Conrad Logan

[MTFCMusings]

Having read some of the comments on here I thought Logan had made one of footballs greatest ever blunders. I've now seen the video and he definitely should have done better. However in his defence there must have been a dozen players in the six-yard box including a group of five right in front of Logan who were impeding his ability to get at the ball. Also, credit where its due, it was an excellent long throw right into the danger area.

A mistake - yes. But not as bad as some are suggesting.

But the players in front aren't 6' 6", 18 stone, wear massive glove and allowed to use their hands

Also, he didn't have any problem getting to the ball, he touched it, he just failed to catch it. In my opinion, he gamble on the referee giving a free kick and it didn't pay off.

[PRL13]

Anyone would think that goalkeepers have got worse! I remember when any half decent keeper would make virtually no errors. Everything is in their favour. They tend to be bigger, heavier and stronger than the forwards and can use their hands! I remember the errors he made last season. Probably cost us a playoff place. Not all his fault, although I understand he was calling everyone back! We play too deep too often, leaving nobody up front! If he makes mistakes, Olejniak should be given a chance and vice versa. I think he has only played twice and both have been good wins!

[MTFCMusings]

I do find it a bit silly for people to say 'I don't understand why we always drop so deep when protecting a lead'. Can you imagine if we carried on playing as we were, three strikers on the pitch, wing backs bombing forward. then everyone would day 'so naive from Flitcroft why are we trying to attack in the last minute when we're already winning the game.

[Sneag]

I do find it a bit silly for people to say 'I don't understand why we always drop so deep when protecting a lead'. Can you imagine if we carried on playing as we were, three strikers on the pitch, wing backs bombing forward. then everyone would day 'so naive from Flitcroft why are we trying to attack in the last minute when we're already winning the game.

Well seeing as everytime we go into our shell on a 1 goal lead we raspberry it up, they may as well carry on attacking. You have 5 players up, they need 6 back to defend against it.

We sit back invite balls into the box and whatever the pro & cons of CLs keeping, we know he's not good at intercepting high balls into the box.

[DogsDoDahs]

I do find it a bit silly for people to say 'I don't understand why we always drop so deep when protecting a lead'. Can you imagine if we carried on playing as we were, three strikers on the pitch, wing backs bombing forward. then everyone would day 'so naive from Flitcroft why are we trying to attack in the last minute when we're already winning the game.

Silly. The defense of a goalkeeper and three center backs did a perfectly good job for 88 mins until the tactic changed of dropping deep and trying to defend a slender lead. Flitcroft changed the tactics and put three upfront and colchester could not cope. they we under siege as soon as the changes were made. It went pear shape from the moment we started time wasting from our own corner when we should have kept the attacking option going and gone for the throat. If we had kept going with this tactic we would now be top of the league. How silly would Flitcroft have looked then

[MTFCMusings]

I do find it a bit silly for people to say 'I don't understand why we always drop so deep when protecting a lead'. Can you imagine if we carried on playing as we were, three strikers on the pitch, wing backs bombing forward. then everyone would day 'so naive from Flitcroft why are we trying to attack in the last minute when we're already winning the game.

Well seeing as everytime we go into our shell on a 1 goal lead we raspberry it up, they may as well carry on attacking. You have 5 players up, they need 6 back to defend against it.

We sit back invite balls into the box and whatever the pro & cons of CLs keeping, we know he's not good at intercepting high balls into the box.

Not necessarily. I'm sure most managers would rather lose 2-0 and try and win rather than lose 1-0 and keep men back.

Every team on the planet does the same to protect a one goal lead, we've just been let down by individual errors.

[MTFCMusings]

I do find it a bit silly for people to say 'I don't understand why we always drop so deep when protecting a lead'. Can you imagine if we carried on playing as we were, three strikers on the pitch, wing backs bombing forward. then everyone would day 'so naive from Flitcroft why are we trying to attack in the last minute when we're already winning the game.

