Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: selby on February 07, 2026, 06:28:53 pm
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A game that doesn't grab some people but a game that is our last chance of making something of the season and a game against a side that are also up to press something of a disappointment to their supporters.
Paying quite a lot of money out on players at this level at the start of the season they were quite fancied by some to be one of the leading teams to get up out of the division, a pressure that has already cost one manager his job, and has not satisfied their supporters up to press and having to pull back a two goal lead Blackpool held over them today, although a good come back, wasn't what is expected of them.
Our display at Wycombe however was in parts one of our worst of the season, completely disjointed and void of any form, and at times outclassed individually, especially in our own penalty area where we looked anchored to the floor as Wycombe picked us off.
So a big disappointment after decent recent results, and back to shipping goals and lucky Wycombe didn't get more.
Will we make changes? is Byrne available? would the manager dare play Faulkner and Flint who are fit and going on loan if available? is Lee available? have we picked up any injuries today? how does he and the club view the importance of the game? how do the supporters view its importance? What would you do? all relevant questions as well as the main project of trying to stay away from the bottom four places in the division that we must try to avoid at all costs.
So a lot to discuss, and with no game next weekend probably more focus than a normal EFL trophy game. does going strong mean playing players who were outclassed today? but could have a chance to redeem themselves
Lots to discuss, lots for the players to focus on in a quick turn around and a dose of reality today to reflect on by both players and management, Please have your say.
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Let’s just put a different 11 out. Might surprise but might not. Does it matter. Players need a rest
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Spilsby, we have no game next weekend.
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Yeah agreed players need a rest, will be Gibson, sharp, Middleton up top. Broadbent, Robinson, Lee possibly for match fitness. Back 4 of Nixon, Pearson, Grehan and maxwell with TLT in net. Cant see Oram or Bryant playing.
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Irrelevant we have no game next weekend. After that today they need a long rest
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Think I’d like to see Bryant play, defo change out McGrath Senior and Sterry. Give the others a chance. My opinion that defensively we are woeful
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Think I’d like to see Bryant play, defo change out McGrath Senior and Sterry. Give the others a chance. My opinion that defensively we are woeful
Bryant or Oram?
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Half each
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I can not envisage the manager choosing Faulkner. Faulkner is behind Bryne, McGrath, Pearson and .... Flint. But never say never ... he may play .... unlikely IMO
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Lee will be available.
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We can get to Wembley (maybe even win the paint pot cup again) and finish mid-table.
That’s what we did in 2007. It was a good platform to build from then.
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Lee will be available.
…and we’ve got a Lee in the side again. Job done.
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Players need a rest? No they don't, they are professionals and have a high level of fitness, after next Tuesday they have a full week before playing again, they might even get the luxury of a Saturday off. We need to produce a good performance in the Virtu, the players want to play at Wembley, they would not thank you for being rested if they thought they could make a difference and get through the next round.
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And it’s only two wins from Wembley
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It’s hard to see how we’ve done this when confidence in the league is just so indifferent.
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I don't think there is a cat in hells chance Flint and Faulkner would play, it's our loss though, as none of the others are up to much IMHO, and are very unlikely to be so.
I would play Byrne and Faulkner with Flint just in front of the back four and release Bailey further forward if they are allowed to play.
If not any pairing will do they are much a muchness, none have pace or defensive positional awareness especially picking up and denying space to attackers in our own penalty area.
If Bailey ever played against us he would have a birthday attacking the six yard box late.
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Has Faulkner not gone back to Harrogate? Is he fit and available for us now?
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Yes and is match fit from this week, whether he is even allowed to play Tuesday I have no idea, Flint playing well in two earlier games is I would think, and Byrne and Lee also have no idea if they can play
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Let’s just put a different 11 out. Might surprise but might not. Does it matter. Players need a rest
Well we did just that at Middlesbrough and look what happened, one of our best performances this season.
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To slightly clear things up, because Bobby is an loan to a EFL club he is not allowed to be duel club registered, non league loans are.
So Bobby is ineligible to be recalled to play, But Flint and a number of other players like Sam Brown are, and have played in previous rounds.
Where that leaves Adekulan, Lee, Frankie, and Byrne I have no idea especially if they played in previous rounds for other clubs.
Obviously Frankie is out anyway, but the others would leave a big drop in choice if not available.
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To slightly clear things up, because Bobby is an loan to a EFL club he is not allowed to be duel club registered, non league loans are.
So Bobby is ineligible to be recalled to play, But Flint and a number of other players like Sam Brown are, and have played in previous rounds.
Where that leaves Adekulan, Lee, Frankie, and Byrne I have no idea especially if they played in previous rounds for other clubs.
