Saturday 27th August

[BlackHaddock]

Walsall away who seem hit and miss, but have slowed down after a decent start. We're looking solid but having problems scoring. Could go either way really. Our best bet might be to stifle them and look to score on the counter and from set pieces.

Think we might see our first sub-1000 following this season but pay on the day might help boost the numbers a bit.

We don't seem to do too well at Walsall, the best I've ever seen is a 0-0 one November evening in 1997, the rest have all been defeats. Hoping for that elusive first win this time, I'm due one. Haven't scored for two games, hope it's not three in a row!

 

[Son of Cod]

We don't seem to do too well at Walsall, the best I've ever seen is a 0-0 one November evening in 1997, the rest have all been defeats. Hoping for that elusive first win this time, I'm due one. Haven't scored for two games, hope it's not three in a row!

Hard to read anything into the Forest match I guess, but goals are indeed a concern. On the plus side, two thirds of the team looks very solid.

Could do with Pepple opening his account.

You're right though, our record at The Bescot is horrible!

 

[BarraMatt]

I have a feeling we will get beat on Saturday at Wimbledon, couldn't tell you why though. Despite our strong start we have conceded some sloppy goals, Sutton's winner, Walsall's goal last week and Lincoln's late equaliser last night, and there'll be games where we won't be able to score the amount we need for a win or draw.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

I have a feeling we will get beat on Saturday at Wimbledon, couldn't tell you why though. Despite our strong start we have conceded some sloppy goals, Sutton's winner, Walsall's goal last week and Lincoln's late equaliser last night, and there'll be games where we won't be able to score the amount we need for a win or draw.

Wimbledon not having a midweek fixture is probably another factor.

 

[E10rifle]

Rovers home to Colchester…. We need a win but it’s got the feel of a scrappy draw.

They are absolute garbage. Nailed-on for the bottom six. Just kick Chilvers up in the air and you’ll win.

 

[Conker]

Sutton and Harrogate style is something we really struggled with last season, be interesting if we can adapt better this time round.

I’m a bit concerned about playing Swan up front against them, he struggled against Salford but he was the best player on the pitch against Stockport so gotta give him a chance to see if he can handle it better.

 

[AdamStag]

Sutton and Harrogate style is something we really struggled with last season, be interesting if we can adapt better this time round.

I’m a bit concerned about playing Swan up front against them, he struggled against Salford but he was the best player on the pitch against Stockport so gotta give him a chance to see if he can handle it better.

It’s an interesting debate, for me we struggled against cloggers last season and like you say, it’s going to be a test to see if we’ve improved after last season.

Football can and should be played in any way and whereas it’s certainly not the style of play i’d want to see every week if it’s effective then you’d do it.

We’d need more physicality in midfield for sure.

 

[DearneValleyRover]

Well Tom Anderson is definitely out for Saturday. Knoyle and Long have a chance of making it, Taylor might be a week away, Close seems to have had another setback so looking like October at the earliest along with Griffiths and absolutely no idea on Barlow.

Likely lineup:

Mitchell
Knyole Williams Long Maxwell
Clayton Biggins
Hurst Tomlin Rowe
Miller
Subs: Jones Seaman Faulkner Kuleya Agard Molyneux Degruchy

 

[Claret Forever]

How is Mitchell playing in goal? Can't say he's hardly regarded at Sixfields, so don't know if that means he'll have inspirational or nightmarish performance on his return.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

First visit to Bradford for me since we got smashed 3-0 there on Boxing Day back in 2011. We'd only lose three more games for the rest of the season as we secured promotion by May. The time I went before that, we won 5-1 on the last day of the season, ending a run of 11 straight away defeats as we narrowly missed out on a playoff place by 3 points despite being top scorers in the league that season!

Honestly don't know what to expect. Good to see Eli King come through the door today but we'll miss Lachlan Brook for the next 6 weeks. With Chris Long still unfit and Bassala Sambou serving the final game of his ban, we'll be relying heavily on Agyei and CBR to get us a result. Could even see a formation change too to counter our lack of width.

Bradford don't strike me as a contender for automatic promotion compared to the likes of Northampton, Mansfield and Salford to name a few. This is despite the star name of Stoke reject Mark Hughes in the dugout. No doubt Oliver will score for them against us if he features. A truly poor player for us, god knows how he stayed in the EFL for so long.

