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Just now, Ghost of Clough said:

The only red he's ever had in professional football was the one against West Brom which got overturned. He picks up less yellows than Hourihane, yet few people comment on it.

Because Hourihane plays more and Sibley has always had that side to his game 

If this is the aggression that Warne bangs on about at times then it’s misplaced aggression 

play with your heads and just play football ffs !!

On 12/12/2023 at 16:34, Ram@Lincoln said:

As you say, any deal for Cashin or any others leaving need to be completed early doors. We can't have anything hanging over us the entire window as that'll be more disruptive than good for us. Allows us to get cracking on the incoming transfers and not disrupt the flow of the team anymore than needed.

This is a good point, lets hope it doesn't drag on through the whole of January with a" will he ? won't he be going ?"  situation

I do fear though this is exactly what will happen as agents will know a better deal could be had last minute therefore lining there own pockets!

Would be great if DCFC made a statement to potential buyers on this as an elongated disruption could really hamper us 

Could easily buy 2/3 players with a good fee including another CB a  CF and a Mid 

looking at the current goal scorers chart in L1

Alfie May 15  

Jordan Rhodes 13

Our top goal scorer is Collins on 7 and for all of his hard work I still think a striker could make the difference between going up or not 

I'd really like us to go for it and get Al Hamidi , a proper goal getter will make the all important difference and give teams something to fear and would maybe free up others around him to get a few  

We do need more goals  from our midfield as well imo , quite an important window this next one and always a difficult one 

Ty John Jules - Ty John Jules - Ty John Jules - Ty John Jules 

To Tom Hark by the Piranhas 

Nice to see Bradley’s reaction to Wilson defending our box well …run up to him and congratulated him …I like that …

3 minutes ago, DavesaRam said:

Good first half. We’ve had the upper hand for quite a lot of it, but with some contentious refereeing Port Vale are ripe for being given a win.

Referee aside we should win this.

I thought Cashin was lucky to get a free kick against Ikpeazu in the box 

Long balls from back to front too often = giving the ball away …basically ..shorten it up a bit and let’s get up the pitch as a team …quite poor so far and PV are pants must win these sort of games 

1. Bolton               17             38
2. Portsmouth      17           36
3. Oxford              17              35
4. Stevenage        19           35
5. Peterborough   18          34
6. Derby                  17           30
7. Blackpool          19           30
8. Barnsley            17           28

So here is the current table and for me I don't think the teams currently in the top 8 will be  much different to the final top 8 but of course the order will hopefully change.

FWIW if you look at the top 8 teams currently I do not think there is one stand out side amongst them and everyone is capable of beating everyone.

I wish I could say that Derby were the stand out side but the truth is we are in the mix with the others and a lot will depend I think on a few things so I thought I'd ask the question, What in your opinion would we need to get us into the top 2 come the end of the season ?

Here are my thoughts, I really believe a mobile Centre Forward , someone very different to what we have in Collo, Waggy, wash etc would be massive.

The impact a really good striker would bring , where it turns tight games we are drawing into wins would be massive 

I do like Al Hamidi and a few others mentioned, the impact strikers like Deano had instantly really turned us into a very different proposition and the same with players like Goddard, Biley, Swindlehurst, Marco, even Phescisolido made a real impact

If we bring in a real goal threat and maybe another tough tackling midfielder as long as we don't play PW's crap one dimensional style we sometimes see I think 2 additions will inject what we need 

This Top 8 I think will be very tight and although the quality is not as good as last season( so I don't think anyone will be getting 98 points for example) I think it will be close and our dealings in the Jan window will be pivotal , so no Springett type signings please PW lets bring in the talisman we need whether that be on loan or permanent 

COYR

13 minutes ago, maxjam said:

 

eh...I thought we drew with portsmouth?

35 minutes ago, Magicman said:

Sibley does not have a best position. At no 10 he is ineffective whilst at LWB he is slightly better but struggles when up against a speedy winger. 

I also think he should really have done much better saturday when had a chance to score but instead of using his left foot he tried with his right  when it looked like the left hand side of the goal had opened up  he's not alone of course in missing chances but i don't rate him like some do but its about opinions i guess

On 15/11/2023 at 19:49, LeedsCityRam said:

Its definitely this point that has annoyed me the most & its on two levels.

