performance, lacking ideas and at times commitment.

One of the refreshing differences over last season is
Pesch has generally "called it " correctly. If the team has "not turned up" which is what I imagine most fans thought, then this season he has generally said this, but not the Hereford game, which he feels we dominated.

There was some booing at the half time and full-time whistle from the Popular Terracing. I booed myself, not proud of it, but it was short, fairly low in volume. It is natural to boo, when you so want your team to win, its a frustrating reflex action, normally directed to the ref or opposition, but this time we could have little complaint with those, but it was a token gesture of sheer frustration, directed at an abject performance and not
aimed at anyone in particular.

I normally stop and let the first rush of people leave. Someone mentioned about many of the players not being able to get off the pitch quick enough, but the two
regulars to applaud the fans were there as usual , Macca and Webby, great credit to them. Very often because of the dwindling numbers you feel, rightly or wrongly, that you can have individual eye-contact, and I believe Macca, in particular, shared this sense of let down.

What went wrong? we are currently " Punching above our weight" Our front men are being negated by poor quality service, normally a hoof downfield. Midfield and defence need strengthening if we are not going to slip
down the table.

There are no obvious Leaders in the side, directing, rollicking, encouraging and communicating. Many times I have seen Burton players gesturing to each other to mark an "unmarked player"and not taking the responsibility if doing it himself, or making sure somebody else does it. The only person, in my view , who does this is Stanno.

Hereford were constantly talking to each other.

We are being overrun in midfield, this has even been the case for games at home which we have won, and have often given teams a possible way back. All of our victories ,apart from 2, have been by a single goal.
A look at the system,personnel and the need for a strong creative leader in midfield, who pulls the strings
and makes things happen.

There is also a need for a tall commanding centre half and captain, who marshalls his defence.

And finally, my particular "hobby horse" is throw ins
Defending: we never mark tight on every man, and often give uncontested possession to our opponents.

Our throw ins: The movement off the ball is minimal, no creating of space . In the absence of the aforementioned movement we have a cunning plan. in that wherever on the pitch the throw-in is, that we will aim for Calvin Zola's head.

Two snags with this:
1) The opposition have realised this, and there are nearly always two men on Calvin
2) Calvin works like a Trojan and covers every blade of grass, and is often the "man of the match" but this is surely at the expense of his goalscoring, when he finally gets a sight of goal. Wouldn't blame him if he was "cream-crackered"

There's always the next game on Friday but there are a lot of similarities to the last Friday game, that of Cheltenham. Stanley, the form team are 5/2 , whilst
Burton were almost evens. I think the bookies have got it wrong, dont you? It may be disloyal, but I have a straight bet on Stanley. I hope I lose and Burton win, but if we lose then I at least have some compensation.

Thinking of writing an article on football betting on League 2, because I generally believe the average follower of League 2 football can spot the bookies mistakes, and there's big money to win (with a bit of luck needed as well)

Sorry I've gone on a bit! Lets hope the Brewers "turn up" tomorrow evening, are in Stanley's face early on, and we can cheer them to agood victory. And of course, that I lose my bet.
C'mon you Brewers
Brewer Dave

Thats a very good appraisal Brewerdave, we have been punching above our weight but i think we can all see the problem areas and that a couple of careful signings could see us continue to punch above our weight. On player commitment i don't know whether any one else noticed that when Atkins saved the penalty the only player who ran up to show their appreciation was Cleveland Taylor which seemed very odd to me. Whether we turn in a performance or not tonight we still need to strengthen in the areas you mentioned. If you go back to the start of the season we looked much more solid at the back when Pesch had his favoured partnership of Parkes and Stanton in central defence, we have not been able to play those two together since due to injuries so there is some sympathy for the manager there.

I am not a betting man Brewer Dave but I might be if you do that betting article.