Next Two Games

[gary]

Who are the 12 out? I believe 2 of them are back tomorrow following isolation.

Perhaps I'm a cynic but i'd wait for the teamsheet. Woodyard, Piggott and a Brentford loanee due to return which will be a boost.

Possibly but we'd struggle even if we had a fully fit squad!!!

 

[gary]

Wimbledon contacted the EFL to try and get the Lincoln game called off due to a number of positive covid tests in both camps.However the EFL have instructed Wimbledon that they have to play the game!!! It sums up what everybody knows!! The EFL are not fit for purpose.

 

[gary]

I'm not saying we should or shouldn't play Lincoln today as Sunderland were made to play against us when they had several player's out with covid.
I would just like some clarity from the EFL on how they go about postponing some matches due to covid while making others play !!

 

[Guernica]

I'm not saying we should or shouldn't play Lincoln today as Sunderland were made to play against us when they had several player's out with covid.
I would just like some clarity from the EFL on how they go about postponing some matches due to covid while making others play !!

This should have been public knowledge at the start of all this, a list of criteria and scenarios detailing what it takes for a postponement to occur. That allows everybody - fans, players, TV etc. to all be on the same boat. God knows why this wasn't done.

 

[Agombar stool]

Wigan at home today. If we want to be playing League 1 football next season these are games we have to be winning. Hopefully Sheridan will have the team up for it.

Should be goals a plenty.

 

[Claret Forever]

Wigan were not in great shapes when we played them, one of a few teams that we were comfortably on top of, so that's a real 6 pointer.

We have Sunderland. After getting a spiral ending result against Gillingham last week, I think this one maybe a bridget too far today. We can bit up a decent fight against the teams around us (Oxford being the exception), but anyone with Championship ambitions and we struggle to be completetive. A lot of it is about confidence, so depends on how well we get going - if we leak one early than I fear a tonking, if we don't then who knows, we could steal a point if Sheehan is back organising everything.

 

[Indian Dan]

Wigan at home today. If we want to be playing League 1 football next season these are games we have to be winning. Hopefully Sheridan will have the team up for it.

Should be goals a plenty.

Sheridan couldn’t get that team up for it with a wagon full of Viagra

 

[Agombar stool]

Our game is off. frozen pitch.

 

[Super_horns]

The weather is going to cause even more chaos to the fixture list really.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

I'm not saying we should or shouldn't play Lincoln today as Sunderland were made to play against us when they had several player's out with covid.
I would just like some clarity from the EFL on how they go about postponing some matches due to covid while making others play !!

A while back we had a fans forum and when asked about the rules, our CEO said that there were no clear guidelines, that it was up to each club. However, he also said that the EFL could look at, and were, whether a club should be sanctioned retrospectively. The way he answered the question did suggest that he felt one or two clubs were pulling a fast one.

The line from our CEO and our owner was that we would try to play on even if we had players missing unless the situation was extraordinary. And indeed a few weeks this was precisely what we did when three players were out isolating.

The reason given for our approach was that they felt we could quickly find ourselves playing Sat, Tues, Thursday, Sat. Indeed, in the local rag today Lowe said the same thing and came out against a two week break.

Seems an inconsistent mess to me.

 

[Guernica]

HT - Wimbledon 1 - 1 Imps

Good competitive half, home sides constant high balls into Palmer and Piggott causing us problems and it was where Ollie Palmer's goal came from.

Had some good moments ourselves but need to find another gear.

Referee will have a big say on this, whilst the home side may be missing some numbers, they have an extra one on the pitch with him.

Despite the ref turning down a stonewall penalty and somehow giving a corner when the defender was nowhere near the ball, we got the 3 points.

Not a classic performance but we were the better team throughout against a hardworking home side.

 

[Tinnion's right foot]

Glad to have won that. The Dons were well organised and competed for everything. I thought they shaded the first half slightly - Ollie Palmer won everything against Eyoma at the back post. I'm not quite sure what changed at half time, but that didn't happen at all in the second half, and we created several really good chances - three times the ball dribbled along the six yard line and there was nobody there to put it in. Got a bit lucky with a shanked clearance for the goal, but then we'd had a stonewall penalty turned down. These things even themselves out.

Still four points clear, a good place to be when the inevitable 'Circuit breaker' comes. Points on the board beat games in hand.

 

[Imp in Branston]

And fancy Sunderland being 12 points behind a pub side like Lincoln!?

 

[Boletus Edulis]

Pretty typical game for us, dominate first half and go missing in the second. Apparently, based on first halves only we are top of the league, unfortunately It is a game of two halves.

First half we were able to play our game. Jephcott got another goal, and must have a chance of being picked in the Welsh squad for the Euros. Second half Gillingham changed tactics and personnel and as per usual we did not respond very well, and just hung on. However, three points is three points.

