The National league... | Page 18 | Vital Football

The National league...

LancsGordoRoad said:
Two steps down, Chatham had another 2K+ crowd in on Monday to see the Chats beat Kingstonian 4-1.
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They played really poorly for an hour and for the third game in a row that I've seen, conceded after a goalkeeping error. But once they got into their stride they won fairly comfortably.

Watching Chatham now and again reminds me that football can actually be fun. Here's a little stat for you: in 38 games this season they have scored 81 goals, which is three more than the Gills have managed since the start of last season (88 games).

And on Monday I saw another football first: a male player with bunches. His name's Ta'Shae Andall-Gibbons, he's just over 5' tall (as was one of the assistant refs who I'm sure wasn't old enough to shave) and he had some skills. As I said, football can be fun.
 
mehmets_curlies said:
I said it pre-season. We really fucked up by note nabbing him and then compounding it by the Bonne signing.
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McCallum has 33 goals - Eastleigh are 16th
Akinyemi has finally started scoring more and has 14 goals - York are 17th
Poleon has 16 goals - Ebbsfleet are 19th

Maybe if we could have scored a few more, we could have been in the same position.

Bonne played for us as a target man - never his position in the past - and I really don't think Poleon would have made much of a fist of that, either. He was actually on the bench for Ebbsfleet for their last game.
 
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GillsBluenose said:
McCallum has 33 goals - Eastleigh are 16th
Akinyemi has finally started scoring more and has 14 goals - York are 17th
Poleon has 16 goals - Ebbsfleet are 19th

Maybe if we could have scored a few more, we could have been in the same position.

Bonne played for us as a target man - never his position in the past - and I really don't think Poleon would have made much of a fist of that, either. He was actually on the bench for Ebbsfleet for their last game.
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GillsBluenose said:
McCallum has 33 goals - Eastleigh are 16th
Akinyemi has finally started scoring more and has 14 goals - York are 17th
Poleon has 16 goals - Ebbsfleet are 19th

Maybe if we could have scored a few more, we could have been in the same position.

Bonne played for us as a target man - never his position in the past - and I really don't think Poleon would have made much of a fist of that, either. He was actually on the bench for Ebbsfleet for their last game.
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He was sub in two of their last games and still scored against Southend. We tried to get Akinyemi and failed. I felt Poleon would be an easier target than McCallum, financially, and would, imo, made much more of an impact than Bonne as he can create his own chances. Bonne never even seemed to kick the ball properly, often scuffing his shots.
 
mehmets_curlies said:
He was sub in two of their last games and still scored against Southend. We tried to get Akinyemi and failed. I felt Poleon would be an easier target than McCallum, financially, and would, imo, made much more of an impact than Bonne as he can create his own chances. Bonne never even seemed to kick the ball properly, often scuffing his shots.
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A friend connected with Ebbsfleet Utd tells me that Danny Searle refers to Dom Poleon and Dom Samuels as his "finishers". One of that pair usually starts on the bench but, rather than being a "substitute", the one on the bench is there to impact by being a "finisher" and bang in a decisive late(ish) goal/s if required.

I haven`t done any stat work. But, i`m told it`s worked out really well.
Must admit, i`ve watched Poleon play this season and the man is still a darn good "finisher".
 
Thought i had missed something when Poleon was never mentioned as a target. But then i thought Gdobe should be getting a chance.
 
LancsGordoRoad said:
A friend connected with Ebbsfleet Utd tells me that Danny Searle refers to Dom Poleon and Dom Samuels as his "finishers". One of that pair usually starts on the bench but, rather than being a "substitute", the one on the bench is there to impact by being a "finisher" and bang in a decisive late(ish) goal/s if required.
I haven`t done any stat work. But, i`m told it`s worked out really well.
Must admit, i`ve watched Poleon play this season and the man is still a darn good "finisher".
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But, if so, and Danny Searle and Ebbsfleet have really cracked it, wouldn't they be higher than 19th in the NL?

They were 17th in October and 21st at the turn of the year, so their fortunes have not really changed much over the season.

Dom Samuel is a class above, I would admit, but injury has kiboshed his career. If even he can't help them climb the NL table, they can't be doing that well as a team.

If Poleon is only a finisher and doesn't get involved in the team build up, it would be like playing with 10 when the opposition had the ball. Maybe why they are perhaps conceding too many?
 
GillsBluenose said:
McCallum has 33 goals - Eastleigh are 16th
Akinyemi has finally started scoring more and has 14 goals - York are 17th
Poleon has 16 goals - Ebbsfleet are 19th

Maybe if we could have scored a few more, we could have been in the same position.

Bonne played for us as a target man - never his position in the past - and I really don't think Poleon would have made much of a fist of that, either. He was actually on the bench for Ebbsfleet for their last game.
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Salah has 16/24 and they’re top.

Haaland has 18/24 and they’re third.

Kane has 31/27 and they’re second.

Bellingham has 16/23 and they’re top.

A goalscorer isn’t the be-all-and-end-all, but certainly helps.
 
quite a few ex Gills at Ebbsfleet now, with Ben Chapman, Josh Wright, Ouss Cissé, Luke O’Neill, Joe Martin, Greg Cundle, Dom Samuel all in their squad.
 
NathanH_GFC said:
Salah has 16/24 and they’re top.

Haaland has 18/24 and they’re third.

Kane has 31/27 and they’re second.

Bellingham has 16/23 and they’re top.

