20/21 Matchday Thread

[Atavistic]

Now confirmed that Ben Gibson's ankle injury requires surgery, so he'll be missing the rest of the season. We'll have to trust Zimmermann to deputise and hope that getting a decent run of games will help him find the form he showed in our previous title-winning campaign.

 

[Atavistic]

No idea what sort of team we'll be able to put out tomorrow, as none of our 8 players involved in internationals last night made it to morning training. A few players (Krul, Nyland, Hernandez and Omobamidele) have made it back and have returned negative tests, so will be available tomorrow.

And it's a good thing Omobamidele is, as Zimmermann is set to miss the rest of the season due to a hamstring tendon injury; that, combined with Gibson's injury, leaves us with one fit senior centre back for the rest of the season in Hanley. So that means Omobamidele, Sorensen or Tettey will have to deputise there for the rest of the season, leaving us drastically weaker at the back (we desperately need to recruit more options at centre back in the summer, at least two more I'd say given Zimmermann's injury troubles of the last 18 months).

Rupp is also out injured (again), so I'm really not sure what sort of team we can put out tomorrow (Farke is worried about even getting an XI out on the pitch, let alone anything else). Farcical fixture scheduling from the EFL, and I will be delighted with a draw tomorrow in the circumstances, regardless of how poor Preston's form has been of late (and given that they've sacked Neil anyway, I fully expect they'll be better than they have been recently).

 

[SF_]

I'm sure come tomorrow you'll only be missing a few, can't see us winning regardless of your team's availability.

 

[chicowintry]

You can't be that bad. I expect a lethargic performance from us - at least half of the team will have played last night and spent more time travelling (back to Norwich then onto Preston) than training. With tired legs all over the pitch and an unfamiliar CB pairing, I'd bank on us being very sloppy in possession so all you really have to do is be patient and wait for your chance.

Personally don't think we should even bother with this game. Leave the eight involved in matches last night at home to rest/prepare for our home match. Send the kids. This season has been rife with players getting injured - it's really not worth the risk. There's no reason to not have pushed the match to Saturday, it's utterly absurd - although not nearly as ridiculous a situation as the one Rotherham find themselves in!

 

[SF_]

You can't be that bad. I expect a lethargic performance from us - at least half of the team will have played last night and spent more time travelling (back to Norwich then onto Preston) than training. With tired legs all over the pitch and an unfamiliar CB pairing, I'd bank on us being very sloppy in possession so all you really have to do is be patient and wait for your chance.

Personally don't think we should even bother with this game. Leave the eight involved in matches last night at home to rest/prepare for our home match. Send the kids. This season has been rife with players getting injured - it's really not worth the risk. There's no reason to not have pushed the match to Saturday, it's utterly absurd - although not nearly as ridiculous a situation as the one Rotherham find themselves in!

We play on Monday so we would be punishing ourselves by agreeing to a 24hr postponement.

Could have been moved to a couple of weeks time though I imagine.

 

[SF_]

Anyway, no idea what changes McAvoy will make, he's talked about 'attacking football' which I always dread to hear from a caretaker.

I actually think i'd try a flat 4-4-2 and see how things go for this one.

Iversen
VDB, Huntington, Storey, Hughes
Sinclair, Whiteman, Ledson, Gordon
Riis, Evans​

 

[chicowintry]

If Huddersfield-Brentford could be moved to Saturday and Brentford-Birmingham/Norwich-Huddersfield be moved to Tuesday, there is no reason why Preston-Norwich and Swansea-Preston couldn't have also been moved to Saturday and Tuesday respectively. But it's a moot point - the decision has been made and we just have to deal with it. Luckily we've put ourselves in a position that a defeat here shouldn't do us much harm.

 

[SF_]

If Huddersfield-Brentford could be moved to Saturday and Brentford-Birmingham/Norwich-Huddersfield be moved to Tuesday, there is no reason why Preston-Norwich and Swansea-Preston couldn't have also been moved to Saturday and Tuesday respectively. But it's a moot point - the decision has been made and we just have to deal with it. Luckily we've put ourselves in a position that a defeat here shouldn't do us much harm.

Either way, if the decision was down to us then I don't blame us for not agreeing, we need all the help we can get right now. Need 2 wins for safety.

