Dolan’s first possession awful - stinker of a game now guaranteed

He got there just after the celebration finished.

Nearest thing to Kendallball I can recall us playing - top notch all round. My Dolan theory still holding good: you can tell what kind of game he will have from his first touch.

From inside the centre circle wasn’t it? Although it gets a few yards further back each time we talk about it 😂 If anyone deserves a minute’s applause it’s him, we were headed into the 4th division before he came. I remember him once dropping a centre forward in the centre circle when we had the ball in their box, then stamping on his hand for good measure.

This guy is so conservative in his team selections. The chances of Hedges and Dolan both playing well in the same game are zero.

It’s not as though our first 37 passes were a cunning plan to bamboozle opponents, they were a symptom of our lack of ability to play it out from the back, rooted in Pears’ chronic indecision plus both centre backs always needing two touches IMO. Interesting that Hyam played right side, he was definitely less crap than usual.

I must admit to swearing at my laptop when Pears was given the ball for the 9th time in that 42-pass sequence.

Thoroughly deserved 3 points. That’s the best game I’ve seen Trav play for us, his breaking forward made the first two goals and he seemed to be everywhere. Also the best game I’ve seen from Pears - hilarious he got booked for his terminal indecision - and also Ohashi, who surely is now firmly first choice. Also hilarious that Bucko got booked despite not touching the ball once in his 15 mins. JRC looks finished - wouldn’t surprise he if he went in Jan - and Baker making a big point to our no excuses manger who whines about a small squad but only ever picks from the same 14.

Now I’m no master tactician, but it seems to me that the best recipient of Buckley’s passes through the defence is the forward who runs onto them, and the best recipient of Travis lumping it forward is the tall one who can win headers.

Every pass by Dolan was either late, misdirected or the wrong weight. His pirouette at the end when in acres of space got the crowd onto him finally.

Here we go, our 13th match in a row against top 6 opposition. Keep things tight with 9 at the back then throw on the other non-scoring forward to give it a roight good gew.

Great chart! Could be improved even further IMO by adding a moving annual points total line across the top.

Worrying how Carter limped off. I’m not sure how much of watching Baa’th, Hyam and Pears pathetic efforts at playing out from the back I can take.

With Hyam and Pears, we are unable to play out from the back; with Hedges and Dolan we don’t have enough quality to benefit up front from Mak’s first touch and Cantwell’s any touch, and with Trav and Tronstadt we don’t have enough to win the ball back.

Highlights so far: - Pears taking a full 30-seconds to decide to boot it to their centre half - Dolan shooting from the corner of the box when Mak was on the far post - Hedges not making contact with a sitter cross

Was that Hedges who just missed a free header from two feet out?

There are three things make me wonder about this guy… 1) He hasn’t made a single bold selection while he’s been here - no surprises at all. Furphy brought in Bradford and McDonald from nowhere and consigned The Don to the stiffs; Lee brought the Don back in; Smith went for two out-and-out wingers; Kendall dropped Metcalfe and almost sold Garner; Parkes moved Atko to midfield; McKay put Hendry up front in a cup final, even with Kenny we never really knew the exact team till 2pm. This fella has just done the obvious. 2) I thought Dolan was the most improved player in JDT’s first season, because he played one or two touches and stopped dicking around. Now he’s dicking around again says to me that JDT made him stop while Eustace isn’t as firm. 3) His insistence on signing experience is a cop out - requires no insight or plan - and playing them all has made us even slower. After the last two games I’m beginning to think experience is another word for past it old lags. Ba’ath getting done by that Dingle was no Kevin Moran, in fact last seasons Moran would’ve done better in that situation. Summing up, I see a cautious, overly-pally manager with no philosophy on how to win.

Pretty much same team as Tuesday, pretty much same performance. Carter left exposed by his manager and by Weiman, Hyam’s trademark weak as piss challenge on the scorer, zero quality in their half.

So Eustace has bottled it then.

And Pears steps up, not wanting to be left out of the Hall of Crapness.

Ludicrous by Dolan but an honorable mention to Hyam for passing it to the scorer when he should’ve leathered it.

Cantwell reminds me of Duncan McKenzie

I don’t think the plan in the first half was to punt long balls to Ohashi, it seemed to me that was all that was left after Pears took ages, with several changes of mind, to release the ball whenever he had it.

With the number of subs these days and players being much fitter, 11 vs 10 isn’t the advantage it used to be. More concerning was the lack of creativity, I was especially disappointed with the impact of Cantwell and the young winger. First half I thought our problem was Pears’s complete indecision every time he had the ball making everyone just drop back and face their own goal, whereas Preston’s keeper had excellent decisive distribution. Beck doing an Andy Todd was just daft.

Bloody Hell Pears, two fabulous saves there.