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What we saying then?

3-1 Swindon. Ajose, Robert, Obika.

 I would love a clean sheet. Not sure if JB's Refugees Welcome sheet will make a reappearance as tribute to the last Barnsley fixture  :hmmm:

 :D

Perhaps with a hastily drawn 'Not' in between the two words, somewhat reminiscent of the recent Charlie Hebdo cover.

2-1 Us, Beeker and Ajose.

Cut out the silly mistakes at the back and we'll win 2-0 Kasim and Ajose.

My first game at the CG in ages. Not too sure what to expect, windy conditions, a leaky defence, Barnsley winning their last 5 points to an away win.

Hopefully our recent home form and fight when behind will continue today. 2-2

0-2

Another point closer to safety.

Nice idea.

We'll 'do a Norwich'...4-5

You're being realistic, I was being optimistic  :)

it'll be a great game or we'll be thrashed. can't make my mind up.

Conceivable we could end today in the top half. They're missing a few and played midweek so get at them early and cut out the moments of madness at the back.

4-2.

Goals today no question - hoping for 3-2 but could be 2-3 COYR

Tykes to continue their good form to storm into a 0-3 lead at half time. Branco header pulls one back early in the second half but that's as good as it gets. 1-3.

I had to go back & read that in the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android.

(http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/hitchhikers/images/f/f9/Your_plastic_pal_who's_fun_to_be_with!.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110305210310)

Nil all

Ha ha! Predicting victories is just something I don't do. I'm definitely in the 'prepare for the worst' camp. That way I'm happy to watch footy without ever feeling like booing or walking out early just because Town are playing crap.

Good to see mrs leftside looking so splendid in that pic.

Ha! Brilliant!

"I'm not getting you down am I?"

Thompson starts, Rodgers makes way

Looks like we've reverted back to 3-5-2 to fit Thompson in.

                       Vigeroux
           Branco Thompson Turnbull
Barry                                           BOO
              Kasim           Doughty
                        Robert
                    Obika Ajose

Quite like the look of that if I'm honest, hopefully having Thompson back can tighten the defence a bit.

😲
Hope you are right

Will he last 90 minutes?

Will be a tough game today, what's the chance of Michael Smith coming off the bench to score the winner :D

I'd go for 2-1 with the teams mostly being in deadlock.

Goals from Kasim and Obika.

It's the law!

Whats up with traore?

Ok lets see how we do without Rogers , wonder who's todays fall guy might be.

 Is Thompson good enough a player to initiate a change in what has been a successful system?

Sounded a dull first half

This match day thread is still more informative than Fanzai..

It was. Vigoroux slightly busier than the Barnsley keeper though.

Barnsley should have scored just before the break from a breakaway as we made a total mess of a corner/throw in.

very reasonable first 35, if devoid of chances/excitement.

 last 10 we looked more stretched at the back and susceptible to the counter especial down our right side

The problem with a 3-5-2 is that you can get outnumbered out wide and this was happening towards the end of the half.

That said, the best chances for Barnsley both came on the break from our corners, both required good saves from Vigs to keep it 0-0.

Still on for a late winner from Michael Smith :D

All a bit pedestrian, Barnsley happy to give us the ball and sit back  and hit us on the break , which they've done well

We are finding it hard to bring our forwards into it. We need to move it a bit quicker as always and a bit less predictable from Vigs clearances

Barnsley have had two good clear chances which Vigs made good saves from. Ajosie has had one half chance for us.

Game devoid of any quality. Balmy and Michael Smith on.

Here comes Smith to score the winner:)

Haha typical. Stupid formation.

Great! :-(

Williams out.

Are we going down again now then?

Turgid shit. Full of pointless passing.

We are killing the beautiful game.

I thought you'd stopped going Albert.

Awful game. The less said about today the better. Few positives.

Wish I'd stayed in St Lucia!

And me! And I came back over 20 years ago!

Yep your correct and 3 at the back never works, it means that your defence will be pulled out of position, creating chances for quick players pushing into the pocket of space left by the defender moving across to cover where the Left/ right back should be. We need to stop f@cking about ensure we close down players and space while moving the ball forwards quickly and to hell with this tippy-tappy shite. Not even LVG with UTD's players can make this type of football work, if we don't change and play a more German style with two rows of players behind the ball then we could be back into the relegation scrap very soon.

