Well here we go. The excitement builds for our first game. Can we build on 2 years of progress in this division and a good pre-season to state our claim for promotion.

First decision for Evatt will be whether to go with a number 10 behind 2 forwards - if he does CMG is the man.

But I think he’ll grow into the first 11 - he can make a difference next week coming from the bench. 

Just 3 positions up for grabs then for me. I think Morley will pip Thomason, Adebeyejo will go up top with Charles and Iredale wil go LCB (if fit, if not Forrester did very well today.

                      Baxter

       Jones.     Santos.   Iredale 

Dac.Cog.   Sheehan Morley.  Williams

                      Dempsey

            Charles.     Adebeyejo 

21 hours ago, desperado said:

Well here we go. The excitement builds for our first game. Can we build on 2 years of progress in this division and a good pre-season to state our claim for promotion.

First decision for Evatt will be whether to go with a number 10 behind 2 forwards - if he does CMG is the man.

But I think he’ll grow into the first 11 - he can make a difference next week coming from the bench. 

Just 3 positions up for grabs then for me. I think Morley will pip Thomason, Adebeyejo will go up top with Charles and Iredale wil go LCB (if fit, if not Forrester did very well today.

                      Baxter

       Jones.     Santos.   Iredale 

Dac.Cog.   Sheehan Morley.  Williams

                      Dempsey

            Charles.     Adebeyejo 

Gomez for victor or replace him after a hour.  Thomason for Morley then same again replace him  in the second half 

Lincoln were a very low-scoring and low-conceding side last season, drew 20 out of their 46 league games, scored 47, conceded 47. That points to them shutting up shop and trying to pick stuff up on the break. However I'm not sure what they've done in the transfer market or what kind of pre-season they've had. 

11 minutes ago, paulhanley said:

Lincoln were a very low-scoring and low-conceding side last season, drew 20 out of their 46 league games, scored 47, conceded 47. That points to them shutting up shop and trying to pick stuff up on the break. However I'm not sure what they've done in the transfer market or what kind of pre-season they've had. 

Got battered by Rotherham but they seemed more adventurous than last season and broke with pace frequently. Finishing was a bit off, but their defending was OK for the most part being breached 3 times by good quality from Rotherham.

Providing we stay aware of their pace on the break and don't make any daft mistakes, we'll only need a bit of quality to break them down - as always, it all depends on how well we play on the day.

Young George is one of the first names for me.

The way he got right into the Fleetwood players face when we scored the late winner there is something none of our other players offer.

Tidy, runs his bollocks off, gets stuck in and can ping a pass with his left foot.

 

Our best midfield 3 imo last season was Morley, Sheehan and Dempsey.

This season looks like the three will be 2 of Morley, Sheehan or Tomo (not much between the 3 for me) with Dempsey and Gomez in the more advanced role.

could do with a more defensive option to go in there for the tough games but for a home game vs Lincoln we've got to be more attacking so no rush for the weekend

11 minutes ago, barryk32 said:

Young George is one of the first names for me.

The way he got right into the Fleetwood players face when we scored the late winner there is something none of our other players offer.

Tidy, runs his bollocks off, gets stuck in and can ping a pass with his left foot.

 

Useful for certain type of games like I mentioned earlier unfortunately he doesn’t offer much in terms of creativity/scoring

i think he has a part to play though 

Lincoln have signed 4 in this Summer.

Lukas Jensen gk. Burnley

Alistair Smith dm. Sutton

Tyler Walker f. Coventry 

Reeco Hackett m. Portsmouth 

That Des Walkers kid who we had for a bit?

18 minutes ago, gonzo said:

That Des Walkers kid who we had for a bit?

Yeah

19 minutes ago, gonzo said:

That Des Walkers kid who we had for a bit?

His best spell was at Lincoln 4 years ago, scored 14 in 29, including a good goal against us in our 5-1 defeat, then got a move to Coventry.  Was dire for us but obviously has something. 

I think we will see 2 different variants of our 3-5-2 formation this season.

One with Thomason holding (or a new signing) and Dempsey + Sheehan ahead with more licence to get forward so more of a 3-1-4-2.

