Mansfield Town (A)

[desperado]

6 hours ago, Steejay said:

FFS, how many times?

Ignore the thick fucker.

I know, I know - apologies. I’ve got hooked in 😂

I should have followed my own advice - no over-analysis needed after a game like yesterday.

3 points is all that mattered. 

[masi 51]

We got away with one last night but how we played against Stockport, Barnsley and Blackpool i think we deserved it

Was it a sending off??... Some would give a red some a yellow.....Pretty much some would have only given a free kick and not a second yellow against Simons at Luton. Late on they should have had a penalty with the Christy Handball and again we have conceded some bad ones this season so again perhaps again it was karma.

No major issues over the line-up bar Tutu on the left and i had hoped Forss would play up top alongside Burstow.

I wont come on here and say otherwise after Tutu scored. The sending off should have made SS think about mixing things up.  The fact that the player was only Mansfield outlet and once he went they just tried to knock it in the channels mainly when Christy was pushing forwards. Our back four had nobody to mark and Mansfield only played for long throws apart from that they offered nothing. The back four and i include the full backs had too much time on the ball and we looked pedestrian.  Our two wingers did not show and neither did Dempsey who was stuck behind a wall of four Mansfield players.

Burstow was coming short and was clearly frustrated with getting no service. Johnston tossed a aimless ball into the box and it caused havoc and that is how we got the goal. It was crying out for a Sheehan and ACD to come on first half and Forss to move inside. No need for A untroubled back four and two holding players to be on until the hour mark.

Going forward we seem to have options apart from up front and Burstow needs help, playing him alongside Dalby is not a option and Forss does not seem to work either........We might have the solution at the club in McAtee who works his socks off and i think would do well at the side of Burstow as long as Burstow went for all the headers.

A wins a win and it keeps us in touch

 

[bwfc4ife]

9 minutes ago, masi 51 said:

We got away with one last night but how we played against Stockport, Barnsley and Blackpool i think we deserved it

Was it a sending off??... Some would give a red some a yellow.....Pretty much some would have only given a free kick and not a second yellow against Simons at Luton. Late on they should have had a penalty with the Christy Handball and again we have conceded some bad ones this season so again perhaps again it was karma.

No major issues over the line-up bar Tutu on the left and i had hoped Forss would play up top alongside Burstow.

I wont come on here and say otherwise after Tutu scored. The sending off should have made SS think about mixing things up.  The fact that the player was only Mansfield outlet and once he went they just tried to knock it in the channels mainly when Christy was pushing forwards. Our back four had nobody to mark and Mansfield only played for long throws apart from that they offered nothing. The back four and i include the full backs had too much time on the ball and we looked pedestrian.  Our two wingers did not show and neither did Dempsey who was stuck behind a wall of four Mansfield players.

Burstow was coming short and was clearly frustrated with getting no service. Johnston tossed a aimless ball into the box and it caused havoc and that is how we got the goal. It was crying out for a Sheehan and ACD to come on first half and Forss to move inside. No need for A untroubled back four and two holding players to be on until the hour mark.

Going forward we seem to have options apart from up front and Burstow needs help, playing him alongside Dalby is not a option and Forss does not seem to work either........We might have the solution at the club in McAtee who works his socks off and i think would do well at the side of Burstow as long as Burstow went for all the headers.

A wins a win and it keeps us in touch

 

Totally agree with this, for all his mcatee offers more than Dalby for me and at times has a great touch. Just needs to curtail the little flicks and grow a pair and could be a player. 
 

I never thought I’d hear myself say it but looking forward to Vic coming back

[Stig]

7 hours ago, L/H White said:

Just back 

Happy with the 3 points 

Shocking performance though all things considered, good job we had a man advantage 

Probably the worst away end I've been in for years, could hear a pin drop first half 

Too difficult to get there on public transport for a sufficiently lubricated crowd to create an atmosphere 

[Stig]

Good job we did win with the other results last night, top teams seem to be starting to pick up the last few weeks.

And with last night's win we're finally ahead of last season's points total after the same games - by 1 point. This was when the wheels really came off and the start of an 8 PTS in 9 games run so I'd be hoping we keep above last season's total from now on. 

[Wanderlust]

7 hours ago, Ani said:

 

Whilst happy with a clean sheet and a win the rest was awful. Simons gave the ball away continually in first half. The whole midfield was ponderous at best, till Sheehan came on

Simons radar was off today, but he played a different role and didn’t lack effort trying to control things and create in a highly congested midfield with McDonnell all over him - but it was a different role than Sheehan was given.
I think there was a tactical shift that gave Sheehan the opportunity to drop back into space and play “pivot” in Schuey speak. And he did it well, but never under pressure.

