Lincoln City (H), 7.45pm Tuesday 14th February.

[kevinhectoring]

8 hours ago, BramcoteRam84 said:

Unfortunately unless you drop Knight probably can only accommodate one of Collins or Didzy, I’d go for the latter 

Find this a very odd comment. Didzy and Knight are the two strongest of our midfield and attacking players imo. (Though hopefully White will be challenging them by season end.)

What Warne needs to do is find a midfield unit - including Knight - which is competitive. Our MF has not been adequate last two games. And to find a system up front which allows Didzy to weave his magical football tapestry. If Collins is dropped and stays dropped that might be a sign we are back on track

[FlyBritishMidland]

19 minutes ago, ramboy63 said:

Pretty poor last night to be honest and right up until they had a man sent off we looked second best

Not sure what Warne is seeing in training but his tactics for the last two games have been whoeful we could all see last night we were getting out fought in midfield the way they were set up and did nothing to change it,Collins could of been pulled off after 20 minutes to be honest.

We go again Saturday and Charlton will be no easy ride,i know its only two games but all the sides around us keep winning we cant afford to many more poor performances or we will find ourselves outside the top six quick smart

He’d have had a better Valentines night than me!!

[BramcoteRam84]

12 minutes ago, kevinhectoring said:

Find this a very odd comment. Didzy and Knight are the two strongest of our midfield and attacking players imo. (Though hopefully White will be challenging them by season end.)

What Warne needs to do is find a midfield unit - including Knight - which is competitive. Our MF has not been adequate last two games. And to find a system up front which allows Didzy to weave his magical football tapestry. If Collins is dropped and stays dropped that might be a sign we are back on track

You took my comment out of context. The point I was making (or trying to make) is we have to get White into the team, he can give us some of what Bird gives us. It doesn’t work with Knight and Hourihane deep, the balance is wrong. If Warne wants to play Collins and McGoldrick the only way he can really do it is by dropping Knight. While he was poor last night personally I don’t think you can drop Knight which means you have to drop Collins or Didzy. 
 

My changes on Saturday would be Sibley for Roberts, White for Collins moving Didzy up top and Knight further forward, and I’d start Dobbin and Barkhuizen resting Mendez-Laing who is looking jaded and isn’t the same player right now.

[Zag zig]

6 minutes ago, BramcoteRam84 said:

You took my comment out of context. The point I was making (or trying to make) is we have to get White into the team, he can give us some of what Bird gives us. It doesn’t work with Knight and Hourihane deep, the balance is wrong. If Warne wants to play Collins and McGoldrick the only way he can really do it is by dropping Knight. While he was poor last night personally I don’t think you can drop Knight which means you have to drop Collins or Didzy. 
 

My changes on Saturday would be Sibley for Roberts, White for Collins moving Didzy up top and Knight further forward, and I’d start Dobbin and Barkhuizen resting Mendez-Laing who is looking jaded and isn’t the same player right now.

You’ve almost summed up the discussion we had in the car on the way back. We looked good with Bird alongside Hourihane, even better with Knight in that 3 and Didzy up front.

Agree with NML although I thought at Wycombe in my F.M head, I’d have bought back Barks who was doing well before his knock, plus he’s far more consistent than Dobbin and who’s pace must terrify weary defenders coming on fresh.

Sibley wins over Roberts for me. He did hit a couple of duff ones when he first came on, but he’s more a threat, as shown when he was unlucky rattling the underside of the bar

[Tamworthram]

8 hours ago, Crewton said:

How does an advantage to us turn into a goal for them 15 seconds later? NML's pass was awful but surely once we lost the ball it should have been our free kick? I'm told that their players were well offside too (and that McGoldrick was possibly onside for his disallowed header) but I haven't checked those allegations for myself. 

We clearly were, again, some way below our best, but with half competent officials we would probably have won that. The booing at halftime and at the end from some fans was ridiculous. 

I don't think all of Warne's substitutions were either necessary or effective, but we still did enough to win the game but lacked that little bit of good fortune to get the second goal.

White from the start on Saturday please Warney and put the extra man into midfield. 

I don’t know the rules but, unlike in Rugby Union where the advantage is often played for a very long time, the officials seem to play on if you’re in a better position. NML breaking with plenty of support meant we would have potentially been disadvantaged if the ref had stopped the game for a free kick. He wasn’t to know, and it wasn’t his fault, that NML messed up the opportunity. 
 