Silly. The defense of a goalkeeper and three center backs did a perfectly good job for 88 mins until the tactic changed of dropping deep and trying to defend a slender lead. Flitcroft changed the tactics and put three upfront and colchester could not cope. they we under siege as soon as the changes were made. It went pear shape from the moment we started time wasting from our own corner when we should have kept the attacking option going and gone for the throat. If we had kept going with this tactic we would now be top of the league. How silly would Flitcroft have looked then

Because Colchester were happy with a draw. As soon as they needed a goal, of course the defence would be put under more pressure.

Have a look at the best teams in the world, do you think they wouldn't have sat back and defended a one goal lead with ten minutes to go?

[Sneag]

The best teams can defend a one goal lead, we can't.

Someone said higher up in this thread that DF would 'learn' from Saturday, but it seems he learn't bugger all from the Port Vile game last season.

[DogsDoDahs]

I do find it a bit silly for people to say 'I don't understand why we always drop so deep when protecting a lead'. Can you imagine if we carried on playing as we were, three strikers on the pitch, wing backs bombing forward. then everyone would day 'so naive from Flitcroft why are we trying to attack in the last minute when we're already winning the game.

Silly. The defense of a goalkeeper and three center backs did a perfectly good job for 88 mins until the tactic changed of dropping deep and trying to defend a slender lead. Flitcroft changed the tactics and put three upfront and colchester could not cope. they we under siege as soon as the changes were made. It went pear shape from the moment we started time wasting from our own corner when we should have kept the attacking option going and gone for the throat. If we had kept going with this tactic we would now be top of the league. How silly would Flitcroft have looked then

Because Colchester were happy with a draw. As soon as they needed a goal, of course the defence would be put under more pressure.

Have a look at the best teams in the world, do you think they wouldn't have sat back and defended a one goal lead with ten minutes to go?

The best teams in the world DO NOT defend like a league two team and do not invite pressure on themselves in the dying moments of the game

[MTFCMusings]

The best teams can defend a one goal lead, we can't.

Someone said higher up in this thread that DF would 'learn' from Saturday, but it seems he learn't bugger all from the Port Vile game last season.

Sneag, it wasn't Flitcroft's fault that Logan dropped a clanger. That's like saying it's Flitcroft's fault that Rose didn't smash that shot in from the edge of the area, or it's Flitcroft fault that Walker made a stupid tackle that led to the additional time.

Any team in any league would've taken the same approach.

[Sneag]

His tactics invite trouble at the death and it's maddening because going forward teams are going to struggle to handle us this season.

The deeper you sit the more likely an individual error will be punished.

[bobbystagsfan]

Anyone would think that goalkeepers have got worse! I remember when any half decent keeper would make virtually no errors. Everything is in their favour. They tend to be bigger, heavier and stronger than the forwards and can use their hands! I remember the errors he made last season. Probably cost us a playoff place. Not all his fault, although I understand he was calling everyone back! We play too deep too often, leaving nobody up front! If he makes mistakes, Olejniak should be given a chance and vice versa. I think he has only played twice and both have been good wins!

what cost us a play off spot is our midfield and defence not scoring anywhere near enough. not Logan making a few errors

[MTFCMusings]

His tactics invite trouble at the death and it's maddening because going forward teams are going to struggle to handle us this season.

The deeper you sit the more likely an individual error will be punished.

It's not 'his' tactic though, it's every single managers tactic. See Evans tenure, Murray's tenure etc.

[bobbystagsfan]

His tactics invite trouble at the death and it's maddening because going forward teams are going to struggle to handle us this season.

The deeper you sit the more likely an individual error will be punished.

It's not 'his' tactic though, it's every single managers tactic. See Evans tenure, Murray's tenure etc.

Imagine if we were attacking while 1-0 up and ended up conceding.Stagsnet would be full of 'why were we attacking when we should've been defending our lead'

[Sneag]

His tactics invite trouble at the death and it's maddening because going forward teams are going to struggle to handle us this season.

The deeper you sit the more likely an individual error will be punished.

It's not 'his' tactic though, it's every single managers tactic. See Evans tenure, Murray's tenure etc.

Imagine if we were attacking while 1-0 up and ended up conceding.Stagsnet would be full of 'why were we attacking when we should've been defending our lead'

Jeeeezus flipping Christ. Defending a lead is great when you have the players to do it. We don't. How is that so bloody hard to grasp?

