Search results

This ticket takes me into the 1400+ club now! Not that I’ve got much hope of getting a ticket Plymouth and Luton away but I should be able to get some tickets through my wider ‘network’.

That is tinpot though. Mark Robins is a legend, but singing about the opposition manager mid game is just embarrassing. It’s arguably disrespectful for Lampard too because if we’re being harsh, he’s had to pick up Mark Robins’ mess to turn the season around.

Wow, didn’t realise their form was that bad! They have had a few tough games but it’s evened out as they’ve played teams around them. I can definitely see us winning against Oxford and breaking into the top 6 but end up losing to Robins’ Stoke.

He snatches at quite a few chances, Swansea away and PNE at home spring to mind as recent examples where he probably should’ve scored. I understand why Huddersfield fans may have said he was rubbish because his xG compared to actual goals scored was not good reading. He may have been the player...

Oxford’s home form is impressive for a promoted side, only 2 places below us (10th and 12th). They are not to be underestimated and it will be a tough game! With WBA away at Leeds and Blackburn home v Norwich, teams around us will be dropping points so our main job is to not lose.

At the current run rate, we’ll finish in the Top 6 even with a disappointing result or two. If games were played on paper, you would bet against 9 points in the next 3 which could probably even put us in contention for 4th if Sunderland continue to splutter.

If you didn’t want Robins to get us promoted all the way back up to Prem, you don’t have a heart! He certainly wouldn’t have had the nous to keep us up in the Prem so perhaps getting in a better coach like Lampard was always the logical solution. Realistically, I had my doubts whether or not...

Haji hadn’t played much football as a LW before he came to us and played an equal amount at RW and LW, more or less. Haji Wright’s role will be very different in Lampard’s set up compared to Robins. He’ll he expected to get in the box and operate as a second or third striker. There were...

Interesting shape, quite similar to a 4-2-4 shape in attack and I’m torn whether or not we play 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 when Haji returns. I’m erring more to 4-2-3-1 with one of EMC/Haji RW because that gives Rudoni more freedom to roam and look for overloads on either flank as opposed to operating...

All of these things have always been linked back to Robins. That’s the harsh reality of things. On the topic of Simms, and he was t the only player impacted by this… Robins chopped and changed the team too much and players all over the squad struggled for form. Simms started the first 5 games...

The change was probably more with EMC in mind. Playing 70 minutes was a big jump up in minutes from the last 2 games off the bench. Paterson himself looked off the pace a bit, which is normal given the lack of football he’s had. Once he gets up to speed, he’ll turn out to be a useful role player.

Exactly. The narrative around her at the time that Robins was sacked was ‘she’s the Performance Director and performances have got worse since she came in’. Dr Roberts is obviously not responsible for the performances on the pitch, that’s down to coaching, tactics and in-game decisions of the...

How many minutes did he actually play there? Wright and EMC will start over Sakamoto. This idea that Haji or EMC cannot play RW needs to stop until they’ve played at least a few games. Lampard changed formation yesterday to accommodate EMC, Lampard views him as undroppable. Saka isn’t and was...

Exactly. Let’s be honest, that Dec-Feb run last season was a flash in the pan. He’d never had a similar run of goal scoring form before and since then. Defensively, Rudoni’s numbers are better than COH’s and perhaps it was his extended recovery, but felt that edge he had in pressing was lost...

Robins problem was that he rotated them too often so neither player had the chance to hit form. Sakamoto won’t start when Haji comes back and gets some minutes under his belt.

Why? Both players are better than Sakamoto in terms of goals and assists. I really don’t understand why he’s considered the shoe-in. He isn’t a game changer like Simms and EMC are. My prediction is that Haji will have a go at RW but will operate as a second striker and EMC has 3 targets in the...

I had a decent view of the goal and my first take that it was well offside. That lino seemed to get another 1 or 2 wrong too.

Agreed, we’re a lot quicker at putting the ball in the box. It was often the case that under Robins, by the time we crossed the ball, defences would have 8-9 players in the box. Yesterday, there were occasions where as soon as the full back and Rudoni had the overload, the winger would sprint...

It was apparent early on in the season that we’d got a better player than COH on our books. Statistically, Rudoni has been the better player all year round and it’s not particularly close. COH was a good player for us, but he did struggle to get goal contributions for us.

Agreed! The difference this season is that Simms is starting to add a lot more to his game in open play. It feels like he’s adding more in holding up the ball and using that to contribute to build up play. Perhaps that’s my perception in this moment, but I’ve always been a fan of Simms’.