WFC v Farnborough - Match Thread

[Keithsson]

After the set-back cometh the reaction?...

Match Centre - Link

Match Tickets - Link

Back in November we comprehensively overcame 'Boro in the away match...

Farnborough v WFC highlights (21/11/23) - YouTube 

Last season both matches were away wins too. We lost 1-2 (Splatt) at home for our first home defeat of 22/23 in October before exacting revenge away in April (0-1, Ollie). Lets not make it 4/4 for victories on the road.

'Boro were contenders for the play-offs for most of last season before they tailed off at the end finishing 12th. And 12th is exactly where they find themselves now. They had a brief flirt with the play-offs reaching a high point of 4th after match 15 but have been pretty much consistently mid table this season. 

NLS Table - Link

Form wise and we're neck and neck on nine points each over the last six games, 'Boro pipping us by just +1 on goal difference. They are 9th, we are 10th. But narrow that window still further and there's another story, we have lost three of our last four, they have only lost once. Form over the last four show's them in 9th and us in 20th.

Home and away form favours them too. We are down in 18th for home form over the last six games with just 7/18 points at Woodside. 7/18 is exactly what they have for their last six away games too, only in the away form table that puts them 9th. Wins in that period have come at Havant and most recently and impressively Bath, their other point came (again impressively) at Hampton and the defeats came at St Albans, Hemel and Eastbourne. There could be a warning there that they raise their game for the higher sides!

NLS Form Table (last 6 H&A) - Link

In summary the numbers for 'Boro show a far tougher proposition than the numbers showed for Taunton. That tells us what we already knew, we need to up our game massively for this one. 'Boro are the favourites here.

Squad wise and the welcome return of Michael Klass and Ruben Livesey-Austin from suspension boost our numbers. Klass you might expect to be a shoe-in, Roobs has lost his shirt to Cam Tutt... unless his recovery doesn't allow two games so close together yet. Dylan Fage took a heavy knock by the looks of things but played on for a while before being subbed, that may or may not be a factor is his inclusion on Tuesday.

All Midweek matches...

Monday
Aveley v Tonbridge Angels

Tuesday
Bath City v Hemel Hempstead Town
Braintree Town v Dartford
Eastbourne Borough v Dover Athletic
Hampton & Richmond Borough v Welling United
Maidstone United v Chelmsford City
Torquay United v Taunton Town
Truro City v Weymouth
Weston-super-Mare v St Albans City
Worthing v Farnborough
Yeovil Town v Chippenham Town

Wednesday
Havant & Waterlooville v Slough Town

Thursday
Taunton Town v Weston-super-Mare

Crowd watch. It was a bang average 23/24 gate yesterday when by rights it should've been higher as all the ducks were in a row (off the back of a great result, weather, Albion etc.). Factors going against this fixture though are the weather, two games in a week and now back to back home defeats. The figure to watch out for therefore is 942, our average home league evening gate.

This is a crucial game though, the team needs its supporters. Win this and we're back on the horse, lose this and the unwritten final chapter of what has been another great season swings more towards making the book (and the film rights, remember the TNT Documentary!) more of a tragedy than a triumph.

Come on you Rebels!              

[Kenty in Weardale]

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Guess who's on the road Tuesday!!!!!!!!

[Keithsson]

Line-up - Twitter/X

[Bally]

Farnborough changing room: Right lads, just get into them. Bully them. Sh1thousery, the lot! They may be half decent, but they'll give a chance or 3.

And that was the game.

Kudos to Toby Bull, quick distribution and some top class saves. Congrats Brad on notching too!

[findonrebel]

To hit the woodwork 4 times and have 1 questionably disallowed is unlucky! However the first half was poor, too many individuals and not a good enough collective team effort over the last 2 games for me!

We have gone back to that phase we have had where we have all the ball and just go sideways, we were cutting through teams a few weeks ago and now it feels a bit stale! Appreciate we have had a big shock to the system and changes but something has felt a miss the last 2 games.

On the other hand, a thought of mine has been what if we had gone up and then Hinsh had departed? How much harder would that transition have been that the current one? All theoretical but we have time and a safety net to allow for this!

Need to consolidate and hold for a play off spot now, the pack is closing!

Congrats to Brad on his first senior goal, took it well and look decent when he came on! Toby made some decent saves also.

[dutchboy74]

Not sure what is happening at the moment. Think we hit the woodwork more in the last 2 games than the whole season all together. Form table we are now 21st! Again give a goal away by trying to play it out from the back.

Not blaming the ref or the linesman. But why did the ref not give at least a yellow to the Farnborough goalie? He took so long with goal kicks etc his hair started to grow back in between retrieving the ball and eventually kicking the ball. The linesman closest to the shed end got many decisions wrong. To be fair for both teams.

A win today would have put us in a very good place with a game in hand with Chelmsford losing. Chippenham beating Yeovil tonight, might be a tough game again on Saturday. If this dip continues the home game against Bath might see a very low attendance!

