Andrew3000

10 minutes ago, Ambitious said:

Bradley was a two year deal. I think Elder and Ward were three year deals though, possibly Wilson too. Not sure.

We extended Rooney on a 3 year.

18 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

 

Outrageous for our players to be plastered in public again.

3 minutes ago, SKRam said:

Thought you were gonna break in to some proper rhyming there then you ruined it 

Well, i am Andrew3000, not actually your man from outcast. 

Just now, Rampant said:

The joys of being a footy fan eh! 

Indeed. Let's be honest they're good in attack and we're shaky at the back. I'm just hoping that their young team feel crushed now.

4-1 up and i still feel nervous about the result. 

Sounds like a basketball match.  Wow! 3-1

4 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

Twice in 2 matches Hourihane has done a corner that has gone out before it’s come in to the box. Meant to have a wand of a left foot ffs 

Frustrating I know. But goal against Burton was proof of a wand. Maybe the wand only works intermittently.

14 minutes ago, hintonsboots said:

Don’t know much about Ben Radcliffe. Can you post a summary ?

As you probably already know, I've never seen him play! The signs are good though. 6' 2" versatile midfielder, also been played CB in u21s  lately. Scored and assisted in pre-season, scored lovely goal in midweek. Made his debut in league 1 for Burton last year. Someone posted a blog from a Mansfield fan I think in academy thread, glowing reviews but bit wierd like the guy had fallen in love. Worth a read though.

16 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

And today's team (with the new boys on the bench) is:

Ben Radcliffe also on the bench, with no Sibs for some reason.

Radcliffe could really break through this year. Sibs is not fit enough, being carefully managed back. 

1 hour ago, Anag Ram said:

Peterborough today is a big game.

I’d love to think he’s fit enough, and PW is brave enough, to see him start today.

Yep, we need his mobility today. It's not as if we will disrupt a well drilled settled unit. Get in him from the start, could give us a lift. Nothing to lose by doing that. Rest Smith, reward Thommo. Smith back on if either tire. 

14 hours ago, maxjam said:

I like the look of this John-Jules fella, got some moves on him...

 

Cool thing is, that's his uncle apparently!

4 minutes ago, DCFC1388 said:

Surely his song needs to be along the lines of Cali-Fornah-Cation

Fnarr, Fnarr

1Wildsmith  6

35Nelson   4

5Bradley    4

14Washington 6

6Cashin  5

23Ward  6

2Wilson 7

12Smith 6

23Waghorn 7

8Bird 6

4Hourihane 4

3Forsyth 6

11Méndez-Laing 6

20Elder 6

9Collins 4

16Thompson 6.5

  ATG

20 minutes ago, Kokosnuss said:

I wouldn't 'play it' any way if my whole schtick was about being up front and honest, and my reputation and relationships with the squad I'm managing hinged on trust.

So, maybe 'playing' was a poor choice of word, but as @RoyMac5 implies, he may very well be being up front and honest, like with Knighty. Eg., I love you Birdy (think he actually does) and while you're here I'll back you but we both know the midfield balance isn't quite right and so if a deal comes in that suits us both, let's move you on.

Just now, Kokosnuss said:

This falls down on the premise that Warne wants rid of Bird when he's spent all pre-season trying to make him a key figure in our play.

So how else would you play it? Sideline a prime assett and say he's crap, not for me? Bit Ratner-esque.

As I heard Romesh Ranganathan say today , hope is a p**** in disguise.  For me, a summer (?) of hope has rapidly deflated to reveal an ugly mess. In that sense, it feels very similar to the summer Cocu and Co. rolled in, because the difference between the expectation that had built and the grim reality once the season started was huge. Many differences in tbe context of course, and the scope of those expectations.

Others have given detailed observations about the concerns about the individual players, system, tactics etc, so I won't repeat.

I suppose my point is that after a humbling reset we are again in shock at how a long preparation period that promised so much has achieved seemingly very little and in fact we may be starting again with formation, tactics etc.

We are supposed to be a stable club intent on progress. Its baffling how we got here.

Compare this to, say Reading, who are a chaotic basket case and have started well and seem to be recruiting as well or better. Comparison is the thief of joy of course.

Have the club mis-managed expectations? They need to sell us the dream to some extent of course, but this seems a spectacular shambles.

Hopefully, all will become clear over time and good honest people will be open to their mistakes and rectify them. 

30 minutes ago, Sparkle said:

As the Brighton thing has popped back up I will mention what I heard about ten days ago.

Warne wanted both Bird and Cashin sold and at that point and was wanting £2 million for the pair to go fund another bout of spending but the club value them higher than that at this point of their contracts with Pearce wanting around £5 million for the pair. This apparently this has led to lot of friction behind the scenes. 
personally I think Pearce is right especially as it’s Brighton and Hull involved, with their level of experience in the championship and their age.
 

