Chewy

I just drove into the office in town and the smoke cloud is over Cumberland square/Bedford place. on that basis it’s a bl00dy big fire and will take hours to bring under enough control for anyone to declare it’s safe. May as well officially cancel now because we won’t be playing this evening imo

I know Arsenal are good but I wouldn’t expect a non-league side to be this off the pace in a cup match. This performance is completely embarrassing

Going to call it early … this could be the night to end our 9-0 record.

Looks like I would be made to move - and even then I’m in favour. We need a home end, the atmosphere is crap and I think this will help. Pain as I like my seat but it’s the obvious solution to a problem created the day we moved here.

Well I guess it gives him a nice rest ahead of the play-offs. And maybe an opportunity for someone else. Who knows, maybe we can try Jack Stephen’s up there - about the only position he didn’t try on Saturday

Really sorry to hear - sending my best wishes to his family. Just about remember his as a (fine) player, but more so as a manager. Will never forget the 4-1 posted above, as good as it ever got. Didn’t know him at all but everyone talks of what a decent human he was and he always came across as such. RIP

FWIW - that was sh1t. In their own way 2 kind of freakish goals which happen from time to time. Starting set up was fine but we ended up with Brooks wide right not being used, and everything going down the left with - at times - KWP, Aribo, Will, Stu and Stephen’s all basically playing in the same part of the pitch. Really lopsided and Weird. Second half we attempted more balance, but rarely threatened. Poor finish from Rothwell and one decent save was pretty much it. What I really struggled to understand is why RM didn’t try and change the shape - we had so much of the ball and only ever one striker in the middle of the box. We pushed Jan up in injury fucking time. What about sticking on 2 strikers in a must win game with 20 minutes to go? RM bangs on about being brave but he’s never brave enough to change his beloved formation. Much better to change the full back. Or swap in the pointless Rothwell. Weak as p1ss ref but he’s not why we lost. Rms tactics and our lack of a) cover for Downes and b) a striker are why we lost. Players don’t look like they’re enjoying it - the introduction of Brooks and Rothwell into the squad hasn’t improved the team and doesn’t appear to have improved the squad dynamic. In fact I’d suggest it’s made it a fair bit worse. Im worried after today. I hope it’s a blip in form and we recover in time for the playoffs (automatic has gone). But I sense it’s a bit more than that. Hope I’m wrong

I’m really not sure what he adds. Two good goals v Huddersfield for sure but otherwise he just seems pointless and hasn’t impressed at all. Doesn’t tackle, poor positional sense defensively, doesn’t really make himself available to receive the ball. He’s got some technique but he doesn’t change anything, isn’t dynamic in anyway. Just a whole lot of meh. We needed something different today, not just another version of the same. If Armstrong, Brooks and Aribo are n/a he’s an option … but when are they all going to be n/a? In which case he’s taking a squad place that could be used by cover for Downes, or an attacking option. He kind of sums up all that’s good and bad about RM. Some nice stuff, some amazing stuff, some careless stuff, some tactical brainlessness, some technically proficient football, and more of exactly the same as everyone else. So when we need a change we get … exactly the fucking same. Not his fault but bloody frustrating

Not me and not saints, but pretty sure I remember a story about a Bulgarian supporter in 1994 throwing his tv out of his flat window in rage over an opening defeat to Nigeria. They finished 4th in the end and he wasn’t able to watch any, apparently . Not sure how true - I imagine tvs were relatively expensive in 94, especially on Bulgarian wages … but you have thought his mates would let him watch round theirs. Still, remember hearing it and it made me smile. As an aside, enjoyed 94 as a neutral - Bulgaria beating the Germans a highlight along with Romania beating Argentina. Great World Cup, sh1t final.

That’s a bold statement! 😉

Pretty much this. The midfield combo was non-existent and there were no alternatives on the pitch, so it needed changing. We all saw how it was going after about 15 minutes. Hull were set up brilliantly but RM didn’t respond, just asked his players to do more of the same but somehow better. Only they couldn’t because they were very obviously the wrong players for the job required. The most annoying thing for me is we can all see these tactical issues. Whenever we play with 2 attacking full backs and no proper cdm or physical midfielder we ship goals by the bucket load. 3 v Huddersfield, 3 v Bristol, somehow only 2 last night. Strengthen here and we don’t like v West Brom, the best of the four sides we just played (arguable them or Hull). Please learn this lesson; it was there in September and it’s here again now. We need some more strength here; it means clean sheets which means countless unbeaten games like we’ve just done! Please stop the Rothwell experiment, he’s behind Downes, Aribo and Smallbone; and if Downes is N/A probably behind Shea Charles too. I loved his goals v Hull but he has not earned the right to a starting spot in this team. Please bin off Manning for now. I don’t like bandwagons against players but his confidence is shot. And please - as excellently stated in this post - please be as brave as you claim your players need to be in changing early enough when you’ve very obviously screwed up. Overall it’s been a really promising season - please don’t screw it up