Firstly, it didn't take too much thinking to conclude that the first team may not have been mentally up for last night's game given they'd just beaten a top 6 rival 3 days earlier in front of 28k & with an international break looming. That game was crying out for players for whom it would be a big deal - i.e. fringe players & especially the Academy lads, to match Crewe's enthusiasm. If we had played Fapetu, Weston & Robinson from the start, I honestly wouldn't have minded if we'd been beat 0-3 & I suspect I'm not alone in thinking that.

The second point is with regard to the long term development of youth players at a club that prides itself in having a Category 1 Academy. So far this season the kids have been trusted with one game - against a Wolves under 21 side who needed a big win to knock us out. That doesn't really come across as a serious pathway for what are clearly some talented players & as you rightly say, investment this season could accelerate their development in time for next summer. The 2021-22 season under Rooney showed how fast young players can develop when given opportunities - Ebiowei, Plange, Ebosele, Cashin & Thompson all came from nowhere to make first team contributions simply because they got the gametime to make mistakes & learn. Philip Cocu would also have played kids last night (and I suspect in the League Cup & throughout the EFL Trophy too) - picking Bird, Sibley & Knight away at Forest in League Cup in late 2019 was heavily criticised at the time but all 3 were making telling first XI contributions 3/4 months later.

We do not have the right manager in charge to develop youth & this is at odds with where the club wants & needs to go long term in order to be sustainable.

Brilliant post well said 

11 hours ago, Ian Buxton's Bat said:

I was at the game tonight.

Bizarrely, I actually thought the first half was hugely entertaining with both goalies making great saves as well as the goals.

Second half was dire.

In my opinion, Crewe were significantly better than the previous 3 League 1 teams we’ve played at home……but we were very poor in the second half.

I’m not a massive Warne fan but can’t really blame him for tonight - there WERE lots of crosses, most of them terrible, but there was also play on the floor through midfield, which was also sometimes terrible.

Warne didn’t underhit any passes, overhit any crosses, put 3 consecutive crosses into the goalie’s hands or jib out of any headers in midfield. 

I’m a big fan of Fozzy but he deserved to be hooked, as did Smith and Hourihane - so can’t really complain there.

As for the Bradley sub - again, I’m not a massive fan but it was to go 3 at the back to chuck more players up front…..actually an attacking sub.

I’ve blamed Warne for losses this season but I agreed with his RD interview…..just didn’t play well enough and congrats to Crewe.

Now let’s go and sign some of their players in Jan.

I said this in the match thread …we should be pursuing some of there youngsters …no excuses they won’t cost a packet …let’s have some foresight and actually get a couple of good young untried players and then with some good coaching!!! 🤔Oh hang on??? This I’m afraid is where I think the cunning plan falls apart … might teach them how to run I guess lol 

and theres me thinking I was doing the match thread for the rest of the season 🙄

get Fepetu and Weston on now give them a go 

1 minute ago, RoyMac5 said:

Is Ward a no.10 if he's replaced Sibley?

is Sibley? 

Just now, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

We are getting absolutely mullered at home by a League Two team.

The away game we dominated and they scored their two chances. Here, we are getting done. The Crewe manager is taking Warne to school here. Pants pulled down.

agreed

Get Fapetu on ffs this is rubbish

Why are we so inconsistent ffs

1 minute ago, norwichram said:

He said more effective .. which they were .. can’t argue with it

We were all over them ...watching a different game to me ...

2 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

Torquay and Newport pushed us hard last season in the FA Cup and we got away with it. Crewe were the more effective side in the first tie for 80 minutes and once again we got out of jail.

There are only so many times you can undercook a performance against a lower placed side before you get punished.

We need a huge 45 minutes or the knives will be out for Warne again.

Crewe WERE NOT better than us for 80 minutes no way!!

when we went 2 down in first game I thought we were playing good enough to get back into it but not sure we would tonight, imperative we score next

we should defo get a couple of these Crewe youngsters signed up, shouldn't be mega money exactly the sort of players we should be looking at .... 

We need to play football and play it shorter including Cashin !! 

playing nothing like recent games ...poor