Obviously Frankie is out anyway, but the others would leave a big drop in choice if not available.
Well Adelakun scored in the last round for us so he will be fine.
Lee should be fine since Wrexham aren't in the competition at all, but not sure if there is a rule regarding players being registered in time for it.
Frankie injured anyway but imagine he would be fine to play for us in this comp similar to the Adelakun rule about playing for 2 clubs.
Byrne as above but not sure again if theres a cut off point.
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Byrne,Lee,Bailey,Mols and Sterry dont want to be anywhere near the 11 on Tuesday for me. I dont really want to see them come off the bench either if i'm honest especially Bailey.He's played to many minutes.
We've got eleven days between league matches. Rest and work on the training ground will be far more beneficial than flogging them again on a Tuesday vertu cup game which even though its getting to the later stages is still low priority in our current position.
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Pearson surely going to start.
TLT
Maxwell
Pearson
Grehan
Nixon
Broadbent
Bailey
Clifton
Middleton
Sharp
Gibson
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If the Huddersfield strikers have any pace I think they would be quite happy facing a central defence like that.
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If the Huddersfield strikers have any pace I think they would be quite happy facing a central defence like that.
According to Wyscout physical data Grehan and Pearson as a pair are quicker that Byrne and Jay.
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That doesn't surprise me either, the picture of Grehan holding the shorts of a winger lives in the memory though in one of his last appearances.
Its our biggest weakness and my pair would be Byrne and Pearson if Bailey is discounted.
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If the Huddersfield strikers have any pace I think they would be quite happy facing a central defence like that.
According to Wyscout physical data Grehan and Pearson as a pair are quicker that Byrne and Jay.
How does it measure them as a pair but not individually?
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If the Huddersfield strikers have any pace I think they would be quite happy facing a central defence like that.
According to Wyscout physical data Grehan and Pearson as a pair are quicker that Byrne and Jay.
How does it measure them as a pair but not individually?
One pair are both faster than the other two!
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If the Huddersfield strikers have any pace I think they would be quite happy facing a central defence like that.
According to Wyscout physical data Grehan and Pearson as a pair are quicker that Byrne and Jay.
How does it measure them as a pair but not individually?
One pair are both faster than the other two!
This isn’t looking promising for McGrath’s future resale value I’m not going to lie.
Doesn’t mean he can’t be a good L1 player for us, but if he’s slower than Pearson who’s 10 years older than him I can’t see us getting a 7 figure fee one day. Which of course is why we turned half a mill down.
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Players need a rest? No they don't, they are professionals and have a high level of fitness, after next Tuesday they have a full week before playing again, they might even get the luxury of a Saturday off. We need to produce a good performance in the Virtu, the players want to play at Wembley, they would not thank you for being rested if they thought they could make a difference and get through the next round.
I disagree. Those that played against Wycombe looked knackered to me, most having played 3 games in just over a week. Mc cann insists on playing a high pressing game and expects players to pretty much play “ flat out” for 90+ mins and its taking its toll. Yes they are professionals, they get paid well but they are not machines. If mc cann hasnt got the sense to rotate them more then they DO need a rest. I accept we haven’t got a game at the weekend and am pleased as batteries need recharging. I also dont give a toss about the vertu trophy or whatever its called these days. Play “fringe” players who should be fresh & may even surprise.
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There's probably a balance to be struck between 'play everyone who played Saturday as that's our best team' and 'change the lot they need a rest'.
Like it or not this competition is one of a very few ways we can see our team play at Wembley, in nearly fifty years I've managed that once (twice if you count Cardiff), my children have never experienced it. We shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth here, it would be great for the club players and fans.
So, balance the changes with some consistency - we can make subs if players are flagging. We can rotate all across the back four without losing much, TLT needs to play after a hit and miss season. Bailey, Moly, Gotts and Haks have to play - we don't have anything like decent cover for them - and we should be going for this now.
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Don't forget - it's a 7pm KO tonight folks....
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It's cup football just go for it, if we have a go on the front foot we are not bad and play more to our strengths.
If we do that we have no regrets if a better side on the night beats us, just go for it and don't let them dominate us from the start.
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My guess is there will be at least 4 or 5 changes from Satdy's starting eleven.
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I hope we think more of progressing than of stretching legs of out-of-favour squad members .
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Free hit for me but i’m sure McCann and board see it differently. I went to last years final and I’ll go to this years if we get there but the changes to this competition rendered it pointless in my eyes. Prize money is very good like.
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It's a cup game the prize money is okay but won't be enough to get league 1 players in the summer. Grant and the board have under estimated what we need to compete consistently in this league.
