Whitey Grandad

I agree. It's not his fault that he is not a full-back and neither is Surman. The blame must lie with the management for not addressing the problem over the summer.

You've been reading Epictetus: 'Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants'

At one point in the first half I did notice Wotton call him back when he got dragged forward a bit too far. Full-back is a specialist position and you can't just stick a midfielder in there and expect him to do the same job.

What, 27 years?

I think that's part of the problem. The management didn't thinkit would be a big issue either.

We can't afford to indulge him if it continues to cost us goals. It's not so much that he was exposed, more a matter of being caught out of position ball-watching instead of staying goal-side of his man.

Insult your customers at your peril

Yes, strange that. I wonder how many posters on here have a guaranteed job for the next 3 years.

A lot of it is to do with your positioning. As you gain experience you tend to get yourself in position earlier and there's less frantic chasing. The first 5 yards are in you head.

Quite right! It sends out a message: 'you're not wanted here'

The other option is to turn and pass the ball out wide to the player in space running down the wing. McGoldrick was at fault several times.

There's not a lot of difference between a Brouilly and a Bojolly, and it really is better if it's slightly chilled. If you're interested I can give you the name of a sweet old lady in Julienas who makes it as it should be made. That's if she's still alive.

They go to the pub or stay at home.

I thought it was subdued too. Fair play to the Northam who were their usual magnificent selves but with the empty seats and closed corners there was quite an echo rattling round the ground at times. Several times I could hear the players calling so it must have been quiet.

Prime reason? - the situation that the club is in is the simple and facetious answer. Lowe's return, an unattractive team, high cost of living, closing the corners, no bus tickets are all factors.

No you're not an idiot and the players are not kids, they are all adults. They need a good kick up the rear but I don't think that would help because, basically, with a couple of exceptions they are not good enough.

Exactly! There was one moment in the first half when Surman ran towards their corner in support of Dyer who promptly cut inside and passed the ball to Ipswich who gleefully nipped into the big hole where our left-back should be. If he's not there then a midfielder should be watching and covering for Surman's run.

I made the comment at half time last night that I thought we were playing at 90% throttle whereas Ipswich were at 60%. It is becoming more apparent that the players cannot maintain the high tempo throughout one game, let alone 3 in a week.

He should have done more to put Quinn off his jump. There are ways of doing it that don't involve jumping. And why are they getting space to put in a good cross? We need some fullbacks, but we all knew that already.

My thoughts.... Defence were shocking as usual. Please sir can we have some fullbacks? Davis was brilliant at stopping shots as usual but we can't keep on relying on him. Dyer was very poor, should at least have hit the target when the chance came to him. BWP was more penetrating initially, running past players instead of running into them like Dyer but then everything descended into a disorganised mess as the second half went on. James was outmuscled for their second goal. Pekhart took his goal well, at least there's some promise there. The whole experience was like watching a reserve match. At least a point keeps the table ticking along and there's always next Saturday but I don't look forward it like I used too. I much prefer last season.

We were awful for the first 37 seconds at least.

I agree. My concern is that our current situation has arisen because of Lowe's apparent obsession with almost exclusively playing youngsters from the academy instead of bringing them through gradually into the first team in small dribbles.

These are all valid points and I will wait until Saturday evening before re-assessing the situation, but we were down to 10 men because of the inexperience of a debut youngster. Whether this inexperience leads to a sending-off, letting in silly goals or giving away a penalty is irrelevant, these are the direct results of the decisions made to concentrate on youth and inexperience. It will be interesting to see who he picks for tonight's game.

For those who haven't heard it yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg_xa-c9hHY

There is absolutely no way that his last and most violent 'tackle' could be interpreted as an attempt to get the ball. The red mist had clearly descended and any reasonable person looking at that 'assault' would expect the outcome to be serious physical damage to his opponent. If he had done it in the street he would have already been charged. There is no place for that sort of behaviour in any level of football.