Farnborough at home

[GRTourist]

I personally think the young lads behind the goal are great. They're just young lads enjoying themselves, and I don't really see a huge amount of harm in it.

[TW3 Beaver]

Alan in his interview said that Wiltshire was his only first choice defender and he was not fully fit. If the injury crisis gets worse then he might have to play at right back!

Might have done better if he had played in goal.

[HamptonMad]

Les will have to tell us when we last shipped 8 goals at home but it must have been 30 , 40 years ago or more. Poor Luke Ziger making his league debut in front of a makeshift defence and makeshift midfield. Feels like he was thrown under the bus but maybe we didn't have anyone else available. The whole side pretty much gave up once the the first couple of goals went in and Ziger wasn't really at fault on any of them. Gardner got another peach of a goal from range but frankly that was a rare moment of light in what was otherwise a horror show. If any payer was trying to convince the manager to sign them up for next season, then on that showing we will be looking for a whole new team. Of course nothing really rested on the result but I'm not sure we can just brush off an 8-2 home defeat. Enough of that team have played at this level to know a lot better so what happened?

1962/63 we lost 13.0 to Hounslow town. In The Middx senior cup.

[HamptonLifer5]

2 games in 4 days where the gane has been over at Half-time having conceded 4 in both first halves. Can say what we want about beating Dorking for the last 85 minutes, but that isn't much of an achievement considering it was a dead rubber by that point anyway. Joe Haigh with a screamer of a strike for Boro's first. The second we were left very exposed. The 3rd looked offside but again we were miles off it, and the 4th is another good finish. The penalty was avoidable for the 5th, the 6th is unlucky after a good Ziger save, the 7th is criminal with Hamid scoring less than 30 seconds after coming on and the 8th is probably the only goal Ziger is at fault for, which isn't bad at all baring in mind the 7 that had gone before.

For us Gardner's strike was exceptional, and Roberts 2nd goal was much similar to the goal he scored against Enfield in September which led to Jules running onto the pitch. Other players that were in the ground and not in the squad were Merrick, Jeffcott, Atkinson, Gray, Taylor, and a badly limping Dom Revan.

For Avoidance of Doubt we Started:
Ziger GK, Masampu LB, Wiltshire LCB, Gardner RCB, Vilhete RB, Allen and Page CM, Jalloh LW, Williams CAM, Roberts RW, Siziba CF.

That is threadbare, putting it kindly. It would be an interesting new thread on here to see what everyone's keep, and release thoughts are. My thoughts are that multiple players will have been poached by now the main danger probably being Atkinson, and with Jules not signing his contract until last week, he wouldn't have been able to make any inroads.

But the harsh reality is, today was nowhere near good enough. Can't fault the players efforts, and in honesty this result is how lots of people would've looked at our squad at the start of the season and predicted a scoreline. Lots of players not good enough against a Farnborough side also lacking in anything to play for. The players have worked so hard this season, and all been given Step 2 opportunities some of which they have taken with open arms, and come to the football club despite a lack of experience and potentially readiness so I'm not going to pick out anyone specifically but from today's starting XI I'd only start 2 in a strong NLS side we need to look to build next season.

5-0 v Bath, 4-2 v Dorking, 8-2 vs Farnborough is 17 goals in 3, with a clean sheet in our 5-0 win against Welling lodged in between, we are certainly the entertainment factor at the moment. Next seasons scenario financially looks completely different, so I am not concerned at our losing run going into next year.

Beveree over for another season, and this final home game was indeed unforgettable, but not for the right reasons. Let's finish at Slough with some pride.

[EastTerracer]

Alan in his interview said that Wiltshire was his only first choice defender and he was not fully fit.

OK, but there are too few defenders on the books. The problem is made worse by the fact that Wiltshire is poor on the ball so will often lose possession when it is played out to him.

[Tony]

I too feel sorry for the young bloke in goal. I also am impressed with what the team achieved in the first half of the season when many of us feared the worst. However the last 15 games give me no confidence that the manager knows what he’s doing. Maybe he’s been operating with one hand tied behind his back - maybe - but some of the recent performances have been abject. Today’s was a nadir.
The buck has to stop somewhere.

The change in form from the home defeat by Truro in early February is almost unprecedented. In 2012/13 season we were top of the Isthmian Premier league in early November but ended up 13th. The collapse followed an away defeat at Wealdstone (3-2) after leading 2-0. Despite pretty much the same squad, form plummeted. This year we look like ending in 18th having been 9th at one point. The Truro game was the pivot in much the same way at Wealdstone. In both seasons financial issues were at the heart of decline but in 2013, manager Mark Harper lost his job, having been relegated in his first season in charge. Harper's win percentage of 33.7% compares to the current 31.1% for Alan Julian.

[Les1949]

Les will have to tell us when we last shipped 8 goals at home but it must have been 30 , 40 years ago or more. Poor Luke Ziger making his league debut in front of a makeshift defence and makeshift midfield. Feels like he was thrown under the bus but maybe we didn't have anyone else available. The whole side pretty much gave up once the the first couple of goals went in and Ziger wasn't really at fault on any of them. Gardner got another peach of a goal from range but frankly that was a rare moment of light in what was otherwise a horror show. If any payer was trying to convince the manager to sign them up for next season, then on that showing we will be looking for a whole new team. Of course nothing really rested on the result but I'm not sure we can just brush off an 8-2 home defeat. Enough of that team have played at this level to know a lot better so what happened?

1962/63 we lost 13.0 to Hounslow town. In The Middx senior cup.

That is our heaviest ever defeat. We lost by 6 clear goals to St Albans in 22/23, plus a couple of 7-2's back in the day.

[Shepperton Supporter]

Les mentioned the loss against Hounslow. I was at that game -it still rankles! The Hounslow team were a couple of leagues above us and they had a couple of internationals playing. They also had reached the Amateur Cup final the previous season before to Crook Town in the replay.
Perhaps not the same comparison to this game?

[Tony]

I remember the 7-2 defeat at Maidstone in the 2013/14 season only too well. Prior to that we last conceded 7 in 1994.

[Mucky knees]

SS are you implying that Alan Julian will have to play at right back? Please clarify!

MK

[Shepperton Supporter]

SS are you implying that Alan Julian will have to play at right back? Please clarify!

MK

In his interview he stated it but it was a joke because he has so few defenders available.

[Shepperton Supporter]

On reflection it does show the knock on effect of releasing both Campbell and Byrd. Both sorely missed..