Could be 4/5 changes for this - Wouldn’t be surprised to see Tutu, Simons, Dempsey, Cissoko and  Burstow start 

We don’t show enough quality in the final third. We don’t take enough risks there. Rather than taking a bit of risk and crossing early we favour reducing risk and maintaining possession. I think we’ve got the balance wrong. More whipped crosses (Morley was about the closest to that last night) - both in the air for Dalby and hard and low for runners into the box.

17 minutes ago, Stig said:

It's a fair point, but does Forino clear that corner, rather than allowing TSL to get swamped?

Obviously we don't know but I'm not having it that Johnston is un-droppable when we're conceding every game.

I’ll have to watch again. At first watch it looked to me like the CB who is most culpable is Toal not Johnston, looks like he was out jumped ?

That said TSL should be taking full responsibility.

I’m with @Johnnyrotten on the Johnston debate - can’t believe we’re lambasting him for giving a corner away!

Because that’s essentially what we are saying - it was, IMO, his only notable mistake yesterday. 

He’s not perfect - a few little concerns, but probably far less concerns than most L1 defenders.

I think he’s been one of our best players this season.

 

I’m going to leave the over-analysis and solutions to SS, the coaches and his data team (*disclaimer - it’s ok to debate and put your two-penn’orth in).

For me, in simple terms, if we create better chances and convert the good chances we do create (and remain resolute at the back) then we’ll be reet. 

1 hour ago, L/H White said:

Not a shock result really, they were the better team with 10 men at their place the other week 

Better team is a massive stretch.

It's chicken and egg with this poor crossing and our midfielders should be 'doing more' etc

If there's fuck all movement up front and nobody making space or reading the balls then the jobs fucked.

So many times last night Sheehan or Morley were driving forward looking for options and the front lads were all just stood next to their men.

We are asking a lot of them with the limited lot we have up top.

We are desperate for any kind of pace or ingenuity up top. Would solve so many of our problems.

Yes the wingers cut in alot and run into trouble but if there's nothing on, either through the lines or the full backs on the overlap then there's not a lot else they can do bar lay it short or try and make a run themselves, which invariably leads them into trouble.

Inverted wingers with lack of the overlap is the worst concoction ever for Dalby. 

 

Edited December 30, 2025Dec 30 by gonzo

17 minutes ago, gonzo said:

It's chicken and egg with this poor crossing and our midfielders should be 'doing more' etc

If there's fuck all movement up front and nobody making space or reading the balls then the jobs fucked.

So many times last night Sheehan or Morley were driving forward looking for options and the front lads were all just stood next to their men.

We are asking a lot of them with the limited lot we have up top.

We are desperate for any kind of pace or ingenuity up top. Would solve so many of our problems.

Yes the wingers cut in alot and run into trouble but if there's nothing on, either through the lines or the full backs on the overlap then there's not a lot else they can do bar lay it short or try and make a run themselves, which invariably leads them into trouble.

Inverted wingers with lack of the overlap is the worst concoction ever for Dalby. 

 

This is similar to where i've been for awhile, my thought is, is this down to ability/ poor individual decision making or are these enforced tactics, like they were from Evatt, ie sideways, backwards back and forth. 

I can't say for cetain, but what i can say is we play totally different than SS had Plymouth or Stoke set up, formation is the same for the most part, although SS played 343/ 432 occasionally at Plymouth. 

One thing i've noticed and you can see this all over the final 1/2 is when our players get the ball and look to pass, the oppositon players have absolutely no fear. They have no fear because they know what we will do with the ball everytime.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, kent_white said:

He had to go off with cramp the game before didn't he? And it was only after 70 mins or so. Maybe he's still not properly fit.

Erhahon has shown he can be a real asset, especially paired with Sheehan, but we've had him half a season now and he still isnt fit enough to start two games back to back or last more than 70 mins without blowing up.

Yes, an injury has interrupted that half season but before it occurred he still faded after 65-70 minutes of games.

