Deserves a lot of praise for the shifts he’s putting in, really hope he gets a goal Saturday and we play a bit more to his strengths

Lucky not to be sent off last night, belted the ball a mile after we scored in celebration’ while on a yellow….probably a release of some frustration

I agree and think if you have a guy capable of scoring 25 goals a season you should play to his strengths do feel however that he is becoming a better all round player this season and most teams seem to have two men on him most of the time.

We had just scored, So he hardly delayed the restart.

And when Madine if fit, They will need 3 on him.

I really have not been impressed much by Mani D tbh - his touch has been woeful and he didnt really keep hold of the ball well against southend or last night (given he had 2 lads climbing all over him last night like). i am sure once he gets a goal he will take off and we see the same Mani from last season. Hes an excellent footballer though an can see his technical ability for a big lad is class. He is getting frustrated though and this needs sorting - he needs either wingers or a partner up top to help him - Madine might work it might not but no harm in having 2 big good strikers at this level !

His touch I think has been ok, it’s been v hard for him though, with us down to ten men and then that joke of a pitch where no one apart from Mancini was able to control a football

His defensive work this season has been excellent, think he's won almost every defensive header off corners. Maybe not what you'd want the stand out point for your striker to be but worth noting.

Yes, in our box he wins more headers against set pieces than any of our central defenders.

Be nice though if one of our players would get his nut on a goalbound header in the opposition box

yeh sorry i did notice he has won some important clearances for us and a very important one against Southend too.

he needs those balls into the box at the other end though and finish.

Im 100% positive we will see the best version of Mani D and probably once he has broken his duck, get loads more goals.

just something isnt clicking for him and he hasnt been that deadly striker we seen last season yet.

Good strikers thrive on chances, we've created very little for him across 3 game.
It's about time refs and linos started opening their eyes to the thuggery dished out to him by defenders btw. Against Southend they almost had his shirt off over his head which we could clearly see from the other side of the pitch yet nothing done by officials. He gets very few decisions in his favour.

Mani D is known to opponents as our main goal scorer and he is always marked by two defenders. I would like to see him working in tandem with Gary Madine because opponents cannot afford to double mark two 6ft4/5in strikers.

I always admired Paul Baker and Kieth Houchen they were brilliant at defending free kicks and corners.

To all our opposition.

Welcome to hell.

Add in Campbell n Grey playing just behind them and that’s a nightmare for div 5 defences.

Canny squad starting to take shape.
Hopefully onwards n upwards.
UTP.

Shite first half and resorting to their tactics. Reminded me of the old fourth division days of hoof the ball forward and hope. It changed towards the end when Mancini came on and started to create things. It worries me that bookings are building up like confetti. Our defenders climbing all over their strikers who looked liked they could punish Pools in the first half. Glad we got three points and a clean sheet which is a good sign when you play badly and gain something. For fuck's sake Pools you are capable of playing football and could have played them off the park last night. Manni doing the same as Josh Umera. He is going to be sold.

I have to disagree here, I watched the game from the comfort of my living room in Belfast. It was really frustrating as I was wishing someone would get the ball down and control proceedings but the pitch was horrendous, along with the tactics of both teams it was never going to be pretty. Just be thankful that 3 points were gained where there won't be for lots of teams. Yes when Mancini came on it was incredible that he managed to exert some control of the ball given the hoofness of everything. It was attrition after attrition but to come away with a win and a clean sheet was admirable. We won't even remember the game just the 3 points and that should be a stark reminder of how this squad is better equipped than in recent seasons.

The way I see it is the points were the only important thing, we move on in the knowledge that there's football delight to come, last night was all about strength and we passed the test.

I want to see some actual football played against wealdstone

We’ve had the first game, down to ten men(though not in first half) and plastic pitch as excuses/mitigating circumstances so far but on Saturday we are playing at home to a shite side who are also struggling with injuries, when we have the ball I would like us to use it

You can keep your ‘playing football ‘ and ‘have played them off the park’ nonsense, I want points on the board not some mythical genteel concept of playing the game.
Tamworth were playing down dirty too and on an unpredictable artificial surface they’re used to …..we played them at their own game and took the three points.
I want out of this shite league and if it means giving up the usual entertaining but unrewarding dross we’re used to, then let me on board that train.
Time to move into the real world and give an alternative system a go….if you want entertainment go to the pictures…I want points on the board regardless of how they’re achieved.for now.

That's it in a nutshell Snowy

for me he is doing well. he hasn,t yet had even scraps to play off in the box. its only 3 games in with the team only scoring twice anyway so its hardly a goal drought for him. he has gone longer last season without scoring and nobody seemed too bothered. he is worth his weight anyway as somebody said in his defensive capability. he wins most of his headers and one day somebody will latch on to them instead of like the southend game they always went to the wrong side of someone else. he also stood up well to the all in wrestling at tamworth even after his early caution.

2 0 has a valid assessment.

All 3 teams have missed dolly's in the last minutes. We been very lucky but you supposed to make your own luck.
Could easily be sat on 2 pts instead of 7.

That's not pessimism. It's reality over the first 3 games.

The real world is playing like that over a season won't return the same points tally.

From Saturday we need to be at it from the off.
If these posters are genuine about we Gunna piss this division then disagreeing doesn't even come into the Reply.


UTP.

We can reassess after game 6.
Ye.
Thats fair enough.

Could also have been nine points instead of seven.

