Dr Balls

Sad if Atkinson has ruptured his ACL because he will be out for months. And real shame for him having got back into the team during this unbeaten run. However having an international centre back, who is used to playing on the left side even though he’s right footed is hardly a disaster, and I don’t see why there should have to be a sudden switch in formation just because it’s Kalas rather than Atkinson in that position. What we might miss more is Atkinson’s heading prowess and goal-scoring ability as that has never been a strong point for Kalas.

Benarous is potential. By comparison Mehmeti has actually delivered at League One level. The question is whether he can do the same at this level.

Yes because they are a tall side and have a player in Power who can take very good corners. By contrast we have piss poor delivery from corners and free kicks, so we rarely score from set pieces.

Sorry but it feels like 2 points dropped given our recent performances. From Pearson changing the front 3 to how we actually played, I feel we underestimated Wigan and got our just desserts for doing so. Points have to be earnt in this division and tonight we didn’t do enough to deserve all 3 points. Frustrating in the circumstances and suggests that we are still not quite as good as some of us might have thought or hoped.

We were pretty ineffectual up front tonight. Cornick had very little to play off, but at least looks more mobile than Martin. Weimann looked rusty and we know he’s better through the middle than out wide. Mehmeti showed a lot of promise and might even be the answer to who eventually replaces Scott. Talking of whom, he had one of his less inspired performances today even if he had a header hit the bar. Prong was also a little below par today by his high standards recently. The one player who really stood out for me tonight was Joe Williams. Cleared up at the back, provided an outlet in midfield and tried to drive forward when he had the ball. One of his best performances in a City shirt.

Compare the Wigan dead ball delivery with ours and it was chalk and cheese. We haven’t got anybody who can take a decent corner or free kick. James - hopeless; Scott - inconsistent; Naismith - woeful. It’s not even the hardest thing to practice. Such a waste of good opportunities because of the poor delivery.

Thought all the on-field officials tonight were fine. Stroud booked a couple of theirs for time-wasting, plus both McClean and Sykes for their contretemps. Blame the 4th official for only 4 minutes of added time at the end and even then Stroud played 5+ minutes. If it was anyone else we would be saying how good the referee was compared to many we have seen this season.

Both really were instrumental in our improvement in the second half of last season with WSM banging in the goals up front and Klose proving a more than adequate and rather classy replacement for Kalas at the back. The benefit of their experience shone through and we should definitely be thankful for their efforts. However there often is a tipping point for professional footballers in their mid 30s when their pace goes a little and the speed of thought no longer quite makes up for that. Plus I do wonder if Klose was missing the family more than previously. Last time I saw him a couple of weeks ago in Clifton Down Shopping Centre he was very engrossed in a chat (in German) on his phone, presumably calling home. And it would seem that’s where he is now heading.

Do they still have the fan (female I think) with the bell to ring during the game?That’s my recollection from the 70s Division 1 days and I have never been sure if it was just for Colin Bell or a more general thing. Certainly it was unique to them. And yes they always supported in numbers even when their team was crap and down in the third tier. It’s not like we don’t know that feeling!

Atyeo looked pretty full of West Brom fans on Saturday. Can’t imagine you could fit many more in than they had. Must have been close to 3,000.

Also Chris Sutton singing Sam Bell’s praises this evening on 606. Listen in at 44 mins for more on that. Shame the MOTD producers didn’t ask him about our game! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001hmzs

Interesting that Jason Euell appeared in the technical area immediately after the pass from Max playing Atkinson into trouble, indicating about kicking it long. There is a time and a place to play out from the back, and it’s not when it’s to an isolated defender with an attacker immediately on him in front of your own goal. The risk of giving away a goal in those circumstances is high.

He actually predicted we would win 2-1 so perhaps a better pundit than many would like to admit!

Less than 60 seconds of highlights at the very end of a 100 minute MOTD, and Sam Bell’s 2nd goal, as good as any scored so far in this round, got no mention at all afterwards. Poor but at least they finally managed to show the right teams!!

I have suggested before that in a 4-4-2 the best option on the left might be Dasilva at left back and Pring at left midfield. However I don’t think Nige is going to play that formation and if Jay is only a back up left back then unless he is willing to take a considerable cut in wages, then I think we will be going our separate ways. I like him as a player and I think he is a more than capable left full back at this level, but his 2019 contract is just not affordable in 2023 unless you are a club with parachute payments. Agree that the way he went around the ground at the end suggests he knows that was his last game for us and he is on his way out.

The offside on Bell was one of the few things that linesman did get right. He got so many of the throw-in calls wrong. He just stood with his flag by his side and waited either for the referee to indicate or which ever team remonstrated more (usually Blackburn) that it was their throw-in. After a really effective and consistent linesman in front of the Lansdown last week against Birmingham, this one was stealing a living as an “assistant referee”.

There were 11 added minutes on Saturday: 4 first half and 7 second half, so we aren’t far off already!

Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday look like the best teams in League 1 and most likely to finish top 2. The playoffs could be really tasty if the positions are the same at the end of the season with Ipswich, Derby, Bolton and Barnsley all going for it.

Pring is a far better option as a wing back compared to Dasilva because he offers so much more going forward. From a defensive perspective, I think that there is a lot less to choose between them. So the suggestion was if Nige wanted to change formation, and needed a left side midfielder, Cam is possibly the best option that we have.

Much like Joe Bryan, who was often better going forward than defending, if we play 4-4-2, I would have Cam Pring as a left midfielder, with Dasilva behind him at left back, just as Bryan had Magnússon behind him during our best run under Johnson in 2017-18. Whether Nige would ever go 4-4-2 is another matter though.

Also allowed Sykes to play in his proper position for the first time, and get his first 2 goals with the club. Comes back to playing the best players for the position in that position and Tanner is clearly our best right back.

Thanks @Davefevs. Scott started the game well but became less and less effective as the first half continued, and having to compete with Bacuna, with there being far more threat down the right with Sykes and Tanner. And in the second half, Scott looked tired and at risk of getting yet another yellow card before he was subbed. So yes by his standards, not one of his best games, although at the risk of more brickbats I would also suggest that his form more generally has dipped a bit compared to earlier in the season. Not surprising in a young player, as his early season form was exceptional, but he is still a class act.

And he didn’t have a particularly great game either. Willians coming on in his place had a real impact.

Whereas once he was the weak link at the back, he has definitely stepped up and looks like a Championship level defender. Also happy to bring out from the back which was really good to see and makes me think we might be better going 4-4-2 with Atkinson and Vyner, plus pushing Pring into left midfield where he can do more damage going forward.

This vacant post has Colin written all over it. They are desperate, he has a reputation at this level of keeping clubs up and he’s a former manager.it’s a shoe-in!!