Why he's a jury out recruit for me, I like how he looks after the ball and reads the game but he hasnt shown he's got the sort of engine I thought he'd have, and that we need. 

We laid a lot out for him, I'd hope we see him doing more of his undoubtedly stuff for longer and on a more sustained basis in the New Year

5 hours ago, masi 51 said:

I was on here banging on how we need Erhahon in this team for two years, nothing has changed in that time.

Apart from the fact that he's still not got himself to complete 1 game a week never mind 2 in 3 days?

5 hours ago, gonzo said:

Wasn't the common consensus on here last week that GJ had been superb for large parts of the season?

It was, but now he's shit apparently

4 hours ago, DaveTheRave said:

Terrible result and very frustrating as it's another game we should easily have won. I've not seen the goal again yet or read this thread but should TSL have done better? Also the corner we conceded from was needless. Johnston has been decent recently but he has a habit of putting the ball out of play when there is better options.

Saying that though if Dalby or Conway has scored when they had great chances we'd have probably won. Also thought Burstow should've have hit it first time when Sheehan made a great run and set him up.

Performance wasn't bad but the result was disastrous.

Yes, TSL needs to deal with the cross and not get involved in trying to move the striker first.
Dalby, Conway, Duberry & Burstow should all have done better with their efforts on goal.


We didn't lose because of tactics, approach, substitutions, the ref etc last night.
We lost due to a rookie keeper error and woeful finishing.
 

30 minutes ago, Zog1 said:

This is similar to where i've been for awhile, my thought is, is this down to ability/ poor individual decision making or are these enforced tactics, like they were from Evatt, ie sideways, backwards back and forth. 

I can't say for cetain, but what i can say is we play totally different than SS had Plymouth or Stoke set up, formation is the same for the most part, although SS played 343/ 432 occasionally at Plymouth. 

One thing i've noticed and you can see this all over the final 1/2 is when our players get the ball and look to pass, the oppositon players have absolutely no fear. They have no fear because they know what we will do with the ball everytime.

 

 

 

'Enforced tactics'

Pretty common in football management I'd say

2 hours ago, Dennis Peacock said:

We don’t show enough quality in the final third. We don’t take enough risks there. Rather than taking a bit of risk and crossing early we favour reducing risk and maintaining possession. I think we’ve got the balance wrong. More whipped crosses (Morley was about the closest to that last night) - both in the air for Dalby and hard and low for runners into the box.

Quality - fine, think we all agree on that one.

As for not taking risks ... Jesus, how many crosses do you want.

This is a million miles away from working decent crossing positions, bottling it, and ending up back with Santos / Baxter. Thanks fuck them days are gone at least.

6 hours ago, Stig said:

Not sure where that certainty has come from. We're not comparing Maldini to Forino. They're both league 1 standard defenders of similar overall ability but Forino is far better in the air, but a bit clumsy at times, while Johnston is left footed so helps the balance of the team.

For me, I'd give Forino a chance as we're conceding every game at the moment.

While I agree it’s not that distant, only one of them will likely be playing Championship football if we don’t go up, and it won’t be Forino.

3 minutes ago, wakey said:

Quality - fine, think we all agree on that one.

As for not taking risks ... Jesus, how many crosses do you want.

This is a million miles away from working decent crossing positions, bottling it, and ending up back with Santos / Baxter. Thanks fuck them days are gone at least.

I totally agree it’s very different from Evatt. I thought we played well last night. I’m not asking for more crosses - but better early crosses. Take a risk before a defence is set. Attackers and runners take a risk and make some runs into space, anticipating an early ball in.

3 minutes ago, Dennis Peacock said:

I totally agree it’s very different from Evatt. I thought we played well last night. I’m not asking for more crosses - but better early crosses. Take a risk before a defence is set. Attackers and runners take a risk and make some runs into space, anticipating an early ball in.

fair point.

Morley slung a few in when he came on and they were (more) dangerous.