Must say Mr Evans has calmed down a bit. This is the first time I have ever seen him and not thought that he will have a heart attack in ten minutes.

Must also say the ref and his officials were good (Mr Huxtable was also very good on Tuesday).

 

[Luke Imp]

I don't know the full ins and outs at their end, but it seemed a bit weird for AFCW to try and postpone our game? Felt as though they tried to use our two staff positive-Covid's against us despite, presumably, the same players at their end isolating today as for the Sunderland game? The EFL were never likely to postpone today when a game under the same circumstances went ahead last weekend.

As for the game, not sure we were firing on all cylinders today but got the job done in the end. Interesting January ahead, not just matches but the transfer window.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Pretty typical game for us, dominate first half and go missing in the second. Apparently, based on first halves only we are top of the league, unfortunately It is a game of two halves.

First half we were able to play our game. Jephcott got another goal, and must have a chance of being picked in the Welsh squad for the Euros. Second half Gillingham changed tactics and personnel and as per usual we did not respond very well, and just hung on. However, three points is three points.

Must say Mr Evans has calmed down a bit. This is the first time I have ever seen him and not thought that he will have a heart attack in ten minutes.

Must also say the ref and his officials were good (Mr Huxtable was also very good on Tuesday).

A pretty fair summary
willock must surely win miss of the season in stoppage time though.
How did he manage to get it over from under the crossbar?
In fact, if he had left it it was going in!!

 

[Boletus Edulis]

A pretty fair summary
willock must surely win miss of the season in stoppage time though.
How did he manage to get it over from under the crossbar?
In fact, if he had left it it was going in!!

It was going in, until he intervened. Will put him on next year’s Christmas card list for that.

 

[LadyWomble]

I don't know the full ins and outs at their end, but it seemed a bit weird for AFCW to try and postpone our game? Felt as though they tried to use our two staff positive-Covid's against us despite, presumably, the same players at their end isolating today as for the Sunderland game? The EFL were never likely to postpone today when a game under the same circumstances went ahead last weekend.

As for the game, not sure we were firing on all cylinders today but got the job done in the end. Interesting January ahead, not just matches but the transfer wind

 

[LadyWomble]

5 of our players tested positive for Covid plus 2 self-isolating so, in effect, 7 affected. We advised the FL in good time (Friday, possibly earlier?) requesting a postponement but they didn't want to know. Not suggesting our defeat was down to missing players but the whole situation is bonkers.

 

[Luke Imp]

5 of our players tested positive for Covid plus 2 self-isolating so, in effect, 7 affected. We advised the FL in good time (Friday, possibly earlier?) requesting a postponement but they didn't want to know. Not suggesting our defeat was down to missing players but the whole situation is bonkers.

That's my point, I don't know whether it is bonkers.

There's been no mention of new cases or additional testing at AFCW's end since Boxing Day, so if the same players isolating yesterday were also isolating for the Boxing Day game then it was never likely to be postponed. You can't play Boxing Day and then postpone the next game when the situation is identical.

 

[gary]

Unbelievable but sadly predictable decision by the EFLto allow Wigan to postpone our game against them on Wednesday due to covid at Wigan.
The EFL make it up as they go along!! They made us play Lincoln yesterday with half a dozen player's missing due to covid.What's the difference EFL !!!!????

 

[Agombar stool]

Like the government's handling of Covid from the outset everything is so woolly. There appears to be a lack of any semblance of consistent rules which should have been agreed before the start of the season.

It appears on the face of it that rules are being made up as we go along. Shambles.

 

[Robie]

It's always been the case that the team we are due to be playing have informed the EFL they are unable to fulfil the fixture rather than the EFL authorising a postponement.

 

[LadyWomble]

That's my point, I don't know whether it is bonkers.

There's been no mention of new cases or additional testing at AFCW's end since Boxing Day, so if the same players isolating yesterday were also isolating for the Boxing Day game then it was never likely to be postponed. You can't play Boxing Day and then postpone the next game when the situation is identical.

The publicly stated next round of testing for FL clubs is tomorrow (Mon 4/1). We brought ours forward by a few days and 5 tested positive. I don't know why or the details, who does? We were due to play Wigan on Wednesday but some of their squad have tested positive so their next 2 games are postponed. Perhaps the FL felt a smidgeon of guilt for how they failed to investigate the disgraceful goings on there at the end of last season? Again, who knows?

The point here is the unfit for purpose FL make it up as they go along. No X players testing positive = game postponed, just their usual opaqueness. And, more importantly, they're messing with peoples' lives. This isn't just about 'young, fit athletes' who'll get over Covid, it's their families, the coaching staff - many of whom no longer fit the 'young' category, plus their families, etc. I'm not surprised, just sad.