Best Of

Top Twenty for the Away Crowd: [446]

A tie at the top again! Many congratulations to @mooneyman and @NewburyWanderer, both very close, missing by just two.

Congratulations to @perfidious_albion and @DevC who were the only others with 5% [22.3]

Lots of tied positions - again catching the mood of the match.

Top Twenty for the Home Crowd: [4999]

We very nearly did it!

Unsurprisingly considering the number invovled there was a triple tie at the top of this table. Many congratulations to @micra, @Mandown amd @silverfox who all missed by the one person. Excellent predicting.

Congratulations to @PJS, @NewburyWanderer, @Forest_Blue, @robin @MindlessDrugHoover and @wwfcblue who were all within one hundred.

Didn't Blooms sign 8 new players in this window?

The Plymouth and Watford games were a great opportunity for Blooms to make up some ground on the teams above them and win over the fans.

For the most part they still seem to blame the owners, but I do fear for him

Has a club ever smashed their transfer record for two adult signings only for them to not be ready for months nor better than existing players?

It still blows my mind that it was done before a new manager / coach was appointed.

I think that’s semantics when I said doesn’t consider them to be up to it compared to existing players. If he did they would be playing.

He didn’t say he doesn’t consider them to be up to it, his actual quote about some (not all) of the new signings was: ‘They just need to roll their sleeves up and be better than the players in front of them.’ In other words he is keeping faith at this point with the majority of the players who got us to where we are.

The Bucks Free Press interview with Dodds gives a further insight into a further challenge for a new manager.

£2million of signings outside the match squad and he doesn’t consider them up to it compared to the existing players. I find that really disappointing in the context of wide left which has been crying out for more. Bez is a player with great endeavour but I think we all assumed that Berry would make that position his.

It is quite frustrating though. We could really do with being about 6-9 clear points at this stage because our remaining fixtures are quite brutal on paper where Wrexham’s begin to ease.

Birmingham (a)

Wrexham (h)

Huddersfield (a)

Reading (a)

Bolton (a)

Charlton (h)

Orient (a)

Stockport (h)

Yes I’m fully aware no one expected automatic promotion this season, but we have so much quality. It would be incredible to go up. It does feel like things could slip away very frustratingly in the final few weeks because we dropped points at home to bottom eight sides.

I think every game is tough when you’re going for something as huge as promotion to the Championship as we saw with yesterday’s results elsewhere. Crucially we aren’t losing games or conceding many goals. I think we can be just as - arguably more - confident of facing the teams in the top half as those in the bottom half as those games will be more open and we defend very well.

I thought it was harsh.

Bet Joey Barton isn’t watching (or perhaps with mute on).