Stevenage (H)

[Whitesince63]

8 hours ago, Krimzon said:

Decent interview. 

I really like Revell and when you think what he’s done with such a small club and budget it’s quite remarkable. Surely he’s deserving of a bigger job so good luck to him but not yet at our expense! 😉

[bolton va va]

2 hours ago, Stig said:

I still don't like the sound of a Rodriguez and Sheehan midfield 2 in a tough play off match. Add Gale and ACD on the wings and that whole midfield is so lightweight.

Played well last night I agree, but I'd be tempted to put EE in there for someone, especially in the away leg and final.

Aye....it would be desperately hard to "rest" any of last night's team but it was a team tailored to play Stevenage who hardly play through the midfield......another opponent could easily overrun that midfield.

& then we have to consider protecting the likes of ACD & Kenny who are crucial to us, especially at Bradford who may be tempted to try & put them out of the play offs

& with GJ at full back, we're stronger defensively & Gale benefitted from mostly concentrating on going forward & not the defensive side that he's poor at ........but where does the excellent Conway fit in ?

Some interesting / difficult choices coming up for SS !!

[frank_spencer]

Thought we were shocking when it came to defending last night. But our football going forward was beautiful at times.

Duberry, Rodrigues and Sheehan ran the show.

Any idea if CBT is likely to be fit for the play offs? As fun as Cissoko is to watch when comfortably leading against 10 men. Having CBT available and Duberry makes us a very different beast for opposing defenders.

 

[Johnnyrotten]

9 hours ago, Alf Hartigan said:

You'll be telling me Conway will never be a central midfielder next.

Ha ha!

GJ played well at LB last night, Tutu played well at RB.  They aren't full backs IMO.

He could play midfield, because he's that good on the ball.  Will he make that position his own ahead of eg Sheehan, Dempsey, RR, EE, Simons?  Not for me.

His best position is LWB, IMO.

Not ideal at LB currently because of his tendency to get caught out of position but still the best we've had there for years.  Defensively underrated IMO, wins loads of challenges (although I might just be comparing him to Williams and Murphy).

[Arrested development]

4 minutes ago, frank_spencer said:

Thought we were shocking when it came to defending last night. But our football going forward was beautiful at times.

Duberry, Rodrigues and Sheehan ran the show.

Any idea if CBT is likely to be fit for the play offs? As fun as Cissoko is to watch when comfortably leading against 10 men. Having CBT available and Duberry makes us a very different beast for opposing defenders.

 

CBT is out for the season, gone back to Derby. 

[Zico]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

This is the bit I can’t figure out how it will go.

I agree - Sheehan and Rodrigues midfield 2 worked well last night, but we were at home, Stevenage don’t have the same quality of some of the other teams up there and obviously we played against 10 for 60 minutes.

In a play off away leg, or the final (fingers crossed), I’m not sure we can afford to set up so attacking.

But - I’m not sure you can drop Rodrigues for the biggest matches, he’s too good and you can’t drop Kenny to play Rodrigues behind Dalby. You also can’t go to 5 at the back to fit 3 centre mids in because ACD is back and your best player has to play in his best position.

There’s only 1 option to bring Erhahon into midfield with all that in mind - he comes in for Sheehan. Personally I don’t like that idea, Sheehan is the heartbeat of the team and is too important to drop, but for the balance of the midfield if you’re playing a 2 in an away game / Wembley final then I’d say it’s Erhahon plus 1. Tough call!

Yep

Been pondering this today

Maybe we could play it at Wembley but definitely not in an away leg 

The middle two has changed so much this season I've no idea what to expect or what even is the best two

When we smashed Wigan 4-1 EE and XS started which is the polar opposite to RR and JS

[Arrested development]

I think it has to be horses for courses going forward. Away from home in the playoffs we would probably want ethan in there for a bit of stability but at home Ruben and Sheehan worked well together. 

Ruben looked very good last night. Always calm, works hard and almost glided around the pitch popping up everywhere. 

What a player Johnny Kenny is. We've needed a player like him who plays on the shoulder. 

[Johnnyrotten]

9 hours ago, Krimzon said:

Decent interview. 

Yes, speaks very well.  Refreshing to hear a manager talking in plain English (is that racist?) and answering questions properly instead of nonsense soundbites and talking in riddles.  Imagine playing for him compared to playing for someone who wants it to be all about them, or the non communicators like the one Spurs just sacked.

[Johnnyrotten]

4 hours ago, masi 51 said:

The only number he did on us was get Maghoma taken out in the first three mins. Evatt had been worked out 6 months before Oxford. Two players having exceptional games [Murphy and Rodrigues] Won them that game. Yes the same Rodrigues who ran the show tonight.

Agree with that although I'd add Brannagan too.  That's 3 players that would have walked into the team we put out that day.  Mark Harris would too.  In contrast our front 2 had stinkers.

[frank_spencer]

42 minutes ago, Arrested development said:

CBT is out for the season, gone back to Derby. 

Well that sucks.

Hopefully last night's version of Gale is who turns up for the rest of the season.

Also I'd rather play @gonzo's one legged brother than Apter, fucking useless he is.

Edited April 15 by frank_spencer

[Wanderlust]

13 hours ago, Farnywhite said:

Just back thought the quickness of the passing was the difference not seen that for a long time and the obvious return of dubbery .  

Spot on. What a difference too - we’ve been lethargic or lazy or whatever in some recent games but when we up the tempo, movement and accuracy not many teams can live with us.

[Tombwfc]

2 hours ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Must say Tutu looks a far better player alongside Duberry. If he’d of stayed fit we’d of got autos.

 

At the moment ACD got injured we were already 8 points behind 2nd and it was a genuine topic of conversation on here that we might be better without him.