Im sick of this "nathan at all costs" feeling that's creeping in.First we change a system that has been working well recently to accommodate him and then Luke Williams admits that "he's (thompson) not quite there" yet still picks him. Its bullshit

We've not really left it after the early season slump...it was always going to be the focus of the season after that. Good news today is that Fleetwood lost.

I was getting so excited by the prospect of a dour 0-0 draw, especially when Barnsley started time wasting like they were happy with that....should have known better  :)

That was dire
 :suicide:

Poor match, OK opening but flaccid second half
Barnsley slightly better than us, no complaints they nicked it
We didn't really threaten them at all
Don't understand the need to change formation, thought our midfield looked congested. Maybe that's hindsight taliking
Games like this show we have come forward, but still have more work to do

That was painful to watch. The change to a back three is fine when the midfield are working and moving to create space but when they are static it plays into the opponents hands which happened all to often this afternoon. Barnsley are on a bit of a roll at the moment but as far as I can see this is a poor division full of poor teams and anyone can go on a run, just wish we could string six wins together but cannot see it currently.

 :hmmm:

Can't think of anything positive to say about that performance. It's as though they had a collective hangover, with no energy or penetration of Barnsley's defence.

Oh yeah, the wind was cold and did anyone else think there was a push a little before the goal. Not that it matters now.

Steve White certainly did.

Blatant shove

A few thoughts.

Thought N.Thompson made some great last ditch(ish) challenges today and kept Winnall in check for most of the game.

Doubty has something about him, think he'll be a good loan signing.

The squad is so thin, we bring on Brophy at RWB as I assume Barry went off injured (first time I've seen Barry I think, was relatively impressed), Michael Smith who we are trying to sell and Balmy who runs about a lot but not much else.

Given the poor standard of league 1 we'll stay up but think the rest of the season we're going to boringly hang about at mid-table.

500 Barnsley fans is a decent following I thought.

Didn't enjoy that all all, we didn't seem up for it today - the midfield was too static and guilty of overplaying on many occasions.  On reflection it was a mistake to go to a back 3, should have stuck to a 4-4-2 and been much more creative.  Nathan could have come in on the right and we would not have been so static.  Saying that, Barnsley were just slightly better than us on the day, think we only had two shots on target - service to the strikers was poor and our build-up too slow allowing them to stick to their system of a rigid 4-4-2 and snuff us out.  Thought the officials were poor.

Foolish mistake! Could be sipping rum punch, instead drinking costa coffee at Didcot Station!!

Barry got a migraine, which to be honest can be a bitch

Yep. Shoulder/push straight in Yaser's back by Winnall (I think it was them two). Ref missed it and then Winnall got in the end of the cross. Fine lines/decisions make a massive difference, especially in a tight/turgid game like that. We probably deserved a draw (no more) and probably would have got it if the ref had done his job.

I blame BO  :)

That was shite. Any signings before Monday? Would be nice...

What? Don't the team wash then?

The lack of team hygiene is a disgrace.

Moi? When I was away we were involved in drama and comeback wins. Now I'm back its tedium and crap defeats!

Shit.

That is all.

Who is coming down to Kent next week?

So I shouldn't be looking forward to a visit to the Wembley of the North, then...

Haven't read back yet.

That was shit.

Both sides poor.

Ref was a nit picking prick.

A match that deserved to be abandoned on 80 minutes and neither side get fuck all.

Hopefully will end all this play off bollocks.

Safety first and I reckon we still have enough to stave off relegation.

Highlights up on sky for those of a sadistic nature.

So what you are saying is 'get it forward'

Luke Williams has got to make a decision on Nathan Thompson. Is NT fit enough now to play as a right back and be able to get up and down playing 2 games a week? If he's not ready then Brad Barry keeps his place until NT is properly ready or Barry's form drops off which happens with youngsters.

Or does he compromise and play him as a sweeper where NT can be eased in a bit more. Brad Barry is more of a traditional full back than a wing back so we might loose some effectiveness down the right.

This is where Luke Williams has to be a manager and not a coach and be prepared to make tough calls and take the flack if it doesn't come off.

I quite like the style of keep ball but it seems we just over elaborate and today was to the extreme in the first half and then couldn't string two passes in the second.

