w/e Saturday 19th November 2022

[HutchECFC]

About 400 tickets left for Saturday… should be a decent game with a decent atmosphere.
Can honestly see us winning if we start strong and fast.

 

[Chris FGR]

It does seem a shame as you've put a lot to get to this level since coming into the EFL (seems a long time since we both sat on 5 points after 13-14 games in 2017). Hopefully we both can stay up and we can both carry on pushing on.

I think the hope inside the club is we can replicate what we did that season, start badly, slowly come to terms with what it takes to survive at the level as the season goes on, strengthen in January and just about stay up. It worked out that season so who knows maybe we’ll do something similar this year. I doubt it but you never know.

I really think that our board, especially Vince, could learn a lot from how the Shanahan’s communicate/interact with fans. It really does make a difference to the mood at a club even if results aren’t great.

 

[BarrieOwl]

About 400 tickets left for Saturday… should be a decent game with a decent atmosphere.
Can honestly see us winning if we start strong and fast.

Please do

 

[leedsvaliant]

It's a difficult one for FGR because without your owners investment, you'd still be essentially a small team nowhere near league one (and I don't mean any disrespect). I realise he's a bit of an egotistical twat but sometimes it's better the devil you know. You don't want him to fuck off and take his ball with him and undo all the hard work of getting to this level in the first place.

 

[BarrieOwl]

It's a difficult one for FGR because without your owners investment, you'd still be essentially a small team nowhere near league one (and I don't mean any disrespect). I realise he's a bit of an egotistical twat but sometimes it's better the devil you know. You don't want him to fuck off and take his ball with him and undo all the hard work of getting to this level in the first place.

They'd be Rushden and Diamonds mk2

 

[Greenacres]

I think the hope inside the club is we can replicate what we did that season, start badly, slowly come to terms with what it takes to survive at the level as the season goes on, strengthen in January and just about stay up. It worked out that season so who knows maybe we’ll do something similar this year. I doubt it but you never know.

I really think that our board, especially Vince, could learn a lot from how the Shanahan’s communicate/interact with fans. It really does make a difference to the mood at a club even if results aren’t great.

Agreed, but the club are not the best when it comes to interacting with the fans. It has been known all season that there are some pretty significant issues with our ticketing system, which for a while was blamed on lack of staff. The fiasco surrounding sale of tickets for the Alvechurch cup game, where they made it as difficult as possible for season ticket holders to get one before they went on general sale is another issue entirely.

If the club knew that there was a problem they could have emailed all season ticket holders to put us in the picture...they didn't. I know a few people (other season ticket holders) who have reached a point where they would rather not go to games anymore...regardless of the quality of football on show...that should be a worry to the club.

 

[Greenacres]

It's a difficult one for FGR because without your owners investment, you'd still be essentially a small team nowhere near league one (and I don't mean any disrespect). I realise he's a bit of an egotistical twat but sometimes it's better the devil you know. You don't want him to fuck off and take his ball with him and undo all the hard work of getting to this level in the first place.

They'd be Rushden and Diamonds mk2

Yes to leedsvaliant, I would be happy if he did one, and maybe to BarrieOwl.

It is getting to the point where I wouldn't be too bothered if we became AFC Forest Green, playing home games at Meadowbank (home of Shortwood) if it meant we were no longer a sideshow for Dale's bigger plan.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Sheffield Wednesday away for us.

Heading up on a 7am train and doing a night out with a group of lads for this one. Heard Sheffield is a cracking night out so high expectations.

Somebody posted our record against Wednesday on our forum. Wednesday have just the one league win and one win of any kind in over 40 years. Couldn’t believe it myself until I checked, that has to be one of the if not best records we hold over another club.

Wasn’t confident going into the game but after seeing our H2H I’m feel slightly more confident that we can shithouse a point. It doesn’t state on our club website whether we can pay on the day or not, do you know if away fans can at all, Barrie? Cheers.

Prediction wise I’ll go with a 1-1 (Saydee)

It is a cracking city is Sheffield with two big clubs and great old grounds. Haven't been for a night out there in a long time but it's a great drive from where we live through the peak district.

I'm never really sure how previous head to heads have any bearing on a present day match as the sides are completely different. Play how you did against us and you'll lose but Wednesday will have the occasional off day and you seem to be doing ok, so you never know.

Would be surprised if it wasn't a home win though.

 

[GeneralLee]

We currently sit 12th in the table which is bonkers really. Despite this, the next two games we'd be expected to win despite our obvious failings which would put us back in play-off contention. Contention, we absolutely do not deserve. We have performed horribly in the transfer market, on the pitch and we do not have any identity. This season has been a shambles.

This game appears to be a case of 'who is worst?'. I suspect FGR might win that battle. Sadly that battle doesn't secure three points. We will no doubt make an absolute dogs dinner of the game, but really shouldn't.

