Burton Albion (A)

[thebells]

7 hours ago, gonzo said:

This isn't short term though. 

Well, that's down to interpretation. Doesn't change the way i personally view it. We all see it through our own lens don't we. 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

6 hours ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

Except that, with our squad & potential, we should be picking players to suit ourselves. Fck the opposition, let THEM worry about US.

We weren't actually poor in the first half. Well on top throughout, missed two glaring chances and gave away a daft penalty.

Second half, when we needed to grab it ... good God almighty we were poor.

I would agree, but the players simply aren't showing that they're good enough, consistently, to do that. 

If they can't impose themselves, in our style, and the opposition can nullify that first 11, then the manager and coaches simply have to adapt.

Initial selection, in game changes (tactical and personnel), and better preparation aimed at the opposition- subtle tactics and also a plan B.

We have seen many of the players perform well, but we have also seen them perform badly.

For me, "with our squad" doesn't hold true as you suggest.

Our squad, at the moment, doesn't appear good enough.

 

[gonzo]

14 minutes ago, thebells said:

Well, that's down to interpretation. Doesn't change the way i personally view it. We all see it through our own lens don't we. 

This our 7th consecutive season below the championship. 

What did we spend below in the 80s?

Must be 10. That wasn't short term either.

It's a long way back and we seem as far away as ever.

[paulhanley]

16 minutes ago, gonzo said:

This our 7th consecutive season below the championship. 

What did we spend below in the 80s?

Must be 10. That wasn't short term either.

It's a long way back and we seem as far away as ever.

Ten.

This is starting to feel as long. I never thought we would see it happen again but here we are. Only this time with 21000 average gates instead of 5000.

The result yesterday was right up there challenging in the upper bracket of the grimmest results if you combine the 80s and this current spell. 

[Johnnyrotten]

3 hours ago, Farnywhite said:

There the ones mentioning it they could just say it’s the same for both teams it didnt have a bearing on the result when asked . 

The grass is long , the sprinklers didnt work , the pen was soft , dalby missed two good chances

SS even says if Dalby scores we win how can he say that there is  85 minutes left in the game ?  That’s  the best they can come up with Johnston no mention what he was playing at   for the second goal ?  SS that is tactics starting 11 and game management was poor they sound all a bit lost which is a worry and no idea how to put it right 

Yes this claim that if Burstow scores at Northampton and that if Dalby scores at Burton we win is nonsense, as if the other team is going to do nothing for 85 minutes.  We don't have it in us to keep a clean sheet away from home (and normally at home).  It will be interesting to see how we react away if we ever take the lead, but I don't think any of us would be confident that this set of players would have it in them to manage the game properly.

Last time we took the lead in the 1st half away and didn't concede an equaliser was a year ago at Stevenage (scoring a 2nd took away the jeopardy).  So clinging onto this belief that taking the lead early on means you win is probably just wishful thinking, avoiding the real issue of being poor at both ends (away).  Our best bet is taking the lead in the 2nd half (Exeter, Huddersfield, Shrewsbury, Burton, Wigan) simply to give us less time to have to hold onto it.

[Hoppy]

We get players like Simons and Erhahon even Randall and McAtee etc that win player of the season awards that fans and players vote for and somehow when they come here something goes wrong you think you are getting good players to improve the team but it's the same old story, we have great support, great stadium they shouldn't need any motivation the players we have should be ripping up this division it's very frustrating we have no right to be out of this division we have to fight for every point but for some reason every season teams with smaller support with smaller budgets turn us over

[desperado]

18 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Yes this claim that if Burstow scores at Northampton and that if Dalby scores at Burton we win is nonsense, as if the other team is going to do nothing for 85 minutes.  We don't have it in us to keep a clean sheet away from home (and normally at home).  It will be interesting to see how we react away if we ever take the lead, but I don't think any of us would be confident that this set of players would have it in them to manage the game properly.