Think Bradford win it 2-0. We haven't been playing as well as our results suggest, this is despite the excellent efforts and commitment from almost all of our players this season, and we're down to the bare bones. If we tire in the second half like we have been doing, I fully expect Bradford to pick us off.

We'll need another body or two in before the deadline shuts and we need to ship at least 2 out. Even if we lose here, it'll have been a good start to the season considering the state we were in last season!

 

[saddler78]

Not sure what to make of Grimsby so far we play as we did against Charlton we should be fine but if we resort back to hoofball shite and 2 defensive mids then its anyones game be interesting to see what Flynn does.

 

[DearneValleyRover]

How is Mitchell playing in goal? Can't say he's hardly regarded at Sixfields, so don't know if that means he'll have inspirational or nightmarish performance on his return.

He has his moments but all keepers do. Honestly though, he’s vocal, commands his area and has given confidence to the defence, can’t really complain too much

 

[GTFCfish]

Not sure what to make of Grimsby so far we play as we did against Charlton we should be fine but if we resort back to hoofball shite and 2 defensive mids then its anyones game be interesting to see what Flynn does.

We play good stuff and create loads but unfortunately we can’t hit a barn door.
I’d say it’s only in our first game away at Orient where we didn’t create that much but even then we still managed to miss one absolute sitter.

 

[Meadow]

Our starters are shaping up nicely although it's mostly youngers on the bench. No clue as to the result tomorrow against Barrow.

Warning to Barra supporters. Wimbledon Old Players Association have invited John Fashanu to tomorrow's match and he'll be presented to the crowd. As a old school Wimbledon supporter I'm happy to acknowledge our previous history but not Fash. Cringefest upcoming.

 

[Kauto Star]

First visit to Bradford for me since we got smashed 3-0 there on Boxing Day back in 2011. We'd only lose three more games for the rest of the season as we secured promotion by May. The time I went before that, we won 5-1 on the last day of the season, ending a run of 11 straight away defeats as we narrowly missed out on a playoff place by 3 points despite being top scorers in the league that season!

Honestly don't know what to expect. Good to see Eli King come through the door today but we'll miss Lachlan Brook for the next 6 weeks. With Chris Long still unfit and Bassala Sambou serving the final game of his ban, we'll be relying heavily on Agyei and CBR to get us a result. Could even see a formation change too to counter our lack of width.

Bradford don't strike me as a contender for automatic promotion compared to the likes of Northampton, Mansfield and Salford to name a few. This is despite the star name of Stoke reject Mark Hughes in the dugout. No doubt Oliver will score for them against us if he features. A truly poor player for us, god knows how he stayed in the EFL for so long.

Think Bradford win it 2-0. We haven't been playing as well as our results suggest, this is despite the excellent efforts and commitment from almost all of our players this season, and we're down to the bare bones. If we tire in the second half like we have been doing, I fully expect Bradford to pick us off.

We'll need another body or two in before the deadline shuts and we need to ship at least 2 out. Even if we lose here, it'll have been a good start to the season considering the state we were in last season!

Oliver likely to be on the bench again tomorrow. He has had an underwhelming start to his career with us and yet to get off the mark, indeed hasnt looked remotely likely to score so far.

Contrast that to Andy Cook who has scored 6 goals already, including the cup.

It was widely expected that Cook would have to take a back seat when we signed Oliver. However, despite starting the first couple of games on the bench himself, Cook has nailed down the centre forward spot for now

 

[WilsdenBantam]

Had a look at the Crewe squad can’t say too many names stand out, but I noticed our old friend Mellor sneaking his way into another professional club. Probably top 3 worst RBs I can remember for us in my life time need to target him and set about him and he’ll fold like he used to for us.

With the greatest of respect to Crewe as the home team if we have any ambitions for top 7 this season we need to be turning them over.

We’ve been all over the place at the start, never terrible or particularly good just from poor to average to half decent and back again. If we play average or above I’ll go a 2-0 win. If we don’t show up then we’ll lose.

 

[hellogregory]

Call me a hopeless optimist if you like, but I think we’ll get a point against Gillingham tomorrow. We are still terrible, but they haven’t been scoring a lot, but keep clean sheets and we don’t really have much quality.

Carlisle United 0-0 Gillingham

At least it wouldn’t be back to back defeats, but at the same time, it further extends our long winless run.