When Simons was on, Toal and Johnston were playing “double pivot” (cringe) and passed it side to side, wing to wing trying to find a gap in their defence,but Sheehan took that on allowing one of Toal or Johnston to get forward more.

Arguably the best ball in was beforeSheehan arrived I e Johnston’s cross that led to the goal - although there is a case for Gale’s ball that ACD might have buried - I know he was being handled a bit but if ACD had launched himself at the header instead of crumbling looking for the pen he would probably have scored. Hard to judge as can’t tell exactly how much he was impeded but it didn’t look like much to me or crucially, the ref.

Anyway Sheehan did well but basically he was back to picking the ball up very deep in space and spreading play -  the role that Evatt used to love using him in - although I prefer him further forward- especially now he’s learned how to tackle 😀

Edited December 10, 2025 by Wanderlust

[desperado]

7 hours ago, L/H White said:

Just back 

Happy with the 3 points 

Shocking performance though all things considered, good job we had a man advantage 

Probably the worst away end I've been in for years, could hear a pin drop first half 

 

3 minutes ago, Stig said:

Too difficult to get there on public transport for a sufficiently lubricated crowd to create an atmosphere 

Fair play to those that went.

It was just a bit too far for me on a school night.

A nice, loud sustained “We are the one and only Wanderers” in the second half.

It’s got to be a great motivating influence to the players hearing that, especially when it’s such a dirge and a difficult, edgy game like that. 

[LodgeMorrWhite]

It was a forgettable win in difficult conditions but an absolutely massive 3 points.  I think 95% of our support came in cars and coaches as the train station was absolutely dead afterwards for a match day.  Definitely made for a flat atmosphere first half, second half was great though! 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

9 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

I'll agree to disagree.  From what I saw we missed Sheehan's passing ability in the first half, Simons was very wasteful and EE just hardly got involved, so much for him adding steel etc.

That doesn't mean they won't play well at Wycombe, I've no idea or Sheehan could have a bad 'un, but that didn't look like a steely performance tonight, I thought we looked more robust at Luton (although a very different type of game), but the sending off went the other way there.    

Anyway, I'll take steely, I'll take creative at Wycombe, whichever way SS wants to play it, I'll leave it to him. 

The expected style of the game changed completely with the sending off.

SS has covered this in his interview. 

It was a tactical decision that was set up for playing against 11.

When the subs came on, Gale did well but we still struggled to play at pace with accuracy. 

Perhaps the players generally just weren't at the absolute best.

It's worth reading his interview: pragmatism over style.

[Whitesince63]

2 hours ago, desperado said:

I know, I know - apologies. I’ve got hooked in 😂

I should have followed my own advice - no over-analysis needed after a game like yesterday.

3 points is all that mattered. 

Strange really, I thought this board was for all opinions I didn’t realise some counted more than others but hey ho. We both saw the performance differently and no problem with that but why do you have to personalise things when it’s really not necessary? Anyway onto Saturday and hopefully another 3 points and a performance we can all agree on.

[gonzo]

Breaking down two packed lines of defence, especially a man down, is an age old problem and many better teams than us have had the same struggles.

It's just football. It's painful to watch, it's painful to play against and is tremendously difficult to overcome.

We are all guilty of expecting league 1 footballers to find that killer pass that unlocks the defence or whip a pin perfect ball in like we are watching Pirlo and KDB. It's all easier said than done.

We are expecting Toal and GJ to maraude forward at pace and split the defence etc. 

It's just not the standard we are at. 

We've watched many teams struggle the same. England, Arsenal, DMB last week etc. 

Breaking down a low block is one of the hardest things to do in football. 

[FrancisFogarty]

2 hours ago, bwfc4ife said:

Totally agree with this, for all his mcatee offers more than Dalby for me and at times has a great touch. Just needs to curtail the little flicks and grow a pair and could be a player. 
 

I never thought I’d hear myself say it but looking forward to Vic coming back

They’ll be apoplectic with rage round where I sit reading that about Big Vic. Mind you I don’t think they actually like anybody.

Last night was 3 points and apart from the actual grinding it was one where we ground out a result.

[Zico]

3 hours ago, masi 51 said:

 

No major issues over the line-up bar Tutu on the left and i had hoped Forss would play up top alongside Burstow.

 

I know you have issues with Tutu playing where he does but surely on this occasion you can let it go 

[gonzo]

5 minutes ago, Zico said:

I know you have issues with Tutu playing where he does but surely on this occasion you can let it go 

He had a decent game for me. Got in behind is full back plenty of times. 

Just a lack of options and poor decision making let him down.

