Has this been cancelled or something? - can’t see a thread for our next game on Saturday. If there is one please merge.

Anyhoo, it’s a tough one but we’re at home. All of a sudden, they are 2 points off the playoffs and have a game in hand on Huddersfield in 6th so there’s no way they won’t be fired up for this. They’ve been scoring for fun at home this last month, less so away but they have players all over the park that can find the net including Mr Morley, formerly of this parish.

They must be thinking playoffs in which case they need something off us…..but we’re not going to give them anything are we? 

I'm convinced Conway will end up as a left or central midfielder. Hopefully with us.

36 minutes ago, Kane57 said:

Erhahon was toilet from minute 1

For one, that inch perfect pass through the middle that Gale ran onto (one of the passes of the season for me) and there were loads of others not quite as stand out.  His defensive work was superb and his passing spot on.

Well that's what I saw but we all see different games. 

15 minutes ago, Stig said:

Interesting viewpoint.

Can only speak for myself but I've never had a drink around the ground after the match since the Reebok opened, preferring to head back to town/Horwich/another area with decent boozer, rather than drink in a retail park.

Me too.  I've been going to the game for nearly 50 years and I've stayed for a post match pint about 10 times, and never since Barnstormers and that other pub a few hundred yards further down (that welcomed away fans) shut.  There's nothing that saps the post-match enthusiasm and energy from me more than queuing on the retail park for 45 minutes so I sympathise with anyone that parks there on a Saturday.

I don't mind on a Tuesday as half the crowd don't turn up and there's no shoppers adding to the queues.

26 minutes ago, ianofcleveleys said:

I left on the whistle, walked to car on Chorley New Rd, drove home, nipped in Greggs in Chorley, was in Cleveleys at 6.15. Fine tuned a routine after nearly 30 years practice 😂

Was back in the pub half five having a pint while describing the second and third goals to the sick as a parrot early darters.

28 minutes ago, ianofcleveleys said:

I left on the whistle, walked to car on Chorley New Rd, drove home, nipped in Greggs in Chorley, was in Cleveleys at 6.15. Fine tuned a routine after nearly 30 years practice 😂

Unbelievable, you're from Cleveleys? 😀

Just now, Johnnyrotten said:

Unbelievable, you're from Cleveleys? 😀

I know, who'd have thowt it? 😂

We have some technically good players - and I include Apter amongst them -  but it seems to me that SS likes to start games with a mix of athletes and technicians so that we are theoretically defensively sound but still have the possibility of nicking the first goal ie not all out attack. Our player profile is different from any other team in the league IMO.
Today we were dominated in the first half by a team of athletes plus Morley. They compressed the middle and won all the second balls preventing us from widening the play apart from the odd occasion when Gale’s pace got him through - and they were happy with that as Gale’s end product is weak.

But second half we started to get more joy with pace on both flanks as they tired (and I prefer Gale on the right) Maybe SS has the idea that the starting line up is there to soften up the opposition for the later subs? 
So we end up praising the subs who can take advantage of that in an all out attacking line up but that doesn’t mean they should necessarily start. I think SS got the starting line up wrong - maybe he was expecting that team to be able to keep it no more than a goal down before he made his move? OK Duff messed it up by trying to protect a two goal lead, and in doing so allowed us to bring on a far more attack minded line up, but even so the lads did brilliantly.

However, having watched Wycombe last week I’d have expected to have started with 3 battling midfielders if the plan was to bring on the subs we did later in the game in order to soften them up.

The starting players are not necessarily worse - I think they just had a different job to do. CBT was great when he came on, but so were all the subs and it was a huge decision to sacrifice Forino to make way for another attacker.

Rodrigues caught the eye as did Demps in a linking role.

Anyway, all that is maybe part of the learning curve, and maybe we got away with just conceding two in the early stages,  but when teams start to sit back we’ve become fucking brilliant when we go all out attack, especially when they’re pooped. Against teams of athletes like Wycombe we need to start better to keep in the game at the beginning.

it was a beautiful watch at the end. Wonderful last few minutes.

