MK Dons

[dknward2]

Listening to the interview McCann wasn’t happy about the 2nd half sounded like the team relaxed as we were 3-1 up and McCann wanted more. Think next Saturday will be the team that will play against Exeter barring injuries or someone not impressing Grant enough.

Ajayi had a nice interview, sounds like he has settled in well with the other players.

Hope he doesn’t turn into a Lowe situation I.e doing so well that spurs want to move him up a league or maybe back with them, hope he does well enough for us and them after January really pushes on to where McCann wants us to be

[Chris Black come back]

Ajayi scores again... Grant's done it again  hasn't he?

Hope you're right but I remember Aiden Barlow being prolific in pre season. Hard to judge these pre season games.

Having said that he does look a cut above. Sure he'll have struggles as all young players do but its all promising so far.

Seems like GM might have pulled one off with this signing, obviously spurs think something of him you don't play Europa league if not. But how he has hit pre season running think this kid could be a right handful for defences especially with freedom GM will give him.

Came on as 81st minute sub against Elfsborg. Scored in 84th minute.

[5minstogo]

Grehan looks a player as well. Stepped out of defence with the ball a few times. Only got caught out once from memory against Collins who was at Bolton last season.

[RoversInSpain]

Listening to the interview McCann wasn’t happy about the 2nd half sounded like the team relaxed as we were 3-1 up and McCann wanted more. Think next Saturday will be the team that will play against Exeter barring injuries or someone not impressing Grant enough.

Ajayi had a nice interview, sounds like he has settled in well with the other players.

Hope he doesn’t turn into a Lowe situation I.e doing so well that spurs want to move him up a league or maybe back with them, hope he does well enough for us and them after January really pushes on to where McCann wants us to be

Seemed to indicate he’d have made substitutions after 20 minutes. He was not happy.

[roversdude]

 Not sure who Grant was referring to with ‘if you don’t run you won’t play’

[5minstogo]

Not sure who Grant was referring to with ‘if you don’t run you won’t play’

Cliff asked Hanlon if he was alright second half . He replied Yes and Cliff said "Well f**king run then".

[selby]

  Nice to know the management want and think players can do more, but it looks a good result to me especially the signings they have made.
  Colchester who have made a couple of very good young signings I rate highly are a team I fancy to do well this season in division 2

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Pitchside highlights.

https://youtu.be/YsoRTcT9GFw?si=QAia_C_1FW4Zoovd

[GazLaz]

Listening to the interview McCann wasn’t happy about the 2nd half sounded like the team relaxed as we were 3-1 up and McCann wanted more. Think next Saturday will be the team that will play against Exeter barring injuries or someone not impressing Grant enough.

Ajayi had a nice interview, sounds like he has settled in well with the other players.

Hope he doesn’t turn into a Lowe situation I.e doing so well that spurs want to move him up a league or maybe back with them, hope he does well enough for us and them after January really pushes on to where McCann wants us to be

Cliff was giving Hanlan some ear ache for not running enough.

[Alan Southstand]

It’s also bearing in mind that Westbrook replaced Clifton at half time. We know Clifton puts himself about but Westbrook is not that sort of player! This, maybe, could be one of the factors that GM is wrestling with wrt Crew returning. Crew gave the team the intensity but also the vision to move the ball quicker. I hope he returns!

[Chris Black come back]

Not sure who Grant was referring to with ‘if you don’t run you won’t play’

Cliff asked Hanlon if he was alright second half . He replied Yes and Cliff said "Well f**king run then".

If he’s not running then we have a problem, as Billy and the Joe of last season aren’t going to offer much in that regard.

[ncRover]

Not sure who Grant was referring to with ‘if you don’t run you won’t play’

Cliff asked Hanlon if he was alright second half . He replied Yes and Cliff said "Well f**king run then".

If he’s not running then we have a problem, as Billy and the Joe of last season aren’t going to offer much in that regard.

I know they’re not very fast, but Billy and Joe both work hard off the ball.

