Was I at the same game?

Last updated : 18 August 2008 By Simon Head

This weekend was certainly an example of that. One thing that the majority of fans ARE agreed on is the fact that the team played pretty abysmally for the vast majority of the game. One goal-mouth scramble aside, we never really tested Dean Brill in the Luton goal and, thanks to some trademark Gillingham 'defending', we conceded a very poor goal, from which we failed to come back.

But reading the comments of fans this week has demonstrated that my views aren't always the same as many others online. Two players in particular seemed to elicit quite different opinions from my own, which I've found rather interesting.

Firstly, new-boy Tyrone Berry was often mentioned as one of our better players this weekend. I'm sorry, but I just don't see it.

Tyrone's young, raw and clearly has ability - but as a right midfielder, I just don't think he did his job on Saturday. Going forward, he gave the ball away far too often in his attempts to take players on. That's forgivable, as he's clearly trying to contribute to attacks - and on the occasions he does run at defenders with pace, he's clearly a dangerous player. But midfielders have to defend as well as attack, and that's where I just can't see why Berry's received these rave reviews.

Barry Fuller, of whom more later, received absolutely no defensive support from Berry, who as a right midfielder should have been tracking back to help out when we didn't have the ball, and unless you've briefed your central midfielders to shuttle across to cover, that's always going to leave a huge gap down that side of the field. And so it proved. Fuller and his full back colleague John Nutter both suffered from a total lack of defensive cover from their respective midfield partners (Nutter's midfield colleague was Dennis Oli) and it allowed Luton the time and space to launch numerous counter-attacks and breakaways.

One swallow does not make a summer, and a couple of runs to the by-line don't make a quality right midfielder. Going forward, Tyrone Berry's got a lot to offer, but he'll need to work hard on his defensive game if he's to become a genuine wide midfielder.

Next up is the man who Berry largely left to fend for himself on Saturday, Barry Fuller. Far from receiving praise for largely holding the Luton attacks at bay on his side of the field, Fuller seems to have been singled out for harsh criticism. Again, I just don't see why.

He's far from the finished article, and still looks a little shaky in possession, but he's looking far more accomplished than he did last year, and defensively, he's more reliable than his competitor for the right back spot, Sean Clohessy. He mopped up a number of situations very well indeed on Saturday, and while I understand he was caught out a little for the goal, the goal itself was more down to the total lack of marking in the centre than the cross itself.

I expect it's the same with every club, but we always seem to single out one or two players for more criticism than most, often for little reason - and judging by the comments last season and this, it seems that the players in Stimson's squad who have been singled out regularly by the fans are Fuller and Adam Miller.

Looking at the squad, I'd say that these two players are arguably two of the most committed players at the club - and both are clearly desperate to make it at League level. Fuller's showing gradual improvement at right back (in my view, anyway), while Miller is guilty of little more than being short of full fitness, trying too hard and having what seems to be a more spiky personality.

Sadly, this weekend, some of the biggest let-downs were our supposed 'big' players. Andrew Crofts, Mark Bentley and Mark McCammon were particularly off-colour, and I hope they can all find their form quickly, as we can't play matches with as many passengers as we had on Saturday.

The League Two season's only two games in, and we've had one good performance and one bad one so far, so it's way too early for people to be getting on the manager's back, as some already seem to be doing. Last season was a shocker and this season simply has to be better, but nobody's ever won or lost the league after two matches, so let's see how we get on in our next six to eight games.

Usain Bolt didn't lead after 10 metres of the Olympic 100m final, but he did all right in the end, didn't he? Let's give ourselves a chance to get into our stride and judge then.