Tom, I think you need to decide whether to be a dispassionate, analytical journalist or an Alan Parry-style ostrich-like cheerleader. Both are perfectly admirable roles and both have a place on here. But you show a lot of promise in the former; in which case, it's disappointing to see you vent frustration at those pointing out weaknesses in our set-up tonight or bemoaning the result.
I’ve just pulled my head out of the sand long enough to see that one of the smallest clubs in League One is heading a division that includes half-a-dozen former PL clubs and a host that have played in the Championship in recent times. So, I’m happy to conform to stereotype and lead the cheers for that.
Remarkably, we will lose games occasionally and that should be put into context, which most posters on here have done. As Chairboyscentral pointed out, that was not the case with many of those on the FB page.
I find his writing and research to be of the highest order and I don’t think he needs any lectures on how to express his views. He is writing not as a neutral but as a fan and I for one applaud his contributions.
I would have played Charles tonight and rested him Sat, so he would be available against Ipswich. Changing 2 out of the usual reliable back four, is quite a risk in a cup game.
Im pretty sure Gareth regrets not giving Bayo another 15 or 20 mins yesterday, Samuel's lack of accleration and general performance was that bad, i would have taken him back off for Parker, and kept our only goal threat Kashket on.
Tom, I think you need to decide whether to be a dispassionate, analytical journalist or an Alan Parry-style ostrich-like cheerleader. Both are perfectly admirable roles and both have a place on here. But you show a lot of promise in the former; in which case, it's disappointing to see you vent frustration at those pointing out weaknesses in our set-up tonight or bemoaning the result.
I’ve just pulled my head out of the sand long enough to see that one of the smallest clubs in League One is heading a division that includes half-a-dozen former PL clubs and a host that have played in the Championship in recent times. So, I’m happy to conform to stereotype and lead the cheers for that.
Remarkably, we will lose games occasionally and that should be put into context, which most posters on here have done. As Chairboyscentral pointed out, that was not the case with many of those on the FB group.
I find his writing and research to be of the highest order and I don’t think he needs any lectures on how to express his views. He is writing not as a neutral but as a fan and I for one applaud his contributions.
Thanks Alan, I do it as something I like doing as much as anything, but the overwhelmingly positive feedback is a bonus! When we lose a league game, I like to think I'll analyse it accordingly, but I very much believe in Gareth's philosophy that we win or we learn. I was referring mainly to Twitter, but I can imagine what the FB page must be like without ever having ventured on there myself.
@ChasHarps said:
I would have played Charles tonight and rested him Sat, so he would be available against Ipswich. Changing 2 out of the usual reliable back four, is quite a risk in a cup game.
Im pretty sure Gareth regrets not giving Bayo another 15 or 20 mins yesterday, Samuel's lack of accleration and general performance was that bad, i would have taken him back off for Parker, and kept our only goal threat Kashket on.
My understanding is that Charles is physically simply not able to play twice a week.
@ChasHarps said:
I would have played Charles tonight and rested him Sat, so he would be available against Ipswich. Changing 2 out of the usual reliable back four, is quite a risk in a cup game.
Im pretty sure Gareth regrets not giving Bayo another 15 or 20 mins yesterday, Samuel's lack of accleration and general performance was that bad, i would have taken him back off for Parker, and kept our only goal threat Kashket on.
It is what it is and that is extremely frustrating.
However, we are top of league one and with an exciting few months ahead, i'll take that!
That's one of those stats anomalies, as surely noone watching Stewart, Charles, Sido and Phillips would put Phillips anywhere above top 3 for aerial dominance.
I felt very sad indeed when their second goal went in, totally against the run of play. Stupidly perhaps, I’d been anticipating that we would narrowly beat Tranmere, beat Chichester City and, hopefully, land a plum tie in the third round. Most supporters probably had similar expectations. A scenario in which we could enjoy at least a couple more entertaining Cup games and, above all perhaps, add several hundred thousand pounds to the coffers.
I went to bed last night with that shattered dream nagging me for some time and woke this morning briefly wondering if it had all been a ghastly nightmare. Reality soon dawned of course and the empty sad feeling returned. If only the clock could be put back 24 hours. Why were tantalising prospects of much needed football fortune snatched away from us in such cruel fashion?