[Farnywhite]

Dalby needs to be judged when he actually gets to start and we’re putting crosses into the box if you’re not going to play to his strengths no point him being here . It looked like we swapped the wingers over last night in injury time should of been when Dalby came on 

[Ani]

3 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

Simons radar was off today, but he played a different role and didn’t lack effort trying to control things and create in a highly congested midfield with McDonnell all over him - but it was a different role than Sheehan was given.
I think there was a tactical shift that gave Sheehan the opportunity to drop back into space and play “pivot” in Schuey speak. And he did it well, but never under pressure.

When Simons was on, Toal and Johnston were playing “double pivot” (cringe) and passed it side to side, wing to wing trying to find a gap in their defence,but Sheehan took that on allowing one of Toal or Johnston to get forward more.

Arguably the best ball in was beforeSheehan arrived I e Johnston’s cross that led to the goal - although there is a case for Gale’s ball that ACD might have buried - I know he was being handled a bit but if ACD had launched himself at the header instead of crumbling looking for the pen he would probably have scored. Hard to judge as can’t tell exactly how much he was impeded but it didn’t look like much to me or crucially, the ref.

Anyway Sheehan did well but basically he was back to picking the ball up very deep in space and spreading play -  the role that Evatt used to love using him in - although I prefer him further forward- especially now he’s learned how to tackle 😀

The ref (or linesman more accurately) gave handball against ACD for that challenge. 

[Zico]

37 minutes ago, gonzo said:

 

Just a lack of options and poor decision making let him down.

He made up for that for me with being in the right place at the right time for the only goal

[Dr. Feelgood]

A tight, scruffy win, in terrible conditions, against an injury ravaged side brought down to 10* men very early.

But it's a win away from home and 3 points.

I suppose all we can do is take those points & move on to the next match ... & hope we win with a tad more style.

 

*I do hate the "it can be harder to play against 10 men" bullshit. No it can't. OK, they retreat & go solid but their creativity is lost so the 11 men can be more adventurous, more creative. The 10 men will tire. If push comes to shove an old-style 'get it in the mixer' will force an error. 

[masi 51]

1 hour ago, Zico said:

I know you have issues with Tutu playing where he does but surely on this occasion you can let it go 

He has played well last night and i thought he played well i think it was Luton, he is not a bad player and puts a shift in each time he wears the shirt but Gale there makes us much more balanced if SS sticks with two wingers.

He simply does not find space because he is more a wingback. Many times last night Conway was frustrated because Tutu was not running down the channels. With the ball at his feet he is excellent and can beat a player it is just hard for our players to find him. For what its worth i have him in front of Cissoko as he can work back.

TuTu would be a great sub as he is more versatile......Sorry but Gale is levels above him as a winger.

[Dimron]

42 minutes ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

A tight, scruffy win, in terrible conditions, against an injury ravaged side brought down to 10* men very early.

But it's a win away from home and 3 points.

I suppose all we can do is take those points & move on to the next match ... & hope we win with a tad more style.

 

*I do hate the "it can be harder to play against 10 men" bullshit. No it can't. OK, they retreat & go solid but their creativity is lost so the 11 men can be more adventurous, more creative. The 10 men will tire. If push comes to shove an old-style 'get it in the mixer' will force an error. 

I don't get to BWFC matches often enough these days but it was less than an hour away... when the lad got sent off I muttered something like "that's spoiled the game" (if there's any argument for a sin-bin that was it... he knew he'd fkd up and apologised all round after making sure our man was okay).

The match had long periods of play like a defence v attack training session and we showed little movement up top although things improved after the first subs. 

Like you, I was wanting to get it into the mixer and spin off the defenders rather than stand marked up waiting for the perfect pass.

Three points away from home though 

Edited December 10, 2025 by Dimron

[Johnnyrotten]

13 hours ago, boltonboris said:

Turns out it was a bit shite. Not sure where he fits. He’s not a 9, he’s not a winger, he’s not a 10

 

i think he’d look good in a 3-5-2 but I wouldn’t change shape to accommodate him. He lacks a playing identity 

Agree with that. As with Randall and even Cogley, I'm just not sure what position he is meant to be. Wherever he plays, he looks out of position. If I had to play him I'd have him as an out and out 2nd striker and we don't play that way so for me he doesn't fit in currently and isn't good enough to be accommodated in the way we might make allowances for ACD or in the past Dapo.

[Johnnyrotten]

12 hours ago, L/H White said:

Just back 

Happy with the 3 points 

Shocking performance though all things considered, good job we had a man advantage 

Probably the worst away end I've been in for years, could hear a pin drop first half 

Night match that isn't Huddersfield or Wigan is normally quiet. Last season Northampton and Cambridge etc dead, mood/alcohol consumption not the same as a weekend especially in winter. It won't be bouncing at Stevenage either!