If we do not get relegated we will have achieved the goal we should have been aiming for. The squad is not good enough for play offs or above.
So tonight as Selby says whoever plays just go for it doesn't matter about the result next Tuesday is far more important.
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What is the prize money ?
Participation: £20k
Group stages: £10k win/5k draw
R32: £20k win
R16: £40k win
Q/F: £50k win
S/F: £50k win
Runner-up: £50k
Winner: £100k
So we’re at £110k in prize money so far. Tonight’s worth £50k.
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Taking into account what we have earned through League cup + FA cup, we have won some decent prize money this year, I do have hopes that it could be put towards maybe paying a fee for someone in the summer or covering the salary of a higher end player.
Free hit tonight like Rupee said, think Sharp will start with Lee behind for some more minutes, Middleton, Nixon, Robinson and Pearson probably starting also.
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Lots of changes in line up. Not sure where our goals are coming from.
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It’s like the etihad here. Lots of empty seats
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I thought Alfie May was banned? Playing tonight - another inconsistent rule? I’m sure he’d be out if it were the FA or league cup, and the league, but ok to play in this?? :headbang:
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Is that Yoffey from Fingerbobs in nets for them?
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That was a terrible half of football.
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[quote author =PDX_Rover link=topic=296247.msg1446589#msg1446589 date=1770753036]
Is that Yoffey from Fingerbobs in nets for them?
[/quote]
You have to be a certain age for that one PDX, but I am and I nearly snorted coffee down each nostril!! I think you’re right though! :lol: :lol:
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Honestly .........you REALLY call that a tackle by Grehan ????
My Granny could have done better
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I’d drag grehan off now , that was as half ass as you could get . Shocking from a so called defender
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Honestly .........you REALLY call that a tackle by Grehan ????
My Granny could have done better
Worst permanent signing of the lot.
Broadbent is horrific in this role he's being asked to play btw. Needs everything in front of him. Lost puppy
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Their goal scorer Ashia looks a proper player!! Worried about him tearing us a new one, again!! :facepalm:
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What is the prize money ?
Participation: £20k
Group stages: £10k win/5k draw
R32: £20k win
R16: £40k win
Q/F: £50k win
S/F: £50k win
Runner-up: £50k
Winner: £100k
So we’re at £110k in prize money so far. Tonight’s worth £50k.
Our prize money in this now stands at £160k. Another £150k up for grabs.
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I think we sent the wrong centre half out on loan!
Big confidence booster for TLT, well done big fella.
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We won and all that matters in a cup competition is winning. We won away from home also.
However, we had a single attempt on goal all game. Still not doing much up there.
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How the hell did we win that? We were hopeless out of possession.
Thankfully, a mixture of them being poor and Timee having a night to remember has helped.
Run at us and we fold like a pack of cards!
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2-0 is a bizarre score in a shootout. It must have happened before but I can't remember seeing it, certainly not in a Rovers game.
I'm sure one of our wiser and more experienced fans will know of it happening!
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How the hell did we win that? We were hopeless out of possession.
Thankfully, a mixture of them being poor and Timee having a night to remember has helped.
Run at us and we fold like a pack of cards!
It’s good rehearsal for the L1 match . They played to win tonight and failed in front of goal a TLT will relish doing it again. At home it will be a totally different game for us after a weeks rest playing in-front of our crowd . It was also nice to see Ben Close back after his injury and looked and played ok . Should be decent crowd . Is May still suspended for the league match ?
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Not sure whats happened to Grehan. He looked decent early in the season but his confidence is shot to bits. Not been the same since the games at right back where he was made to look very poor.
Should loan him out to any level we can for a month or two to play some games from the off and get his confidence back
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Well done Timmee! Outstanding goalkeeping
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So over to the league game next Tuesday.
Wigan Rotherham and Burton do not play on Saturday.
Next Tuesday Burton play Rotherham Wigan play Wednesday
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Next Tuesday Burton play Rotherham Wigan play Wednesday
Have Owls been relegated already then?
(Sorry couldn’t resist)
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Not sure whats happened to Grehan. He looked decent early in the season but his confidence is shot to bits. Not been the same since the games at right back where he was made to look very poor.
Should loan him out to any level we can for a month or two to play some games from the off and get his confidence back
That pathetic effort for their goal can’t be down to confidence. He should’ve been dragged off straight after. I can forgive him when he’s playing right back but tonight, at centre back, it was a great chance to start staking a claim. Needs to buck his ideas up if he wants a career in England. Dog shit so far.
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Don't think anyone who was drafted in tonight could stake a claim for starting regularly!