Based on what I see warne doing with money and his get anybody in who says yes philosophy I don’t trust his judgment or the type of team selection or method of play we have been witnessing. I don’t blame the two young lads involved but it seems they are being blamed based on various interviews aired recently?

we will soon only have third division standard players and I know that’s where we are currently but I for one want to see hope for the future and currently I have little optimism.

Weirdly, apart from the valuation, if this is true and Warne can reinvest the money, this shows he may not be as blind as we are fearing, because it means he knows that Cashin does not fit the system and that the midfield doesn't work.  Although of course, we could still argue he is blind to force this system in first place or to push it before we have the right personnel, because we have unnecessarily lost points, confidence and increasingly, our minds in tbe process.

Would explain his comments about bids and also Hammy's odd comments pre-oxford that they hadn't been able to change everything because some people are still on contracts. Also explains why we haven't seen them sign extended deals.

Maybe no one paid attention because Hammy is so reassuring, warm and twinkly. He also said when we lose on Tuesday, a Freudian slip ?!

So Warne may have some dismantling to do and it makes some sense but of course, many, me included, are now losing confidence in the whole project.

27 minutes ago, Wolfie20 said:

On what basis do you consider Cosgrove to be an upgrade on Collins? He does have the advantage of being 6 years younger but from what I can see his stats over the last 3 years don't suggest that to be the casel

Fair point, on reflection, just felt he looked good for Plymouth against us. I'm delighted with Collins' goal and the positive reports of his performance on Sat, but like a lot of people just saw last year that generally he was slow, didn't win a lot in the air, hold up play and touch not great. Scored some decent goals tbf but missed a lot of easier chances too. So, that's a long winded way of saying I just assumed Cosgrove was / is better at one or some of those things! So you may have a point, but as @Ghost of Clough pointed out, his record in terms of goals per minutes was good and likely better.

9 minutes ago, Ambitious said:

Not sure what to expect from Oxford, to be honest. 

We're looking at a team with 3 wins in 7 months. Only two away wins since last October - Fleetwood in January and Forest Green in April. Despite all that, they were our manager's pick and a lot of peoples choice for a promotion rival this season. A tight home win against Carlisle missing their best player may not have been the confidence boost they were all hoping for so hopefully we're playing a side that is slightly overrated and undercooked. 

Ruben Rodrigues is their fans pick. Cameron Brannigan is a cause of frustration as much as inspiration nowadays and they don't seem to have a lot of goals in their side. Billy Bodin isn't a bad and does chip in, but Marcus Browne seems to be more miss than hit. Ruben Rodrigues will be the one to watch but still very unproven at this level and Mark Harris who does have a bit of pace but his finishing makes Conor Sammon look like Alan Shearer by all accounts.

It will be an interesting game. I'm hoping to see us suffocate the life out of the game and them in a controlled, dominant victory. We just don't seem to do that enough. 

Interesting points. From what I've heard they will like to play it around at the back and I'm hoping that this suits us, that we can press better than last year and force some errors.

17 minutes ago, Chester40 said:

If we are wildly speculating then- in which case Collins has finally pulled his tripe out only because he's playing in the shop window and will inevitably return to his flaccid performances of last season 🤪

We are wildly speculating! That's the joy of the transfer rumour thread. Love that phrase, "pulled his tripe out", bravo!

He would fit as our genuine target man, upgrade on Collins. But Warne delighted me last week by bemoaning lack of real pace. Could be that he wants this pace in the 10 or LWB or midfield though, but it sounded in the attacking sense. Unless we are bringing in Cosgrove and pacey forward and letting Collins leave for Shrewsbury, which would seem harsh after his performance yesterday, but we need to be ruthless to improve those fine margins.  From Collins point of view,he may want a longer deal and we might not want to give him one because, if get promoted, he'll not be much use and if we don't, we'll want to upgrade anyway. 

31 minutes ago, maxjam said:

 

A few things I took away from this. Sorry not sorry about post match comments.  Grey areas- lmost an admission that there was a lack of clarity about roles, shape or tactics. PACE. Clearly identified the lack it and hinted something felt positive on that front but wouldn't commit because been let down before. Intriguing mixed bag of messages, but also one of his least coherent interviews.

1 hour ago, FindernRam said:

There was much talk about how hard players were being worked in pre-season, so how come we were out run by a load of players who apparently haven't been paid and seemed better motivated?

OK I'll bite, but against my better judgement because this stinks of WUM.  Were we outrun? Perhaps our midfield and centrebacks were outpaced, but thats speed and acceleration not fitness.  Wigan are under new ownership, so not sure how not being paid last season would effect their players now?  What did you see that indicated better motivation in comparison to us?  Wigan have a talented mix of young highly-regarded prospects and experienced players, who are well managed with a defined style and formation not the basket case that we expect Reading to be. They had terrible luck with injuries last year too.  Luckily I had listened to rams review podcast where a fan had given a detailed account and so and therefore  i expected a tough match. I didn't expect the c*** ups but fitness and motivation were both evident to me.