.                       Baxter

. Jones            Santos           Iredale

          .          Thomason

Cogley  Sheehan     Dempsey.      Williams

.              Charles       Nlundulu

 

 

And then a 3-4-1-2 with Gomes in the #10 or Dempsey, and either Thomason and Morley sitting deeper or Sheehan and Morley.

 

.                       Baxter

.    Jones            Santos           Iredale

Cogley      Sheehan     Morley.      Williams.

.                        Gomes

.              Charles       Nlundulu

 

 

Possibly the latter in games we expect to be the dominant side;

and the former in games we need an extra body in front of the defence as cover. i.e. vs Pompey, Blackpool etc.

 

Edited July 30, 20232 yr by Mantra

Games and injuries will determine our selection over the season, but what would be a real boost is a tough tackling DM who has creativity and a goal threat - and I suspect that's what Evatt is aiming for in this window.

Lets home hes got 25 million quid

1 hour ago, Mantra said:

I think we will see 2 different variants of our 3-5-2 formation this season.

One with Thomason holding (or a new signing) and Dempsey + Sheehan ahead with more licence to get forward so more of a 3-1-4-2.

.                       Baxter

. Jones            Santos           Iredale

          .          Thomason

Cogley  Sheehan     Dempsey.      Williams

.              Charles       Nlundulu

 

 

And then a 3-4-1-2 with Gomes in the #10 or Dempsey, and either Thomason and Morley sitting deeper or Sheehan and Morley.

 

.                       Baxter

.    Jones            Santos           Iredale

Cogley      Sheehan     Morley.      Williams.

.                        Gomes

.              Charles       Nlundulu

 

 

Possibly the latter in games we expect to be the dominant side;

and the former in games we need an extra body in front of the defence as cover. i.e. vs Pompey, Blackpool etc.

 

Unless he’s injured, or needs resting, I can’t see a situation where we don’t play Dempsey at the moment.

5 minutes ago, desperado said:

Unless he’s injured, or needs resting, I can’t see a situation where we don’t play Dempsey at the moment.

This.

Sheehan and Morley in the middle just will not cut it.   Opposition midfielders would just walk through.

14 minutes ago, desperado said:

Unless he’s injured, or needs resting, I can’t see a situation where we don’t play Dempsey at the moment.

Agreed.  Things would have to change a lot for him not to be first pick in midfield.

Sheehan was involved in everything against the baggies and I think Morley will be crucial this season. Dempsey is undropable right now.  Evatt doesnt seem to have home and away teams but Id utilise the boy George away from home. Id also start Forrester instead of Iredale but ouside of championship manager 01/02 I rarely get things right. 

2 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

but what would be a real boost is a tough tackling DM who has creativity and a goal threat - and I suspect that's what Evatt is aiming for in this window.

As is every manager in the world.

From Twatter

 

Cricket season still ongoing but expect a 2-0 win. 
 

think we’re going into the season well!

1 hour ago, DazBob said:

As is every manager in the world.

Yup - it's a shame we just missed out on Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson, but Ndidi might be considering a new challenge with a bigger club after Leicester got relegated

 

He has improved. Unfortunately, not to the level our fans expect. 

What are peoples thoughts on the goalkeeper spot?

Both had few dodgy moments in pre season but everyone’s going for Baxter but there doesn’t look much between them

 

5 minutes ago, radcliffe white said:

What are peoples thoughts on the goalkeeper spot?

Both had few dodgy moments in pre season but everyone’s going for Baxter but there doesn’t look much between them

 

I guess it depends what you’re comparing him to. If Traf then may be a bit unfair as he wasn’t ours anyway. I think they’ll do ok when held up against the other L1 keepers. If our keepers didn’t have the occasional fuck up in their game they certainly wouldn’t be playing for Bolton.

7 minutes ago, MickyD said:

I guess it depends what you’re comparing him to. If Traf then may be a bit unfair as he wasn’t ours anyway. I think they’ll do ok when held up against the other L1 keepers. If our keepers didn’t have the occasional fuck up in their game they certainly wouldn’t be playing for Bolton.

No comparisons

just wondered if folk had a preference off pre season