Oisin

Um … 🤷🏻‍♂️ F*** it, doesn’t matter. We’ll smash them anyway. No idea on the team but will say that I think a midfield pair of Downes and JWP lacks some legs and youthful energy, so I’d prefer to keep Jander in the side.

I’m struggling to work out what’s been the more enjoyable sporting spectacle today … Man Utd or the Aussies in South Africa. It’s a genuinely tough choice

Morning after reflection … I think there’s some unfair criticism going on. If Scienza, Dobbin and Bree do their job it’s a comfortable win. If Fellows can stay onside it’s a very effective tactic against a very well organised team. And if the ref gives the two red cards (one straight, one second yellow) and the penalty that all were 💯 clearly and obviously the correct decisions then we have a penalty against 9 men. We weren’t great, and I do question some of the subs, but in the view of the above, the design created enough scenarios to win multiple games of football - it was just the execution of the players in conjunction with a 1/10 referee performance that prevented us getting 3 points. 7 points from 9, 3 clean sheets … a good week, just a frustrating end to it. I’m not going to get too upset. But I will call the ref a c*nt.

Only thing to add i: Scienzas miss on 3 minutes. Good f**king lord.

Given how utterly miserable you are, I’m amazed you find anything “laughable”

JWP to score his second first goal for the club via a trademark free kick And a win, obviously

I may not be quite as confident as Wade but I agree about going strong. Really don’t understand this “let’s rest so-and-so” business. They should all be fresh this early in the season,and in 9 days time most of them have got a fortnight without a game. Lincoln will be up for this - we need to be disciplined, professional and bang on it to get the 3 points we want. The points are not a god-given right and it’s not a meaningless friendly. We’re not at the targeted 4 points a game even without the deduction. We’re just above the relegation zone and need to get in amongst the higher reaches of the table as soon as possible. Full throttle with team selection for the next 3 games before the break in my opinion

It’d take 4 minutes and come up with the wrong answer. Frustrating on this occasion but we’re better off without it

I’m going to risk saying it - please can we keep a clean sheet. Please

On the face of it, yes. But he’s already played half a dozen times for Borussia and has an international cap for Italy already. That would suggest he’s not your average 18 year old. Plus he’d have an experienced leader alongside him if he played. But I would be hoping for a more experienced option, personally.

Middlesbrough would have us kicked out for that

Tonda showed quite a lot of tactical adaptability across his front line last season. I think (but of course could well be wrong) that DM is for when he wants a traditional 2 forwards, whether from the start or as a game adapts. Azaz further forward doesn’t work. I think he still wants a second, back-up or rotational target man for/with Cyle. Where that leaves Dobbin other than a more direct style lw to sub on for Leo is a separate point. But as I see it Tonda wants options for 3 of the front 4 to go with a proper number 9. He has all the options now, but (other than Damion Downs) doesn’t have a replacement number 9. we don’t have unlimited funds, so it will depend on shifting Downs and Archer but if both (and possibly just one) are moved on I reckon we’ll see another number 9 style forward come in. Everything else now depends on who we lose. A gk if Ramsdale goes, a cb if THB, a cm if Jander, a winger if Edozie. And a rb if we lose both Sugawara and Roerslev. We can shift Larios and one of the right backs without needing to replace so I expect that to happen too. As I said, I could be miles off but I think that’s the logic

You neglected to mention Matsuki who was outstanding yesterday and Schlotterbeck who put in one of the best debuts we’ve seen in a decade. On paper/in theory Spors/Dragan/SR have put together an extremely impressive squad for this division. If we keep THB (or ensure the replacement is as good) and Jander I reckon we’re just a Larin rotation partner away from a side that should easily be good enough for promotion.

FWIW - against a good team there was loads to like and very little to dislike. May as well start with the negatives; Bragg 1st half looked out of his depth; Manning could have blocked the cross and then closed down the shot - his positional sense defensively is and always has been awful. Larin deserved his hat-trick. We started both halves terribly, deserved to go a goal down and were dominated until we equalised out of nowhere. Positives - pretty everything else. Average performances from Peretz, Downes, JWP, Dobbin, Mubama, Fellows Mannings offensive work just about makes up for his defensive frailties. And Bragg performed much better in the second half which in itself shows enormous courage and character from a young kid. Leo was more like himself, Wood looked good with some leadership beside him, Bree had one of his best games for us, Azaz ran the second half, Larin was a beast, the new cb looked outstanding to me - what a debut. But possibly my MOTM was Matsuki. Maybe OTT given Larins performance but I thought he was excellent; full of energy, barely missed a tackle or pass. Nightmare for the opposition. Finally, a special mention for Captain Jack who didn’t put a foot wrong.

So business left to do is presumably Exit Ramsdale and replace Exit Sugawara and/or Roerslev - 1 replacement if we exit both Replace THB if he goes (hopefully not) Replace Edozie if he goes (hopefully so) Exit Archer and Downs, replace with one if we manage to exit both Would leave us imo with a strong and balanced squad on paper - as good as almost anything else in the league. Then it’s just the simple matter of getting the tactics, mentality and performances right. And the players being as good in the pitch as they are on paper. Right now I’m fairly optimistic for the season, though strangely not about this afternoon