Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: Scooter on August 16, 2025, 05:21:05 pm
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That was a tough game but I thought a draw was fair. Both sides defended well. Wycombe are a good side so take the point and move on.
We didn’t test their keeper though (apart from his mistake) so need to be more clinical
Plenty of hard work so well done Rovers
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Their subs were great and made them better. Our subs made us worse.
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I agree with that Gaz
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No idea why he took Gibbo off.
He was disappointed too when he looked up and saw his number flashed.
Also no idea why on 94mins and Timmy has the ball ready to launch it one final time, our big number 9 is out on the wing.
Good point though and it’s clear we can compete…I am concerned we don’t look to create much but I do think that will come.
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Think we will have learned a lot from that game. As above, we dropped intensity and structure with our substitutions and their three came on and we were all over the place. More positives than negatives overall and a point against a side who were right up there last season, isn't too bad.
We need to convert all that good play and possession in the first half into more goal threat though. Our press also totally fell apart after the substitutes came on. Ajayi wasn't great with retaining possession and Hanlan didn't seem to have same intensity as Billy. Middleton is a wasted player unless we have someone in the box or arriving into the box, as his excellent crosses just end up losing us possession.
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Why is Molyneux's right foot soooo much worse than his left?
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Think we will have learned a lot from that game. As above, we dropped intensity and structure with our substitutions and their three came on and we were all over the place. More positives than negatives overall and a point against a side who were right up there last season, isn't too bad.
We need to convert all that good play and possession in the first half into more goal threat though. Our press also totally fell apart after the substitutes came on. Ajayi wasn't great with retaining possession and Hanlan didn't seem to have same intensity as Billy. Middleton is a wasted player unless we have someone in the box or arriving into the box, as his excellent crosses just end up losing us possession.
A couple of occasions they had 3 or 4 players on him!
Better players this season and forcing him onto his right more.
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Why is Molyneux's right foot soooo much worse than his left?
Is that a serious question?
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Why is Molyneux's right foot soooo much worse than his left?
As a glass half full guy, I would say it is probably for the same reason his left foot is so much better than his right? :lol:
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No idea why he took Gibbo off.
He was disappointed too when he looked up and saw his number flashed.
Also no idea why on 94mins and Timmy has the ball ready to launch it one final time, our big number 9 is out on the wing.
Good point though and it’s clear we can compete…I am concerned we don’t look to create much but I do think that will come.
Molyneux was poor again today. He should have been taken off. Gibson was pretty good and deserved to get more minutes.
Playing Bailey at right back is just nonsensical (unless Nixon is not fit), got to play your best players in positions that affect the game. Really poor decision.
Broadbent good again but I can’t see us scoring enough goals this season to trouble the top 6.
Positive start to the season and we have certainly improved from last year, it’s much better to watch.
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8084 gate. Did anyone catch the away attendance? Looked around 300-400.
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Middleton needs to work on cutting in and shooting with his right, feel he could have had a couple today if he could do it and other teams will work him out if he’s going down the line every time
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Is Molyneux exempt from being subbed? Awful today.
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Middleton needs to work on cutting in and shooting with his right, feel he could have had a couple today if he could do it and other teams will work him out if he’s going down the line every time
He’s a one trick pony. Lacks real quality.
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Why is Molyneux's right foot soooo much worse than his left?
Is that a serious question?
I'm about as serious as it gets mucker. I want to know the answer right down to the biological and genetic level.
For anyone who's not Filo, I am alluding of course to some slopiness and sub-par things in our best player's game. It would be great to have him playing at the top of his game all the time but its not always like that.
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Thought the ref ruined the game to be honest. He was shocking for both sides and didn’t let it flow.
Wycombe are the best side we have faced this season so a decent point (still disappointed though)
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So far we've played 2 teams I'm sure will be bottom 6. Today we played someone who will probably be mid table and where I think we'll finish. Unless we sign a decent striker. Sharp was a huge upgrade today but can't be the main man if we're serious about giving promotion a go
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We’ve all watched Crewe and should know enough to see he tires in the second half, if Crewe is the preference then we need a similar player to replace him once tired - Ben Close!
Gibson was good today, and should not have come off, as mentioned Molyneux has been poor so far this season, and should’ve been replaced.
Broadbent was superb again today, that could be 3 MOM on the trot.
Not sure about the dig to Middleton either, he did impact play when he came on.
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8084 gate. Did anyone catch the away attendance? Looked around 300-400.
