What a great little run that we have built and long may it continue. I don’t think many will fancy playing us at the moment. I’m so easily led and a litttle bullish of us but another win could see us eyeing up the seventh place spot We are not going down this year
Very ironic game when you consider the performance @ Barnsley earlier in the season.
Seem to remember the game at Oakwell being one of the better performances from us for the most part, certainly in the first half - Barnsley weathered the storm that day through a bit of a wonder goal, and then pretty much took control in the second half, what with us typically only able to put in a one half effort.
Our own display this afternoon certainly looked a hangover from Tuesday night up in Manchester - I mean we raised our fitness to a level we cant sustain, so there was naturally going to be tiredness amongst the squad - Premier League players arent just better, they're fitter too, and it showed today... I dont think we were poor (We've certainly enough games where we have been this season), but we definitely didnt play like we did against Portsmouth or Lincoln.
Lucas Ness was the standout for me
Needs to improve on the ball, but reminds me in some way of John Terry, more so in the sense that he was never a quick Centre-Back himself, and remember him saying that he learnt to deal with quicker attackers by anticipating where the ball would be going - Ness today showed similar qualities, his reading of the Barnsley attacks was outstanding, and surprising to see from someone so inexperienced really.
Special mentions to Henry and Bonne - At the time I thought they replaced the wrong people, would have liked to have seen the latter up front with Leaburn (Although Miles was probably shattered from Tuesday night); Bonne though did extremely well, and if he puts a shift in like that each week, I dont care how many goals he gets for himself... Proper team effort - As for Aaron Henry, it feels as though we're MAYBE seeing the potential that has seen him drifting around the First Team for a few years... Could all be down to the fact that he's of course finding some form, because he's finally getting consistent minutes. But his ability to pick a long ball today verged on the exquisite, those on the other end of the pass just need to learn to stay onside, and we may start to benefit from them.
Bring on Peterborough, we dont need to fear any opponent now... Just our own injury jinx!!
Ness had a superb game. AMB just has an air of confidence and is a big unit. Kane showed glimpses of quality. Fraser was excellent. Campbell excellent. Enjoyable afternoon and we didn't even chuck them a goal late on to leave us all clinging on.
Campbell's left foot should be insured for several million. It's a very rare artifact at this club.
What on earth does this even mean? Beer talk lol?!
Sorry, clearly too cryptic
It was good to see a left footed player, playing on the left, using the flank, and providing good crosses because there has been very little of it this season due to available personnel.
Steer clear of The Sun crossword it will blow your mind.
Pretty certain Campbell is right-footed. It’s great that he can go both sides.
Lookman was the last player we had who could properly do that
Aaron Henry won't even be twenty until next August. Indeed his birthday is the 31st which would've made him the youngest kid in his year when at school. I think he is a very good prospect, and it is not appropriate to judge him definitely just now.
Henry's contract expires at the end of the season and he's refusing to sign a new one, so we probably won't see his potential come to fruition
We can quote you on that can we ? You know him and his family ? His agent ? Source ?
Oddly aggro response. Sources on here, from two of the more reliable ITKers. The lad wants to play. Garner said he wanted him to sign three months ago. But that was three months ago. Hopefully something changes and he does but the clock is fast ticking.
Say what you like about TS but he's done a good job at getting our youngsters to sign long-term contracts. Henry's isn't running down by coincidence.
Was running a bit late getting to the game today, touch & go if I would be in my seat in time for KO, then some twat decided to have an accident by Falconwood, which mean I missed the first 20 mins and still not seen Campbells goal. I thought we looked very tired today, so to come away with a victory against a very decent opponent is very pleasing.
Nice to finally see us grinding out results when needed. To have any chance of success in this division, you need to know how to win ugly when needed, and we did exactly that today
Just one comment to draw a line under today's heroic performance from the lads.
2022 featured a squad of players that frustrated the faithful at times, excited them at others but on the whole failed to "leave everything on the pitch" with the regularity their manager & the fans had hoped.
January 1st, 2023....With the dawning of a New Year, came what we all hope will be the dawning of a new ethos at our club. Workrates increased, confidence built, all concerned stepped up to the plate and points were deservedly gained.
Clearly, the new gaffer has played a huge part in this "transformation" but just as clearly, it's evident that he has invoked a belief in his squad that's been lacking in recent months. Suddenly, it seems that everyone of them is giving his all for the team & for this Red Devil who has won their respect from day one. Long may it last.
