Two subs and change of system. Refreshing that action has been taken straight away.
Come on pools (from Slovenia!)

Not sure I'll bother now, ta though.

Felt just like last season


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This. Played better in 4-4-2 but still well short of where we need to be.

Abysmal.

The officials were a joke as well, but not as much of a joke as our team.

Dover at 5/2 made the day a little brighter.

Not sure we even played 4-4-2... Amond looked uninterested and spent the time walking around then making a line for the corner flag when it looked like a ball was about to be played in. Oates has to start for me next game and do the leg work that Amond clearly doesn't want to do.

Fair play to Dover though, they seemed drilled and calm at the back.

No one really impressed me, I thought Dover looked far superior in every position. Loach likes to pose a lot FFS, thought he was going to take a selfie at one point. One tame shot in first 60 minutes says everything. Never ever understood why a home team plays only 1 up front.......let them worry about us.

Early days and not panicking but improvement required all round.

Can call it now. 7th season in a row where we bemoan the fact we have a non-existent central midfield. Everything bypassed that area of the park today.

Positives : Brilliant support in numbers and vocals first ten mins.
Negatives : Lack of effort and organisation of that system we played today.
Positives : It can only get better .

Off topic well done Spennymoor on beating Stockport.

Pretty annoying seeing Donaldson come inside every time magnay got the ball. Should have showed wide. Really restricted himself as an attacking threat


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I'm trying to feel positive but really struggling. Got to improve on that performance. Great turnout by the fans and a big chance to impress us all and get off to a flyer but the team spurned it.
I am unable to fathom out what Hawkins brings to the team or what his role is supposed to be.
Dover, with a load of new players, played like a team and fought for each other, whereas we looked like a bunch of new recruits thrown together for the first time.
Early days, but...............

Cant disagree with the Amond comment yet some fans think the sun shines out his arse.
Heard a rumour Tranmere gunna offer 300k snap ther hands off.

In my opinion Amond could be used better. He is too slight to be ploughing a lone furrow against the type of giant centre backs the like of which Dover have. He would fare better playing off a genuine target man or in the number ten role, as is the modern day description.
He gets bullied in the role he is asked to play.
Having said that he doesn't impress me one little bit in his current role and if that is all he has to offer then get some cash for him.

Bit of an anti climax and hope those who went expecting an easy three points and fast flowing attacking football don't decide against going again....

As soon as I saw that Amond would be up top on his own I feared the worst (in terms of how we were going to play) and was disappointed with the 451, I wanted us to set up with the win very much in mind and for us to go at them, use pace and quick passing and close them down all over the pitch.

Amond surely has to play off a big man...that's how he scored hundreds of goals in this league, he's a finisher/poacher. Or am I wrong?

Newton had an absolute mare in the first half, every ball was wayward. To be fair to him, the second half of the second half was better, not loads, but better and personally I always find it tricky when having a bad game to turn it round.

Magnay and Harrison had solid games. Either of them were our man of the match...probably Harrison actually.

I'm afraid I'm just not a fan of Donnelly. We got fookin murdered down our left in the first half and it was the same ball every time. It was only their lack of quality preventing them taking advantage. Some of their crosses were terrible thankfully.

Who knows how things would've turned out had we started with a 442 because we definitely looked marginally more likely to score in the second half....but you also have to take into account they were protecting a lead so that in itself should mean we have more of the ball.

I thought Cassidy looked alright when he came on. Feel a bit sorry for Oates though as it looks like he's gonna be used out wide again, which in my opinion is not his best position. He should be up front with Amond.

Laing did ok, a couple of clearing headers went more up in the air than out, but he'll be fine in this league if Dover are anything to gauge our opponents by.

Donaldson was a bit of a disappointment, I expected more from him. Doesn't seem to have either the confidence or ability (?) to take on his man. There were a few occasions where he was one on one but decided against trying to beat his man and waited to play it to Magnay.

I think Munns will ultimately do well for us. I just don't think he was given much of a chance today given how we played in the first half. I think if we'd been able to get the fucking thing on the deck and play with pace and quick passing we'd have won because they are not great. There was one decent move in the first half down our right that demonstrated what we needed to do - despite it being all very tight, we played a few quick balls into feet and there was decent movement, just a shame nothing came of it. Sometimes we were just static and that was the problem. As obvious and cliched as it sounds, it really is a simple case of pass and move to beat players. I've been playing full back of late and it's a fucking ballache when you go to the ball carrier, he plays it inside then goes by you on the outside, there's nothing I can do about it, short of fouling/blocking the run, he'll always have a yard on me...but maybe that's because I'm shit.

My main worry is, I don't think we ever really looked like scoring and that does worry me. If you're not creating chances you're a bit fucked. On the plus side, Dover have been near the play offs for the last few seasons I think so they'll definitely be one of the better sides and they really aren't that good, so if Harrison can sort us out we can still have a decent season.

