Best Of

@ReadingMarginalista just caught up with your comments. Only problem is are our back line capable of speeding it up as required by Doddy? This is my issue with play it out from the back possession/ control Pep ball. How often on highlights shows do you see defenders now trying to do what the coaching manual demands but their feet and brains can’t deliver. If they could they would be playing at a higher level. It’s a bit like asking an F1 mechanic to mend an old banger - pointless and possibly dangerous.

We should play to our strengths not what some skinny bloke at St George’s Park had put in a power point presentation.

Why did we ‘accidentally’ win two games? And talking of context, it’s a hell of a lot easier to play free flowing football in the early months of the season when the pressure to avoid losing is nothing like as intense as it is now. Plus, Dodds said very clearly in his interview that he’s encouraging the players to ‘take the handbrake off’ but I sense a nervousness on their part to take risks.

If we set up as negatively again against Shrewsbury then we know that's the way we're playing for the rest of the season and probably until Dodds departs. I live in hope that he will play to our attacking strengths against the worst squad in the league. But the realist / cynic in me knows we won't. It'll be control all the way, we'll win 2-0, everyone will be delighted on here for a few days... Until we play the same at the weekend, lose against a better team and finally some of the more optimistic on here might concede that perhaps, just perhaps, if we weren't set up so negatively from the start we'd have a better chance of winning games.

Terry Evans on the Preston player holding the ball in the corner remains the gold standard

Lucky not to be arrested for assault

Yeah. Given how Kone is regularly the only player in the opposition half, even when he's on the edge of their box.

Or, alternatively, we never looked like scoring until a very defendable channel ball from Leahy somehow resulted in their centre half slipping over and left Humphreys with only the keeper to beat. Winning in that manner is quite unusual. I called it a fluke and I stick by it.

"Accidentally" because neither win came about thanks to the tactics. And I addressed the handbrake comment elsewhere, I find it a bizarre thing for him to say to a group of players that he's sent out in a 9-0-1 formation - the words don't match the actions.

The best period of Saturday's game was the slightly hectic 2 or 3 mins after we scored.

It all went slightly off the control game plan and we were romping forward and it was all a little exciting.

Quickly calmed down though.

I think sometimes we forget how bad it was initially it was with Bloomfield when he persisted with 5 at the back. It was dire. Clearly Bloomfield changed ( I cannot remember the catalyst) to 4 at the back and things dramatically improved. We should not give up on Dodds . Rightly or wrong and we will only know at the end of the season, he is setting us to defend strongly and win games by the odd goal.