Alty_Ram

I've no particular beef with Bolton but they just didn't turn up here. Oxford are worthy winners.

Totally. They were incredibly disciplined in the semi-final too. Football it seems is not just about possession stats... 62.8% vs 37.2%

Completely deserved win for Oxford. I would have originally liked Bolton to go up because their fans have suffered similar financial woes to us, but Oxford have earned it. They came back after their mid-season wobble (started by us) and had the momentum coming into the playoffs.
Bolton haven't threatened at all today and nearly bottled it against Barnsley. I've little sympathy for Evatt as he hasn't endeared himself to anyone with his comments post-game. His days might be numbered. 

All the best 'skip'. Difficult to top that season and will be a much revamped midfield next time out and no guarantee of game time. Sometimes it's just time to seek a fresh challenge and the timing feels right. All the very best in whatever you do next.

Surprised we didn't offer Korey a year personally thought his performances at the end of the season were a big help in us going up.

Stay out of trouble without any real threat of relegation and a suggestion that we might push on the year after. There is so much parachute money floating around that I think the finances are going to dictate a slow and steady approach and we'll have to be patient.

Stay out of trouble without any real threat of relegation and a suggestion that we might push on the year after. There is so much parachute money floating around that I think the finances are going to dictate a slow and steady approach and we'll have to be patient.

Stay out of trouble without any real threat of relegation and a suggestion that we might push on the year after. There is so much parachute money floating around that I think the finances are going to dictate a slow and steady approach and we'll have to be patient.

Stay out of trouble without any real threat of relegation and a suggestion that we might push on the year after. There is so much parachute money floating around that I think the finances are going to dictate a slow and steady approach and we'll have to be patient.

True, that does seem odd but maybe he has been crystal clear about his expectations wage-wise and DCFC and Wildsmith were so far apart in that regard that nobody was interested in going through a pretend negotiation. Also, we have been dubious about Wildsmith staying for a while, so we may have other targets lined up/earmarked and want to just crack on with securing that. The whole farce with Sheff Wednesday dragged on so long last window that we almost missed out entirely and maybe we don't want anyone to steal a march on us just because we're still discussing a dead deal with Wildsmith. Time to move on then it sounds like.
Good luck to him, he's been a good keeper for us but we have a structure and budget and anyone coming in or getting a new contract needs to fit in with that. We will need a new No1 keeper though. I don't believe that promoting our current backup is viable as I don't think he is of the quality required at Championship level.

Stay out of trouble without any real threat of relegation and a suggestion that we might push on the year after. There is so much parachute money floating around that I think the finances are going to dictate a slow and steady approach and we'll have to be patient.

This seems to be the crux of Wolves' arguments against VAR:
1) Impact on goal celebrations and the spontaneous passion that makes football special.
2) Frustration and confusion inside stadiums due to lengthy VAR checks and poor communication.
3) A more hostile atmosphere with protests, booing of Premier League anthem and chants against VAR.
4) Overreach of VAR's original purpose to correct clear and obvious mistakes, now overanalysing subjective decisions and compromising the game's fluidity and integrity.
5) Diminished accountability of on-field officials, due to safety net of VAR, leading to an erosion of authority on the pitch.
6) Continued errors despite VAR, with supporters unable to accept human error after multiple views and replays, damaging confidence in officiating standards.
7) Disruption of the Premier League's fast pace with lengthy VAR checks and more added time, causing matches to run excessively long.
8 )Constant discourse about VAR decisions often overshadowing the match itself, and tarnishing the reputation of the league.
9) Erosion of trust and reputation, with VAR fuelling completely nonsensical allegations of corruption.
 
Can't argue with too much of that personally.

