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Ambitious

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Everything posted by Ambitious

  1. Ahead of his move to Bristol City, I thought it would be interesting to note that Bird has not played in 10 games this season and we’ve won 8, drawn 1 (Portsmouth) and lost 1 (Bolton).
  2. Northampton are pretty poor form: three losses in their last four. The only point was against a dire Cambridge side who are currently on the worst run of form in the league. A win will see us climb to seven points ahead of third, albeit artificially with a game in hand, but the points on the board can induce panic in others. Every win is going to be significant but this could be huge for the mindset of others.
  3. With the injuries, we really could do with him stepping up now. Leyton Orient, Blackpool, Wycombe, Carlisle & Cambridge are all teams he's had goals/assists against this season, so we could do with him reproducing that going forward.
  4. I’d be embarrassed about being a Bolton fan coming on here talking about how they battered us: xG was 0.46 to 0.49. They were unlucky not to get a draw, but sideways passing between the centre backs, occasionally rotating into midfield and back to the centre backs, isn’t exactly the ‘battering’ you think it might be.
  5. I was on cloud 9 after the win yesterday, it was really gritty and everyone played their part. I really feared the worse when Gayle went off as I don’t think Waghorn is looking as sharp as he did earlier in the season and understood why Warne went with Smith, although it was an eyebrow raiser at the time, it sent a message to graft and not lose the game. It’s something that we will need to manage going forward, assuming Gayle is out for a while (or for the season) we are going to need find a solution for the remaining part of the season. In terms of quality football, it was a typical League One game. Bolton played the ball between both centre backs and Sheehan (who Warne was absolutely right to make life difficult) but they were unwilling to really throw men forward and honestly I think they froze in the big moment. Up against a team who they needed to beat, who had no striker on the pitch, they couldn’t find a solution. Nelson, Forsyth and Cashin gave them nothing. Aside from the header in the first half, they really didn’t create anything clear cut either. A few potshots, but the xG tells the story that neither team really could’ve complained with a draw or losing. A proper job, Warne deserves a lot of credit for navigating the team through it after Gayle went down. We do need to find a solution for the remaining games, if Gayle is done, Waghorn hopefully can start against Northampton and do a job. Collins will hopefully be back for the run in against Wycombe, Leyton Orient, Cambridge & Carlisle. I do worry about going in undercooked against Blackpool and Portsmouth, though.
  6. They will look to starve us of the ball, for sure, but I do wonder how high their back line will be - I’d suspect a mid-low block and a lot of emphasis on Sheehan (their DM) to play through the lines and control the space between midfield and defence. I’d like to see us get a man on him whenever they have the ball, make them play longer passes. Of course that all changes if they play with a high line but I just don’t see them doing that with Barkhuizen, NML and Gayle upfront. A huge risk that they don’t need to really take.
  7. I read somewhere Couhig is looking for an exit strategy from Wycombe, this is a method whereby he adds a fairly significant asset to the book value of the club he's looking to sell and also removes a fairly significant asset away from a much bigger club within a similar location who could attract potential buyers. It's a no brainer for someone who is strictly business driven. This is a huge blow for Reading, though, who will undoubtedly see their academy picked apart and dismantled soon. I'd be surprised if they're able to avoid liquidation and don't have to start again. They don't see 160 years of trading IMO.
  8. At their very best, I would have Bolton as aesthetically the best team in the league but they do have a soft underbelly which has shown itself constantly this season. I'm intrigued to what the messaging to the players is going to be from our management staff - do we take confidence from the last three games and go toe-to-toe as we've hit our stride OR does Warne ensure we remain solid, robust and look to hit them on the break? Both approaches have merit, but feel that Bolton naturally don't like being on the back foot and so I would be very strong in that we continue to play how we have been the last few games. I do suspect that we will see Forsyth come in for Sibley and the 3-4-3 will resemble a 4-4-2 for the most part, though. I honestly don't care how it happens on Saturday, just win.
  9. I love centre midfield players that have the ability to be ‘there’ and he has it in an abundance. It’s a great trait and transferable at every level. It’s a different kettle of fish to Gorgeous George who had limitless ability and could do things I’ve never seen a Derby player do, but at the level we are at Ebou is a great alternate. Fantastic from the recruitment staff who deserve their credit on this one.
