Darlington V Alfreton

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Vokuhila
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by Vokuhila » Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:08 pm

uncovered wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm
joejaques wrote:Anyone heard any news on Tez's injury? :roll:
He hopes it’s not bad but he heard a crack when it happened.
I heard it could be a torn ankle ligament, but that's uncorroborated.

Anyway, it's a good job we've got Sean 'DMFC' Reid - the kind of player Championship Manager 2 dreams are made of.

AndyPark
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by AndyPark » Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:18 pm

Darlo_Pete wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 8:48 pm
The BBC website doesn't show our game on Tuesday at Guiseley. :roll:
So? :shifty: :wtf:

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don'tbuythesun
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by don'tbuythesun » Sat Jan 18, 2020 11:14 pm

So....it should!!

Darlo2807
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by Darlo2807 » Sun Jan 19, 2020 9:45 am

Would never have predicted we’d be in this position after the Telford and Leamington sucker punches. Credit to Alun and the team :clap: :clap: :clap:

Wiseacre
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by Wiseacre » Sun Jan 19, 2020 9:51 am

LoidLucan wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 5:52 pm
The playoffs are very much on. They barely laid a glove on us in the second half and we seem to have good reliable options all over as in the successful switch of Reid to defence. We deserve better crowds... National League here we come :D
It's wonderful to see the team playing so well - better than Gray's glory years I admit - but are we quite ready to go up? I think we've exceeded expectations for the season already which has been called 'transisitional' in terms of our aims To go up would be sensational but on the other hand - why not? It's great to have this dilemma and we need to hold on to Armstrong so if he wants to go for it maybe we should

QUAKERMAN2
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by QUAKERMAN2 » Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:34 am

Very impressed with AA and DH to get us into this league position taking into account all our injury problems this season.Great work ethic,team spirit and really loving our style of football.Yesterday we proved we could match them for the physical stuff whilst still playing our brand of football.
Not sure on his length of contract, but would be looking to get AA tied down on a 3 year minimum before clubs start taking notice.


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divas
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by divas » Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:38 am

I don’t get all of this should we/shouldn’t we /can we go up. You go out and try to win a game each time and the rest takes care of itself. Knowing Armstrong he’ll have no other objective than to do absolutely that. He’s an ambitious manager and if he was told to deviate from that I don’t like the odds of us retaining him

tdk1
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by tdk1 » Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:44 am

Also, we've repeatedly shown we can compete with full time teams in individual games. Taken over the course of a season we may not be able to maintain the standards we set in some of those, and we may be relegated again, but we wouldn't be embarrassed by any stretch. Of course we should aim to go up, then to stay up.

QUAKERMAN2
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by QUAKERMAN2 » Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:52 am

divas wrote:I don’t get all of this should we/shouldn’t we /can we go up. You go out and try to win a game each time and the rest takes care of itself. Knowing Armstrong he’ll have no other objective than to do absolutely that. He’s an ambitious manager and if he was told to deviate from that I don’t like the odds of us retaining him
100%


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al_quaker
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by al_quaker » Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:57 am

Biggest issue with a surprise promotion would be the ground situation - on the pitch I’ve no doubt we’d give it a good go and wouldn’t embarrass ourselves. Armstrong knows what he’s doing, that’s clear as day

lo36789
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by lo36789 » Sun Jan 19, 2020 11:05 am

I feel we are more ready than in season 1 when Gray got us into the playoffs. That felt like too much too quick.

We might have to divert funds to ground stuff from the playing side but maybe we could yoyo until settled...

That said we are a long way off actually being promotion candidates. We are the very foot of the playoffs and there is a long way to go in the season - watching from a distance we do seem quite solid as a team now though.

Beano
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by Beano » Sun Jan 19, 2020 11:31 am

QUAKERMAN2 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:52 am
divas wrote:I don’t get all of this should we/shouldn’t we /can we go up. You go out and try to win a game each time and the rest takes care of itself. Knowing Armstrong he’ll have no other objective than to do absolutely that. He’s an ambitious manager and if he was told to deviate from that I don’t like the odds of us retaining him
100%


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Thirded.

en passant
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by en passant » Sun Jan 19, 2020 11:47 am