It seems that when we are losing we go a little more direct and that seems to work.

You lot are so fickle it cracks me up. A good performance on Tuesday and we'll be playoff candidates again.

never been playoff contenders, anybody who thought we were is frankly on crack. even the exciting and fine attacking displays against Southend and Crewe were tempered by piss poor defending.

calling a shit performance a shit performance is fair enough, not fickle

Playoff was only a dream if we could put on a good run, something we haven't done all season. We need 5 wins, have 4 sides below us to play at home. Get that early and prep for next season. Lack of signings is worrying

paper thin squad, conceding goals for fun, inexperienced team/manager, constant churn of players...yup..no chance.

mid table will do me just fine. hate to sound reg I'll be a lot happier when we put a bit more of a gap on the bottom 4, just to cover the possibility of Ajose/obika getting injured.

the window(s) could yet change things for the better.

Williams said on the radio he was happy with the squad, and we have youngsters in the under 18's we can bring in. I took that to mean 'dont be disappointed when we dont sign anyone'

On another note, anyone notice the barnsley coach walk round the pitch in the second half to pass instructions to their player in the second half? How the fuck did he get away with that? Negates the point of the technical area!

I think he lobbed some sort of energy gel to one of their players,  wondered the same thing too

I thought that the first half was quite good, it went in a flash time wise. Second half - someone said turgid - I though flaccid was more appropriate.

Um. When the sixteen finger wankers scored I thought that they had won promotion to the Premier League. Cunts

Thompson didn't have a bad game and made several last-ditch tackles that saved us, but he was off the pace. I had no problem with him coming back in, but relying on him in a back three after the injury he's had was a reckless decision by Williams.

Fucking awful game to watch.

Ref was a pedantic cunt who seemed to give them absolutely every 50/50 decision.

They probably deserved to nick it in the end as they did try to get the ball into their strikers, unlike us, who seem content to just keep on over passing the fucking ball.

Smith livened things up when he came on. Definitely seemed up for it and willing to have a go, and for once, the wanker boo-boys laid off him.

Listened to the re-run of the Power interview after the match. Still claiming that 2 premier sides are in for Kassim.

Oh do fuck off.

I will defer to Gazza who was stood by my side for the match today and had his "I hate Yasser" head on

Premier League? You're having a laugh...

Swansea

Tourette's Tans?

Try "fucking cunt" *spit*

If thompsons gonna replace anyone it should be turnbull, who's been our weakest defender for a while and looks every inch a 19 year old who's played 60-70 games in a row without a break. Would do him good I reckon

I know what for l your saying Dave, got away with a couple yesterday too.

But for me Thompson should be the right hand side of a back 4. That means choosing between Thompson and Barry, that's what managers have to do, make though choices.

This

A point would have been a fair result and had the referee (who was shite) given a foul for a push in the lead up to the goal, we'd have had one. As mentioned, don't agree with Williams changing the formation to accommodate Thompson.

Very frustrating at times, passes underhit or overhit and half hearted challenges being made.  Throw ins seem to be a particular problem. 90% of ours end up with the opposition gaining possession and we don't seem able to mark properly when the opposition have one.

Slightly concerned that Williams said in his interview that he's happy with the players we've got and we have a strong squad. If that's the case, wht are we sitting in the bottom third of a poor league?  Also said if we lose a couple of players before the transfer window shuts, we've got fringe players and youth players who can come in.  Really?!  Are these some of the players who were nowhere near good enough when we were decimated with injuries?  Wil be very disappointed if nobody comes in, especially if players go.

I was disappointed when I first heard Nathan was in to form a back three. However, it seemed to work quite well for the first 25 mins - BOO and Barry always available high up the pitch and there seemed little need for them to get back to defend. Once Barnsley decided to step up a gear the wing-back problem resurfaced - big gaps at the back, centre backs getting pulled out wide, and wing-backs not getting forward enough to be a real threat. Basically, they end up doing little in no-man's-land. Attacking wise, the 442 of previous weeks worked much better, with the full-backs and wide midfield able to operate much closer to each other, resulting in getting further down the wings and getting effective crosses in.