Finally, I'd be looking to play Deverdics more. He is probably our most creative midfielder and is proven at this level as king of assists. He can't have got that through luck. He can see and pick a pass if he has time on the ball, he maybe doesn't always successfully make the pass but I'll forgive him a few of those if he gets it right more often than not.

I keep saying the same thing, we'll have a much better chance of success if we play players in their best positions and if we have too many in one position and too few in another, get rid and get others in. Keep the tactics and formations simple and the fact we have better players will win us more than we lose. Simple as that. Yes it is.

As expected a Dover side playing like that. No surprise to me as you will get this through the season. Future opponents should be watched a couple of times so at least you can set up your teamnready for the match.ŕ

People banging on about Amond I can't understand, he was woefully isolated and had no-one anywhere near him, the team was set up awfully, it looked like Dover had two more players on the pitch than we did all game, as for Hawkins what people see in him is beyond me, he brings nothing to the team, is brushed off the ball so easily and can't shoot for toffee as he takes an absolute ....aaaggggeee.... to set himself.

People can't complain about amond, he's a poacher and a finisher, he's needs chances created by midfielders and wingers, if you don't provide ammunition for the striker they won't score, he spends most the game attempting to beat a 6ft4 centre half in the air which won't happen. We created zero for him today because we had nothing creative in the middle and zero width,of course he will struggle, lewandowski would in that situation as well and he's a similar style player!.

Was Featherstone missed in the midfield - somebody who shows for the ball & can actually pass it ? (cue - for the yes, but only sideways!).

I was really impressed with Donnelly in his first few games last season, but he seems to have gone backwards since then. Hopefully the management can sort out what the problem is.

When Loach started to play the ball out from the back in the second half, I thought we had changed the tactics, but then Laing repeatedly hoofs it 50-60 yards diagonally & we ended up little further than Loach hoofing it out himself. What chance did Amond have in those situations against 6'+ defenders down his neck?

We all have different views that's football but at the end of the day we looked no better than last season. Let's not blame officials yes they may be poor but that's what you get at this level it's the same for all teams.

4-4-2 was miles better in the second half and I can't understand why we play the defensive one up front when we are at home. Perm any two from Amond, Cassiddy and Oates for me and keep slinging the crosses into them from the wings. This is an area where we are weak, particularly on the left hand side, where yesterday all of the right footers looked uncomfortable. There was a bit more balance when Deverdics came on but Munns will never make a left winger and Donnelly too was being played out of position. I would like to see Munns in a more central attacking midfield role where he can be creative for the front two and have a go himself. Hopefully the return of Adams will give us a bit more thrust down the left side.

Adams could definitely help with getting balls into the box. Watching yesterday, if Dover are one of the better teams in the league and it was just 90 minutes of hoofing it route one, there is no need for a 3 man midfield, they are just being bipassed constantly.

We should go back to basics of playing 4-4-2 with Amond playing off either Cassidy or Oates. Have a defensive or hard tackling midfielder alongside a more creative player (someone like Deverdics or Munns) and play out from the back. We looked much better when we did that in the second half, most times when Laing or Harrison had the ball they had time to either pick a pass or run forward.

I'm still optimistic that if we can click as a team we can do well, but I think we still need to bring in a left winger for more natural balance in the team as well as a covering centre back.

Dover surprised me. Quite a few footballers in their team and they looked no worse than some of the teams that came to the Vic last season.

We looked disjointed. Obviously first game of the season - long way to go yet - but that was one of the worse performances to come from a Pools side for a long time. Anyone saying different is lying. Tedious and hit and hope football at its finest.

Finally - play players in their correct positions. It's not hard but Munns is clearly not a winger.

Fair assessment Shilts. I disagree with you though about Dover. I thought they set their stall out excellently yesterday. Apparently they have in the past been more of a home side, than an away one, difficult to beat on their own ground, a southern version of Barrow , a Non League version of Burnley or Stoke. I think on yesterdays performance I would put them down as a top 7 side. We will face a lot of sides full of basketball players and heavyweight boxers during the season, but fortunately I don't think many if any will be as physical as Dover. Either we match these teams physically or we have to have players with the skill to unlock their defences, particularly when they park the bus at the Vic, not sure if we have either at the moment.

Dover signed I think 13 players during the season, that was after a relatively successful season last season. Why the hell Hawkins, Woods, Oates, are still at the club is anyone's guess, but none of them have nothing to offer us this season. We will improve, but we need to sign another couple of players, a centre midfield of proven quality and a battering ram of a forward in the Richie Barker mould, if we are not to fall short this season.

But agree , keep it simple 4-4-2 , players in right positions , Donnelly not at left back, Deverdics behind front two, Amond as part of a two up front , Oates if he has to be involved , up front not out wide, and most of all , give players a run in the team of at least half a dozen games, not the chopping and changing we have seen over the last few seasons. It is tempting to make changes for Macclesfield on Tuesday , but we have seen in the past, the players who have came in , have failed as well. If the players aren't good enough, they aren't good enough, the only way to change that is get rid of those players and replace with better, that is why I'm disappointed Woods, Hawkins, and Oates are still here, just not good enough.