Rival Son

On a similar note, I was going to say Anthony Barness. It was a question in the the early 00s. Who is the only member of the current squad to have played in the last game at Burnden? By that time, the entire Bolton squad from the game had left or retired!

Good day out. Exeter is a great place to visit; my first time. Drank enough and back at hotel now! Signs that Dalby and Kenny could be an effective partnership. We might just be hitting the playoffs with some momentum!

1-0 when Randall came on, at 75 minutes. Just over 10 minutes later, 4-0!

There’s also the reverse scenario. Broadcasting comes with a cost. Sky’s deal obligates them to cover all matches in the deal, some of which may cost more than the value of the viewer numbers. The totality of the deal reflects all costs and benefits, to both parties. Additional matches should be negotiated on their merits. And, I assume, a single League One on a Tuesday night, where they already have product availability is probably not worth it.

Friday and Saturday. I’ll be sleeping off Friday night, as you’re setting off!

Brilliant film and many happy memories, including Bourgas, Guimaraes and Marseille, which weren’t really covered in the film. However, is that the (quite a few years later) post-Allardyce academy that produced the England internationals Rob Holding and Aaron Ramsdale? I’d also question if Lostock is worse then Euxton?

Chorley v Horwich RMI (RIP) was tasty.

Correct. Man Utd is Man City, Liverpool is Everton, Leeds is, er, Bradford? You can only have one derby rival. Anybody else is a just an ordinary rival. If it’s not cross town, it’s your nearest rival. Much as we would like to say Blackburn or Man Utd, ours always was Bury, but since our move it has morphed to be Wigan.

Hole in one. We are bossing teams, dominating possession and creating lots of chances. The problem is the finishing: weak, wayward, and nervous attempts at goal. i wonder if Schumacher was asked who is the finishing coach, what the answer would be. I suspect we don’t have one. If we do, he needs to be questioned. We don’t need to change formation. We just need to be more clinical in front of goal.

Just about to leave Reading for the drive home, and I’ve finally read a decent take on last night’s match. This Johnston pile-on is becoming pathetic. He had a good game and made some crucial challenges in the first half. The goal was not down to him (or Bonham). It was a great break and excellent finish from right wing by Marriott. “Forino would have stopped him”. 🤣 Ten minutes later, Apter had a similar but even better break to equalise. Again, no error from a Reading defender; just great wing play, which was let down by a poor and very off-target shot. And that is where the problem lies. Not the defence but our woeful finishing, across the team. We had more than enough possession, territory and good opportunities to have won that match 4-1. Once again, our finishing let us down. Once again, we have an (unjustified) pile-on to Johnston. Finishing aside, we continue to play well and I expect us to finish third. Hopefully, we get the job done in the playoffs, this time.

We’d need a new manager, then. It’s Schumacher who has set out his stall with inverted wingers, and recruited accordingly.

I don’t think so. Rodrigues is a permanent signing, Purely performance related, which is fine by me.

I read the same, and it’s great to hear that Inwood is also delivering good performances. i also saw the comment that this was probably Warren’s worst game for them, and he still came up with the vital goal. In other games, Warren has been given MOTM. At the end of the day, I think we’ve got two youngsters who may make the step up, here. For that reason, I’m keeping a close eye on all Aldershot matches.

I need to automate the next sentence. Charlie Warren scores again for Aldershot Town! This one was an injury time equaliser at Tamworth, and is his sixth goal in eight appearances. Another recurring sentence. The lad is a serious goal scorer.

I’ve no idea if this rumour is true or not, but I am fairly certain that Forino’s impact on the team isn’t that significant. I’m more in agreement with your second point. Our success, or otherwise, is more dependent on how well we attack them and, especially, whether our finishing will finally click.

I would imagine David James has more.

People said that about Ferguson in 2013!

Thanks for the tip. I had identified the cathedral as a place to visit. I’ll major on this area, when I arrive on Friday. I’ll look round other areas on the Saturday morning, before making my way up to St James Park.

My first ever visit to Exeter sorted. Hotel booked and looking forward to seeing the city, as well as the match.

I’ve read the article twice, to check I hadn’t missed anything. I’ve never previously seen a product discussion that focussed entirely on the packaging, without mentioning what’s inside the bloody thing. For all we know, the water could be sourced from the Croal! 🤢

What formation are you proposing? You seem to be suggesting three centre backs, with both wing backs and wingers. That would be wide open through the middle! For what it’s worth, I’d try to put them on the back foot, by starting with the same formation and momentum as the last two games. Only thing I’d possibly change is to switch Christie for Tutu (who may be unfit, anyway). For this game, we need full fitness, commitment and bravery. If ready, I’d only have Sheehan and Conway on the bench where, hopefully, they’ll be joined by Kenny. I’m afraid Gale and Cissoko aren’t what we need on Saturday, which will free up two places on the bench. If injured, Tutu would be the third vacancy on the bench. If not, I might be tempted to lose the keeper sub, to retain Temple on the bench. Tough call!

Were they 2-0 down in their biggest game of the season, at the time?

CBT is not fully fit, yet. Only started one game for Derby since he did his hamstring on the opening day of the season, and completed just 268 minutes for Derby, before last Saturday. it was clear he was cramping up, five minutes before he was subbed off. On that point, I thought Schumacher was slow to react to situations, today. Tutu took the kick/bang to his knee, when attacking, five minutes before half time. He seemed uncomfortable for the remainder of the half. In the second half, it was again clear he was uncomfortable for some time before the substitution happened. Fair play to the Barnsley manager for shaking it up in the second half. I think Schumacher was a bit slow to respond to a few situations, today.

Yes, but Aldershot seem to playing a slightly different version of our system. Formation is always given as 4-3-3, suggesting wide forwards, as opposed to wingers, and no number 10. However, it’s the same inverted wide-men, with the left-footed Warren playing on the right side.