10 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Played well but no better than 90% of appearances in the last 12 months, that's his normal level.

Still made some errors (should have crossed easily to Dalby 2nd half instead of taking a touch, did an unnecessary back heel 2nd half to give possession back to PNE, doesn't win headers) but whether he was a 5 out of 10 or a 9 out of 10, that's his normal level, its a mystery that every time he does OK there's a grudging "surprisingly McAtee wasn' bad today". Like at Bradford, like at Wembley etc, almost like he can play a bit.

There's no better way to make up for any lack of technical abilities or adhere yourself to supporters than charging about and being the first to everything.

He fucking loves it the lad and thirves on days like today. Best performance at the Reebok since the Barnsley play off....

35 minutes ago, desperado said:

Fantastic!

And all the better when I wasn’t expecting it!

I’ve liked loads of posts who have called the game and individual performances spot on.

The only two posts I’d challenge are these.

Living dangerously in the 2nd half?’ Living dangerously from 80 mins yes. We were saying at half time we are going to have to cope with a surge here for 45 mins plus. But they offered nothing until 80 mins.

Unnecessary changes!? If he could he could/would have made more!

These players aren’t FIFA automons.

Of course if the players he takes off are not spent/or at risk of injury/fatigue then flog them. But we had to make changes to protect them.

I’m amazed Erhahon stayed on for 90 mins and I reckon Bonham was injured. Stephenson staying on after his injury was a risk, but hopefully one worth taking.

To call “Schuey” out for ruining cohesion is absolutely bonkers

Yeah, I should have said the end of the second half. You're right, I posted just after the game finished with my heart still firmly in my mouth 🤣

2 hours ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

Just the result we needed

Big confidence boosts for Gale, McAtee, and Conway, and if the decision to rule out our third was for the "push" from McAtee then it's genuinely diabolical decision from the linesman

All that being the case, I think it's a reminder of where we're at now that as poor as they were, they managed to through us on a couple of occasions and really should've scored when Osmajic went through and also right at the death

They didn't though, and it's three points to us

Yes but if they should have scored 3, we should have scored 4. The disallowed one, and the Dalby miss every bit as bad as their 2 sitters.

However that is dressed up, we were better than them up front, better than them in midfield and better than them defensively.

I'll take that against a championship side because in 3 of our last 4 home games in L1 we were deservedly losing for most of the games v Stockport, Huddersfield and Luton and we got more points today than we did in those 3.

Great win. I thought the starting back four looked really balanced; Famewo and Forino made a good pair, and Stephenson and Conway are capable both attacking and defending.

Erhahon and Sheehan also formed a great partnership and Josh in particular has stepped up a level since Schumacher took over. Macca's pressing and Dalby's strength made it difficult for Preston to keep the ball, and we generally seemed first to loose balls. The whole team attacked and defended when needed, but also showed patience to knock the ball around and take the sting out.

We can’t read much into a first game, but the spine of the team looks solid from today’s showing. Iling Jr. and Dong will need to get up to speed to displace Gale or Larrazabal. I could see Iling Jr. being a bit Cissoko‑esque, perhaps a slow start, but becoming more important as the season wears on and fitness issues occur.

Onwards and upwards - tougher games to come in Sept/Oct.

23 minutes ago, desperado said:

I’ve liked your post, I agree in the main.

But I’m not sure I can look at any of the changes he made and criticise him for them.

It was an observation rather than a criticism.

I always get a bit nervous when we take defenders and midfielders off late in games when in front.

And I did say I in no way can know if the players subbed off were injured or just out of gas.

Nothing but positives today mate, absolutely loved every minute of it (up to the 85th 😂)

A decent start with 3 points. We’ll have stronger opponents this season no doubt but at the moment it looks promising.

2 hours ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

No one's doomed after the first day but it does feel there's something not right at the club

Leicester were when we were 4-0 up at half time at their place on the first day........everyone in the stadium knew it.

any EFL highlights shows?

Well that was delightful. So much good to call out. I’m starting to think Forino may be a monster as well. COYWM

1 hour ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Played well but no better than 90% of appearances in the last 12 months, that's his normal level.

Still made some errors (should have crossed easily to Dalby 2nd half instead of taking a touch, did an unnecessary back heel 2nd half to give possession back to PNE, doesn't win headers) but whether he was a 5 out of 10 or a 9 out of 10, that's his normal level, its a mystery that every time he does OK there's a grudging "surprisingly McAtee wasn' bad today". Like at Bradford, like at Wembley etc, almost like he can play a bit.

Not grudgingly from me mate. I was made up for him when he got an ovation when he went off and I hope it builds his confidence and he gets even better.

Edited Saturday at 17:141 day by dazl1212

1st 11 were phenomenal could have been more than 4 ahead.

Went to pot when the subs came on and we ended under siege.

There will be harder tests but positive signs we'll have enough at home against teams around us in the table to stay up.

1 hour ago, L/H White said:

any EFL highlights shows?

ITV4 10.15pm

A very splendid first day after our years of struggle. Great to see and talk to so many ex and current posters off here.

