20/21 Matchday Thread

[That Fat Centre Half]

Surprised our defence have done pretty well so far this season - 3 clean sheets.

Attacking needs some work - probably depends if Sarr stays and Deeney gets fit.

I was worried you were going to get a 1-1 tbh!

You looked dangerous in attack at times and pretty solid in central defence although we got past the full backs a lot.

Typically another injury as well.

You’re right about the fullbacks but i kind of expected that. RND needs a rest having played so much and been huge in those games as well and Sarr is being touted for 20 million plus so I’m not surprised he had a tough time. He played better when we switched to 3 at the back.

Could have done with Brees athleticism on the other side, as it was we had Cranie who got beat badly in the air which effectively led to the goal.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Rea would have busted up their control of midfield too and freed Pelly further up. Vastly underrated. Such is life.

 

[Kenneth E End]

I note not many people highlighted Nathan's words in interview yesterday... "they probably have an £80m budget, 10x ours..."

Its a perfectly valid argument, but if that was Graeme...

 

[Super_horns]

That is a good point although a lot of the more expensive (apart from Sarr) higher earners weren't involved.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I note not many people highlighted Nathan's words in interview yesterday... "they probably have an £80m budget, 10x ours..."

Its a perfectly valid argument, but if that was Graeme...

Saw that too and thought the same. I guess the difference is that GJ often said similar things before games as if he was getting his excuses in early. His general demeanour was also far more dour and down about things whereas NJ in general is the opposite of that.

Overall thought NJ post game was remarkably scathing, thought he might take a middle view given we have done ok so far and this felt like a game too far for us, but clearly wasn’t happy. Definite dig at some players for thinking United was the bigger game at the end.

 

[Atavistic]

Away at Bournemouth for us today. Will be a good yard stick for how we've progressed since last season when Bournemouth finished above us. I hope Farke mixes it up a little after two less than stellar opening performances. For example, if Buendia has recovered from his "knock", he needs to be back in the side, and I'd like to see Idah given a chance to start alongside or just behind Pukki. I'd also like to see Gibson brought into the defence as well, as he has to be match fit at some point and certainly won't be if we don't give him any minutes.

I'm feeling a narrow win one way or the other here.

 

[Super_horns]

Definite dig at some players for thinking United was the bigger game at the end.

I wouldn't be totally surprise if some thought that - much like some of ours would have just seen it as another game to win.

Someone like Troy Deeney might have livened it up more - as he did at the end!

 

[Kenneth E End]

The real reason why the Taylor statue was boarded up... they obviously didn't want him to see this...

Boardhost: File Not Found

 

[Atavistic]

And no Buendia or Cantwell in today's squad. Not a good sign as it seems to suggest both are on the way out. And without them we will not have enough creativity for a concerted promotion push.

Rupp and McLean provide zero quality or creative ability in the midfield, so if Buendia and Cantwell both go we have basically zero creativity in the centre of the park thanks to Preston crocking Dowell for at least three months as well.

EDIT: Same old, same old so far. Start brightly, produce absolutely nothing going forward then give away one simple chance and concede because our defence is awful and Farke's favourite Kenny McLean does the sum total of nothing. Challenge now is to see if we can make the comeback, or if it will be the same as last season and we'll lose without much of a fight back.

 

[Atavistic]

Another woeful performance as our mediocre start to the season continues. Tactics all wrong yet again, playing mostly down the wings but still sticking with Pukki up front even though everyone knows he can't win a header. And once again we dominated possession and did practically nothing with it for 90 minutes.

Farke has proven to be a one-season wonder of a manager and needs to go if this squad is going to be remotely competitive for promotion.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Another woeful performance as our mediocre start to the season continues. Tactics all wrong yet again, playing mostly down the wings but still sticking with Pukki up front even though everyone knows he can't win a header. And once again we dominated possession and did practically nothing with it for 90 minutes.

Farke has proven to be a one-season wonder of a manager and needs to go if this squad is going to be remotely competitive for promotion.

