New Year's Day fixtures

[Stocky]

We battered Birmingham second half there, they were absolutely rocking. Dont know how we didnt score a winner. Birmingham not as good as they think they are, press them and they falter, individual ability aplenty though obviously for this level.

This was with our best defender (Horsfall), best midfielder (Bate) and last seasons top scorer (Olaofe) all out. As well as this Barry couldn't play in his farewell match as he had a niggle.

 

[Conker]

We battered Birmingham second half there, they were absolutely rocking. Dont know how we didnt score a winner. Birmingham not as good as they think they are, press them and they falter, individual ability aplenty though obviously for this level.

This was with our best defender (Horsfall), best midfielder (Bate) and last seasons top scorer (Olaofe) all out. As well as this Barry couldn't play in his farewell match as he had a niggle.

Sounds similar to what happened at Field Mill when we played them, they got very nervous and shaky up against it and were fortunate to get the point.

 

[ForzaCounty]

Flicked on the end of the Stockport Brum game, how have Stockport not got a second!

Wootton chance was an utterly superb block by their no4. MSH hitting the post was pure bad luck. Couple of other half chances really. Overall, for all we dominated play second half we didn't create enough.

Addendum, their manager saying we're a direct side with big forwards - Wootton is big I'll grant you, but smaller than Willumsson, and nobody else near the front who's above six foot, and we were passing and crossing through all channels. Our equaliser was a towering header from MSH who is shorter than me

 

[AdamStag]

Sounds similar to what happened at Field Mill when we played them, they got very nervous and shaky up against it and were fortunate to get the point.

Was about to say the same actually! give them space and time on the ball and they’ve the technical ability to murder you, but rough them up and harry/chase and they’re not so keen.

 

[Stocky]

Addendum, their manager saying we're a direct side with big forwards - Wootton is big I'll grant you, but smaller than Willumsson, and nobody else near the front who's above six foot, and we were passing and crossing through all channels. Our equaliser was a towering header from MSH who is shorter than me

It's what all these nu age coaches up and down the divisions say when a team outplay them. We outplayed them in every facet of football second half.

They were time wasting from the 55th minute onwards and they've spent tens of millions of pounds. Wycombe could win it I reckon if they get a bit of luck with injuries. That would be a spectacular failure on Birmingham and their managers part.

 

[dannylad01]

Another game unbeaten over the festive period, now our longest unbeaten run in 2 years of 4 games. Draw a fair result.

Bloxham starting to show his potential as our main, sometimes only, attacking threat from open play. Ainsworth must have instilled some belief into him. For a 21 year old should be fitter really as looks knackered after an hour generally.

Christmas period has seen the gap to safety half from 10 points to 5 and seemed to have stopped leaking goals. Orient on Saturday another test

 

[AdamStag]

Maybe turning it around if could be a time to evaluate christmas?

Given we’ve had Rotherham home WIN, peterborough away, WIN reading away LOSS and bolton home WIN, i’d say 9 points from 12 has been an exceptional effort, and 34 points before the halfway mark for us is impressive stuff.

 

[ForzaCounty]

It's what all these nu age coaches up and down the divisions say when a team outplay them. We outplayed them in every facet of football second half.

They were time wasting from the 55th minute onwards and they've spent tens of millions of pounds. Wycombe could win it I reckon if they get a bit of luck with injuries. That would be a spectacular failure on Birmingham and their managers part.

Definite better side second half but can't let it overshadow a really poor first half where we were happy to only be one down. They didn't create a lot but we didn't turn up

 

[ForzaCounty]

Orient on Saturday another test

bit more than a test, have you seen their form recently, flying out of nowhere to challenge the playoffs

 

[E10rifle]

We keep rumbling on. Indifferent performance from us overall but probably should have had six before Rovers got their second, triggering a stressful last 20 minutes.

After Promise Omochere missed an early sitter we controlled the game. Nice finish from Galbraith for our first and a thunderbastard of a free kick from Jamie Donley for the second. Sandwiched between those goals was a despicable penalty decision from the entirely incompetent ref. Rovers’ player half-tripped over his own feet and then dived; Dan Happe, sliding in to make a block, never got within 2 feet of him. After Donley’s goal the ref bottled sending off Diallang Jayasemi for an obvious 2nd yellow - the only time the prick kept his cards in his pocket all game.