29 minutes ago, Dennis Peacock said:

I totally agree it’s very different from Evatt. I thought we played well last night. I’m not asking for more crosses - but better early crosses. Take a risk before a defence is set. Attackers and runners take a risk and make some runs into space, anticipating an early ball in.

Completely agree, it’s not the number of crosses or corners but the quality. Rotherham had 3 Reece James crosses in the first twenty minutes all of which were crossed with pace and swerve into the perfect place and had the forwards been of the same quality we’d have been in trouble. Our corners and crosses are so often just floated in and don’t trouble the defenders. I can’t believe our players are incapable of crosses like that which not only put their defenders under pressure but make it more likely our strikers will benefit from the extra pace.

3 hours ago, Cheese said:

 

These interviews are pointless and banal.
It's almost a competition as to who can throw out the most clichés.

He really should have held his hands up and said "I should have scored" not "it was a good save"

It’s the away form that’s killing us

only Exeter and Rotherham have scored less and we are 10 points behind the top point scorers away over 10 games (that is a point a game)

last night was disappointing, but you are always going to lose at least once at home in a season.  it’s just so predictable against these lesser sides that we are giving them a goal head start and then it is so hard to break down - albeit we aren’t helping ourselves missing all theses sitters.

with 5 aways in January, I think we might just need to go and have a right go and take people by surprise as if we are not carful the top 2 could be out of touch come the end of January.  We already need to win 4 and Cardiff lose 4 to catch them up.

48 minutes ago, wakey said:

Quality - fine, think we all agree on that one.

As for not taking risks ... Jesus, how many crosses do you want.

This is a million miles away from working decent crossing positions, bottling it, and ending up back with Santos / Baxter. Thanks fuck them days are gone at least.

Think you and me pal are on the same wavelength in terms of where we are as a team, enjoying (in the main, not yesterday 😩) the football and thinking we’re not too far away from being a very good team.

But I think @Dennis Peacock has a point on the crosses debate. 8/50 is just ridiculous. There were just too many floaty, ineffective crosses which defenders will lap up all day. We have to be quicker, more varied, go the outside more and yes take some more risks, in order to create better chances. 

1 hour ago, Traf said:

 

We lost due to a rookie keeper error and woeful finishing.
 

I agree, and it's all very well SS saying we're not good enough in either box, but these are players he has brought in who are not good enough currently.

I don't wanna sound like a United fan, but why do we need loan keepers at all, maybe TSL was good at Doncaster, but we are Bolton Wanderers!! We should be able to attract a sound enough keeper of our own. Why do we need to provide TSL with his YTS. Poor strategy for me.

 

8 minutes ago, marple whites said:

It’s the away form that’s killing us

only Exeter and Rotherham have scored less and we are 10 points behind the top point scorers away over 10 games (that is a point a game)

last night was disappointing, but you are always going to lose at least once at home in a season.  it’s just so predictable against these lesser sides that we are giving them a goal head start and then it is so hard to break down - albeit we aren’t helping ourselves missing all theses sitters.

with 5 aways in January, I think we might just need to go and have a right go and take people by surprise as if we are not carful the top 2 could be out of touch come the end of January.  We already need to win 4 and Cardiff lose 4 to catch them up.

It would be a bit of a bizarre twist, but if we are trying to hold on to positives, maybe we can prove in the next month or so that we don’t have an away problem.

Yesterday was more reminiscent of what’s been happening away - getting punished for not taking our chances.

Get back on track at home, but on NYD maybe some of those chances get put in the onion bag and we start to see some of the results we’ve been getting at home (prior to Mansfield) 

Also just upon reflection, after remembering Sheehan's excellent drive into the box that we nearly scored from. He drove with the ball and their defenders thought we were going to go wide as predictably done before. 

Instead he cut in and it opened it up. I know it's difficult to always make the right transfers. But does anybody else think they key is the number 10 position? Or perhaps just somebody in the middle that has that dribbling ability to go past players.

