ram59

I know that it's often said that Hourihane often goes missing, this seems to prove it.😁 Seriously though, I imagine that he's in that central forward group consisting of Collins and our wide players, which in itself seems strange, or is it because the 2 wide players spent their time evenly on each side and so resulting averaging in the middle?

Added to this, we have greater depth in the squad this season, our bench looks quite strong atm, even with Rooney, Smith, Waggy and Washington out injured. Hopefully, a couple of attacking signings and no outgoings from the squad in January, will set us up for the run in.🤞

I would expect that Warne and his coaching team do. They can't expect to finish the game with the starting 11, so they must have a number of plans depending on different probable scenerios. Unlikely scenerios, such as injuries, red cards, opposition tactical changes, etc have to be addressed on the hoof.

My problem with some of the anti Warne posters, this is not aimed at you personally, was that their 'statements of fact' that Warne was instructing them to play in this style of play. But when you listened to his after match interviews, he vented the same frustrations as we did. So, we should be criticising his lack of ability to get the players to play the right kind of football and not his style of football. We are gradually starting to play better, so I imagine that he is finally starting to get his message across and/or the players are adapting to what Warne wants. I believe that some fans think that the players have gone 'rogue' recently and are playing well, in spite of Warne rather than because of him. Ironically, some of the pro Warne brigade criticise the anti Warne posters, for making the same critical points as Warne does in the aftermath of a victory. I think both sides, sometimes need to show a little more humility to each other, because sometimes those on the other side might be making a valid point.

They'll be lucky, they paid £3.5m plus add ons for Matt Clarke from lg1 Porstmouth in 2019, a player in a similar position. We also have the option of a further year on his contract, so even if he left then in 2025 he would still command a compensation fee which I believe would be in excess of your figure of £1m. In the club's current position, it wouldn't be worth risking the chance of promotion for such a small fee. Added to that, there is likely to be competition for his signature with Hull and Birmingham plus others reported to be interested.

I remember Leighton James being described as the final piece of the jigsaw......................................then it all went belly up.😔

That's got me thinking, our last game is Carlisle at home 49 years and 1 day after we collected our second title on the pitch before the game against the same opponents, is it an omen?🤞

Wildsmith has received criticism on here for his part in their 2 goals, but it seems to have been forgotten, his great save and hold, to deny two lurking strikers, to stop us going 3 down, a key moment in the match. Regarding the lying down for opposition free kicks, have the opposition ever tried this, this season, never mind actually score from one? The player lying down is probably better used either standing in the wall or marking someone.

Remember, he only joined them in January from Cardiff. I wonder if he'd signed for us in January, it would have made any difference to our campaign?

This statistic is the real 'stupendous' part of our run, not only have we not conceded from open play since October, I am struggling to remember many top drawer saves by Wildsmith during this same period. Could this be the reason for his less than perfect performance last night, although he did really collect well another free kick with two forwards ready to pounce, which would have made it 3 nil? I know from experience how difficult it is to maintain concentration when playing goal for a team with an excellent defence. Wildsmith is playing week in week out, not having anything to do and it's bound to have an effect on his match sharpness.

I was thinking this just before Tommo scored, despite conceding two soft goals away to a top 6 side, we kept our heads and deserved something out of the game, even though we were losing. The team are usually criticised for not being able to perform against other top six sides, their performance tonight, even when losing, destroyed this argument. But, then again, Oxford like Barnsley and Peterborough before them, happened to have an 'off day' against us.😉

Of course, why else could he be there for?

Is tonight's game a 'do or die game' for JJ? We have to make a decision on him and his fitness, he's never played anywhere near a full league game for us. How can we take a risk on his fitness for the rest of the season? Surely, we need to give him some proper game time tonight, unless a decision to return him has already been made.

4 screamers of shots for the goals, fantastic times, but unfortunately soon to end.

According to someone I know who works at Blues, Rooney rarely takes training and the hierarchy at Blues are beginning to lose patience with him, so he might not be there long enough to complete the job.

I think you're trying to cheer us up GOC, but their home record is 2 wins and a draw, scoring 5 and conceding 1. But, they haven't played Derby yet.

I don't think that I'd ever want Derby to lose, but I've heard from many fans from different clubs over the years, hoping for their team to lose. The thinking being, that the short term sacrifice would get the manager out and would benefit the club in the long run. This is more understandable when the fixture is a meaningless one and not when we are in our current position. The only way the 'Warne outers' could get their wish now, is for the club to blow any chance of promotion.

Don't forget that Wigan is traditionally a rugby town. Also, they don't have a century of football league football in their genes, not getting into the league until around 50 years ago. Although, many of our fans have never seen them play, they still get to hear about the likes of Bloomer, Stamps, Duncan, Durban, Hector, Mac, George, Igor, etc. Not to mention the great managers over the years. Wigan have had one brief spell of success, not enough to last many years.

It was interesting to hear that the squad didn't come in for training on xmas day, they all had to film a run at home and post it on the WhatsApp group. I think that we all would have expected Warne to have had them in for a training session on Xmas day, especially after having a day off on Friday. This would tend to suggest that Warne is open to managing the training towards the end of the season.

Like the stat that you can only win games by having a majority of possession and passes, even if 80% takes place between your own back four in your own half.😉

Haven't you heard? The EFL have decided to redraw the league tables this season, they will be based on xg instead of the ridiculous points thing. They're just deciding how to downgrade Wigan and Reading's xg, to account for their respective punishments.🤔

Our run of results have been stupendous and certain aspects of our game also. We've only conceded one non penalty goal in our last 8 games, Chrissy Martin's for Bristol Rovers. In fact, I'm struggling to remember the last top drawer save made by Wildsmith. Despite our great first half yesterday, we only had a limited number of good chances and we should have put the game to bed with that dominance. But it's a start and Cloughie started by building his team at the back. Hopefully, with a couple of key attacking signings, we will kick on from this platform and truly dominate teams for the remainder of the season.

You could money on what would happen next.😄

We need to be quick off the mark regarding striker options, as it stands, we only have one fit striker for next week.

I checked on my phone at full time, the sky app said 3-1 to boro, so I checked the BBC app, which also said 3-1.🤔