[drfchound]

I have just watched a video showing pitchside highlights of some of our attacking play against MKD.
It reinforces my comment the other day about Ajayi being sensational for us in L1 and him and Mols are going to terrorise defences this season.

[ncRover]

I have just watched a video showing pitchside highlights of some of our attacking play against MKD.
It reinforces my comment the other day about Ajayi being sensational for us in L1 and him and Mols are going to terrorise defences this season.

Hopefully. We will see. I’ve got a good feeling, but don’t forget that Aiden Barlow had a good pre-season as a trialist. Can’t read too much in to these games.

[GazLaz]

I have just watched a video showing pitchside highlights of some of our attacking play against MKD.
It reinforces my comment the other day about Ajayi being sensational for us in L1 and him and Mols are going to terrorise defences this season.

Ajayi had a couple of great moments yesterday. Very early days and he needs to grow into the loan move but promising early signs. I would say that he doesn’t look like an absolute Rolls Royce technician which I thought he may do. He can certainly beat a man, has a strength to him when though he’s not big, put the effort in pressing form the 10 position and wanted to get into the box when we had the ball wide.

[Avsuptem]

I have just watched a video showing pitchside highlights of some of our attacking play against MKD.
It reinforces my comment the other day about Ajayi being sensational for us in L1 and him and Mols are going to terrorise defences this season.

 What an exciting team we would be if we could add Charlie Crew to the squad.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I have just watched a video showing pitchside highlights of some of our attacking play against MKD.
It reinforces my comment the other day about Ajayi being sensational for us in L1 and him and Mols are going to terrorise defences this season.

Ajayi had a couple of great moments yesterday. Very early days and he needs to grow into the loan move but promising early signs. I would say that he doesn’t look like an absolute Rolls Royce technician which I thought he may do. He can certainly beat a man, has a strength to him when though he’s not big, put the effort in pressing form the 10 position and wanted to get into the box when we had the ball wide.

Sounds a very fair assessment from what I've seen so far too. Promising but he's going to have to fight for a place, which we expect of course. Doubt he will be displacing Mols or Middleton/Gibson as starters, and depends if he gets chance to play no 10 role, how he adapts and does the mucky side of things, defending from the front, pressing etc. Likely to have the opportunities from the subs bench for a while plus trophy games.

As with all new young talents, we need to temper expectations and be patient. It's a whole different ball game when playing for points.

Hard to tell re Hanlan. Took his poached goal well. Once again, we can question the quality of crosses and cut backs in the box that we saw on the vid but Hanlan was no where near getting on the end of any (Not necessarily his fault) but that was a theme we saw from Ironside last season. Our no 9 not being where we want our no 9 to be. I think we function better when the front line rotates with lots of movement long, short, right, left etc, rather than a big lump just sat in the central areas who's easy to mark. Maybe that's what the shouts from the bench were about? We'll get to see more next week I guess.

[Usher wide.]

I have just watched a video showing pitchside highlights of some of our attacking play against MKD.
It reinforces my comment the other day about Ajayi being sensational for us in L1 and him and Mols are going to terrorise defences this season.

He has good close control, balance & pace. I think he’ll push Gibson for that wide spot.

[Cramby10]

Apologies if I’ve missed it somewhere but I haven’t seen how we set up yesterday. Who sat with Broadbent? Who was wide and who played number 10?

[selby]

  Friendlies are not the be all of the season coming up, but as a confidence builder they don't come a lot better than how we have gone in the games.
  The two sides from the division I have watched Rotherham and Barnsley both against Harrogate so a good pointer.
  Harrogete are not the greatest side work hard and first and formost know their game is based on firstly making it as difficult as possible for teams to play expansive football against them.
  Rotherham didn't look any great shakes a team I think at a level we can easily compete with and just on une game so not really scientific were no better class than we were last season.
   Barnsley however looked a different proposition all together, big strong composed and a good unit that knew what their job was, and when the moments arrived attacked with pace all over the pitch.
  Yes Harrogate are not great but Barnsley looked yesterday a better side than any league 2 side we played against last season I watched, and if that is the standard then we are going to have to lift our game quite a bit from last seasons level to be successful.
  Just an opinion and just on two games where Barnsley might have played better than the norm, and Rotherham look very much a side rebuilding and we should be competing with.