462
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So far we've played 2 teams I'm sure will be bottom 6. Today we played someone who will probably be mid table and where I think we'll finish. Unless we sign a decent striker. Sharp was a huge upgrade today but can't be the main man if we're serious about giving promotion a go
Can't help but feel the same. We're a striker away from being a real contender - the question is will the club wait till January.
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That was a tough game but I thought a draw was fair. Both sides defended well. Wycombe are a good side so take the point and move on.
We didn’t test their keeper though (apart from his mistake) so need to be more clinical
Plenty of hard work so well done Rovers
A dropped points against a team who’ve build a reputation on grabbing what ever gets presented . Goals at home would still seem to be McCanns only concern , Billy was a handful, but it tells you that McCann still can’t commit with any confidence a striker he can rely on other that Sharp .Its early days and after the great Middlesbrough result its back down with a bump ,someone other than Sharp is going to have step up and claim the responsibility of leading from the front for this long season .
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It's way too early to reach a judgement on Hanlan and maybe like Street in the early days we are not using him optimally, but it is not clear how he is either going to be a threat himself or the link guy to bring in our wide and advance midfield players. Doesn't in these early games appear to be too hot on the press either.
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Hard won point in the end, they are no mugs and will be in the mix by the end of the season.
It was telling that are subs didn't light up like there's did and we took the wrong wide player off. If he was adamant to get Middleton on wide left i would have liked Mols off Adjayi to wide right and Gibson in the 10 position.
BS put a big workload in there and we didn't have a player to replace him, this could be our undoing, the forward quality is sparse, when you compare to what they had in reserve and consider that they sold their best striker this week then you can see the problem we will have.
If GM's has a bit left in reserve then now rather than Jan might be an optimum time to twist one last time.
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Middleton needs to work on cutting in and shooting with his right, feel he could have had a couple today if he could do it and other teams will work him out if he’s going down the line every time
i get what your saying about adding some variety to his play but to be fair he managed to get in three good crosses in from the byline that we need to get on the end of in his short time on the pitch.
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It's way too early to reach a judgement on Hanlan and maybe like Street in the early days we are not using him optimally, but it is not clear how he is either going to be a threat himself or the link guy to bring in our wide and advance midfield players. Doesn't in these early games appear to be too hot on the press either.
Wasn’t it written on here that during a pre season friendly, Cliffe was shouting at him to run more.
Have to say I’m not impressed yet, from what I’ve seen so far I’d rather have Ironside on the pitch instead.
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It's way too early to reach a judgement on Hanlan and maybe like Street in the early days we are not using him optimally, but it is not clear how he is either going to be a threat himself or the link guy to bring in our wide and advance midfield players. Doesn't in these early games appear to be too hot on the press either.
I would otherwise agree, but the difference is Hanlan is now 28 years old and played for 7/8 different clubs. He is what he is. Street came to us as still a relatively young prospect with developement ahead of him.
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Sharp was excellent today, and when he went off, I'm sure Wycombe were delighted.
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
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Agree with the OP
,a point . It could've
3 points or zero.
Well earned point today
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8084 gate. Did anyone catch the away attendance? Looked around 300-400.
462
That's pretty good still. Well over 7500 home supporters.
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
I didn’t think it all was from the SS.
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Two evenly matched teams I thought so a draw was definitely a fair result. We lacked the quality in the final third where we took too many wrong options. Although the first half was quite bright, I thought we would go on to wear them down but fair play to Wycombe they stayed on it and arguably finished the stronger, while we got a bit more sloppy and hesitant.
Agree that Moly wasn't on it but no point worrying too much as we'll have better days
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Felt like until the last 20 minutes we were largely on top throughout but it is interesting that they had majority of possession and the most shots on target. Not so often we saw that last season.
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
I thought that too. From where I was in the South Stand it looked clearly out.
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Bit disappointed after the Middlesbrough result but hey this is football and we're not going to steam roller every team 4-0. Thought we could have been 2 up at half time but they came back stronger second half and could have pinched it. They're a very solid league 1 side and we'll face a lot of the same and even better in this division. We're a work in progress and are definitely progressing. Still think we're a bit light in the striker department but the squad is tremendous. Lots of reasons to be optimistic and still unbeaten. Happy times. :rtid:
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So far we've played 2 teams I'm sure will be bottom 6. Today we played someone who will probably be mid table and where I think we'll finish. Unless we sign a decent striker. Sharp was a huge upgrade today but can't be the main man if we're serious about giving promotion a go
What makes you think Wycombe will be midtable when they’ve been in the playoffs the last two years and invested heavily this summer ?
