Well, my confidence in the team's ability seems to have been temporarily misplaced and our reign at the top of the table was very fleeting. Two bad results have seen us plummet to 9th in the league table. While it's not exactly terminal, it is not ideal and has played into the hands of the suicidal and those with an agenda once again to peddle their negativity on the fan sites. While other teams are getting on a roll we are apparently on a potentially downward spiral which must be halted quickly with a victory at home to Barrow on Saturday.
Firstly, I was unimpressed by the tactics at York City and I agree with some of the naysayers that Gary Brabin has a tendency to be negative away from home persisting with this 5-4-1/4-3-3 formation which leads to the isolation of the lone striker when the service from the 'wingbacks' is not at its best. The Luton way is 4-4-2 and not only usually brings success but is also more entertaining to watch. 4-3-3 is entertaining enough when all is going well, but this season it has not brought rewards leading to too many draws and on Saturday leading to being picked off by a lively York City. The defeat at home to Cambridge was disappointing on many levels. To start with the first half was good apart from the end result, but the second half was inept and while a draw was the least we deserved, on the overall 90 minutes, we did not show enough quality in the final third to deserve victory. I felt that the manager allowed the team to stagnate and made poor choices about the timing and nature of the substitutions.
Robbie Willmott played well in the first half and had a couple of the numerous chances made been taken we would not be involved with nit-picking the performance as we would probably have gone on to win comfortably. It reminded me of the three home defeats against Rushden, Kettering and Stevenage a couple of years ago. It seemed the longer it went on the confidence of the players drained and they ran out of ideas and were vulnerable to a sucker punch which eventually came. There never seems to be a plan B when things are not happening for us. So far, Aaron O'Connor has not made a significant difference when coming on as substitute, whereas Adam Watkins and JP Kissock have. I think O'Connor needs games to get some form back, and possibly not in the first team, he is a much better player than he has shown so far. Also, he should never be used as an impact substitute, it's simply not his style. I would have liked to see Watkins on at the start but at least at half time, and if we are going to concede silly goals then we have got to score more ourselves and two games without scoring is already two games too many. Stuart Fleetwood should not have to be coming back into midfield to get the ball, he should be allowed to roam free in the opponents' penalty area and sniff out half chances along with having the ball put in dangerous areas for him to head in. He will score if he gets the service, and provide lay-offs for a striking partner as long as there is one in the side! Perhaps out leading goalscorer AMS? Just a thought!
This season has so far been a disastrous one in terms of injury and suspension, but we have probably got the best squad in the league to deal with that and other teams will struggle if and when they run into such problems. Alex Lawless was suspended for Tuesday's game but may be out longer because he punched a wall and broke his hand at York. Well that is a great help to our plight! Also it has been well documented that half a dozen players are injured who would be in the squad were they fit. Well they are not and those coming in have got to do better. We need to get on our own roll and put together another undefeated run preferably with a run of victories to stay in touch and put pressure on those above. It is too early to predict what is going to happen by Christmas but I am still confident that we will be there or thereabouts by then and that we will push on to win the title even if we have to bring in reinforcements. I'd just like to see Mr Brabin get them playing a more attacking style of play home and away. There are no teams in this league that we could not beat; as I have said before they should be afraid of us, not the other way around. Players must be played in their best positions not merely accommodated. We have enough wingers not to play AMS out there and enough utility players not to need two defensive midfielders, one of those should have been sacrificed for young Watkins or Kissock.
I think the call by some for the manager to be sacked is ridiculous at this stage of the season especially when he has not had his full squad to choose from, and he has to be given time, but the pressure will no doubt be there for him and I hope it doesn't produce even more negative 'trying not to lose' tactics. Come on Gary let's go out to win, home or away, because strange though it may seem, the side effect from winning games is that you do not lose either!
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