Let's talk about the Burton Albion game

[selby]

   Yep buddy, I will take that I am a fool, I like people to think that of me. It gives people a sense of superiority I can turn to my advantage and they are off guard.
   For instance I find it strange that you want Bolton to have a minimum of three points deducted for not playing the same young team three times in a week as your post on the 26th of September, but don't want us to play our strongest team over the same time period, because they would get tired.
 It's about being a fool consistently, and not thinking you are brilliant sometimes, I just act the fool all the time, it is easier.

[selby]

  It looks as if the few posters on their forum think they can come and get something from the game, they are playing well,have no injuries from the game against Leicester, and don't envisage any changes and have a good record in away fixtures.
 It will be interesting to see how many supporters come with them, I am guessing not many, so the attendance could take a blow to what we have been getting, and with a not too good weather forecast as well.
  Ennis or Thomas is the main question if everyone is fit, whoever is in central defence, I expect Daniels and Anderson with Wright on the bench, who I would prefer to Daniels myself, but have no problems with Daniels playing, is going to have their hands full with Boyce, much depending on our midfield getting a grip on the game and playing a game that restricts his service.
  It seems ages since the Southend game, let's hope the game is worth waiting for, and we can get three much needed points before another break for the FA cup.

[Retdon1]

Personally I don’t see how a choice between Ennis and Thomas is even a question

[Campsall rover]

Personally I don’t see how a choice between Ennis and Thomas is even a question

Thomas held the ball up well at Southend. Scored two goals, so it’s definitely not cut and dried who starts on Saturday.

[Alan Southstand]

Ennis looked well out of touch on Tuesday night, in his 45 minute showing, but was maybe told not to put himself about too much? Thomas just looked out of his depth, on Tuesday. That is maybe why there’s a question, as that was the last game.

With Taylor and Copps back in the mix there will be added energy and guile in the team, but the question is will we have our Southend shooting boots on or our ManU shooting boots? Hopefully, the former.

[jackthelad]

Ennis without a doubt is a much bigger threat than Thomas.
That's not a criticism of Thomas either.

[Campsall rover]

Ennis without a doubt is a much bigger threat than Thomas.
That's not a criticism of Thomas either.

They both pose different threats. Good to have the option of a choice.
Far too many people knocking Thomas. Ridiculous. Do you think DM would have even considered bringing him to the club let alone playing him if he thought he had not got the ability or desire to step up to this level of football.
Ever heard the saying Rome wasn’t built in a day. How long did it take for Alfie May to get up to speed in league 1 football.
Seems some on here expect him to be as good as JM. He may well and probably won’t ever reach those high standards but give the guy a chance.

[Pancho Regan]

   Yep buddy, I will take that I am a fool, I like people to think that of me. It gives people a sense of superiority I can turn to my advantage and they are off guard.
   For instance I find it strange that you want Bolton to have a minimum of three points deducted for not playing the same young team three times in a week as your post on the 26th of September, but don't want us to play our strongest team over the same time period, because they would get tired.
 It's about being a fool consistently, and not thinking you are brilliant sometimes, I just act the fool all the time, it is easier.

NickDRFC suggested in a very light-hearted and non-confrontational way that someone who says he will never change his mind ought to reconsider his position given certain circumstances.
He even finished off with a ‘wink’ emoji.

Your response lacks both humour and humility.

Just saying.

[selby]

The reply was light hearted Pancho.

[selby]

Retdon1, each player brings different things, but the main thing Thomas may bring that he did at Southend is the way he got his goals.
   Both were from  the six to eight yard area in front of goal, an area of the pitch where a lot of goals are scored from, and an area that apart from Marquis, we have had very few players who naturally get in those positions.
   Sometimes players like Crouch, Cascarino, etc. come along who make the difference to a good footballing side, Thomas maybe able to find that niche.

[Barmby Rover]

I am happy with whatever choice DM makes, no doubt he will use all the strikers we have in accordance with the tactics he think will beat the opposition, some will suit Ennis, others Thomas, it is good that they can do slightly different jobs, it makes the opposition's job much harder knowing how to play us.

[NickDRFC]

   Yep buddy, I will take that I am a fool, I like people to think that of me. It gives people a sense of superiority I can turn to my advantage and they are off guard.
   For instance I find it strange that you want Bolton to have a minimum of three points deducted for not playing the same young team three times in a week as your post on the 26th of September, but don't want us to play our strongest team over the same time period, because they would get tired.
 It's about being a fool consistently, and not thinking you are brilliant sometimes, I just act the fool all the time, it is easier.

I don’t want us to play our strongest 11 in every game as it will impact their conditioning and increase the chance of long term injuries. It really is as simple as that, and funnily enough 92 managers in the football league share that viewpoint!