Last time we took the lead in the 1st half away and didn't concede an equaliser was a year ago at Stevenage (scoring a 2nd took away the jeopardy).  So clinging onto this belief that taking the lead early on means you win is probably just wishful thinking, avoiding the real issue of being poor at both ends (away).  Our best bet is taking the lead in the 2nd half (Exeter, Huddersfield, Shrewsbury, Burton, Wigan) simply to give us less time to have to hold onto it.

I do think we are getting a bit picky in his after match comments.

I’m not saying he didn’t say this, I listened this morning and can’t recall.

I know I wasnt aghast at his claim we’ll give ourselves a better chance if we score first. (That was very much my interpretation) 

But it’s largely irrelevant. If he does say this, so what? If the media guy is pretentious enough to say “What do you mean Steven? How do you know the other team won’t come back and play well?” After a pause while he considers such a silly come-back he’d probably, to be polite, just say

”Well of course I don’t know. What I’m saying is it would be nice to put ourselves in that position for once, because the majority of times we have done that this season, we’ve a good record of picking up points in games”

He probably wouldn’t be honest and rude enough to say, “but I thought that would have been obvious you fucking plant pot” 😂

Fortunately none of the 4/5 media guys followed up or picked up on this as SS claiming this to be a fact.
 

 

 

 

[Johnnyrotten]

35 minutes ago, paulhanley said:

Ten.

This is starting to feel as long. I never thought we would see it happen again but here we are. Only this time with 21000 average gates instead of 5000.

The result yesterday was right up there challenging in the upper bracket of the grimmest results if you combine the 80s and this current spell. 

Although the 5k in the 80s was still bigger than more than half the teams in the entire 92!  Eg 1985/86, average crowd 4,847 and we were the 46th, only five Div 3 teams above us and 3 of them were promoted, and we finished 18th.  So we've always been a big fish in the 3rd division pond, its all relative. 

The likes of Boro, Blackburn, Charlton, Millwall, Bradford, Barnsley, Palace, Hudds were all a division above us and only averaged 6k-ish, much of the difference would be made up of bigger away followings. 

[Johnnyrotten]

7 minutes ago, desperado said:

I do think we are getting a bit picky in his after match comments.

I’m not saying he didn’t say this, I listened this morning and can’t recall.

I know I wasnt aghast at his claim we’ll give ourselves a better chance if we score first. (That was very much my interpretation) 

But it’s largely irrelevant. If he does say this, so what? If the media guy is pretentious enough to say “What do you mean Steven? How do you know the other team won’t come back and play well?” After a pause while he considers such a silly come-back he’d probably, to be polite, just say

”Well of course I don’t know. What I’m saying is it would be nice to put ourselves in that position for once, because the majority of times we have done that this season, we’ve a good record of picking up points in games”

He probably wouldn’t be honest and rude enough to say, “but I thought that would have been obvious you fucking plant pot” 😂

Fortunately none of the 4/5 media guys followed up or picked up on this as SS claiming this to be a fact.
 

 

 

 

To be honest I wasn't referencing SS purely, he did mention it, but it was something I've read on here a lot from fans, certainly after Northampton (Burstow) and probably yesterday but I'm not going back to check.  

The only point I'm making is that its about general play, that overall we aren't playing well enough to deserve to win one of the away games.  Of course if a shot early on goes in instead of wide its a great start and gives us a better chance, but its not like missing an open goal in the 95th minute when it absolutely decides the result.   The issue is we need improvements from the keeper, the full backs, the CBs, the midfield, the wingers and the strikers.  Not one part of the team is working away from home, and an early goal doesn't change that.

[Farnywhite]

8 hours ago, gonzo said:

This isn't short term though. 

The short term aim is promotion this season that’s been stated by everyone in the summer owner , manager , players . The long term aim from the owners when they came in was prem 

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

2 minutes ago, Farnywhite said:

The short term aim is promotion this season that’s been stated by everyone in the summer owner , manager , players . The long term aim from the owners when they came in was prem 

I actually think it was to establish us in the Championship

"Pragmatic ambition" was what they referred to it as, which is about right

[Farnywhite]

8 hours ago, JimmyRiddle said:

For me, it's Evatt all over again in terms of getting a reaction after conceding, especially these last two away games.

