Saturday 15 February fixtures

[UTFD]

Rotherham lost to an injury time penalty at Reading.

Sure Steve Evans will take that with good grace.

He didn't look very happy at the end

 

[Super_horns]

He didn't look very happy at the end

No and predictably blown his top.

Obviously even more unsurprisingly Noel Hunt thinks it was a blatant penalty.

Referee’s ‘atrocious performance’ infuriates Rotherham boss Steve Evans

Harvey Knibbs bagged a brace for the Royals.

www.gazetteandherald.co.uk

EDIT: Maybe he is more calm on the radio !?

 

[UTFD]

It does highlight the ludicrous prices for the 'top' Prem/European players when 'just' 2 million can get you a quick, grafter-type player and yet in the Prem they'll pay 80million or so for something like Anthony at MU for example, who can spin on a sixpence for the presser day, but actually delivers Jack Schitt in a game.

With the greatest respect Smith certainly isn't quick. I don't know who he was up against today but they must've been slow! He's a good physical League One striker that will get 15-20 goals but will be out of his depth in The Championship in my view. He's a great character and always puts in a shift, home or away against any big centre back. Without him we get relegated last season so I'll always have a soft spot for him. The only negatives are a lack of pace and can throw himself to the ground easily, which ends up costing him genuine decisions! I can see him back at us in a year or so if you go up and we finally emerge from the mess off the pitch.

 

[Arbury]

Absolutely awful from us and not for the first time, the sooner this season is over and monk is gone the better, it’s going from bad to worse, monk clearly can’t motivate this side, we’re so passive and uneventful it’s unreal, monk has constantly hid behind excuses and I’m bored of him.

MONK OUT!

UIE

 

[dannylad01]

The Shrewsbury goalkeeper is a real trooper, he was down with head injuries every 5 minutes when Shrewsbury were winning , not down once since we equalised , what a guy

Without wanting to get into an argument that's just an outright lie. The physio came on once in the first half for an "injury" but at the same time Perry was down injured and was subbed at half time (only a couple of minutes later). Amazing how the only player booked in the game for time wasting was the Bolton full back, who the ref told him twice to throw the ball and he just stood there u til he got booked. Needs some lessons from Ainsworth how to waste time properly!

Anyway on to the game. Shrewsbury dominated the first 30 minutes, Oliver scoring his first goal. Change of formation probably caught Bolton out. From 30 minutes and for most of the 2nd half Bolton were firmly in control and looked a decent team after changing things and deserved to win. We just ran out of steam. The quality of subs showed the gulf in class (and spending power) as we finished the game with 3 up top consisting of a defender Nsiala) and 2 lads signed from non league.

Don't know what Evatt was doing with that squad. From 30 minutes onwards probably the best team I've seen us play so far. I'd fancy them in the play offs at the moment. If there were a few more games to go I'd think they'd have made a late charge for the automatics.

 

[Hudders]

Think Sam Smith would’ve been a much better fit for us than Dion Charles , early days but it’s been a really poor start from him, not sure what his strengths are. Joe Taylor hopefully back at some point this season.
We are not good enough to only play for 1 half of football but thankfully Barnsley were awful second half so it was enough for a win today.

 

[Gassy]

It is considering our away form and injuries, but we have got to start getting points on the road

I agree, but Northampton is where I’ll be focusing my point tally.

Without Butcher and Ward, I’m not sure what we can realistically expect against Wycombe away.

I’m really disappointed in Lindsay, he was one of the most impressive signings on paper but he’s just not very good, mostly a passenger

 

[BRFC_Gas]

I agree, but Northampton is where I’ll be focusing my point tally.

Without Butcher and Ward, I’m not sure what we can realistically expect against Wycombe away.

I’m really disappointed in Lindsay, he was one of the most impressive signings on paper but he’s just not very good, mostly a passenger

Yeah id be happy with a decent display Tuesday regardless of the result, will show we are still heading in the right direction.
Agree with Lindsay, he is a walking red card and gives the ball away far too much. Id rather have Taylor Moore in there!

 

[thewwfc]

I agree, but Northampton is where I’ll be focusing my point tally.

Without Butcher and Ward, I’m not sure what we can realistically expect against Wycombe away.

If you can chuck men behind the ball, you may well be good for a point - or even more, if you've got any pace in the counter.

Our home form started to tail off when teams figured out that we're not that great against a low block, but we're not that great at hoofball either now since we've no longer got a proper target man up front (well, Vokes has literally just come back from injury, but he's super immobile these days).

You may do better than you think.

 

[Gassy]

If you can chuck men behind the ball, you may well be good for a point - or even more, if you've got any pace in the counter.

Our home form started to tail off when teams figured out that we're not that great against a low block, but we're not that great at hoofball either now since we've no longer got a proper target man up front (well, Vokes has literally just come back from injury, but he's super immobile these days).

You may do better than you think.

If we had Butcher I might just agree, honestly he’s been transformational. The defence since he’s come in has been sublime.

