November 19, 2008
Its no good picking on Stewart Grey or David Cardoza the truth is it costs a whole lot of money to run a football side in Div 1 and anyone who can remember the dark days with the tarket on the wall at sixfields to raise which i think was somthing like £200,000 to stay alive should be more than gratefull for what the Cardoza family has done for the Cobblers without their support and hard work the Cobblers would long since ceased to exists
Les Weatherley Daventry

November 18, 2008
it was men against boys. cadoza we cant go on much more with performance like this. 5.2 could have been double. why why dont u glve gray some money. u cant keep havin loanees week in week ou t no wins in 6. every thing on the cheap. keep this up and its division 3. also gray your tactics are poor. the crowds are disapearing. people are not goin 2 come 2 get ripped off 2 watch what we are serving up. the performances are dire. why dont we look at players in non league. 2. 3 we have would not get in a parks side.
m.p.

no disgrace beaten by a better and wealthier team
west stand regular

come on gray give the lads a chance. Morale and confidence is low. Leeds out classed us. Constantine was poor, stick him in the stiffs for a month to get him motivated. We still created at times but lack the killer punch bayo offers. Its gonna be a very long season if we carry on like this. Scotty on his own at home wont help matters. Throw the negative attitude out the window and go for broke. Id rather see us losing by playing attacking fluent football than backs to the wall. Ive always admired grays tactics, but even im getting worried. Up the town. Lets chalk 3 points against hereford and doleeds in the league. Ever the optimist.
Shady cobbler

So ticket prices were upped by 14% but the effort from some of the cobblers players was less than the ticket rise. Having done the hard work away we duly went out and got truly thrashed by an average side, certainly not a side as good as Bolton or Sunderland where we didnt lose either game during normal playing time. Against Leeds we just gave up, Constantine might as well wore a blue shirt as it looked like he was still a Leeds player!! We desperately need another centre back as poor old bully is to slow for this division. Frankie gets a call up for England U21 then makes a gaff that Gomez would be proud of. Our most potent forward was Jason Crowe and he's a full back. If we dont start at least trying soon we will be back in league 2 next season. This is the worst performance I have ever seen at sixfields, I trust the players will put it right in the league game against Leeds next week and give us hurt fans something to cheer about.
Pete32,Northampton

How different can 2 games be? At Elland Rd the whole team defended superbly and made you feel proud to follow a team with such magnificent fighting spirit. Tonight was Sunday morning pub team at best. 4 of the 5 goals Leeds scored tonight were gifted to them by Dolman (letting the ball bounce and allowing Beckford to nip in ahead and score) Hughes (falling over instead of putting the ball in to row Z) Fielding (not getting his body behind a shot from all of 25 yards which he could have seen all the way) and Dolman again (ball watching and not picking up Beckford's clever run)
Having said all of that I believe that it was totally against the grain in that we normally defend pretty well. I also think that we have to give great credit to Jermaine Beckford, fantastic pace, positioning and movement, and I was very pleased that he was given a generous round of applause, if not quite a standing ovation, from all sections of the ground when he was substituted - this shows that genuine NTFC fans are not always miserable bunch of ingrates that we are sometimes accused of being.
My big fear is that the shambles we witnessed tonight will have a massive negative impact on morale and confidence. Stuart Gray needs to pull out all the stops to get the team fired up to put this game behind us and go for the win at Hereford on Saturday. Anything less than a win will leave us too close to the relegation zone for comfort.
I was determined not to say anything about Constantine but couldn't quite achieve it - I think Stuart should just accept that he has made a mistake, in signing him, and just leave him on the bench. I am convinced that he is being played only because he must be on a decent screw and the Manager is hoping that by playing him he will somehow run into some form. Forget it - he has no pace, no agression, no goalscoring instinct and worst of all no commitment. However I still don't believe that he should be booed and heckled by Cobblers supporters though.
I wish I could say that I feel happier after this rant but I don't so I'm off to drown my sorrows.
Stuart Taylor

I was at the home game against Leeds on Monday night, they thoroughly deserved the win. we were played off the park, however that doesn't give our fans the right to Boo our team off as some fans were doing in the West Stand behind me at half time!! Do people really think that helps the lads. yes, we were poor, but I think any team with a lot of its 1st team players sat in the stand would've struggled against Leeds the way they played. Beckford was awesome, and deserved his applause from the whole ground. well done Leeds, you deserved the win, now can we get behind the team and march on in the league. I've learnt since I started following the cobblers that your a fan through good and bad, not always pleasant, but they are my team and so be it. and yes I stopped to the bitter end aswell, and applauded our lads as they came off!
Michelle Rawlings

November 17, 2008
crowd for replay vs Leeds less than 4,000, half of them from Leeds. well worth gold Game for cobblers. What difference would good home crowd have made?! its hard time for fans and 2 home games in 4 days could have done with cheaper tickets and probable made more money for cobblers. Think next time.
PJ, Abington