Orient were rampant for the first 25 minutes of the second half, adding another goal via Charlie Kelman before missing a string of chances to put the game to bed. After Chris Martin stabbed in his second of the game Josh Keeley was by far the busier of the two keeper. All attacks were repelled successfully until injury time when Gatlin O’Donkor punched the ball in at the far post. The officials finally got a decision right by disallowing it. Amusingly, had O’Donkor not intervened, Martin was right there to tap in his hat-trick. Never mind.

All in all a deserved 3 points in a game we controlled for large swathes, though Rovers at least showed the requisite desire unlike last month. Good to see that Ruel is still fucking wank. Cheers for the £250k & 6 points, lads.

 

[Stocky]

Definite better side second half but can't let it overshadow a really poor first half where we were happy to only be one down. They didn't create a lot but we didn't turn up

Didn't think we played that badly first half to be honest. First half was generally a non event but the early goal knocked us, we didn't let them kick on which gave us the second half to work with and be more expansive.

 

[Arbury]

Hard result to take that, played well enough to get a win but our ineptitude to defend still doesn’t surprise me, very annoying, readings first 2 were scrappy but smith with the third is well worth a watch.

Lavery is turning out to be a miss as I’m sure he’d have some of the chances we created today.

UIE.

 

[dannylad01]

bit more than a test, have you seen their form recently, flying out of nowhere to challenge the playoffs

Absolutely they're on fire at the moment. Our record there is awful too. Not reading anything into us beating them earlier in the season, 2 different sides now

 

[BRFC_Gas]

Absolutely they're on fire at the moment. Our record there is awful too. Not reading anything into us beating them earlier in the season, 2 different sides now

A bit like when we played Wrexham, a better team than us would have won v Orient today

 

[Strawberry_Jam]

Really really gutsy performance from our mob today up at Sixfields. Much better than Stevenage and they only got any real sustained pressure at our end after 70 minutes when everyone looked out on their feet.

Due to having to juggle the side around we ended with a back 5 of

Right winger - right back - centre half - right back - left winger

So to get a point out of that is a good effort but definitely had the chances to win it but then it became important not to lose it. Couple of injuries picked up as well, news before kick off of McGeehan and Guinness Walker being injured after Shrewsbury and then Guthrie who is the one player we can’t afford to lose, being stretchered off just before half time.

Have definitely seen improvement under Nolan in the last 2 games, and it’s encouraging moving forward that we’ve got enough to stay up, at the minute just got to keep picking those points up while we try and get to a better situation squad wise.

so for those counting its now 16 out.
12 first team players available for saturday of which 6 (Hoskins, Fosu, Willis, McCarron, Odimayo and McGowan) really should be on very limited minutes.

Thank god for Nik Tzanev, TJ Eyoma, Mitch Pinnock, Will Hondermarck, Samy Chouchane and Tom Eaves. I'd say only a couple would be 1st choice in a fully fit squad.

Oh Eaves is also playing with a mask after breaking his nose, cheekbone and eye socket against Lincoln.
___
It's bad tactically, patterns of play etc from us atm, hardly surprising considering all that.
But Stevenage were woeful against us today, hardly did anything all game and only really had a threat towards the end when we were on our knees. My god they were bad...

 

[Conker]

‘one of the most one sided games you’ll see’

Is a direct quote from that loser Evatt, you’d think Bolton had more shots overall and on target with that quote wouldn’t you?

Poor little spireite coward, hope he gets the kick soon.

 

[The Terminator]

Thought Rovers overall were unlucky not to nick a draw in the end, they caused us problems with their attacking but IMO looked very ropey out of possession at the back - that 25mins in the second half after we got the third, we really should've got a 4th to finish the game, didn't and it took a handball at the end to preserve our lead.

Ref had a bit of a stinker overall IMO.

We made 4 changes and Rovers made 6, not the best we've played since we've been on this run, but the games are racking up - both sides I thought looked laboured at times today.

Have to hope the injury to Dan Agyei isn't too serious, looked like he rolled his ankle.

Both sides main attacking threats both went off injured and their replacements both scored.