Little consolation but at least we can fall back on that old chestnut of being able to concentrate on the League with the Be and Breakfast thing the only distraction.
@Malone said:
The rotations looked sound on paper.
We left out three of our older boys, who will surely struggle to play weekend, midweek, weekend. And without a reserve team you risk ending up a number of players not getting any competitive football.
>
To an extent, the competitive football bit was one of the points I was (poorly) trying to make last night. We needed to stay in one of the three competitions for just this reason (and the money! ?). Although we don't like it, the TinPot Trophy is a reasonable platform for this. This is also an interesting test for the Couhig family and their business/revenue plans for us. Oh well, milk spilt, horses bolted etc.
Anyway, "we go again" on Saturday and have another chance to confound the swanky rich teams below us! COYB!
@Right_in_the_Middle said:
Such a dissapointing evening but a real statement on where the priority for the season is. Personally I think a win last night was vital but that clearly isn't the case at the club ftom the trully awful kids programme to the team selection to the substitutions.
Why was it a "kids programme"? Articles by Ainsworth, Bloomfield, match preview, opposition info, teams on the back - £1. Yeah a poster in the middle, but does that make it "truly awful"?
@ChasHarps said:
I would have played Charles tonight and rested him Sat, so he would be available against Ipswich. Changing 2 out of the usual reliable back four, is quite a risk in a cup game.
Im pretty sure Gareth regrets not giving Bayo another 15 or 20 mins yesterday, Samuel's lack of accleration and general performance was that bad, i would have taken him back off for Parker, and kept our only goal threat Kashket on.
My understanding is that Charles is physically simply not able to play twice a week.
It just seems to be the case that the FA Cup isn't as important as the league. As an older supporter I don't get this.
For me if Charles can only play once a week rest him last Sunday. If you want to rest JJ don't do it at the same time as Charles. If you are going to give Bayo 45 mins why not later rather than from the start.
Maybe I am out of modern touch but last night was a big game for me and I didn't get that impression from the club.
The Bayo thing was strange, unless he had a knock.
Gaz isn't normally a complacent guy at all, so it seems hard to believe we'd be resting our key man with a mere 1-0 lead.
Maybe the thinking was that a more mobile guy would mean we were more able to create more from the extra space? But in reality it meant we didn't win one header for the rest of the game in attacking positions, and despite the high shot count, barely laid a glove on them.
The league is clearly more important than the cup in general. Extenuating circumstances with the draw and TV money made it tougher to split them, but come the end if the season, 3 points in the league could be crucial.
Promotion money would dwarf the tv money and the likely loss to an average northern championship club in the 3rd round.
Not like we didn't try and win either, dominated the entire game, just couldn't find the killer goal
@Right_in_the_Middle said:
Such a dissapointing evening but a real statement on where the priority for the season is. Personally I think a win last night was vital but that clearly isn't the case at the club ftom the trully awful kids programme to the team selection to the substitutions.
Why was it a "kids programme"? Articles by Ainsworth, Bloomfield, match preview, opposition info, teams on the back - £1. Yeah a poster in the middle, but does that make it "truly awful"?
Hopefully the way forward for the programme, although maybe in a format that's easier to read at the game. I still buy them and wrote for ours for a season, but they are probably on their way out. Could preserve them at least a while longer by condensing/shrinking them, though.
Much as I have enjoyed editing and writing for our progamme over the years, I fear that they have an uncertain future in this age of social media, club websites etc. Perhaps the idea of a condensed version put forward by Chairboyscentral is the answer. It would be interesting to have a survey on this subject.
@glasshalffull said:
Much as I have enjoyed editing and writing for our progamme over the years, I fear that they have an uncertain future in this age of social media, club websites etc. Perhaps the idea of a condensed version put forward by Chairboyscentral is the answer. It would be interesting to have a survey on this subject.
Smaller and cheaper certainly seems the way forward.
I used to buy every game, but as anyone who goes for years realises at some point - you end up with a tonne load of the things, and it's fairly unlikely you'll keep re-reading them.
I did used to enjoy sniffing through the stats and the page with the games and lineups on though, like any self respecting geek should do.
