18/19 - Milton Keynes (H) Match Thread

First things first. Despite the result, to be part of a 10,000+ crowd to watch Division 4 football felt very special today.
I got there early, walked around the city, up and down the Warwick Road and around the ground a couple of times and it felt different and it felt good. Excited, apprehensive, nervous perhaps even a bit giddy.
And in the ground it got better. I haven't experienced a 10k+ crowd at BP and when the teams came out it was like a proper crowd noise. The sort I remember as a kid. The sort that doesn't need an announcer or music to whip things up.
It's really a fantastic effort by all concerned at the club and despite the result it deserves huge praise.
On the pitch, when I heard the team news my heart sank. 3 big players out.
With the 3 key loan players gone it's 6 from 10 outfield gone from our strongest 11 of a month ago. It's a big ask even before a ball is kicked against a squad as strong as MKs.
I do feel sorry for Pressley. As well as Sheridan did, when he was without players we were, at times, very poor. When the players were all there, we looked at times almost unplayable.
And so it was for Pressley today. Certainly not poor by any means, but not good enough.
The effort and work rate was there - Scougall, Etuhu, O'Hare, Slater and Hope all worked hard. No problem with that side of things.
But, 6 from that 10 gone today and it showed.
Defensively, we've gone from rock solid to looking shaky. Balls across the box between full back and centre back are exposing us time and time again. Particularly when Parkes and Gerrard are out we look fragile.
In the midfield, we are being overrun both numerically and physically at times. Sowerby's strength and drive are a big miss. A very big miss.
For me, Slater and O'Hare, both technically very skilled, are a bit lightweight. Etuhu needs another body in there to do the fetching and carrying.
Etuhu aside, it's an incredibly lightweight front 6. We certainly can float like a butterfly but aren't stinging enough at the moment. How many 50/50s did we win today? Not enough.
And up top didn't we see the difference today between a side with a couple of proper forwards in the team? Not number 10s, or inside forwards or wingers. Strikers.
We have a lot of number 10s and 11s but not enough number 9s. And all that pace has gone. Electric pace that scares the living daylights out of defenders.
And again you can't help but feel sorry for Pressley. Who does he play? Hope isn't a central striker. Devitt isn't and Simpson isn't just yet.
I'm sure he would have liked to have had Bennett but how many of us were that sad to see him go? Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you can't help but get the sense they felt Yates was nailed on so let Richie go. Looks like a mistake now but didn't look such bad business a few weeks ago.
If you haven't got a fit number 9 then you haven't got a fit number 9. Not much Pressley can do about that apart from wrapping Cullen up in cotton wool.
And on days like these we need the luck to run with us on when we don't play all that well. But it didn't.
A slip by Grant for the first and a ball slipping under the foot of Liddle for the second were important factors as was the possibility that MK may have been a player down after the penalty.
But. Having said that we didn't do enough.
First half there were some very nice 1 touch exchanges but not enough. Second half was poor.
Scougall was excellent. To me, he's looked the most promising of the window players so far.
Nathan Thomas looks quality but hasn't played enough or isn't fit enough.
For me, Slater plays better and looks more dangerous slightly further forward, almost in between Etuhu and Scougall.
O'Hare looks like he has ability but as of just yet hasn't done enough for me. Not quite strong enough to play in that midfield 3. Again, perhaps better suited a little further forward.
And isn't MaCarron a joy to watch when he comes on?
So, just as with Sheridan, or indeed any manager, injuries to key players is going to be a leveller.
Unfortunately, unlike with Sheridan, we haven't got a Yates or a Nadesan or a Sowerby who's played 10 or 15 games who have gotten up to speed.
We have lads with little or no football and it shows at the moment.
Defensively, I think when the injuries clear up, the back line will be good again.
In the midfield, we need to find a way of helping Etuhu more and stiffening it up. It's too powder puff. At times today we were bouncing off their players.
And up top, once Cullen is up and running the side will look and feel different.
Unfortunately, he's the only option, and almost as importantly the pace has gone. We could go from box to box in 10 seconds but we can't any more.
Defenders were terrified of Nadesan. Nothing like a lightning quick forward and we've lost that sadly.
You can't help but feel a bit deflated tonight but in all honesty once I heard the teams news I felt it was going to be a big ask.
Etuhu and Cullen are the keys now to the season.
We have enough defensive cover.
We have plenty of attacking options out wide and in behind.
If we can find a way of getting help to Kelvin and if we can get Cullen fit and scoring, I think we'll be OK.
It's a big if and so much does rest on Mark Cullen's shoulders. It's not ideal but it is what it is.
We just need to hang on in there for the next 3, 4 or 5 games as the new lads get games under their belts. Get fitter. Get used to playing with one another.
Unfortunately, the thin squad at the start of the season is at the root of the problem still but our strongest 11, with a number 9 in it, will get us in the playoffs.
I can't imagine any of us imagined in February we'd be in the play offs and who'd have said we'd play a game in front of over 10000 fans?
Not a good day at the office today but you can only hope that this side as it gets fitter and stronger can only get better.
COYB

