So I wonder what the line up will be today? Hopefully Harriman will be fit and Sellers and Wood back in the squad.
I would like to see Rowe start at CB, Sido move back to RB and Michael Harriman move into midfield if fit.
It's a testament to the flexibility of our small but perfectly formed squad that Harriman's injury doesn't significantly weaken the team, even though he has been excellent this season.
Overrun for long periods and second best all over the pitch. Northampton passed the ball around very well and closed us down very quickly when we were in possession. Bad result but let's go again against Bristol.
Between Cambridge on Tuesday and today I feel 3 points is a good return given how we have played ( not very well IMHO). The combination of Ugwu and Holloway up front doesn't seem to bring the best out of either and Thommo was too far away at right midfield to help. We certainly need both Harriman and Hayes back to give us more options.
We didn't defend well today but I'm not going to criticise any individual performances. It's a team game and we do have a good spirit in the camp which hopefully can be channelled into correcting the mistakes.
I'm sure none of the players will need too much motivation to put things right next week.
Two bits of crap defending. Gave ourselves no chance. Their defence had ugwu and holloway under control for the majority of the game. Our best opportunities came when Jj and sido got forward
We were poor pretty much everywhere today. Credit to Northampton they did a very good job on us and played some good football at times. They did let us back in a bit though but GA's changes at least corrected some of the deficiencies and was good to see Sam back. But boy do we need Hayes back and fit. If only to keep Sido in check a bit
Clearly this was Northampton's cup final. They put a lot more effort in all round the park and celebrated like madmen at the end when their efforts were rewarded with a win.
Bad performances 1-11 for me. Two front men who look like they met this morning. A midfield formation that is not working with the personnel.
We move on. Well done to Northampton. The chances are this result will be wiped anyway.
Well deserved win by Northampton, much the better team on the day. They really are a bit of a bogey team for us at home, yet we beat them away consistently. Shame there wasn't more support from Northampton, really poor showing. They normally have much more support than they did today. We were punching considerably above our weight by topping the table. I still think we'll finish top 8.
I have no idea what formation we were playing today. We had no shape at all, and consequently some good passing from Northampton dragged our players out of whatever position they were supposed to be in all day long.
If I was forced to pick a man of the match from our lot it would probably be Bean, he mostly did his job today.
Also, I get the feeing that Wilder told his players to go out there and use against us every gamesmanship trick that we're becoming known for. They even did the pretending to do up their bootlaces to hold up Wycombe free kicks.
They thoroughly deserved the win though, they clearly wanted it a lot more than we did.
Playing three up front doesn't work even when Thompson plays the withdrawn role. It puts tremendous strain on Bean and O'Nien to win the ball in midfield with McGinn being more or less a passenger.
Jombati looked totally off the pace today and I wonder whether he is now better suited to the middle.
As Wilder previewed with that newspaper interview yesterday, he's studied the Wycombe system and played it admirably against us - stifling us, committed in midfield, all the usual gamesmanship we do. The difference was he had a team able to pass the ball and our tight formation meant they had plenty of space down the wings to run at us.
I thought McGinn was the wrong player to pick. It was clear from the very first kick we were going to play it long and he's not tenacious, harrying or aggressive enough to be much use in a midfield simply used for breaking up play. Ugwu and Holloway were exactly the right players to have when playing hoofball - but the former has totally failed to impress so far and the latter is a shadow of the player from last season.
Once again O'Nien was excellent, dunno why he was subbed when he had more energy than anyone else. He's brilliant at making a nuisance of himself, covering lots of ground and actually getting the ball to one of our players. He and Bean are really impressing me at the moment, even with O'Nien shifted to the left he still made a big impression. Very deserving of his goal and MotM award.
The defense had a bad day - particularly Sido for the second goal. He was 100% to blame for that, miles away from the player he'd been tracking for the previous 30 seconds. Jacobson was rightly livid with him. Ah well. If he didn't cock it up occasionally he wouldn't be the Sido we know and love!