Those dejected players leaving the Kassam Stadium just 16 days ago, were an honest bunch, albeit lacking a vital spark to turn acceptable performances into valuable points.
But, since the visit to Fratton Park on New Year's Day, the tables have been turned for all to witness.
Forget age, forget experience, forget frailties, forget reputation. It's what's inside that counts....the fighting spirit & commitment until the final whistle is blown.
9 points in the last 3 league games. And an awe inspiring display of guts & determination at Old Trafford, gaining plaudits from much further afield than SE London.
Be in no doubt.
Those wearing the red shirt are the new, improved Boyz to Men.
Campbell's left foot should be insured for several million. It's a very rare artifact at this club.
What on earth does this even mean? Beer talk lol?!
Sorry, clearly too cryptic
It was good to see a left footed player, playing on the left, using the flank, and providing good crosses because there has been very little of it this season due to available personnel.
Steer clear of The Sun crossword it will blow your mind.
Pretty certain Campbell is right-footed. It’s great that he can go both sides.
Lookman was the last player we had who could properly do that
Tbf, CBT has put in a couple of great crosses with his left foot recently.
10 points every 5 games is what is needed for promotion from this league so let's hope we can sustain this form and there may be a slim hope of sneaking into 6th. Going to be some tough tests coming up so could be an exciting second half of the season.
75 points is often good enough for 6th place, but it can go as high as 80. We probably need to average more than 2 points per game between now and the end of the season to get to 6th, and that is having already won our last 3 matches. A month ago this forum was awash with condemnation of the players and proclamation of how only Dobbo is “good enough”. Three wins, of which not all of them have been entirely convincing, and suddenly we’ve got people trying to convince themselves that this team is capable of half a season of championship winning form and can make the playoffs and proclaiming Holden as the new messiah.
The ease with which some of you will drop your knickers is quite alarming.
Adkins was undefeated in his first 5 league games winning 3, Jacko 6 winning 5. Garner only lost 1 of his first 6 which included thrashing now league leaders Plymouth 5-1. None of them could sustain it long term and each time the players reverted to type after an initial upturn in effort and confidence. Holden still has a long way to go to show he is better than the men that have gone before him, however promising his start has been. The players certainly need to do a lot more to show this is more than just a short term uptick.
Enjoy the winning feeling again, but I think a few people are getting well ahead of themselves.
Personally think Stockley has been the anchor pulling us down the past 2 seasons. Never fitted a 4-3-3 which forced us into unfavorable formations for our players.
An agile and quick front 3, a little bit of confidence and momentum, and we are a decent outfit.
The better team lost yesterday, we rode our luck a little, but that was way overdue....we dominated Barnsley away and lost 3-1 so the roles were reversed yesterday.
The negatives for me is the lack of fitness....cant occasionally play Saturday/Tuesday?Saturday...why on earth not?
Players breaking down in the warm up? well Id question the warm up routines....also Kane pulling something.....maybe he wasn't ready for a full game yet.
The plus though and its a big one is that we are doing the simple things right...not trying to turn league one players into something they are not...doing it simple, not overloading players with technical and unfathomerable instructions and Holden is the reason why. I like the guy more and more as each game and interview passes by.....didnt give a shit about Stewie Garner one way or another, but this bloke for me is different gravy. Sees it and tells it like it is and isnt trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Long may that continue....I don't mind winning ugly...its losing when no apparent care or effort is being made that pisses me off.
Less positive than most seem to be. Thought we were so open and amazed we didn’t concede. Not a great performance, obviously result great but we’re still way below the levels needed to be a promotion contender (next season), IMO.
That said, the division is awful and if we had just invested a very modest amount on one or two proper players we’d probably be in the play off mixer now despite how utterly atrocious we’ve been this season. So it doesn’t take much.
Comments
I’m so easily led and a litttle bullish of us but another win could see us eyeing up the seventh place spot
We are not going down this year
Seem to remember the game at Oakwell being one of the better performances from us for the most part, certainly in the first half - Barnsley weathered the storm that day through a bit of a wonder goal, and then pretty much took control in the second half, what with us typically only able to put in a one half effort.
Our own display this afternoon certainly looked a hangover from Tuesday night up in Manchester - I mean we raised our fitness to a level we cant sustain, so there was naturally going to be tiredness amongst the squad - Premier League players arent just better, they're fitter too, and it showed today... I dont think we were poor (We've certainly enough games where we have been this season), but we definitely didnt play like we did against Portsmouth or Lincoln.