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Why do refs play "advantage" when it should be a penalty?
1st half for us clear through quick pull back on shirt play on says ref. Is their a timescale involved on shirt pulls in the box?
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
Not sure it was definitely out.
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So far we've played 2 teams I'm sure will be bottom 6. Today we played someone who will probably be mid table and where I think we'll finish. Unless we sign a decent striker. Sharp was a huge upgrade today but can't be the main man if we're serious about giving promotion a go
What makes you think Wycombe will be midtable when they’ve been in the playoffs the last two years and invested heavily this summer ?
Agree as looking at other results so far, we can't tell who's going to be where come the end of the season.
Today was probably a good learning curve for us. Whilst we did alot of things well, we also made some basic things look difficult and started to look edgy with the belief evaporating into hope. The better teams don't get frustrated by mistakes and mishaps, they just keep going until they force openings and capitalise. There were a few occasions today when we overloaded their defence but weren't ruthless enough to go for the jugular. Getting strikes off instead of looking for another pass or playing a percentage cross instead of picking someone out are all things that make the difference on the day.
The good news is we haven't got a mountain to climb, as we've got a great crop of players willing to learn.
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
Not sure it was definitely out.
I sit in the West stand almost in line and we were shouting for a corner when the goalie dragged it back. The whole ball was at least a couple of inches over the line. The Lino was a yard or more behind play at that point and caught up as Sharp put it in so I think he guessed that the whole ball hadn’t gone over.
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So far we've played 2 teams I'm sure will be bottom 6. Today we played someone who will probably be mid table and where I think we'll finish. Unless we sign a decent striker. Sharp was a huge upgrade today but can't be the main man if we're serious about giving promotion a go
What makes you think Wycombe will be midtable when they’ve been in the playoffs the last two years and invested heavily this summer ?
Agree as looking at other results so far, we can't tell who's going to be where come the end of the season.
Today was probably a good learning curve for us. Whilst we did alot of things well, we also made some basic things look difficult and started to look edgy with the belief evaporating into hope. The better teams don't get frustrated by mistakes and mishaps, they just keep going until they force openings and capitalise. There were a few occasions today when we overloaded their defence but weren't ruthless enough to go for the jugular. Getting strikes off instead of looking for another pass or playing a percentage cross instead of picking someone out are all things that make the difference on the day.
The good news is we haven't got a mountain to climb, as we've got a great crop of players willing to learn.
Only seen the highlights but that looked a great finish for their goal
Not seen that sort of quality from us in the box. If we could improve in that area then we would be a serious team.
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Middleton needs to work on cutting in and shooting with his right, feel he could have had a couple today if he could do it and other teams will work him out if he’s going down the line every time
A trip spec savers wouldn’t go a miss as he keeps aiming at the wrong player !!
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So far we've played 2 teams I'm sure will be bottom 6. Today we played someone who will probably be mid table and where I think we'll finish. Unless we sign a decent striker. Sharp was a huge upgrade today but can't be the main man if we're serious about giving promotion a go
What makes you think Wycombe will be midtable when they’ve been in the playoffs the last two years and invested heavily this summer ?
Agree as looking at other results so far, we can't tell who's going to be where come the end of the season.
Today was probably a good learning curve for us. Whilst we did alot of things well, we also made some basic things look difficult and started to look edgy with the belief evaporating into hope. The better teams don't get frustrated by mistakes and mishaps, they just keep going until they force openings and capitalise. There were a few occasions today when we overloaded their defence but weren't ruthless enough to go for the jugular. Getting strikes off instead of looking for another pass or playing a percentage cross instead of picking someone out are all things that make the difference on the day.
The good news is we haven't got a mountain to climb, as we've got a great crop of players willing to learn.
Only seen the highlights but that looked a great finish for their goal
Not seen that sort of quality from us in the box. If we could improve in that area then we would be a serious team.
We had 4 or 5 players in the box. Really poor they even got a shot off.
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8084 gate. Did anyone catch the away attendance? Looked around 300-400.
462
That's pretty good still. Well over 7500 home supporters.
Who do we have to beat to get higher as it’s been around this for years now !!
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
No it wasn’t
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Is Molyneux exempt from being subbed? Awful today.