I'm not too sure on Cullen being the proper number nine either ...too small i'm afraid and looks like he needs a provider who keeps it on the floor, so maybe when Devitt returns he'll be that person. Mean Time we're mid table.

A very reasoned assessment of the players and the team’s performance today newcarlislefan and of what is required for Carlisle United to, with a good wind behind them, to achieve promotion.
Nothing is guaranteed in life, but one thing generally remains., loyalty and that comes from a feeling of belonging.
No one should ever underestimate the allegiance of those who have Cumbria in their heart to all things Cumbrian, however much it can hurt. Hence 10,000+ today.

seesaw50 wrote: I'm not too sure on Cullen being the proper number nine either ...too small i'm afraid and looks like he needs a provider who keeps it on the floor, so maybe when Devitt returns he'll be that person. Mean Time we're mid table.

I said something similar on another thread: Cullen isn’t going to work as he middle man on a front three. He’s not big enough. He needs someone to play off. He’s not going to hold balls up, and if we’re playing three up top that ain’t going to happen.

I’d say we need to play two up front, but unless we start giving Simpson a game we seemingly ain’t got two players who can do that.

Fantastic turnout today but no louder than usual until last five minutes. Got the feeling there was a lot there that weren't really interested.

Yes, I can understand that point of view about Cullen not being big enough.
But, as a kid one of my footballing heroes was Stuart Pearson, who played for Man Utd in the 70s.
He was an excellent striker and also played for England. I remember him not being that big but I had to check on the internet but he was just 5ft 9 inches tall!
It can be done.
Also, just remembered Mark Robins as well from the 90s. Don't think he was that big but what a quality player he was.
I think you'd like Cullen to maybe be a bit bigger but I think he looks like he can have a physical presence. Continuing the Man U theme, and not just because he's ginger, he does remind me a bit when he moves of Paul Scholes.

Yates worked as the middle man in a front 3 and he’s about the same size as Cullen.

It’s a bit hasty writing Cullen off as a 9 after a few sub appearances just because he’s not 6ft 3.

newcarlislefan wrote: Yes, I can understand that point of view about Cullen not being big enough.
But, as a kid one of my footballing heroes was Stuart Pearson, who played for Man Utd in the 70s.
He was an excellent striker and also played for England. I remember him not being that big but I had to check on the internet but he was just 5ft 9 inches tall!
It can be done.

I doubt he was playing as a sole striker though? Don’t think 4-3-3 was invented until about 1980.

No, that's right, he wasn't playing up top in a 3!
I think, and my memory is hazy, but it may have been with someone like Joe Jordan.
A proper old fashioned number 9. With no teeth.
But, I do think that a smaller player can play up top in a front 3.

CCU wrote:

seesaw50 wrote: Mean Time we're mid table.

Play-Off places aren’t ‘mid-table’...

I meant by the time Devitt sits out two more games and returns to be the provider for Cullen we're mid table (we'll be mid table in proper English)

I think that at the moment, with Cullen and with all of the new lads it's a bit early to pass judgement.
Cullen's had a stress fracture and Scougall, O'Hare, Thomas and Grant have all hardly played.
Having said all of that I have been very impressed with Scougall. Something about him.
Lummy would know about this sort of thing but I'd imagine that after not playing regularly it must take at least 6 or 7 games to get right back playing at your peak. Maybe longer.
I'm sure some players can get back into the groove quicker than others but I'd imagine it can't be a quick thing.
As well as fitness, confidence, timing, weight of pass etc all take time I'd've of thought.
I feel that particularly with Thomas, as he gets fitter, he could, potentially be a match winner.
Lummy?

newcarlislefan wrote: No, that's right, he wasn't playing up top in a 3!
I think, and my memory is hazy, but it may have been with someone like Joe Jordan.
A proper old fashioned number 9. With no teeth.
But, I do think that a smaller player can play up top in a front 3.

