Bolton to be up there for me
Definitely, I think some people forget with just 3 games to go we had a 1 point lead over Wrexham and were sat in an automatic promotion position.
Itâs hard to imagine that we wouldnât have at least had a few more points under Bloomfield.
Or not lost the last 3 games without a whimper.
We all knew that our only chance in the playoffs v Charlton was somehow holding on for two 0-0s and pens, or stealing a goal from one of our immense centre backs.
It was an absolutely huge missed chance.
However, weâre onto the start of something good here again and at least this year isnât the write off it felt about 8 weeks back.
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Morley not being a regular there is quite upsetting! But if they reckon they have better options, theyâre definitely in a good place!
Great fun afternoon. Some excellent work from our lads yet I didnât feel we were safe until number 4 went in. However I always felt optimistic which was the not the case under Dodds apart from maybe his first few games
Whatâs really nice to see is how the players are enjoying themselves in what is becoming a settled side (apart from injuries) with attacking threat off the bench. McNeally looks just what you want on 65 minute. Strong, quick and smart.
After the awful start I thought mid table was the most we could hope for but as the top six havenât run away with it there might be decent chance of some post season action.
Off to Port Vale we go with a song in our hearts and a spring in our steps.
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I wouldnât put it past us returning for Morley in January. We bid ÂŁ800k for him in August. Given heâs not playing, a similar bid might just get him now. (and thereâs no Bloomfield Luton factor either now).
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Now that would be one hell of a signing to really make us think we can do something big this season.
I canât believe weâre still talking about Morley, good player yes but playing under a system devised by Bloomfield, Itâs Duffâs team now and I am excited to see what he does with it and who he brings in. Iâm certainly not of the belief that we absolutely need to keep resigning players who had a decent spell with us during a loan once
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The âwe didnât sign Morley because the data said noâ brigade need to save this message and refer to it every time they are tempted to post something foolish
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We have the squad we have!
No amount of whataboutery is going to change it for now.
Looking at how Duff is getting us playing & both collectively as well as individually improving each game, it is debatable whether we need anyone else. To be honest given the size of our squad coupled with the quality of the youngsters coming through if we did need to add anyone we will need to offload players in January.
For me I think we should focus on the here & now, & support the team, the management & support staff in continuing to deliver performances & results like today.
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Also: Iâm not a Westergaard hater by any means, I think heâs looked ok in spells.
But if the data says: yes, splurge ÂŁ1m on Westergaard (even if it is at the behest of a would-be manager), but Morleyâs only worth ÂŁ800k, then I think the data model is pretty wonky.
Anyway. In other news, I had totally forgotten that Bakinson now played for Orient.
To me he was an OK squad player, generally did a job when he came on, but I didnât weep when he left either.
I saw he didnât even make their bench today, he may be injured though.
According to Soccerbase, heâs appeared 7 times for them since signing in the summer.
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Thought the accepted fee was 850k for Westy, though your general point still remains.
So true. I remember being amazed that despite our stumbling form under Dodds, that we were still in the mix. There was a spell when everyone bar Birmingham were just falling over each other.
Now itâs been demonstrated just how atrocious Dodds was as the coach, itâs difficult to imagine that Blooms, or a competent replacement, couldnât have got promotion.
Anyway, moving on, the teamâs unrecognisable under Duff and itâs great to be at Adams Park enjoying the whole experience again.
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Today was the first time weâve scored four goals in a game since 14th December last year (Shrewsbury Town 1 Wycombe Wanderers 4).
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My Bolton supporting colleague (season ticket holder) has said Morleyâs lack of minutes is because he is just not consistent enough and often disappears in games. Our former loanee Xavier Simons being ahead of him on merit. Morley may have shone with us because of who was around him allowing him to play. We have a different squad now and he may disappoint if he was to come back.
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The expectations would be high, so it could easily be a let down.
Weâre on a good path as we are, so letâs see how we even look by January. Maybe they wonât go for a mad revolving door tactic this time.
I think weâre in a far different situation to what we had with Dodds, and even in fairness to the latter he came in at a time where not only the base of the squad wasnât his, but he had a bunch of new signings who werenât even his choice and werenât established either.
We already have a relatively settled rota of established first-teamers, and with the exciting prospect of Scowen coming back in the not-too-distant future. Still donât know how serious Abbottâs injury was either, so we shouldnât forget about him.
For me the big question marks are:
Fink
Tilley
Huggins
Skura
And thatâs obviously Duffâs call to make - if he rates them, then OK.
If not, then try and ship them out on loan (if fit, not sure about Tilley?), and make use of the squad space.
As I bang on about a fair bit, I would definitely like to see us bring in a target man, so we can have genuine competition up front, and also a different approach for teams who play the low block.
Woodrow is getting into a good run of form, and he offers the hold-up play of a quality target man, but I still donât think we have anyone great in the air up front.
Iâm less worried than I was about CB cover now Hagelskjaer is also starting to settle down, and Casey too, but I still wouldnât mind a quality CB loan, an area where weâve been so spoiled in recent times.
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I think Lowry could do with going out on loan as he is not getting enough minutes at the moment and to be honest is a bit of a luxury player. Perhaps a spell at Gillingham where Gareth could give him valuable guidance and minutes.
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The line-up has nicely taken shape really, with reasonably clear first choice keeper, full backs, Leahy & Hendo and a front 3.
Centre back positions are probably well up for grabs and also the 3rd midfielder role.
Probably not as clear as it would have been before today that Taylor comes straight back in for Casey. And itâs probably our biggest conundrum on how to best fit Taylor in. Not certain centre back in a 2 is it.
The 4 players @PBo mentions have it all on them to break into the reckoning.
The jury is still very much out on Fink, but I canât imagine him going anywhere in January. Iâd like us to keep hold of Woodrow.
Tilley got injured in the LC game at Wigan and hasnât been seen since. Presumably heâs working his way back to fitness. Thereâs a player in there.
Huggins and Skura need to go elsewhere for more playing time at this stage of their career. I hoped Skura was going to force his way back in when he started in Duffâs second game, but since we went without a CB on the bench today he must he way down the pecking order.