Regarding Bolton I don’t see any inconsistency with what I’m saying here and thinking they deserve punishment - they didn’t refuse to field their strongest team, they refused to fulfil a fixture without consulting either their opponents or the football league. For that they deserve to be punished. It has absolutely nothing to do with squad rotation or prioritising the league over cup competitions so I’m not sure why you see any parallels.

Enjoy the game today, hopefully there’s a vintage performance coming from a well rested Copps!

[drfchound]

Retdon1, each player brings different things, but the main thing Thomas may bring that he did at Southend is the way he got his goals.
   Both were from  the six to eight yard area in front of goal, an area of the pitch where a lot of goals are scored from, and an area that apart from Marquis, we have had very few players who naturally get in those positions.
   Sometimes players like Crouch, Cascarino, etc. come along who make the difference to a good footballing side, Thomas maybe able to find that niche.

More goals are scored from inside six yards than anywhere else.

[5 on Tour]

Not our best display of the season and I think a draw was probably the fairest result. However, what on earth is going on at the back? We’ve looked calm and composed(mostly) passing out from the back all season but it was blind panic in large parts today.

First goal for them was 2 players saying “you kick it” and neither doing anything. The second goal was just awful. Dieng passed to the wrong man who lost control and kicked the lad running across him. Daniels played some shocking passes this afternoon and Whiteman gave him a massive bollocking for it at least twice.

Positives for me were Thomas’ flick ons. He was winning them against 2 big CB’s and it was a great outlet for us against the high press of Burton. Halliday looked very good today and was easily the best of the back 4. Dieng dealt well with a lot of balls into the box - neither goal he could do much about in terms of saving them.

Lastly, when was the last time we played a team who’s left back was a number 10?

[glosterred]

Got away with a point today


COYR

[Campsall rover]

Got away with a point today


COYR

Agree. We were second best today.
Why oh why do we try to play our way out from the back when we are being pressed high up the pitch.
They knew how we play so common sense says don’t do it. Twice it cost us a goal and it could have been worse. Just as well Burton’s finishing was very poor.
We had Thomas up front and we should have used him far more often than we did. He is improving game by game and did well holding the ball and winning flick on headers.

[DonnyOsmond]

Got away with a point today


COYR

Agree. We were second best today.
Why oh why do we try to play our way out from the back when we are being pressed high up the pitch.
They knew how we play so common sense says don’t do it. Twice it cost us a goal and it could have been worse. Just as well Burton’s finishing was very poor.
We had Thomas up front and we should have used him far more often than we did. He is improving game by game and did well holding the ball and winning flick on headers.

What's the alternative? Hoof it? We did that a couple times and gave it to them. If they press us and we can play it then we can find gaps and hit them on the counter.

[Campsall rover]

Got away with a point today


COYR

Agree. We were second best today.
Why oh why do we try to play our way out from the back when we are being pressed high up the pitch.
They knew how we play so common sense says don’t do it. Twice it cost us a goal and it could have been worse. Just as well Burton’s finishing was very poor.
We had Thomas up front and we should have used him far more often than we did. He is improving game by game and did well holding the ball and winning flick on headers.

What's the alternative? Hoof it? We did that a couple times and gave it to them. If they press us and we can play it then we can find gaps and hit them on the counter.

Yes but it didn’t work today did it.
When we played it long Thomas did well and set up several attacks.
You can’t always play pretty football. Doesn’t mean you have to hoof it as you put it.
There is more than one way to skin a cat or play football.

[keith79]

It's not about hoof ball it's about being  smarter with the ball. Putting ourselves under pressure for our own goal kicks is not smart.

[tyke1962]

Got away with a point today


COYR

Agree. We were second best today.
Why oh why do we try to play our way out from the back when we are being pressed high up the pitch.
They knew how we play so common sense says don’t do it. Twice it cost us a goal and it could have been worse. Just as well Burton’s finishing was very poor.
We had Thomas up front and we should have used him far more often than we did. He is improving game by game and did well holding the ball and winning flick on headers.

No mug isn't Clough , worked you out Campsall .

Their record last season against the top clubs in league one was very impressive and Clough knows how to cut you down tactically .

If they could find some consistency they'd possibly be challenging themselves .

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Too many had off days today where first touches were.not at the standard we've come to expect.

Credit to Burton for jumping on our jittery back line, and midfield for that matter.

Once Whiteman gave Daniels an almighty bollocking for an error we got away with, he seemed to suffer, Shelton Martis like after that. Whiteman and Sheaf weren't quite on it and as soon as Sheaf didn't appear in the second half, I feared our expected improvement might not happen.

We were poor with too many passes and basic control going astray. Not sure why Taylor pulled off as he was a bright light in a dour performance but hey, we got a point somehow. Next!