Or perhaps Mols is having to adapt to the attention that his stellar League Two season has created, namely that as soon as he gets the ball he is surrounded by 2 or 3 players. Gibbo had more room. That said, I do agree Gibbo was better today, but I would be miles away from calling Mols awful. He’ll adapt to the attention, or his teammates will adapt how they play and take advantage of the opposition focussing on Mols so much.
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8084 gate. Did anyone catch the away attendance? Looked around 300-400.
462
That's pretty good still. Well over 7500 home supporters.
Who do we have to beat to get higher as it’s been around this for years now !!
League One gates this weekend, ranked:
Bradford - 20233
Cardiff - 17555
Reading - 13757
Barnsley - 13167
Blackpool - 10992
Wigan Athletic - 8748
Lincoln City - 8503
Rovers - 8084
Leyton Orient - 7651
Exeter City - 6166
Burton - 4404
Stevenage - not disclosed but likely below 4000
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
No it wasn’t
Sitting pretty much in line with it in the west stand it definitely was. I didn’t initially celebrate as I expected a corner.
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A draw to Wycombe is good. Solid team performance from us. The whole standard of the game was miles ahead of a typical L2 fixture.
That Leahy (no.10) in midfield was absolute quality, as were the two wide men who came on for them.
For us, I think the lack of right footed wing options has the potential to be more of an issue than the centre forwards. Middleton didn’t look to fit the system today playing on the left. Ajayi, Mols and him all left-footed.
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
No it wasn’t
Sitting pretty much in line with it in the west stand it definitely was. I didn’t initially celebrate as I expected a corner.
The whole ball didn’t cross the line, I had an excellent view and not obscured by goalposts
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
I didn’t think it all was from the SS.
It wasn’t out of play.
The keeper kept it in in his desperation not to concede a corner.
He didn’t make a fuss and didn’t try to claim it had gone out of play.
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Enjoyed the game, first time I've seen us this season and thought we were a good match for what is an experienced, well established League 1 side. The new signings have certainly added quality especially O'Riordan and Gotts who I thought were excellent. We faded in the 2nd half and the subs Wycombe made almost won them the game. Overall a solid performance.
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Back to Gibbo. He was excellent today apart from his final ball and his inability to get much power into a shot.
He always seems to scuff the ball when shooting.
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Back to Gibbo. He was excellent today apart from his final ball and his inability to get much power into a shot.
He always seems to scuff the ball when shooting.
Finishing is, and always has been, his weakness.
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Is Molyneux exempt from being subbed? Awful today.
Christ almighty, awful??
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8084 gate. Did anyone catch the away attendance? Looked around 300-400.
462
That's pretty good still. Well over 7500 home supporters.
Who do we have to beat to get higher as it’s been around this for years now !!
League One gates this weekend, ranked:
Bradford - 20233
Cardiff - 17555
Reading - 13757
Barnsley - 13167
Blackpool - 10992
Wigan Athletic - 8748
Lincoln City - 8503
Rovers - 8084
Leyton Orient - 7651
Exeter City - 6166
Burton - 4404
Stevenage - not disclosed but likely below 4000
Barnsley played Bolton today, they would have fetched a good crowd, if they had been playing us the overall crowd would have been around 10.5k, today Barnsley got 13.5k, these are the type of attendance we should be working towards.
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Why do refs play "advantage" when it should be a penalty?
1st half for us clear through quick pull back on shirt play on says ref. Is their a timescale involved on shirt pulls in the box?
Clear pulling the shirt even from where i sit. A bit strange the 1st half the ref seemed to be very reluctant to give free kicks unless they were in the middle of the park
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I think on the whole we edged it today. It was only the last 20 minutes where they showed some impetus to get forward, like others have said, their subs had good impact whereas ours turned out not to be as good today.
I think we're just a Rob Street short of a good L1 team by the looks of it, although Tuesday will be another big test of where we are. Frustrating we just couldn't get the balls right in the final third, particularly in the first half. Sharp worked very hard up front, but it needs someone like Street to make full effect of our play. I'd be interested to know whether Ironside will get a chance.
I thought Broadbent and Gotts were good in the middle, Gibbo good. Moly just didn't get any space, as to be expected. Senior good at LB, O'Riordon looks very good.
Plenty of positives, on to the next one.