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Don't think anyone who was drafted in tonight could stake a claim for starting regularly!
Stats say Nixon had a good game?
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Great win tonight however I hope Cliff was just towing the party line in his post match interview and that is not how they really think. There were some players on show tonight who on that performance should be nowhere near the squad never mind the team.
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If Grehan is ahead of Faulkner in the managers thinking then time for Bobby to look elsewhere for his own sake.
That ‘challenge’ that led to their sub leaving him ‘stuck in treacle’ & conjuring up their equaliser was embarrassingly half-a**ed he wants to be made to watch it a dozen times over.
Add to that his poor reading of the game, playing it wide to a player who was immediately closed down when if he’d looked the other side there was a player in bags of space as an outlet, happened on at least three occasions.
His physicality is like that of a teenager.
We had a ‘hero’ AND a ‘villain’ tonight.
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Not sure whats happened to Grehan. He looked decent early in the season but his confidence is shot to bits. Not been the same since the games at right back where he was made to look very poor.
Should loan him out to any level we can for a month or two to play some games from the off and get his confidence back
That pathetic effort for their goal can’t be down to confidence. He should’ve been dragged off straight after. I can forgive him when he’s playing right back but tonight, at centre back, it was a great chance to start staking a claim. Needs to buck his ideas up if he wants a career in England. Dog shit so far.
The defending for their goal was terrible but apart from that he wasn’t bad.
The way he got caught out similar to Cardiff (I think it was). It’s an obvious technical issue when defending those areas, that can be worked on for sure. Otherwise he was ok.
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Not sure whats happened to Grehan. He looked decent early in the season but his confidence is shot to bits. Not been the same since the games at right back where he was made to look very poor.
Should loan him out to any level we can for a month or two to play some games from the off and get his confidence back
That pathetic effort for their goal can’t be down to confidence. He should’ve been dragged off straight after. I can forgive him when he’s playing right back but tonight, at centre back, it was a great chance to start staking a claim. Needs to buck his ideas up if he wants a career in England. Dog shit so far.
The defending for their goal was terrible but apart from that he wasn’t bad.
The way he got caught out similar to Cardiff (I think it was). It’s an obvious technical issue when defending those areas, that can be worked on for sure. Otherwise he was ok.
Sorry Gaz but he was bad tonight. Several poor passes, caught on ball few times, sliced a few clearances. Overall he was very very poor tonight.
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A hard decision for the Harrogate manager, Bobby back but last week won their first game in 21 games so hard to make changes although Bobby was their outstanding player before injury, one of the top central defenders in the division.
Keep an eye on the Chesterfield game if he plays and have a look at what we are missing if it's on TV.
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A hard decision for the Harrogate manager, Bobby back but last week won their first game in 21 games so hard to make changes although Bobby was their outstanding player before injury, one of the top central defenders in the division.
Keep an eye on the Chesterfield game if he plays and have a look at what we are missing if it's on TV.
It won't be on TV, Brian. It's a 3pm KO.
Apart from those with a dodgy firestick that doesn't buffer.
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As poor as it was overall I thought we actually played some decent stuff in parts. The problem was we didn’t create anything because we have such a lack of forward runners. I lost count of the amount of times Close and Gibson were looking forward and all they could see were Huddersfield players, so they had to play backwards.
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I thought Gibson was the worst player on the pitch! Out of possession we were terrible but on the ball we were ok, nothing special, just ok. Up top - neither side had anything of note until they brought their winger on.
Well done Timothy, motm by a country mile.
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Some real positives from the performance, yet like at Wycombe it looked like we were sitting well off them and giving them acres of space and time to play the ball.
Really pleased for Timmy, that will help him with any confidence issues he may have.
Nixon again gave a strong performance, and maybe should be given a start in the next game.
Also thought Ben Close played well, after a few weeks out with a nasty injury he played the full 90 mins on what would have been a difficult pitch. He obviously looks after his fitness given his game time this season, and his a true professional.
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It was a fabulous result, and great to see TLT stick his chest out and be the hero after the season he's had. That'll do him the world of good. Sharp had a good game, playing on the turn and being busy all night, and had the composure to slot home his pen to give us the lead.
Prior to the subs however, we were pretty terrible. Grehan, Broadbent and Gibson were / are absolutely awful. Middleton and Maxwell not much better, Maxwell's form has dropped off a cliff since he came back.
Luckily Huddersfield did the same as us, let the game play out with the B team while it was even, then put some of the big guns off to try and get it over the line.
Let's hope the rest does the first 11 some good, as after the first 60mins performance I wouldn't trust half of that lot to perform for us in the league.