Very impressive, especially the start which totally killed the atmosphere. Was worried our lack of a second in the dominant 30 mins would cost us but otherwise it was perfect. In my youth that was never a handball in a million years, but with today’s mental rules it probably was. On the other hand, the shove on Mara denied a goal scoring opportunity imho. Can’t stress over ifs and buts. Apart from the 10 mins before half time I thought it was pretty stress free, the second (a thing of beauty) killed the game and where we’re so impressive is in retaining possession to kill a game - they had plenty of time to come back but barely got the ball and created one chance … excellently saved by Bazunu. Great performances everywhere; 3 of the back 4 were outstanding, and Jack was solid although his positioning was off a handful of times (fair enough, he’s not a full back). A better balanced defence overall despite this. Smallbone very good, Charles improved from Tuesday but still level below the rest. He’s a kid and his mental resilience in coming straight back after a mare and playing better at a tough away ground is outstanding. Fed up of the haters - his price tag isn’t his fault and he’s going to be exceptional. Stu rightly motm. Brilliant display. Fraser very good but tired quickly I thought. Almost prefer him off the bench but he’s a proper goal threat. ArmA was ok, average for him. I was actually impressed with Mara - better than Che’s recent performances and made some good runs which Che never seems capable of. He has more physical presence than an ArmA too, and given West Brom’s ‘old fashioned’ centre backs it was tough for him - I’ve been very critical, largely of his attitude, but I thought this was a good cf display. Subs all played well - Edozie must be a nightmare to defend against, Aribo was really impressive and added some great control. Rothwell fine but didn’t see much. If I’m honest it’s a concern for me how little he shows. Aside from his (admittedly amazing) brace v Huddersfield I’ve not been overly impressed and he’s behind Downes, Stu, Aribo and Smallbone for me in the midfield options. Brooks was class and his goal was excellent. And I loved Kamaldeens cameo. Kept dribbling past players and then remembered we’re trying to keep the ball so had to dribble backwards to find a team mate. I thought it was hilarious. The dribbling was impressive, though, and he looks like he’s chomping at the bit which is great. Loads to like last night - makes it all the more bizarre how we were so poor on Tuesday. When we tick we totally dominate a game and suck the life out of the opponents and crowd. To be honest patches of the game were boring. Which is perfect when you’re 1 up away at a potentially hostile ground. Shut them right up. So many good options from the bench as well. And all without our linchpin for the whole game plan, Downes. Think we’ll also be better for having a full back at full back, and seeing as we’ve proved we’re more solid without Manning, I look forward to Bree’s return! If he, Downes, THB and KWP stay fit, I don’t see us shipping many more goals again. Rest of the season looks really promising and fresh off the back of such a poor display on Tuesday that’s a real sign of our quality but mostly our character. Very impressive turn around from the coaching team and players - well done

Think it’s just a case of not having two attacking full backs - we had better balance with Bree for that reason. Might get away with it against weaker sides and with Downes in, but without our proper midfield anchor we’re far too exposed when both full backs push on. Sensible decision imho

I think Sky is cup tied

Not that I’m an Adams apologist for one second, but he was no more anonymous in the first half yesterday than Stu or ArmA. And according to the manager (who presumably would know) got a knock. Im struggling to understand some people this morning - Baz, Adams, Manning all sh1t, ArmA too; booing ok … It was a game of football - some players were better than their average, some less so. We won, haven’t lost for 25 matches, scored some worldies, came from behind twice. A pretty good day. My biggest concern is whether RM recognises Shea should have been the sub for Downes and we need better midfield balance when Downes is absent because we lost the midfield - even during the second period (an excellent Huddersfield played their part in that). But given our performances I’ve every confidence in RM … and he certainly has enough credit in the bank for me to back him even if he has an off day. In the same way the above named players do. I won’t be booing the team off or slamming ArmA for missing a 1-on-1 (keeper guessed and got it right), Adams for not getting a sniff, or Baz for not saving a looping, deflected freak goal like some on here are. We have some odd fans with bizarre expectation levels given everything I’ve witnessed in over 40 years’ support.

