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Isak Alemayehu - A Real Prospect
at 15:32 2 Aug 2026

Yes it was his composure that really stood,

Just seemed to know when to run with the ball, when to go long and when to 'recycle' it as they say with a few short passes, also possibly only lost possession once in the whole game,

Really dictated the tempo of our game which is an innate ability all really good Centre Midfielders have, I'd like to see him stay and not go on loan as I like Morgan but this lads a similar age without the Premier League club apprenticeship but it all just seemed so natural to him.

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Phil Sanyaolu
at 14:18 1 Aug 2026

Agree, looks a very decent prospect, good touch, sees a pass and has power and more importantly skill.

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Isak Alemayehu - A Real Prospect
at 14:14 1 Aug 2026

First pre-season last night & first time I've seen this lad play,

Lots of great posts about his performance last night on the Match Thread but thought he deserved his own thread,

I get its pre-season, I get it was'nt necessarily Bromley's Starting XI, but Alemayehu absolutely ran the game and there were so many stand-outs in his play,

To keep in context I first saw Chair in a pre-season @ Peterborough and thought a decent prospect (right on that one) and Bettache in a pre-season @ Leyton Orient and thought the same (wrong on that one) but Alemayehu last night showed all the skill-sets needed to play as a Centre Midfielder for the R's, with stand-outs being:

1) Showing & wanting the ball the whole game
2) Non-stop movement to be in a position to receive the ball
3) On receiving the ball knowing what he was going to do with it, quick pass or surge
4) Passing the ball in front of the receiver so they could run onto it and not break stride
6) Passing and moving for the return ball
7) Passing short or long and drilling quick passes into feet in and around their penalty box
8) Getting into good shooting positions on the edge of the box
9) Decent shimmy receiving the ball leaving defenders 2nd guessing direction of half-turn
10) Decent leap on him to challenge for headers

The prospect of Alemayehu playing in the 2 beside a more defensive-minded CDM is one I'd like to see this year, so imo, I hope we don't loan him out but develop him ourselves as turning 20 in a month or so and Morgan proved on arrival no harm being thrown in at the deep-end.

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GAA 2026
at 12:30 28 Jul 2026

Yes, harsh to say given they were the better team but Mayo almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the those last 5 minutes.

Midwest Radio's commentary in that final minute is hilarious, the two commentators forgot they were broadcasting and were screaming hysterically like fans,

One was screaming 'hold it, hold it, hold it' to play keep ball and was'nt sure the point was enough,

So reminded me of a few youth games playing Gaelic in London where our Coach only had two words when in possession of the ball 'drive it, drive it', Arsene Wenger he was'nt.

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GAA 2026
at 11:15 27 Jul 2026

100%, his hand-pass into space for their goal was brilliant,

Slight shame Conroy did'nt have that same vision to return the pass to McDonald for an easy side foot into the goal for that last score,

That would have been the ending of all endings.

Brilliant to see the GAA in some great shape, just hope the Allianz row does'nt cause a long-term rift and Burns can do the right thing and quickly.

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GAA 2026
at 17:51 26 Jul 2026

Delighted for Mayo,

Recent rule changes make for a more free-flowing attacking game, great watch,

Really feared when Mayo hit the bar and missed that 2 point free, and they deserved slice of luck in last few minutes with Clifford missing 2 pointer to draw level,

Fair play, best team won, as were on the front all game and really took risks to win the game.

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Cooky Monster
at 10:01 3 Feb 2026

Haha, that's one way of reading it,

We've likely all played in teams with players far better than us and a few far weaker than us,

If I know my right-back is positionally suspect, prone to a rush of blood etc, when I play him the ball I'm giving him the first option for the return pass,

Cook when passing to Kakay, Dunne whoever rarely does this, which is why I've never seen a real team player in him by comparison to Dunne,

I posted in response to a post comparing the two as Captain material, watch Cooks reaction to Bennie, Walshy (maybe Edwards & Dunne?) for Coventrys goal

And compare that to how Dunne is always the first to congratulate his Goalkeeper on a good save, a new lad scoring his 1st goal etc

One of the reasons I always posted in defence of Dunne, he's here for the team & us, you can build a team around characters like him.