 

[graingrover]

If somebody told me to f**king run i would tell them to piss offer .If somebody told me to run I would take that advice as encouragement to do more .

[Alan Southstand]

One more week’s working on the tactical side of things before the Blackpool game, so we should be seeing some sort of pattern in that game.

Whoever gets that ‘left of the 3’ slot, they’re going to have to work very hard. Last season, I thought Gibbo let the side down a little with that issue and wasn’t working in sync with his full back, unlike Mols with Sterry.

I wonder if Grant will be tempted to try Mols in that central attacking role? But then, isn’t that going to be Gott’s position? All fascinating stuff, with both Ajayi and Middleton also chomping at the bit.

[steve@dcfd]

Apologies if I’ve missed it somewhere but I haven’t seen how we set up yesterday. Who sat with Broadbent? Who was wide and who played number 10?

So far there is a difference between Ajayi and Gibson that is goals. Gibson has not taken several
of the chances in his preseason games but Ajayi has. Both have got to prove themselves in league 1  but we have quite a few players who have to do that. Next weeks game against Blackpool will be interesting and could be a leveller

[5minstogo]

Apologies if I’ve missed it somewhere but I haven’t seen how we set up yesterday. Who sat with Broadbent? Who was wide and who played number 10?

Clifton played first half with Broadbent,  Westbrooke second half. Mols, Gibson wide and Ajayi in the 10 although that 3 were very fluid.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I'm convinced Middleton will get the nod for the left side and will work well with Maxwell in support. When sawpping flanks, Middleton can deliver equal quality crosses with left or right plus he's good on free kicks.

[Alan Southstand]

What’s happened to the 4-2-3-1? Has it been resigned?

At this moment in time, and certainly leading up to our last friendly, I’m interested in how we’re going to cope defensively! Having read Selby’s synopsis on Harrogate v Barnsley game, we’re going to have to be switched on when we havn’t got the ball.

[GazLaz]

I have just watched a video showing pitchside highlights of some of our attacking play against MKD.
It reinforces my comment the other day about Ajayi being sensational for us in L1 and him and Mols are going to terrorise defences this season.

Ajayi had a couple of great moments yesterday. Very early days and he needs to grow into the loan move but promising early signs. I would say that he doesn’t look like an absolute Rolls Royce technician which I thought he may do. He can certainly beat a man, has a strength to him when though he’s not big, put the effort in pressing form the 10 position and wanted to get into the box when we had the ball wide.

Sounds a very fair assessment from what I've seen so far too. Promising but he's going to have to fight for a place, which we expect of course. Doubt he will be displacing Mols or Middleton/Gibson as starters, and depends if he gets chance to play no 10 role, how he adapts and does the mucky side of things, defending from the front, pressing etc. Likely to have the opportunities from the subs bench for a while plus trophy games.

As with all new young talents, we need to temper expectations and be patient. It's a whole different ball game when playing for points.

Hard to tell re Hanlan. Took his poached goal well. Once again, we can question the quality of crosses and cut backs in the box that we saw on the vid but Hanlan was no where near getting on the end of any (Not necessarily his fault) but that was a theme we saw from Ironside last season. Our no 9 not being where we want our no 9 to be. I think we function better when the front line rotates with lots of movement long, short, right, left etc, rather than a big lump just sat in the central areas who's easy to mark. Maybe that's what the shouts from the bench were about? We'll get to see more next week I guess.

I think we could be better orchestrated when the ball is in wide positions. It all seems to be a bit too off the cuff when more thought could go into the movements and placing of the cut backs/ crosses.

Something i said to Phil yesterday is that when Mols is crossing on his right foot from the right, there has to be a front post runner. It’s just maths, the ball goes there more than it goes anywhere else, it will be the most profitably run long term.