Just back - that was all a bit mental, but ultimately a very satisfying win showing a lot of character. We’ve been used to watching a fragile group crumble at every sign of struggle for so long I’d forgotten what it looks like. To come back from 2 down, and then again 3-2 was exceptional. Without reliving the whole insane 119 minutes … There were boos at a half-time, not many but definitely some and definitely venting at a perceived poor performance (and not the ref). Inexcusable imho. Literally our best ever run, they’ve earned the right to be cut a bit of slack. Huddersfield were excellent - great game plan which they stuck to, great mentality for a side near the bottom. Kudos to them, although their injury feigning - especially the gk - were really poor even by modern standards. Almost as bad as Mannings dive. Until Downes’ injury i thought it was pretty even. I thought replacing him with Rothwell instead of Charles was dumb and from then on we totally lost the midfield. Most worrying was that it was a repeat of the mistake from earlier in the season - if you have two attacking full-backs you need at least one, preferably two sitting midfielders. No Bree so no choice on full-backs, we therefore needed Charles, not an attacking midfielder. Smallbone can sit deep but he’s not an anchor and with Huddersfields physicality we needed a presence, They destroyed us for the rest of that half. Martin’s first major error in a few months imho. Of course, massive irony in that it was Rothwell who scored the quick brace including a genuinely sensational strike, plus a top-quality assist from Brooks for the second. Too many anonymous performances today, especially 1st half. Adams, both Armstrongs in particular. Also too many dumb/casual concession free kicks and corners early on. Put us under needless pressure. I’m not going to blame the cbs or gk for anything today, our absent midfield left them far too many runners to deal with. Indeed I thought Gavin had another good game with a couple of very well judged “sweeper” moments. Subs all made an impact. Not sure Kamaldeen has a football brain but he’s definitely exciting. Mara for me has jumped ahead of Che in the pecking order. Mostly I was impressed though with the spirit and character. 12 months ago you couldn’t have even dreamed of a comeback like that. Obvious concern is how long Downes is out for, and if it’s a while how we cover him. Don’t let the comeback hide the fact that we totally lost the midfield today, even in that mental second half. Aribo coming back will help .. but we will either need Charles or Bree (when fit) to add some defensive balance. Playing 7/8 forwards didn’t work in September, didn’t work today (despite the result) and won’t work in the future. Well done to everyone today (except the morons who booed). Now the euphoria is receding I feel increasingly like we got away with one today. It’s a brilliant indicator of our spirit and mentality and yet another unbeaten game; just a niggling feeling that we need to learn from todays errors.

Yes. And it is. IMHO

If we play Brooks v Liverpool and get kicked out for fielding an ineligible player, do we keep our unbeaten record?

Happy enough with that team, though I’m surprised we’re seeing Downes play. Him and Smallbone should ensure we control the game (famous last words …) so hopefully a good win. My only gripe is why bother playing Mara wide - it’s not his thing, so why try it again?

According to the nico Lawrence thread, nico the centre back is starting at right back, presumably to allow Brooks the freedom to play right wing without defensive responsibilities. I can’t wait to see how our new right hand side performs.

It was 😆

What position does he play? OS helpfully says “defender”. Number 4 in above team list so I’m guessing cb but thought I’d check

Similar to the first game I’d like to see our key players protected; for me that’s KWP, ArmA, Downes and probably also Stu right now. I’d only play one of Fraser or Edozie too. Personally I’d like/expect something like Lumley Stephens THB Bednarek Meghoma Rothwell Charles Dibling SAA Mara Edozie could see Adams or Smallbone getting a start, though - possibly even Manning in midfield. Wide options possibly influenced on whether Kamaldeen is available. And like everyone has said, Shane Bree is out. Ultimately I’d like us to win but am not going to be too upset if we lose. The likelihood of a defeat at Anfield makes this game a free hit so protect the key men and give minutes to fringe players imho.

One was pretty much all him (or more accurately the fact he wasn’t where he should have been due to awful positioning. The rest he’s no more culpable than the rest of his team who are abject

Sorry guys, my bad. Although it was more of a wondering out loud about a possibility, not a suggestion that it would happen. I am one of our forum’s “big brains” though, so that’s nice. Wonder who the others are? Charlie Wayman for sure!