Without him though our problem is a lack of midfield meaning we can’t control games and all we can do it play long ball.

Hope I’m wrong. I was originally planning to go to this one, but sadly next week is insanely busy with work and I’m gonna have to work the evenings to meet some deadlines.

Hopefully, there’s always next year for my first visit to Adam’s park

 

[AdamStag]

Not been about really the last week or so, busy with work and family stuff!

Thought it was a brilliant point at blackpool today, a bit of a shame that we didn’t win when 3-1 up but a point we’d have happily taken before the game.

 

[HutchECFC]

Am enjoying how similar ours and Rovers’ seasons are though.

 

[IzzyFook]

With the greatest respect Smith certainly isn't quick. I don't know who he was up against today but they must've been slow!

Compared to Fletcher, he's like lightening...but OK, maybe should've said quick-ish ....but he's def a 100%-er.

 

[IzzyFook]

Am enjoying how similar ours and Rovers’ seasons are though.

View attachment 21621

Lol...almost perfect symmetry going on there!

 

[Stocky]

Great away win today in front of a big travelling support. Not loads between the sides to be honest but we probably just had that little bit more quality in the middle of the park which eventually told.

I'm very surprised we are where we are really when you see some of the huge budgets languishing behind us. When we lost Barry, many had us down to fade away, myself included. We haven't replaced his creativity but we've probably upped our soliditity as a team.

 

[Stocky]

This Martin Dodds who Wycombe have appointed must be bricking it to be honest. The job was to just tap it in and finish the job off. Wanted to be a postman, suddenly he found himself managing a side 2nd in League One.

I can't see Wrexham not catching them at this point. Both spent money in the window just gone but Wrexham's signings looks to be making an instant contribution whereas Wycombe's aren't.

 

[masi51]

Without wanting to get into an argument that's just an outright lie. The physio came on once in the first half for an "injury" but at the same time Perry was down injured and was subbed at half time (only a couple of minutes later). Amazing how the only player booked in the game for time wasting was the Bolton full back, who the ref told him twice to throw the ball and he just stood there u til he got booked. Needs some lessons from Ainsworth how to waste time properly!

Anyway on to the game. Shrewsbury dominated the first 30 minutes, Oliver scoring his first goal. Change of formation probably caught Bolton out. From 30 minutes and for most of the 2nd half Bolton were firmly in control and looked a decent team after changing things and deserved to win. We just ran out of steam. The quality of subs showed the gulf in class (and spending power) as we finished the game with 3 up top consisting of a defender Nsiala) and 2 lads signed from non league.

Don't know what Evatt was doing with that squad. From 30 minutes onwards probably the best team I've seen us play so far. I'd fancy them in the play offs at the moment. If there were a few more games to go I'd think they'd have made a late charge for the automatics.

Fair summery of the game....We started the game with 5 at the back and two in midfield a formation Evatt deployed most of this season. As you say we was not in the game first 30....The fact it was Oliver who scored just showed you how poor we was.
Second half we took Johnston off and put on Desmond who give us a better balance straightaway....Two goals and we was in complete control...Brought both Sheehan and Schon on just after the hour mark and it was one way traffic with a tiring Shrewsbury team....Added a third and brought on Firino for his first game since August
Our squad is still unbalanced with nothing physical outside our back-line but we are getting players back now and it would be criminal not to get to the play-offs with that squad....We have Orient, Wrexham and Birmingham next three that will make or break us

 

[thewwfc]

This Martin Dodds who Wycombe have appointed must be bricking it to be honest. The job was to just tap it in and finish the job off. Wanted to be a postman, suddenly he found himself managing a side 2nd in League One.

I can't see Wrexham not catching them at this point. Both spent money in the window just gone but Wrexham's signings looks to be making an instant contribution whereas Wycombe's aren't.

Mike Dodds, but yeah, he’s got a job on his hands.

If most of our new signings are not making a contribution, one good reason is that most are not even getting in the squad?!

Seems crazy to me, yes obviously it’s a squad game and we will clearly need strength in depth, but we already had that to a point.

Several of the new signings are not even fully fit (a couple of Danes getting back to fitness after the Scandi winter break, and Adam Reach who has been without a club for a while).

And with Wxm, Parkinson will have chosen the new signings specifically, for what he wants to do tactically and the kind of people they are.

Why sign players who aren’t ready to hit the ground running (other than the one dev squad signing we made)?

In our case the signings were made by our DoF and the new manager had no say.

I understand the DoF model in the sense that it takes all of the piece of the “key man risk” of having an omnipotent manager out of the equation - you see the likes of Brighton shrugging when their head coaches get pinched, because it won’t knock them off course that much.

But what would happen if the DoF got pinched? Surely it’s still a problem, just in a different place.

We also have the weakness that we look worse when Kone isn’t playing - he *has* missed games before (often just through rotation, or a knock) but he seems to be actually injured now.