I think this comment from a Wolves fan on HYS summarises my thoughts on VAR very well, and note that application of technology any feeling of being victimised has not gone away - just ask our friends down the A52.
"As a Wolves fan, I’m probably a bit biased because we’ve been repeatedly robbed and mystified by VAR decisions or lack of them this year, it’s been ridiculous. But the key issues for me are the ability to truly celebrate a goal, the time it takes and the experience in the stadium. It might be OK for arm chair fans watching repeats over and again and the the commentary telling you what’s happening, but when your in the crowd your often clueless to what incident or player they are even looking at and then 5 mins later you get a decision that your mate texts you is wrong anyway, something has to change, it’s a farce!"
I really hadn't fully considered how bad it might be in a stadium as I have only watched VAR games on TV. I guess you may well be completely in the dark about what is being checked. His points are centred around the matchday experience as much as VAR's fallibility and I think that is telling.

I wouldn't rule it out for all time, but I think it needs a re-think as to the technology and how it is applied and in what situations.

This seems to be the crux of Wolves' arguments against VAR:
1) Impact on goal celebrations and the spontaneous passion that makes football special.
2) Frustration and confusion inside stadiums due to lengthy VAR checks and poor communication.
3) A more hostile atmosphere with protests, booing of Premier League anthem and chants against VAR.
4) Overreach of VAR's original purpose to correct clear and obvious mistakes, now overanalysing subjective decisions and compromising the game's fluidity and integrity.
5) Diminished accountability of on-field officials, due to safety net of VAR, leading to an erosion of authority on the pitch.
6) Continued errors despite VAR, with supporters unable to accept human error after multiple views and replays, damaging confidence in officiating standards.
7) Disruption of the Premier League's fast pace with lengthy VAR checks and more added time, causing matches to run excessively long.
8 )Constant discourse about VAR decisions often overshadowing the match itself, and tarnishing the reputation of the league.
9) Erosion of trust and reputation, with VAR fuelling completely nonsensical allegations of corruption.
 
Can't argue with too much of that personally.

This seems to be the crux of Wolves' arguments against VAR:
1) Impact on goal celebrations and the spontaneous passion that makes football special.
2) Frustration and confusion inside stadiums due to lengthy VAR checks and poor communication.
3) A more hostile atmosphere with protests, booing of Premier League anthem and chants against VAR.
4) Overreach of VAR's original purpose to correct clear and obvious mistakes, now overanalysing subjective decisions and compromising the game's fluidity and integrity.
5) Diminished accountability of on-field officials, due to safety net of VAR, leading to an erosion of authority on the pitch.
6) Continued errors despite VAR, with supporters unable to accept human error after multiple views and replays, damaging confidence in officiating standards.
7) Disruption of the Premier League's fast pace with lengthy VAR checks and more added time, causing matches to run excessively long.
8 )Constant discourse about VAR decisions often overshadowing the match itself, and tarnishing the reputation of the league.
9) Erosion of trust and reputation, with VAR fuelling completely nonsensical allegations of corruption.
 
Can't argue with too much of that personally.

This seems to be the crux of Wolves' arguments against VAR:
1) Impact on goal celebrations and the spontaneous passion that makes football special.
2) Frustration and confusion inside stadiums due to lengthy VAR checks and poor communication.
3) A more hostile atmosphere with protests, booing of Premier League anthem and chants against VAR.
4) Overreach of VAR's original purpose to correct clear and obvious mistakes, now overanalysing subjective decisions and compromising the game's fluidity and integrity.
5) Diminished accountability of on-field officials, due to safety net of VAR, leading to an erosion of authority on the pitch.
6) Continued errors despite VAR, with supporters unable to accept human error after multiple views and replays, damaging confidence in officiating standards.
7) Disruption of the Premier League's fast pace with lengthy VAR checks and more added time, causing matches to run excessively long.
8 )Constant discourse about VAR decisions often overshadowing the match itself, and tarnishing the reputation of the league.
9) Erosion of trust and reputation, with VAR fuelling completely nonsensical allegations of corruption.
 
Can't argue with too much of that personally.

