Bloody hell @EalingWanderer and @kim_il_swan leave it out.
Kone was excelling as a sub early in the season. Him starting is not a given for me. Bez and Udoh putting it about and the King then coming on to score a hat-trick is bearable.
Iāve added an emoji to make it clear my post was in jest
I just think Kone must be exhausted.
Not sure adding an emoji improves it. Not nice.
Hopefully Stockport rest players come the last game. Charlton and Orient will be tough. Charlton can still catch us. Beat us and Wrexham and theyre in with an outside chance and they will fancy that.
I quite like this calmness that Dodds exudesā¦
And having Sadlier back is like a new signing for the run in
Took my nearly 3 year old today. Although heās still a bit bamboozled by it all he seemed to have fun and we were glad of some goals. Heās seen a few games so far, including two games without any. Nice to see them go in at our end as well, although little man was very concerned Luke would get his kit muddy sliding around in front of the away section at the end.
There were a couple of kids down the front who were only a little older and seemed to be having the time of their life! Great to see.
As for the game itself, I thought the first half was pretty poor all round. Bolton were slightly better and we really struggled to make the ball stick upfront. Agree with others Iād rest Kone. Hopefully it is a fitness issue, rather than a loss of confidence or ability, but he looked really poor today.
We werenāt spectacular but the defensive shape really is very effective. Fred offered fantastic cover at RWB. Although heās been less effective going forward lately, the work he does covering the opposition winger has been really good.
Great away day is Bolton
Superb travelling support
Clean sheet
Last minute goal in front of the away fans
Dodds getting it right at the business end of the season
Wrexham drawing, with some help from Butch
Matty getting a win against Derby
Sads back on the pitch
The perfect away day
Lots to be happy about
Point 1 - Absolute cobblers. Certainly the person I know personally from that list was absolutely cock-a-hoop weād won. Iām sure you have the capacity to understand the concept of supporting the team but not the regimeā¦
Point 2 - Kone is going through a tough patch, IMO because heās a marked man. Opponents have been detailing at least one player to pretty much cling on to him like a limpit. This frees up space for our other players to do some damage. Any scout worth their salt will see that.
The Ā£7m bid you referred to was Lutonās which was more like a potential Ā£7m after all add-ons had been exhausted after an initial Ā£3m (no doubt paid on the tick). We were 100% correct to turn it down, it is very likely bigger clubs will be back again with bids whether we go up or not.
Given my shocking record at attending games home and away this season, a single win against Crawley, Iām seriously contemplating not going to AP this Monday
On a more serious note, did anyone see Bradley clapping the Bolton fans and then giving the wanker sign?
Just finished watching the game on the reply and as many said, first half was poor and, to me. seemed an extension of last Saturday where everything seemed a little bit too far away from Kone, leaving him a lot to do on his own up front. Hopeful longer balls that didnāt have much hope of sticking. The (very) positive was that the defence looked solid as it has done for a while and gave Bolton nothing either
Second half the defensive line seemed to be 5 or 10 yards further forward bringing everything a bit further to the top end of the pitch. This allowed much more interplay and linking up with Udoh/Kone/leahy/fred et al, although at times it still think itās odd to see Humphreyās as that link just infront of the back four when I think he is better further forward.
Kone looks tired and I think at the back end of his first full season on professional football he absolutely has a right to be. Doesnāt seem to be as explosive as he was at the start of the season but that might also be because teams pay more attention to him and mark him out of the game a bit. Iām also wondering if he is still carrying a bit of an injury as I donāt think he has been at his best since he missed a month(?) or so at the start of the year. Another preseason in him and heāll be a monster for whoever has him (I desperately hope thatās us whatever league weāre in)
Iām in two minds as to whether Iād rest him on Monday. I might be tempted to start Bez and Udoh, although Bez himself is only just back.
Said in the last game that I think we are missing Harvie as Leahy isnāt a direct replacement, but his dead ball delivery can be excellent. I donāt think we have played to his strengths recently either by having just a deep back line as we did first half. He doesnāt have the turn of pace to get forward and back but thatās not direct negative reflection of him, per se, and in the second half he showed what he can add if the team is set up to suit him a bit more.
Movement at set pieces was very good again and paid off for Taylor.
Goes without saying, but very tough last 3 games stock port look safe from dropping out of the playoffs and difficult to catch us. This could be vital. I thought Orient had more of a gap to Reading than they do so this could really be a tough tough game for us.
Roll on Charlton. Iāll take a similar scrappy 1-0 over them on Monday as we did on the last game of last season. Although they could still do us a huge favour next Saturday even if we lose Monday.
What a crock that statement is. The mark of someone who just doesnāt understand supporters. Most likely someone whoās spent most of their time in an executive box, or maybe even a Boardroom?
Yesterday, I was bored to tears for 45 minutes, increasingly excited as the second half wore on and ecstatic at the end.
Is that allowed?
Excellent post by the Dancing Yak, especially the last sentence which I think is significant. Itās possible that both Orient and Stockport could be safely in the playoffs by the time we play them with no realistic chance of moving to a higher position. If that were the case they would have no great incentive to beat us and their respective managers would probably rest key players. On the other handā¦ā¦.
Anyway, MDās record is now 25 points from 14 games which, if repeated over a full season, would be enough to make the playoffs almost every season.
The mood on the Charlton forum is that 2nd place is there for the taking. Should be a spicy game on Monday.
There is absolutely no way Orient can be safely in the play off spots, when we play them.
Poor Journalism Mr Parry, ever thought of a post with the BFP, with that fact checking.
Orient will have a maximum advantage of three points over seventh place going into next Saturdayās game so whatever happens on Monday there will be plenty riding on the game for them.
We could be up by Saturday 2.30pm or 7.30pm. Or our automatic promotion hopes could be over by Saturday 7.30pm. More nerves to shredā¦
To be fair to him, I think he was responding to my pre-edited post where I said I thought they would be safe. I then went back and checked and saw they are much closer to Reading than I thought. Thought they were at least 3 points clear after yesterdayās game.
Charlton will almost certainly need to win their three remaining games. If they do we would only need four points to stay ahead of them. (We would need to get six points in that equation to guarantee staying ahead of Wrexham).
From talking to Bolton fans on the way back they have had a mixed but mostly disappointing season after starting badly and didnāt hold out any hope for play offs or for yesterday. Charlton have underperformed for years but have a very good squad and will be really up for it. Should be a good occasion hopefully with a big crowd. A win could be massive as would Hollywood dropping any points.
Interesting to see if Kone starts, I donāt think heās been as bad as some have suggested but hasnāt really been on form and probably wouldnāt have made two starts so close to eachother even at his peak. Dodds doesnāt seem like he would make huge changes but maybe one where heāll have to keep a close eye and make some earlier subs if needed.