[Eddie]

Horrible drive over the Pennines, boring game, couldn’t see the goal, little atmosphere (other than first 15 mins of second half) and typically ended up with some fucking fruitcake in front of me who was really annoying for a sober occasion.

But we won, 3 points and a clean sheet away on a windy December night in a crap stadium against a team of cloggers - that’s all that matters and I’d have snapped your hands off for it at the start of the game.

A lot of it has been covered and I think @Johnnyrotten is bang on with his view that there is no perfect formation or starting 11 - they’re L1 footballers and will have good and bad days. Some reflections though:

- Forss is no winger. He was absolutely clueless with how to play that position

- Christie doesn’t quite look as good as I thought he would. Defensively you can get at him and he just hasn’t got the legs to overlap time after time (not helped in the slightest by Forss ahead of him)

- Dempsey needs open games with space to burst into a get past the striker. He was anonymous and tended to lose the ball whenever he had it. Tight away games do not suit him

- Conway needs to take the safety catch on. He must play >80% of his passes back to GJ at the moment. Hard because they were sat back and basically built a wall down the wings, but he started the season with far more confidence and creativity and at the moment he has very little desire to do anything like. He did it once later on in the second half and ended up slipping Gale in behind the full back and the Dalby somehow missed. Could do with him getting some of his early confidence back.

- Randall is a non entity

- Dalby? God knows what you do in Jan. Burstow is struggling (although he makes all the right runs - he’s not being helped), and we’ve gone big on Dalby with a 4 year contract, but there’s no way he’s the striker to get us promoted. Bad times when I’m genuinely wondering when Vic returns.

- Good to see SS making changes so early. Took a few mins for them to get on but Sheehan and ACD were ready at 52 mins. Exactly what the game needed and nice to see him acting on it early.

- Ref was completely fucking clueless. I actually think the red was a red, but he got everything else wrong (for us and them). I actually think he’s got an agenda against ACD, there’s no other explanation to how he didn’t get free kicks or a stonewall penalty

7 points from our last 3 away games. Top of the form table and a very winnable run of fixtures to come. If we’re not clicking and there’s so much to improve (according to some) then we’re not in a bad spot!

[waffer cup 07]

11 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Horrible drive over the Pennines, boring game, couldn’t see the goal, little atmosphere (other than first 15 mins of second half) and typically ended up with some fucking fruitcake in front of me who was really annoying for a sober occasion.

But we won, 3 points and a clean sheet away on a windy December night in a crap stadium against a team of cloggers - that’s all that matters and I’d have snapped your hands off for it at the start of the game.

A lot of it has been covered and I think @Johnnyrotten is bang on with his view that there is no perfect formation or starting 11 - they’re L1 footballers and will have good and bad days. Some reflections though:

- Forss is no winger. He was absolutely clueless with how to play that position

- Christie doesn’t quite look as good as I thought he would. Defensively you can get at him and he just hasn’t got the legs to overlap time after time (not helped in the slightest by Forss ahead of him)

- Dempsey needs open games with space to burst into a get past the striker. He was anonymous and tended to lose the ball whenever he had it. Tight away games do not suit him

- Conway needs to take the safety catch on. He must play >80% of his passes back to GJ at the moment. Hard because they were sat back and basically built a wall down the wings, but he started the season with far more confidence and creativity and at the moment he has very little desire to do anything like. He did it once later on in the second half and ended up slipping Gale in behind the full back and the Dalby somehow missed. Could do with him getting some of his early confidence back.

- Randall is a non entity

- Dalby? God knows what you do in Jan. Burstow is struggling (although he makes all the right runs - he’s not being helped), and we’ve gone big on Dalby with a 4 year contract, but there’s no way he’s the striker to get us promoted. Bad times when I’m genuinely wondering when Vic returns.

- Good to see SS making changes so early. Took a few mins for them to get on but Sheehan and ACD were ready at 52 mins. Exactly what the game needed and nice to see him acting on it early.

- Ref was completely fucking clueless. I actually think the red was a red, but he got everything else wrong (for us and them). I actually think he’s got an agenda against ACD, there’s no other explanation to how he didn’t get free kicks or a stonewall penalty

7 points from our last 3 away games. Top of the form table and a very winnable run of fixtures to come. If we’re not clicking and there’s so much to improve (according to some) then we’re not in a bad spot!

Good summary, much as i saw it, although i'd have had Gale and Duberry on at h/t.

[Eddie]

12 minutes ago, waffer cup 07 said:

Good summary, much as i saw it, although i'd have had Gale and Duberry on at h/t.

Given we were 1-0 up, I imagine he gave some instructions at half time to see if they could make something happen (rather than change at ht) - within 7 mins it was clear that Forss was no better a winger and so he acted on it.

Forgot to mention Gale. Genuine positive from last night, he looked really good when he came on.