This seems to be the crux of Wolves' arguments against VAR:
1) Impact on goal celebrations and the spontaneous passion that makes football special.
2) Frustration and confusion inside stadiums due to lengthy VAR checks and poor communication.
3) A more hostile atmosphere with protests, booing of Premier League anthem and chants against VAR.
4) Overreach of VAR's original purpose to correct clear and obvious mistakes, now overanalysing subjective decisions and compromising the game's fluidity and integrity.
5) Diminished accountability of on-field officials, due to safety net of VAR, leading to an erosion of authority on the pitch.
6) Continued errors despite VAR, with supporters unable to accept human error after multiple views and replays, damaging confidence in officiating standards.
7) Disruption of the Premier League's fast pace with lengthy VAR checks and more added time, causing matches to run excessively long.
8 )Constant discourse about VAR decisions often overshadowing the match itself, and tarnishing the reputation of the league.
9) Erosion of trust and reputation, with VAR fuelling completely nonsensical allegations of corruption.
 
Can't argue with too much of that personally.

I think this comment from a Wolves fan on HYS summarises my thoughts on VAR very well, and note that application of technology any feeling of being victimised has not gone away - just ask our friends down the A52.
"As a Wolves fan, I’m probably a bit biased because we’ve been repeatedly robbed and mystified by VAR decisions or lack of them this year, it’s been ridiculous. But the key issues for me are the ability to truly celebrate a goal, the time it takes and the experience in the stadium. It might be OK for arm chair fans watching repeats over and again and the the commentary telling you what’s happening, but when your in the crowd your often clueless to what incident or player they are even looking at and then 5 mins later you get a decision that your mate texts you is wrong anyway, something has to change, it’s a farce!"
I really hadn't fully considered how bad it might be in a stadium as I have only watched VAR games on TV. I guess you may well be completely in the dark about what is being checked. His points are centred around the matchday experience as much as VAR's fallibility and I think that is telling.

I wouldn't rule it out for all time, but I think it needs a re-think as to the technology and how it is applied and in what situations.

The logic of controlling the ball from the back is all well and good and there is something to be said for drawing the opposition on to you to then suddenly going through the gears with snappy passing and bypassing them, and if your defence have the first touch of a Man City defender then all well and good but doing it at all costs in all situations is inviting trouble, particularly with a Champ/League 1 squad.
There is a perception that this is how football is played these days, and it may well be at the upper levels level, but you need every player to be calm and comfortable on the ball and their team mates to be mobile and creating space and actively wanting the ball. If nobody shows for the ball then a pass gets delayed and your defender gets closed down and mugged and you concede a goal and your defence and keeper look like chumps.
At this stage in the process of (hopefully) rebuilding a quality side, I would rather that we were pragmatic and mixed it up. If the opposition are all over us and closing us down and are forcing errors then sometimes you just have to be a bit cannier and mix it up with some balls down the channels or whatever. A high energy hard-pressing game is hard work and if that's what the opposition are doing then you should get more opportunities later but I don't see the point of playing to 'pure' football principles in every situation if the opposition are just going to force error after error because of the quality of their press and/or the limitations of your defenders. We'll face some ruthless forwards this year compared to last and you can't just constantly gift opportunities by over-playing.

Goddammit ! Yet another target that we've missed out on 🤬 Warne and Clowes out !
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* 😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉 * just in case.....for the hard of thinking 😁

OMG Can’t believe we missed out on this lump we were definitely 100% linked with this summer. 

The logic of controlling the ball from the back is all well and good and there is something to be said for drawing the opposition on to you to then suddenly going through the gears with snappy passing and bypassing them, and if your defence have the first touch of a Man City defender then all well and good but doing it at all costs in all situations is inviting trouble, particularly with a Champ/League 1 squad.
There is a perception that this is how football is played these days, and it may well be at the upper levels level, but you need every player to be calm and comfortable on the ball and their team mates to be mobile and creating space and actively wanting the ball. If nobody shows for the ball then a pass gets delayed and your defender gets closed down and mugged and you concede a goal and your defence and keeper look like chumps.
At this stage in the process of (hopefully) rebuilding a quality side, I would rather that we were pragmatic and mixed it up. If the opposition are all over us and closing us down and are forcing errors then sometimes you just have to be a bit cannier and mix it up with some balls down the channels or whatever. A high energy hard-pressing game is hard work and if that's what the opposition are doing then you should get more opportunities later but I don't see the point of playing to 'pure' football principles in every situation if the opposition are just going to force error after error because of the quality of their press and/or the limitations of your defenders. We'll face some ruthless forwards this year compared to last and you can't just constantly gift opportunities by over-playing.