IMO, if a foul was committed (I can’t remember now), the ref got it right by playing the advantage and not calling play back simply because of our poor play. 
 

A prolonged period of “playing the advantage” is one thing I wouldn’t like to see adopted from Rugby.

[Ghost of Clough]

10 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

I don’t know the rules but, unlike in Rugby Union where the advantage is often played for a very long time, the officials seem to play on if you’re in a better position. NML breaking with plenty of support meant we would have potentially been disadvantaged if the ref had stopped the game for a free kick. He wasn’t to know, and it wasn’t his fault, that NML messed up the opportunity. 
 

IMO, if a foul was committed (I can’t remember now), the ref got it right by playing the advantage and not calling play back simply because of our poor play. 
 

A prolonged period of “playing the advantage” is one thing I wouldn’t like to see adopted from Rugby.

Mendez-Laing gave the ball away less than a second after being fouled.

[G STAR RAM]

10 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

Death, taxes, and Derby bottling promotion in February 

You forgot Derby fans over reacting after 1 defeat in 18 matches...

[CBRammette]

Still angry at their gamesmanship throughout. Can they be charged with bringing the game into disrepute? I know they wont be - in fact they will probably get bonus points from EFL or manager of the month- but can they?

further mutter but why wasnt their player booked who feigned injury/cramp towards end and refused to go off pitch when instructed by ref? 4th official had to physically stop him going back on?

Edited February 15, 2023 by CBRammette

[Ram-Alf]

9 hours ago, uttoxram75 said:

I'm not that bothered about Lincoln's players tbh. They were only acting on orders from the bench.

The referee and his officials deliberately allowed them to cheat. The waving to the goalie to go down was a different level of cheating to me, ive never seen that before. I'm sure there has been secret signs for players to feign injury over the years and we have witnessed many teams that have done it without obvious instruction, but this was the most blatant, out in the open, order from the manager for a player to go down in order to gain advantage ive witnessed in 50 years.

If the 4th official didn't see it he's lying or not watching.

What other conclusion can you come to?

The bench ordered the goalie to go down, the ref then allowed the medics to attend to him knowing that he had been told to feign injury. Its not incompetence, its cheating. The ref and the fourth official are obviously bent, there is no other explanation for watching the Lincoln bench screaming orders for him to collapse without penalising them.

Forget the pisspoor decisions, offsides, time wasting, etc, we expect all that every week

Wrapped up in a nutshell, Just another nail in a rotten coffin for me, It's endemic in the PL, I 1st noticed against Burnley all those years ago when Eddie Howe was their manager, Burnley winning 1-0 at PP and feigned injury at every opportunity, We lost 1-0, I left wondering WTF is happening to our game, Now in League 1 it's another component to delay and frustrate the opposition.

As for the officials being "bent" not to sure about that...incompetent...yes, Useless...to true, Common sense...lack of, Understanding the game...not a clue, Officials are those that never got to play the game(yes I know 1 or 2 did)they're like a policeman, A uniform and can be authoritive as their hum drum lives have been feckless and domineering by others 

Winning the Manager of the Month Award does have it's drawbacks ?   

Edited February 15, 2023 by The Last Post

[Day]

31 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

You forgot Derby fans over reacting after 1 defeat in 18 matches...

Important context right here. 

Last 2 games have been disappointing, if anyone thought we was going to romp the rest of the season without dropping any points at all, well, I'm not sure what to say.

Way too early to be hitting the panic button.

[Ram-Alf]

2 hours ago, VulcanRam said:

Time wasting and gamesmanship is part and parcel of the game, always has been.

"Always has been" ?, I never witnessed this in the 70s/80s when you could be hacked down, Elbowed in the face, Kicked from here to eternity, A bucket and sponge and a can of spray was the order of the day, Now a player can have his face brushed he'll implode feign his injury, Medics come on...hold his neck/head steady and ask a question, Wave a finger in front of his eyes then walk him to the touchline while making facial expressions as to re set his mush, This "cheating" has plagued the game Worldwide since the 90s and gotten worse, Football now is a win at all costs, Money is the driving force, We as the paying public are the ones who are being cheated.

A cancer in the game that FIFA are aware of but haven't the where with all to stop it, As there will be other tools at the Managers disposal to use...ie lawyers running on the pitch to sue players for over aggressiveness.   