So Stuart Gray maintained that the side he picked for Saturday's game had no bearing on tonight's FA Cup replay against Leeds!
I sure many who witnessed an abysmal performance on Saturday would beg to differ.
There's no doubt that some of the "bigger" names were deliberately kept on the bench, I presume to keep away from injury, and also keep fresh for tonight.
In a nutshell it didn't work, and although Oldham were nothing special, we never gave their Keeper a shot to save!
The old nutshell of the direct ball to Andy Holt, is now becoming so obvious and lethargic that a local park side could soon work that system out, so Mr Gray, although the carpet is somewhat threadbare, be a little bit more innovative with what you have. Use the talents of young Walker at full back, who looked impressive both in defence and attack, get more quality on the deliveries to the front men, and get the players communicating with each other, instead of two, or three going for the same ball!
Hopefully we may just be able to get through tonight, and the income from another televised game will keep the wolves from the door, but League One football is the main dish on the menu so let's get that right by playing the best of what you've got!
Dayn Freeman

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November 13, 2008
The Media may be looking at next Monday's replay as a foregone conclusion, but I can assure you that many sane Leeds fans are not!
We lost our FA Cup 1st round replay last year, which was both at home and against a League 2 club (Hereford) so an away tie at Northampton is by no means an away win!
If we play to the best of our ability then Leeds United really should be in the next round, but if things were that simple then football wouldn't be the game we all know and love!
Tony Hirst,Leeds

I note both clubs" Cobbler's and Leeds" wanted to reduce the ticket prices for the FA CUP replay, but the FA and there rules prevented them from doing so. Surely one way of reducing the costs to supporters is giving fans who attend the game a FREE match day programme, the FA cant object to this simple cost saving plan for the fans, who both clubs say they want to help. It's only a small gesture, but a gesture that will be appreciated by all the fans who attend and fires a salvo across the FA bows about there rules. With the game due to screened on TV, something needs to be done to get as many fans as possible into the ground, especially as Santana only have to pay each club a reduced TV fee of £37500, and not the full £75000 for screening a replay. There is nothing to stop the clubs agreeing to give free tea and coffee to the fans as a way of reducing costs, lets see both clubs being proactive for the replay and thinking of the fans. The FA dont control everything, so lets see the clubs back-up there wishes to reduce costs, or is that just bluster we hear about ticketing rules.
Chicago Cobbler

Still losing money every day says cardoza, lower ur ticket prices play football and fans may return
tmh

What football club lets another club dictate the ticket price for games. apparently leeds set the price for the fa replay.
credit crunched cobbler

November 11, 2008
So FA rules won't allow the Cobblers to charge standard prices for the Leeds replay. Is the FA so bureaucratic and inflexible and lacking in common sense? Obviously they are. The attendance for the first game was less than half the crowd Leeds normally get and this was with reduced prices. The Cobblers have a Gold league game against Leeds the following week so all this ruling will achieve is to ensure a half-full stadium lacking in atmosphere. Thanks FA for sweet FA.
Lee Wade

November 9, 2008
Ref didn't av a clue about the game. Coke was a bit silly to get second yellow and well done Fielding for keeping us in game. Doig unlucky 2 get injured and I hope its not 2 bad. And Bignall lookd very good. We need to play a lot better a week on Tuesday, even if it goes 2 extra-time and pens.

Just back from a hard-fought trip from Leeds. Well done the 10 men. Where was all the support, armchair fans? Hughesy magnificent, make him permanent captain.
MP

November 8, 2008
Excllent defensive display from Town. Dubious penalty and stupid sending off would have made any other team crumble at Elland Road. Ref was a disgrace, homer if ever I saw one. Cant wait to get them back to Sixfields and show em what were made of. Big Bayo and Scotty up front will scare their defence to death. We actually could have nicked it near the end. Bignott showed glimpses of what he's about, strong and pacy. A younger version of Bayo baybe? All in all a great performance and I just hope for once we can fill Sixfields. And please Mr Sixfields money man, dont make it a GOLD game! Knock the admission price down, maybe a BOGOF. Seats on bums will help the team more than cash in the bank. Had plenty of that with sale of Johnson, Gypes and Bunn, so maybe its the FANS turn.
Shady Cobbler

Great rearguard action from Town and deserved a replay for their commitment and hard work against the odds. To have 5 or 6 players missing through injury, a player sent off, the captain go off injured, a dubious penalty against and come away with a draw is a massive achievement. Well played all and well managed Stuart Gray. Hope MP watched this and agrees.
WadeyCobbler

November 7, 2008Worked socks off to frustrate leeds, onlyspoilt by sofftest pen ever seen. What a diver. Well dun cobbs, now finish the job at 6fields.
Pat

No more than Town deserved. Nice tippy-tappy football Leeds but we had as many chances as you.ets all turn out 4 replay.
Gazza

Terrible crowd. Whats point of charging £20 and getting under 10,000? Cobs, you did us proud tonight, wore shirt with pride. Get injured players back and we can do it at Sixfields.
Bozeat Cobbler

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