Rich_s

I'm not sure who to drop but I always think genuine competition for places is healthy and you need some quality subs. I welcome this signing.

Think he'll(Cotterill) will switch to a back four. As an outside shot he may play him in a defensive midfield role in a 352. Alternatively SC just might not rate Flint. It's going to be interesting how the line up. I'm pleased SC appears to be adding a spine.

Looks like Cotterill is trying to form a spine in the team. I expect a CM next.

Looks a thug! Too early to be going off half-cocked but he looks like he may be the type of CB we have missed since Shaun Taylor retired.

Five Pillars?

Hold on! I'm just dusting down my "Five Pillars" handbook. 

 

The Pillar states:

"The club aims to sign players aged 24 and under more often than not, with older recruits becoming an exception, rather than the norm. The club is also building up a database of young players in all positions to aid in talent identification."

 

The above statement is clearly ambiguous because "more often than not" suggests greater than 50% of the time. If we imagine the time-frame of this season than we could still get a few "exceptions" in without breaking the pillar. Also, the pillar doesn't stipulate whether "sign" means sign permanently or on loan.

Ultimately I think the pillar is probably shit and we should  give up on it. 

Too many people here get their football "knowledge" from FM & FIFA 14, which are all about chopping and changing

Do you think Steve and Jon Lansdown are closet gamers?

The point is the amount of time he's been here. Given the length of tenures, and lack of success in the defensive department of his predecessors, it seems churlish to expect SC to have sorted the issue already.

 

Or maybe not. Maybe people do expect him to have righted every wrong by now?

 

I think he's done a good job of keeping the ship steady thus far. Many would argue that SOD had already steadied the ship though, hence the annoyance of yet another new manager being chopped. Only an idiot (a bigger one than me) would expect him to right every wrong by now.  I'm hopeful he can do just enough to keep us up and that we stick with him.

 

I'm not anti Cotterill or  pro SOD ! I'm pro continuity.

I think it's a bit harsh to be critical of SC in regards to conceding goals. He's only been here a few weeks and is trying to do what none of his predecessors have managed to do.

 

Ever since the play off season we have had trouble with conceding too many goals. Johnson, