My key worker is a Fulham fan and is going tonight, was talking to him earlier and he said Hector has really impressed in his 3 games, he agreed a deal in September with them but was obviously unable to play until Jan but has been training with them
Fulham fans bitter as on the battlefield that is Twitter. Apparently if a team that’s spent bundles doesn’t manage to beat a team that’s struggling it means they’ve “parked the bus”.
Bless em, they don’t realise that we finished the match with 2 CAM’s, a left forward, a right forward and a centre forward.
An important, hard earned and, ultimately, deserved point, which lifts morale and gives us a good platform for the potentially season defining games in February. I thought that Lee Bowyer got it spot on tactically and what a difference it makes to have Cullen, Williams and Taylor back in the match day squad. The ability to introduce quality and pace from the bench is something we've barely had this season. I would also not underestimate the psychological importance of finally keeping a clean sheet.
Fulham dominated possession in the first half but ended up playing largely in front of us and, save for a couple of decent saves from Dillon - which you'd expect a keeper of his class to make - they didn't really trouble us. Overall, they flattered to deceive and I felt that, lacking a player to really drive them on, they displayed a degree of complacency, as if the 3 points were going to drop into their lap. Their lack of cutting edge can partly be explained by the absence off their main man but only partly.
The second half was far more even and after the introduction of Jonny Williams and Lyle, we looked the more likely winners, with Doughty's pace and aggression also causing consternation for the Fulham back line. We lacked some composure and quality in the final third, with Oztumer and Doughty both slashing the ball wide from good positions, but we nearly won it with Lyle's sublime low ball into the box, which Hector just got to in time with Williams poised for a tap in.
Other than Hector heading badly wide when unmarked from a corner (our one really serious defensive lapse), Fulham created very little and we defended and covered well, maintaining our shape and discipline throughout. I was worried that Cullen, Pratters and Oztumer would run out of steam but they kept going manfully and offered more protection for the back four than we've seen for a very long time.
In defence, Phillips and Lockyer were up to their usual high standard and I thought that both full backs did reasonably well. Ben Purrington has little to offer offensively and lacks confidence on the ball but he is a solid defender in a back four - a shape that I feel suits us better now we are getting some midfielders fit again. Much as I like him, I thought that Jason Pearce struggled at times, getting caught in possession and conceding a silly free kick late on.
In midfield, Cullen turned in a fine performance and, remarkably for a guy who's been out for a couple of months, lasted the full 90 minute. What a tremendous young professional he is. Pratley kept up his now customary high level of performance and Oztumer, someone who is always looking to pass and move, worked his socks off until his late substitution. A more difficult game for Albie, although that is not surprising, given the amount of possession Fulham enjoyed.
Alfie Doughty had another very good game and his pace, workrate and attitude are outstanding. He constituted pretty much our only offensive threat in the first hour, with Hemed ineffective up front. I appreciate that running the channels is not Hemed's game but, playing with his back to goal, he won practically nothing in the air and repeatedly failed to hold the ball up and bring others into play. Admittedly Hector is a commanding defender but he can rarely have had a more comfortable game, albeit his was lucky to get away with an inexplicable tug on Tomer's arm when the ball was running harmlessly away for a goal kick.
The introduction of Taylor and Williams changed the dynamic of the game and hopefully they'll both be here, fit and ready to start against Barnsley. If we can beat them, we'll open up a 9 point gap (effectively 10 with our goal difference), which the Tykes will find it difficult to claw back in the last 16 games of the season. Having avoided a 10th booking, Pratters will be available and it would be great to have Field on the bench as well if he's fit.
In addition to signing a couple of players, perhaps we could use the week after training resumes to practice our corners, free kicks and throw ons, which were - with a couple of exceptions - pretty awful. Surely that is something that can be repeatedly drilled into the players at Sparrows Lane.
As to the current squad, retaining Taylor is absolutely imperative and signing Josh Cullen (if West Ham are prepared to sell) would be a real coup. Whilst those are the obvious priorities, we also really do need to extend the contracts of Tom Lockyer and Alfie Doughty. Their good performances will certainly not have gone unnoticed by other Championship clubs and we cannot afford a repeat of what happened this summer with Joe Aribo and Patrick Bauer; nor should it under our new ownership.
All in all, a very good evening, not least the news that Lee has signed up until 2023. We got there in the end and can now hopefully start to rebuild across the club.