If only we had Maghoma in this squad, I think it's exactly the sort of player we are crying out for. It would make us so much harder to defend against, the opposition would have to worry about both wings and in the centre. At the moment our central players aren't really offering anything attacking wise.

We've got players in the middle to break it up or to dictate. But missing that central creative player that can run at the opposition. Randall is not it. He's been that poor for us that people are saying he didn't have a bad game. Well that's not good enough if we want to get promoted. We can't just rely on our wide players.

Dempsey is as close as it gets. I just think it would help a great deal against these stubborn defences and also it could allow us to keep ACD out wide and stop needing him to play inverted to get on the ball.

Edited December 30, 2025Dec 30 by Lostock Whites

Sheehan high up the pitch is more than worth a go. None of our other 'no10s' have shown enough and it would allow a three of him, Erhahon and Simons.

Evatt and SS are both football managers and ex pros, I'm an old guy whose best level was the top division of the Middleton Sunday League, so they ought to know better than me, just a headscratcher that neither of them have felt it worth a look over a few games, both seeming to see Sheehan as nothing more than a quarterback. 

He's nimble and clever in tight areas around the box, likely to invite free kicks or penalties and can score himself. His work to initiate the winner v Rotherham was a good example of what he can do.

Anyway, I'll shut up now after putting Dalby's case so robustly before last night 🤦

17 minutes ago, Lostock Whites said:

Also just upon reflection, after remembering Sheehan's excellent drive into the box that we nearly scored from. He drove with the ball and their defenders thought we were going to go wide as predictably done before. 

Instead he cut in and it opened it up. I know it's difficult to always make the right transfers. But does anybody else think they key is the number 10 position? Or perhaps just somebody in the middle that has that dribbling ability to go past players.

If only we had Maghoma in this squad, I think it's exactly the sort of player we are crying out for. It would make us so much harder to defend against, the opposition would have to worry about both wings and in the centre. At the moment our central players aren't really offering anything attacking wise.

We've got players in the middle to break it up or to dictate. But missing that central creative player that can run at the opposition. Randall is not it. He's been that poor for us that people are saying he didn't have a bad game. Well that's not good enough if we want to get promoted. We can't just rely on our wide players.

Dempsey is as close as it gets. I just think it would help a great deal against these stubborn defences and also it could allow us to keep ACD out wide and stop needing him to play inverted to get on the ball.

I posted earlier number 10 is key to SS tactics but he’s tried several and none have been convincing either sign somebody in the window or change the system. 
I agree Sheehan could play as a 10 but can’t see SS playing him as a 10. 

For a number 10 to work you need a decent number 9...

With Dalby up top you don't even need a no10 as such. Dalby doesn't want intricate through balls. He needs someone to play of him and some balls in at his massive head.

2 minutes ago, gonzo said:

For a number 10 to work you need a decent number 9...

With Dalby up top you don't even need a no10 as such. Dalby doesn't want intricate through balls. He needs someone to play of him and some balls in at his massive head.

That's who I thought McAtee was meant to be

4 hours ago, Stig said:

It's a fair point, but does Forino clear that corner, rather than allowing TSL to get swamped?

Obviously we don't know but I'm not having it that Johnston is un-droppable when we're conceding every game.

I've nothing against Forino, played on the right, but he's a fish out of water on the left.  And I'd have to reiterate that Johnston could be playing like N'Gotty and those goals since Huddersfield are still conceded, simply not down to him other than conceding a corner, which they all do.  I agree Forino would have probably cleared that corner, it was perfect for a dominant CB, but for some reason the only 2 corners we faced were defended with a Mansfield player stood on TSL and no defender pushing him away or providing a shield.  Nobody on the posts to clear that easily. That's down to the manager's tactics, this nonsense of 11 back at corners without actually marking, or covering the posts.  I heard SS supposedly being honest and saying we aren't good enough up front or at the back, but strangely no mention of his part in the goal (or the one conceded v Exeter, also down to tactics).