TomTom92

18 minutes ago, Wanderlust said:

OK just for you, it was handball.

But the reality is we created the better chances and didn't take them, and a lot of credit has to go to your goalie. Equally, the responsibility lies with our strikers who are simply not as ruthless as our usual starters, especially Dion Charles.

As I mentioned during the match when we were battering you but couldn't score in a brothel, it was obvious that you'd get a scabby goal to win it which you did, but that's football folks - you don't always get what you deserve, and we didn't deserve to lose that, not that you care.

The irony is that it was Kane Wilson who was credited with the goal - a player we'd agreed a fee with Brizzle to sign, but didn't in the end as his personal terms and wage demands were too high for us, so he came to you instead.

Anyhoo, onwards and sideways.....

If it was that much of a travesty that Waghorn scored with his hand then why did hardly any of your players appeal? 
 
I didn’t watch yesterday and by all accounts it sounded like you were the more menacing in attack. 
 
But ultimately you’ve played both ourselves and Barnsley in the last couple of weeks and taken a point. So only got yourselves to blame. 
 
FYI I had your squad down as the best in the league and Evatt as the best manager before the start of the season. Could all change again but as things stand you’ve fumbled this big time.

Just now, G STAR RAM said:

Do you actually have anything meaningful to back your last paragraph up.

You do realise that 75% of the teams are the same as last season?

So really you need to compare who went up and down last season, unless you have evidence that teams that were in the division last season have got worse?

Personally, I'd say some have got better and some worse, so the league is pretty much the same standard as last season.

I’d say it’s easier this year in the sense of we’ve had time to appoint a manager and recruit accordingly. Also easier in the sense than last years top 3 are better than anything in League 1 this season IMO. So easier to achieve our goal of promotion.

But this season is hard as we’re playing what’s in front of us which in this case is 4 others teams of equal strength. So if we go up then we definitely deserve it.
 
The above said, I do think this season is a good opportunity to go up as I think next years league 1 will be a pit of vipers.
 
But providing we do go up and with the restrictions off there’s nothing to suggest that next year should be all doom and gloom just because we aren’t as strong as Plymouth were last season. 

Didn’t watch the match and following on here/twitter was giving me anxiety. Sounds like Bolton was the better team. 
 
But who cares a wins a win. 
 
The only downer is Gayle getting injured but at least we have Waggy and maybe Collo back soon.

2 hours ago, SECornerRAM said:

Sonny Bradley out today 

Nothing too serious - I'm lead to believe it's concussion (hence the sickness etc) 

If Fozzy can do 90 minutes then we’ve got away with this one. If not then we’re in the poo.
 
Neither Wilson or Ward look great at right back and especially in a game of this magnitude. 
 
If it is a back 4 I’d be tempted to go Smith and hope Sibley plays a blinder on the left.

Whenever I’ve seen them recently their football has been similar to Roseniors so I imagine they’ll just look to control the match. 
 
We’ll probably start bright for the first 15 mins and maybe have a good final 15 depending on the score of course. Everything in between will be tightly contested.

Me right now catching up on the thread. 

2 hours ago, FlyBritishMidland said:

It really is squeaky bum time.  This is quite a big weekend.  If we win it’s a great result, draw and it’s a good result.  Portsmouth v Peterborough is interesting. Both on a good run but Portsmouth have had the easier games.  I think the winner of that will then continue their run.  Personally, I’d be happy with a Portsmouth win.  Let’s open a gap between us and 3rd and ease the pressure.

Inclined to agree about wanting Pompey beating Posh. I've got very little interest in battling for the top spot, just want us up automatically. 

Posh have a centre mid missing through suspension which gives Pompey a chance. If that wasn't the case I'd have had Posh for the win 100%. 

That said, Pompey have the tougher fixtures on paper so if they did lose and we won, then it really would be a 5 horse race for the two spots. 

Derby 2-1 Bolton 

Nelson

Plus an excruciating 8 minutes added on were we’re penned in our own half.

Anyone else but Wycombe and I wouldn’t even bat an eyelid. 
 
But they’re such a tin pot club and to be profiteering again from another teams demise is sickening.

Yes last night was disappointing. Stevenage should really have got something from the match. 
 
Starting to think them having Bolton on the last day of the season isn’t that beneficial. Especially if Bolton can’t get autos. 
 
It’ll be the second successive season were a hard match isn’t as hard as it should be because of circumstance. 
 
Hope them and Portsmouth draw on sat.

Stevenage have been the better team, should’ve had a penno. But are 1-0 down. Rats.

12 minutes ago, Dryhorce said:

Mulligan isn't involved must be injured Beck as well looks like Cameron is playing as a 10 never saw that before might be interesting saw him play up front and at right wing

7 hours ago, plymouthram said:

Yep, if we are in a good position wanting a point come the last game of the season you would want to play a team already relegated. No disrespect to Paul Simpson's team but I do think they will be long relegated prior to this match.