 

[LeonTheGreen]

Burton away will be tough, I’ve been 3, maybe 4 times and never seen us win there. They’ve sorted themselves out a bit since sacking JFH and we’re still battered with injuries, 7 first team players out at the moment. In normal circumstances id take a point, but in our current position we need to be taking all 3 really, to try and keep the gap to Ipswich and Sheff Wed. Not that I think we’ll win, 1-1 again.

 

[K-Win]

We had a couple of Cowley displays of dissatisfaction here as well, one of which was about the training ground taking so long to sort off the back of the FA Cup run in 2016/17 even though it was only 18 months or so from looking for a site to moving in - not entirely sure how long he thought it should take building a training ground from scratch! He mentioned that a few times to be fair.

Then one about a lack of available budget for a striker heading into our first season in L1 after a pre-season friendly at Scunthorpe, and then Tyler Walker magically appeared a few days later!

Surprised about the injuries though, we had a decent record here under him albeit I think we had a few players who were willing to play through the pain barrier for him. Suspect they were far more hands on with that side of things here when they first joined but things have moved on haven't they, it's more Head Coach than Manager(s) now.

Yes, it's definitely a pattern. As you know, the Cowleys give the job absolutely everything and expect the same of others at the club. They've definitely upped the standards at the club since they came in and no doubt they'll continue to do that. It's a big change from Kenny Jackett who seemed to be more of a yes man.

The good thing is that we now also have an ambitious sporting director at the club who will hopefully be on the same page as Cowley and take some of the load off him.

I think he's also trying to take the heat off himself a bit. Given the run we're on, there's a real chance the crowd may turn distinctly restless if we go behind early on Friday night. We badly need a win to steady the ship but the combination of poor form, tough opponents and the presence of Sky cameras make that unlikely I feel.

 

[codaplenty]

Well there should be a bumper crowd at the weekend for the visit of Bolton, I have family members and pals all going who are Trotters. Difficult to call this game, neither side are scoring much, or conceding.It has all the hallmarks of another draw which is not much good for either side.Certainly won't be the scoreline of last season..,.

 

[Chris FGR]

We currently sit 12th in the table which is bonkers really. Despite this, the next two games we'd be expected to win despite our obvious failings which would put us back in play-off contention. Contention, we absolutely do not deserve. We have performed horribly in the transfer market, on the pitch and we do not have any identity. This season has been a shambles.

This game appears to be a case of 'who is worst?'. I suspect FGR might win that battle. Sadly that battle doesn't secure three points. We will no doubt make an absolute dogs dinner of the game, but really shouldn't.

Let’s just shake hands on a draw right now eh?

 

[SuffolkBlue]

About 400 tickets left for Saturday… should be a decent game with a decent atmosphere.
Can honestly see us winning if we start strong and fast.

We seem to be conceding a few soft goals recently and with injuries building up, I wouldn’t put it past you to get something. We’ve scored in all but one game so far. Can see a 1-1/ 2-2. We absolutely batted Cheltenham last weekend but our finishing was poor. Think every result is open for sure

 

[Floreat Salopia]

Should be able to pal, cash only.

Need any advice on boozing let me know.

Thanks for the reply mate! I did email Salop ticket office on my lunch break today just to make sure and they confirmed it as pay on the day which is ideal for me.

I’ll be making my way to that pub opposite the train station as I always do when I visit Hillsborough or Bramall Lane. Tidy boozer that one! We’re staying at the Jury’s Inn hotel. Any idea how far that is from the main nightclubs at all? We’re hoping to hit two or three clubs later on and obviously a few pubs before the match. Any ideas on the ones before 3pm minus the ones around the station? Did 5 last season but minus two near the station I wouldn’t have a scooby as to where they were.

It is a cracking city is Sheffield with two big clubs and great old grounds. Haven't been for a night out there in a long time but it's a great drive from where we live through the peak district.

I'm never really sure how previous head to heads have any bearing on a present day match as the sides are completely different. Play how you did against us and you'll lose but Wednesday will have the occasional off day and you seem to be doing ok, so you never know.

Would be surprised if it wasn't a home win though.

Agree about Sheffield, love the city myself! We normally do one weekender a year but it’s normally Bristol or Plymouth but thought we’d change it this year and always rated Sheffield for day drinking as an away day. Hopefully it lives up to expectations on the night life too!

We played shite against Vale did we!? You’ve never mentioned that on here before

 

[BarrieOwl]

Thanks for the reply mate! I did email Salop ticket office on my lunch break today just to make sure and they confirmed it as pay on the day which is ideal for me.

I’ll be making my way to that pub opposite the train station as I always do when I visit Hillsborough or Bramall Lane. Tidy boozer that one! We’re staying at the Jury’s Inn hotel. Any idea how far that is from the main nightclubs at all? We’re hoping to hit two or three clubs later on and obviously a few pubs before the match. Any ideas on the ones before 3pm minus the ones around the station? Did 5 last season but minus two near the station I wouldn’t have a scooby as to where they were.

