23rd February Match Thread

[Tangerine_tart]

We will lose this 2-1. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[dannyc5]

Crewe team news makes no sense. As I’ve been alluding to for a while, Artell has lost his head.

 

[Guernica]

We will lose this 2-1. Hope I'm wrong.

You are wrong as it has been postponed!

 

[PuB]

Playing AFCW tonight, who seem to be our bogey team. They’re not in great form so it’ll definitely be a home win. We like to do teams a favour like that.

 

[DearneValleyRover]

Game off due to too much water on Blackpool beach

 

[SF_]

I forget how bad this division is sometimes, seeing Stockley ripping it up.

Hopefully we can get our £750k back for him in the summer.

 

[Guernica]

Talk about been your own worst enemy, good god man!

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

We just cant play at home. We dont look settled at all. You think we'll go into the break 1-1 and kick on in 2nd half, and make a dreadful mistake!

 

[Crewelad87]

We’ve looked pretty disjointed for most of that first half. Luckily Accrington not looked brilliant either, and we grown into abit and scored a scrappy goal after the Accy keeper and defenders had a mare at the back. Next goal is big you feel, if we get it it’s a long way back for Stanley.

 

[GFC4EVA]

Lost 1-0 at afc wimbledon to a last minute goal, think a draw would have been the fairer result but didnt make the most of being on top for most of the 2nd half

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

We really did struggle to get going tonight. Certainly can be said for the 4/5 games. Small squad and a lot of games catching up with us. Bramall looks off the pace, but im sure he will come good in the end.

When we did get going we looked dangerous, but there wasnt enough there tonight. All our 2nd half threat was through crosses from Scully.

Fair play to Swindon, they certainly made a game of it. A vert tired performance from us. Fully expecting Sunderland to go steamrolling past!

 

[Guernica]

Imps 2 - 2 Swindon

Poor home form and performances continue. Real slog at the minute, defence looked disorganised and give away so many niggly fouls. In possession we're just not fluid enough in attack. Passing was so, so sloppy. Walsh and Bridcutt are huge holes which no-one is filling, means Grant has to play more defensive when he's so much more influential in attack. Sanders needs to be given a go in the holding role, just to free Jorge up.

Swindon played well, gave it a real good go and will be thinking its 2 points dropped.

 

[TractorBoys]

Well well well, we've beaten a top 8 side for the first time in 2 seasons.

Admittedly an out of form, injury hit Hull side, but I'll take it.

Last 2 results will surely make Evans and Lamberts meeting interesting I imagine.

 

[Indian Dan]

You do need a keeper. He’s been dodgy in both games against us.

Great point, though. And a very surprising performance.

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

You need a keeper. He’s been dodgy in both games against us.

Great point, though. And a very surprising performance.

Hes normally so reliable - up until our last home game against Accy. Thats 2 mistakes which have resulted in 2 goals conceded.

 

[Marked Ox]

We were awful against Pompey. They pressed well so did push us back but we nearly robbed a point at the end after finally trying to attack in injury time.

 

[dannyc5]

Struggling to work tonight out. At times the setup looked good, but playing against 10 for so long it’s hard to judge. I like Kirk being able to roam a bit more, looks like he can cause some damage centrally. He’s looking like he can comfortably play a level up now.

Accrington made me laugh when they went down to 10. They obviously know we can’t finish for shit, so thought there’s no point in defending. To a large extent they were right, and could have levelled a couple of times before we got the 2nd. Thankfully our shambolic finishing (and let’s be clear, it’s an absolute fucking disgrace) didn’t bite us in the arse. Could and should have had at least 6 tonight. And that has been the case multiple times this season.

Ironically that’s probably Porter’s best game this season, but my god he’s completely gone as a footballer. Shame, because Porter of 2 years ago would get 20 in this team.

 

[Guernica]

Hes normal

Hes normally so reliable - up until our last home game against Accy. Thats 2 mistakes which have resulted in 2 goals conceded.

Yup, Palmer will go on to have a very good Championship career. Mistakes happen especially for young GK's par for the course.

 

[Crewelad87]

Some real positives for us the back four of Pickering, Wood, Beckles and Daniels looked excellent. Kirk was brilliant. But Richards doesn’t fill me with confidence and as mentioned above our finishing is beyond woeful. We really should have had 5 or 6 in the end. Accrington played so open it was ridiculous, almost looked as if they were just playing two at the back for the majority of the 2nd half.

 

[dannyc5]

Some real positives for us the back four of Pickering, Wood, Beckles and Daniels looked excellent. Kirk was brilliant. But Richards doesn’t fill me with confidence and as mentioned above our finishing is beyond woeful. We really should have had 5 or 6 in the end. Accrington played so open it was ridiculous, almost looked as if they were just playing two at the back for the majority of the 2nd half.