Not a big fan of that seating away end, poles in the way and only one exit/entrance to the seats.

 

[Master D]

So Birmingham have been 'shit' and still taken a point at both Mansfield and Stockport have they, as well as rinsing us at home. I watched the end of the Mansfield one and it was like the Alamo, they certainly weren't happy with a point.

They will be clear champions from what I've seen.

 

[dannylad01]

‘one of the most one sided games you’ll see’

Is a direct quote from that loser Evatt, you’d think Bolton had more shots overall and on target with that quote wouldn’t you?

Poor little spireite coward, hope he gets the kick soon.

Most dislikeable manager in the league for me. Far higher opinions of himself (mainly) and his team than should be. Worse than the Evans and Raynor combo which is saying something

 

[Conker]

So Birmingham have been 'shit' and still taken a point at both Mansfield and Stockport have they, as well as rinsing us at home. I watched the end of the Mansfield one and it was like the Alamo, they certainly weren't happy with a point.

They will be clear champions from what I've seen.

Birmingham were brilliant in the first half against Mansfield we did not get near them but lacked that cutting edge, and your right they had a big go in the last five minutes but were hanging over beforehand for most of the second half big time, but you obviously missed that.

I agree they will step up a gear and win the title comfortably.

To be fair Stocky was bigging Birmingham up a few weeks ago, so he’s probably getting carried away, but he’s still got a point, they do struggle under pressure or at least they did against Stockport and Mansfield.

 

[Stocky]

So Birmingham have been 'shit' and still taken a point at both Mansfield and Stockport have they, as well as rinsing us at home. I watched the end of the Mansfield one and it was like the Alamo, they certainly weren't happy with a point.

They will be clear champions from what I've seen.

Nobody's said they're shit.

They'll most likely win the division (although I think Wycombe could run them close if they get lucky with injuries, they won't have the squad Birmingham have)

But for the money they've spent, they're nothing to write home about. Some people have been going on like they're unbeatable, I've just made the point that if you get at them, there's definitley joy to be had for teams.

 

[Gassy]

Thought Rovers overall were unlucky not to nick a draw in the end, they caused us problems with their attacking but IMO looked very ropey out of possession at the back - that 25mins in the second half after we got the third, we really should've got a 4th to finish the game, didn't and it took a handball at the end to preserve our lead.

Ref had a bit of a stinker overall IMO.

We made 4 changes and Rovers made 6, not the best we've played since we've been on this run, but the games are racking up - both sides I thought looked laboured at times today.

Have to hope the injury to Dan Agyei isn't too serious, looked like he rolled his ankle.

Both sides main attacking threats both went off injured and their replacements both scored.

Not a big fan of that seating away end, poles in the way and only one exit/entrance to the seats.

Agree with this a lot more than the other post. Thought we were worth a point tbh but we were our own worst enemy, that 3rd goal is absolutely criminal.

First half I thought was pretty even, 2nd half you absolutely slaughtered us for a good 25 mins until we took the final 20.

Its the sort of game that I think probably showed where both teams are, despite the chances both teams squandered, Orient just got a bit more rub of the green on the day and that’s probably what won it in the end.

Pleased with ourselves though, if you think how we were at your place in the reverse, today we fought (not always with skill) for everything, had some clear attacking moves being worked on and created multiple chances. Hopefully we can tighten up at the back and Calderon can sort this bunch out.

Onto Cambridge away, which is absolutely massive.

 

[Gassy]

Forgot to mention the dog that made it onto the pitch yesterday. Definitely MOTM

 

[DaveBirm1875]

Full disclosure second half we were garbage and we should have lost, just like we should have lost the other day V Blackpool.

huge credit to Stockport who ran us ragged second half and we got lucky with a point. Just like Mansfield we go 1-0 up and dont press the issue to try and get a second which probably kills the game.

Davies has his faves and is running then into the ground and not using the squad well enough, Leonard must not have the intimate photos of the gaffer that someone like Harris has or even Paik and Iwata who do not need to play every single week. its bad game and squad management, that Davies is not seeming to learn how to manage. Davies is rightly ghaving some questions asked now. possession for possession sake is boring and not lending itself to what we want to see at the minute.

Full credit to Stockport for the way they played, I reckon they will make the play offs.