Agree about Sheffield, love the city myself! We normally do one weekender a year but it’s normally Bristol or Plymouth but thought we’d change it this year and always rated Sheffield for day drinking as an away day. Hopefully it lives up to expectations on the night life too!

We played shite against Vale did we!? You’ve never mentioned that on here before

Go on West St or Division St before the game, try Indie-Go Resurrection if you can find it, my mates bar and getting rave reviews.

Jury's is down near a few clubs so you're ideally placed.

 

[Floreat Salopia]

Go on West St or Division St before the game, try Indie-Go Resurrection if you can find it, my mates bar and getting rave reviews.

Jury's is down near a few clubs so you're ideally placed.

Assuming we’ll need to get the tram to that bar from the station?

Good to hear we got lucky! It was poorly researched by us tbf but the Jury’s Inn was one of the only decent looking ones available as we only booked a couple of weeks ago.

 

[BarrieOwl]

Assuming we’ll need to get the tram to that bar from the station?

Good to hear we got lucky! It was poorly researched by us tbf but the Jury’s Inn was one of the only decent looking ones available as we only booked a couple of weeks ago.

Tram from West St, get the 'Yellow' for Middlewood tram and it drops a minutes walk from the ground, get the 'blue' Malin Bridge and you have to walk from Hillsborough which is about 10 minutes or so

 

[HutchECFC]

Just make sure you end the night in Corp Floreat Salopia - Quite possibly the best place on the planet, BarrieOwl will agree.

 

[BarrieOwl]

Just make sure you end the night in Corp Floreat Salopia - Quite possibly the best place on the planet, BarrieOwl will agree.

Used to be.

Corp is about a five minute walk to Jury's too.

 

[UppaTowen_ITFC]

Cos you're on a thread about the entire fucking division rather than FGR specific.

This isn't a fucking great season, we are in the 3rd bastard division.

I've seen shit managers more than I've seen good managers, see Paul Jewell as an example.

We had the misfortune of Paul Jewell too. Horrendous manager

 

[Bartonyellow]

We had the misfortune of Paul Jewell too. Horrendous manager

I can’t get that image of him balls deep on the bonnet of a mondeo looking at the camera. Gives me nightmares.

 

[BarrieOwl]

I can’t get that image of him balls deep on the bonnet of a mondeo looking at the camera. Gives me nightmares.

Probably best to clear your hard drive and cache mate.

 

[Guernica]

We had a couple of Cowley displays of dissatisfaction here as well, one of which was about the training ground taking so long to sort off the back of the FA Cup run in 2016/17 even though it was only 18 months or so from looking for a site to moving in - not entirely sure how long he thought it should take building a training ground from scratch! He mentioned that a few times to be fair.

Then one about a lack of available budget for a striker heading into our first season in L1 after a pre-season friendly at Scunthorpe, and then Tyler Walker magically appeared a few days later!

Surprised about the injuries though, we had a decent record here under him albeit I think we had a few players who were willing to play through the pain barrier for him. Suspect they were far more hands on with that side of things here when they first joined but things have moved on haven't they, it's more Head Coach than Manager(s) now.

You forgot about the lack of watering the pitch before a turgid home game in his post match interview, can't remember who the opponent was but I'm sure it was a Tuesday night.

I think Bostwick and perhaps Habergham were casualties in playing through the pain barrier and they suffered on leaving us.

 

[TractorBoys]

We're well overdue to hand out a hammering, will it be tomorrow? So many fixtures where we've drawn 1-1/2-2 yet could (and should) have scored five or six.

Sky is not our friend, and Exeter are scoring well but based on how we played against Cheltenham I still fancy us to nick. 2-4 Ipswich.

 

[kieran_vale]

Decent 30 minutes or so from Portsmouth so far I think. Seem to be playing with a bit more pace and directness than the couple of times have seen them previously. Not a bad watch.

 

[BarrieOwl]

Decent 30 minutes or so from Portsmouth so far I think. Seem to be playing with a bit more pace and directness than the couple of times have seen them previously. Not a bad watch.

Derby smash and grab incoming

 

[kieran_vale]

Close to a Derby goal at the end of the half. Actually have a bit of sympathy for Forsyth in that as it won’t look good on the replay but the speed the cross went at it was probably more difficult than it looks. I’ve seen a recognised forward in James Wilson miss a couple of them for us in the past so the degree of difficulty for a defender will be higher.

Good half though, stats don’t tell the story in terms of lack of shots on target.

 

[PlymouthCasual]

Like a game of chess that, cannot remember either keeper being tested at all. Good point for the top 4 though.

 

[Super_horns]

Probably fair outcome .

Portsmouth do like a draw .