Calculated risk from them though, knowing we can’t finish. They almost got it right as well. Had nothing to lose when down to 10.

 

[Gassy]

Our next three games; Wigan (H), Shrewsbury (H), Burton (A).

With Barton taking over today I can't help but feel more optimistic about our chances. Great chance at 7/9 points in the next 3 games

Good start then.

 

[Meadow]

Playing AFCW tonight, who seem to be our bogey team. They’re not in great form so it’ll definitely be a home win. We like to do teams a favour like that.

Thank you. we needed the points, you not so much.

 

[Luke Imp]

You do need a keeper. He’s been dodgy in both games against us.

Great point, though. And a very surprising performance.

One of our players of the season.

 

[Luke Imp]

I can't recall the last time a performance of ours was so roundly criticised by our fan base, which tells you how bad it was.

Since Gillingham we've lost any sort of fluency to our play, picked up too many injuries, looked lethargic, passing has completely gone awry, no zip in our play, we're rotating full backs because they're the only position we can rotate and the ones who need a breather for a game or two can't get it.

We're in a mini slump/bad run but still picking up points, which is the plus. 1 defeat in 13(?) but only 1 win in 5.

Not sure what it is about our home form but it needs sorting because we've got home games left this season the likes of AFCW, Gills, Rochdale and away games against Oxford, Ipswich, Peterborough, Sunderland, Charlton etc.

 

[Indian Dan]

Quite a few teams seem to be better away from home with all the empty stadia. I couldn’t believe how we played last night - ball on the deck, 13 shots, 6 on target is usually our total for about 10 games!

It’s very tight at the bottom now. Beginning to think we’re not as nailed on for the drop as I feared.

 

[Imp in Branston]

Thought Swindon looked good, we were just as we have been for quite a few games now, looking a bit devoid of ideas and wasteful.

We could easily have lost too, so I guess a point isn’t the worst result when yet again you don’t play well.

 

[codaplenty]

No real surprise as the Black Cats recorded their first ever win against the Cods. Fleetwood did ok in the 1st half and were more than comfortable with the ball, in the 2nd switched off at the back twice and that was that

As with many other clubs Covid is causing problems, we are all in the same boat together

 

[Agombar stool]

Thought Swindon looked good, we were just as we have been for quite a few games now, looking a bit devoid of ideas and wasteful.

We could easily have lost too, so I guess a point isn’t the worst result when yet again you don’t play well.

Typical, I didn't bother with last night. Trust me, we haven't looked good for a long time now! From what I have read we seemed to abandon our ridiculous defensive tactic and actually look to pass the bloody thing to another blue shirt rather than launch it at our overweight target man. With Twine, Payne, Pitman and Garrick as attacking options, we should be way more dangerous that we are currently showing.

Hopefully we build on this for Northampton home on Saturday.

 

[eric read]

We were awful against Pompey. They pressed well so did push us back but we nearly robbed a point at the end after finally trying to attack in injury time.

I disagree that we were awful, I don't think there was much between the two teams. It was a game all about the first goal, and once they got it (I was disappointed with us once again being half asleep at the start of the second half!) they gave a masterclass in how to disrupt the flow of the game and stop us getting back in it.

We do seem a little blunt in front of goal at the moment though, which is a concern. I think a point would have been a fair result and I believe Portsmouth would have settled for that too.

I know they won, but my god I would not want to watch Jackett's brand of "football" every week!

 

[Marked Ox]

I disagree that we were awful, I don't think there was much between the two teams. It was a game all about the first goal, and once they got it (I was disappointed with us once again being half asleep at the start of the second half!) they gave a masterclass in how to disrupt the flow of the game and stop us getting back in it.

We do seem a little blunt in front of goal at the moment though, which is a concern. I think a point would have been a fair result and I believe Portsmouth would have settled for that too.

I know they won, but my god I would not want to watch Jackett's brand of "football" every week!

I do agree that we fell asleep for their goal as I think Brannagan switched off allowing their man to get away. If it wasn't for Jack Stevens, we'd have been out of the game far earlier though. Apart from James Henry in the 1st half, we didn't create a meaningful chance (and then created a few in about 3 minutes) until injury time. We were awful. All of the midfield were ineffective until right at the end.

There was some mitigation in that the pitch meant the ball didn't roll very quickly which slowed down our play but that is down to the team to adapt and find a way as we've now played on 3 or 4 pitches like that. Also, it is the same for both teams and Pompey did find a way.

On Pompey's style of play, all our games in recent seasons seem to be like this from memory. Not ones that you'd call entertaining.