malcolm waldron

I agree. There are some real learning points there that can hopefully be addressed for the upcoming games and into 2026. I can only echo what others have said around the subs. We said the same thing on Saturday with the side we ended up with against B'ham looking a bit of a mess. Similar to last night and I thought bringing on Fraser was a brave call - especially as they were so dangerous down the flanks - was Mikey Johnston on at that stage? Don't think he was. The passing around at the back in the second half particularly was a concern - and there was a contrast between the Wood-Quarshie-Manning passes vs to the right. Quarshie and Wood take a split second longer than ideal to control the ball which then invites pressure. Manning's return passes to Quarshie were not often great, but JQ's receiving body position is often a mess, leading to rushed/poor passing and coughing the ball up in dangerous areas. Anyway - the first half was excellent and there's some things to work on.

Very pleased that he saved it (at an important stage of the match), but that only goes to show how far my expectations have fallen over the last 3 years.

I agree with much of what you've said - and let's face it we should have the advantage of this squad at least for this season, hence a lot of the frustration with the poor performances under WS. I've only seen the 45 mins of Williams against Sheff W where I felt he was largely trying to keep himself out of trouble, so wouldn't to comment too much. Maybe you've seen more of him? But overall we should look forward to the busy schedule coming up with some confidence - that would be helped with a better target man option up front. I wonder if we'll think about upgrading there (a bit like Billy Sharp coming in to give a different option back in Jan 2012).

Not sure what anyone else thinks but I'd really like to see a bench with Romeu sat on it...

Agree with all of that - but I'd love to know what was really going on behind the scenes from pre-season through to the Preston game. The signs were there when we got very lucky against Wrexham and then it got gradually worse from there. The players look transformed - THB is starting to look like the 23/24 loan player we had, finally we've got Azaz and Fellows starting, and the players look like they are enjoying it and playing for each other. The embrace between Leo and THB at the end of the match said a lot to me about team spirit. What a great feeling this morning.

😀 But he's cup-tied though isn't he........?

You've let yourself down there I'm afraid. Surely you meant against the ball, or maybe even out of possession.....?

Don't be ridiculous - he wouldn't appoint someone from Penge.......🙄

He looks low on height to me too.

Are you saying we should go for Areola then? I'm up for that and the Bournemouth connection (is he a fan?) wouldn't bother me......

I think you and I have got the same club contact - as I was hearing his name over the weekend. I follow German second division football very closely and I'm fairly sure I saw his team lose 5-0 to FC Magdeburg at home. They were very unlucky and on another day it might have been only a 4-5 defeat or, with a wee bit of luck, maybe they might have stumbled to 5-5. Someone with that kind of nous and ability would be ideal for Stoke away on a Tuesday night. My main concern is his age. At 43 he's presumably too old for us.....?

I think we need to give him time and see how he plays under a new manager before using some of the extreme comments above. However, I did think a few weeks back that if we wanted a floaty, non-tackling, non tracking back attacking midfielder in our team then didn't we have one before deciding he should be loaned out to Millwall.....?

My sources tell me that this was actually confirmed last night and Oriel had his first training session today. When the session was over allegedly he invited Flynn Downes, THB and Manning to stay behind in the changing room with the door shut for a quiet word. Unconfirmed as yet but allegedly shortly after an ambulance had to be called to Staplewood to treat a 26 year old cockney and a 23 year old northern primadonna. Reports that a 29 year old 'irishman" was last seen scrambling over the fence and heading towards Dibden have also yet to be confirmed.

Said the same thing last night after the game. Before it we were wondering which Championship lump would bully us this time - of course the answer was Sinclair Armstrong when he came on. I remember him from his QPR days back in 23/24 and while his career may have stalled, my god did he give Wood and THB something to worry about for the 2nd half. And we brought on Damian Downs.....

We say the same thing every home game walking over the bridge to the ground with Rickie staring back at us from the mural. What we would give to find the equivalent now from League 1.