Our throw-ins and corners are pathetic. Just throw the ball up the line (which we seemed to be doing under Ling), and get the ball in the box! Fucking offside from a short corner is beyond incompetence. Grrr!

Smith looked like he could be a good addition to the squad!

None of our players looked as though they were good enough to go on to somewhere better this transfer window.

Very much all of the above except you can't deny Barnsley were worthy winners. The longer the game went on the more likely they were to score.

Disagree with that. They were better at the start of the second half and then both sides seemed to be meandering toward a point. can only remember vigs making one save all game

Ah yes a few people have now mentioned it and it remains my bug bear how our players don't seem to want to make themselves available from throw-ins, they all just stand around like lummoxes giving the thrower little options, Barnsley were much better, being aware and taking quick throw ins to players making themselves available to retain possession.

And it looks like we do next to no work on set pieces, our corners are consistently dreadful. Barnsley should have scored at the end of the first Half from a short corner we made an absolute mess of and then in the second half we tried a short corner 'routine'. First one we were lucky to get another corner and from the resulting corner we played it short via a one-two and got flagged for offside. Schoolboy stuff really.

Anybody see how Kasim reacted when his corner hit he first defender stood a few yards away and went for a throw-in?  Somebody from the lower section of the DRS went to throw it back and it ended up closer to the TE than the pitch, Kasim gave him/her the eyes and a very nasty stare.  If he had got it into the box the first time it wouldn't have happened!

Ooooh, he gave them a nasty stare.

Yeah I saw it.  Can understand why whoever it was did it (Kasim is an arrogant twat and the corner was really pathetic) but like all variants of getting on the players backs it's still dumb, we want to win and they're the only people who can do it so why demoralise or piss them off?

Game summed up well by some earlier posts, we were shit, they deserved to win, but how the ref missed that fucking push in the build-up to the goal is beyond me; he was perfectly positioned.

It was a bit like Rodgers a few games ago who came over to give somebody the eyes when they gave him some verbals - if a visiting player had done it he would have been booed every time he touched the ball!!  Just think it is a slight lack of discipline on the player's behalf - talking of discipline what was the flare-up involving Balmy all about?  Thought he could have walked for his reaction.

So no one coming down to kent next week?

How many times did Vigs kick the thing out of play as well? Must have been a half a dozen times! I know it was windy but the Barnsley keeper didn't do it once. These basic mistake are so infuriating as a supporter.

We've now got 3 away games in a row, 2 at sides with the best home records in terms of defeats and the other against a relegation rival.  We could do with picking up at least 2 or 3 points, and hoping the other sides below continue to struggle.

Barnsley had a throw in, Balmy chucked it to their guy who took exception to what he thought was a hard throw(pussy) and pushed Balmy with both hands,a few words were exchanged and a half hearted melee ensued. If anything the Barnsley player should have gone

Possibility as they are young players with limited confidence who know they will get booed if they make a mistake?

Which may explain why Williams is keen to keep the short stuff if Vigorous is jyst going to ping it out of play if he goes long.

A fair point. Working on long kicks in training may be useful (if not practiced already)


Again fair enough and so it's the managers job to instil that confidence. Early days so let's hope it improves.

Then drop them, sell them on and get in experienced players that can take the crowd collectively saying 'For fucks sake!' At basic errors...

That's never going to happen, so getting the bird when you fuck up it is...

Pissed off with posts on here telling everybody not to show any disappointment during a game.

They are pro players and it goes with the territory. If you don't like it, fuck off and do something else....and guess what...when you fuck up in a proper job your boss might just get a little annoyed and let you know about it.....it's called life....

That would be a  good point if those giving stick were the boss but they aren't. Also a good boss understands his staff and who needs what in terms of response to a fuck off

A better comparison would be if 6,000 tax payers stood around watching a junior civil servant doing their job and booed, heckled and told them they're shite everytime they made a mistake.

Can see it helping anyone except making the moaners feeling a little better

think more than 6000 people would have told whoever was in charge of the Bruce Street  Bridges to fuck off if they had the chance.

it's part of football, for better or worse. if you can't deal with it you won't get far.

thought the fans tried petty hard to get behind the team yesterday, early in the second. the positivity must have had a reverse physiological effect on the players..