Didn’t you start the season you won the league quite slowly too? Early days and given Buendia and Cantwell look on the way out the squad and Farke probably havent settled down yet. I’d still expect you to be up there.

 

[Atavistic]

Didn’t you start the season you won the league quite slowly too? Early days and given Buendia and Cantwell look on the way out the squad and Farke probably havent settled down yet. I’d still expect you to be up there.

We did, yes (actually started notably worse than we have so far this season), but even in those early stages there were promising signs of what was to come and everyone was clearly pushing in the same direction. What I'm seeing now, by contrast, is very reminiscent of Farke's first season in terms of on-pitch performances: slow, cumbersome, poor at the back and almost entirely lacking in creativity. On top of that, Farke's current tactics aren't matching the team selections: we're trying to use the wings more and play crosses into the box, but are still insisting on Pukki as the lone man up front when he's only scored two headers in three seasons here (and one of those was because Declan Rudd dropped the ball into the net, rather than because it was a good header), rather than utilising Hugill or Idah as an option to meet crosses.

And then there's what's going on behind the scenes with the transfer speculation and supposed attitude problems around Buendia and Cantwell, our two brightest creative sparks. Without them and with Dowell's injury, we seem completely lacking in creativity in the centre of the park and, with our board being notoriously tight with money at the best of times, I'm not confident that we would reinvest the money generated by selling Cantwell and/or Buendia to even come close to adequately replacing them.

I'll admit I'm more negative than the situation probably currently warrants (due to us being poor since last November and utterly woeful since post-lockdown), but things genuinely feel pretty toxic at the moment inside the club and that needs to be resolved one way or another as quickly as possible. The situation can change very quickly, though, so I still feel like we could finish anywhere between 2nd and 14th depending on what happens next. We definitely need to win against a Derby side in disarray next week to get us back on track.

 

[SF_]

How does a straight red get knocked down from a three match ban, to a one match ban like Barkhuizen's did?

He was sent off for a reckless challenge (it was a standard 50/50), so it's either a bad challenge, or it isn't?

Incompetent wankers, we were well on top before the red card and it's cost us the game, the panel admit the referee got it wrong and we still lose one of our best players for another game.

 

[Super_horns]

So you won the appeal but he is still banned?

Reading for us tomorrow - I guess a draw must seem most likely

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Interesting game for us tomorrow at home to Wycombe. Wycombe going to be keen to stop an early rot setting in and get their first points of the season, and from their perspectives its probably a game they will have identified as one thats winnable for them.

Expecting a bit of an ugly game as I think to try and get that point Wycombe are going to revert even further to type and try and make it a stop start, physical direct type of game which would suit them. We are missing Lockyer due to injury but i think its a Pearson, head it, kick it type game anyway but hopefulyl the weeks worth or preparation has got a bit of energy back in the legs as i thought the Watford game looked a match too far for some.

Probably one of the very few games this season where we are going to be expected by most to win which is unusual for us. Be interesting to see how we can react to probably having to make our own running. We havent looked the most creative so far this season so an organised Wycombe defensive looking to play direct may be a tricky proposition.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Quite a decent game on the box tonight with Coventry playing Bournemouth. Bournemouth looked really good deservedly lead I thought, but gave away a very stupid penalty and its 1-1 at half time.

Coventry struggled with the Bournemouth press and getting out of their own half as we did with sides pressing us early last season. Just not something you get used to seeing in League 1. When they have got out they have looked quite good though.

 

[Super_horns]

Bournemouth taken control as you might expect.

3-1 and a man up.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Yep Bournemouth blew them away a bit second half. The Bournemouth pressing was so good and Coventry played themselves into trouble because of it. On that showing Bournemouth will be up there.

Unfortunate for Coventry that one of there better looking players got himself sent off.

Thought Jack Stacey looked superb and was arguably the main attacking outlet.

