Agreed but my instinct tells me since Duff arrived it’s defensive howlers rather than a poor midfield that generally is our undoing.
We still have a superb record in terms of goals conceded since Duff arrived though so it feels a little harsh.
In his post-match interview, Ravell acknowledged that he sometimes deploys a keeper “injury” to discuss tactics with the rest of the team. He questioned it being used three times without the sub keeper warming up.
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I think our defenders have done well and some have been a bit hard on them. In relation to the playoff fight I think Luton fans have turned on their manager and the manager turned on the fans which is not good for them ,Stevenage aren’t good enough in my opinion and Reading are two reliant on Marriot. I think the teams who have a chance of breaking into the playoffs are ourselves and Plymouth. Which leaves us to how many if any will drop out of the playoffs. Think Huddersfield are vulnerable equally Bolton, Stockport and Bradford could have a bad run of form . Let’s just hope we can have a strong run of form in the next 13 games and we have a good chance.
Stevenage literally invented the ‘injury timeout’
Come on, now. For 10 years we had the reputation of the dark arts masters. Everyone I speak to when I go away talks about Gareth Ainsworth and Akinfenwa to this day.
I’d say the likes of Bolton (11 points ahead) and Stockport (9 points ahead) are already too far to catch, but stranger things have happened.
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Of course. But no-one can hold a candle to (former Wanderer) Graham Westley’s legendary antics.
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Can we still get Bradley Fink out on loan to a Conference team? If we could do that maybe he can get more game time and build his confidence.
From what I have read, such loans are permitted outside the EFL transfer window, especially for young players like Bradley. Maybe that would be the way forward if right?
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Hes pur 3rd choice centre forward, with one just back from an injury. We aren’t loaning him out. Also, unsure how a loan move to non league would be remotely good for his confidence. He just needs to stay, build up his strength and improve at the club.
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That’s like a manager complaining one of our players cheats (Betsy I think it was) because he never tracked back or did the defensive side of the game.
Think about those Revell comments again. He’s basically saying “look, I do the injury timeout thing as well but at least I try and make it look like I’m not by making my sub goal keeper also pretend. We’re doing extra pretending to make sure the on field pretending looks more real” - like that makes it better?!
I’m not going to lie, on the one hand I find the keeper faking injury really frustrating.
On the other hand I find Norris feigning that he has cramp hilarious in how preposterous it is a keeper, who barely runs compared to his team mates, is being hit by cramp.
It’s also a massive signal to me that it’s 100% preplanned and probably does it when signalled to do so.
After a save/contact that’s more spur of the moment. Just sitting down randomly with a “I have cramp” look slapped over his Chevy Chase, that’s planned.
Initially I thought a loan move to League 2 might help but his lack of physical presence would mean he is likely to struggle more at that level. The OG seem happy to admit mistakes e.g. Magnus leaving so I assume we will let Fink leave in the summer. He hasn’t had a sniff even when we’ve had injuries it’s clear Duff doesn’t rate. Hopefully that means we sign Lowe plus another number 9 and I would get Woodrow back permanently if we can too.
But they must have known we’d likely sign Lowe.
3 strikers is too many when you don’t rotate.
I mean, given our away form, you’re absolutely right. But we do have a game in-hand on them, and we are to play them in a couple of weeks. And they don’t have the easiest run in either.
If we can do a Charlton this season, I will be very happy.
But, again, going on our away form, I think just each game as it comes. I’m actually more worried about Burton at home than Bolton away!
Bradley needs to stay.
Lowe is nowhere near fit and it’s probably that simple.
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Lowe is perfectly fit! He’s missed less than two months.
Hes also said he was expected to be out fir 12 weeks, and is back in 8. Im not sure hes perfectly fit, but probably just about fut enough, with risks attached
3 strikers is probably the number needed, im sure Brad will be on the bench at some point soon.
Stoke initially thought the injury was worse than it was. He had a minor broken leg (stress fracture). He was arguably fit enough to play a week/10 days ago but Stoke wanted to make sure he was OK first. I suspect if he was our player he would have played from the start v Reading.
The chewing of the minutiae illustrates there’s not much to really complain about after yesterday’s performance and result.
It’s something of a rarity but I can’t think of a single thing that has irked me about Michael Duff since he’s been in charge. Any issues are the making of those above him, or the players themselves.
I really admire his leadership skills. Several Gasroom correspondents had Niall Huggins and Bradley Fink in their starting line-ups yet neither were named in the 18-man squad. He’s managed both Caolan Boyd-Munce’s calf injury and Ewan Henderson’s hamstring injury responsibly, despite taking stick for it. I expect him to do likewise with Nathan Lowe too, and he’ll start on the bench against Burton Albion again next weekend.
I did get the impression he was having a bit of a pop back at his critics in his post-match interview yesterday, and good on him for that.
I can’t get outraged by Will Norris’s gamesmanship for the reasons already stated.
I thought all of our players contributed to the win yesterday which is what you want. A really competitive squad competing with each other. That’s how you raise the level of performance.
Perhaps one area of concern is controlling a game for 90 minutes. I guess that’s a challenge even for the top sides, and it’s certainly an area where there’s some room for improvement.
Duff has mentioned in his last couple of interviews that it’s a good thing we still have to play our play-off rivals, and would have the opportunity to take points off them.
Given our appalling away record, it would be optimistic to think we can go to the likes of Cardiff City (1st), Lincoln City (2nd), Bolton Wanderers (3rd), Stockport County (4th) and Huddersfield Town (6th) and win, but we’ll have certainly earned it the hard way if we do somehow claim a top six finish.
The centre-back debate is interesting. I’m not sure why some are trying to argue they’re beyond criticism, especially following a week where their individual errors have cost us five points, and damaged our faint play-off hopes.
We’re about the find out whether Dan Casey and Anders Hagelsjkaer are good enough, both individually, and as a partnership, to sustain a promotion challenge in the next few weeks. It could be argued they’ve already had successful seasons as they’ve established themselves as first-choice, ahead of standout summer signings Connor Taylor and Taylor Allen. I hope they both take their chance, improve and justify @eric_plant’s claims they’re both good enough to play in the Championship.
Winning is always enjoyable but watching the incredible meltdown from Luton Town and Reading fans has really made the weekend go with a swing!
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