  10. Agreed, I do feel that Warne has fell on to something as Ward, Sibley and Gayle were afterthoughts and yet are driving the new dynamic of the team. Not having Collins stood on the last man, creating an easy out ball has really helped. I do wonder what happens when he returns, because I do worry that we will revert back to type. Players are having to think a bit more and have more patience in their build up play and it’s helping drive standards. Collins, as good as he’s been, allows players to take the easy way out of situations.
  11. I don’t want to get ahead of myself or allow myself to be excited, but.. I feel like something has finally clicked. Best performance we’ve ever had under Warne, in my opinion. We’ve fell on to a workable system, the main reason was the recruitment staff doing their job and finding a gem in Ebou Adams and very recently I think it’s not in any small part to having to change the dynamic with Gayle upfront. I believe these two signings in particular have changed our fortunes, similarly to how Nyambe did earlier in the season. Sibley and Ward are excelling. The defence are well balanced, the cohesion between the midfield and defence is significantly better, gaps aren’t as freely available for the other team and we are now working well going forward. I think we actually look like a team now, which for the majority of the season has definitely been missing something. The last two performances, the dynamic of the team, I’m finally hopeful.
  12. I have no doubts that Clowes and Warne are aligned and enjoy a good working relationship, but based on how frustrated the fans are with Warne on the whole that I do wonder whether there would be a significant commercial drop-off from fans IF we are to go into League One next year with Warne as manager. As soon as it's confirmed we aren't going up, I already know the reaction on here is going to be heavy on the Warne out content. The thought of going into another League One season with Warne in the dugout does very little for me, especially ahead of such a significant rebuild. I would suggest it's just common sense to get someone in with a fresh mindset, personally. This season, despite the relative success, hasn't been enjoyable for a lot of people. The atmosphere around the club just isn't great.
  13. Just looking at how badly Rotherham are getting on, does anyone think that if we do stay down that it would be inconceivable that Warne head backs there? Clearly well liked by their owner and I just don't think his relationship survives anything other than promotion here. I could see it happening - may get us out of pay-off too!
  14. Watching the game last night, Barnsley looked decent and Bolton completely terrified for the first 45 minutes. Bolton then came out swinging and were phenomenal in the second half - a performance reminiscent of Ipswich last season where they were able to take over the game. Ultimately, you can see why both teams are roughly in line with ourselves, who are largely uninspiring, so I genuinely think it’s very much up in the air. Bolton are definitely the best team out of us three, so my money would be on them, but soft underbelly based on last night’s viewing.
  15. I would say from watching the games, I don't think the standard is any worse or better than last season. Ipswich were clearly a very good last season. who had a month where they couldn't stop shooting themselves in the foot, but Sheff Wed weren't a great team and managed to get near on 100 pts. Ultimately, though, I think the top end is weaker this season than last and that's compounded by ourselves being in the top echelons of the division despite being, at our very best, extremely underwhelming. I find it hard to believe based on what I've seen of us this season that we will finish in the top two - the eye test just doesn't add up. Bolton and Portsmouth are the best two teams in the league and you would anticipate they're the ones who finish in the top two.
  16. It was actually a complete performance today - the back three have been coming along nicely as Bradley is getting more and more comfortable. The wing backs made a big difference today. Ward & Sibley were the best two players for us today. I don't know how much was down to Vale just being completely out of sorts and low on confidence. I guess we will find out over the next couple of months, but would love to see more of this performance on a weekly basis.
  17. I thought Gayle looked promising in the first 20 minutes and was a large reason why we started so brightly. It was nice to have an actual footballer upfront. As much as I like Collins, if he isn't getting his head on something or putting his toe on it then he's a liability outside box. Gayle just needs to get a goal to get some confidence and we need to play into his feet as he's processes things very quickly and can bring others into play.
