Formation woe........(?)

Saturday saw Phoenix Sports grab a 'last gasp equaliser' to take us to a replay in the FA Cup Preliminary Round.

Once again the word dominate and various derivatives appears in quotes, reports and other utterings permeating through the myriad spendidly professional professional media outlets that the good people of Guernsey are exposed to.

It is true that we enjoyed the bulk of the possession but there was precious little in the way of end product. The first half saw the Phoenix Sports 'keeper troubled not.

The second half wasn't a great deal better but, being positive for a moment, Ross Allen took full advantage of Phoenix Sports' two defensive slips. Firstly a leg left in (when it wasn't necessary) brought Craig Young down and Rocco put the spot kick as in the corner of the net as it is possible (if that makes sense).

Then a moment when the home defence froze for a fleeting moment and our No 10 took full advantage, finishing with some aplomb.

Other than those two occasions the home side appeared to be very well organised defensively.

The goals conceded were disappointing however. On both occasions the 'runner' (he didn't have to try too hard) found space all to easily, giving Machlowski little chance.

We have a formation that, effectively, packs the midfield and leaves us less exposed to the sort of rampaging we've seen in previous seasons. Set pieces and crosses remain a problem though (as a look at GFCTV will confirm).

At the same time we're struggling to turn possession into an advantage goal wise.

Until the Guernsey gene pool throws out 6'3" central defenders aplenty we're always likely to struggle with set pieces and crosses.

Maybe the problem isn't with the players though. Could it be that the coaching is too 'technical'? Applying Barcelona tactics (designed with players earning may thousands a week) at a completely different level....

A change to 442 might not be so bad.

Keep it Green

Allez les Verts!!

We're on the road to Bexley...

A trip to Phoenix Sports tomorrow then and they have had a decent start to the season, but their wins have come against teams that will probably spend the season in the bottom half of the table and the Isthmian North is generally considered to be weaker than the South.

Their defence has been frugal but they haven't exactly been banging them in for fun at the other end themselves.

We should be going into this game with an air of confidence, not arrogance. Concentrate at the back, think in midfield, don't get frustrated up front. It really is as simple as that dear reader.....(!).

The travelling squad is; Machlowski, de la Mare, le Prevost, Cochrane, Dodd, J Winch, Steel, L Mahon, Fernandez, Black, Heaume, Young, McGrath, Allen or L Winch.

One concern about the squad is that it only numbers 14, a couple of extra choices on the bench could make a difference. That said the 14 named are more than able to get the win. And they must, because I'm outre mer on 11th September and I really want to go to Chatham in the league.

The other concern about the squad is the absence of the name Rihoy. Having had to leave the field of play early at Peacehaven Dave's due to have a scan of something called medial ligaments. Something he's had problems with before so fingers crossed that all is well otherwise he may have to hang up his boots. This would be a great shame for one of the finest Guernsey footballers of his time.

We'll be getting the 10.54 from Blackfriars to Crayford tomorrow, see you in the Penny Farthing.

Keep it Green

Allez les Verts!!

The road to Wembley (possibly) via Bexley

After an ignominious start against Hythe, somewhat fortunate to go in at the break just 1-0 down, the second half was a bit of a groundbreaker for our club.

No capitulation, some nice football played and Craig Young getting a late equaliser that his (and the team's) performance deserved.

All watched via Lil' Craig's Livestream broadcast, which is actually not to shabby. Go to livestream.com and search for GFC Manelander TV, GFC M should do the trick.

On Saturday we start off on the road to Wembley. This season the road starts in Bexley, at the home of Phoenix Sports. Hopefully it won't end there.... If there's no winner after 90 minutes there'll be a replay in midweek at the Dripping Pan, home of Lewes FC in deepest Sussex. The winner will be at home to Lewes in the next round on 11th September, definitely (maybe).

There's some need to know and nice to know information ahead of the trip to Phoenix Sports on the 'Away Days' page.

Keep it Green.

Allez les Verts!!

Two halves of heaving headless chickens...

The train from London was heaving. Brighton was heaving. The Dirty Diggler was in town for his first match of the season and it seemed his fan club's membership had heard the news. Pert young things, keen to see a demonstration of his fencing skills no doubt, everywhere we went.