We will undoubtedly throw more money at it and we are already being linked with players, another German centre half and ex blues and Norwich winger Nathan Redmond, but for me id rather we managed the squad we have at the moment better as its more than good enough to win the league without feeling like we need to do that.

Onto Wigan now - hoping and expecting a better performance.

 

[Conker]

Always a concern when managers don’t adequately manage minutes of players, Clough made six changes yesterday. No excuse for the Birmingham manager not to rotate with the squad he’s got.

 

[DaveBirm1875]

Always a concern when managers don’t adequately manage minutes of players, Clough made six changes yesterday. No excuse for the Birmingham manager not to rotate with the squad he’s got.

its what we are all saying mate, utter madness what he is doing at times, the same faces the same players, pointless building a squad if he wont use it correctly. Players are getting injured and knackered and now we probably will just buy more when we really didnt have to.

 

[chief]

So Birmingham have been 'shit' and still taken a point at both Mansfield and Stockport have they, as well as rinsing us at home. I watched the end of the Mansfield one and it was like the Alamo, they certainly weren't happy with a point.

They will be clear champions from what I've seen.

Have to agree. This isn't exactly a cutting edge opinion, but the 2nd auto spot looks to be between ourselves, Wycombe and Huddersfield with Stockport as dark horses if they can replace Barry's goals. January will be a big month for all clubs, as one top signing could be enough.

I'd imagine Reading fall away a little given their money issues, though they've surprised me so far and could still be good for a playoff spot, and Barnsley looked crap yesterday despite their win. They won't touch the top 2. Everyone else is too far behind to catch the top teams barring an outstanding winning run of 10 in a row or something daft.

 

[Luke Imp]

We always lose to Rotherham, there is nothing we can do to change that. We may as well accept we'll play poorly against them for the rest of life.

Played with zero confidence today. Felt the ref blew up for every decision which really made it a stop start game from the start and made it such a non event. We massively missed Erhahon (who will be back Saturday) and Hackett. Had no width at all.

First time the crowd have stopped singing after 15 mins and stopped backing the team. An atrocious day all round. First time we've seen boos for subs and boos end of the game. No ounce of entertainment in that, no way of dressing that up. I think that's 1 win in 12 now.

Rotherham a typical Evans side. Play for the throws and free kicks. We just couldnt get going against them. Despite that they deserved the win, Wilks missed 3 chances First half and Wickens saved a few 2nd.

Worrying times.

Never a good sign when your substitutions are roundly booed is it!

We're morphing back into a passive, low possession, boring Kennedy side (Huddersfield first half and Reading games aside), albeit our attacking stats haven't quite lowered to the bottom of L1 like they did under him. He's got a poor pool of attacking players to chose from so there's some sympathy there but they're also not being helped by his insistence of playing diagonal balls to non-target men who don't win the ball and we can't sustain any sort of pressure.

The Club reckon they're in for a quiet window but I think we could probably shed 5 or 6 players from the fringes of the squad to create room in the budget. Unless the attacking areas get another two or three players around it and Skubala gets back to his higher press, more energetic way of playing then the second half of the season is going to be a right slog.

 

[Millerbri]

As usual I enjoyed my trip to Lincoln, a couple of hours in the Jolly Brewer (like going back in time) then the bus took us on to the ground.

There always seems to be some upgrade whenever I visit the stadium and they've done a good job around the back of the stands and the bars and toilets are really decent now, probably not great if it's raining but it was fine for us yesterday.

It was certainly good to see the home stands packed full with hardly any spaces (unlike NYS where vast gaps appear every game due to season ticket holders not bothering to turn up)

The home fans provided a good atmosphere for most of the game, up until the substitutions, which seemed very strange and helped us enormously.

The home fans probably went thinking that for once Rotherham would be there for the taking but for a change we played ok yesterday so that didn't help the mood.

Talking to Lincoln fans on the way out they didn't seem happy with the manager or the way the club seems to be going.
I hope things pick up for you in the coming months, it would be a shame to sack a young manager when he gets his first crisis.

 

[BRFC_Gas]

Forgot to mention the dog that made it onto the pitch yesterday. Definitely MOTM

Did much more than the useless Sotiriou