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Reply | Just back
at 09:19 25 Jan 2026
Reflection time...
First half brilliant. We should have been 3 up (Smyth and Vale missed sitters).
Stopped running on 60. Stopped the press. Sat back.
Vale and Madsen our best players for that 60.
Vale can't play more than 60.
Substitutions too late and wtf could he not combine those windows to give us some options should something go wrong later in the game?
Sending off comes. Surely that is time for a sit down injury to rearrange? Dunne RB, Hayden, Field CBs alongside Cookie.
Where is Frey? Not injured, the only replacement for Kone in this squad and is exceptional at defending let alone attacking.
Kone needs a rest.
The bench is full of young players who need loans rather than developing by playing 5 or 10 mins here or there. Jumping straight to the first team just does not work... |
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Reply | Would a newby be a booby ? Match thread
at 15:59 24 Jan 2026
Good half. Only disappointment is that we are only one up. The misses by Smyth and Vale the only low points.
The bench still worries me as we will not finish with this 11.
MBengue's booking a joke of a decision that might cost us... |
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Reply | Would a newby be a booby ? Match thread
at 14:58 24 Jan 2026
That is on them and not the crowd. If they want to avoid the boos and the jeers, give us something to cheer about. I avoid abusing players during the games but totally get the groans when Kone "traps" a ball by letting it bounce 10 yards from him or Dembele gets blown over by a gust of wind and can't be arsed to chase back.
At home they get all the support they should need. It really is on them to step up... |
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Reply | Would a newby be a booby ? Match thread
at 11:07 24 Jan 2026
Rumour is that he is looking at a change of formation and that Vale and Morgan may feature.
What do we reckon?
Three CBs? Not sure we have "wing backs" for that.
One up top? Think that is a given, but WHO?
4-2-3-1 most likely, but at times we look like we play that anyway, so is it a change?
Diamond? Possibly, but is that Madsen deep, Vale and Morgan central with a "proper" 10 and if so, who? Dembele? Don't make me laugh. Or is it Hayden sitting, Vale and Madsen in the middle then Vale in a 10? And does that STILL mean two up top?
Thoughts? |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 20:46 20 Jan 2026
Just do not look scoring AGAIN. Poor game; maybe 5 mins of quality football in that dirge.
As ever the oppo is diabolical. This is all about who can be less crap than the oppo.
*sigh* it never used to be this way. This was not what was sold to me in the late 70s, 80s and 90s... |
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Reply | MBengue ban?
at 14:08 18 Jan 2026
Nah, he was downright shite for both sides - no hint of bias either way. They had as much cause to be aggrieved as we did... |
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Thread | MBengue ban?
at 12:06 17 Jan 2026
Amadou got booked in the cup. Does that mean that he is one yellow away from a two game ban? |
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Reply | Fourth Round Here We Come Match Thread
at 17:25 11 Jan 2026
The Authorities have to do something about that Festive Schedule. It has decimated our squad (and I'll bet a few others) and so the quality falls through the floor. So, so far behind a sh1te Prem Team just like we were last season. The FA Cup comes at the wrong time...
The effort was there and can't be faulted; this time the club did "have a go", but we've now got no-one left. Was that WBA game in the middle of Xmas really worth it?
Better than I thought it would be, but apart from effort (which we matched them on) we were miles behind them on quality. |
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Reply | Ronnie Edwards
at 16:32 9 Jan 2026
I think that it is irrelevant when the game is; the deadline is linked to the first game in the round, so I suspect it is 12 noon today. |
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Reply | Kolli
at 19:03 4 Jan 2026
Can't see how anyone can disagree with this. On today's showing, this is all true.
A confidence player. Last time he scored two (Norwich (h)), I remember him being the same - very average until he scored, then he came alive. Different player once he scores. Deserves much credit for turning the game, but, as I say, E17 has this about right imo.
Of course, with such little game time, there are mitigating circumstances, so let's hope he gets a run in the team and starts to show us all what his disciples bang on about... |
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Reply | The Barry Bannan Master Class Match Thread
at 13:00 4 Jan 2026
TWO forward passes all half. Nowhere near a definition of a "good game".
Not enough press or intensity. We are cruising, but are only one up. They look incapable of creating anything. So why does it feel inevitable that they will equalise in our sleepy 5 minutes at the start of the 2nd half... [Post edited 4 Jan 13:01]
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Reply | Esquerdinha and his usage
at 18:28 30 Dec 2025
If the club is serious about developing these kids, they should be out on loan instead of doing sporadic minutes off our bench or in the cup games.
Esquerdinha is not ready. That is clear. He is, however a talent and has "growing space". Let him grow for a season at a L2 club for the rest of the season instead of winning another Dev Squad Cup.
Same as Bennie, Sutton, Akindeleni, Smith, Wilkie, Pearman, etc., etc.
I know Sutton is off warming Morecambe's bench (is he that good???), but the rest of them (aside from Smith) are wasting their time sitting in the Dev Squad at the moment.
The club should have done it with Armstrong and they should have done it with Kolli. It worked really well with Eze, Chair and maybe Cooper, but aside from Kelman, they do not seem to have pushed too hard recently. |
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Reply | Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 18:21 30 Dec 2025
That is my worry. We'll call it "doing the Schteve" - get some players to play every single minute and wonder why they drop off in the New Year... |
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Reply | Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 11:48 30 Dec 2025
I get that view, but I think that there is a general understanding that we aren't really that good. This squad is still weak; some improvement in the first XI, but little strength in depth around CM, Full Back and up front with a debilitating goalkeeper situation.
My worry is that this is like Schteeve's flog 'em to death season and that those areas where we have been relatively injury free (full back and CM) may start to pick up injuries. Varane I am not worried about as Hayden is simply a better option at the moment, but we do not have another Madsen anywhere in this squad - loads of defensive midfielders, but little creativity in that position.
We're midtable and that will do. |
| | davman
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