Why was it a "kids programme"? Articles by Ainsworth, Bloomfield, match preview, opposition info, teams on the back - £1. Yeah a poster in the middle, but does that make it "truly awful"?
On a league matchday you get a £3.50 programme with a kids fold up insert. That part was the whole programme last night and it's fold up nature annoys me so much. Every other page is upside down unless you unfold it.
So it was trully awful on that level and also because, for me, a reduced programme means a reduced meaning game. Last night wasn't that for me but the club clearly thought otherwise.
Why was it a "kids programme"? Articles by Ainsworth, Bloomfield, match preview, opposition info, teams on the back - £1. Yeah a poster in the middle, but does that make it "truly awful"?
On a league matchday you get a £3.50 programme with a kids fold up insert. That part was the whole programme last night and it's fold up nature annoys me so much. Every other page is upside down unless you unfold it.
So it was trully awful on that level and also because, for me, a reduced programme means a reduced meaning game. Last night wasn't that for me but the club clearly thought otherwise.
I get one bought for me by my passenger but, apart from an interest, shared by the guy who sits next to me, in pen pictures of visiting players, most of it I already know from the official website etc or am not interested in. My “neighbour” rarely buys one now!
Talking to a couple from a visiting club recently they remarked that, of all the clubs they’d visited, ours had the most expensive programme.
I'm just spit-balling here, but it could be the difficulties of getting two substantial programmes out in a week. Editing. Printing times. Contributors getting copy in on time.
Deadline for a Tuesday night game was (probably still is) the Thursday before, so I guess it would be Friday for Wednesday - so that's not ideal. Wednesday deadline for a Saturday game, I think.
Comments
I’ve just pulled my head out of the sand long enough to see that one of the smallest clubs in League One is heading a division that includes half-a-dozen former PL clubs and a host that have played in the Championship in recent times. So, I’m happy to conform to stereotype and lead the cheers for that.
Remarkably, we will lose games occasionally and that should be put into context, which most posters on here have done. As Chairboyscentral pointed out, that was not the case with many of those on the FB page.
I find his writing and research to be of the highest order and I don’t think he needs any lectures on how to express his views. He is writing not as a neutral but as a fan and I for one applaud his contributions.
I would have played Charles tonight and rested him Sat, so he would be available against Ipswich. Changing 2 out of the usual reliable back four, is quite a risk in a cup game.
Im pretty sure Gareth regrets not giving Bayo another 15 or 20 mins yesterday, Samuel's lack of accleration and general performance was that bad, i would have taken him back off for Parker, and kept our only goal threat Kashket on.
Thanks Alan, I do it as something I like doing as much as anything, but the overwhelmingly positive feedback is a bonus! When we lose a league game, I like to think I'll analyse it accordingly, but I very much believe in Gareth's philosophy that we win or we learn. I was referring mainly to Twitter, but I can imagine what the FB page must be like without ever having ventured on there myself.
My understanding is that Charles is physically simply not able to play twice a week.
It is what it is and that is extremely frustrating.
However, we are top of league one and with an exciting few months ahead, i'll take that!
That's one of those stats anomalies, as surely noone watching Stewart, Charles, Sido and Phillips would put Phillips anywhere above top 3 for aerial dominance.
Hear hear @glasshalffull.
I felt very sad indeed when their second goal went in, totally against the run of play. Stupidly perhaps, I’d been anticipating that we would narrowly beat Tranmere, beat Chichester City and, hopefully, land a plum tie in the third round. Most supporters probably had similar expectations. A scenario in which we could enjoy at least a couple more entertaining Cup games and, above all perhaps, add several hundred thousand pounds to the coffers.
I went to bed last night with that shattered dream nagging me for some time and woke this morning briefly wondering if it had all been a ghastly nightmare. Reality soon dawned of course and the empty sad feeling returned. If only the clock could be put back 24 hours. Why were tantalising prospects of much needed football fortune snatched away from us in such cruel fashion?
Little consolation but at least we can fall back on that old chestnut of being able to concentrate on the League with the Be and Breakfast thing the only distraction.
Bed and Breakfast.
