MadAmster

Penalty IMO. Not the only one we didn't get. I counted 3 times at corners where Fozzy was still in a bear hug from a defender when he tried to jump for the ball. Before the kick is taken, it's not an issue (should be but isn't) but once the kick has been taken and the bear hug is still locked on, it's a penalty.

Cash is a young lad experiencing 2nd season syndrome, IMO. His 1st team journey started January last year. One year on his dip started. He'll get through it. Yesterday was an improvement on his previous 3 or 4 games. Hopefully, he has now turned the corner.

13 hours ago, Gritstone Ram said:

I’m too upset to moan about things. We seem to only turn up for 45 minutes 

Played well enough first half but failed to create concrete chances. They changed formation and brought 2 players in at HT. We did nothing to counter that. They won.

No opinion, just fact. PW will get us out of L1 but not this season. Give him the summer and January windows to build HIS squad and we probably won't see this Bielsa like dip.

A fair few crosses yesterday. None of them going anywhere near the players in the box. Most well overhit.

Bird and Knight as the two is a good shout. Hourihane seems to need a rest. You're always faster without the ball than you are with yet he can't catch players who have the ball.

17 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

Yes so we agree that at the start of this season then it was seen as a free hit, no?

And yes so we agree that some of the armchair pundits on here can all do a much better job than Warne with their vast knowledge of football and all their coaching badges?

Like or dislike doesn't come into the above, end of. 

You might be surprised to find that there are people posting on here who fit that description. Where I will  agree with you is that fans do tend to be reactive. The good run saw everybody delighted and upbeat. the downturn has them saddened. Their reactions are results driven. 

Should the downturn be a surprise? Probably not.

We have, in quantity, a paper thin squad. Warne's game requires a lot of hard work on the training ground and masses of it on match day. The squad is a mixed bag of kids and wrinklies. The glue that keeps teams together tends to be a nucleus of 24 to 29 year olds and we don't have them. It's quite possible that, just as Bielsa's L**ds teams used to, the players have run out of steam. If that's the case then how/why did that happen? Several coaching badgeless fans have commented that we seem to be slow, at best, in reacting to opposition changes in personnel/formation. If true, in which direction should the finger be pointed? Are some players being dishonest in maybe not saying they need a rest? Some of the older ones maybe. The problem being that there isn't always a ready made replacement.

In most things, the truth tends to lie somewhere in the middle. In this discussion, it's either all PWs fault or none of it is. IMO, circumstances carry a share, the players carry a share and the coaching staff, including PW, carry a share. Coaches can only work with what they are given. At one club, I was coaching the reserve side. I had, on paper, 19 players at my disposal. At training (2 evenings a week) due to shift work, injury, illness and life in general, I'd have between 5 and 8 players at any given session. The missing players were in 2 groups. Those missing for the reasons given and those called up to train with the 1st team because they were shorthanded for the same reasons. How do you coach your team in things they need to learn/change? You can't. I was also hamstrung with the club strategy and the Dutch players intransigence. 433 was the style. My 19 had 3 keepers, half a dozen defenders, 1 striker and the rest were all midfield players. 433 was never going to work. I tried to get them to change but the collective always has strength. Come Christmas we were bottom. I called a meeting. I'd gained permission from the club to change formation as neither the club nor I was prepared to go down. First question from me to the players was "do you want to relegate?". They didn't. 433 was obviously not working. I asked them to give me the chance to rescue the season. They agreed. Sounds daft, the coach asking the players, but this is the Netherlands and things work differently here. I got them to go 4141 with a flat back 4 rather than the diamond usually seen over here. First game after the 6 week winter break, we were away at the team in 2nd place. Sickness, injury and work saw me with just 11 players plus myself (aged 53). The training sessions had worked and we, despite me having to come on in the 10th minute, won 1-0. We stayed up. The players approached the committee in the summer, they wanted to go back to 433. I was relieved of my duties. They went down the next season. 

4 minutes ago, Wistaston Ram said:

Last year's game was hard to take, throwing away a win and all the points in injury time. I think only about 1400 of us made the trip for the first post COVID away game and it was an awful drive cross country there and back. The only highlight was Jack Stretton's goal - what ever happened to him? Surely got to be a better day tomorrow!

Strets left for Stockport County in January. Thus far, 7 appearances, no goals.

10 hours ago, jimtastic56 said:

Answer to your question- Not really. Cashin had a good game that day and a good season. Not so good this season . Clarke-Harris has 50odd goals in his last 2 seasons in League 1 but struggled in the Championship. Being consistent is important. Very interesting match- up this weekend.

Last few games he's been off it but prior to that he's been excellent IMO. That said, my opinion won't be everybody else's or that would make for a right boring forum.

The last few posts have mirrored something Warne said when he came and somethong that was obvious from the stat of the season. Namely, we have a ruck of U22s and a ruck of O30s. We have a 2nd choice keeper who falls in between the two. It's those 23 to 29 years olds we're missing. Hopefully get a few in this summer.

Barnsley. We lost that because we gifted them 3 goals. 10 shots each on the day. 5 each on target. Never a 4-1 game.

Fleetwood? They had a game plan that worked well for them, exploiting our frailer areas. PW reacted late, IMO. Changes should have come earlier than 44 minutes. He needs to find the middle ground between what he wants and some control of the ball. I'm not advocating going back to  the slow, slow, slower, slower, slow of Clement or Cocu or the not quite so slow under Rooney/Rosenior but it's not the one or the other. There's a time for playing through the thirds with control, there's a time for hitting the wings and getting crosses in and there's a time for the long ball over the top. Seems to me that we've spent much of the past few seasons utilising a single tactic rather than using footballing sense and playing the right tactic at the right time in a game. Top teams do it, we seem not to.