  18. Pragmatic is a choice word that a lot of people use, but by very definition I find it is actually synonym for how Warne approaches football strategically. Pragmatic, to me, would be more Rosenior - with Cashin playing 140-odd passes backwards and sideways, attempting to move players out of position. Safe, controlled, usually with limited risk. Warne beats the drum of chaos, nothing about how we approach games is controlled and therefore can’t at all be described as pragmatic.
  19. I like Warne as a person, can see why he was hired and why Clowes likes working with him. All that said and done, I don’t think he’s right for the club. He simply has to get promoted this season, because the relationship with the fans won’t last another year in league one and commercially the fans are the lifeblood of the club at this level. Ironically, my fear is promotion with him in the role is equally as bleak as I don’t have the faith that we have the competency within the club to rise above our financial station. Clowes hasn’t got financial muscle to have us do anything other than treading water in the Championship. The foundations of this club, post-administration, has been unfortunately built on sand. Restrictions has made it difficult, obviously I take that into account, but there is no real philosophy other than to ride the coattails of journeymen Championship footballers, mostly on the downswing of their career, to overpower the dross standard that we found ourselves in.
  20. Barnsley haven’t won a game by more than the odd goal this year, which in this league is probably a sign they’re too lacking quality to put teams away. Portsmouth took huge strides adding decent players like Moxon and Lang to their team in January, otherwise they were also faltering at times.
  21. Started brightly, got the goal. The game became somewhat of a mess after that, compounded by Wildsmith being an absolute f****** idiot. Lost a tight game mostly down to poor decision-making at crucial times. In the grand scheme of things, we are a pretty f****** dreadful football team but that goes for every team in this league. Promotion would be great, but I have no faith in the club to make any great success of it. We simply get away with it in this league because we’re able to pay three or four times the wages of other teams. When we’re financially competing with others, notably financially outmatched by others, there’s nothing I’ve seen from the club that shows we can exceed expectations.
  22. I've had a look at the fixtures for every team and it definitely seems that we have the best run-in on paper. Bolton have four of the top six to play away in their remaining seven away games. They're a good side, but that's a tough ask of any team - especially a team conceding so many goals of late. Barnsley have a fairly steady run-in too, so may actually be the ones to watch, even if their games are often uninspiring wins by the odd-goal. Honestly, as a betting man, I would be looking at that thinking it will be Derby who have the easiest opportunity to pick up points. The next four games are crucial - three home games and away at a poor side. If we come through unscathed then we could be sitting in a very good position. Portsmouth - Home: Oxford, Burton, Barnsley, Derby, Shrewsbury, Wigan. Away: Blackpool, Peterborough, Wycombe, Bolton, Lincoln. Derby - Home: Charlton, Port Vale, Reading, Bolton, Blackpool, Leyton Orient, Carlisle. Away: Bristol Rovers, Northampton, Portsmouth, Wycombe, Cambridge. Bolton - Home: Cambridge, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Reading, Portsmouth, Port Vale. Away: Wigan, Barnsley, Exeter, Derby, Stevenage, Bristol Rovers, Peterborough. Barnsley - Home: Bolton, Lincoln, Cheltenham, Cambridge, Reading, Northampton. Away: Wycombe, Carlisle, Portsmouth, Burton, Charlton, Stevenage, Blackpool.
  23. Worth noting that we have on record Bogle earning £9.5k at 18/19, so wouldn’t be surprised to see Sibley on excess of £10k a week.
  24. I do kind of want to see him move on and reach his potential. The best player from that generation coming through, significantly so, yet hasn’t been afforded what the others have. I’d love to see him thrive somewhere and just don’t think it’s here - at least it has proven not to be the case up to now. We have seen how Archie Brown and Morgan Whittaker have thrived away from the club, Sibley deserves that opportunity.
  25. I didn’t watch the game, and when the team was announced I was more than a little disappointed in our approach, but it was clear that Warne thought we just needed to do a job without a striker to call upon. In the end we won the game thanks to a player who I would have absolutely had in from the start as he’s at least proven to score goals when given the opportunity in attacking positions. We did a job against the team who specialise in ‘doing jobs’. A huge three points, more so with Bolton drawing. Barnsley will be a tougher challenge but hopefully we will have a striker to call upon by then, depending on match fitness & EFL approval.
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