Hyde and bleak

[RobYeltz]

My brother in law came up from Kent for the weekend and wanted to see the Yeltz, as I had told him what a great afternoon could be had at The Grove.
As a Spurs fan ( he's not Jewish, by the way) and having never been to a non-league game before he was impressed with the setup and the quality of the players, despite the dreadful conditions. He was made very welcome and thoroughly enjoyed the banter and saw why I enjoy my Saturday's at the Grove.
I agree with Rob that - and it's been said many times before - expectations have to be aligned to the reality of the level of football that we play at.

Nobody expects the football to be wonderful, I'm not sure anybody has ever actually said that and it's a distortion of what has been said. So what aligning needs to be done i am not sure. Are Hyde one of the bigger teams at this level that we shouldn't be expecting to beat? Are they a decent side? If you look at their recent results it suggests that it certainly isn't the case.

People don't like what I say, or what Raiden says, but at the same time it is irritating keep reading every team we don't beat is decent or have a bigger budget

Based on the fact that Hyde were playing in a division above us last season and three divisions above us the season before when they were in the conference I would hazard an educated guess that they probably are ahead of us off the pitch as well as on it, yet yesterday we competed with them. We were fortunate to get a point having watched the highlights back, but we competed with them.

[Johnny Bud]

It's all about expectations:

Personally, I don't expect to be entertained. Give me a scrappy 1.0 win over a 5.4 defeat every week. At the start of the season I would have happily taken mid-table. But we aren't far off. One striker may have made all the difference as the biggest concern is the amount of goals we have scored. Maybe if the money spent on the new tea hut had gone on a striker we may have been promotion material- or he may have broken his leg in the first game. Who knows?

I think it's safe to say we ain't going up or going down so how long will it be before we think about next season? The likes of Hull, Lewis, Griff, Daniels etc have the ability to play at this level. It's just that one or two extra- a few more loan signings like Troy Deeney would do!

[dalevillain]

Good point yesterday in what was a poor game overall in difficult conditions.

As a semi regular fan obviously not going to all the games, I have seen an improvement from the start of the season, where I was very worried for us. I don't think we're in danger of going down but I think we will finish in the bottom half of the table once the other teams have caught up we'll slide down the table a bit.

In terms of style of football, again there has been an improvement from the beginning of the season but why even yesterday did we still try and play 'hoof ball' at times in difficult conditions. It's not the most pleasant to watch, in comparison to last season and the season before, different players and a different league of course but its not the most attractive and could be a factor as to why attendances have dipped over the season.

For me, the thing I look forward to most when I visit the Grove these days is spending time with good people, having a good crack and banter and of course drinking beer - which always helps to make the game that bit more bearable!

[RaidenYeltz]

I don't expect to see us play like Barcelona or what ever. I'm fully aware of the limitations of non-league football. But what I do expect is some form of quality and at least an attempt to play the ball on the floor and pass into feet, over the course of 90 minutes. I don't think that's too much to ask for!

I guess many people go down the Grove for a variety of different reasons. I agree with Dale, I go for the social aspect. I never expect to go down Halesowen and see 90 minutes of ball of the floor, that's a ridiculous expectation. I expect there to be some poor football, as that's the level we watch. But I'd like to see an attempt to pass on the floor.

I wouldn't mind the long ball tactics so much if we had a big man up top (We've had success using the long ball over the past two seasons due to Christie up top), and it was an effective tactic.

We don't have that target man, currently, so when we play a long ball, it's mostly coming back as we don't seem to have anyone to hold it up. When Joe came on this tactic worked a little better, we created a little more by way of chances and we looked like we may snatch a win.

Also, we don't have anyone from midfield running forward to win any flick ons from these long balls. For me the central midfielders need to get forward and support the forwards more.

Currently this long ball game is really ineffective. How many times this season has the opposite keeper had an easy game with no real tests? We simply don't create many chances.