Could've, would've, should've also works both ways. If Campbells shot had gone in for instance we'd have won the game and be sat at the top on 9 points.
Not sure about the 3 dollies that wete missed either the keeper has not been tested at all so far.

its not bad luck by the opposition its been bad play missing those chances. suppose on another day or part of the season we might get those 2 points only from 3 games with games panning out exactly the same but its all part of a 46 game season where every scenario will probebly happen.

Be interesting to see how we play against actual footballing sides - with decent players like York and Oldham, Gateshead etc.

From what ive seen from a few teams this season still want to play from the back and pass it round hoping for a break or through ball to come available. Again i think we are setup well at the back now to cope with anything, we have seen Yeovil try play through us aswell as Southend, Tamworth try play dirty all have been unsuccessful !

The game I worry about is Woking because they are extremely dirty and just could very easily cripple someone. If avaliable it's a game Doddsy needs to avoid and Mancini. I have a feeling they will get a record number of red cards.

They also have TIMI playing for them

Strange thing about the Timmy is the average player he has turned into this season. I have seen all the extended highlights of all games in our league. And although a very good player with us he looks very ordinary for Woking.

If you listen to a lot of managers they talk about judging the performance not the result which is what 2.0 is doing in fairness
Results v good, overall play without the ball excellent, play with the ball v poor
We keep just playing the %s we will get caught out
Good start but big improvement needed to do anything this season, am sure Sarll would say the same

"Sarll would say the same"

He already has, If you read between the lines

I would keep Mancini out of woking too....partly as I am worried history will repeat itself on august bank holiday which I know is not rational...

Whoa Kev…anyone thinking we’re gonna piss this division needs sectioning under the Mental Health Act.
Looooooooooong way to go and overconfidence is toxic.

Just like the law of averages, JoeKing

Behave

Not often I disagree with Snowy whose views on here I greatly respect but on this occasion I have to differ. Yes, I agree Pools got 3 points which was great but consider this.. Yeovil away won 1-0 against the champions of the league below us (in the south). Struggled against Southend Utd albeit it down to 10 men and then nicked the 3 points at Tamworth, again a team that came up. Play like this against the better sides in this league and Pools will be found wanting. Hope I am proved wrong. Pools had difficulty first half handling Tamworth and from what I could see were defending and booting the ball up field many times which Tamworth always seemed to pick up the header or loose ball. A little bit of space and spark came when Mancini made his appearance. Great that Pools have 7 points and clean sheet whilst not playing particularly well but with bookings going to take their toll plus injuries and I believe Manni D on his way. Well, lets wait and see a bit longer shall we?

Think sutton equalized in stoppage time V Tamworth, by all accounts Tamworth should have scored more, Yeovil won their next 2 after us.
Half the game with 10 men V As you say 1 of the better sides, Who will easily make the PlayOffs, Southend.

The main point to note is that we haven't started playing, yet have 7 points. The Tamworth game was a test of strength and we overcame it. That is all it was about, think about how many times in recent years we have been bullied by poor teams, not anymore as DS won't have it, simple as that.

When Mancini is up to full speed, when Dodds gets more games under his belt, when Sloggett comes in there will be a different dynamic to it all. Dodds is a class act we all know that, he will be able to get the transition from our solid backline to the more technical players up and running. What is important is that we seem to have a squad that will win ugly and the promise that we will also play decent football.

No need to apologise shipmate. it’s all about opinions and thoughts that makes things enjoyable and bloody fascinating.
So I put this down to basically a whole new way of playing that is no doubt a shock to the established players at the club and then having to gell with half a new team.
From half a century of watching teams it was asking a lot for there not to be early season mixing of styles and understanding, but by using this method we can gather points by playing to a strict formula and as understandings between players are absorbed the style will eventually show through.
To start a season like this based on tactics more familiar to Roman Legionnaires discipline is never pretty to watch , but I’ve had a grudging respect down the years for teams like this who make the system work…..the entertainment comes through in the end,
I’ve frankly had enough of the pleasant entertaining stuff, I crave a team prepared to battle who can produce the goods and wait till it falls into place and combine entertainment with steel…..the disciplined performances can save us on the days we
have the odd off day.

we might look a more entertaining side if we score an early goal especially when we get players back and a bench that isn,t full of defenders with little room for a change. on the flip side are we capable at the moment to win a game if our opponents scored first. might get a better idea on saturday if we manage to play the full game with 11 on the pitch as our two away performances have been decent.

I watched Grimsby last night trying to play out from the back, They got about 30/40 yds then gave the ball away.
It was as boring as we were playing last season.
If anyone likes to see teams play that way, Then i advise them to watch that game.

thing is its grimsby playing with a team of 4th tier players and not a euro championship winning side. teams who say they do that at that level rarely do. thy just pass it around the defence and keeper for bit then someone hoofs it upfield which could have been done at the outset. imagine playing up front for teams lik that making runs and checking them, come back on side, go again for balls that never come. why thats called good football is beyond me as i could make a 10 yard pass now to a teamate but not a decisive 40 yard one right to their feet which is good football.

I think I might have said in a previous post that I don't wish to see this Feather passing the ball across the midfield all the time but it appeared to me rightly or wrongly at Tamworth that Pools came down to their level for the first half but on this form both teams will not pull up any trees. Cannot comment on today's Wealdstone game as I wasn't there. And yes, Snowy and others it is great to have 8 points now instead of chasing them early on. In this league however if you don't get the points on board regularly from the off then you pick up the scraps. Four points all ready and in a couple of weeks could open up to catch us if you can. Not sure now who will lead the way. It was great last year early on when Pools had the rocket up their arses but as we know faded later. Ah well, me medication's due now.

12 now.
Ya good at Mathematics.

The men in white coats are on the way.
Most probably start off at West View