Imagine if we had continued to keep Col U, Port Vale et al, penned in their own defensive third and got the killer second goal?

Those teams when they tried to push up leaving gaps at the back to be exploited. Good teams that see games out are also very adept at lightning quick counter attacks. We get way too deep for that.

[MutinyOnTheCounty]

Not sure we're worrying enough about this, given we only have 43 games to go

Given how last season ended, to be 8th and 2 points off the top after 3 games seems OK to me. League winners are rarely ever top all season, so maybe we could let this slide and worry if it persists over the season?

[MTFCMusings]

His tactics invite trouble at the death and it's maddening because going forward teams are going to struggle to handle us this season.

The deeper you sit the more likely an individual error will be punished.

It's not 'his' tactic though, it's every single managers tactic. See Evans tenure, Murray's tenure etc.

Imagine if we were attacking while 1-0 up and ended up conceding.Stagsnet would be full of 'why were we attacking when we should've been defending our lead'

Jeeeezus flipping Christ. Defending a lead is great when you have the players to do it. We don't. How is that so bloody hard to grasp?

Imagine if we had continued to keep Col U, Port Vale et al, penned in their own defensive third and got the killer second goal?

Those teams when they tried to push up leaving gaps at the back to be exploited. Good teams that see games out are also very adept at lightning quick counter attacks. We get way too deep for that.

How do you know we don't have the players to do it? We had four new players on the pitch compared to last season. We also would've done if Conrad had caught a simple throw.

[Sneag]

Nope fine raspberry it. Let's just keep tossing off the points everyone does it apparently.

[MTFCMusings]

Nope fine raspberry it. Let's just keep tossing off the points everyone does it apparently.

Strange nobody complained when we did exactly the same thing at Chesterfield and won.

[spanishstag]

He was at fault for the goal ,but it happens ,as for sitting back ,colchester were chasing a point so fair dos to them ,dont think we will feel as bad as saturday to many times this season ,they must be one of the hardest teams to play agaist at home ,i dont think either of us will be far away at the end of the season

[Waggy]

Its the acceptance that its ok to make errors, because they all do it, that irritates me. its a disease that permeates all through this country. i've just been watching the cricket - how many catches have we dropped? its ok to drop the ball at rugby or the baton in the sprint relays and so on

guess what - its not ok. Thats why we don't succeed

Winning mentality needed.

Conrad - buck your ideas up laddie or ship out mate

[spanishstag]

Its the acceptance that its ok to make errors, because they all do it, that irritates me. its a disease that permeates all through this country. i've just been watching the cricket - how many catches have we dropped? its ok to drop the ball at rugby or the baton in the sprint relays and so on

guess what - its not ok. Thats why we don't succeed

Winning mentality needed.

Conrad - buck your ideas up laddie or ship out mate

It happens to everyone even the best its whats called life ,thats why we love it

[Sandy Pate Best Stag]

To an extent I am with Sneag on this one. Failure to catch high balls or command your area, let alone 6 yard box are fatal flaws in keepers I'm afraid.

Mr Logan is well known for exactly those flaws and is the reason most fans criticism is directed his way.

It is no surprise that teams pump high balls into our box as they also know the areas he is less skilled and look to make him make mistakes.

Conrad is a reasonable keeper for league two but reasonable players don't get you promoted. Very good teams can afford the odd reasonable player in their ranks but not in the vital positions of centre forward, centre half and goalkeeper. Those positions need top players or its playoff time at best.

I don't know if Bobby O would be any better but I do think we need better to get up automatically.

[Sneag]

Nope fine raspberry it. Let's just keep tossing off the points everyone does it apparently.

Strange nobody complained when we did exactly the same thing at Chesterfield and won.

It was still a stupid thing to do, but as we'd blown promotion by then (throwing points away from winning positions) it didn't really matter did it?

[geoffhill]

Bad error from Logan obviously.We should have left CJ up front then they have to leave two defenders to mark him.This takes two players out of the box.I hate to see it when teams play short corners to play out time.It rarely works.We were unfortunate to lose a last minute goal when Davies scored a match winning goal.Early days we have a better squad than last season and I fully expect us to be promoted.