Didn’t realise Graeme Jones was at Bournemouth now as well as an assistant I assume. Think that’s where he is most comfortable, but if Bournemouth do make a fist of it this year no doubt he’ll get some management offers again.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

We were dreadful tonight, Bournemouth didn't even have to play well to comfortably beat us. Ridiculously naive to think we can just turn up and play so openly against sides like Bournemouth. One of my big worries coming into the season was that, despite all he's done for the club over the past three years, Robins can be incredibly lacking when it comes to pre-match gameplan. We set up the exact same every games and try and play the same way and it's so predictable. It works in League One when you have good players and the opposing managers aren't as savvy, but in the Championship teams are going to do their homework.

 

[thewwfc]

Interesting game for us tomorrow at home to Wycombe. Wycombe going to be keen to stop an early rot setting in and get their first points of the season, and from their perspectives its probably a game they will have identified as one thats winnable for them.

Expecting a bit of an ugly game as I think to try and get that point Wycombe are going to revert even further to type and try and make it a stop start, physical direct type of game which would suit them.

Pretty much. Unfortunately I can’t watch the game as I have some family stuff I have to deal with - don’t get me wrong I expect this to be dogshit to watch, but yes it’s definitely a big game for us in terms of the need to get (any) points on the board.

The wild card factor will be whether our newly-signed big lump and official long-term Akinfenwa replacement Ikpeazu will feature.

 

[Atavistic]

A big game for us against Derby tomorrow, with both teams undoubtedly eager for a win after making pretty poor starts to the season. It's all a bit uncertain for us at the moment, with Godfrey's departure and rumours continuing to swirl about Cantwell and Buendia. However, it seems that the latter two will be back in the squad tomorrow, which should give us a decent chance if we can get on the attack. At the back, I expect we'll see Gibson make his first start alongside Zimmermann, so it'll be interesting to see what difference that makes.

I'm hoping we can capitalise on Derby's poor start and finally put in a good performance to truly get our season up and running, but I'm predicting a draw given everything behind the scenes and how we've played so far.

 

[PUSBCCFC]

Back down to earth for Cov tonight. Some perspective though. Bournemouth are paying a few individuals enough a week to pay for our entire first 11 and bench for a week.

Sky even noted their side being worth nearly £100m compared to our £2.8m (1.5 of that being Hamer alone).

Ourselves and the likes of Wycombe are lightyears away from the wage budgets of many in this division. Luckily we've performed well before today and I'd hope we should have enough to stay up.

Hamer was silly getting sent off. Cook knew what he was doing, flew in 100mph knowing Hamer will react.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Back down to earth for Cov tonight. Some perspective though. Bournemouth are paying a few individuals enough a week to pay for our entire first 11 and bench for a week.

Sky even noted their side being worth nearly £100m compared to our £2.8m (1.5 of that being Hamer alone).

Ourselves and the likes of Wycombe are lightyears away from the wage budgets of many in this division. Luckily we've performed well before today and I'd hope we should have enough to stay up.

Hamer was silly getting sent off. Cook knew what he was doing, flew in 100mph knowing Hamer will react.

I just find the situation pretty sad to be honest. The three relegated teams have £36m in parachute payments and are also able to bring in probably more in transfer fees for players that have a reputation for doing well in the division above. They have a huge advantage and will probably in maybe 2/3 cases get promoted again without much sweat, especially in the current situation.

 

[Kenneth E End]

So Wycombe Wanderers - a lot of Luton fans have been quite arrogant across social media, claiming this should be the easiest result of the season. On paper, we will be the better side and Wycombe haven't scored this season, let alone got a point yet. I won't agree with Wycombe fans about the way they got promoted to this level, but what's done is done...

Football is not played on paper though. In a way that Derby would've felt that they shouldn't have lost to us twice in six months.

Wycombe cannot come and defend and niggle a draw this time around - this is one match they need to target and get points from. Being pointless, they need to get underway. For sure, this time last year it was a real struggle for us initially to get used to the pace of the matches, but it comes in time.

