Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: Filo on March 24, 2026, 10:05:35 pm
-
League 1 secured I reckon
-
You'd think so, it would have to be a run worse than under Dickov now. McCann will be eyeing that top half spot.
-
A very welcome 3 points but it was a hard watch. A real lack of quality and cutting edge up front, thankfully we seem to have sorted the defence and made us harder to beat
-
Not yet for me still only 8 points in front still think we need another 2 or 3 points but those tonight go along way towards it
-
Let’s be positive, we’re 10 points off the play off’s.
-
Let’s be positive, we’re 10 points off the play off’s.
…said the exact same to my mate!
-
21 still to play for let's get all 21
-
A very welcome 3 points but it was a hard watch. A real lack of quality and cutting edge up front, thankfully we seem to have sorted the defence and made us harder to beat
The weather conditions tonight have to be taken into consideration.
With that strong wind and the rain it was never going to be a nice football classic.
-
Our pitch is shocking, not helping either
-
Our pitch is shocking, not helping either
Well I thought it looked greener and better than the previous game
-
Awful game to watch and seemingly 2 poor sides. That said, we had more than enough chances to win 3 matches. But, yet again, we were absolutely dreadful at putting the finishing touch away.
-
Im happy with the 3 points in crap conditions. No way are we going down. The teams in the bottom 5 are dreadful
‘We’re off to Leicester, you’re off to York’
-
Three clean sheets on the trot is impressive.
We're becoming hard to score against.
-
I thought we played fluently and with menace first half, could and should have had more than the 1 goal to show for it. Made the second half much more of a slog with then getting desperate, when they made the 4 subs it gave them fresh momentum and they started to put some fluent passages of lay together, looked a far better side and set up.
In the past this was the point where we would keep backing of, dropping deeper and eventually conceding, which would of made the last 20mins a real lottery, but we seem to be made of far sterner stuff now, we dug in and saw the game out. I wasn't sure why Byrne came off, possibly to get some fresh legs into centre mid by allowing Bailey to go CH and then shut them down which we did competently, another clean sheet demonstrating our new found resilience.
Good workman like win which will do at this time of year, that should be just about it for safety, good job lads.
-
From where we were after Boxing Days defeat at Blackpool, you would be crazy to not breathe a sigh of relief tonight. Well done to the club, staff and players.
-
As good as there for me, Port Vale, Northampton or Rotherham aren't catching us, leaving both Exeter & Blackpool both having to win 3 from 7 just to make 51 without us picking up another point.
-
Pushing our luck again with the backing off towards the end at 1 0 but I'll take it thank you
-
Bookies have got it right tonight. You can get:
150/1 against us going down
150/1 against us going up.
-
I think we still need another 2 or 3 points to make sure.
Nevertheless, huge credit to McCann and the players. At the start of the year we had 22 points from 23 games and couldn't buy a win.
I thought we were doomed, personally, and 50 points seemed like a million miles away. It hasn't been pretty, but 16 games later here we are on 50 points. I'd have ripped your arm off to be in this position 2 months ago.
Definitely proven me wrong with how they've turned this around.
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
Offer Clifton and Senior a new deal and say goodbye to the rest.
-
Blackpool and Exeter still to play one another. Both can’t get 3 points. The loser will most likely be the one going down.
-
Plus we play both Exeter and Northampton away, win both those, we’re good.
-
Our last 7 games could be against the top 7 away from home and we’d still stay up.
-
Our pitch is shocking, not helping either
Well I thought it looked greener and better than the previous game
The ball was bobbling all over still. Gritty performance in terrible conditions. I thought bringing Byrne off was absolute madness. We got over the line though so no complaints.
-
Byrne was cramping up in his calf. Gave the signal he was ‘fine’, but GM didn’t risk it.
Crying out for a clinical finisher!
-
Byrne was cramping up in his calf. Gave the signal he was ‘fine’, but GM didn’t risk it.
Crying out for a clinical finisher!
We didn’t create enough last night to warrant more than one goal.
-
Not yet for me still only 8 points in front still think we need another 2 or 3 points but those tonight go along way towards it
Understand the caution, but in addition to the points, consideration also has to be given to the number of teams below us - there are 9. If we assume Port Vale, Cobblers and Rotherham have got 3 of the relegation spots (11,7 and 6 points from safety and 19, 15 and 14 off us), that leaves just 1 spot up for grabs that we could feasibly get pulled into, with 6 teams (plus us) in any real danger. Even Blackpool are 8 points from us, which means they need 3 wins from their remaining 7 fixtures - they've only got 11 wins from 39. Statistics, averages and performance over these 38-39 games suggests that not all those teams below us are going to hit enough form to all go above us.