Don't think anyone was anywhere near excellent for us to today, it was a pretty dreadful performance all round. Far too much long ball and we were fairly, thoroughly outplayed. It reminded me somewhat of our home defeat to Plymouth last season, just a day when everyone was below par. Hopefully we can put it behind us as quickly as we usually do.
Not sure about the starting XI (although we don't have many options at the moment), but for me Ainsworth got the subs spot on today. Not sure why some were disapointed O'Nien came off. Yes he took his goal well and he battled hard, but for me he struggled to impose himself and bringing Kretch on was the right call. I thought all 3 subs improved us to a certain extent, but at 1-3 down and playing so poorly, it was too much to turn round.
We really could do with Hayes back soon, we miss not only his finishing and creativeness, but also his leadership. That said, it is of course a wonderful effort to be so high in the league, when struggling with injuries.
I don't think we'll play too many sides better set up to cope with our strengths than Northampton. I see many are going with the lost match equal shit performance but I don't see it that simply. We should have been two or three up in 20 mins but we didn't take good chances. Northampton took theirs once they had worked out that widening their really narrow midfield a bit would expose Thompson on the right.
In a small squad sometimes square pegs need to go in to rounds holes but I didn't follow moving Sido from centre back or playing Thompson and O'Nien wide.
I didn't much difference in the two sides. In fact I think much of Wilders pre match bitterness towards our style is that the two sides are so similar in make up and style. Northampton took the chances we didn't. That happens and I'd been worried if we weren't creating chances.
Been a tough few games and we have a decent points haul. On to next week.
Some of the best post-match discussion and analysis I've seen on Gasroom 2.
There was a lot wrong today and, as several have remarked, it was all a bit shapeless and several players seemed to be well below par. (Northampton had what was probably a tough physical encounter against Wimbledon on Tuesday but it did not appear to have affected their energy levels and they were clearly more "up for it" than Wycombe.)
One aspect that has not been mentioned was the number of fouls committed by Wycombe this afternoon - even allowing for some (a lot?) of dubious decisions by Mr Hill, 19 exceeds by a considerable margin the next highest in League 2 today (apart from Northampton's 16). Unfortunately, these high foul counts have been a consistent feature of our games this season (and possibly last) and we are also table-toppers when it comes to yellow cards. I appreciate that this is partly a reflection of our committed, up-and-at-'em approach but it is exacerbated by a regular failure to retain possession beyond 2 or 3 passes and by the long ball game on a pitch which looks ideal for playing the ball on the deck.
Having said all that, I hope that today's game was reasonably enjoyable to neutrals and newbies who helped to boost the attendance to 4227. (We were 73 out @Manboobs!)
cant believe no one has commented on the display of mcginn , did nothing, cant see how he gets a start in front of all others on the bench, not just based on yesterdays performance
I too think @mooneyman is spot on. Until Anthony Stewart returns that is surely the preferred option - ie Jombati central and Harriman or Rowe at right back. It seems that central defensive partnerships require greater understanding than any other partnership - witness the difficulties experienced by Janoi Donacien in that position. With some - eg Stewart and Pierre and most obviously with Mawson and Pierre (developed over several years) that understanding comes more readily. Danny Rowe performed admirably at right back last season and Sido has been an absolute revelation as a central defender ever since that epic FA Cup battle against Barnet last season. I rest my case!
Comments
So I wonder what the line up will be today? Hopefully Harriman will be fit and Sellers and Wood back in the squad.
I would like to see Rowe start at CB, Sido move back to RB and Michael Harriman move into midfield if fit.
Harriman out injured so Rowe comes in,Wood on the bench but no Hayes again.
It's a testament to the flexibility of our small but perfectly formed squad that Harriman's injury doesn't significantly weaken the team, even though he has been excellent this season.