Subs: Amos, Solly, Sarr, Morgan, Williams, Green, Taylor (would Oshilaja be in there somewhere? Probably)
Yep in my formation I have forced Aneke to play up top with Hemed. I think Hemed needs someone alongside him and this would enable Lyle to change the game more coming on for Hemed or Aneke later.
I have also switched out Williams for Oztumer as I think having the ability to complete change our style of midget helped us hugely, Fulham like many others don't know how to handle an energetic Williams as they tire.
I still don't really rate Oztumer, but he is another that is only just returning from injury so like Hemed and Aneke he also gets some time.
Doughty will not work on the left of a diamond. He is a winger (or wing back), he likes to hug the touchline and use his pace to do the fullback on the outside. Playing him in a diamond will either mean he stays inside and we lose what he is good at or he drifts too wide too much and we are a man short in central midfield.
If we are going for the diamond I would have him on the bench as an option to change the game with his pace running at tired defenders.
If we go back 3 he is first choice at LWB.
I am increasingly getting the feeling that we are going to go down the 4231 route. Just based on little snippets that Bow has said, the fact that we are targeting the likes of Maddison when we are already well stocked there, the loss of Gallagher meaning the diamond looks less likely to work and that we played it last night.
There are basically 4 distinct midfield roles in the diamond.
The Pratley role - base of the diamond, shielding the back 4, dropping in to cover a fullback, interceptions and turnovers. Field is also very good here.
The Cullen role - The deeper of the 2 box-to-box roles, license to get forward but primary focus on linking defence and attack, bringing the ball out and dictating moves. Think JFC could also play this role but would like a new signing in to replace Kayal and compete for this role.
The Gallagher role - Box-to-box Press high and hard, support attacks and needs serious energy and stamina to get up and down the pitch. We never really had anyone competing with Conor for this role and now we have lost him so thats a huge gap. Maybe Lapslie has the enngine but not convinced he has the quality to support attacks in the same way.
Number 10 - behind the strikers drive into the gap when strikers split taking a CB with them. Williams, Ozzy, Aneke all options here.
Obviously this is a bit of a simplification and there is massive overlap
The lack of someone to play the Gallagher role is a huge miss and I think Bow sees 4231 as a way to get the best out of the players we have. Pratley/ Field and Cullen/JFC are perfect for the 2 and we have Doughty/Green/Williams/Ozzy/Aneke to play behind the striker. Targeting Maddison would seem to back this up.
it also allows us to play only one striker which we may need to in the short term until Bonne is back and (if) we sign one.
Parker is doubtless feeling sensitive to criticism from his own supporters - as well he might, given their expectations and those of the club's owner.
I think Bowyer's plan was to contain Fulham, stay in the game and then have a go towards the end with the introduction of Williams and Taylor from the bench. it was an eminently sensible plan and one that nearly worked.
Phillips: best game for a while, if not overworked in the shot-stopping department, decisive on crosses and distribution much more reliable Matthews: decent against tricky opponents Lockyer: patchy as always, decision making and distribution can be awful, didn't cost us last night which makes a pleasant change Pearce: different sort of shaky to Naby but a couple of too familiar blunders came close to costing us, not 2nd division quality sadly Purrington: same as Matthews Morgan: didn't do much wrong, nearly pulled off a coupla worldy passes, quiet game overall Cullen: welcome back JC, just how much he's been missed was as clear as day to all last night, Pratley: E Mense A veritable colossus, was doing about 3 jobs at once while conducting the whole team like a virtuoso at the Albert Hall, genius POTS Doughty: tremendous effort and no lack of skill especially as he was out of position on the right for so much of the game, he deserves a good few days off to recover. He looked knackered or fed up for a spell 2nd half but collected himself and cracked on again which shows rare maturity indeed. Oztumer: tries his heart out but little quite came off last night, we're a better team with him in it Hemed: best showing yet which is feint praise indeed, stay on your effing feet unless and until someone actually clobbers you, you prat, you fool nobody with your inept theatrics just look ludicrous, try running about a lot more too, Taylor ran further in his cameo than you did in 70 minutes, berk. Williams: Made a huge difference when he came on, no disrespect to Albie Morgan Referee: desperately desperately wanted to get involved in something, fortunately for everybody else game was uneventful discipline wise, booking of Cullen was farcical, fell for the cottagers' juvenile rolling around and all those pantomime head injuries - twat.
Taylor: scared the crap out of Ream in particular just by pressurising him, atmosphere in the ground elevated too
Didn't understand why Doughty spent so much time on the right with Morgan/Williams on the left - it hamstrung all concerned
With a more experienced squad on show last night the team's biggest deficiency is clearer to see. All my group agreed that defenders, centre-halves especially, have to be the priority this window. There's enough bodies and quality for the front 6, for now, but the centre-halves are all blunder prone and there's no cover for them at all if they're unavailable. Where we find 2nd division standard defenders to hit the ground running is anybody's guess but with the back shored up our direction of travel in this league would only be upwards.
We have a lot of fancy Dans who can pass all day but didnt trouble their goalkeeper. Charlton, being a little team, couldn't match us for skill, so decided to unfairly use a tactic of being more passionate & workmanlike. We also had 2 major players out whilst little ole Chatlton had 4 of their recently injured players back & didn't have to play their youth team......how dare they.
Phillips: best game for a while, if not overworked in the shot-stopping department, decisive on crosses and distribution much more reliable Matthews: decent against tricky opponents Lockyer: patchy as always, decision making and distribution can be awful, didn't cost us last night which makes a pleasant change Pearce: different sort of shaky to Naby but a couple of too familiar blunders came close to costing us, not 2nd division quality sadly Purrington: same as Matthews Morgan: didn't do much wrong, nearly pulled off a coupla worldy passes, quiet game overall Cullen: welcome back JC, just how much he's been missed was as clear as day to all last night, Pratley: E Mense A veritable colossus, was doing about 3 jobs at once while conducting the whole team like a virtuoso at the Albert Hall, genius POTS Doughty: tremendous effort and no lack of skill especially as he was out of position on the right for so much of the game, he deserves a good few days off to recover. He looked knackered or fed up for a spell 2nd half but collected himself and cracked on again which shows rare maturity indeed. Oztumer: tries his heart out but little quite came off last night, we're a better team with him in it Hemed: best showing yet which is feint praise indeed, stay on your effing feet unless and until someone actually clobbers you, you prat, you fool nobody with your inept theatrics just look ludicrous, try running about a lot more too, Taylor ran further in his cameo than you did in 70 minutes, berk. Williams: Made a huge difference when he came on, no disrespect to Albie Morgan Referee: desperately desperately wanted to get involved in something, fortunately for everybody else game was uneventful discipline wise, booking of Cullen was farcical, fell for the cottagers' juvenile rolling around and all those pantomime head injuries - twat.
Taylor: scared the crap out of Ream in particular just by pressurising him, atmosphere in the ground elevated too
Didn't understand why Doughty spent so much time on the right with Morgan/Williams on the left - it hamstrung all concerned
With a more experienced squad on show last night the team's biggest deficiency is clearer to see. All my group agreed that defenders, centre-halves especially, have to be the priority this window. There's enough bodies and quality for the front 6, for now, but the centre-halves are all blunder prone and there's no cover for them at all if they're unavailable. Where we find 2nd division standard defenders to hit the ground running is anybody's guess but with the back shored up our direction of travel in this league would only be upwards.
Literally don't understand how anybody can think that. I understand that our centre-halves may have an error or 2 in them but in terms of numbers midfield has to be the priority. We have lost Gallagher and Kayal so need 2 CM's just to be on a par with the numbers we had at the start of the season and apparently that wasn't enough depth as we have had to play Morgan, Vennings, Dempsey, Doughty, Oshilaja in midfield when either not ready or out of position and have massively over-relied on a 34 yr old Pratley.
Even if we are getting players back we are still short on numbers in CM. That has to be the priority.
Whilst the CB situation isnt ideal they all have enough about them that they can put in decent appearances with a proper midfield in front of them. They have different strengths so go horses for courses and splay them in the system that works for them. Another CB when we already have 4 (plus Pratley who plays in a back 3) just feels like a massive luxury.
Right. Posting have read all of this and having contributed over on Friends of Fulham. It strikes me that Cottagers fans are a fairly miserable bunch and seem to regard us as a "team like Charlton", which is a bit annoying, so I've put in a couple of gentle reminders that against the top three, we're undefeated!
First - what an excellent point. We are still coming back from injury across the board, and I think that was evident, so I'm pleased that we were able to contain the likes of Cavaleiro and Reid without oodles of trouble. They had the ball and looked neat quite a lot, but we somewhat parked the bus when out of possession, and gave them zero avenues - playing to our strengths on the counter.
Second - what an excellent clean sheet! Phillips will be very happy with that, and I think Pearce played really well considering I've started to suspect he's not quite the tour de force he was in League One. Lockyer was solid, while Purrington had quality mixed in with that terrible concession of possession - Matthews was generally good.
Key to a clean sheet was Cullen. How we've missed him! Our shape is so, SO much better with him in the side, and he's probably our most important player in terms of Bowyer's philosophy. Yes he wasn't quite 100%, but it's a joy seeing him back and completing the 90.
I think Bowyer outclassed Parker. He's a gem of a manager and we are lucky to have him on this longer deal. As classy as Cairney, Arter, and Bryan are, we did really well to show them away from goal on their favoured left pegs. This led to frustration (as is rightly pointed out above) and attacks rarely coming to fruition. I never felt as if we were going to seriously concede. Parker didn't adapt shape to target our weak spots, nor philosophy. Reid and Cavaleiro were sort of aimless up top.
As for the rest of it - Williams and Taylor changed our attacking shape immeasurably for the better when they came on. Oztumer fluffed lines a couple of times but put in a great shift - same with Hemed, who's getting fitter bit by bit, but maybe has had so long off that he's not quite going to recapture what he was like as a threat for Brighton. Doughty is class; Pratley is a warrior; Morgan needs work but can't fault his effort whatsoever.
Great attacking substitutions.
Happy with this - if we can maintain fitness and match fitness with our current crop, we'll be okay, but I'd love to see a tad more strength in depth.
COYR!
I did wonder if that was you that posted on their forum as paddyaddick. Well done spreading the message of our love for Lee👍🏻
Played for the draw yeh right Ok our main aim was not to concede But think we proved a point by our attacking substitutions Parker is a prize knob with his comments! Actually he is a prize knob anyway
Played for the draw yeh right Ok our main aim was not to concede But think we proved a point by our attacking substitutions Parker is a prize knob with him comments! Actually he is a prize knob anyway
But could he compete with @blackpool72's 10 inch cock ?
Played for the draw yeh right Ok our main aim was not to concede But think we proved a point by our attacking substitutions Parker is a prize knob with him comments! Actually he is a prize knob anyway
But could he compete with @blackpool72's 10 inch cock ?
It was blatantly obvious how much Taylor adds to the team,prior to his arrival on the pitch,their no.3 was strolling around like Beckenbaur at his peak,once Taylor got in his face he was all over the shop. So,my opinion,get Taylor,and Williams signed up for 3 years,get Dougherty signed up before the vultures come calling. Pay these guys the going rate ,if it breaks our wage structure,so be it.You will not replace Taylor or Williams for less than 15k-20k a week plus transfer fees.This should be a priority,if it limits what we spend on new players,so be it. I would sound out Cullen as to his intentions.I Firmly believe that with these 4 players secured,we can make a show for the premiership next season. Look how much better our defence was with a decent midfield(apart from the passing out)
Do Agree, Management team signed, Taylor staying, Cullen, Williams, Hemed, JFC, Field, Froddo (little Turkish dude) all fit, Ankeke, Boone returning soon add in Green, hopefully Maddison, Docherty and maybe a couple of Gallen signings and not only are we good to stay up but top half finish is a realistic target, now running at 40/1 on Sky Bet
Played for the draw yeh right Ok our main aim was not to concede But think we proved a point by our attacking substitutions Parker is a prize knob with him comments! Actually he is a prize knob anyway
But could he compete with @blackpool72's 10 inch cock ?
Unfortunately that never came true. Stuck with the same old 9 inches 😁
"Fulham had only failed to score in one of their previous Championship games before Wednesday night, but they were held at arm's length for the majority of the night at The Valley.
Charlton's defence was exceptional and no one showed more commitment at the back than Lockyer - who tackled, headed, blocked and cleared everything that came his way."
Well I never Oggster I made Lockyer my MOM as well with a 7.5 (I don't give 8+ away lightly) but what do I know about the beautiful game 😉.
Me too. Thought he was excellent last night. Though Cullen was the main reason for our improved solidity
Sarr dropped to the bench... First clean sheet since October...coincidence?
Sarr played in our previous clean sheet. But then, so did Cullen, and as everyone has pointed out, he's why we were so much more solid today
Scored that day as well. If Naby had played yesterday we'd have won!
More likely draw the game 1-1 with Naby scoring at one end and doing something dopey at the other for them to score. That’s why we love him and get exasperated by him in equal measure.
Played for the draw yeh right Ok our main aim was not to concede But think we proved a point by our attacking substitutions Parker is a prize knob with him comments! Actually he is a prize knob anyway
But could he compete with @blackpool72's 10 inch cock ?
Unfortunately that never came true. Stuck with the same old 9 inches 😁
Comments
paulie8290
Bless em, they don’t realise that we finished the match with 2 CAM’s, a left forward, a right forward and a centre forward.
Fulham dominated possession in the first half but ended up playing largely in front of us and, save for a couple of decent saves from Dillon - which you'd expect a keeper of his class to make - they didn't really trouble us. Overall, they flattered to deceive and I felt that, lacking a player to really drive them on, they displayed a degree of complacency, as if the 3 points were going to drop into their lap. Their lack of cutting edge can partly be explained by the absence off their main man but only partly.
The second half was far more even and after the introduction of Jonny Williams and Lyle, we looked the more likely winners, with Doughty's pace and aggression also causing consternation for the Fulham back line. We lacked some composure and quality in the final third, with Oztumer and Doughty both slashing the ball wide from good positions, but we nearly won it with Lyle's sublime low ball into the box, which Hector just got to in time with Williams poised for a tap in.
Other than Hector heading badly wide when unmarked from a corner (our one really serious defensive lapse), Fulham created very little and we defended and covered well, maintaining our shape and discipline throughout. I was worried that Cullen, Pratters and Oztumer would run out of steam but they kept going manfully and offered more protection for the back four than we've seen for a very long time.
In defence, Phillips and Lockyer were up to their usual high standard and I thought that both full backs did reasonably well. Ben Purrington has little to offer offensively and lacks confidence on the ball but he is a solid defender in a back four - a shape that I feel suits us better now we are getting some midfielders fit again. Much as I like him, I thought that Jason Pearce struggled at times, getting caught in possession and conceding a silly free kick late on.
In midfield, Cullen turned in a fine performance and, remarkably for a guy who's been out for a couple of months, lasted the full 90 minute. What a tremendous young professional he is. Pratley kept up his now customary high level of performance and Oztumer, someone who is always looking to pass and move, worked his socks off until his late substitution. A more difficult game for Albie, although that is not surprising, given the amount of possession Fulham enjoyed.
Alfie Doughty had another very good game and his pace, workrate and attitude are outstanding. He constituted pretty much our only offensive threat in the first hour, with Hemed ineffective up front. I appreciate that running the channels is not Hemed's game but, playing with his back to goal, he won practically nothing in the air and repeatedly failed to hold the ball up and bring others into play. Admittedly Hector is a commanding defender but he can rarely have had a more comfortable game, albeit his was lucky to get away with an inexplicable tug on Tomer's arm when the ball was running harmlessly away for a goal kick.
The introduction of Taylor and Williams changed the dynamic of the game and hopefully they'll both be here, fit and ready to start against Barnsley. If we can beat them, we'll open up a 9 point gap (effectively 10 with our goal difference), which the Tykes will find it difficult to claw back in the last 16 games of the season. Having avoided a 10th booking, Pratters will be available and it would be great to have Field on the bench as well if he's fit.
In addition to signing a couple of players, perhaps we could use the week after training resumes to practice our corners, free kicks and throw ons, which were - with a couple of exceptions - pretty awful. Surely that is something that can be repeatedly drilled into the players at Sparrows Lane.
As to the current squad, retaining Taylor is absolutely imperative and signing Josh Cullen (if West Ham are prepared to sell) would be a real coup. Whilst those are the obvious priorities, we also really do need to extend the contracts of Tom Lockyer and Alfie Doughty. Their good performances will certainly not have gone unnoticed by other Championship clubs and we cannot afford a repeat of what happened this summer with Joe Aribo and Patrick Bauer; nor should it under our new ownership.
All in all, a very good evening, not least the news that Lee has signed up until 2023. We got there in the end and can now hopefully start to rebuild across the club.
If we are going for the diamond I would have him on the bench as an option to change the game with his pace running at tired defenders.
If we go back 3 he is first choice at LWB.
I am increasingly getting the feeling that we are going to go down the 4231 route. Just based on little snippets that Bow has said, the fact that we are targeting the likes of Maddison when we are already well stocked there, the loss of Gallagher meaning the diamond looks less likely to work and that we played it last night.
There are basically 4 distinct midfield roles in the diamond.
The Pratley role - base of the diamond, shielding the back 4, dropping in to cover a fullback, interceptions and turnovers. Field is also very good here.
The Cullen role - The deeper of the 2 box-to-box roles, license to get forward but primary focus on linking defence and attack, bringing the ball out and dictating moves. Think JFC could also play this role but would like a new signing in to replace Kayal and compete for this role.
The Gallagher role - Box-to-box Press high and hard, support attacks and needs serious energy and stamina to get up and down the pitch. We never really had anyone competing with Conor for this role and now we have lost him so thats a huge gap. Maybe Lapslie has the enngine but not convinced he has the quality to support attacks in the same way.
Number 10 - behind the strikers drive into the gap when strikers split taking a CB with them. Williams, Ozzy, Aneke all options here.
Obviously this is a bit of a simplification and there is massive overlap
The lack of someone to play the Gallagher role is a huge miss and I think Bow sees 4231 as a way to get the best out of the players we have. Pratley/ Field and Cullen/JFC are perfect for the 2 and we have Doughty/Green/Williams/Ozzy/Aneke to play behind the striker. Targeting Maddison would seem to back this up.
it also allows us to play only one striker which we may need to in the short term until Bonne is back and (if) we sign one.
I think Bowyer's plan was to contain Fulham, stay in the game and then have a go towards the end with the introduction of Williams and Taylor from the bench. it was an eminently sensible plan and one that nearly worked.
Matthews: decent against tricky opponents
Lockyer: patchy as always, decision making and distribution can be awful, didn't cost us last night which makes a pleasant change
Pearce: different sort of shaky to Naby but a couple of too familiar blunders came close to costing us, not 2nd division quality sadly
Purrington: same as Matthews
Morgan: didn't do much wrong, nearly pulled off a coupla worldy passes, quiet game overall
Cullen: welcome back JC, just how much he's been missed was as clear as day to all last night,
Pratley: E Mense A veritable colossus, was doing about 3 jobs at once while conducting the whole team like a virtuoso at the Albert Hall, genius POTS
Doughty: tremendous effort and no lack of skill especially as he was out of position on the right for so much of the game, he deserves a good few days off to recover. He looked knackered or fed up for a spell 2nd half but collected himself and cracked on again which shows rare maturity indeed.
Oztumer: tries his heart out but little quite came off last night, we're a better team with him in it
Hemed: best showing yet which is feint praise indeed, stay on your effing feet unless and until someone actually clobbers you, you prat, you fool nobody with your inept theatrics just look ludicrous, try running about a lot more too, Taylor ran further in his cameo than you did in 70 minutes, berk.
Williams: Made a huge difference when he came on, no disrespect to Albie Morgan
Referee: desperately desperately wanted to get involved in something, fortunately for everybody else game was uneventful discipline wise, booking of Cullen was farcical, fell for the cottagers' juvenile rolling around and all those pantomime head injuries - twat.
Taylor: scared the crap out of Ream in particular just by pressurising him, atmosphere in the ground elevated too
Didn't understand why Doughty spent so much time on the right with Morgan/Williams on the left - it hamstrung all concerned
With a more experienced squad on show last night the team's biggest deficiency is clearer to see. All my group agreed that defenders, centre-halves especially, have to be the priority this window. There's enough bodies and quality for the front 6, for now, but the centre-halves are all blunder prone and there's no cover for them at all if they're unavailable. Where we find 2nd division standard defenders to hit the ground running is anybody's guess but with the back shored up our direction of travel in this league would only be upwards.
We have a lot of fancy Dans who can pass all day but didnt trouble their goalkeeper. Charlton, being a little team, couldn't match us for skill, so decided to unfairly use a tactic of being more passionate & workmanlike. We also had 2 major players out whilst little ole Chatlton had 4 of their recently injured players back & didn't have to play their youth team......how dare they.
Even if we are getting players back we are still short on numbers in CM. That has to be the priority.
Whilst the CB situation isnt ideal they all have enough about them that they can put in decent appearances with a proper midfield in front of them. They have different strengths so go horses for courses and splay them in the system that works for them. Another CB when we already have 4 (plus Pratley who plays in a back 3) just feels like a massive luxury.
Big point against a top side tonight. A clean sheet and something to build on. Ready to fight and go again.
stay with us 
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Ok our main aim was not to concede
But think we proved a point by our attacking substitutions
Parker is a prize knob with his comments!
Actually he is a prize knob anyway
Stuck with the same old 9 inches 😁