Ghost of Clough

2 hours ago, BramcoteRam84 said:

Potentially they look like they’ve blown playoffs despite being very heavily backed by their owners. Was thinking exactly the same about Blackpool. 

"Heavily backed" by a midtable budget?

6 minutes ago, Carnero said:

I thought it strange that KRobinson was on the bench rather than DRobinson anyway, given DRob's extra experience and the fact that he covers multiple positions including centre back. Was he not available do you know?

Probably because Kei is a CB who could cover LB with no one else in the squad covers these positions.

Darren is a CM who can cover CB and RB. We already had 3 CMs on the bench, and had both Ward and Wilson starting (so 2 players who could play RB)

There will be a heavy emphasis on attacking set pieces, so Sibley and Ward will be starting. They've conceded almost half of their goals from set-pieces. We'll also sit off, letting Portsmouth have most of the ball and hit them on the break.

Truth be told it's hard to not see the same 11 starting - the only changes due to fitness (Washington and Blackett-Taylor got over an hour first yhe first time in a while) or injury (Mendez-Laing struggling with his injury?).

The bench will probably be the same too, with KRobinson potentially being the only change. Elder or DRobinson most likely to take his place on the bench.

1 hour ago, sage said:

Some good suggestions. What do you think to McNamara at Millwall and Browne at Preston?

McNamara plays in a position we don't need to recruit. Awful end product too so not someone I would sign even if we needed someone.

I like Browne and may have suggested him before. However, I don't think he'd get in the side over Ebou Adams or Herbie Kane, and I doubt he would want to join a side to sit on the bench.

44 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

Agreed. It wasn’t pretty but that doesn’t matter right now. Just grind out the results.

No doubt some statto will come on saying we didn’t “deserve” to win because they had more possession (which they did) and completed loads more passes (which I assume they did) etc. but, as you say, it was a deliberate tactic to allow them to keep possession and pass it around where they couldn’t hurt us. I expect to see the same at Pompey - it’s not a game we’re likely to dominate.

It’s not a tactic you’d want to see deployed too often (especially at home), but sometimes it’s necessary.

 

xG favours Blackpool (0.49 vs 1.19) so we clearly didn't deserve the win 😉

However, in terms of xGOT (0.77 vs 0.13) we clearly deserved to win.

Rodri has pictures of Ebou Adams on his bedroom wall

4 minutes ago, Matchday Fred said:

Apart from 3 pts and other results ….

Wash got 70 mins

Collins got 20 mins

No further injuries

CBT was decent

Barkhuizen must be close to a return

Gayle is now one week closer to a return

Not sure about Bird, maybe he’s flown away

Barkhuizen may be fit for the last couple of games, same as Gayle. Bird supposedly back after the Portsmouth game.

Doubtful we'll see any of Nyambe, Rooney, Forsyth, or John-Jules again this season

7 minutes ago, littleover ram said:

Lincoln have scored what looks to be a late winner, would hate to finish 3rd and get them in the playoffs! 

They've now only conceded 1 goal in the last 8 games, scoring 23 goals.

Out of the top 16 in the league, only 2 sides are currently winning 😮

5 out of the bottom 8 winning.

The same lino once again showing he's blind

Barnsley 2-0 down

Collins and Tommo coming on. Probably for Mendez-Laing and Washington

1 minute ago, littleover ram said:

How does xG work? Ours is 0.25 apparently and Blackpool’s is 0.83…

Adams scored from a low probability shot (xG of just 0.04). Washington's was 0.16, taking us to 0.4. Mendez-Laing having the only other decent change in the 3rd minute (0.14 xG)

Blackpool have had 4 decent chances and a few small ones. The effort by Byers in the 29th minute was 0.22 xG.

Carlisle 3-0!!

Lino is blind.There's no way anyone should have got that throwin wrong

A brilliant half of football. Can't ask for much more than that

The table looks beautiful at the moment. 6 points clear of Bolton and 10 points clear of Peterborough/Barnsley

1 minute ago, Blondest Goat said:

Looks like Wilson at RB to me

Yep. Warne obviously doesn't trust Ward at RB in a back 4 🙈

12 minutes ago, eddielewis said:

I have it as this: 

                        Wildsmith 

Ward        Nelson       Cashin        Sibley

                 Smith         Adams

   Wilson             NML              CBT

                     Washington

 

I would say the 3 behind will probably be free to switch around. Elder needs sacking off in the summer this is his 4th spell out of the team for a senior player that's on a fair wack we should have been expecting a more reliant player.

This is what it'll be

24 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

Who’s Robinson? 

A CB who has played at LB on the odd occasion. Still a 2nd year scholar.