As AA recognises in his interview any team can have a good or bad run of form that may project them into or out of the playoff places. Just look at Southport's recent run. Whilst there is undoubted pleasure in seeing us on the up and holding a playoff spot for the present, being a bit more pragmatic doesn't do any harm, especially as this is better than what had been hoped for at the start of the season. Having more players available and having options has been good over the last month or so, but as current injuries in the defence prove, small squads are never far away from having a crisis. And our current position, whilst shows that flirting with the playoffs is doable, it is conditional on the current run being maintained. Despite yesterday's excellent result it is still true that we have one of the poorest goalscoring records, have a negative goal difference, and have a backlog of away games to play where our form is nothing to write home about. Welcome though the achievement of hitting a 7th spot is, false position is the term that readily comes to mind for where we really are at the moment. That doesn't mean it can't happen, but that we would be getting ahead of ourselves to suppose that a promotion is anywhere in sight at the moment.

Wiseacre
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by Wiseacre » Sun Jan 19, 2020 12:08 pm

I think the above post puts things into perspective but I think we should go for it and finish as well as we can in preparation for next season If that turns out to be in a higher division we can give it a go - as long as we keep AA and co. My caution is based on painful experiences of relegation but maybe this time ...

quakerste
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by quakerste » Sun Jan 19, 2020 12:09 pm

This next three weeks is make or break if we come through it still in and around where we are now I can see us sneaking a position in the play offs.

The crazy thing is if we get two results this week we could potentially be level on points with Chester. You would have got locked up if you said that two months ago, it just shows how far we have come.

FozzQuaker
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by FozzQuaker » Sun Jan 19, 2020 12:12 pm

Darlo_Pete wrote:The BBC website doesn't show our game on Tuesday at Guiseley. :roll:
Download FlashScores

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bga
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by bga » Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:43 pm

tdk1 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:44 am
Also, we've repeatedly shown we can compete with full time teams in individual games. Taken over the course of a season we may not be able to maintain the standards we set in some of those, and we may be relegated again, but we wouldn't be embarrassed by any stretch. Of course we should aim to go up, then to stay up.
Out of interest does anyone know are all the current in the National League teams full time?

super_les_mcjannet
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Sun Jan 19, 2020 5:51 pm

Lets just enjoy the fact we are looking upwards this season and talking about possibly play off push rather than constantly looking over our shoulder in regards to relegation like the last two seasons.

I think we are good enough to make the play offs but as we can see injuries, form and our own away form may well be our stumbling blocks. What a refreshing change though having a squad you actually think can do it.

lo36789
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by lo36789 » Sun Jan 19, 2020 6:21 pm

bga wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:43 pm
tdk1 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:44 am
Also, we've repeatedly shown we can compete with full time teams in individual games. Taken over the course of a season we may not be able to maintain the standards we set in some of those, and we may be relegated again, but we wouldn't be embarrassed by any stretch. Of course we should aim to go up, then to stay up.
Out of interest does anyone know are all the current in the National League teams full time?
I don't think so, but I think it's only Chorley and potentially Maidenhead who are not.

I don't believe Havant and Waterlooville or Braintree were last season, but both were subsequently relegated.

bga
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by bga » Sun Jan 19, 2020 6:54 pm

lo36789 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 6:21 pm
bga wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:43 pm
tdk1 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:44 am
Also, we've repeatedly shown we can compete with full time teams in individual games. Taken over the course of a season we may not be able to maintain the standards we set in some of those, and we may be relegated again, but we wouldn't be embarrassed by any stretch. Of course we should aim to go up, then to stay up.
Out of interest does anyone know are all the current in the National League teams full time?
I don't think so, but I think it's only Chorley and potentially Maidenhead who are not.

I don't believe Havant and Waterlooville or Braintree were last season, but both were subsequently relegated.
Thanks :thumbup:

al_quaker
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by al_quaker » Mon Jan 20, 2020 11:34 am

super_les_mcjannet wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 5:51 pm
I think we are good enough to make the play offs but as we can see injuries, form and our own away form may well be our stumbling blocks. What a refreshing change though having a squad you actually think can do it.
A few tough away games coming up (including 2 this week!) so it will test our away form. Having said that our last 6 league away games have included all 3 of our wins, and we are 8th in the form table for away games (I was shocked to see Alfreton is still in our last 6 away league games played!), so maybe our away stats are skewed slightly by our slow start and not having many away games since we've clicked. Whatever happens it's refreshing to be looking up and not down though after the last couple of seasons.