I went to a couple of games in Germany back in September and I have to say, they seem to have the right idea over there and we've got it completely wrong. The second game in particular stands out - it was between Greuther Fürth and Bochum in the Bundesliga 2. It was a smallish stadium (crowd was maybe 12,000ish) but behind one goal you had the 'Ultras' or whatever the German equivalent is. There were flags and banners and flairs and everyone jumping up and down in unison and several drummers (they were actual proper drummers mind you who could play a proper rythm and it actually added to the atmosphere).

The point of this is that on the field, Greuther Furth were getting well and truly, soundly hammered. They conceded in the first minute and the last and it didn't get any better in between. They ended up losing 0-5 and I was thinking that if it was at Swindon (or any ground in England to be fair) there would be booing and pissing and moaning and all sorts for the duration of the game.

Having said that, there was some moaning going on around us (understandably) but it was just amongst the fans. It wasn't aimed at the players directly and it didn't need to be. It was obvious that the home team were having a 'mare and they knew it and that the fans weren't happy. The players knew the fans weren't happy and the fans knew that the players knew etc etc but during the 90 minutes they got behind the team. I am quite sure that in the bars of Furth after the game and on their forums they tore their team apart but it didn't happen during the game.

I've said before, I'm not completely averse to the fans booing/having a go at the team if they have been particularly bad at the end of 45 or 90 minutes but only then and never individual players.

Yes, fans have a right to display a bit of frustration or disappointment at times. However, I think it's got to ridiculous levels these days and some/a lot of fans have such short fuses they are just waiting to jump on the players backs the second anything goes wrong. That is not supporting the team by any stretch of the imagination.

And that's just bollocks.

I can't believe vigs has gone through his goalkeeping life not having to have kicked it, it's an essential skill of being a keeper. he's not the best kicker in the world, but yesterday was just one of those days.

the short kick isn't based off vigs abilities. we did it with Wes too. we don't seem to have done it as much recently, thank fuck

This is the rub. Professional football players will always get stick. Its part of the job description. They have to man up, grow a thick skin and draw their over inflated wages every month. Little do the kids that play for us (being a young team as we're always being told) know how lucky they are. Getting payed for playing a game they'd play for nothing is a dream come true.
Many of us who hate their jobs, at best tolerate the time we have to spend there would bite their hands off to have a job like theirs.
Accept the boos and plaudits in equal measure. Realise you can be a hero or total wanker in a minute. Shrug your shoulders and get on with it.

in any case, did anyone actually boo the team yesterday? I didn't hear any. grumblings of disappointment on the odd off pass, yes, but no real hostility despite a backdrop of a poor game.

Yes, the manger or planner, not the bloke digging the hole because they thought he was digging it in the wrong place.

hahaha, no,  balmy took exception at being pushed after trying to take their throw and threw it at his face, could have seen red. their man retaliated, for sure, as did the twat that ran to join in

they'd have a hard job finding an actual worker.. I'll boo one if I see one if it helps

I think we're beginning to accept that we are a poor side and when the crowd stop responding to the dross being dished up, the next step is a drop in attendance. Then watch Power when he realises his business is going down the pan.
It'll be "if you want a club then start turning up" we've been here before. Many times.

Power's model is about developing players to flog on.

This season is abourt staying up and looking to see how we're set on the development front. As things stand, you'd say there has been a bit of progress, albeit from a very lowly base. If you view it as a 2 year cycle, then the likes of BOO, Barry, Balmy, Brophy, Stewart, Iandolo are the types we'll need to see more of in the next 18 months.

But the customers pay their hard earned cash they deserve to abuse them because they didn't do the footballing so good!  Its part of the job right?

Right

What we seem to offer is game time at league 1 level to players developed elsewhere. Those actually developed here are few and far between. As soon as bigger clubs come calling players are off. It doesn't matter how old they are or where in their development they are, they go. Be that kids, young pros or established players.
A new training ground isn't going to do a lot to change that in my opinion.

Aaaaagggghhhhhh, you're not a MK customer in disguise are you

They are customers right? "I pay my money I can shout abuse at whomever I like" - customer mindset.

Not sure that type of customer could deploy the object form of the pronoun as elegantly as you have done though.

Hang on...

 :pint: :pint: :pint: :pint:

"You're fucking useless Rodgers you cunt"

You have all the moves.  :wink:

.