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
I sit directly in line with the goal line in the West I was 99.5% sure it was out and screaming for it, but the lino wasnt up with play and I'll take it as well
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I think on the whole we edged it today. It was only the last 20 minutes where they showed some impetus to get forward, like others have said, their subs had good impact whereas ours turned out not to be as good today.
I think we're just a Rob Street short of a good L1 team by the looks of it, although Tuesday will be another big test of where we are. Frustrating we just couldn't get the balls right in the final third, particularly in the first half. Sharp worked very hard up front, but it needs someone like Street to make full effect of our play. I'd be interested to know whether Ironside will get a chance.
I thought Broadbent and Gotts were good in the middle, Gibbo good. Moly just didn't get any space, as to be expected. Senior good at LB, O'Riordon looks very good.
Plenty of positives, on to the next one.
If only Gibbo could shoot instead of mishitting most of them.
He also needs to work on his final ball into the box.
Otherwise I really rate him as a good player, quick and with terrific ability.
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
Not sure it was definitely out.
I sit in the West stand almost in line and we were shouting for a corner when the goalie dragged it back. The whole ball was at least a couple of inches over the line. The Lino was a yard or more behind play at that point and caught up as Sharp put it in so I think he guessed that the whole ball hadn’t gone over.
You must be pretty close to me then Im directly in line Harrogate Rover is the row behind and a couple of seats along. I swore blind it was all the way out but the lino was behind play, and Billy did the totally right thing "play to the whistle" :) :)
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Agree with quite a few, we’re a good striker away from having a good season. Hanlan is not the man. He looked lost when he came on and not really leading the line. His closing down was non-existent and positional sense all over the place.
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
Not sure it was definitely out.
I sit in the West stand almost in line and we were shouting for a corner when the goalie dragged it back. The whole ball was at least a couple of inches over the line. The Lino was a yard or more behind play at that point and caught up as Sharp put it in so I think he guessed that the whole ball hadn’t gone over.
You must be pretty close to me then Im directly in line Harrogate Rover is the row behind and a couple of seats along. I swore blind it was all the way out but the lino was behind play, and Billy did the totally right thing "play to the whistle" :) :)
I’m in seat G538, the aisle is on my left hand side. We are almost in line with the corner flag. We were sure that we could see daylight between the far post and the whole of the ball beyond the far post.
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As I said earlier, the keeper accepted that he had dropped a clanger and didn’t try to alert the ref that the ball had gone out of play.
You can bet your last penny that if it had gone out he would have made a big fuss.
My initial reaction was that the keeper kept the ball in play.
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A point will do me. When you keep winning, the balloon gets bigger and bigger until you lose, and then it bursts.
At least it's only been deflated a bit today.
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All we need to do is average 2 points per game. It's that simple. Average 1.75 points per game till March and we're right in the mix.
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Everyone saying we are only a good striker short of a very good team… that might be true, but who has got the spare 500k + it will take to sign one?
Yeah we could get lucky with a loan, but that’s not guaranteed to make us any better
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Nothing is guaranteed! End of the day we’ve played 4 games this season won 3 of them and drawn the other. We’re already a good side
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Take a listen to their manager if you get chance, he is livid with his team, and thinks that was the worst performance ever.
I thought they were decent to be honest, probably not until we scored though.
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Nothing is guaranteed! End of the day we’ve played 4 games this season won 3 of them and drawn the other. We’re already a good side
Erm, I said we are a good side. Calm down. What I questioned was the expectation that we just go out and sign a striker that would cost significant money
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Nobody should be getting carried away but Birmingham City won League One last season with an all time points record equivalent to 2.4 points per game and we are currently on 2.3 points per game and are definitely going to beat that and win the league by Easter. Absolutely pissing this league and going up.
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Everyone saying we are only a good striker short of a very good team… that might be true, but who has got the spare 500k + it will take to sign one?
Yeah we could get lucky with a loan, but that’s not guaranteed to make us any better
Likely the route we go down. Nobody expects that sort of fee. Yes the crowds are up but nowhere near enough to be spending that on 1 player on a fee alone.
I think we'll sign a striker and still ship a few out ie Close Westbrook possibly Ironside as clearly not fancied by McCann
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If McCann wants to, then we still have a space to loan in a striker, but given he is not going to have two strikers on the bench, it means Sharp or Hanlan drops out of the match day squad. That’s not going to happen.
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Back to Gibbo. He was excellent today apart from his final ball and his inability to get much power into a shot.
He always seems to scuff the ball when shooting.
