I went last night, and I thought we were rubbish to be honest, the worst performance I have seen this season.
The question was asked above, 'did Les get his tactics right ?'. Well, certainly not if he wanted to actually win the game, but I don't blame him for being concerned about Robbo and Goody (he did get the subs spot on though, particularly going to two up front when we first went a goal down).
Despite the scoreline, I didn't get much pleasure from the game, which I thought was error strewn and pretty poor quality. Our defending in the second half was diabolical, and we lacked shape and cohesion throughout, with the ball being needlessly given away on a number of occasions.
The experiment with McGurk in the hole did not work, although as he was played centrally he did pose much more of a goal threat, and the first goal was fantastic. I think I have seen him start five or six games in a central position now, and he has got four goals in those games, which suggests to me that he is a natural finisher.
Defensively, the centre backs struggled badly, although as an individual I thought Ash Taylor did ok. Ash and McChrystal have hardly played together, and when you add that to Mark's lengthy absence, it is no wonder they found it difficult really. At right back, I thought Holmes looked out of his depth in all honesty, and I think I would rather see Kay as deputy in this position.
The only positive to come from the night was the fact all three strikers got on the scoresheet (aided by some poor Chesterfield defending), and I was pleased for Enoch, as the goal clearly meant a lot to him from his reaction. Overall, Chesterfield showed the better attitude, and deserved to win the game, but were there for the taking if we had been anywhere near our best. I would see our fight back from 2-1 down to 3-2 up as a sign of good character, had we not shown a total lack of character in the last ten minutes in throwing the lead away again.
Hopefully this result won't have a negative impact on the games coming up, if we return to a proper line-up, with our regular defence and Robinson / Baxter in the hole.