Moments like that are why we do it. I've no throat left.

I'm not going to bother with any kind of tactical analysis; that's a truly bonkers game, an unforgettable 10 minutes, and mentally, it's going to stand us in great stead for the run in.

Might even put the wobbles up Cardiff...

What a season this has been already - it could yet end up being an all-time great. 

3 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

About a quarter of the crowd I reckon.

A bloke my stepdaughter knows sent a picture of the pint he was enjoying in the hotel at 2-0.

I'll bet he didn't enjoy the next one very much.

16 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Me too.  I've been going to the game for nearly 50 years and I've stayed for a post match pint about 10 times, and never since Barnstormers and that other pub a few hundred yards further down (that welcomed away fans) shut.

Bromilow Arms also known as 'Bonnie Lasses' Great pub.

47 minutes ago, Alf Hartigan said:

I'm convinced Conway will end up as a left or central midfielder. Hopefully with us.

Absolutely.  Though when I said this 3 or 4 months ago I got shite from 'the knowledgeable ones' on here.

1 minute ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

Absolutely.  Though when I said this 3 or 4 months ago I got shite from 'the knowledgeable ones' on here.

Take it with a pinch of salt. I'll probably get the same now 😃

I remember getting pelters for saying Marcos Alonso would end up at a big club and was a good player. Another one was Antonee Robinson and got pelters for that. You can spot em or you can't 😂

1 hour ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Don’t agree.. the stadium location is superb… the infrastructure and venues round the ground are excellent… there is no need to leave early the buses wait until game is over and you can go for a pint or a coffee while the traffic goes…. WTF wants to get home early on a Saturday night. 

Can easy be an hour to get off that car park tbf

That was ace. Seems like it’s transcended normal super white chat

Long drive to Wycombe when you've let 3 in in the last 10 minutes..

Messaging my Dad and Brother through the match saying they would lose stamina because of the way they were closing us down and not giving space. They did...

As much as people are saying it wasn't working.. that finale wouldn't have happened if they hadn't been worn down. They came with a plan to press, push, out muscle and cancel the game.. Kenny was flattened, Dalby pulled from pillar to post and Apter/Gale just made targets.. But they couldn't keep it up for the full game. 

Next few games, teams will have seen that and will know that they need to either a) go all out and hope they can outscore us before the energy dips or b) try to match energy for the entire match.

 

I know I sound like a stick record - but I think we're a poorer team with Sheehan in it. 

3 minutes ago, kent_white said:

I know I sound like a stick record - but I think we're a poorer team with Sheehan in it. 

He's an amazing player, but atm, I feel EE is becoming what we need and we need a more attacking option. He's that good though, he can't be dropped.. 

6 hours ago, kent_white said:

I know I sound like a stick record - but I think we're a poorer team with Sheehan in it. 

I like Sheehan but….

Hang on a minute….WTF, I’m going to defend him for once.

Horses for courses/tools in the box - I.e. Sheehan is the right selection for certain games. Yesterday wasn’t one of them though, which is part of the reason why I said that I thought SS  got the starting line up wrong against a physical Wycombe side.

Sheehan is great when we’ve established a degree of control in midfield and are looking to attack but against a midfield packed with ball winners and athletes he’s about as much use as a chocolate fireguard as he can’t compete physically or tackle. Shouldn’t be allowed near a dead ball into the box either when there are the likes of Demps and Cyrus around.

That said, he played well at Exeter - the nice chip down the side for Kenny to run on to for example. He played well because we’d already won the right to play in that game and the opposition were on the back foot.

Good player Sheehan, but not every game/situation is for him and that’s true of others too - it’s up to SS to get it right. Yesterday SS got it wrong starting Sheehan but got it right at the end when he sacrificed Forino which surprised a few - me included.

What a superb finish, yesterday. Euphoria as CBT hit the winning goal. I was behind the shot, in West Lower, and celebrating before the ball hit the net. Wonderful strike.