53 minutes ago, Ambitious said:

I expected their wages to be north of £160m, so not at all surprised it’s thereabouts. It’s considerably more than a lot of teams in a similar boat in the Premier League, though (Brighton: £110m for ref) and the liabilities (both player performance and financial) are massive. The fact they’re so heavily indebted to other clubs and financing instalments on player sales at relative high interest have to be huge concerns - that’s not even me taking the piss. 

Relegation, along with the Greek losing interest, doing a Mel, they would die because of the huge payments classed as football debt. Relegation would ultimately lead to heavy point deductions in the Championship regardless of the Greek’s penchant to fund an unsustainable business. It’s a dangerous game. 

It’s a top 10 wage bill, more than the likes of West Ham, etc 

In 21/22, a £147m wage bill would have been the 18th highest in Europe (ahead of AC Milan) and 10th highest in England.

In 20/21, only 8 teams had a higher wage bill than £147m.

Less than 10 years ago (14/15) Liverpool were 5th highest with £144m.

24 minutes ago, Eoghan1884 said:

Gateshead have just signed a new striker on a loan, a lot of their fans reckon the only reason would be because we’ve recalled DB

It looks like they didn't even name a CF on their bench at the weekend. Their 3rd top CF scorer this season joined York in January. 

Up until Brown got into the side, they had almost entirely played with 1 upfront. With Brown in there, they've started playing with 2 upfront, so probably see the need for an extra forward as backup.

14 minutes ago, Rich84 said:

Conspiracy theory at it's best......

I believe he should have been given opportunities in the cup games as @Ghost of Cloughstated, but to suggest it was 'engineered' for him to fail..... really?

Warne set the team up wrong, but I don't think it was engineered. I just think Warne is a poor tactician.

In the first half, we had two forwards who want to occupy the same same space in the box. In the second half we took one off and put Weston on who is a #10. Weston was able to play his natural game, and there was an extra player helping to create chances - hence Collins scoring two more goals for his hattrick.

I firmly believe Brown would have performed better if playing with Weston instead of Collins. Either way, he needed game time in men's football and wasn't going to get the chances he needed in the first team.

I remember Ebiowei starting the 21/22 season on fire, averaging a goal a game for the U18s. His youth performances earned his a few sub appearances in the first team, but cost us a valuable point away at Cardiff (?). If Warne was manager, he would have been dropped back intot he U21s, if given a go in the first place. However, Rooney opted to give him a start the following game. He started the restvof the games that season, and was viewed as one of our best players by the end of the season, all because he was given time in the first team.

On 26/03/2024 at 22:36, sage said:

Scored for Slovenia in their 2-0 win over Portugal tonight 

His first international goal

1 hour ago, Carl Sagan said:

Yes this is two leagues below, but you look at all these goals -

left foot, right foot, headers, and often very clever finishes, poaching in the six yard area, running from the halfway line, shooting from outside the box - 

And this fast, powerful, skillful, confident young striker looks *exactly* what we (and any team at our level and probably above) needs. It seems baffling he's not had proper first team time this season. But huge plaudits to Dajaune for putting down a marker, and getting an U23 international call up as an 18 year old. The future looks bright with him on our books - scoring goals is the hardest thing. 

He wasn't 'mentally' ready for first team football prior to this loan to be fair. It was obvious he had the physicality to cope, and his goal record at youth level showed he had that killer instinct. However, when given his brief chances in the first team, he looked lost.

The only way for him to overcome it was from game time, and I think it was reasonable to give him starts in Cup competitions. Unfortunately, he never got those chances. 

It still took him a few sub apps to get over that mental block when at Gateshead. His first goal was just what he needed to get going. Is it 8 goals and 2 or 3 assists in his last 7 games?

2 hours ago, Ambitious said:

I noticed Keilen Robinson started for the England U19s yesterday - usually League One sides would be clamouring for England U19 players on loan, yet this kid has barely been mentioned. I didn't even realise we had anyone in the Eng U19 set up. 

It was the most surprising callup this time around with him only recently stepping up to U21 level seemingly in the absence of Cox (U21 debut in December). I really like Keilen and he has the right mental attitude and comes across in a similar way as Bird.

The other defenders in that U19 side:
Kian Best - 10 apps for Preston
Alfie Dorrington - yet to play men's football, but very highly rated at Spurs.
Billy Gee - yet to play men's football. At Chelsea
Benjamin Arthur - Signed by Brentford from Peterborough in the summer for around £700k.
Lino Sousa - a LB who has made 5 apps on loan at Plymouth this season.

I think it's fair to say most current England U19 internationals will be looking for L1/2 football next season.
For comparison, I think it's worth noting Cox is in the Wales U19 squad and as I mentioned was above Robinson in the pecking order until his injury. All but 1 of his defensive teammates are still playing U18 football. The exception being Nevett, who is starting most games for Rochdale in the National League. One of them got 20 minutes for Cardiff in the League Cup (when 4-2 down vs Blackburn)