Stuart Pearson was one of the best centre forwards I ever saw play against Carlisle.

Brilliant touch and held the ball up superbly with back to goal.

Played alongside Jimmy Greenhoff and Lou Macari at Brunton Park in the FA Cup 3rd round in 1978. 1-1.

None of those lads were tall.

It was pretty disappointing stuff, but seems apparent that Thomas, O’Hare, Scougall, Cullen are players with obvious ability.
It does highlight how you can have that but it’s probably more important to have a team playing fluently than ripping up the team every 6 months.
Still, all is not lost.
My best hope is that we recover our form and peak at the end of the season, culminating in promotion via play-offs.
We look set to struggle over the next three or four games , I would think.

We don't really play 4-3-3, until Cullen came on we did not have striker on the pitch. The formation was more like 4-6-0.

franksidebottom wrote:

munchymagic wrote:

triskelionblue wrote: 1 point from last 9...

Only proven goalscorer isn't fit

Another debacle like 2 years ago

Another season of mediocrity

We knew what we had to do to get Yates and Nadesan, perhaps we could have nabbed Sowerby as well.

Everyone has worked out that we are toothless up front.

Turns out that many seemed too quick to praise Holdsworth as his decisions in the January transfer market seem baffling.

This false number nine shite has turned sour.

What did we have to do to get Nadesan and Yates?

We have an owner with 17.1 million pounds worth of liquid assets and a benefactor who is one of the richest men in the country you would have thought there would have been somebody at the club who could have convinced one of them that buying the three of them could be a good business investment.

I.m pretty sure that an absolute maximum of 300k would have got all three of them and is there anybody on here that thinks the 3 of them won't go on to be worth way more than that.

I think where they went wrong was not just going in with large cash bids right at the start of the window. None of them were established first-teamers at their parent clubs and theres not many managers who wouldn't have players lined up that they could use that money to acquire who would go straight into their first team and in the case of Nadesan I know for a fact that matching Salford,s 70k offer would have got us Nadesan right up until the last week of the window when they were just fed up of us taking the piss to the point of going back on the last day of the window with a 30k offer when we knew full well what the required number was.

If Jenkins isn't willing to use his fortune for the good of the club while at the same time making himself a good few quid he should just [censored] of now and head for the nursing home in the sky as I can't see a single reason for him being involved in the running of the club any longer.

And then we have Day a man with one of the largest personal fortunes and asset bases in the country if he wants to own the club and fund it with 5 million a year then get on and do it or if he just wants to be seen as a nice man who.ll help out when the club is in the complete shit he should come out and say thats the case as then we could just get on and find an owner who.ll either fund it properly or work with the supporters to run it as a fans club.

Much as today was obviously a great success which clearly puts to bed the doom-mongers predictions that we couldn't average 12k in the championship it hasn't really proved anything [ other thats what's possible if certain employees pull their fingers out and do their jobs properly ] and the figures show they will have had about the same income as from an average attendance game and it should also show that to build a 10 or 12k stadium would be total madness and that nothing short of 18k should even be considered.

howoldboy wrote:

newcarlislefan wrote: No, that's right, he wasn't playing up top in a 3!
I think, and my memory is hazy, but it may have been with someone like Joe Jordan.
A proper old fashioned number 9. With no teeth.
But, I do think that a smaller player can play up top in a front 3.

Stuart Pearson was one of the best centre forwards I ever saw play against Carlisle.

Brilliant touch and held the ball up superbly with back to goal.

Played alongside Jimmy Greenhoff and Lou Macari at Brunton Park in the FA Cup 3rd round in 1978. 1-1.

None of those lads were tall.

