The Opposition View – Stockport

In the wake of yesterday’s goalless draw at Stockport, here are some views on the game from the Hatters’ manager Paul Simpson and a few of their fans.


Simpson felt that his side were unfortunate not to have taken more than a point.

“We’ve had two really tough league fixtures to start with – Southend away and Wycombe at home – and we’re disappointed that we’ve only had two draws. We’ve got one of the fancied teams for the season who’ve come here and I think we’ve caused them no end of problems today,” said Simpson, speaking to Pure107.8FM.

“I’m absolutely delighted with the performance from everybody – with the way we were positive and the way we created opportunities, I’m just a little bit disappointed that we didn’t go and get ourselves a goal with the chances we created. There were things there for us to go and finish off.”

Simpson was full of praise for the performance of Wycombe keeper Nikki Bull, saying: “In particular, he’s made the save from George Donnelly when he was through and he’s also made a great save from Greg Tansey’s free-kick.”

“Let’s not forget – they’re a good side Wycombe, and they’ll be up there, they’ll be there or thereabouts with the squad that they’ve got, and we’ve got to try and get a squad together that can go and compete with that type of side – and today we have done.”


The County fans were delighted with their own team’s performance and unimpressed with Wycombe’s.

The following extracts are taken from BBC606, Yellowboard and Football Forums.


Rustybar wrote:
‘Overall I thought we just edged it first half and were much the better team second half. If Wycombe are truly a promotion favourite, then we have nothing to worry about and on that evidence could do a lot better than many people think.’


countyrockmysocks1 wrote:
‘First half – boring hoofball (I mean come on, for the first time in years there’s grass on the pitch) If God wanted us to play football in the air, then he would have built a pitch in the clouds! Second half – better. I think Wycombe will be more disappointed with their performance. I thought they’d be a lot better than they were.’


Josh wrote:
‘If the whole season was played in the same conditions that we saw today then I’d say we have a chance of being comfortable this season. Sadly, it’s not, and my concern is that we’ll come a serious cropper once the weather takes a turn for the worse.’


Bennyboy wrote:
‘First half I thought we were second best, Wycombe created the better chances and played better. In the second half it was all County, and it’s a shame that Donnelly couldn’t have slotted his one-on-one away.’


alscfc wrote:
‘Wycombe are one of the favorites to go up according to the bookies and we matched them all over the park. They didn’t stand out in any way. Donnelly never stopped running, I didn’t realise he was that fast. He embarrassed the Wycombe defence a few times.’


Bobsplash wrote:
‘Okay, we’re not world beaters but when they give 100% effort then what more can we ask? We knock it about nicely but aren’t shy of lumping it into the box either which is necessary at this level. I thought the back four were excellent and Conlon and Donnelly are going to be a right handful.’


BWScarf wrote:
‘The only negative I can think of in terms of the match was that we weren’t quite as clinical as we could have been, and that some of the Wycombe tactics weren’t exactly in the spirit of the game.’


OffertonHatter wrote:
‘We probably deserved the win in the end although Wycombe were the better team in the first-half. If they’re meant to be favourites for the top then we’ll be fine for mid-table if we give that level of performance throughout the season.’


widders_county wrote:
‘I thought today’s performance was very promising – GD upfront could catch pigeons and Proctor looked sharp when he came on. Very happy with today, a good point and plenty of chances to win it. If we keep playing like that, I don’t think we will have too many problems this year.’


countymat wrote:
‘This was definitely a game of two halves. The first half we were awful. We didn’t keep the ball, we didn’t pressure them and they passed it around us with ease. In the second half though, we were very good. We looked much more organised and overall a point was probably a fair result.’


gazza_007 wrote:
‘I have been given a real boost by today’s performance, it was great to see everyone mucking in. We’ll be hard to beat at home’


sk3cheadlender wrote:
‘In the second half we had so many chances but couldn’t finish any of them.’


Next Game: Wycombe v Oxford – 21st August – 3.00pm