BCFC Rich

When you play rugby as a kid it's the 5-yard rule that quickly teaches you to show respect to the referees decisions. He gives a penalty you don't agree with, you argue and he moves it 5 yards closer to the end your defending, complain again another 5 yards, and so on. I know they tried to bring something similar into football at one point, but it didn't really work out for some reason.

I think if we were going to do that we may as well sell. No point loaning to league 1 we know he can perform at that level. No point loaning to a rival in the champ - He's either poor and gets little game time or good and then he may as well be here. I think both NP and LM are handling it right he needs game time to get up to speed, look at players like Szmodics - just needed someone to take a chance on him at this level.

Had a quick peek (only the last couple of pages admittedly) and seems similar to this thread a few comments like yours in this thread: Interestingly I think your comment in the Coventry thread applies really well for today:

To be fair he has given us two penalties and I'm pretty sure there are no other current refs who can say that!

Some truth in there. But for all the complaints about passing around at the back. I wish we'd do that once we're under sustained pressure like the beginning and most of the 2nd half. That's when possession with or without an attacking threat is really needed - needed to break their momentum.

Very low bar! On and off the field.

I think it's the main reason we've been playing Bell so consistently. He was much better in the first half and even won a few takes rather than just making screening runs. At the moment it's maybe a question of whether we play him for the attacking threat and hope he develops the defensive side/coach that into him (as you say some positives first half today) or play Bell and look for the opposite? I'd probably argue he did just enough to merit another chance to start on Friday, but he needs to be shown the difference between his too halves today.

Sunderland were excellent out wide - A tough night for Tanner and Pring which they handled well in the end. If Sunderland had a Conway they'd be a much more dangerous side - they clearly need a different centre forward. Max MOTM although being honest I don't think his distribution has been as good the last couple of games, but no question his saves earned us the points. Dickie recovered from a difficult first half to be immense again in the second. In the end, it was a really hardworking team performance and just what was needed. COYR

No apology needed. Pretty hard to remember every lineup (I had to check!) and Sykes at left back stands out as more memorable.

But Pring played CB, didn't he? Edit - Had a quick check, Sky sports has him playing there - although I don't know if they are the best place to check.

I am not sure that's how this works, she is part of PGMOL's Select Group 2 who are all in line to be fast track based on performance. It has 22 referees in it and aims to quickly improve the pool of top-level refs. She will be the 4th Group 2 member to get a top-flight game and the next day Sam Allison will become the 5th. I don't think there is anything to suggest she is getting the role because she is a woman.

I think looking at all the different opinions in just the first few posts here it's clear there is no actual consensus! Might be a good question for the press to ask the club/LM - because I guess what is important is what they think it means. My guess is that they mean controlling the game and the ball more, dictating the game more rather than defending and then counter attacking. As a fan I want it to be this: And that is what I was hoping the club meant - but seeing how we have set up and played I'm pretty sure it's the possession and control thing. \ I would imagine if that's the case, we'll get spells where that is high-intensity attacks, but mostly passing and waiting for those opportunities rather than driving at the opposition and trying to force them.

He is pretty dull to listen to, although we were a little spoilt with Nige. However, he does actually (when given good questions) give a lot of info - much more than I thought he would when he arrived. The 2nd guy asking questions (not sure who that was?) actually pushed on a few things we have discussed on here and LM was less guarded than I imagined him to be.

Thanks! Appreciate the overview. Wish the club would share some footage! What a pointless comment. If you're not interested in the 18's then just ignore the thread, no need to make a snarky comment about someone sharing info about the club.

I think if your sacking Pearson (which to be clear I think was mind numbingly stupid) you have to go for a young slightly unproven manager who might be the next thing. Otherwise what's the point getting rid of NP - there no one else around we could realistically get who is more experienced and happy to work on a tight budget. I don't think we should have switched at all (especially not mid season), but given we did I kind of u der stand the style of the appointment.

This is what NP said about the appointment when it happened. Pearson absolutely does not say this if he doesn't think it. In fact, I think there is a good chance he literally calls it out if he thinks it's a bad decision.

I be shocked if anyone honestly answering the poll thought we do.

Agreed, no one wants him to fail. I don't think people are determined for him to fail, but I would say there is a determination from some posters to find fault though. Personally, I thought today was very disappointing. The positives from the other games came from decent spells of having more possession and control, but today we seem to abandon playing out from the back and kept playing long - and when we did play long it seemed to be up the middle straight to their CB's. We didn't play how I would expect us to (or at least try to) given what we had seen before. We constantly went back to Max and then long -something I thought we we're moving away from. I'd love to see stats (particularly first half) for how many times we just gave up possession.

The few fans who commented did seem to imply he didn't get too much of a say in recruitment and players didn't suit. However, Oxford fans credit him with having a big say in recruitment and that being when things really started to get going. So hard to know exactly. He does genuinely seem to be well thought of by most MK fans and (apart from leaving them!) Oxford fans.

I think that's exactly it. Who do you play on the left of a front three? I don't think it's Bell's best position. I don't think Mehmeti is up to it for a start and can be a liability for a defensive structure (signs of improvement though). We don't have a solid genuinely left-footed forward to play there. I think this is probably why NP tried Roberts there at one point. It would now be a recruitment priority for me.

This. He was better today and at least went outside once, but for me, he is the reason Bell is starting. He often doesn't track back properly, when he does (and he was a little better today) rarely puts a foot in for a tackle. He came on with 30 mins left and seemed to lack energy - two particular moments stood out: 1. when he got the on the left unmarked just inside their half with a tired CB to run at and instead slowly teased his way forward. 2. For Knight's shot (after Syke's brilliant run) he is walking at the edge of the box not giving a proper option for Knight. The worst case if he makes the run is he pulls a def away. Having said that he does still have an air of maybe making something happen, but he doesn't offer the defensive part needed and as yet is not making that potential spark count for something.

This is today in a nutshell. Just didn't start playing until 60mins/when the first set of subs came on. After that I we were easily the best side and probably deserved a draw in the end. But you can't give a 2 goal headstart and wait for 2/3rds of the game to start playing.

Brilliant composure from knight

A very poor half. Worst we've had since LM arrived. Still managed to make a few decent opportunities, but we don't seem to be playing how we have in the other LM games. Playing it long time and again, no real options for Max when it comes back to him. We did it so much that you have to assume it was part of our game plan. Either way (game plan or players not following the plan) feel like the message should have got onto the pitch. I hope/expect to see us keep the ball much more 2nd half, but really should have seen that happen in the first - at least after 20 mins or so when it was clear the constant long balls were not working.

Well done Sykes! So quick out for the free kick there. Makes them have to rush and narrows the angle.