>
To an extent, the competitive football bit was one of the points I was (poorly) trying to make last night. We needed to stay in one of the three competitions for just this reason (and the money! ?). Although we don't like it, the TinPot Trophy is a reasonable platform for this. This is also an interesting test for the Couhig family and their business/revenue plans for us. Oh well, milk spilt, horses bolted etc.
Anyway, "we go again" on Saturday and have another chance to confound the swanky rich teams below us! COYB!
Why was it a "kids programme"? Articles by Ainsworth, Bloomfield, match preview, opposition info, teams on the back - £1. Yeah a poster in the middle, but does that make it "truly awful"?
Cu> @eric_plant said:
It just seems to be the case that the FA Cup isn't as important as the league. As an older supporter I don't get this.
For me if Charles can only play once a week rest him last Sunday. If you want to rest JJ don't do it at the same time as Charles. If you are going to give Bayo 45 mins why not later rather than from the start.
Maybe I am out of modern touch but last night was a big game for me and I didn't get that impression from the club.
The Bayo thing was strange, unless he had a knock.
Gaz isn't normally a complacent guy at all, so it seems hard to believe we'd be resting our key man with a mere 1-0 lead.
Maybe the thinking was that a more mobile guy would mean we were more able to create more from the extra space? But in reality it meant we didn't win one header for the rest of the game in attacking positions, and despite the high shot count, barely laid a glove on them.
Financially it was huge. I felt very apprehensive about resting half the back four that has served us so brilliantly for so many games.
The league is clearly more important than the cup in general. Extenuating circumstances with the draw and TV money made it tougher to split them, but come the end if the season, 3 points in the league could be crucial.
Promotion money would dwarf the tv money and the likely loss to an average northern championship club in the 3rd round.
Not like we didn't try and win either, dominated the entire game, just couldn't find the killer goal
Hopefully the way forward for the programme, although maybe in a format that's easier to read at the game. I still buy them and wrote for ours for a season, but they are probably on their way out. Could preserve them at least a while longer by condensing/shrinking them, though.
Much as I have enjoyed editing and writing for our progamme over the years, I fear that they have an uncertain future in this age of social media, club websites etc. Perhaps the idea of a condensed version put forward by Chairboyscentral is the answer. It would be interesting to have a survey on this subject.
I think Mascoll and Phillips can do a decent job at times. But I don't like seeing both of them together, especially on one side of the defence.
We need to make sure we only make 1 change at a time if possible going forward.
Smaller and cheaper certainly seems the way forward.
I used to buy every game, but as anyone who goes for years realises at some point - you end up with a tonne load of the things, and it's fairly unlikely you'll keep re-reading them.
I did used to enjoy sniffing through the stats and the page with the games and lineups on though, like any self respecting geek should do.
On a league matchday you get a £3.50 programme with a kids fold up insert. That part was the whole programme last night and it's fold up nature annoys me so much. Every other page is upside down unless you unfold it.
So it was trully awful on that level and also because, for me, a reduced programme means a reduced meaning game. Last night wasn't that for me but the club clearly thought otherwise.
Exactly @Malone unless forced to by injury or suspension.
Anyone know @DevC 's view on VAR? It would be good if he could shoehorn his view into every post on a game from now on.
Off off off @Wendoverman .
Already in the dressing room opening the McCoys @micra
Fair enough
I get one bought for me by my passenger but, apart from an interest, shared by the guy who sits next to me, in pen pictures of visiting players, most of it I already know from the official website etc or am not interested in. My “neighbour” rarely buys one now!
Talking to a couple from a visiting club recently they remarked that, of all the clubs they’d visited, ours had the most expensive programme.
I'm just spit-balling here, but it could be the difficulties of getting two substantial programmes out in a week. Editing. Printing times. Contributors getting copy in on time.
With apologies to pollmeister @eric_plant:
Would you prefer a) a big fat programme for a Cup Replay or
b) a bit fat programme on Saturday for the league game?
Deadline for a Tuesday night game was (probably still is) the Thursday before, so I guess it would be Friday for Wednesday - so that's not ideal. Wednesday deadline for a Saturday game, I think.
With a paragraph included on competing at our natural level?
Put Marvin down @Wendoverman .
@micra who is Marvin?