 

[Atavistic]

You can't be that bad. I expect a lethargic performance from us - at least half of the team will have played last night and spent more time travelling (back to Norwich then onto Preston) than training. With tired legs all over the pitch and an unfamiliar CB pairing, I'd bank on us being very sloppy in possession so all you really have to do is be patient and wait for your chance.

Personally don't think we should even bother with this game. Leave the eight involved in matches last night at home to rest/prepare for our home match. Send the kids. This season has been rife with players getting injured - it's really not worth the risk. There's no reason to not have pushed the match to Saturday, it's utterly absurd - although not nearly as ridiculous a situation as the one Rotherham find themselves in!

Yeah, I think the smartest thing we can do is give as many of the returning internationals as possible a rest rather than risking any more injuries. Ideally in the situation, we could do with Hanley being rested and wrapped in cotton wool, but equally we can't just completely change the defence like that. We're better off then going back to a full-strength side for the Huddersfield game on Tuesday.

We can afford to go a game with Hugill at front (and give Pukki a well-deserved rest) and given Placheta barely got any minutes for Poland over the break we can probably afford to start him as well to get some crosses into Hugill. Krul can probably go straight back in as he didn't exactly have much to do for the Netherlands the other night. Beyond that, the best guess I can come up with for a starting XI for this game is:

GK: Krul
RB: Aarons
CB: Hanley
CB: Sorensen/Omobamidele
LB: Mumba
CDM: Tettey
CDM: Vrancic/Sorensen
LW: Placheta
CAM: Dowell/Vrancic
RW: Buendia
STR: Hugill

With most of the players involved in internationals on the bench, along with players like Stiepermann who stayed behind. Ideally, I'd like to see Aarons rested, but we're also surprisingly thin on full-back cover: we have Mumba as right back cover, Quintilla as left back cover and the perpetually-injured Byram. I expect that Mumba will start at left back to give Giannoulis a rest due to his travelling to get back for this game (Farke highlighted it in his press conference today, so seems likely to rest him) as we seem to have given up on Quintilla (given that we kept using Sorensen ahead of him even when he returned and given that we went to get Giannoulis at all).

Whatever happens, I sorely hope we don't use Tettey in defence as he does not have the positional sense to make that work at all.

 

[chicowintry]

GK: Krul
RB: Aarons
CB: Hanley
CB: Sorensen/Omobamidele
LB: Mumba
CDM: Tettey
CDM: Vrancic/Sorensen
LW: Placheta
CAM: Dowell/Vrancic
RW: Buendia
STR: Hugill

Defence is going to be dodgy no matter what... let’s just go all out attacking

GK: Krul
RB: Mumba
CB: Omobamidele
CB: Tettey
LB: Sorensen
CM: Dowell
CM: Vrancic
RW: Onel
CAM: Stiepermann
LW: Buendia
ST: Hugill

 

[Atavistic]

The XI Farke has ended up going for is far less risk-averse than I was expecting him to go:

GK: Krul
RB: Mumba
CB: Hanley
CB: Omobamidele (a first senior start for the 18 year old)
LB: Quintilla
CM: Sorensen
CM: McLean
RW: Buendia
CAM: Dowell
LW: Cantwell
STR: Pukki

Bench of Nyland, Vrancic, Hugill, Placheta, Stiepermann, Skipp, Martin, Hernandez and Tettey.

Very surprised to see McLean, Cantwell and Pukki straight back into the fray after the international break, particularly Pukki after all his efforts. Still, that's a very strong and very attacking XI that should be enough to see us get the win. Just have to hope we don't pick up any injuries among those players brought straight back in, especially Hanley.

Aarons misses out with a minor ankle knock, but will hopefully be back for Tuesday along with the likes of Giannoulis. Big opportunity for Mumba to stake his claim in the meantime, as well as for Quintilla to show that he still has something to offer going forward. Also a big opportunity for Omobamidele to start making a name for himself, as we've got little choice but to keep using him for the rest of the season. A good chance to see what Sorensen can offer in the centre of midfield, as Skipp's form and injuries have meant he hasn't had much of a chance before now; particularly important for us given that there's a distinct possibility we won't be able to get Skipp on loan again next season.