 

[gary]

Our starters are shaping up nicely although it's mostly youngers on the bench. No clue as to the result tomorrow against Barrow.

Warning to Barra supporters. Wimbledon Old Players Association have invited John Fashanu to tomorrow's match and he'll be presented to the crowd. As a old school Wimbledon supporter I'm happy to acknowledge our previous history but not Fash. Cringefest upcoming.

Yeah totally agree about Fash. He was all about himself. I'll take my seat just before kick off and hopefully miss seeing him being paraded on the pitch.

 

[E10rifle]

Yeah totally agree about Fash. He was all about himself. I'll take my seat just before kick off and hopefully miss seeing him being paraded on the pitch.

Can’t forgive Fash for the cuntish way he treated his brother. He can go fuck himself.

 

[Agombar stool]

Yeah totally agree about Fash. He was all about himself. I'll take my seat just before kick off and hopefully miss seeing him being paraded on the pitch.

Will the fans not all shout 'Awoooga' at him?

 

[iWomble]

Can’t forgive Fash for the cuntish way he treated his brother. He can go fuck himself.

This. And he was a match-fixer. Football fans don't look too closely when someone's banging in the goals and smashing up opponents but anyone looking back who thinks he's anything other than a terrible human being needs a serious morality check. Should be having nothing to do with him.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Call me a hopeless optimist if you like, but I think we’ll get a point against Gillingham tomorrow. We are still terrible, but they haven’t been scoring a lot, but keep clean sheets and we don’t really have much quality.

Carlisle United 0-0 Gillingham

At least it wouldn’t be back to back defeats, but at the same time, it further extends our long winless run.

To say we haven’t been scoring many is an understatement!
We have scored one goal in five league games so far.
If anyone scores, they win.

 

[BarraMatt]

What's this Fash done, out of interest?

 

[iWomble]

What's this Fash done, out of interest?

 

[F!RTHY]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1563247407244095488

 

[GTFCfish]

What's this Fash done, out of interest?

He was shite on Gladiators.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Had a look at the Crewe squad can’t say too many names stand out, but I noticed our old friend Mellor sneaking his way into another professional club. Probably top 3 worst RBs I can remember for us in my life time need to target him and set about him and he’ll fold like he used to for us.

With the greatest of respect to Crewe as the home team if we have any ambitions for top 7 this season we need to be turning them over.

We’ve been all over the place at the start, never terrible or particularly good just from poor to average to half decent and back again. If we play average or above I’ll go a 2-0 win. If we don’t show up then we’ll lose.

When he signed for us I was dead against it and said look how bad he was for Bradford 3 years ago against us. Because Charlie Kirk tore him apart badly that day. He's been released by 3 clubs since then.

Despite all that, he's actually been solid for us so far this season. Barely put a foot wrong. Although we can't rely on him for 46 games this season so I hope we bring in an RB next week.

 

[Optimistic Poolie]

Well Tom Anderson is definitely out for Saturday. Knoyle and Long have a chance of making it, Taylor might be a week away, Close seems to have had another setback so looking like October at the earliest along with Griffiths and absolutely no idea on Barlow.

Likely lineup:

Mitchell
Knyole Williams Long Maxwell
Clayton Biggins
Hurst Tomlin Rowe
Miller
Subs: Jones Seaman Faulkner Kuleya Agard Molyneux Degruchy

How has Molyneux looked for you lot? Has he had a knock or is he just not making the line up?

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Oliver likely to be on the bench again tomorrow. He has had an underwhelming start to his career with us and yet to get off the mark, indeed hasnt looked remotely likely to score so far.

Contrast that to Andy Cook who has scored 6 goals already, including the cup.

It was widely expected that Cook would have to take a back seat when we signed Oliver. However, despite starting the first couple of games on the bench himself, Cook has nailed down the centre forward spot for now

He was like that with us until we put the young Callum Morton alongside him, the two of them fired us up into our eventual play off promotion win against Exeter 4-0 at Wembley. (I didn't need to put the last bit but....)

 

[DearneValleyRover]

How has Molyneux looked for you lot? Has he had a knock or is he just not making the line up?

He got an impact injury pre season so only just got back into the squad, problem for him is Kyle Hurst has been on fire and Tommy Rowe is on the left side because Tomlin (other than Bradford) has been immense. When he has come on as a sub, he looks classy