We have a few defensive injury problems suddenly, far more than any other area of the pitch - hopefully after the international break we will get some players back up to speed. I'd go for this side:

GK Simon Sluga
RB Martin Crainie
LB Rhys Norrington-Davies
CB Matty Pearson
CB Sonny Bradley
DM Glen Rea
CM Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu
CM Luke Berry
RF Jordan Clark
LF Harry Cornick
CF James Collins
Subs: James Shea, Peter Kioso, George Moncur, Andrew Shinnie, Kazenga LuaLua, Danny Hylton, Elliot Lee
Unavailable: Dan Potts, Tom Lockyer, Brendan Galloway, James Bree, Eunan O'Kane
Not Used: Ryan Tunnicliffe,

 

[Kenneth E End]

Pretty much. Unfortunately I can’t watch the game as I have some family stuff I have to deal with - don’t get me wrong I expect this to be dogshit to watch, but yes it’s definitely a big game for us in terms of the need to get (any) points on the board.

The wild card factor will be whether our newly-signed big lump and official long-term Akinfenwa replacement Ikpeazu will feature.

What is the craic with Akinfenwa? Two TV games and both he's turned up working for Sky rather than representing Wycombe. That would piss me off to be honest.

As I've said before, he seems to have been re-signed purely for social media reasons.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

So Wycombe Wanderers - a lot of Luton fans have been quite arrogant across social media, claiming this should be the easiest result of the season. On paper, we will be the better side and Wycombe haven't scored this season, let alone got a point yet. I won't agree with Wycombe fans about the way they got promoted to this level, but what's done is done...

Football is not played on paper though. In a way that Derby would've felt that they shouldn't have lost to us twice in six months.

Wycombe cannot come and defend and niggle a draw this time around - this is one match they need to target and get points from. Being pointless, they need to get underway. For sure, this time last year it was a real struggle for us initially to get used to the pace of the matches, but it comes in time.

We have a few defensive injury problems suddenly, far more than any other area of the pitch - hopefully after the international break we will get some players back up to speed. I'd go for this side:

GK Simon Sluga
RB Martin Crainie
LB Rhys Norrington-Davies
CB Matty Pearson
CB Sonny Bradley
DM Glen Rea
CM Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu
CM Luke Berry
RF Jordan Clark
LF Harry Cornick
CF James Collins
Subs: James Shea, Peter Kioso, George Moncur, Andrew Shinnie, Kazenga LuaLua, Danny Hylton, Elliot Lee
Unavailable: Dan Potts, Tom Lockyer, Brendan Galloway, James Bree, Eunan O'Kane
Not Used: Ryan Tunnicliffe,

So agree with your first point about a few getting a bit arrogant.

Think some have got a bit carried away because we have won our first 2 games and done well in the cups. We beat a Norwich side who had 15 odd players not available, beat Barnsley with our 1 chance in the game, beat a Derby side who are in disarray (albeit it’s a standout win for us), and beat Reading who were playing mostly kids and players who aren’t about the first team. It’s a solid start and promising no doubt but I think some got caught up in the hype around the United and Watford games last week and think we are an established Championship side now looking up.

Think we need to realise that getting to 21st place would still be a fantastic achievement

 

[Kenneth E End]

Finishing lower than last season would be a disappointment - I genuinely think in the current situation we can push for the higher end of mid table, which in a normal year, 51 points wouldn't have been a million miles from.

 

[Atavistic]

Absolutely turgid 45 from both sides so far. Derby are just sitting behind the ball and seem content to play with occasional counters, while we're just trying to pass it through their organised lines in the slowest fashion possible. There's been a few nice moves here and there, but it's simply not working so far. We're also getting a good amount of crosses in from the left wing, but once again we have absolutely no one who can latch onto them into the box. Buendia's been okay and had a few nice moments going forward, but has gotten himself stupidly booked and has disappeared for fair chunks of the half as well.

We desperately need to bring on Hugill or Idah to give us a more meaningful, direct threat, as this currently has 0-0 written all over it.

EDIT: I think that penalty miss sets the tone. Just watch as Derby nick one on the counter and we pass our way to a loss. Pukki is a shadow of the player he was two seasons ago, though the system is not helping him at all.

 

[Kenneth E End]

And there you have Wayne Rooney sticking one in the top corner.

 

[Atavistic]

So comically predictable. I've had enough of it at this point. Farke out, and he can take half this spineless, useless team with him.