Gibson looked really good today running with the ball and affecting our game approaching their box but a winger who can't cross and can't shoot isn't really much use. No good out wide and if he can't shoot not much good in the middle.
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The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
Not sure it was definitely out.
I sit in the West stand almost in line and we were shouting for a corner when the goalie dragged it back. The whole ball was at least a couple of inches over the line. The Lino was a yard or more behind play at that point and caught up as Sharp put it in so I think he guessed that the whole ball hadn’t gone over.
You must be pretty close to me then Im directly in line Harrogate Rover is the row behind and a couple of seats along. I swore blind it was all the way out but the lino was behind play, and Billy did the totally right thing "play to the whistle" :) :)
I’m in seat G538, the aisle is on my left hand side. We are almost in line with the corner flag. We were sure that we could see daylight between the far post and the whole of the ball beyond the far post.
S540 directly in line And yes I was sure there was daylight but the lino wasn't up with play at that point
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Yep! Had Billy not tucked it away I would have been screaming for a corner! Whether the ball was 100% out, we'll never know. The lino can't have known, he was nowhere near level.
The ball for our goal was definitely out of play but I’ll take it!
Not sure it was definitely out.
I sit in the West stand almost in line and we were shouting for a corner when the goalie dragged it back. The whole ball was at least a couple of inches over the line. The Lino was a yard or more behind play at that point and caught up as Sharp put it in so I think he guessed that the whole ball hadn’t gone over.
You must be pretty close to me then Im directly in line Harrogate Rover is the row behind and a couple of seats along. I swore blind it was all the way out but the lino was behind play, and Billy did the totally right thing "play to the whistle" :) :)
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It was a good point because we could easily have lost the game, their subs made a real difference.
However whilst we played reasonably well we didn’t do well with our attempts on goal never really gave their keeper too many problems.
Saying mols was awful is a joke, yes he wasn’t at his best (expectations are at highest level) however every time he received the ball he was face with 2 and more often it was 3 of their players.
The
Problem is that this happens regularly so we should be looking to take advantage of this. Unfortunately we are not doing so, in the main the ball comes backward, we need to get runners so we can take their 3 out of the equation.
I know it’s early days, but for me Hanlan is not showing anything, he looks a strong guy but doesn’t seem to be able to hold his own.
Just feel whilst they are no mugs, it’s a game we should have been looking to win, we didn’t take advantage of our good play, we will face a lot more better sides than Wycombe.
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It's been a great start to the season and we look competitive at a higher level but I came away a little concerned from yesterday's game.
I though Wycombe were poor first half and were there for the taking (yes they improved second half especially when their subs came on).
Rovers looked good in midfield - Broadbent, Crew, Gotts and Gibson played well.
But in the final third we were punchless and never looked like scoring. To fail to force the opposition keeper into a save at home whilst dominating in the middle of the park for much of the game is a worry.
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I'd say we complicated the final ball/pass on too many occasions, we need to take a chance on a speculative shot more often, by the time we are set the defence has regrouped and crowded us out.
When Middleton and Hanlon came on the opportunity was there, Middleton created the chances but we didn't have the capability to finish, someone said Middleton is a one trick pony, this is miles off, we just need the forward players on the same wavelength to finish from some excellent through balls.
We all seem to be on the same page with this, i just hope we have the opportunity to get that finisher into the squad.
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Even if he is a one trick pony, majority of clubs in L1 would be highly delighted if there winger was getting that quality of crosses into the box.
Even when a defender is tight on him, he still manages to get a quality cross into the box.
We also works hard to get back to makes challenges.
I would like to see him getting inside and taking more shots.
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A point will do me. When you keep winning, the balloon gets bigger and bigger until you lose, and then it bursts.
At least it's only been deflated a bit today.
Agree with this
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If Middleton is a one trick pony it's not a bad one, is it? Get to the byeline & stick a cross into the 6 yard box, hardly his fault no one gets on the end of it.
We are a work in progress, as has been said, we've a good squad & should only improve as the season progresses.
I can't wait for Tuesday, good times.
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Not seen anyone so far managed to lay a glove on Middleton defensively. Problem is nobody in red and white in same postcode as his excellent crosses. He looks quality at this level.
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If Middleton is a one trick pony it's not a bad one, is it? Get to the byeline & stick a cross into the 6 yard box, hardly his fault no one gets on the end of it.
We are a work in progress, as has been said, we've a good squad & should only improve as the season progresses.
