2022/23 Matchday Thread

[Kenneth E End]

Well the 538 model has us down for a 7th place finish at the moment. We are now starting to reap some rewards for the work done earlier in the season where there were games that should’ve been won, but ended up in dropped points.

I think Jonesy nailed it post match to say this is not about a promotion push, it’s about pushing those boundaries to see how far we can go.

This could be an exciting season. Teams should be embarrassed to be below us. Perhaps an indictment of the division and how poorly some of these clubs are being run.

We probably need 1.7 points a game to make the play offs. Not impossible by any means, but it would mean we need a prolonged run better than anything we've seen in our three seasons at this level.

 

[oakroader]

Avarice is usually punished one way or another…
You reap what you sow…
The likes of Derby and reading should take a leaf out of Luton’s book and drop any illusions of grandeur…
Patience is often rewarded

 

[BelizeHatter]

Wed need a lot of luck with injuries and form to finish higher than we are now.......and get thru Jan window.

 

[BelizeHatter]

That said we are way further ahead of the curve than i thought possible. If we can hold it together and pull off Power Court were in with a shout.

I love my Club. I love our owners. I puff my chest out and my heart pops out an extra beat when im asked who i support. We are so lucky and yet so deserving, as we were fierce in the battle all those years ago.

 

[SF_]

Swansea away on Saturday.

Going to assume the Archer loan won't happen in time, if it happens at all and we won't have signed another LWB by then.
Diaby is playing in a reserve game next week before a final decision is made.

Hughes will serve his one-match ban for his red on Tuesday, and i'm not sure if Earl and Ledson have returned from their knocks.
Plenty of tired legs at the end against Sheff Utd but not many options to replace them despite a bloated squad.

Iversen
VDB, Bauer, Cunningham
Whiteman
Potts, Browne, DJ, Barkhuizen
Riis, Evans​

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Godden out for 4-6 weeks after emergency appendix surgery so misses at least 8 games (thanks, fixture postponements!). RIP our season.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Godden out for 4-6 weeks after emergency appendix surgery so misses at least 8 games (thanks, fixture postponements!). RIP our season.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Godden out for 4-6 weeks after emergency appendix surgery so misses at least 8 games (thanks, fixture postponements!). RIP our season.

I thought Gyokeres was the main man for you these days?

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

I thought Gyokeres was the main man for you these days?

He’s not scored since the 4-1 win against Fulham back in October and hasn’t started in a while either. Godden has scored half our goals since then, he’s going to be a big miss. Hopefully Gyokeres can recapture his early season form but if he doesn’t we’re going to really struggle to score.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Sheffield United away for us today. Played same number of games but we are 2 points ahead of them which is great for us and probably looks a bit of an inditement for them!

We are in some good form and should go into the game carrying some confidence after back to back wins. I’m wondering if we might change the shape a little today as I can’t see Jerome being able to go again for his 3rd game of the week and seems like Cornick may not yet be ready to come back. Other than that I don’t think you can really change too much about it!

 

[BelizeHatter]

Turns out its Eli that gets rested not Jerome

 

[Super_horns]

Goals flying in at Reading !

2-3 after half an hour .

 

[Kenneth E End]

Disastrous second half, but saw this as a free hit after three consecutive wins this calendar year. Jerome and Muskwe just didn’t work at all and Luton offered zero threat going forward today. I thought it was quite a negative selection resting Elijah and he looked mightily pissed off at the end, but we have a number of games and Bristol City looks far more winnable than today against an improving side with players worth 8 figures.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Totally agree about free hit feeling of this one, off the back of good results it did fell like we could go in with some confidence and see what we could take. The takeaway from this I think is the slightly worrying reliance on Adebayo to make us an effective attacking force. We were solid first half but didn’t really carry much threat. Bit of a throwback to last year in that respect.

Burke will be a miss in his suspension, if Lockyer isn’t fit it may necessitate a change in shape away from the back 3. His ability to overlap and join the midfield has been key.

 

[oakroader]

Lansbury…can’t see any benefit…
Waste of space…

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

He’s not really what I expected when we signed him I have to say. Thought he was a silky midfield operator type but he’s way more aggressive than that.

Not that i think he was a miss today but Rea a bit conspicuous by his absence lately

 

[Super_horns]

He was considered a top prospect at Arsenal a decade or so ago but hasn’t delivered on that promise .

 

[Kenneth E End]

He’s not really what I expected when we signed him I have to say. Thought he was a silky midfield operator type but he’s way more aggressive than that.

