Best Of

Fully agree. I think Charlton will get 2nd - they're a better side than Wrexham IMO.

I posted on Saturday that Wrexham were the least of my worries. I'm more worried about Dodds' Wycombe, and a bang in form Charlton, than Wrexham who continue to ride their luck via refs.

Problem is what got us to where we were hasn’t really been working since the end of November. We were too open, had a tendency to concede multiple goals and once teams worked out how to play against us we have seen inconsistent results. I guess MD has seen this and decided he either sticks with it or does what he thinks his best - that’s his call he’s head coach. Difficult to change style mid season but we now look much more resolute at the back and with a sprinkling of the good fortune we had earlier in the season could have had a hatful tonight.

Players will be devastated this evening and will need picking up as we do. Early goal Saturday would do us the world of good. COYB!

2025 home league record - played 11 goals scored 10. Five of 11 games failed to score.

not good enough

Completely agree with the above. 100%. But about our entire side.

I'm new here (hello! been a fan since the early 90s and loved the Regis/Garner combo we had then!) and I'll be up front - I work with some Mackems and they all told me Dodds is shockingly bad in the top job. So, I didn't want him in the first place and watching the team under him has confirmed to me that he's not got what it takes.

So, what can he be blamed for tonight?

• The subs were appalling. The second set ensured we couldn't win the game. A professional manager should have a better idea of how to win a game than "throw on loads of forwards, lump it and hope." We lost all shape and it was no surprise our threat disappeared pretty much immediately and Shrewsbury found it much easier to get out.
• If your main striker is clearly having a night where he's not just missing chances, but his first touch is bad, he's making bad decisions AND he's executing the bad decision poorly then what do you do? What's your plan for when Kone is off his game? Dodds' plan is do nothing and just pray that he gets better. Abysmal management to not have an alternative approach or another idea.
• Finally how lackadaisical was our passing and movement? Poor touches all over the place. Basic probability tells you one player can have an off day with their first touch or making the correct decision, but an entire team? Something's wrong with the setup for virtually every player to be affected. I mean just think of the number of times you saw the obvious pass only for the player to pick a different - worse - option... and then play that badly! That's down to motivation and shape. And that's on the manager.

Fundamentally, we just played very poorly but because it was against probably the worst team (in relation to the quality we currently possess in our squad) to ever show up at Adams' Park it was masked. There were very few good chances out of the countless shots, but even when Blackman has had to make a save it was one you'd expect him to do so.

What I'm most confused about though, is that Wrexham and us are fighting it out for top two when we're both such poor teams. I'd be very unsurprised if we don't make the playoffs and Wrexham fail in them. Both of us rely on individual brilliance rather than incisive football. Both are considerably worse than the sum of their parts.

In comparison some of the stuff under Blooms earlier in the season was amongst the best football I've seen here since Martin O'Neill days. Wrexham away we were superb. Absolutely immense despite losing. And while I know we were starting to play poorly before he left Dodds has without doubt made us much worse still.

Until Dodds is gone I fear we'll just see more of the same. I can't see him lasting much beyond October next season unless he does something his past record and what's happened so far here suggests he's not remotely capable of.

Yeah, seven more 0-0s will alllow us to, as the Style Council said, shout to the top.

Well....shout to third and then we'll see what happens.

Cheers Andy. It’s been a blast. We luvs yer loads.

All the best

Mike

Wow. Most shots Wycombe have ever had in a match? Can’t remember anything like that before. Kone’s worst game, but fair play to the Shrewsbury boys for their defensive efforts.

I don’t agree that the manager is absolved of all responsibility for a goalless draw at home to the worst team in the division just because we created loads of chances. Isn’t finishing quite an important part of the game that a manager can be expected to influence through preparation, instilling confidence, decision-making etc. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not piling in on Dodds and clearly the general performance was good, but goals scored is quite an important metric in assessing whether the manager has had a good game, if you want to put it in those terms.

I’m seeking solace in Wrexham being outratio’d in XG by 2:1 ratio away to Cambridge.

Cambridge 1.68 - 0.79 Wrexham.

In other words, Cambridge’s XG was comparable to Wrexham’s even if you discounted their penalty.

If Wrexham aren’t outplaying the league’s second worst side that’s a solid sign, albeit on a very small sample size.

We were unfortunate and I don’t blame Dodds tonight.

What ever Dodds says about that is going to be interesting, I don't think he has a clue what to do

I did notice that full match replays had returned. The Lincoln game is certainly available - not sure I want to watch this evenings game again.