desperado

Bloody hell, this mirrors our experience so much! Exactly the same, guy with an Amiga, not ironic at all to call him very sensible, he’d start telling us he needed to go to sleep and we’d try every trick in the book to keep playing into the early hours! Very naughty, on one occasion, he hadn’t locked his room door, when he went home for the weekend. We spent the whole weekend in his room! 🤣

🤣 From 92-95 while I was at uni, We’d waste away hours, days, weeks on end playing Sensible Soccer. Cut in off the wing, get a 45 degree angle just wide of the top corner with a bit bend off the joystick - unstoppable. Build your team up from some fast paced unknown Europeans and Brazilians - you’d have a team to take on anybody.. great days 🤣👍

Yeh, it’s been a very odd one that’s for sure. What a time it would be to find a bit of positive consistency.

In theme with the thread title I think SS/Fergal have had a pretty equal split of success/jury still out/failure, in the transfer market this season. SUCCESS ACD, Kenny, Rodrigues, Dalby, CBT (albeit only for a few games) JURY STILL OUT Gale, Erhahon, Simons, Bonham, Cissoko, Christie (nearly put him in failure) FAILURES Forss, Taylor, TSL, Miller, Apter (I would love to eat my words on this one after he’s scored the play-off winner!) Done this off the top of my head, must have missed someone? edited - they also deserve a lot of credit for balancing the books with outgoings - Thomason, Collins and Morley in particular

🤣

I’m generally not into player bashing. But this is very funny 🤣👏

Brilliant 😂👍 You’re right one crazy season. I still think, performance wise, these last 2 games have shown the biggest chasm amongst all the others

Yeh I tend to agree. The players I mentioned are all key to our creativity, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they start every game. Erhahon is definitely going to have a role to play in these last few games.

It’s one of those debates, where both sides have merit. But I tend to agree with you. I think ACD, Rodrigues and Kenny will benefit from starting/playing together in this run-in. Not over-playing them and subbing/resting them at the right times will be key (but also impossible to execute - you just know there will be someone out there calling SS fit to burn if one of them gets injured 🙃)

Good point. I can’t recall a game when Dalby and Burstow have started together and impressed me as a partnership. Burstow always looks great to me when he comes on as a sub - very good yesterday. Would love him to have a De-Freitas moment at Wembley!

Hardest thing for SS now is how much emphasis he’ll put on consistency of selection to get positive results in these last 3 games… …as opposed to him wrapping certain key players in cotton wool and protecting them for the play-offs. A really hard one to call. After last nights performance I think ACD, Rodrigues, Kenny, Dalby and Sheehan are the key players for us creatively.

I’m trying to think of an occasion from one game to the next, where we have looked so poor, then so good, in league games? It really is a farcical comparison. But another reason why we shouldn’t go to either extreme when appraising our players and manager. Just because of that great performance last night, we are not now in a position to say our play-off concerns should be abated, our players have rid themselves of the criticism we’ve heard previously or that SS has now found the magic formula. If this season has taught us one thing, it’s that we are too inconsistent for that. How we would love to be proven wrong. And there is a chance now, with a new combination of players at Schumacher’s disposal for the players to finally find some consistency. But equally, if/when we do falter, please lets not have the opposite extreme come into play. Surely the doom mongers can see now the over-reaction from Cardiff was extreme? * And I’m not talking about the reasoned discussion, where there’s differences of opinion. But the predictions of doom, the player/manager bashing that is relentless, the need to only comment when you’re telling us for the 1000th time that Johnston’s shit, Sheehans shit, Gale shouldn’t be seen in a white shirt again, the manager is clueless. If last night taught us anything, it’s that those things can’t possibly be true can they? Not many (me included) would have picked Gale last night - SS did because he surely knows him better. He knows that man-managing him in the right way, having him on the pitch at the same time as ACD and giving him some defensive protection can bring the best out of him. But we also know he’s a L1 standard player, who is young, inexperienced and finding his way in a new culture - it’s not going to work for him every week. You can tell his form had hit him hard. The players yesterday were all over him after Kenny’s goal. Sheehan and Johnston are not shit (if anything they’ve been two of our best players this season!) despite what the haters will have you believe. Inconsistent and limited - yes. But no more so than everybody but Dalby in our squad! One thing they’ll all benefit from these last 6 games is some unconditional support. I think that’s possible, now we know there are no issues of surrendering, effort, attitude (hopefully another myth from Saturday we can put to bed). I think they’ll respond to that positively and this will give them the much needed confidence that will be required to get us to promotion. * all opinions valid, we’re here for debate/discussion etc etc etc

A big night for 3 players who have come under criticism recently; Sheehan, Johnston and Gale. I would love the same side to come out play, perform and contribute in a similar way to another win on Saturday. Maybe we could then address this inconsistency tag we’ve displayed too much this season. They have to take confidence from that today.

Pre-game I saw this and thought the post had some merit, it did/does make sense. But it’s one of those occasions where you have to give the manager credit and admit he sees and knows things we don’t. Great win. Another Fantastic response after a defeat. No issues with attitude or effort. Box seat again for 3rd place.

Even me, who is rarely critical of players and managers selection of players, is a bit perplexed by this one. Even SS had come out and indicated he isn’t playing well! For balance there has to be some sensible rationale behind it. Cissoko not 100%, Getting Gale and ACD back for a left/right balance and/or he’s seeing something in training that we aren’t on match days.

Very attacking. Don’t think SS is sending them out there to take a cautious approach

We are usually very good on occasions like this.

Two good posts. It’s just your last paragraphs I’d challenge on. @Lostock Whites not fighting, heads down, feeling sorry for ourselves is not something I see. I think @Eddie last paragraph is closer to the truth. But I think that doesn’t quite define what we saw Saturdays and our approach to games. I think we’d have seen 5 at the back more if a “breaks on, steady careful approach was our mantra.”

I’m not sure I’ve read anywhere that we’d be happy finishing 6th - I said yesterday this is the worst case scenario. It’s merely to point out to those - and there’s quite a few - who think we won’t finish in the play-offs. You’ve also indicated yourself that once we’re there anything can happen.

Might make some of those doom mongers feel a bit more positive about finishing in the play-offs

Thought we’d lost against these. Got to keep up this decent record.

If ever there was a game for an early goal from us, this is the one.

We’d have said the same about Lincoln for the previous 3 seasons. I’m beyond being a snob about who Bolton “should” be winning against. This win is important, regardless of who it’s against.

That sounds rough mate. I’m hoping it is just football related. But the essence of the post suggests not. Hope all ok and the footy can give you some positive distraction

Brilliant from Rory 👏 His best golf was Friday. But he showed all kinds of skill, experience and resilience after that to win the Green Jacket. He’s one of the greats