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Cooky Monster
at 15:59 1 Feb 2026

Saw Teddy Sheringham explaining Gyokeres role & value to the Arsenal team the other day, even though he's missing chances and scoring very few goals,

Not being a smart arse but it was word for word what I saw Dykes role being for us, as Clarke saw his role for Scotland,

It was'nt a blind obsession, it was a fear that without that type of player in a bottom 8 Championship Squad of players we would get relegated, I think we were fortunate not to when we ended up with Frey & Sinclair leading our line,

Defended Dunne to the hilt when the consensus of many on this forum was he could'nt play Centre Half, I mean, who could with Dozzell as your CDM,

Said at the time Dunne is a player we should build our Squad around as 100% committed and a great club man, watch Cook's reaction yesterday when we conceded, I'm not sure it did Walsh & Bennie's confidence much good.

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Madsen
at 13:42 1 Feb 2026

Agree, a horrible cross to try to defend, especially against a Centre Forward as physical & strong as Kone

Defender actually closed the space well but great improvising from Kone and a superb finish,

Other Kone highlights yesterday were:

1) 96th minute defensive run across the pitch to pressure left back who shanked the ball out rather than play a dangerous hail mary diagonal into our box; Kone knew that was his and their last effort and dug deep for the team

2) Pressing, not natural to him like Burrell, but him & Vale were first line of defence yesterday and never let Coventry's defenders step up & break the line

3) Actually quicker than I thought, unless their Centre Half was Rob Dickie'esque, but after first 5 yards, once he's get going, he's not as slow as I thought

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Madsen
at 12:32 1 Feb 2026

Fair play to Kone for saying that, it was a cross fired in so gave him something to attack, which is what all Centre Forwards want as gives him something to attack,

If you watch it Kone still had so much to do and I re-watched it as I could'nt work out live how Kone converted it,

What he did was so good as ball was bobbling (on our pitch its bound to!) but Kone used that to his advantage and jumped off his his left foot and flicked it with his right, probably only option he had and a brilliant finish.

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Madsen
at 12:28 1 Feb 2026

If he can consistently put together 90 minutes like the 1st Half 45 minutes against Wrexham that will transform us into a proper top half side and he'll have justified his fee and some,

And even those still not totally won over, like myself, will be proved wrong and gladly so.

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Cooky Monster
at 12:24 1 Feb 2026

I have called Cook out on this from Day 1, it is not behaviour becoming of a Captain, especially in a team likely to be at the wrong end of the table,

I expect a senior pro & Captain to take responsibility, motivate & show leadership to the lesser able & younger players,

I've seen Dunne tell him to fxxk-off before but how did Walsh & Bennie feel yesterday after getting that reaction?

Cook is a decent player, no doubt a model pro, came here for a payday and has covered his wages,

From the early days of his hospital balls to Kakay, not showing for a return pass, passing to Dunne to step-up with the ball rather than do so himself, and particularly always looking to blame others for his mistakes, I see a player who plays for himself and not a leader of our club.

Just a different opinion.

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Cooky Monster
at 11:44 1 Feb 2026

A video I saw on Twitter taken from the Coventry end yesterday explains why an opinion I have long held is that Cook should not be our Captain and Dunne is an excellent candidate,

We conceded a goal yesterday to a worldie of a cross, should Walsh have come? was it Edwards man? was it Bennie's man? in reality it was just quality piece of play and no-one was at fault,

Cook as his way, immediately starts looking for a scape-goat, throwing his arms up in the air, angrily gesticulating at others, something he's done since Day 1 at our club, be it his mistake or Ossie Kakay's, who-ever, Cook always plays the blame game,

Dunne by comparison is a team player and a QPR man in a way Cook is not, hence getting Madsen & other overseas players out for coffee & / or a few beers in Chiswick regularly, something crucial in helping us get the best out of these players,

Cook's playing well for sure, Dunne is a better Captain.

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Madsen
at 11:36 1 Feb 2026

I been very critical of Madsen due to the price we paid & his abysmal 1st season, which but for Morgan stepping up and a very weak division could have seen us relegated, as we spent maybe half our meagre budget on his fee and he didnt merit a starting place in a very average championship squad,

I believe, rightly or wrongly, some on this Forum are going way over board as I'm yet to see him 'run or dominate a full 90 minutes', as opposed to have good 15 minute spells or an excellent whole half as he did in 1st Half Half v Wrexham,

Either they are seeing something I am not, or the bar was set so low in that first season the transition is generating the hyperbole,

Madsen played much better in the 1st Half versus Wrexham that yesterday but we lost, however, the whole team were excellent yesterday, we won and he did two things which I see as real positives and maybe those hyping him could be proved right:

1) Assist: - decent pacy cross but left it all to do for Kone as ball was bobbling & Kone came up with a bit of magic, but Madsen's movement was good as he was attacking the space and inter-changing well with Vale

2) Goal :- even I wanted to see that ball drop to Madsen (or Vale) but the fact Madsen was attacking from the edge of the box was a real positive and something we have not done for so long.