Taking flasks? Still do, a hip flask.

Bottle closing mechanisms? Always been a bottle top to me. Is "bottle cap" something the younger folk use?

Match day scran? Usual start is a full English. Either in Brenda's Caff on London Road or the Bab, all depending what time we wake from the night before. Then, again dependent on the time, a couple in the Neppy before heading to the Brunny for beer, one of their wonderful cheese n onion cobs and a pork pie. If hungry, a burger or hot dog at the ground. Then back to the Neppy for a few before ending up at the Viceroy for a curry.

1 minute ago, DavesaRam said:

I’m getting knocked off as well - we have a rare visit from my grandkids!

Missed chance there Dave. Tek T littluns an all.

3 minutes ago, GenBr said:

I couldnt find any details on it, so i could be entirely making it up but i thought we were operating under a wage cap of something like £4500 for new players? Some of the wages seem a bit high if thats the case. 

Or was it just that we couldnt pay transfer fees?

The £4500 wage cap was last season when in Admin. This season, under the business plan agreed with the EFL, we have a £12K a week limit and a maximum spend of £8M.

Not just transfer fees we can't pay. No loan fees and no agent's fees as well. There is, apparently, a review this summer and we MIGHT get some relaxation of the plan...

26 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

Well, I'll be knocking one off... the attendance figure!

Been Man-Flu'd up since last Friday evening, and tested +ve for covid every morning since!  Muckerette too, since Monday am.

Just about rid myself of symptoms now, but those two pink lines means I really should think of others, and stay away.

Give the lads a big "C'mon Derby" from me!  ?
 

Managed to keep covid-clear until now.  I knew I'd catch up once it was no longer fashionable!  ?

Get better soon me owd. I'll steer clear as I've still not had it either. Over here, today is the last day the test stations are open. All closing as CV19 is now no worse than the flu. No need for testing or further rounds of vaccination. Good news.

Fleetwood? Here's a song for the South Stand to greet their fans with...

Bus Stop in Blackpool, you're just a bus stop in Blackpool, bus stop in Blackpool, you're just a bus stop in Blackpool.

It was 0-0 at theirs in August. That day we had 27 shots, 9 on target. I hope the lads leave their shooting boots at home and bring their scoring boots...

35 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Sibbo keeps his place for me ?

For me too Jimbo. However, I think PW will disagree with us...

22 hours ago, oodledoodle said:

He lost my keys this morning.

He'll never learn... ?

3-1 Derby. Didzy and JK back in. Sibs and Collo back on the bench.

17 hours ago, Tyler Durden said:

Can't blame Keogh for whatever happens on this one 

Why not? He gets blamed for most things any road up..

Has he lost his edge? They're saying he's become a toothless tiger ?

18 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

Doesn't make much sense though as it changes throughout the season and only really has meaning at the very end. #justmyopionlike

True. How else do you describe a side when you play them? You can only go on where they are at the time. You never know what can happen over the course of a season. Last season, for instance, one side, who shall remain nameless, lost their opening 7 games and nicked a point at PP. At that point you'd see them as relegation candidates. They got promoted. In the end, it's all opinion and they vary. Go back to August. We beat Oxford at PP and lost to Charlton away (should have got a point IMO). Most fans thought both would be topside come the business end of the season. Neither are. 

1 hour ago, RoyMac5 said:

When do you decide who is a top half side?

I'd guess at any team in the top 12 when you play them.

18 hours ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Not much consolation when it's the club finishing 6th who scoops the truly massive windfall and you've finished 3rd. That's the point being made.

My reply was to your "filling EFL coffers" remark. The playoffs don't fill EFL coffers as I explained.

I don't argue with your thoughts on "3rd place over a 46 game season" deserving promotion. Unfortunately, for me, I also see the added income for some clubs in the last 1/4 of a season if they are still in with a shout of the top 6. One thing that has always surprised me is that they don't apply the same logic to the bottom 6. Keep interest up at both ends of the table?

1 hour ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

On our day, we can beat any team in the division. Sadly, that's also true of half a dozen other sides. Oddly, I've become quite indifferent to which league we play in. The Championship would be good as it would allow us to re-build the Academy roster, but it's now a nice to have not a mandatory. I guess nearly losing the club altogether has altered my priorities somewhat. 

Also, I f****** hate the play-offs and would scrap them completely if it were up to me. If you finish 3rd across an entire season, you've earned the slot available on merit. Creating a play-off lottery serves no purpose bar further filling the EFL coffers and as far as I'm concerned, they can get in the bin. That said, if we manage to scrape our way into promotion the way the tree botherer's did, I'll be back to extol their virtues, the play-offs that is, not the feckin gumps.

Fills clubs coffers too. Right now there's 8 clubs in with a shout and possibly one other extremely rank outsider. If it was top 3 we'd only really be looking at the top 4. It helps to keep club gates up and thereby increases money into a club's home gates. Once out of the running for a playoff place, club's gates will drop. 

Money from the playoffs is divided like this...

Semi finals. The gate receipts (minus allowable expenses such as police, stewards, etc) are split. 12.5% of the total of all 4 games goes to each of the 4 competing clubs. 50% goes into the Pool. That is the pot paid out in prize money to clubs dependent on their final place in the League.

Same for the final except the 2 finalists get 25% each and the other 50% goes in to the pool and gets redistributed across all L1 teams depending on their final league position.

If we get 20 points from the last 10 games, and that is feasible, Wycombe would need 28 points from 11 games and up their GD. I'd rather be in our position than theirs.

18 hours ago, David Graham Brown said:

You can on reaching 75 request further test kits.

 

In the UK, fine. However, I don't live in the UK.