Personally I do think we miss Odei in games like this in the midfield. One positive tonight was Brad scoring. And always getting another one. Fingers crossed Saturday will be a better result

[Keithsson]

Shouldn't be reliant on crossing fingers though, we were purring and now we have all the grace and poise of a cat that's fallen in the pond.

I'd hoped Saturday was just a bizarre fever dream but there are clear signs something isn't right. The team just isn't on the same page.

I'm sure Aarran will again talk about luck, possession stats and chances but we didn't deserve anything again tonight.

Our soft underbelly is exposed when our guns misfire. We look like a side that's easy to beat and our next home game will let the nation witness it if something doesn't change.

What I disliked the most though was the body language out there, bickering, arguing, finger pointing, heads dropping... that's NOT the Worthing way, that's NOT the spirit that's seen us through the last few years.

Lowest gate of the season, lowest form position of the season and we're only five points of 8th place now, with many below us with games in hand. We could quite conceivably miss out on the play-offs altogether.

If any quality applicants have indeed shown interest in the job already, get them in before they change their mind, give them the chance to change things.

And before it gets raised, its a no from me. Even if York's total car crash of a season means Hinsh becomes available again, I really feel we need a new broom. As someone on here said the other day "next gen Worthing".

We need a spine, we need some purpose again, this interim plan feels like treading water... and there's a fine line between treading water and sinking.

[newtoworthing]

Conceding 60 goals already this season, it’s been clear for ages where the problem lies and nothing has been done about it. Better not get promoted unless it’s seriously addressed as the National League can be unforgiving, as Hinsh is discovering at York.

[dutchboy74]

Mar 12, 2024 22:57:13 GMT newtoworthing said:

Conceding 60 goals already this season, it’s been clear for ages where the problem lies and nothing has been done about it. Better not get promoted unless it’s seriously addressed as the National League can be unforgiving, as Hinsh is discovering at York.

Only 5 more teams conceded more than we did. Embarrassing really.

[Keithsson]

Its not too late, we could yet stabilise and kick on again.

We have an unexpected compensation windfall to boost the budget. If a fresh face with fresh ideas and decent experience is out there who ticks all the pro academy/attacking football boxes he can get stuck in straight away...and use that windfall while the transfer window is still open to make us hard to beat again, get us over the line.

Even if we fall short making a decision now over waiting 'til the summer gives the new broom time to assess what he's got in 'battle conditions'... gives him a head start on what needs sweeping away and what needs keeping.

[Keithsson]

Correction...

Make that just four points above 8th place, not five, with three of those five clubs having a game in hand and one having two games in hand.

Edit: Aarran post match - YouTube

[Kenty in Weardale]

Apologies to all

[portlandred]

On a religious note and with respect to Hinsh maybe we’ve just given him up for Lent and he will return in time for the Easter weekend fixtures 😂.
He’s getting an absolute caning from the York fans for his lack of knowledge of their squad and limited tactical acumen and is already on borrowed time it appears. I’m not convinced it would be the right move to get him back in, as and when the inevitable unfortunately happens and he loses his post up there.
As much as he will always be considered a club legend and arguably the best manager the club has had, I feel we are in need of a manager with that extra nowse to push us on to the next level. A manager with such rigid principles and a lack of a plan B such as Hinsh is proving at York he will get found out at that level. You can only outscore opponents up to a certain level with the right personnel.
Everything happens for a reason and maybe having the brakes applied at the moment may not be such a bad thing. The club is growing nicely off the pitch and with the right appointment in place for next season I think we can give promotion a right good go.
As it stands in our current situation any play off place would be welcome. The obsession with getting a home tie is hard to understand given our form at Woodside. I would fancy our chances much more with away ties the way that we set up.

[markg]

Felt like going back in time last night, particularly all the passing around at the back and back to the keeper. This transition was never going to be easy. Let’s dig in and get behind the boys with positivity. We all felt frustrated last night but you could see Ollie getting niggled by comments from the crowd yesterday. We need him to stay for as long as possible not drive him out. Joe Felix - superb. Never stopped working and created some great balls in. Kane was solid. Let’s aim for a play off place and take it. Portlandred makes a good point about favouring an away tie. On the plus side, the St Elmos End stand is coming on!

[dutchboy74]

Mar 13, 2024 7:24:34 GMT markg said:

Felt like going back in time last night, particularly all the passing around at the back and back to the keeper. This transition was never going to be easy. Let’s dig in and get behind the boys with positivity. We all felt frustrated last night but you could see Ollie getting niggled by comments from the crowd yesterday. We need him to stay for as long as possible not drive him out. Joe Felix - superb. Never stopped working and created some great balls in. Kane was solid. Let’s aim for a play off place and take it. Portlandred makes a good point about favouring an away tie. On the plus side, the St Elmos End stand is coming on!

Ollie was the same on Saturday. Reacting to what people said. But last night I think he got the wrong end of the stick. The person saying something didn’t say anything negative. Yes he swore but it wasn’t negative towards Ollie. Also I don’t know if anyone else saw it but when we conceded the second goal Cashman and Pierce were very agitated with the defence. And rightly so. Yes we all want to see entertaining football. But at times just getting the ball away from our goal should be priority!