[duncanjwitham]

1 minute ago, David said:

Important context right here. 

Last 2 games have been disappointing, if anyone thought we was going to romp the rest of the season without dropping any points at all, well, I'm not sure what to say.

Way too early to be hitting the panic button.

I'd say it's more than 2 games.  We were ropey against Bolton, absolutely dreadful for 88 minutes against Port Vale, poor against West Ham and pretty poor for the first half against Morecambe too. Even the Cheltenham game before that we were pretty sloppy.  We look way off what we were a month or so ago, and we've started conceding soft goals too.  Hopefully it's just a blip and not burnout from playing so aggressively with a lot of older legs in the team.

[jimtastic56]

8 minutes ago, David said:

Important context right here. 

Last 2 games have been disappointing, if anyone thought we was going to romp the rest of the season without dropping any points at all, well, I'm not sure what to say.

Way too early to be hitting the panic button.

Come on David - Make your mind up !

[Day]

Just now, duncanjwitham said:

I'd say it's more than 2 games.  We were ropey against Bolton, absolutely dreadful for 88 minutes against Port Vale, poor against West Ham and pretty poor for the first half against Morecambe too. Even the Cheltenham game before that we were pretty sloppy.  We look way off what we were a month or so ago, and we've started conceding soft goals too.  Hopefully it's just a blip and not burnout from playing so aggressively with a lot of older legs in the team.

Not sure I would fully agree with the assessment of those games.

Also don't think it's fair to put the West Ham game in there either, Premier League opposition in the cup.

[PistoldPete]

38 minutes ago, CBRammette said:

Still angry at their gamesmanship throughout. Can they be charged with bringing the game into disrepute? I know they wont be - in fact they will probably get bonus points from EFL or manager of the month- but can they?

further mutter but why wasnt their player booked who feigned injury/cramp towards end and refused to go off pitch when instructed by ref? 4th official had to physically stop him going back on?

It would have been justice if the Didzy goal had stood . Scoring in the 99th minute.would have served Lincoln right.

[PistoldPete]

1 minute ago, David said:

Not sure I would fully agree with the assessment of those games.

Also don't think it's fair to put the West Ham game in there either, Premier League opposition in the cup.

We weren’t ropey against Bolton.. far better than them I thought which makes it surprising they are on even better run than us. 

[Day]

Just now, PistoldPete said:

We weren’t ropey against Bolton.. far better than them I thought which makes it surprising they are on even better run than us. 

Agreed. Seem to recall Bolton fans talking about men v boys as well after the game. 

We all see it differently I guess.

Also think the Port Vale game wasn't just 2 minutes, admittedly we wasn't on it in the first half, second half was much better and were knocking at the door for a while before the first went in. 

[Ghost of Clough]

46 minutes ago, CBRammette said:

Still angry at their gamesmanship throughout. Can they be charged with bringing the game into disrepute? I know they wont be - in fact they will probably get bonus points from EFL or manager of the month- but can they?

further mutter but why wasnt their player booked who feigned injury/cramp towards end and refused to go off pitch when instructed by ref? 4th official had to physically stop him going back on?

I swear he ran back on to the pitch before the ref waved him on too, only to head away the cross seconds later.

[alfaskye]

Just seen the highlights, we had enough chances to win the game, both goals offside but McGoldrick wasn't offside when the ball was crossed so goal should have stood. All refereeing mistakes but all very close.

[duncanjwitham]

9 minutes ago, David said:

Not sure I would fully agree with the assessment of those games.

Also don't think it's fair to put the West Ham game in there either, Premier League opposition in the cup.

I certainly think the Port Vale performance was complete garbage, bar the 2 late goals.  And major parts of the rest were definitely below what we've been used to.  You can argue either way about West Ham, and I'm not expecting us to play them off the park or anything, but we looked very ineffective for the whole game.

The worry is we've gone from a load of good performances and results, to a few ropey-to-poor performances that we got results out of, to a couple of poor performances where we haven't got results.  If that's just a blip and we win the next 3 or something then great, but it looks a bit like the start of a trend.

7 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

We weren’t ropey against Bolton.. far better than them I thought which makes it surprising they are on even better run than us. 

Maybe ropey is the wrong word, but we definitely changed how we were playing, and started playing a lot more direct balls over the top instead of playing through the thirds, like we had been in previous games.  And that's been more evident in other recent games too.  We seem to have drifted away from what we were doing that was working.