Not that i think he was a miss today but Rea a bit conspicuous by his absence lately

To be honest, he's performing no better than what Bristol City fans described him as last season. He's really providing nothing to our side apart from yellow cards at the moment.

I don't understand why because he has clear ability and is not particularly old. He may have had injuries, but he's clearly a player, either for confidence or lack of hunger, is on the way down.

 

[SF_]

We played fairly ok yesterday but another game that just highlights the need to add more quality.

We rely on DJ too much and when he's not fully at it, we lack ideas, we also desperately need to sign two full backs.

Plenty of players out of contract in the summer so Lowe should be able to mould a squad he wants.

This season is just a case of getting the players he wants to keep up to speed with the way he wants to play. Finishing above the lashers is the only aim really.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Sheffield United fans - the worst in the entire division that I've come across this season. Made a little bit of noise after their goals, especially behind the goal, but the sides... nothing. Got a bit odd towards the end when about 100 fans were flashing the torches on their phones. Bit weird.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Bristol City at home tomorrow night as we play the game that should have been played Boxing Day. Be good to see us play in our proper home colours as we are wearing the white kit tonight to support the Shelter “No Home Kit” campaign (not that in bitter about the orange/white vote or anything ).

Got to bring Adebayo back in tonight as we looked pretty toothless without him. Very much felt like a throwback to last season where we struggled to create much. Burke is going to need replacing in the back 3, I wonder if it will be a straight swap as I only see Osho available to replace him as Lockyer seems to be missing, or we change entirely and go 433 or something and bring Onyedinma in instead. Not so sure we will but a possibility perhaps as surely Jerome can’t go again (aware I said this Saturday also and was proved very wrong!).

 

[BelizeHatter]

Will we see energetic or lethargic Luton.

Sort of game weve started to believe we should win ( i saw someone mention they are 4:1 to win) and fuck it up with a crappy display.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Thats not the lineup i was expecting

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Lots of changes from the weekend. We are at our best when we play high energy, high pressure style so not all that surprised to see changes given all the games that have been played but that’s maybe more than I expected.

Good to see a few back like Bree, Lockyer, Berry. Opportunity for Muskwe, playing up top with Adebayo by the looks of it which.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Scrapped and battled when below par for a great win, but at what cost to Eli. Need a forward in or back. Campbell becoming an excellent player at this level and was introduced at the perfect time.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Felt like we got away with one there. Way below par, first 30 minutes was as bad as we’ve been I think so to go in 1-0 up half time was pretty remarkable. Bad error for the equaliser, felt Osho looked a bit shaky and they missed some decent chances. Scrappy winner but a fantastic delivery from Bree who since hitting a bit of a nadir with it back in October/November time, his delivery from set pieces has been outstanding.

Bit concerning seeing Adebayo at the end, hope that 3 points doesn’t come at a price for us by losing him as other than him it’s looking pretty bad up front for us. Muskwe didn’t really seize the opportunity tonight.

 

[Kenneth E End]

We couldn’t could we…

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

It’s nice to think about but I really think probably not. The schedule will kill us, we can’t play the style we want too when we are playing every midweek. But who knows, that’s 9 from a possible 12 since coming g back from our mini break, maybe we just get on a roll

 

[Kenneth E End]

I thought for 35 minutes Luton were atrocious - sloppy, lacking discipline and no tempo at all. Bristol City will be wondering how they lost the game, but we’ve played far better and come away with 1 or 0 points this season.

That said, there were some decent individual performances - Bree has his confidence back, Osho and Lockyer were fairly solid having not played so much in recent weeks. Campbell and Onyedinma had a real impact after coming on. Rea did much better second half.

Muskwe I’m struggling with at the moment. He does a lot of running, but really don’t see what he contributes. Young and raw indeed, but his tactical awareness is almost non existent.

Really concerning to see Elijah like that at the end - he looked absolutely exhausted and clearly has an underlying injury there somewhere. We still have another couple of games in the next 7 days and by the time we play Birmingham again, we would’ve had 9 games in less than 30 days. The schedule is ridiculous but I guess this is what happens when you have Covid.

Win those two games in hand and they’re in the play offs quite possibly. Anything is possible this season in what is a bit of a poor league again this season bar the top teams.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Big win for us last night vs Stoke, and well deserved as well. Especially big considering the injuries we have and the side we started with. Didn't deserve to lose to QPR on Saturday, 4 points from those two games would have been massvie. Middlesbrough away on Saturday now, another 'six pointer'.