Looking another way, if we're not safe in 15th, neither are Peterborough, Barnsley or Wimbledon, i.e. right up to 12th, as they are on exactly the same points as us - it's not realistic to consider them in any real danger so therefore not us either.
I think we're safe. Let's see how many of those 21 points we can grab and get momentum for next season, which will help us attract better players in the summer - they all want to join teams with positive outlooks.
EDIT - One point I forgot to mention - with 9 teams beneath you, there's also certainty that they have games against each other so they can't all get maximum points, further removing the chance of them ALL going past us.
-
Hanlan was MOM! He must be the clinical finisher!
-
Hanlan was MOM! He must be the clinical finisher!
He played well last night in terrible conditions. Not sure he was my MOTM but solid delivery and can be very pleased with his performance. Doesn't need him to be clinical in that role. If he's going to act as the hold-up player, we need others to be the clinical finishers/people running through.
-
Hanlan was MOM! He must be the clinical finisher!
He played well last night in terrible conditions. Not sure he was my MOTM but solid delivery and can be very pleased with his performance. Doesn't need him to be clinical in that role. If he's going to act as the hold-up player, we need others to be the clinical finishers/people running through.
Don’t agree.
If you just want your No.9 to hold the ball up & lay it off to ‘runners’ we might well have as just hung onto Joe Ironside.
We need a leader of the line who will score into double figures if we’re ever to get back to ‘the promised land’.
-
Last night also showed how much we miss a player of Mols standard in the team, his interplay with Sterry and unpredictability was missing from a game that had little quality but the conditions and pitch didn't help.
The fact we kept another clean sheet and managed to subdue a team who are getting towards desperation point demonstrated how the team have grown over the season, the lack of a more potent strike force has set us back but you can only deal with the hand you have and we've managed that well since the turn of the year.
Plenty to build on.
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
He’d be here a while.
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
Think it pains him because it would mean he's admitting I was right!!
-
Hanlan was MOM! He must be the clinical finisher!
He played well last night in terrible conditions. Not sure he was my MOTM but solid delivery and can be very pleased with his performance. Doesn't need him to be clinical in that role. If he's going to act as the hold-up player, we need others to be the clinical finishers/people running through.
Don’t agree.
If you just want your No.9 to hold the ball up & lay it off to ‘runners’ we might well have as just hung onto Joe Ironside.
We need a leader of the line who will score into double figures if we’re ever to get back to ‘the promised land’.
Horses for courses. Crap pitch, awful conditions. Yes, arguably last night would very much have suited Joe.
-
We need a striker who is something to aim for in the box next season as an alternative option to Hanlan IMO.
Can’t see much out there though as I’ve thought quite a few visiting teams have also lacked that this season. Maybe Frankie but do you take the injury risk?
Grant needs wide players with the potential to be goal threats too and I can’t see that from Middleton or Gibson at this level. Lisbie at Colchester?
Now that it’s obvious we’re going to be in League One next year we can crack on with contacting upcoming free agents and sorting out contracts.
-
Watched on tele last night, Lee Turnbull was absolutely singing Hanlons praises as they came off at half time. Holding ball up in those conditions against two big solid units at the back and generally not letting them settle
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
Hanlan may well have been ‘awarded’ MOM by the club sponsors but if you’d really award him with it over Senior then you were watching a different game to me.
We need much, much better than Hanlan as our No.9 if we’re to progress to the next level & you’re right, I’ll never ‘let that go’.
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
Hanlan may well have been ‘awarded’ MOM by the club sponsors but if you’d really award him with it over Senior then you were watching a different game to me.
We need much, much better than Hanlan as our No.9 if we’re to progress to the next level & you’re right, I’ll never ‘let that go’.
I think everyone always watches a different game to you mate
-
We all watch the same game , but it's interesting that it seems we watch it for different reasons. I'm not for the technical side , never have been . It's more about the feeling.for me. Some watch to analyse in fine detail , and seemingly some come having decided who's not good enough and a perfect hat trick in first 10 mins every game for a month won't convince them otherwise. Funny old game
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
Hanlan may well have been ‘awarded’ MOM by the club sponsors but if you’d really award him with it over Senior then you were watching a different game to me.
We need much, much better than Hanlan as our No.9 if we’re to progress to the next level & you’re right, I’ll never ‘let that go’.
I think everyone always watches a different game to you mate
You’d choose Hanlan over Senior as MOM?