Watching the highlights back, it's clear how much the pitch is struggling. Hopefully a bit of a gap between home games will give it a chance to recover and for it to be worked on . It doesn't aid our style of football - although it makes it more impressive when we do piece together nice passing football considering how bobbly the pitch is!

DarloFaithful
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by DarloFaithful » Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:47 pm

I think Alfreton were the worst i've seen this season. Maybe it was just an off day and they obviously had their best striker missing, but it was extremely comfortable. Very impressed with how Reid slotted in at centre back. Looks like another very astute signing.

QUAKERMAN2
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by QUAKERMAN2 » Mon Jan 20, 2020 1:12 pm

DarloFaithful wrote:I think Alfreton were the worst i've seen this season. Maybe it was just an off day and they obviously had their best striker missing, but it was extremely comfortable. Very impressed with how Reid slotted in at centre back. Looks like another very astute signing.
They did open us up a few times but don't think they are the worst we have played Thought Kettering were very poor, also Bradford even though we lost.

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al_quaker
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by al_quaker » Mon Jan 20, 2020 1:23 pm

DarloFaithful wrote:
Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:47 pm
Very impressed with how Reid slotted in at centre back. Looks like another very astute signing.
Yes he did well - although I think Alfreton's attacking style suited him. I'd be a little more concerned if we were playing a team with a more fluid attack, but if Guiseley play like they did last year then I'd have no concerns re Reid at CB tomorrow.

DarloFaithful
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by DarloFaithful » Mon Jan 20, 2020 1:29 pm

QUAKERMAN2 wrote:
Mon Jan 20, 2020 1:12 pm
DarloFaithful wrote:I think Alfreton were the worst i've seen this season. Maybe it was just an off day and they obviously had their best striker missing, but it was extremely comfortable. Very impressed with how Reid slotted in at centre back. Looks like another very astute signing.
They did open us up a few times but don't think they are the worst we have played Thought Kettering were very poor, also Bradford even though we lost.

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Fair point, I hadn't really considered Bradford because we did lose to them but i suppose Kettering were probably worse.

Alfreton's manager was absolutely furious the entire second half; was pretty bizarre to watch. We were right behind the dugout for the second half, not sure if anyone else heard the Dale Winton remark when one of their subs came on but it did make me laugh.

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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by bigdavethemaddog » Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:37 pm

lo36789 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 6:21 pm
bga wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:43 pm
tdk1 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:44 am
Also, we've repeatedly shown we can compete with full time teams in individual games. Taken over the course of a season we may not be able to maintain the standards we set in some of those, and we may be relegated again, but we wouldn't be embarrassed by any stretch. Of course we should aim to go up, then to stay up.
Out of interest does anyone know are all the current in the National League teams full time?
I don't think so, but I think it's only Chorley and potentially Maidenhead who are not.

I don't believe Havant and Waterlooville or Braintree were last season, but both were subsequently relegated.
Stockport are still part time and not sure if Halifax are.

lo36789
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by lo36789 » Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:09 pm

I thought they were too but a google search shows announcement by Halifax and Stockport announcing they would be going full time.

https://fchalifaxtown.com/news/club-statement-3/

https://www.stockportcounty.com/first-t ... -update-2/

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divas
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by divas » Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:25 pm

Sounds like Stockport operating a hybrid model as they didn’t want to lose some of the better PT players

lo36789
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by lo36789 » Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:31 pm

Maybe - looking at that list and players they have since brought in I doubt there are many left. Their senior players would appear to be FT.

Regardless if they weren't last week they will be soon. Apparantely they are seeking to buy back the stadium and have expansion plans...

polam
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Re: Darlington V Alfreton

Post by polam » Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:28 pm

lo36789 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 6:21 pm
bga wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:43 pm
tdk1 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:44 am
Also, we've repeatedly shown we can compete with full time teams in individual games. Taken over the course of a season we may not be able to maintain the standards we set in some of those, and we may be relegated again, but we wouldn't be embarrassed by any stretch. Of course we should aim to go up, then to stay up.
Out of interest does anyone know are all the current in the National League teams full time?
I don't think so, but I think it's only Chorley and potentially Maidenhead who are not.

I don't believe Havant and Waterlooville or Braintree were last season, but both were subsequently relegated.
Maidenhead United are still part time, although they train three times a week, up from twice per week last season. They're in their third season at National League level; just about managing to keep out of the relegation zone.

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