[drfchound]

Whiteman himself was poor today, giving the ball away countless times and that last minute free kick was like a side footed back pass (slight exaggeration I know).
As for Taylor, he was down on his haunches a couple of times just before he was subbed off.
Maybe has had picked up a knock of some sort.

[goalkick]

Thought Taylor was our best player.

[selby]

  The only way you can describe that result was that we gave the two points away.  We were Burton's most creative force in our own half. Burton were their most dangerous when we had the ball in and around our own penalty area.
 Daniels is a night mare receiving the ball from the keeper, Wright is the better central defender both when he has and hasn't the ball, just a better player at the moment, and our own player as well.
  If we defend in that manner next week our hopes of staying in the FA cup will come under intense pressure.
 The fact that Burton had played a top premiership side on Tuesday, and we made changes again looked to disrupted our game, and as Burton were sharper all round had sharpened them up, so much for that argument Nick, with our important mid field two Sheaf and Whiteman who had had only 45 minutes on Tuesday looking as if they had never met and were still half asleep.
  One thing that did not break for us was what I thought was an obvious push in the back of Thomas for a penalty, with the referee on the spot, who gave every other contact in the back as a direct free kick.
  Thomas I thought had a decent game, the new lad whose name I don't know looks a speed machine and a good size, Both may have ended up with us from an unusual career
path, but hopefully will flourish while here. If they do it will be quite a coup for little outlay. 

[glosterred]

  The only way you can describe that result was that we gave the two pints away. 

Over generous in the bar again

[Campsall rover]

Got away with a point today


COYR

Agree. We were second best today.
Why oh why do we try to play our way out from the back when we are being pressed high up the pitch.
They knew how we play so common sense says don’t do it. Twice it cost us a goal and it could have been worse. Just as well Burton’s finishing was very poor.
We had Thomas up front and we should have used him far more often than we did. He is improving game by game and did well holding the ball and winning flick on headers.

No mug isn't Clough , worked you out Campsall .

Their record last season against the top clubs in league one was very impressive and Clough knows how to cut you down tactically .

If they could find some consistency they'd possibly be challenging themselves .

Yes Tyke you are correct, Clough is very tactically smart. He does his homework. We needed to be a bit cuter today than we were.
Think 7/8 of our team were not at the races today. You can’t expect to win football matches when that happens can you. Thankful of a point. On another day we would have lost that game.

[Donnywolf]

  The only way you can describe that result was that we gave the two pints away. 

Over generous in the bar again

Aye - wheres Jock Stein when you need him

[Campsall rover]

Good job it was only 2 pints Brian. Any more and the bar takings would have been well down. 

[NewDonny]

Got away with a point today


COYR

Agree. We were second best today.
Why oh why do we try to play our way out from the back when we are being pressed high up the pitch.
They knew how we play so common sense says don’t do it. Twice it cost us a goal and it could have been worse. Just as well Burton’s finishing was very poor.
We had Thomas up front and we should have used him far more often than we did. He is improving game by game and did well holding the ball and winning flick on headers.

No mug isn't Clough , worked you out Campsall .

Their record last season against the top clubs in league one was very impressive and Clough knows how to cut you down tactically .

If they could find some consistency they'd possibly be challenging themselves .

Yes Tyke you are correct, Clough is very tactically smart. He does his homework. We needed to be a bit cuter today than we were.
Think 7/8 of our team were not at the races today. You can’t expect to win football matches when that happens can you. Thankful of a point. On another day we would have lost that game.

Thats about right as 7-8 of the side today have been unwell all week, Sheaf came off at half time because of it.

[Campsall rover]

Got away with a point today


COYR

Agree. We were second best today.
Why oh why do we try to play our way out from the back when we are being pressed high up the pitch.
They knew how we play so common sense says don’t do it. Twice it cost us a goal and it could have been worse. Just as well Burton’s finishing was very poor.
We had Thomas up front and we should have used him far more often than we did. He is improving game by game and did well holding the ball and winning flick on headers.

No mug isn't Clough , worked you out Campsall .

Their record last season against the top clubs in league one was very impressive and Clough knows how to cut you down tactically .

If they could find some consistency they'd possibly be challenging themselves .

Yes Tyke you are correct, Clough is very tactically smart. He does his homework. We needed to be a bit cuter today than we were.
Think 7/8 of our team were not at the races today. You can’t expect to win football matches when that happens can you. Thankful of a point. On another day we would have lost that game.

that about right as 7-8 of the side today have been unwell all week, Sheaf came off at half time because of it.

Didn’t know that New Donny. Well that explains a lot about our performance today.

We should have refused to play the game. No body would be bothered about it if we had.  WOULD THEY?