I think as a 20-year-old, playing his first proper season of football, the break might prove to be a bit of a blessing. He looked fresh and re-energised last night in a way he might not have done if he was playing his 45th game of the season.

[masi 51]

51 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Agree with that although I'd add Brannagan too.  That's 3 players that would have walked into the team we put out that day.  Mark Harris would too.  In contrast our front 2 had stinkers.

Brannagan i would not swap for Maghoma. Is that the same Mark Harris who played for Wycombe against us.

Again not sure i would have Swapped him for Dion at the time

[bwfc87]

3 hours ago, BeeversLeftPeg said:

Huddersfield are virtually out the running, and possible that Luton will be too come that last game. Don't want to give Bradford any opportunity to be volleying ACD / Kenny et al.

Three points for the Dons tonight?

Might sound harsh but can imagine Sarcevic will target someone to rule them out of the playoff games, prob ACD. Just see him as that type.

[ianofcleveleys]

23 minutes ago, Tombwfc said:

 

At the moment ACD got injured we were already 8 points behind 2nd and it was a genuine topic of conversation on here that we might be better without him.

I think as a 20-year-old, playing his first proper season of football, the break might prove to be a bit of a blessing. He looked fresh and re-energised last night in a way he might not have done if he was playing his 45th game of the season.

That also occurred to me, he'd had a long run of games from Aug and gone off the boil a bit by the turn of the year. 

Sergio Aguero was sometimes seen as a bit injury prone at City and would often have a couple of absences of a month or more, but those breaks gave him enforced rests and he was fresh when needed for those big moments late in the season. We might enjoy the benefit of it with ACD

[Johnnyrotten]

3 hours ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Must say Tutu looks a far better player alongside Duberry. If he’d of stayed fit we’d of got autos.

Not sure where we'd have made up 10 points?

We've fallen short because we haven't been good enough, we can't use that as an excuse.

Its easy to forget ACD and Tutu were playing together during our worst run - our only home defeat (Mansfield) upto Stevenage away when we were losing and consistently not scoring.

As soon as ACD got injured, we went on our best run of the season!  Starting with beating Orient, Burton, Wimbledon, Barnsley, 2 good away draws, 8 goals v Exeter and Wycombe etc.  No defeats till the infamous one at Vale when ACD wouldn't have played if fit, SS changed tactics.

Then won at Plymouth, outclassed at Cardiff whatever the line up.

We can't hide behind ACD's injury, we've done as well without him as with him and hopefully with his rest we are now going to see the August to October version of him, it will give us a massive chance if that happens 🤞

[Rizlar]

27 minutes ago, bwfc87 said:

Might sound harsh but can imagine Sarcevic will target someone to rule them out of the playoff games, prob ACD. Just see him as that type.

Also quite a few ex Wigan players at Bradford wouldn’t put it past them to try and nobble a few of ours. 

[BeeversLeftPeg]

3 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

Also quite a few ex Wigan players at Bradford wouldn’t put it past them to try and nobble a few of ours. 

The wanker Humphrys and Max Power were the first 2 that came to mind.

[Johnnyrotten]

2 hours ago, boogs said:

Yep. This was said by our group last night. Duberry is more than prepared to track back and get stuck in. Apter offers none of that (or anything really) and that really showed when they switched. 

I love ACD but folk are forgetting how much stick he was starting to get around December because his levels dropped.  There's a quote on Peterboro away of "interesting that we've looked more dangerous since Tutu and Duberry went off" 😀

They were outstanding last night, it wasn't always so, and we have to accept their inconsistencies as with all our attacking players.

[Zico]

48 minutes ago, Tombwfc said:

 

At the moment ACD got injured we were already 8 points behind 2nd and it was a genuine topic of conversation on here that we might be better without him.

I think as a 20-year-old, playing his first proper season of football, the break might prove to be a bit of a blessing. He looked fresh and re-energised last night in a way he might not have done if he was playing his 45th game of the season.

his form was dipping before he was injured 

Same with Burstow, he seems to be finding his again in short spells off the bench

Simons totally lost his form too but not got it back yet

3 young lads with probably the most football they've played in a season caught up with them all

[Johnnyrotten]

2 hours ago, Whitesince63 said:

I really like Revell and when you think what he’s done with such a small club and budget it’s quite remarkable. Surely he’s deserving of a bigger job so good luck to him but not yet at our expense! 😉

I agree he's got potential to go further than Stevenage, but I wouldn't have him anywhere near our club with his route one, dirty tactics. 

He'd be perfect for someone like Stockport, Bradford or Wigan, hope he doesn't end up somewhere like that in future.

[Johnnyrotten]

1 hour ago, masi 51 said:

Brannagan i would not swap for Maghoma. Is that the same Mark Harris who played for Wycombe against us.

Again not sure i would have Swapped him for Dion at the time

Not saying I'd swap Brannagan for Maghoma (very different players) but Brannagan would walk into any L1 side including our's now or then.

Harris an upgrade on the Charles of 2024 (irrelevant I know).  He's never played for Wycombe, been at Oxford for last 3 seasons.

 

[Traf]

2 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Steeling a living, con man

At least you're consistent, mate.

[Traf]

1 hour ago, frank_spencer said:

Also I'd rather play @gonzo's one legged brother than Apter, fucking useless he is.

Apter looks like a dying kid from somewhere like Make A Wish who has been given 10 minutes in a testimonial with his local football club.

[BeeversLeftPeg]

9 minutes ago, Traf said:

Apter looks like a dying kid from somewhere like Make A Wish who has been given 10 minutes in a testimonial with his local football club.

Every single appearance too.

The rest of the players looked desperate to get him a goal last night.