20/21 Matchday Thread

[Super_horns]

We've conceded 23 goals in 11 games. That alone should tell you how well we've adjusted to the step up.

Played alright today in fairness, but our defense is an absolute shambles. Guaranteed two goals for any side coming up against us at the moment as we'll simply put them on a plate for you. International break is the perfect time to work on stuff, and with the run of the fixtures we've got coming up we really need to get things sorted.

Special shout-out to Gus Hamer scored a header from 25 yards, that was very funny.

Yes -you were dangerous in attack and well did he mean that header or not ?

Probably unlucky not to get a point - missed chances and a bad mistake for the penalty cost you.

 

[SF_]

Ha, knew we would lose to them, they looked really bad but they do make life hard and we were very sloppy.

Didn't understand Neil's subs, don't think they helped us.

 

[Millerbri]

Ha, knew we would lose to them, they looked really bad but they do make life hard and we were very sloppy.

Didn't understand Neil's subs, don't think they helped us.

A right back playing left back, no Blackman, Mattock, MacDonald, Robertson, Ogbene, and then Sadlier limping off early doors.
First games of the season for Johanson in goal, Olusunde and Vassell against a team in outstanding form away from home.

With that in mind, I thought we did ok.
Our wingers constantly tried to take their full back on all game and we put the miles in to bridge the gap in quality.

I was glad to see Jakobsen go off, he looked decent.
I would have thought he would stay on with another striker coming on.

First time we have scored kicking towards the North (home end) Stand this season. We generally score most of our goals kicking that way, maybe that shows how much home teams are missing their supporters this season.

 

[SF_]

A right back playing left back, no Blackman, Mattock, MacDonald, Robertson, Ogbene, and then Sadlier limping off early doors.
First games of the season for Johanson in goal, Olusunde and Vassell against a team in outstanding form away from home.

With that in mind, I thought we did ok.
Our wingers constantly tried to take their full back on all game and we put the miles in to bridge the gap in quality.

I was glad to see Jakobsen go off, he looked decent.
I would have thought he would stay on with another striker coming on.

First time we have scored kicking towards the North (home end) Stand this season. We generally score most of our goals kicking that way, maybe that shows how much home teams are missing their supporters this season.

Had no idea about your injuries, we're badly missing Pearson & Davies right now, don't rate Jordan Storey at all, lost his man for your first to add to the list of goals he's cost us. 23 now, been here a while, can't hide behind the young kid tag anymore.

Was baffled when Riis went off but maybe the schedule has caught up with him, think him & Stockley up front would have caused havoc in that game.

DJ is well out of form, should be dropped, don't think he's performed in a single game this season.

I'd take losing at your place if we can get off the mark at home.

 

[SF_]

Anyone else not really too fussed when you win or lose at the moment? Very detached watching it on TV.

I'd feel sorry for fans if their club gets promoted this season, it'd feel empty.

 

[Millerbri]

Anyone else not really too fussed when you win or lose at the moment? Very detached watching it on TV.

I'd feel sorry for fans if their club gets promoted this season, it'd feel empty.

I suppose how bothered you are relates to where you would expect to finish in the table.
Your expectations I imagine are at least mid-table towards play offs so maybe it feels that way to you.

In the bottom 6 positions I expect it's more intense.

I still find myself bellowing at our defenders for not clearing and at Ladapo for missing that sitter before we scored.
Naturally the ref cops most flack for giving cheap free kicks for nowt tackles and generally giving little Rotherham sweet FA against the bigger teams.
And lets face it, how many are smaller than us?

 

[SF_]

I suppose how bothered you are relates to where you would expect to finish in the table.
Your expectations I imagine are at least mid-table towards play offs so maybe it feels that way to you.

In the bottom 6 positions I expect it's more intense.

I still find myself bellowing at our defenders for not clearing and at Ladapo for missing that sitter before we scored.
Naturally the ref cops most flack for giving cheap free kicks for nowt tackles and generally giving little Rotherham sweet FA against the bigger teams.
And lets face it, how many are smaller than us?

Fancy us to be in the 11th-15th bracket, didn't do enough in the summer and will probably lose a couple in January.

Play-offs would take something special.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Anyone else not really too fussed when you win or lose at the moment? Very detached watching it on TV.

I'd feel sorry for fans if their club gets promoted this season, it'd feel empty.

Totally agree with this. Watching on tv leaves you feeling very detached from the whole experience, the lack of people actually in the stadiums feels like it’s lowers the stakes as well. Just doesn’t feel as important.

Also the amount of games in a short period of time is sort of sucking a lot of enjoyment out of it, I love my football but playing a game every 3 days is too much.

 

[thewwfc]

Anyone else not really too fussed when you win or lose at the moment? Very detached watching it on TV.

I'd feel sorry for fans if their club gets promoted this season, it'd feel empty.

I don’t live local to Wycombe so having the games on iFollow allows me to see a lot more games than I otherwise would do, so I personally think it’s great.