Dodgy penalties are a part of the game, and conceding a goal shouldn't derail the process.

Yet, it clearly does, mentally weak for me, and now SS coming out with questionable post match comments which isn't going to help.

 

Does sound very similar was thinking that myself instead off owning it and doing something about it deflecting it instead Give players excuses ( grass is long pitch is dry ect )  and they will take it . We had a mentally weak squad last season 
next will be doing an evatt and it’s the fans fault . 
Johnston with is health and safety quote fffs 

Edited October 12, 2025 by Farnywhite

[Farnywhite]

7 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

I actually think it was to establish us in the Championship

"Pragmatic ambition" was what they referred to it as, which is about right

What ever it was were well behind any long term aim but short term is promotion this season so anything less is  failure and that’s coming from the top down 

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

1 minute ago, Farnywhite said:

What ever it was were well behind any long term aim but short term is promotion this season so anything less is  failure and that’s coming from the top down 

I agree

[Eddie]

29 minutes ago, Hoppy said:

We get players like Simons and Erhahon even Randall and McAtee etc that win player of the season awards that fans and players vote for and somehow when they come here something goes wrong you think you are getting good players to improve the team but it's the same old story, we have great support, great stadium they shouldn't need any motivation the players we have should be ripping up this division it's very frustrating we have no right to be out of this division we have to fight for every point but for some reason every season teams with smaller support with smaller budgets turn us over

Small teams have never really been our problem, it’s been the ability to win the big games that we’ve shit out of.

You say we have no right to be out of the division - correct, which means every so often you’ll get beat by a Burton, as shite as it is.

There’s nowt wrong with Simons and Erhahon so far, they’ve generally been good but with some recent poor performances, let’s not over exaggerate anything about those two just yet.

McAtee and Randall have been shite, I’ll give you that. Im not sure either was player of the year and in fact remember the general consensus from Posh fans on Randall to be along the lines of “can look very pretty but shits out of it when the going gets tough” - poor signing from a previous regime.

Yesterday was shite, and Northampton was shite. The run up to Wigan was generally a bit meh, but consensus was that we’d played better than results suggested. We then bummed our local rival for the first time in a decade and everyone was buzzing. We should have taken more than 3 points from the following 3 games, and the away form is a concern, but let’s just calm down a bit with the statements being made off the back of essentially 2 away defeats.

[gonzo]

Can't remember the last time I actually watched or listened to a word the manager or any player said after a game of football.

It's invariably a big pile of emotive bollocks littered with lip service. You may aswell listen to a politician and take anything more than a pinch of salt with it.

None of it means anything. They say stuff they think they need to say ans what people want to hear.

Just don't listen to any of it. None of it means anything.

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

3 minutes ago, gonzo said:

Can't remember the last time I actually watched or listened to a word the manager or any player said after a game of football.

It's invariably a big pile of emotive bollocks littered with lip service. You may aswell listen to a politician and take anything more than a pinch of salt with it.

None of it means anything. They say stuff they think they need to say ans what people want to hear.

Just don't listen to any of it. None of it means anything.

It always amuses me when people claim the club's own interviewer should be asking tougher questions

[gonzo]

6 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

It always amuses me when people claim the club's own interviewer should be asking tougher questions

We should get Piers Morgan and Simon Jordon on the case. Or the wee donkey guy from AC12.

[Lostock Whites]

We're a completely different club since the 80s too.

I know back then we would have had some folk remembering the cup triumph in 58 and even some that saw us lift 3 FA Cups in the 1920s.

But compared to our last substantial period in the 3rd tier in the 80s, our fan base today is in a completely different level.

We have fans that remember not too long ago being an established Premier League club.  Had multiple European knockout football campaigns.

Even despite the pure torrid times that followed that, we have been getting 25/26,000 crowds in the 3rd tier on numerous of occasions.