Lucas Ness was the standout for me
Needs to improve on the ball, but reminds me in some way of John Terry, more so in the sense that he was never a quick Centre-Back himself, and remember him saying that he learnt to deal with quicker attackers by anticipating where the ball would be going - Ness today showed similar qualities, his reading of the Barnsley attacks was outstanding, and surprising to see from someone so inexperienced really.
Special mentions to Henry and Bonne - At the time I thought they replaced the wrong people, would have liked to have seen the latter up front with Leaburn (Although Miles was probably shattered from Tuesday night); Bonne though did extremely well, and if he puts a shift in like that each week, I dont care how many goals he gets for himself... Proper team effort - As for Aaron Henry, it feels as though we're MAYBE seeing the potential that has seen him drifting around the First Team for a few years... Could all be down to the fact that he's of course finding some form, because he's finally getting consistent minutes. But his ability to pick a long ball today verged on the exquisite, those on the other end of the pass just need to learn to stay onside, and we may start to benefit from them.
Bring on Peterborough, we dont need to fear any opponent now... Just our own injury jinx!!
Enjoyable afternoon and we didn't even chuck them a goal late on to leave us all clinging on.
Indeed his birthday is the 31st which would've made him the youngest kid in his year when at school.
I think he is a very good prospect, and it is not appropriate to judge him definitely just now.
That is bad news as far as I'm concerned.
The combined age of our front 3 at KO was 57 !
We can quote you on that can we ?
You know him and his family ?
His agent ?
Source ?
Say what you like about TS but he's done a good job at getting our youngsters to sign long-term contracts. Henry's isn't running down by coincidence.
Nice to finally see us grinding out results when needed. To have any chance of success in this division, you need to know how to win ugly when needed, and we did exactly that today
2022 featured a squad of players that frustrated the faithful at times, excited them at others but on the whole failed to "leave everything on the pitch" with the regularity their manager & the fans had hoped.
January 1st, 2023....With the dawning of a New Year, came what we all hope will be the dawning of a new ethos at our club. Workrates increased, confidence built, all concerned stepped up to the plate and points were deservedly gained.
Clearly, the new gaffer has played a huge part in this "transformation" but just as clearly, it's evident that he has invoked a belief in his squad that's been lacking in recent months. Suddenly, it seems that everyone of them is giving his all for the team & for this Red Devil who has won their respect from day one. Long may it last.
Those dejected players leaving the Kassam Stadium just 16 days ago, were an honest bunch, albeit lacking a vital spark to turn acceptable performances into valuable points.
But, since the visit to Fratton Park on New Year's Day, the tables have been turned for all to witness.
Forget age, forget experience, forget frailties, forget reputation. It's what's inside that counts....the fighting spirit & commitment until the final whistle is blown.
9 points in the last 3 league games. And an awe inspiring display of guts & determination at Old Trafford, gaining plaudits from much further afield than SE London.
Be in no doubt.
Those wearing the red shirt are the new, improved Boyz to Men.
Cheers.
Maybe it will change if Aaron Henry can get more game time under Holden.
Adkins was undefeated in his first 5 league games winning 3, Jacko 6 winning 5. Garner only lost 1 of his first 6 which included thrashing now league leaders Plymouth 5-1. None of them could sustain it long term and each time the players reverted to type after an initial upturn in effort and confidence. Holden still has a long way to go to show he is better than the men that have gone before him, however promising his start has been. The players certainly need to do a lot more to show this is more than just a short term uptick.
An agile and quick front 3, a little bit of confidence and momentum, and we are a decent outfit.
Only big difference was a bit of fight and desire which I can't remember seeing much of this season.
Please please can we sign a proven left footed left back.
Enjoyed it though.
The negatives for me is the lack of fitness....cant occasionally play Saturday/Tuesday?Saturday...why on earth not?
Players breaking down in the warm up? well Id question the warm up routines....also Kane pulling something.....maybe he wasn't ready for a full game yet.
The plus though and its a big one is that we are doing the simple things right...not trying to turn league one players into something they are not...doing it simple, not overloading players with technical and unfathomerable instructions and Holden is the reason why. I like the guy more and more as each game and interview passes by.....didnt give a shit about Stewie Garner one way or another, but this bloke for me is different gravy. Sees it and tells it like it is and isnt trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Long may that continue....I don't mind winning ugly...its losing when no apparent care or effort is being made that pisses me off.