Ingram
Jombati
Rowe
Pierre
Jacobson
Bean
McGinn
O'Nien
Ugwu
Thompson
Holloway
No hayes or Harriman on the bench
COYB!!!!
1-0 already O'Nein scoring his first for the club.
All Northampton since. Couple of times we've had the ball on the deck we've looked dangerous but it's pretty relentless hoofball from Wycombe.
1-2 Oh dear....
1-3
Wilder has really done a number on this ref.
The pink ladies get a free kick every time they fall over. That said we are utter garbage.
2-3
We really need a fit Paul Hayes back fron injury.
Overrun for long periods and second best all over the pitch. Northampton passed the ball around very well and closed us down very quickly when we were in possession. Bad result but let's go again against Bristol.
We were awful in the time between our 2 goals which was a good 80 minutes, Gozie Ugwu does nothing for me!! Northampton fully deserved their win.
Between Cambridge on Tuesday and today I feel 3 points is a good return given how we have played ( not very well IMHO). The combination of Ugwu and Holloway up front doesn't seem to bring the best out of either and Thommo was too far away at right midfield to help. We certainly need both Harriman and Hayes back to give us more options.
We didn't defend well today but I'm not going to criticise any individual performances. It's a team game and we do have a good spirit in the camp which hopefully can be channelled into correcting the mistakes.
I'm sure none of the players will need too much motivation to put things right next week.
Two bits of crap defending. Gave ourselves no chance. Their defence had ugwu and holloway under control for the majority of the game. Our best opportunities came when Jj and sido got forward
We were poor pretty much everywhere today. Credit to Northampton they did a very good job on us and played some good football at times. They did let us back in a bit though but GA's changes at least corrected some of the deficiencies and was good to see Sam back. But boy do we need Hayes back and fit. If only to keep Sido in check a bit
Clearly this was Northampton's cup final. They put a lot more effort in all round the park and celebrated like madmen at the end when their efforts were rewarded with a win.
Bad performances 1-11 for me. Two front men who look like they met this morning. A midfield formation that is not working with the personnel.
We move on. Well done to Northampton. The chances are this result will be wiped anyway.
Well deserved win by Northampton, much the better team on the day. They really are a bit of a bogey team for us at home, yet we beat them away consistently. Shame there wasn't more support from Northampton, really poor showing. They normally have much more support than they did today. We were punching considerably above our weight by topping the table. I still think we'll finish top 8.
I have no idea what formation we were playing today. We had no shape at all, and consequently some good passing from Northampton dragged our players out of whatever position they were supposed to be in all day long.
If I was forced to pick a man of the match from our lot it would probably be Bean, he mostly did his job today.
Also, I get the feeing that Wilder told his players to go out there and use against us every gamesmanship trick that we're becoming known for. They even did the pretending to do up their bootlaces to hold up Wycombe free kicks.
They thoroughly deserved the win though, they clearly wanted it a lot more than we did.
On the plus side, there were some cracking ales in the Vere Suite.
Playing three up front doesn't work even when Thompson plays the withdrawn role. It puts tremendous strain on Bean and O'Nien to win the ball in midfield with McGinn being more or less a passenger.
Jombati looked totally off the pace today and I wonder whether he is now better suited to the middle.
As Wilder previewed with that newspaper interview yesterday, he's studied the Wycombe system and played it admirably against us - stifling us, committed in midfield, all the usual gamesmanship we do. The difference was he had a team able to pass the ball and our tight formation meant they had plenty of space down the wings to run at us.
I thought McGinn was the wrong player to pick. It was clear from the very first kick we were going to play it long and he's not tenacious, harrying or aggressive enough to be much use in a midfield simply used for breaking up play. Ugwu and Holloway were exactly the right players to have when playing hoofball - but the former has totally failed to impress so far and the latter is a shadow of the player from last season.