I can totally see it’s nowhere near as good if you’re used to seeing live games regularly though.

I do think that the tv view allows you to get a better overall view of the game in terms of tactics and who’s doing what.

in terms of being stuck watching promotion on TV, it certainly wasn’t ideal, but the playoffs were 100% something to look forward to smack in the middle of lockdown.

I’m disappointed that I probably won’t get to many of the bigger grounds watching Wycombe given that we’re not likely to trouble this division for too long, but it is what it is - if the worst impact of COVID for someone is that they don’t get to tick off a few grounds then I guess you have to count your lucky stars.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I don’t live local to Wycombe so having the games on iFollow allows me to see a lot more games than I otherwise would do, so I personally think it’s great.

I can totally see it’s nowhere near as good if you’re used to seeing live games regularly though.

I do think that the tv view allows you to get a better overall view of the game in terms of tactics and who’s doing what.

in terms of being stuck watching promotion on TV, it certainly wasn’t ideal, but the playoffs were 100% something to look forward to smack in the middle of lockdown.

I’m disappointed that I probably won’t get to many of the bigger grounds watching Wycombe given that we’re not likely to trouble this division for too long, but it is what it is - if the worst impact of COVID for someone is that they don’t get to tick off a few grounds then I guess you have to count your lucky stars.

I really disagree about the tv view giving a better view of the game from a tactical standpoint. At the game it’s far easier to pick up on shape and what’s going on off the ball. The ifollow for obvious reasons follows the ball.

 

[SF_]

I really disagree about the tv view giving a better view of the game from a tactical standpoint. At the game it’s far easier to pick up on shape and what’s going on off the ball. The ifollow for obvious reasons follows the ball.

Yeah, I agree with this, from the top of the Town End you can see how teams set up clearly and how they organise themselves out of possession. Always pisses me off when a couple of my mates sit pretty much pitch level, can't even tell if it's gone out for a fucking corner at the other end.

 

[Craig]

Anyone else not really too fussed when you win or lose at the moment? Very detached watching it on TV.

I'd feel sorry for fans if their club gets promoted this season, it'd feel empty.

Same with Champions League and international games too, used to look forward to a decent fixture on tv if we weren’t playing but now I’m not even that bothered over watching. Have to have an acca to generate any real interest. Said it way before season even started but we’re not getting back into grounds any time this season.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Interesting viewpoints and very dangerous for football. Feel it is on an edge with the greed at the top and if fans revolt and turn their backs or get bored they hold all the power and the product dies

 

[Kenneth E End]

The last five years, I have watched far less football than in the years previous. Midweek games, unless its our own games, I rarely watch. I only really sit down and watch the Sunday games, but my interest of the PL is minimal in all honesty. Sky, FIFA and the incessant media seem hell bent on destroying the golden goose.

 

[Atavistic]

I've been for a few years now at the point where I couldn't care less about the Champions or Europa League and only care about the Premier League when we're in it. Even then, though, I scarcely watch anyone's games besides our own and England internationals at this point.

Watching our matches still holds a lot of appeal, but at the moment at least I do think that's because we're just nowhere near as inept as the back-end of last season. Regardless, it definitely isn't the same and does feel slightly hollow and empty at the moment and will evidently do so for the foreseeable future.

 

[Super_horns]

The PPV saga summed it up for me.

Greedy and money comes first.

Even Sky get outbid for things these days.

No real thought for the fans or even players in terms of the schedule this season.

Hopefully fans will be allowed in soon though.

 

[EagleEye]

The PPV saga summed it up for me.

Greedy and money comes first.

Even Sky get outbid for things these days.

No real thought for the fans or even players in terms of the schedule this season.

Hopefully fans will be allowed in soon though.

Most, if not all major sports tend to sway towards greed and money. To everyone but the fans, it's all money

 

[Super_horns]

That is true .

Most sports are now on whatever platform has offered the most dough.

 

[Atavistic]

EFL clubs now allowed five subs again for the remainder of the season and, while I can understand why, it's not something I'm glad to see as it disproportionately benefits the larger clubs with greater strength in depth. And while that will in all likelihood benefit us this season as one of the stronger Championship squads, I really think it's quite unfair and will just enhance existing imbalances in squad quality this season.

 

[SF_]

I think the crazy schedule requires that the rule is brought back in to be honest.

We've had plenty of strain injuries already.

 

[SF_]

Sheff Wednesday at home, they will have the new manager bounce and we're the worst home team in history. Defeat.

Not sure who is available, imagine Pearson & Browne will be out, hopefully Davies is back so we can drop Storey.

Midfield will be completely over run and Ledson will probably get sent off if he's asked to do Pearo's job.

Rudd
Fisher, Bauer, Davies, Rafferty
Ledson, Gallagher
Barkhuizen, Johnson, Sinclair
Riis​

 

[Atavistic]

Away at Middlesbrough this weekend. As expected, Warnock has made them much more solid than they were last season and will no doubt keep them competing in and around the play-off picture as the season progresses. It's going to be another tough one, to say the least, and I'd be okay with a draw in all honesty given that it's an away game.