 

[SF_]

Ha, I knew Farke was talking shit. Greaseball

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Words can’t describe just how fucking shit that 45 minutes were. We’re going down and we won’t win another game this season.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Why do we continue to play Rea in a back three at the start to almost every game, look a shambles, let one in, then swap him to DM and get a foothold in the game again........

 

[Atavistic]

Well, that's two points dropped very late on because Pukki lost his shooting boots for the day. No surprise it slipped so late in the farcical circumstances surrounding the scheduling of this fixture.

Two draws in a row now, and Watford starting to catch up. Need to get back to winning ways again on Tuesday, or at the very least improve our shot conversion, as that's four points thrown away because we couldn't take our chances.

 

[thewwfc]

Woo - a win, and one against a side who shat upon us in the reverse fixture.

Still going down obvs, but we’re now only the 6th worst Championship side ever, with 7 games left to play. Oh the glory.

 

[Super_horns]

Well, that's two points dropped very late on because Pukki lost his shooting boots for the day. No surprise it slipped so late in the farcical circumstances surrounding the scheduling of this fixture.

Two draws in a row now, and Watford starting to catch up. Need to get back to winning ways again on Tuesday, or at the very least improve our shot conversion, as that's four points thrown away because we couldn't take our chances.

Well we were lucky today to get the 3 points.

An own goal and SW missed a sitter through Rhodes.

Kind of looked like we were playing just to hold on and not really push ourselves too much with tough games to come - Middlesborough away and an early kick-off on Monday.

 

[chicowintry]

Title is there for Watford now if they want it. Having been so good at closing out narrow wins earlier in season, we’ve completely shat the bed recently. Two games in a row we could’ve been out of sight in and have ended up conceding late equalisers. Can’t see us bottling promotion but wouldn’t be surprised if Watford won the league now.

edit - though maybe worth pointing out we tried bottling the title last time too by drawing a million games in a row but just about managed to hold on...

 

[Atavistic]

The meeting between the two sides at some point in the next few weeks will, in all likelihood, prove decisive on who wins the title, but I am definitely feeling like we might let that slip now. The changes in defence definitely didn't help today, but we still need to be doing the business at the other end and taking chances; hopefully a more full-strength XI will be available on Tuesday to help us get past Huddersfield.

 

[Craig]

That was brilliant from Meite.

 

[Super_horns]

Well we have you guys, Brentford and Swansea in our last 3 games so certainly will want to be in an almost promoted position by then.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Our only chance of staying up is if Rotherham and Birmingham somehow both get less than 6 points for the rest of the season. We are tragic.

 

[SF_]

Big point for us, will take them however they come at this stage.

 

[Craig]

That was brilliant from Meite.

Even better from Joao.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Could have a situation now where those who go up and down were the six teams that did so last season. That would be totally tragic.

 

[Kenneth E End]

As for yesterday's game - we were characteristically sluggish after an international break, despite playing an unchanged squad. It would be harsh to say they looked like they were on the beach, but there was no level of intensity that we've seen in recent weeks.

Derby I thought did quite well - they looked more of a team than they did under Cocu, but I guess with their resources, they're going to get it right eventually. Rooney has got them to be more aggressive and hardworking.

A big few weeks for a few players coming up. If we can get 10 points from our last 8 games, I'll be satisfied but really we should be aiming for at least a couple more than that considering I believe most of our fixtures are not against the top sides. Finishing top 10 should be the aim now.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Top 10 would be good, dont want to finish the season with our feet up and sort of just playing it out with no intensity given its been such a season of progress for us, would be good to go into next season with a bit of momentum (if such a thing carries over!).

Think most town fans want to see us do some damage to our friends up the roads promotion push on the 17th as a primary aim though, even if it does look like something of a foregone conclusion.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Could have a situation now where those who go up and down were the six teams that did so last season. That would be totally tragic.

Would take quite a turnaround from Sheffield Wednesday day. I imagine it’ll be Wycombe, them and us going down.

 

[BelizeHatter]

I think its too late now to do damage to their promotion. Their contenders have just fucking imploded game after game and given it to them.

However. We better bloody turn up this time. Two weeks. COYH

 

[Super_horns]

Yes it certainly has helped us but we need to still win 5 games and make sure Brentford don’t beat us when we go there.