Once again O'Nien was excellent, dunno why he was subbed when he had more energy than anyone else. He's brilliant at making a nuisance of himself, covering lots of ground and actually getting the ball to one of our players. He and Bean are really impressing me at the moment, even with O'Nien shifted to the left he still made a big impression. Very deserving of his goal and MotM award.
The defense had a bad day - particularly Sido for the second goal. He was 100% to blame for that, miles away from the player he'd been tracking for the previous 30 seconds. Jacobson was rightly livid with him. Ah well. If he didn't cock it up occasionally he wouldn't be the Sido we know and love!
Don't think anyone was anywhere near excellent for us to today, it was a pretty dreadful performance all round. Far too much long ball and we were fairly, thoroughly outplayed. It reminded me somewhat of our home defeat to Plymouth last season, just a day when everyone was below par. Hopefully we can put it behind us as quickly as we usually do.
Not sure about the starting XI (although we don't have many options at the moment), but for me Ainsworth got the subs spot on today. Not sure why some were disapointed O'Nien came off. Yes he took his goal well and he battled hard, but for me he struggled to impose himself and bringing Kretch on was the right call. I thought all 3 subs improved us to a certain extent, but at 1-3 down and playing so poorly, it was too much to turn round.
We really could do with Hayes back soon, we miss not only his finishing and creativeness, but also his leadership. That said, it is of course a wonderful effort to be so high in the league, when struggling with injuries.
I don't think we'll play too many sides better set up to cope with our strengths than Northampton. I see many are going with the lost match equal shit performance but I don't see it that simply. We should have been two or three up in 20 mins but we didn't take good chances. Northampton took theirs once they had worked out that widening their really narrow midfield a bit would expose Thompson on the right.
In a small squad sometimes square pegs need to go in to rounds holes but I didn't follow moving Sido from centre back or playing Thompson and O'Nien wide.
I didn't much difference in the two sides. In fact I think much of Wilders pre match bitterness towards our style is that the two sides are so similar in make up and style. Northampton took the chances we didn't. That happens and I'd been worried if we weren't creating chances.
Been a tough few games and we have a decent points haul. On to next week.
Some of the best post-match discussion and analysis I've seen on Gasroom 2.
There was a lot wrong today and, as several have remarked, it was all a bit shapeless and several players seemed to be well below par. (Northampton had what was probably a tough physical encounter against Wimbledon on Tuesday but it did not appear to have affected their energy levels and they were clearly more "up for it" than Wycombe.)
One aspect that has not been mentioned was the number of fouls committed by Wycombe this afternoon - even allowing for some (a lot?) of dubious decisions by Mr Hill, 19 exceeds by a considerable margin the next highest in League 2 today (apart from Northampton's 16). Unfortunately, these high foul counts have been a consistent feature of our games this season (and possibly last) and we are also table-toppers when it comes to yellow cards. I appreciate that this is partly a reflection of our committed, up-and-at-'em approach but it is exacerbated by a regular failure to retain possession beyond 2 or 3 passes and by the long ball game on a pitch which looks ideal for playing the ball on the deck.
Having said all that, I hope that today's game was reasonably enjoyable to neutrals and newbies who helped to boost the attendance to 4227. (We were 73 out @Manboobs!)
Mooneyman is spot on.
cant believe no one has commented on the display of mcginn , did nothing, cant see how he gets a start in front of all others on the bench, not just based on yesterdays performance
I too think @mooneyman is spot on. Until Anthony Stewart returns that is surely the preferred option - ie Jombati central and Harriman or Rowe at right back. It seems that central defensive partnerships require greater understanding than any other partnership - witness the difficulties experienced by Janoi Donacien in that position. With some - eg Stewart and Pierre and most obviously with Mawson and Pierre (developed over several years) that understanding comes more readily. Danny Rowe performed admirably at right back last season and Sido has been an absolute revelation as a central defender ever since that epic FA Cup battle against Barnet last season. I rest my case!