Despite 5 years in this league and near extinction, this club has standards and expectations.

Football is football and anyone can beat anybody, that's the beauty of it. But getting turned over by Burton, Northampton no disrespect are not anomalies. They have been happening for far too long now.

That's what saddens me the most. A club our size, so much history and recent history. Yet when the few thousand Burton & Northamptpn fans see them beat us, it's not even big deal to them, it's almost like whatever. We've stagnated so much that we have become the very fabric of League 1.

The board cannot expect to see such patience from the fans continue for much longer.

Edited October 12, 2025 by Lostock Whites

[desperado]

14 minutes ago, gonzo said:

Can't remember the last time I actually watched or listened to a word the manager or any player said after a game of football.

It's invariably a big pile of emotive bollocks littered with lip service. You may aswell listen to a politician and take anything more than a pinch of salt with it.

None of it means anything. They say stuff they think they need to say ans what people want to hear.

Just don't listen to any of it. None of it means anything.

On this occasion it was worth listening to just to ensure that folk are aware that there was more talk than long grass and sprinklers.

On this occasion quite a lot more

If we’d left it to @Farnywhite we’d have folk thinking that’s all he had a gripe with. 😂

I get why folk don’t like it and chose not to listen, it can become tedious and repetitive and after a defeat they are on a hiding to nothing as some fans are baying to lay into their talk as excuses,  as we’ve witnessed here. 

From a footballing perspective there’s been some good discussion on the back of some of his comments; tactics employed, perspectives on mistakes made, players availability/injuries, what we can do moving on to the next game etc.

For me a much better discussion on a Sunday than what’s happening In Isreal, England, USA, Politics and Donald Trump with a cat on his head. Now we are into the territory of none of it means anything. 😊

Each to their own I guess.

 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

1 hour ago, gonzo said:

Can't remember the last time I actually watched or listened to a word the manager or any player said after a game of football.

It's invariably a big pile of emotive bollocks littered with lip service. You may aswell listen to a politician and take anything more than a pinch of salt with it.

None of it means anything. They say stuff they think they need to say ans what people want to hear.

Just don't listen to any of it. None of it means anything.

Yes.

Even more so with a chap that is media trained.

I find the chats with players largely the same, in fact even more tedious. 

[Wanderlust]

It’s not the attack or the midfield or the defence or individual players or the tactics or even the selection that’s the problem. The problem is the performance. 
All those players are perfectly capable of making the right decisions, making a good pass, finding space, seeing an opportunity and finishing a chance etc etc but they played shit because they didn’t do it when it mattered.

[L/H White]

5 hours ago, gonzo said:

Can't remember the last time I actually watched or listened to a word the manager or any player said after a game of football.

It's invariably a big pile of emotive bollocks littered with lip service. You may aswell listen to a politician and take anything more than a pinch of salt with it.

None of it means anything. They say stuff they think they need to say ans what people want to hear.

Just don't listen to any of it. None of it means anything.

Couldn't have put it any better myself 

Zero interest in post or pre match interviews from players / manager, it's all waffle 

[Whitesince63]

7 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

It’s not the attack or the midfield or the defence or individual players or the tactics or even the selection that’s the problem. The problem is the performance. 
All those players are perfectly capable of making the right decisions, making a good pass, finding space, seeing an opportunity and finishing a chance etc etc but they played shit because they didn’t do it when it mattered.

I agree lusty but there must be a reason for that. Could it be that modern managers fill the players heads with so many instructions and systems that they basically have so much to think about when they go out that they forget to play their natural game. I accept that the game is more technical now but surely the most important element is a players natural ability to play a certain position. Instead of making a goalkeeper into a sweeper or a forward into a defender chaser why not just let the keeper concentrate on saving the shots and the striker in scoring goals. Ditto with defenders and midfielders with their core purpose. 

[passmosster]

2 midfielders and a flaky winger on the starting line up against a team that is going to rough you.

Sorry, the manger isn't up to it.