I hope Grant takes the semi-final really seriously, we have an unbelievable chance to get to Wembley now so we should be grasping that with our best players. Judging the form of some of these on one result v Middlesborough in August is misguided, as some are clearly not good enough for this level.
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If we can stay up and make it to Wembley, that’s a decent season. Would still need major questions asking why it has been such a shitshow for large parts of the season and why recruitment was a total binfire. Lot of money wasted.
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To be fair to Cliff, in his interview, he did often refer to the fact that the players had not had many minutes in recent times, without condemning any individual performance.
Dutch recently showed the win/ draw / loss stats for all matches this season ..I would love to see an update .
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I thought Gibson was the worst player on the pitch! Out of possession we were terrible but on the ball we were ok, nothing special, just ok. Up top - neither side had anything of note until they brought their winger on.
Well done Timothy, motm by a country mile.
I thought first half was one of the worst in possession performances one ever seen. Better in the second half admittedly.
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But surely we’re not going to put out a side of players to ‘get some minutes into their legs’ in the semi-final with a chance for the club & supporters getting to a Wembley Final?
I know the prize money is equivalent to winning ‘Bulls Eye’ in the the 80’s but for Billy to perhaps play his last competitive game for us at ‘The Home of Football’, it would be worth it for me just to see that happen.
Just a big softie I know.
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Some of the decision making from the players between themselves were odd.
2 that stood out in the 2nd half were free kick left edge of the 18 yard box… Gibson and Middleton stood over it - why did the left footer take it? From the angle it was, it was only going 1 area.
Then last minutes of the game… corner kick right hand side… Gotts had already put a good ball in and corners been much improved with him taking them but Molyneux takes it instead… result? Barely beats the last man and is easily cleared.
Why do we (it seems) pay so little attention to things like that? Don’t get me started on our throw-ins. No movement, for a good 30-40 seconds it’s like the music’s stopped and the full back is left holding the present.
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It does concern me about the standard of coaching going on at Cantley Park. Just the work on basic things as you mention.
This season we've seen our back line be easily pulled apart when our players seem to be ball watching more than marking. So many times we get caught the wrong side so the attacker gets free runs onto crosses etc. We seem to find it difficult to work as a unit dictating the offside line. Then there's minimal evidence of attacking plays & set pieces being rehearsed with much of our play appearing to be off the cuff. Yes, we see moves work but then we never see them again.
As against Wycombe and others we come up against teams who fall into the 'well drilled' bracket who have clearly worked on patterns of play whilst doing the basics quite well.
Overall, definiely agree we seem to lack that attention to detail and belief in sticking with the game plans.
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Some of the decision making from the players between themselves were odd.
2 that stood out in the 2nd half were free kick left edge of the 18 yard box… Gibson and Middleton stood over it - why did the left footer take it? From the angle it was, it was only going 1 area.
Then last minutes of the game… corner kick right hand side… Gotts had already put a good ball in and corners been much improved with him taking them but Molyneux takes it instead… result? Barely beats the last man and is easily cleared.
Why do we (it seems) pay so little attention to things like that? Don’t get me started on our throw-ins. No movement, for a good 30-40 seconds it’s like the music’s stopped and the full back is left holding the present.
Regarding the free kick. I thought it at the time and it wasn't mentioned by the commentator, but I have just watched it back and it should have been a penalty anyway.
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It does concern me about the standard of coaching going on at Cantley Park. Just the work on basic things as you mention.
This season we've seen our back line be easily pulled apart when our players seem to be ball watching more than marking. So many times we get caught the wrong side so the attacker gets free runs onto crosses etc. We seem to find it difficult to work as a unit dictating the offside line. Then there's minimal evidence of attacking plays & set pieces being rehearsed with much of our play appearing to be off the cuff. Yes, we see moves work but then we never see them again.
As against Wycombe and others we come up against teams who fall into the 'well drilled' bracket who have clearly worked on patterns of play whilst doing the basics quite well.
Overall, definiely agree we seem to lack that attention to detail and belief in sticking with the game plans.
There’s not much detail in the way we play is there. No real fluidity in possession.
Throw ins are a good example, you can get 20 a match. Drilling them and having a plan from then is a pretty important part of the game. How much time do we put into practicing them per week?
Goal kicks another example. We can progress the ball into certain areas of the pitch from short goal kicks and you know the exact zones things will break down. This is obviously highlighted against the better sides/ better out of possession sides as it was at Wycombe.
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Have to say I agree we don’t seem to focus on details in a game. Our throw ins drive me mad, we typically just turn the ball over.
On a separate point, which I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere else, how good was Ben Close’s penalty. An absolute peach. Robbie Fott’s wasn’t far behind it either