Anyway, we decided to leave the Railway Bell eventually and made it to Peacehaven just in time to hear the first whistle as we approached the turnstiles.

You may have read elsewhere that we dominated the first half. We didn't really dominate but the performance was fine, given we were away from home.

Ross Allen's penalty was a surprise as we expected it to go about 20 feet over the bar.

Kyle Smith (one of the few bright spots of the day) was making some really intelligent runs, sadly though he seemed light years ahead of most of his team mates in his understanding of 'movement'.

Still, 1 up away at half time is not to be complained about, and there was a good feeling all round.

The weather was fantastic or, to put it another way, hot enough for the pampered elite in the Premier League to be rested and watered every few minutes. None of that here however and it was somewhat surprising to learn that some genius had come up with the idea of keeping the team out on the pitch at half time, thereby offering not a lot in the way of respite from the sweltering heat.

Then the 2nd half began and, being polite, it was rubbish. Being honest though it was absolute shite.

What seemed to be a reasonably well executed 4-1-4-1 formation in the first half morphed into a pre-teen headless chicken run-around and hoof it display. After the game the players held up their hands and said they didn't follow instructions in the 2nd half. There was little or nothing to suggest that anyone was seeing that the plan wasn't being followed and, in turn, doing anything about it.

Against a team having a poor start to the season with new management and lots of player movements this performance can, at best, be looked on as a wake up call.

On to tomorrow night and a trip to Hythe Town, who have had a pretty dismal start to the season. They will presumably be looking forward to a first win tomorrow, this will be our 3rd midweek visit to Hythe so they know the score squad-wise. A number of changes, with at least 7 'regulars' not available to travel. Here is the squad:

Machlowski, Isabelle, Geall, le Prevost, Strawbridge, Winch (J), Mackay, Steel, de la Mare, Mahon, Fernandez, Winch (L) Young, McGrath.

There is enough there there to bring back 3 points but we might need to put formations that appeal to some purists to one side and just play a straightforward 4-4-2. Just a thought.

Keep it Green.

Allez les Verts!!

Day on the South coast anyone?

There seems to have been a fair bit of wailing after the defeat to Folkestone about handball and the visitors' somewhat approach. The GFCTV highlights, to these eyes at any rate, suggest there was no handball, although watching live in the ground from many angles it would have looked like the arm was used to control the ball.

As for the physical (dirty?) approach we do seem to have been whining about this ever since season one back in the CCL. Now it could be that this is an asepect of the game of football (as it is played i the real world) that we simply haven't learnt/developed over the last 4 years. At the away games we find a healthy 'dirty Northern bastards' chant helps us deal with these situations, especially if we're on the South coast.

We do have a number of players who love mixing it a bit with the opposition but, if you're in the Garenne (as most are), you're probably not aware of that as most of the action seem to take place on the far side of the pitch near the dugouts.

If you're wandering why so much of our play happens on the far side, it's all for the benefit of Steve Sharman's copious note-taking. If play is too far from the dugout the notes may not be accurate and that could result in, heaven forbid, in a dog's breakfast of an inter-insular.

Anyway, 6 points from 9 isn't a bad return when we haven't really got into any sort of rhythm yet and we do have a chance to hit some kind of stride at Peacehaven on Saturday. They have a much changed squad from last year and have just 1 point from the first three fixtures. That said they appointed a new manager last week and this will be their first league game following training under the new regime.

We'll be in Brighton at about 10.45 and will head to the Railway Belle, which is a hop and a skip from the station, for light refreshment and a Spanish lesson. It's a short walk to get a bus to Peacehaven and they leave every 10 minutes (fare is £2.40). See the away days page for detailed travel info.

Both the Press and the Beano carried stories about Jack Boyle today. In a nutshell Tony Vance will be talking to him after the Peacehaven game with a view to getting him to sign. When asked, Tony Vance and Colin Fallaize have made it clear that meeting him at Gatwick is not an option, there has to be a commitment that fits the GFC ethos (which hasn't changed) and the ball is in his court as far as that goes.

As a player he would be an asset to the team and, being a Crapaud, he's well positioned to understand and deal with the kind of dirty underhand tactics touched on earlier.

See you Saturday.

Keep it Green

Allez les Verts!!