Two players in Hales and Reffell, who over the past few weeks, are the only players in our squad who looked capable of creating chances and scoring (Daniels, the only other creative player we have) have now played their last match. I have real concerns as to where the chances to score goals are going to come from now.

I don't think Gueyes and Waite are adequate replacements, if I'm honest.

I'm not so sure it's entirely the style that's frustrating me, it's the fact that watching us down the Grove at the moment, is frankly boring. We don't seem to get excitement due to the lack of chances and shots at goal. The clearly visible drop in attendances suggest I'm not the only one to share this view and a lot of folks are voting with their feet.

[lutleyyeltz]

For me, the thing I look forward to most when I visit the Grove these days is spending time with good people, having a good crack and banter and of course drinking beer - which always helps to make the game that bit more bearable!

That's exactly how I feel about my Saturday's at The Grove. Yes, it's great if we win and see good football at the same time, but if you want to watch the alleged best football then pay silly money to watch the "fancy Dans" - it's all about personal choice.

[juanillo]

Based on the fact that Hyde were playing in a division above us last season and three divisions above us the season before when they were in the conference I would hazard an educated guess that they probably are ahead of us off the pitch as well as on it, yet yesterday we competed with them. We were fortunate to get a point having watched the highlights back, but we competed with them.

I agree were were a little lucky but I'm not at all sure about them being ahead on the pitch etc simply because they've been in higher divisions. Their association with Man City ended and they've had 2 horrendous successive relegations; fewest points ever in the Conference Prem two seasons ago and bottom of Conf North last season.
They're in a position of trying to stop the slide as their record over the last two seasons reads:
Played 88 , Won 4, drawn 19, lost 65 , F 87 A 225, Pts 31 !

So they're undergoing a huge period of change having been taken over by the supporters club and are doing a job at steadying the ship.

[Yeltz27]

Based on the fact that Hyde were playing in a division above us last season and three divisions above us the season before when they were in the conference I would hazard an educated guess that they probably are ahead of us off the pitch as well as on it, yet yesterday we competed with them. We were fortunate to get a point having watched the highlights back, but we competed with them.

I agree were were a little lucky but I'm not at all sure about them being ahead on the pitch etc simply because they've been in higher divisions. Their association with Man City ended and they've had 2 horrendous successive relegations; fewest points ever in the Conference Prem two seasons ago and bottom of Conf North last season.
They're in a position of trying to stop the slide as their record over the last two seasons reads:
Played 88 , Won 4, drawn 19, lost 65 , F 87 A 225, Pts 31 !

So they're undergoing a huge period of change having been taken over by the supporters club and are doing a job at steadying the ship.

Hmm, very interesting. Thanks for posting that

[Steve Glass]

Through absolutely nobodys fault the winner on Saturday was the wind and the weather. Playing with what we used to call beach balls, it makes it even more difficult to play in such conditions these days. It was about attitudes and the game was never going to be one of beauty - anywhere. With them having the leading goal scorers and us having most of our forwards injured or unavailable, we did mightily well to get a draw and almost win at the end. Our only challenges as blokes that paid 10 quid or less, were standing up and keeping our bovril in the cups at half time. Saturday was not a day for careful team or tactical analysis Raiden - just be glad you saw some football at all.

[RaidenYeltz]

I don't think the conditions were 'that' bad. They weren't perfect, don't get me wrong. But they certainly weren't the appalling conditions we saw at Rushall, last Saturday.

Also, both teams play in the conditions, not just Halesowen Town. I thought Hyde adapted well to the wind and created far more and better chances than us for 75 minutes of the game.

If I'm being honest, I didn't think Hyde looked like a side who should be dominating us. I think they looked fairly average, we just afforded them a number of clear cut chances through poor defending. Asa the exception, he had a blinder.

A better side, than Hyde, would've been 3 or 4-0 up before we scored our equaliser.

[JohnC]

For me, the thing I look forward to most when I visit the Grove these days is spending time with good people, having a good crack and banter and of course drinking beer - which always helps to make the game that bit more bearable!

Unless like Raiden the wind blows your beer off the shed onto the floor!