Ironic Frank Lampard made a career doing what Madsen did for that 2nd goal yesterday.

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Frey
at 11:41 27 Jan 2026

I never rated Michi Frey and really think we got away with one when relying on him to lead the line & keep us up, somehow we stayed up in the seasons of the Rotherham's & Barnsley's where we just had to be the 4th worse team,

For a guy who's not short, he just could'nt seem to jump & win headers with his back to goal, which is a must for a Championship level target man,

Ridiculously slow and just could'nt lead an effective press, did'nt rate his physicality either, always reminded me of a WWE Wrestler, all bulk and no real strength,

However...chipped in with a few key goals and did his best with his very limited skill-set, so wish him all the best,

£ 500k heh? does Christian Nourry write for West London Sport under the Dave Mc pseudonym, as would definitely explain some of his post match ratings.

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Four minutes of madness – Report
at 11:06 26 Jan 2026

Excellent report, learnt a few things I did'nt see at the game, including:

1) Dunne having the sense to call for a late time-out with Walsh but somehow we even managed to fxxk that up,

2) Field dropping in as a 3rd Centre Back rather than in that advanced CDM role which made sense if we had defensive minded midfielders on the on the pitch, but we only had Hadyn,

For the first time this season? we started with our 'ballers' without a recognised defensive Midfielder, the result being an excellent 1st Half performance, then we ran out of gas at Half Time,

Injury time debacle was an extreme example of what we saw in the 45 minutes before, the mix between 'ballers' and 'grafters' was all wrong, Stephens need to get the balance right and this is where his substitutions are key & keeping players on it for 90 minutes.

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Four minutes of injury time
at 18:42 25 Jan 2026

Haha, all good, yes it was too soon as we're all a bit raw still,

Plenty of positives yesterday & with so many injuries & limited options on the bench, we were excellent in the 1st Half, hopefully we put two good halves together for our next game...checks fixtures (omg)

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Four minutes of injury time
at 15:36 25 Jan 2026

Fair points well made,

I tend to be biased towards players who give their all for the team, hence staunch defender of both Dykes & Dunne who at times were the scape-goats for our support,

I tend to be critical (overly) of players who seem to play within themselves, hence giving up on Andre Dozzell in that Qtr Back role following a pre-season game at Wimbledon,

That 'quarter-back' role is pivotal in modern football, hence championing Chair to drop into the middle to be our Barry Bannan,

Madsen proved he can play that role very well in the 1st Half yesterday,

Lots of things went awry in that 2nd Half yesterday, including Wrexham's change of shape, our inability to freshen it up soon enough (eg Vale likewise seemed to disappear) etc

But that complete dis-connect between our defence and offence really stood out between the 45th & 80th minute,

Like the last 4 minutes, our Senior Players on the pitch have enough experience to see whats going wrong, speak to each other & fix it.

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Four minutes of injury time
at 15:05 25 Jan 2026

I am giving Madsen credit for our excellent 1st Half performance, where we should have been 2-0 up,

I am blaming the collective head-loss of our senior players on conceding 2 goals in 2 minutes for the loss,

Our 2nd Half performance was very very poor yesterday and at 1-1 there only looked like one winner, Wrexham,

The root cause of this was our defenders being forced to go long to our lone striker who, good as he is, is not a centre forward to boot it long too, these types of Centre Forwards are very important to mid-table championship sides & with Frey under-performing, we do not have that option,

I could clearly see why we were forced to go long & why it was'nt working, could you?

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Four minutes of injury time
at 14:03 25 Jan 2026

I thought we would bring on Edwards earlier as at Half Time with Mbengue on a Yellow we were talking about how he was likely to get a 2nd Yellow with his habit of jumping into challenges,

A separate point but Madsen was very good in the 1st Half and the team functioned well,

Through fatigue or whatever Madsen disappeared in the 2nd Half and the team malfunctioned completely, booting it long, losing possession and we were forced to watch Wrexham build their attacks,

I get some will say it was a great assist for the corner (dreadful marking, great header) and a brilliant run forward (it was) to shoot wide, but Madsen should have been showing for that ball off the Centre Halves and Walsh for the whole of the 2nd Half and just was'nt,

We or Madsen need to fix this if our season is'nt going to spiral downwards,

You mentioned glimpses before, I'd rather see a 6/10 1st Half and 6/10 2nd Half than a 7/10 1st Half and a 3/10 2nd Half, this role is pivotal in modern football and we cannot be so inconsistent in this key position.

Lots of positives in that 1st Half yesterday tho.

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