Another thing that concerned me yesterday (and last season really) is how poor we are at counter attacking from deeper positions. We are good when we turn over high up the pitch but there doesn’t appear to be much planning on the attacks from deeper.

Last season we were good but we were fairly predictable. Play 352 against us and we can be shut down fairly easily. I’m mindful that against better teams, with better coaches, teams may find our style out pretty quickly.

We need to improve our counter attack play and be able to find a route to goal playing through the middle of the pitch. You need three ways of playing to be a very good team.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I have just watched a video showing pitchside highlights of some of our attacking play against MKD.
It reinforces my comment the other day about Ajayi being sensational for us in L1 and him and Mols are going to terrorise defences this season.

Ajayi had a couple of great moments yesterday. Very early days and he needs to grow into the loan move but promising early signs. I would say that he doesn’t look like an absolute Rolls Royce technician which I thought he may do. He can certainly beat a man, has a strength to him when though he’s not big, put the effort in pressing form the 10 position and wanted to get into the box when we had the ball wide.

Sounds a very fair assessment from what I've seen so far too. Promising but he's going to have to fight for a place, which we expect of course. Doubt he will be displacing Mols or Middleton/Gibson as starters, and depends if he gets chance to play no 10 role, how he adapts and does the mucky side of things, defending from the front, pressing etc. Likely to have the opportunities from the subs bench for a while plus trophy games.

As with all new young talents, we need to temper expectations and be patient. It's a whole different ball game when playing for points.

Hard to tell re Hanlan. Took his poached goal well. Once again, we can question the quality of crosses and cut backs in the box that we saw on the vid but Hanlan was no where near getting on the end of any (Not necessarily his fault) but that was a theme we saw from Ironside last season. Our no 9 not being where we want our no 9 to be. I think we function better when the front line rotates with lots of movement long, short, right, left etc, rather than a big lump just sat in the central areas who's easy to mark. Maybe that's what the shouts from the bench were about? We'll get to see more next week I guess.

I think we could be better orchestrated when the ball is in wide positions. It all seems to be a bit too off the cuff when more thought could go into the movements and placing of the cut backs/ crosses.

Something i said to Phil yesterday is that when Mols is crossing on his right foot from the right, there has to be a front post runner. It’s just maths, the ball goes there more than it goes anywhere else, it will be the most profitably run long term.


Another thing that concerned me yesterday (and last season really) is how poor we are at counter attacking from deeper positions. We are good when we turn over high up the pitch but there doesn’t appear to be much planning on the attacks from deeper.

Last season we were good but we were fairly predictable. Play 352 against us and we can be shut down fairly easily. I’m mindful that against better teams, with better coaches, teams may find our style out pretty quickly.

We need to improve our counter attack play and be able to find a route to goal playing through the middle of the pitch. You need three ways of playing to be a very good team.

Totally agree. I think we improved with the extra mobility and pace of Street when he peeled off into wider areas creating space in the middle.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

What’s happened to the 4-2-3-1? Has it been resigned?

At this moment in time, and certainly leading up to our last friendly, I’m interested in how we’re going to cope defensively! Having read Selby’s synopsis on Harrogate v Barnsley game, we’re going to have to be switched on when we havn’t got the ball.

Yes, I think they're going to be a decent team although I'm convinced they're going to lose Keillor-Dunn before the window closes. He's just moved into a new house opposite a mate of mine on the outskirts of Middlesbrough, although he is a North East lad.

[DonnyOsmond]

What’s happened to the 4-2-3-1? Has it been resigned?

At this moment in time, and certainly leading up to our last friendly, I’m interested in how we’re going to cope defensively! Having read Selby’s synopsis on Harrogate v Barnsley game, we’re going to have to be switched on when we havn’t got the ball.

Yes, I think they're going to be a decent team although I'm convinced they're going to lose Keillor-Dunn before the window closes. He's just moved into a new house opposite a mate of mine on the outskirts of Middlesbrough, although he is a North East lad.

Alfie commutes from Bircotes to Birmingham tbf.