A goalscorer isn’t the be-all-and-end-all, but certainly helps.
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All very true. Of course it would be nonsense to say that someone with a good goal ratio would always be in a struggling side but if you add the situations of Matt Smith and Macauley Langstaff in our division, or Alfie May in League One, there are as many examples of such strikers playing for teams that are having really awful seasons - worse than ours, at the moment.

Kane is still waiting for his first trophy, and Spurs are in a higher position in the EPL than in his last season. for example. They were maybe set up too much to provide chances for him and look to him. However good he is, that does make it easier to set up your defence to counter that threat, as well as reduce goals coming from other areas. I think Richarlison scored 2 league goals last season but then went on a run of 8 in 8 this season. Just coincidence?

It really depends whether you equate goals from one "finisher" with excitement and entertainment, and think that is more important than how fluid your team is as well as promotion or position in the table.
 
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GillsBluenose said:
All very true. Of course it would be nonsense to say that someone with a good goal ratio would always be in a struggling side but if you add the situations of Matt Smith and Macauley Langstaff in our division, or Alfie May in League One, there are as many examples of such strikers playing for teams that are having really awful seasons - worse than ours, at the moment.
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On the other hand if you take their goals out of the sides you mention they'd be having an even worse time, even be in the shit.
 
GillsBluenose said:
But, if so, and Danny Searle and Ebbsfleet have really cracked it, wouldn't they be higher than 19th in the NL?

They were 17th in October and 21st at the turn of the year, so their fortunes have not really changed much over the season.

Dom Samuel is a class above, I would admit, but injury has kiboshed his career. If even he can't help them climb the NL table, they can't be doing that well as a team.

If Poleon is only a finisher and doesn't get involved in the team build up, it would be like playing with 10 when the opposition had the ball. Maybe why they are perhaps conceding too many?
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From clips I have seen, Poleon can make things happen for himself. Something none of our forwards can/have done. Maybe Mahoney, but is he a forward? I seriously believe we missed a massive oppurtunity. However, it's moot because we didn't sign him and won't now.
 
GillsBluenose said:
But, if so, and Danny Searle and Ebbsfleet have really cracked it, wouldn't they be higher than 19th in the NL?

They were 17th in October and 21st at the turn of the year, so their fortunes have not really changed much over the season.

Dom Samuel is a class above, I would admit, but injury has kiboshed his career. If even he can't help them climb the NL table, they can't be doing that well as a team.

If Poleon is only a finisher and doesn't get involved in the team build up, it would be like playing with 10 when the opposition had the ball. Maybe why they are perhaps conceding too many?
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Danny Searle has only recently joined Ebbsfleet. Since his arrival the Fleet have climbed from relegation certs to looking like they`ll hang on to their top tier status. They have games in hand. Fleet were top of the NL form table a couple of weeks ago - Searle`s done a very good job since landing in N/Kent.

As far as "finishers" is concerned, it`s a managerial semantic that Searle has employed to boost his players and make it clear that the game is no longer 11 v 11, but wholly includes those on the bench. Your literal interpretation is a tad wide of the mark.

Today, Ebbsfleet play AFC Fylde, a team I watch quite often. If anyone attends, watch out for the Fylde forward line - they often play two lads up front, one of whom is 17 and the other just 18. (Westley & Ormerod) Both are going to have successful careers in a higher echelon.

Anyway, i`m now off to West Yorkshire to watch our mighty Gills roast some Bantams. UTG.
 
Average attendances so far this season:

1) Chesterfield 7792
2) Oldham Athletic 6874
3) Southend United 6472
4) York City 4653
5) Hartlepool United 4137
6) Kidderminster Harriers 2825
7) Rochdale 2787
8) Woking 2669
9) Aldershot Town 2668
10) Bromley 2620
 
Trev_GFC said:
Average attendances so far this season:

1) Chesterfield 7792
2) Oldham Athletic 6874
3) Southend United 6472
4) York City 4653
5) Hartlepool United 4137
6) Kidderminster Harriers 2825
7) Rochdale 2787
8) Woking 2669
9) Aldershot Town 2668
10) Bromley 2620
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The average across the whole division is about 2775, i.e. 17 of the 24 teams are below the average. There's a broad correlation between league position and average attendance, the major outliers being Kidderminster, York and Woking in the one direction and Gateshead, Barnet and Solihull Moors in the other. Even at that level it looks like money talks.
 
Solihull have no money, a change of management with grafters n talented players earning the right has helped them(like @ Bromley today)...good on them .....

Yeah ok the rest have money but mispent it imho
 
LancsGordoRoad said:
Oldham had nearly 9K yesterday. York had 5.6K Neither are top seven. Crowds in the NL are pretty healthy.
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Is it fair to say it’s basically Div 5 now? Not really “non league” as we’ve always termed it. A lot of the clubs have been in the EFL, crowds are generally decent. And there’s 2 up 2 down every year.

Are most clubs there full time now?
 
OneSirKeefy said:
Is it fair to say it’s basically Div 5 now? Not really “non league” as we’ve always termed it. A lot of the clubs have been in the EFL, crowds are generally decent. And there’s 2 up 2 down every year.

Are most clubs there full time now?
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Agree with your L5, OSK. All the NL (top tier) are fully pro (I believe) and so are many in the next tier down, NLS and NLN. A NLN team had over 7K for a game a couple of weeks back.

Not sure if it`s happening, but my understanding is that from 24/25 there was to be a third team from the NL promoted to L2. Perhaps it`s on hold.
 
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