-
I think we ask a very tough job of our front three- as a team, and midfield in particular, we rarely create any space for them- we either hit the channels with, at best, 50/50 balls or hit it long to them when they are well marked and back to goal, and then expect them to create opportunities. That wasn’t always successful in L2 so it’s no surprise it’s tougher now, Billy has found it hard to make an impact all season and you can see Haks struggling now. In the circumstances I think Hanlon and Luke in particular have worked miracles to get us to where we are now.
-
He did ok, I would like him to be more selfish in front of goal. He had 3 good chances to get shots off, not from the best areas admittedly, but that sometimes works in your favour.
His hold up play is undoubtedly getting better, but the players who Grant expects to get the goals, Molly, Gibbo, Middleton,Haks and Lee isn’t working well enough. That has been the biggest reason we are where we are.
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
Hanlan may well have been ‘awarded’ MOM by the club sponsors but if you’d really award him with it over Senior then you were watching a different game to me.
We need much, much better than Hanlan as our No.9 if we’re to progress to the next level & you’re right, I’ll never ‘let that go’.
I think everyone always watches a different game to you mate
You’d choose Hanlan over Senior as MOM?
Last night? Yeah, ran his blood to water
-
Bookies have got it right tonight. You can get:
150/1 against us going down
150/1 against us going up.
For those unfamiliar with Betting Odds can I simplify it thus:
If you stake £10 on us to get promoted at 150/1, you will lose £10.
However.....
If you risk £10 on us to get relegated at 150/1, you will also lose £10.
You're welcome.
-
We create more chances than any other team in the league according to GM, but we are not converting them. Hanlan is not the goal scorer for that job, so who is? It is a priority to recruit two strikers over the summer, the need to convert loanees into permanent signings will be a definite option too. I would love to see Byrne, Clark and Lee here next season.
-
For longer term investment, I’d prefer TLT over Clarke but money will play a part in that decision.
-
Hanlan - in my opinion, was never bought in for goal scoring alone. The goal scorers are the wide men, and attacking midfielders in Grants current set up.
The problem being the goals from these areas have dried up this season.
We can all see it starting to work in bit parts, another season and with a bit of added quality, who knows what next year could bring.
-
Hanlan - in my opinion, was never bought in for goal scoring alone. The goal scorers are the wide men, and attacking midfielders in Grants current set up.
The problem being the goals from these areas have dried up this season.
We can all see it starting to work in bit parts, another season and with a bit of added quality, who knows what next year could bring.
If you want goals from wide areas why bring in Middleton? No history of goal scoring at all. He’s been a dreadful signing. Clifton another that hasn’t contributed enough goals for the positions he has got in.
-
True, but I think he is there for a different purpose. I should say Middleton frustrates the heck out of me. Such a good left foot, but goes to pieces in front of goal, but he is the only wide man playing on his dominant side, so not asked to cut in and shoot .The others are, and haven’t.
Those goals from wide helped us win the league, they’ve all but disappeared.
-
You can point blame at every player barring Bailey for not scoring enough this season. And probably even only Mols has a respectable amount of assists. But that doesn’t tell me Gotts has been an awful signing on that basis. It’s a collective. Think we are so hell bent on everything going through our wide players it stifles goals coming from anywhere else.
-
True, but I think he is there for a different purpose. I should say Middleton frustrates the heck out of me. Such a good left foot, but goes to pieces in front of goal, but he is the only wide man playing on his dominant side, so not asked to cut in and shoot .The others are, and haven’t.
Those goals from wide helped us win the league, they’ve all but disappeared.
Mols- 4
Gibson- 3
Middleton- 1
Haks- 1
Ajayi- 0
Non penalty goals from the wide men this season. It’s not enough, especially given the way that Grant wants his wingers to play. They are such a key part to the system.
If we don’t upgrade that department in the summer, we will struggle again. Problem is that 3 of them are still under contract next season.
-
If you look at the history of McCann’s teams you often see the goals getting spread across the front three, with the wingers essentially being wide strikers who cut in on their stronger foot.
The exact opposite of Middleton who folds at the sight of goal and can only go on the outside. He is a limited player and doesn’t suit this system.
His midfielders don’t typically get that many goals they are there to graft.
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
Hanlan may well have been ‘awarded’ MOM by the club sponsors but if you’d really award him with it over Senior then you were watching a different game to me.
We need much, much better than Hanlan as our No.9 if we’re to progress to the next level & you’re right, I’ll never ‘let that go’.
I thought both Senior and Pearson were contenders for MOM with the latter taking another no nonsense approach plus taking one in the face to ensure we kept the clean sheet.
Senior for me is getting better and better with his high energy approach to both attack and defense. His footballing brain is evolving with passes like the sublime touchline hugger at pace to Hanlan in the lead up to the goal (when he also put in the final cross). His link up play with Lee also caught my eye. Jack can play the game at a high tempo in a more controlled way now which opens up his potential.