I can't wait for Tuesday, good times.
He had a number of opportunities to show some composure and pick out a man with a pass/cross, and didn’t. These things can improve with getting to know his colleagues. For me, just spamming crosses into the box is a bit basic. Creating real opportunities requires a bit more than that.
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Is Molyneux exempt from being subbed? Awful today.
I remember we had this last season on a thread, same comments, Moly hopeless and this that and the other.
3 points to note.
1) As mentioned he gets surrounded by 2/3 players as soon as he gets the ball.(so what are the ‘free’ players doing?)
2) it’s early season and he’s just not quite razor sharp, we won’t have to wait too long though.
3) And… the biggest reason, Sterry is not on the pitch. The way they work together is immense. Moly goes from a really decent player to a great one when he’s got his wingman close to him.
So no issue.
Gibson was good yesterday and I reckon he’s a year and a bit behind where Moly was, (loads of potential but some things just not quite coming off) he’ll improve hugely if his character is right.
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Middleton crying out for Ironside in the box
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On their forum they view,
The ref was totally useless, they should have been given more fouls, yellow cards and a red.
Billy Sharp is a total ****** although one poster says he was the same as when he played for Everton!
Comments about our lack of shots on target.
However the majority of posts are about the way they played, and they are not happy with their manager, quite a lot calling for him to go.
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If Middleton is a one trick pony it's not a bad one, is it? Get to the byeline & stick a cross into the 6 yard box, hardly his fault no one gets on the end of it.
We are a work in progress, as has been said, we've a good squad & should only improve as the season progresses.
I can't wait for Tuesday, good times.
From the little I've seen of Middleton he is definitely a great addition however there was at least 2 occasions yesterday were he could have got an effort away on goal with his right foot, instead switching back to his left to cross. We need to be more speculative in the final third instead of trying to walk it in.
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If Middleton is a one trick pony it's not a bad one, is it? Get to the byeline & stick a cross into the 6 yard box, hardly his fault no one gets on the end of it.
We are a work in progress, as has been said, we've a good squad & should only improve as the season progresses.
I can't wait for Tuesday, good times.
He had a number of opportunities to show some composure and pick out a man with a pass/cross, and didn’t. These things can improve with getting to know his colleagues. For me, just spamming crosses into the box is a bit basic. Creating real opportunities requires a bit more than that.
Yesterday he wasn't great, granted, but the Exeter game & the Blackpool game he put numerous great crosses right into the middle of the 6 yard box, from the byeline, right where you'd expect your number 9 to be, I wouldn't call that spamming, personally.
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Middleton has been a long term target of Grants, be interesting to see what grant can coax out of him!
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If Middleton is a one trick pony it's not a bad one, is it? Get to the byeline & stick a cross into the 6 yard box, hardly his fault no one gets on the end of it.
We are a work in progress, as has been said, we've a good squad & should only improve as the season progresses.
I can't wait for Tuesday, good times.
From the little I've seen of Middleton he is definitely a great addition however there was at least 2 occasions yesterday were he could have got an effort away on goal with his right foot, instead switching back to his left to cross. We need to be more speculative in the final third instead of trying to walk it in.
Agree. You can see his full repertoire in this pre season match, playing on both left and right flanks, scoring 2 goals into the corners , also crossing with both feet plus a free kick off the bar.
https://youtu.be/C0iyMhvjM64?si=nbG2h2UOMnbUOjvS
I was also disappointed he didn't cut inside and shoot when he's clearly capable and would love him to be given the opportunity to take more set pieces.
As with all our attacking players, it's the end product that matters so we want to see some shots taken with a bit of venom.
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I wonder if he could work down the middle, DBR?
About the same height as Billy, can go left or right, has a shot on him. Might be worth a try at, say, Accrington?
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I wonder if he could work down the middle, DBR?
About the same height as Billy, can go left or right, has a shot on him. Might be worth a try at, say, Accrington?
Why not. In the Exeter game, he also pinged a nice header just over the bar so he has all round ability and as with Moly, Gibson and Ajayi can rotate across the front line.
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I wonder if he could work down the middle, DBR?
About the same height as Billy, can go left or right, has a shot on him. Might be worth a try at, say, Accrington?
Why not. In the Exeter game, he also pinged a nice header just over the bar so he has all round ability and as with Moly, Gibson and Ajayi can rotate across the front line.
Playing as a lone centre forward is a specialist role.
Completely different skill set to being a winger.