We were good and they were bad. 🤷‍♂️

Looking forward to the challenges ahead. With this support and management, we’ll be ok.👍

3 hours ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

Well, to the Panic Fannies who are convinced we'll struggle to get 5 points this season ... there's 3 of them.

All we’ve got to do is establish who are the shittest three teams and spank them, because everyone else will and we’ll thereby finish out of the relegation battle.

Easy fucking peasy.

Can't believe noone has said Knob End yet.

Pleasantly surprised how strong we looked considering the step up a division. Difficult to call mom as there were so many candidates and would have to name one to eleven to be fair. Sheehan looked inspired by the captaincy, forino just gets better and better and plays like his life depends on it ( what a warrior), famewo, looks like he could be a real find, as does Stevenson and lazzar who maybe isn’t match fit yet. Very enjoyable day and fully deserved victory, and EE must be a very naturally fit lad to play for so long without one pre season game under his belt.

2 hours ago, Greg_BWFC said:

It was an observation rather than a criticism.

I always get a bit nervous when we take defenders and midfielders off late in games when in front.

And I did say I in no way can know if the players subbed off were injured or just out of gas.

Nothing but positives today mate, absolutely loved every minute of it (up to the 85th 😂)

Fair point this.

SS does tend to make plenty of subs, and it can upset a team's rhythm, even if the changes themselves appear right.

Chance he takes.

It didn't work for the Kamp Kommandant a few weeks ago! 😀

We still won today, which is the main thing.

Properly enjoyed Forino celebrating a goal-denying challenge like he'd just scored. Him and Famewo were superb today. What a fucking start.

It was tricky for him today with the subs, had to throw people in who'd only walked in the building in the last couple of days and take something of a gamble with EE, who rarely finished games in L1.

I might have put someone like Watson on rather than Hardie, to buzz around Dalby and get about their players, but SS got pretty much everything right today

Likes of Sam and Hardie will hopefully get a bit more up to speed with another week on board.

6 minutes ago, Cheese said:

Properly enjoyed Forino celebrating a goal-denying challenge like he'd just scored. Him and Famewo were superb today. What a fucking start.

I'm guessing that Preston's big lump centre forward has bullied a few centre halfs, but I laughed when on the 1st high ball challenge, he tried to give Forino a bang & ended up on his arse holding his head.

17 minutes ago, Cheese said:

Properly enjoyed Forino celebrating a goal-denying challenge like he'd just scored. Him and Famewo were superb today. What a fucking start.

Fair play to him, it was a bloody brave challenge. Get it even slightly wrong and he’d have been in big trouble, but gave us a big lift at the time.

24 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

Fair play to him, it was a bloody brave challenge. Get it even slightly wrong and he’d have been in big trouble, but gave us a big lift at the time.

He was clever in the way he left a bit of distance between him and his man, so he wouldn't have taken him out. Ended up being more of a block in the end.

Outstanding stuff.

All the new players seemed to be part of the team.

Hardie will be a nuisance from the bench till he's upto speed. They know what he's capable of and bringing a player of that quality on towards the end is risky for the opposition.

Lazza seems to suit that position, I know he's a right back, but the side looked solid!

Genuine panic when Stephenson went down after that challenge though, at least he ran it off.

Dong worries me, he looked so off it when he came on. S.I.J looked a bit out of depth, but the lad only walked in yesterday morning. Not sure what Dong brings but hopefully he'll be up to it pretty soon.

Very happy with the result and performance .

Gale , Forino and Sheehan stood out for me but Conway and McAtee stepped up too.

Hard to criticise much but we should have killed game off. The McAtee push looked worse live than it did on highlights so maybe unlucky. Dalby attempt second half was awful.

PNE played a lot of long high balls into our right back spot and quite a few headers need a plan to tackle that.

The subs did not help much but hopefully as we strengthen and the new lads get upto speed that will look after its self.

Think PNE have spent £10m this summer, £6 on one player based on today it shows how easy it to waste money at this level.

Can’t really add much to what has been said. We looked so so comfortable with starting 11 vs starting 11 - we dominated the midfield and everything followed from there.

Couple of things that haven’t had too much of a mention:

• Bonham has definitely done his calf. Hope it’s not serious if we’re not eyeing up another keeper

• Dalby’s finish was really good. It was a lot more tricky than it looked and I was pleasantly surprised with how well he took it.

• Conway was fucking phenomenal. I’ve been very very critical of him as a full back, and he’ll have greater challenges than today, but he was up against a £6m winger in a league above and looked the part. We really lost his composure and presence down that side when he went off

• Why the hell did PNE I) not start Offiah at RB and Ii) not bring him on at half time given the bumming Gale gave their starting RB

• A confident Gale playing in nice weather will cause problems in this league. Question will be how long he keeps it up for / consistency but he was top drawer today.

• We just looked sharper, faster and cleaner with touches and passing etc. Players that were here last season stepped up and played better than the whole of last season - let’s hope it lasts.

• There are a lot of likeable players in this squad. For a long time we had to put up with mercenaries and no-marks who you struggled to get behind. The likes of Forino who you feel would run through a brick wall for the team will only help create that buzz with the crowd that we’ll need this season.

There will be shit times this season and we’ll have to ride it out, but tonight feels so good and we should absolutely make the most of the positivity whilst it’s here!