Noticeable both he and Sterry are pushing further up lately. Maybe that's the confidence they have in Byrne and Pearson to hold the Fort.
Whilst Hanlan put in another good performance with some good touches and lay offs, much of his good stuff comes when he controls the ball first time however, there's still maybe too many where the ball gets away from him after a poor first touch. He did battle away though and made life difficult for the defenders. On his strike rate, I haven't enough confidence he's a natural scorer with little evidence he's comfortable heading for goal so he hasn't got the all round ability we need to score more goals. That said, he has scored some tidy finishes and who knows where his own confidence levels are at, but he has improved with games.
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
Hanlan may well have been ‘awarded’ MOM by the club sponsors but if you’d really award him with it over Senior then you were watching a different game to me.
We need much, much better than Hanlan as our No.9 if we’re to progress to the next level & you’re right, I’ll never ‘let that go’.
I think everyone always watches a different game to you mate
You’d choose Hanlan over Senior as MOM?
Last night? Yeah, ran his blood to water
Got a sneaky feeling that if Gazlaz gave the MOTM to Senior the flat earther would have have given it to Hanlan
-
Agreed on both Senior and Hanlan, DBR. We really have struggled in the goal scoring department this season and the somewhat erratic approach to our summer dealings left a lot to be desired. I think we’ll be having another, hopefully much improved, go at it this summer as we’ll probably see Billy retire. We simply have to find a much better alternative this summer.
Senior has been a bit of a revelation this season and has taken to L1 football really well. He has pushed Maxwell right out of the picture and I can see him moving on in the summer (Maxwell, that is).
-
I thought the ref was shocking.
I thought Senior was excellent.
We need much better players coming into the club for next season.
We have no recognisable centre forward. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had all season. That needs to be addressed.
We’ll stayup in fact I wouldn’t discount a top half finish, but in order to get into the top six we need a good a clear out of the deadwood……& there’s plenty of it.
You won't let it go will you. Hanlan was superb in the first half last night and rightly MoM.
It's not a sign of weakness to admit you've got a call wrong
Hanlan may well have been ‘awarded’ MOM by the club sponsors but if you’d really award him with it over Senior then you were watching a different game to me.
We need much, much better than Hanlan as our No.9 if we’re to progress to the next level & you’re right, I’ll never ‘let that go’.
I thought both Senior and Pearson were contenders for MOM with the latter taking another no nonsense approach plus taking one in the face to ensure we kept the clean sheet.
Senior for me is getting better and better with his high energy approach to both attack and defense. His footballing brain is evolving with passes like the sublime touchline hugger at pace to Hanlan in the lead up to the goal (when he also put in the final cross). His link up play with Lee also caught my eye. Jack can play the game at a high tempo in a more controlled way now which opens up his potential.
Noticeable both he and Sterry are pushing further up lately. Maybe that's the confidence they have in Byrne and Pearson to hold the Fort.
Whilst Hanlan put in another good performance with some good touches and lay offs, much of his good stuff comes when he controls the ball first time however, there's still maybe too many where the ball gets away from him after a poor first touch. He did battle away though and made life difficult for the defenders. On his strike rate, I haven't enough confidence he's a natural scorer with little evidence he's comfortable heading for goal so he hasn't got the all round ability we need to score more goals. That said, he has scored some tidy finishes and who knows where his own confidence levels are at, but he has improved with games.
Bit of a stretch to credit Pearson with intentionally taking one in the face to ensure the clean sheet. Nobody intentionally puts their face in the way of a ball hit that hard, he knew nothing about it until it hit him.
-
Byrne was cramping up in his calf. Gave the signal he was ‘fine’, but GM didn’t risk it.
Crying out for a clinical finisher!
We didn’t create enough last night to warrant more than one goal.
Statistically probably not. However we got very close to doing so with the final ball not quite the best.
-
Byrne was cramping up in his calf. Gave the signal he was ‘fine’, but GM didn’t risk it.
Crying out for a clinical finisher!
We didn’t create enough last night to warrant more than one goal.
Statistically probably not. However we got very close to doing so with the final ball not quite the best.
Not even statistically. We were really lacking quality IMO, especially second half. Similar to Barnsley, the extra bit of solidarity has come at a trade off attacking wise. Fullbacks a bit less expansive, etc etc.
Think I mentioned before that I would like to see a bit more positivity now the pressure is off a bit. Three games in a row we’ve produced very little, I wouldn’t want the performances to fizzle out to nothing now we are safe.