A lot has been said about the impact of our goal scoring subs but, for me, at least as big as impact came from the introduction of Max Conway. CBT only really made a difference after Max joined him and he must be restored to the starting XI.

Overall, the strength in depth of our squad was the critical factor. Wycombe were out on their feet by the last 10 minutes, and the quality of our subs made all the difference.

A final word on the less good things. I’ve read quite a few negative comments about Apter. A little unfair, I think. I didn’t think he was having a bad game, and thought he was good at Exeter.

For me, our biggest issue on the right hand side was Tutu, not Apter. Defensively, he was all over the place, with Toal pulled out to cover him, far too often. And a lot of his distribution to, and support of, Apter was poor.

Right back is more of a concern than right wing, as far as I’m concerned.

But back to the positives. Was yesterday our “we are going up” moment?

Loved the look of our bench at 2pm loved it even more at 5pm. What a game was absolutely buzzing after that and still am this morning.

No more starts for apter please, seen enough and he doesn’t deserve a starting place. Could you imagine CBT and ACD going at it in the same lineup.

Right Cardiff, time for a monumental bottle job please, starting at Barnsley on Tuesday.

 

 

9 hours ago, TrickyTrotter said:

That away end is laughable by the way.

 

took me a few seconds to realise that's not split screen 

One thing I don’t think has been mentioned yet.

Burstow - specifically his heading.

That was a great header yesterday and adds to the one against Blackpool (which was arguably better).

3 goals in the last 4 games, over a combined 70 minutes! He’s definitely a confidence player and looks like he’s found his confidence again - forget his goals, his overall play looks really good too. He must be pushing for a start too (although I do really like the look of Kenny).

12 hours ago, Eddie said:

Not a chance. I’m west upper and could see it was clearly over the line - you only need to see the players’ reactions to know just how sure they were. That wasn’t the reaction of players that are trying to pull a fast one, they were genuinely in disbelief that it wasn’t given. I thought our heads would have gone after that (mine had), so fair play to them for managing to put it to the back of their minds and still finding a way.

edit - the other really poor decision was the offside against Kenny in first half stoppage time, directly in front of me and he was on. The analyst then gets the replay on his laptop and goes mental at the liner (which I’m assuming confirmed what I’d seen) and got a yellow card.

It was the spark we needed as it just wasn’t happening before that. Wycombe very good first half I might add, Morley was excellent for them and we showed class as fans clapping him off at 0-2. Bet they wish they hadn’t taken him off. 😆

11 minutes ago, Matt Lofthouse said:

It was the spark we needed as it just wasn’t happening before that. Wycombe very good first half I might add, Morley was excellent for them and we showed class as fans clapping him off at 0-2. Bet they wish they hadn’t taken him off. 😆

Fans love him. Asked “why did Bolton sell him to us?”

For the money, amigo, for the money.

That and we have more midfielders than you can wave a stick at.

9 hours ago, Stig said:

Interesting viewpoint.

Can only speak for myself but I've never had a drink around the ground after the match since the Reebok opened, preferring to head back to town/Horwich/another area with decent boozer, rather than drink in a retail park.

 

9 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Me too.  I've been going to the game for nearly 50 years and I've stayed for a post match pint about 10 times, and never since Barnstormers and that other pub a few hundred yards further down (that welcomed away fans) shut.  There's nothing that saps the post-match enthusiasm and energy from me more than queuing on the retail park for 45 minutes so I sympathise with anyone that parks there on a Saturday.

I don't mind on a Tuesday as half the crowd don't turn up and there's no shoppers adding to the queues.

Honestly you should try it some day.

There’s loads of options now!

All equipped and staffed to expect numbers pre and post game

The Hotel, Blanco Lounge, Los Iguanas, Hollywood Bowl. Harvester is a good option these days. Two fanzones. And Nam Ploy yesterday was fantastic - loved how they kept rewinding the winning goal on the big screen! 🤣👏

Live Sport, table service, celebrating with mates and like-minded fans after such a great comeback. For me it’s an essential part of the game day experience. 

Loved it yesterday