All 3 of those were excellent players.
Funnily enough after the recent Port Vale game, there were a few Stoke fans around after their game with Preston and I spoke to one about Greenhoff.
He said he was the best Stoke player he'd seen and was sold to Man U to pay for a new stand after their old stand got blown away in a gale!
I read his biography a few years ago and like a lot of players from that era, like Kevin Beattie, he ended up virtually penniless.

newcarlislefan wrote:

howoldboy wrote:

newcarlislefan wrote: No, that's right, he wasn't playing up top in a 3!
I think, and my memory is hazy, but it may have been with someone like Joe Jordan.
A proper old fashioned number 9. With no teeth.
But, I do think that a smaller player can play up top in a front 3.

Stuart Pearson was one of the best centre forwards I ever saw play against Carlisle.

Brilliant touch and held the ball up superbly with back to goal.

Played alongside Jimmy Greenhoff and Lou Macari at Brunton Park in the FA Cup 3rd round in 1978. 1-1.

None of those lads were tall.

All 3 of those were excellent players.
Funnily enough after the recent Port Vale game, there were a few Stoke fans around after their game with Preston and I spoke to one about Greenhoff.
He said he was the best Stoke player he'd seen and was sold to Man U to pay for a new stand after their old stand got blown away in a gale!
I read his biography a few years ago and like a lot of players from that era, like Kevin Beattie, he ended up virtually penniless.

[censored] off

Ref comments by northern soul. You truly want to be ashamed of yourself talking about Andrew Jenkins like that. A man that regularly puts his hand into his own money. A man who has supported united for longer I can remember. Home and away. Not many people or chairman or directors go to matches at all. So until you have commitment like that keep ye mouth shut. Disgraceful

Why does everyone suddenly think we need a big target man. We were doing well enough without one before Christmas weren’t we?. Guardiola seems to be doing well enough without one at Man City when he prob has the pick of most of the forwards in the whole World.

A few common myths which are often trotted out on here; you need to play with two up front especially at home, a forward needs to score goals, a lone striker needs to be a big man.

If you watched enough football and understood the game you’d realise none of these are necessarily true.

[censored] knows. I’ve even seen people suggest we’re missing Bennett ffs.

Cullen and Yates are both listed as 175 cm. strange how after a couple of defeats Cullen is too small.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, very few fans would have played Ritchie when he was here but now he's what we're missing,what short memories we've all got.-- On yesterdays game a very good and entertaining 1st half but ran out of ideas after half time after M K made changes .Without a proper no.9 we need to get back to getting to bye line and hitting low balls back into the area .- Where i was annoyed yesterday was the number of times Hope went down for free kicks that never were. Although Liddle made an error for their second goal the move started from us being on the attack and Hope being to soft and going down for a foul.

I was having a think this morning about the World Cup finals I can remember and the strikers who played.
Muller in 74, Kempes in 78, Rossi in 82 and Beardsley & Lineker in 86.
Not a lot of height there!
I think it's less about Cullen's size but more about a lack of numbers up top which does limit us a bit at the moment.

Size isn't important as the missus keeps reminding me.

Kempes was 6 foot.

the Fox wrote: Ref comments by northern soul. You truly want to be ashamed of yourself talking about Andrew Jenkins like that. A man that regularly puts his hand into his own money. A man who has supported united for longer I can remember. Home and away. Not many people or chairman or directors go to matches at all. So until you have commitment like that keep ye mouth shut. Disgraceful

Tell you what go [censored] yourself son come back when you've been supporting them as long as I have.

And if you have any evidence that Jenkins provides financial support and by that I mean 500k plus a season lets be seeing it because if he stood up and financially backed a company he effectively owns we wouldn't be in hock to EWM for the best part of 4 million quid.

Oh and before I forget I talk about who I want to, in whatever way I want to, when I want to and if you're going to continue posting on here get that into your head fast as.

Wouldn’t count you as a supporter. More that you follow Carlisle as you don’t go and support them in any way.

Mikercufc wrote: Wouldn’t count you as a supporter. More that you follow Carlisle as you don’t go and support them in any way.

Go [censored] Yourself i.ll put money on i.ve been to twice the number of games you have and spent thousands on sponsorships

And btw while you're a youth player and i.m a senior player please address me as Sir

No worries sir key board warrior

Mikercufc wrote: No worries sir key board warrior

Ha, Ha Keyboard Warrior you crack me up.

The whole point is I wouldn't ever say anything online that I wouldn't say in the pub.

Now get my boots cleaned and don't forget the extra Dubbin