CapeTownRams

Just only need draws min at Pompey and Barnsley (we have great records at those grounds, not) and beat Bolton at home. Only. 😃 With so many of the top teams playing each other there will be many ups and downs… as others have said , we just need to treat every game as a must-win…

Definitely the new DPFG 👍😎🐏

I think the key here is that we aren’t now paying Max Bird’s wages….. Bristol Titty are. Mind u, maybe some or all of that ‘saving’ was utilized elsewhere (eg Adams)….

Yep, a point will do nicely.

If you monitor the Bolton forums u will see that their fans’ views almost mirror many of ours… in that some of the football is a bit dire and that as a whole the team isn’t really firing on all cylinders- yet they, like us, keep digging out the results . They, like us, also have significant injury issues albeit that they strengthened more than us in Jan so perhaps can sustain the injury losses better than we can. Pompey on the other hand significantly strengthened in Jan and this has enabled them to really keep going despite quite a lengthy injury list regarding some of their important players. They are on fire right now and the Lang purchase has really made a difference ( I really wish we had gone in for him rather than CBT if I am honest but that’s another story/thread). They were also able to bring in players like Moxon yesterday even though they were a bit thin on the ground in terms of midfielders. I really thought they might slip out of contention for the autos earlier in the season and during the Xmas period. But i just don’t see it now- they strengthened at the right time and in the right way. I see the second auto place between us, Bolton and Barnsley. If the latter beat us this coming week then they are really in the mix and we don’t have a good record at their place.

Agreed. The thing that really struck me today when watching the game again was that it was the timing of the subs and particularly pushing Max further up front when we did. It might not have worked if we had started like that… but when Smith came on we had held our own in the battle of attrition and somewhat worn (sorry for the pun !) down Stevenage whose players suddenly looked tired and leggy.

I’ve watched the game back in full again and have somewhat changed my mind about things. At the time i thought the team selection was dire and the first half was far from a classic. But looking back now u can see that it really was a battle of attrition and that during that first half it was essential that we just dug in, held our own and gave us good as we got. Which we did and great credit to the lads for that 👏 It’s amazing sometimes how, when the pressure is off and the passion has died down, one can see the game more clearly . That was the case with this one for me. i came away so proud of the team and can better appreciate what PW did and why. At the time i really didn’t see how much we were pushing after the Smith substitution. So, credit to PW and the fans (who were brilliant).

Does beg the question as to whether it would have produced better immediate benefits if we had used the CBT funds to purchase a quality striker now and if necessary leave the CBT deal to the summer. Early days I know but CBT doesn’t seem to be the catalyst to pushing on that we needed now….

I’m not singling out MB with this in any way but just using this post as a starting point…. But why on this forum do so many folk have to resort to disparaging or nasty remarks towards posters whose opinions they disagree with ? I’ve said before that we are all fans and want success for the Club. We can debate and agree to disagree but criticizing something about the Club does not make someone less of a fan compared with one who always has the rose-tinted specs on. Neither does whether u were at the game or watched it on tv. Neither does the length of time one has been supporting the team. When I look at other teams’ forums I just don’t see the bile that so often rears its head on here. I know there is a certain ‘clique’ of members on here who will always circle the wagons when one of them is disagreed with etc. There are also certain members who are singled out for special treatment because they are viewed by those members as being negative. But that’s their right. That’s what the forum is supposed to be about. It should be an inclusive forum not one where people attempt to bludgeon others to accept their or the ‘party’ line. And to be clear, i and others will strike back if attacked but that’s not what we want to have to do. We won’t be cancelled by the mob.

I wasn’t debating. Just stating a fact.

I have and I did…. And it’s a forum for opinions. And opinions i will give. As per anyone else- just feel free to ignore or debate them….. or move on 😎😎👍

Evans was right in his interview….. PW (and us !) will be sleeping a bit better knowing that they have to play all of the top contenders… Stevenage are tough to beat and u feel that some of those other teams will drop points against them…

U can tell Owen Bradley wants to have his babies 😂😂🥰🥰😍

Nigel Clough-esque singling out and blaming of one player for the goal and defeat…😂😂😂 Fair play though… some nice comments about us ..👍 I must have been making a cup of tea when the blatant penalty event occurred…..🤷…. Anyone any comments on it ????

Worrying to hear that he too is carrying an injury…😳

Is that the first time that PW hasn’t started CH in a league game ??

In this modern pc world are u allowed to call a player ‘the buffalo on the right wing’ !!?? 😂😂 Who ??

Happy to listen to your argument and your points. 👍 But in truth did we really look like winning until the one moment with Sibs ? We can all agree to disagree on certain points but my feeling is still that we won despite of PW not because of him. But a win is a win and we move on…

It’s always the folks with the low IQ and standards that resort to abuse rather than debate.

I agree with CS. Great to get the win. But don’t let a fluke of a win paper over the large cracks…

Glad for the win obviously. But let’s not have the fluked result (cos that’s what it is and was) disguise a desperate performance created to a large extent by a woeful tactician of a manager. Don’t give me the line that it was PW’s sub of Sibs that got us the win. It was just luck, no more. Plus a large dose of desperation. I can accept bad performances and understand the pressure on the players, particularly at home. But our setup was appalling. If we had gone attacking mode from the beginning (when Stevenage would realistically just be looking to get to HT at 0-0), scored two goals by H-T and then reverted to a back 5, then there would have been some logic to events. But PW’s talk about it being better to go for a win ( and risk losing) rather than draw is total BS. Talk is cheap but not matched by actions. Stevenage deserved a draw. We got (very) lucky. Yes, we are where we are in the table and that’s good. But i am reminded of a tv interview with Matt Le Tiss who said that whilst Southgate was a nice guy he couldn’t help feeling that we would never win a tournament with him as manager and that he almost felt that with the players England have he( Le Tiss) could have managed them to a Euro final and WC semi. I feel the same about PW- it’s a ‘thanks Paul’ but no more. I have always been supportive of him but after today I seriously question his real credentials, yes, even acknowledging the current league position we find ourselves in.

Spot on !!! 👍 But, again, funny if it wasn’t a reflection of reality….

You can’t help thinking that the CBT money would have been far better utilized going for a quality striker- certainly at this juncture and in the Jan window (CBT for the summer ?). Not just cos of the Collo injury now but because Jan signings are supposed to be a catalyst to pushing on…. CBT adding nothing to our push right now….

I am going to blow a friggin fuse listening to the PW post-game interview with this … same old stale lines, ‘we lacked the magic moments’ etc etc… …..and blaming the Collo injury (hindsight is everything I realise, but SP made it clear in his interview that it was PW’s decision not to bring in a fall-back striker in Jan when the deal for the other guy fell apart at the last minute- PW obviously felt the gamble was worth it that Collo would stay fit and if he didn’t then we could manage with the players we have- well, massive back-fire as this game shows he was massively wrong).

Ironically PW going more attack minded when we enter the phase of the game when historically and statistically Stevenage are at their most dangerous (late goals).🤷😳 COYR !! Just fluke a goal somehow……🙏🤞