We’d have been rinsed if we’d tried to pick up a striker in Jan (as Wxm were) but we simply haven’t got a Kone backup who’s anywhere near as good.

So yeah, not trying to either bedwet or pull some reverse psychology, but I feel like the momentum is with Wxm, and also your Orients and Stockports quietly going about their business.

 

[White horse]

Our goals conceded is worrying, we have conceded 48 goals already, the highest conceded of the teams above is 31. A week to work on that now.

 

[Conker]

Mnt point at blackpool today, a bit of a shame that we didn’t win when 3-1 up but a point we’d have happily taken before the game.

how we didn’t win that will go down alongside how did they build the pyramids in terms of mysteries.

I’m actually worried playing so well and still not seeing the win through may hurt the rock bottom confidence even more.

 

[GEORGE]

We deserved a point for the second half but as usual we are powder puff at the back and our final ball is poor.
Gas will be fine this season. First half tidy and inventive but second half you looked poor and a better side than us would have punished you.

You also had the best player on the pitch -- Number 8 Webster.

 

[E10rifle]

Games vs. Lincoln are almost always tough, dour affairs which doesn’t really suit us. We desperately need to learn how to break down teams who are mainly looking to defend because it’s been our Achilles’ Heel all season.

Well, it was certainly tough and didn’t suit us, but not very dour. Opening half hour we were too quick and skilful for Lincoln and I thought we might be in for a similar match as Tuesday. But unlike Mansfield who rolled over and died, Lincoln fought their way back into it and deservedly levelled. Not sure I’d want to watch their “play a triangle then smash it up the pitch and try and win a set piece” tactics every week, but it was certainly effective.
We didn’t deserve the late winner but I’ll take it as karma for Collins giving it large to the family stand when he equalised. Prick.

 

[Less than a mile (WAFC)]

Some crackers on the Northampton forum again this week. Wrexham are a 'mid table team', 'bang average', 'we should beat these if we had our players fit', 'very average team'.

 

[Casey]

Just watched the highlights of Crawley v Wycombe and I'm still not sure if our goal was a cracker or not. Going with it was.

Two great saves in the match. I had a better view of the Wycombe keepers save than the camera and we were jumping up to celebrate the goal before the fingers tipped it around the post. Wollacott's save is easier to see.

Our new signing, Fraser, came on and looked neat and tidy without being spectacular. Going to need him as Ibrahim picked up his tenth booking, nearly all for dissent . Defensive midfielders pick up cards but someone needs to tell him to shut his big gob!

Wycombe, if you don't rate your number 11, Udoh, can we have him? He caused our defence problems all the time until he was subbed. Some of the passes up to him were poor but he made something out of a lot of them.

Casey

 

[thewwfc]

I certainly wouldn’t say Udoh is poor, he is physical and skilful and definitely a pain in the arse for defenders, looking to turn off them and run past them.

And yes, he was absolutely doing the best he could with the (limited) service available to him. But Kone is a cut above, that was more the point.

 

[Master D]

Some crackers on the Northampton forum again this week. Wrexham are a 'mid table team', 'bang average', 'we should beat these if we had our players fit', 'very average team'.

Been hearing same for nearly 4 years now from every team we play. It's called winning football. They've looked every bit a Non League side in both games against us.

 

[denzel ecfc]

Absolutely awful from us and not for the first time, the sooner this season is over and monk is gone the better, it’s going from bad to worse, monk clearly can’t motivate this side, we’re so passive and uneventful it’s unreal, monk has constantly hid behind excuses and I’m bored of him.

MONK OUT!

UIE

Yes I'm surprised that Monk doesn't seem to have motivated you.
Loft was close to scoring though, could have been very different.
It wasn't a great game of football, maybe it's an early kick off thing?

 

[EnglishRed]

Some crackers on the Northampton forum again this week. Wrexham are a 'mid table team', 'bang average', 'we should beat these if we had our players fit', 'very average team'.

Same story every game we've won for the last three years. Considering how bad we clearly are we haven't don't too bad tbh.

It was a very professional performance. Never out of control, possibly could have pushed forward and scored more but the game was done at 2 nil. The fact Northampton (the home side, let's not forget) didn't have a shot on goal the whole game tells the whole story.

 

[EricSabin]

To be fair that will be the perception when you turn up and win ugly, we’ve done it when we get to Wembley under Boothroyd won 19 home games 1-0 or something silly.

Badge of honour really

 

[masi51]

Same story every game we've won for the last three years. Considering how bad we clearly are we haven't don't too bad tbh.

It was a very professional performance. Never out of control, possibly could have pushed forward and scored more but the game was done at 2 nil. The fact Northampton (the home side, let's not forget) didn't have a shot on goal the whole game tells the whole story.

I can see fully why that statement is directed towards you......It was awful watching Parkinson at Bolton and i am not on about the season he was screwed by the owners i am on about the season we got promotion and the following season the football was turgid.
Bradford and Wrexham fans cannot say enough about Parkinson but his football is Dire......Great bloke but never a fan of his football