Exactly this plus I guess Simmo wouldn’t be gutted to see us go up. 
 
Just got to hope that they don’t sack him before the end of the season.

6 hours ago, plymouthram said:

Pompey had another penalty tonight against lowly placed Burton. They managed to win 2-1, they have a few injuries and their next 4 matches are not easy, starting with Peterboro away, Barnsley home, Wycombe away then Derby at home. Peterboro have only lost 3 times at home, Barnsley have only lost once on the road, Wycombe have lost 6 at home, it's going to be the test for them. If they get through them 4 games their next 4 are Shrewsbury home, Bolton away, wigan home and Lincoln away.

Agree they’ve got a mini tough run and they seem to have been injury riddled for most of the season. 
 
Think ultimately they’ve got too much of a head start on everyone else not to go up now. 
 
Whether we/another can pip them to the title is another question. But ultimately I think all contenders would happily take second place.

Think 92 points will guarantee top 2, think 89 points is the lowest amount of points that may get top 2.

Portsmouth I feel have enough credit in the bank to reach the 92 mark. Think Bolton's form, injuries etc are all going against them and I don't think Barnsley will make the charge that we were expecting.

Think its a toss up between ourselves and Posh for the other automatic spot as they've hit form, score goals and have quite a nice fixture list. 

Don't think CBT can be fairly judged yet.

He could well end up being a dud, but to the amateurs eye the signing certainly made sense. 

No issues with him warming the bench whilst NML and Barkhuizen are playing well. His poor contributions or poor fitness only becomes an issue if NML or Barkz's form drops off. 

As much as i'm not Warne's biggest fan (on the football front) I do agree that some people are taking cheap pops at CBT to hit Warne with another stick.

Derby 1-0 Reading 

NML

Bristol Rovers 1 - 2 Derby 

Gayle

How the EFL have been able to sweep their inadequacies under the carpet since our debacle is unbelievable.

No doubt another team will find another loophole and exploit it accordingly. The rules need looking at in great detail and tightening up as much as possible. The EFL, PL and FA need to sit down and work together, madness that they're all governing in different ways when we're all on one island. 

Watched the last 20 mins of Barnsley v Bolton, Bolton missed a sitter and a one on one. Deserved point I’d say and the best result for us IMO.

31 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Ah, ok, I'll bite then 😂

With Ebou now fully fit and settled in, Gayle getting there and already having found his scoring boots, Sibley finding some really good form, Joe Ward finally showing what a threat he can be, Waggy back as cover so we actually have more than one fit 9 (his form was decent prior to injury too), Fozzy back in training, CBT to throw in the mix and even Collo due back in training in under 3 weeks, I think it's fair to assume that we might show improvement on those two games that you've chosen above all the others to form your assessment. We might even be seeing young Rooney before the end of the season and with a good few of ours having had very little football this season, I reckon they'll be finishing rather more strongly than some opposing teams' players with nigh on 40 games in their legs. 

I'd also argue that the performance against an admittedly poor Vale side also illustrates that whilst they're not quite back to the smoothly oiled machine we saw mid-season, our defence is getting used to changing up between a 3 and a 4 without the catastrophic brainfarts we saw earlier in the season. That in itself bodes well, as given how impregnable our defence has looked at times this season and it's clear already that having a 'fully staffed' midfield instead of just Hourihane and Bird, who were regularly overrun in earlier games, should aid them further. Likewise the arrival of Ebou, who can sit in and screen the back four as well as acting as a midfield enforcer. Defensive benefits aside, Ebou's arrival also allows Bird plus A.N. Other to pursue more glamorous exploits higher up the pitch. Likewise Sibbo, as when he chose to go forward against Vale, Ebou dutifully dropped deeper to cover the space he left behind him. 

In the end and this season especially, I guess we all see what we want to see, but I'd argue that we should expect to finish the season really strongly and that unlike some other sides, we still have scope to improve further. Everyone is raving about Barnsley, but I don't see it. I don't think they have the quality we and Portsmouth do, despite their good recent run of form and I remain confident that we will occupy one of the top 2 slots come the end of the season. I suspect they may beat Bolton (tonight), but they still have Portsmouth, Charlton, Stevenage, Reading and Blackpool to negotiate and Bolton's run-in is even tougher. 

That's my piece said, so I'll refrain from troubling you further! 

Agree 100%, did a predictor today and have Barnsley to win tonight (looking likely). 
 
But final standings was;

Pompey 95   
Derby     92   
Barnsley 89   
Bolton     89

Think once they have the pressure of being hunted they’ll drop points. 

Ultimately if we have a good 10 matches we’ll go up. 

Hopefully if Martin has anything about him he'll drop a stinker.

Their seasons all but over, so he has nothing to gain from putting in a performance against a team whose fans love him.