Looking at just the league table its been an amazing year by any reckoning. Amassing 92 points, securing a record number of away wins etc. Pompey had to come up with something pretty special to beat that. And yet, it seems weird how there is still a feeling that there were so many unnecessary points that we seemed to drop. Obviously, that's just the way it goes and you can't win every game but in amongst the excellent wins, there were definitely a decent number of soft points dropped.
Just glancing down the results list - failure to see a poor Cambridge off at home, conceding a gutting late equaliser vs Pompey, really poor official decisions at Bolton, drawing at Cheltenham who hadn't scored in 12 games, conceding a 98th minute penalty equaliser against bloody Wycombe, the late collapse at home against Peterborough from leading the game at 84 mins to losing it, chucking away a lead at home to Charlton to leave empty handed, conceding 87th minute equaliser against Shrewsbury at home. You then realise how many points we could have actually ended up with - well North of 100 which would have been truly remarkable by any means !! 😃

Sure, there were times when I'd loved to have seen a bit more swagger and flair but by any standards, the relentless points accumulation was hugely impressive, and ultimately it simply broke the spirit of the chasing pack. PW and the lads earned that.

Looking at just the league table its been an amazing year by any reckoning. Amassing 92 points, securing a record number of away wins etc. Pompey had to come up with something pretty special to beat that. And yet, it seems weird how there is still a feeling that there were so many unnecessary points that we seemed to drop. Obviously, that's just the way it goes and you can't win every game but in amongst the excellent wins, there were definitely a decent number of soft points dropped.
Just glancing down the results list - failure to see a poor Cambridge off at home, conceding a gutting late equaliser vs Pompey, really poor official decisions at Bolton, drawing at Cheltenham who hadn't scored in 12 games, conceding a 98th minute penalty equaliser against bloody Wycombe, the late collapse at home against Peterborough from leading the game at 84 mins to losing it, chucking away a lead at home to Charlton to leave empty handed, conceding 87th minute equaliser against Shrewsbury at home. You then realise how many points we could have actually ended up with - well North of 100 which would have been truly remarkable by any means !! 😃

Sure, there were times when I'd loved to have seen a bit more swagger and flair but by any standards, the relentless points accumulation was hugely impressive, and ultimately it simply broke the spirit of the chasing pack. PW and the lads earned that.

The logic of controlling the ball from the back is all well and good and there is something to be said for drawing the opposition on to you to then suddenly going through the gears with snappy passing and bypassing them, and if your defence have the first touch of a Man City defender then all well and good but doing it at all costs in all situations is inviting trouble, particularly with a Champ/League 1 squad.
There is a perception that this is how football is played these days, and it may well be at the upper levels level, but you need every player to be calm and comfortable on the ball and their team mates to be mobile and creating space and actively wanting the ball. If nobody shows for the ball then a pass gets delayed and your defender gets closed down and mugged and you concede a goal and your defence and keeper look like chumps.
At this stage in the process of (hopefully) rebuilding a quality side, I would rather that we were pragmatic and mixed it up. If the opposition are all over us and closing us down and are forcing errors then sometimes you just have to be a bit cannier and mix it up with some balls down the channels or whatever. A high energy hard-pressing game is hard work and if that's what the opposition are doing then you should get more opportunities later but I don't see the point of playing to 'pure' football principles in every situation if the opposition are just going to force error after error because of the quality of their press and/or the limitations of your defenders. We'll face some ruthless forwards this year compared to last and you can't just constantly gift opportunities by over-playing.