It'll be interesting to see the effect of having five substitutes as well, as I'd like to think that will benefit us due to our strength in depth. On the other hand, a lot of our goals have come late against tiring legs, so we may lose that advantage somewhat now.

 

[Kenneth E End]

EFL clubs now allowed five subs again for the remainder of the season and, while I can understand why, it's not something I'm glad to see as it disproportionately benefits the larger clubs with greater strength in depth. And while that will in all likelihood benefit us this season as one of the stronger Championship squads, I really think it's quite unfair and will just enhance existing imbalances in squad quality this season.

It is a necessary evil. We have lost so many players to injury, probably like everyone because some have been run into the ground in the last 5 months.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Yeah I am all for the 5 subs being brought back. The schedule is too much and whilst it’s not a cure all in terms of fatigue it’s definitely the right move. Without it I think by the time January comes around some teams are really going to be down to the bare bones.

Also not sure it benefits the big clubs at this level as much as you might think. Whilst the overall quality of our squad is clearly lower, I personally feel that drop off in quality from our first 11 to players to those who are back up to them probably isn’t as great as some of the bigger clubs. All of our players feel of similar quality, although not all like for like in terms of style granted, to me bar one or two areas like centre forward perhaps.

Most players we have coming in I dont think would weaken us significantly depending on shape, specific game situation etc. Feels like some of the top sides have a quality first 11 but behind that the drop off is steeper than what we have.

 

[Super_horns]

Yes - with a few injuries at the start of that season our bench looked quite weak.

TBH apart from a couple of injured players cannot think of anyone who hasn’t been in the squad who could be an improvement.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Blackburn for us tomorrow. Took a glance at the league table and was surprised to see we are actually above them in the table, had it in my mind that they were right up there but clearly not. Seem to have been very prolific this season and dangerous going forward so will be a test of solidity that we have had this season. I see a few of there players are doing there best to write NJs team talk for him although to be honest not sure it will make a great deal of difference

Be good to hopefully have a few back that have been missing and we seem to have come away from the internationals with a clean bill of health. Gives us some flexibility in how we line up. Really hope we can get Bree, RND playing together as fullbacks, feel that could really help us and make us a bit more of a threat in possession.

Would take a point to kick off this next set of fixtures positively.

 

[Atavistic]

Idah and Mumba both out injured until February. So, unless Drmic miraculously forces his way back into the fold, we go into a period of 9 games in the space of a month with just 5 senior defenders (i.e. no cover for either full back and only one back-up centre back) and 2 senior strikers available. Any more injuries could see a return of Tettey at centre back, which as we learned last season is just not viable.

A real shame for Mumba as well, as he was fantastic in his cameo against Swansea and looked like he was just about to get his big breakthrough for us in Quintilla's continued injury absence.

On the bright side, this might give some of our youngsters an opportunity to push themselves into the fold and give us more options to work with.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Weird season for Blackburn. Theyve badly beaten the weaker sides, but then been badly beaten by all the top sides with draws thrown in against seemingly draw specialists Cardiff and Boro.

As TFCH said be a good barometer to see where we are, start to build the starting eleven that we havent seen establish yet as people bed in. Id like to nick a win but could go any way and a draw would be fine, but suspect we may be a little slow and get done here

 

[SF_]

Blackburn are carried by Adam Armstrong, without him they'd probably be in serious trouble.

Don't rate Mowbray at all.

I'm sure Armstrong will interest a few clubs in January.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Blackburn are carried by Adam Armstrong, without him they'd probably be in serious trouble.

Don't rate Mowbray at all.

I'm sure Armstrong will interest a few clubs in January.

He scored against us in July on the last day of the season. We did the double over them last year, only one of two clubs we did that against - the other being Huddersfield.

Joe Rothwell has already said they "expect to beat Luton" so the team talk was already done. Hang on Joe, you're meant to wait until after the final whistle before you say #teamslikeLuton.

After having 5 players away hopefully they have returned Covid-free. I'd be surprised if Collo starts tomorrow after playing nearly 90 minutes in Dublin on Wednesday. Not just with the workload, but also the lack of travel options - I hope he got back OK considering there are virtually zero flights back.

As for the team itself, if everyone is corona-free I'd go with the below:

GK Simon Sluga
RB James Bree
LB Rhys Norrington-Davies
CB Sonny Bradley
CB Matty Pearson
DM Glen Rea
CM Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
CM Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu
AM George Moncur
CF James Collins
CF Harry Cornick
Subs: James Shea, Martin Crainie, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Luke Berry, Danny Hylton, Elliot Lee, Tom Lockyer, Jordan Clark, Joe Morrell
Not Used: Kazenga LuaLua, Sam Nombe, Gabriel Osho
Injured: Brendan Galloway, Dan Potts, Eunan O'Kane