eddielewis

A question at the fans forum was raised, asking Buxton and Hale if they think the U18/21 players ahold have been given more of an opportunity this season. The response being "they haven't done enough to convince Warne". They also stated Thomspon not being a top performer in the U21s, but stepping up seamlessly under Rooney.
None have played more than Robinson, who has only got 90 minutes vs a Wolves U21 side and hasn't played in any other game. The only player to feature in the League (Brown) has only got 13 minutes, I would be extremely surprised to see someone getting a chance this season.
Take that Wolves U21 game away, then you really see how willing Warne is to using them: Brown (30 mins), Radcliffe (11 mins) Weston (6 mins) and Fapetu (2 mins). It's pathetic.
They could have had a meaningful amount of minutes earlier in the season, even against the likes of Crewe or Bradford in Cup competitions, or when 2 goals up against Carlisle, Leyton Orient, and Bristol Rovers. If they were, we'd now have a better idea of whether they could step in for a couple of games. Even if they weren't ready, using them in more games would have helped keep our older players fresher, and potentially injury free.

Very very frustrating loss.
I can't really think of anyone who made a good name for themselves today.
All over the place tactically and was very reminiscent of the first part of the season. Everyone seemed panicky and was too much looking at each other rather than taking the initiative themselves. Credit to Northampton they sussed our standard build up game plan of getting it out to the Wing Backs as they had 3 men immediately surrounding when Sibley/Wilson received the ball. 
Their low block was making our back 3 have tunnel vision when we were trying to play it forward at time it felt ages before we would play the ball forward and by the time it would be played forward Northampton's defence would have found their shape again. Today showed the holes in Warnes system which is if you are wasteful or slow when the wings have committed it can spell danger as their goal was prime example.

I would guess a few clubs are after him in the Prem in order to fill the homegrown player quota which was why Man City have had Carson the past few years. Unless he is totally driven by the cash I would find it weird to see him just rot on some teams bench and get the odd cup start when he's finally found some consistency of playing week in, week out for us. He doesn't seem like the type to want to just sit around so hopefully he re-signs with us.

For further context on the teams near the bottom last season during the last 7 games
Cambridge Won 4 drew 1 lost 2
Morecambe Won 4 drew 1 lost 2
MK Dons Drew 5 times and Lost 2
Some teams in the relegation scrap are going to wake up and snatch points off people and I'm glad we don't play Cambridge till near the end where it might not mean much hopefully for either side.

Another aspect possibly how the Football Regulator would have dealt with our situation is the establishment of a licencing structure with all clubs, similar to what they have in France and Germany. Any club that is spending far beyond their means or a owner that is mistreating their club (as we currently see with reading) will have their licence downgraded to a provisional (for 3 years) or even in harsher situations maybe even have their licence taken away (the parliament bill states that will be a last resort)
Good examples of the licencing structure in action in the above countries recently have been Kaiserslautern and Bordeaux who were deep financial turmoil after being reckless with spending got relegated to the depths of their respective lower professional divisions and were given a similar provisional licences to get their finances in order and are now on a path to being more sustainably run.
Essentially it creates a more formal lay of the land for owners to say 'you can only spend this amount otherwise there will be trouble!'. I suspect we will see initially lots of clubs downgraded to provisional licences to get their finances in order (outstanding debts, paying taxes etc). The regulator has to be strict and firm from the get go. What will be interesting however is the EFL going to punish clubs themselves if a club downgraded to a provisional licence i.e. points deduction (is there a need?)

Northampton have lost Tony Springett to Ireland under 21's and their striker Kieron Bowie to Scotland Under 21's. So bare bones up front for them on Saturday.

I think BBC Scotland spotted you scouting this player tonight 

Northampton have lost Tony Springett to Ireland under 21's and their striker Kieron Bowie to Scotland Under 21's. So bare bones up front for them on Saturday.

One way to look at this would be the history of this league.
Last season third team got 96 points but before that, the numbers were 89, 80, 60 (in 35 games), 88, and 87. That means the third place has lately been reached 1.66-1.85 points per game.
So, if we leave out the freakish seasons (last and Covid ones), the 2-point-per-game average Warne has been touting all season, seems a valid goal to reach the automatic place. This season is most likely no different.
Can we reach 92? Well, we are averaging exactly 2 points per game at the moment, so we certainly can.
Worth noting that Peterborough has the easiest run-in of the top 5 and Pompey has the hardest in the league. 


I remember posting a similar expectations-based post earlier where I expected Peterboro to do better than they did at the time and Stevenage to drop as their xG was all wrong. I can't be arsed to search what the situation was at the time, but Stevenage certainly has dropped since.
The automatic promotion battle will probably go to the wire, but the second place is ours to lose.

Northampton have lost Tony Springett to Ireland under 21's and their striker Kieron Bowie to Scotland Under 21's. So bare bones up front for them on Saturday.

Another aspect possibly how the Football Regulator would have dealt with our situation is the establishment of a licencing structure with all clubs, similar to what they have in France and Germany. Any club that is spending far beyond their means or a owner that is mistreating their club (as we currently see with reading) will have their licence downgraded to a provisional (for 3 years) or even in harsher situations maybe even have their licence taken away (the parliament bill states that will be a last resort)
Good examples of the licencing structure in action in the above countries recently have been Kaiserslautern and Bordeaux who were deep financial turmoil after being reckless with spending got relegated to the depths of their respective lower professional divisions and were given a similar provisional licences to get their finances in order and are now on a path to being more sustainably run.
Essentially it creates a more formal lay of the land for owners to say 'you can only spend this amount otherwise there will be trouble!'. I suspect we will see initially lots of clubs downgraded to provisional licences to get their finances in order (outstanding debts, paying taxes etc). The regulator has to be strict and firm from the get go. What will be interesting however is the EFL going to punish clubs themselves if a club downgraded to a provisional licence i.e. points deduction (is there a need?)

For further context on the teams near the bottom last season during the last 7 games
Cambridge Won 4 drew 1 lost 2
Morecambe Won 4 drew 1 lost 2
MK Dons Drew 5 times and Lost 2
Some teams in the relegation scrap are going to wake up and snatch points off people and I'm glad we don't play Cambridge till near the end where it might not mean much hopefully for either side.

For further context on the teams near the bottom last season during the last 7 games
Cambridge Won 4 drew 1 lost 2
Morecambe Won 4 drew 1 lost 2
MK Dons Drew 5 times and Lost 2
Some teams in the relegation scrap are going to wake up and snatch points off people and I'm glad we don't play Cambridge till near the end where it might not mean much hopefully for either side.

Whilst Peterborough on the face of it have the 'easiest' run in I would consider that their game against Port Vale 3 days after Wembley cup final a massive banana skin alongside that away fixture vs Cheltenham (who were unlucky not to beat Barnsley at the weekend) on the tuesday of the final week. You want to avoid teams who still have something to play for. Their constant 2 games a week schedule you would think will make them vulnerable to fatigue in games. Even their away game vs Orient before the pizza cup final you would think for those players to try and not get injured and miss playing at Wembley.

Whilst Peterborough on the face of it have the 'easiest' run in I would consider that their game against Port Vale 3 days after Wembley cup final a massive banana skin alongside that away fixture vs Cheltenham (who were unlucky not to beat Barnsley at the weekend) on the tuesday of the final week. You want to avoid teams who still have something to play for. Their constant 2 games a week schedule you would think will make them vulnerable to fatigue in games. Even their away game vs Orient before the pizza cup final you would think for those players to try and not get injured and miss playing at Wembley.

Whilst Peterborough on the face of it have the 'easiest' run in I would consider that their game against Port Vale 3 days after Wembley cup final a massive banana skin alongside that away fixture vs Cheltenham (who were unlucky not to beat Barnsley at the weekend) on the tuesday of the final week. You want to avoid teams who still have something to play for. Their constant 2 games a week schedule you would think will make them vulnerable to fatigue in games. Even their away game vs Orient before the pizza cup final you would think for those players to try and not get injured and miss playing at Wembley.

Whilst Peterborough on the face of it have the 'easiest' run in I would consider that their game against Port Vale 3 days after Wembley cup final a massive banana skin alongside that away fixture vs Cheltenham (who were unlucky not to beat Barnsley at the weekend) on the tuesday of the final week. You want to avoid teams who still have something to play for. Their constant 2 games a week schedule you would think will make them vulnerable to fatigue in games. Even their away game vs Orient before the pizza cup final you would think for those players to try and not get injured and miss playing at Wembley.

Football web pages prediction update after today's results

I think Hourihane has qualities that we just can't seem to benefit from in this system. The amount of times he drifted out wide yesterday to literally stand and watch Bolton play their way through the huge gaps in midfield was frustrating. He definitely needs at least two bodies in there doing his work for him, but at this stage of his career it's debatable whether it's worth that investment.
He's a bit like a vintage rolls royce. Nice to have, but eventually you'll get sick of the loops you have to jump through to keep it going. 

Football web pages prediction update after today's results

Football web pages prediction update after today's results

To be fair to Paul Warne, I and others have been critical of late subs....too late to influence the game.
So I for one will not criticize early subs.
Anyone know why barkhuizen has been taken off?

138 posts in 5 days, very impressive.
On for the worst like to post ratio in the entire forum 

5 yellows before match 19 one match ban
10 yellows before match 37 two match ban
15 yellows over 46 games 3 match ban
Ebou is on 5 (4 with us 1 with Cardiff)

5 yellows before match 19 one match ban
10 yellows before match 37 two match ban
15 yellows over 46 games 3 match ban
Ebou is on 5 (4 with us 1 with Cardiff)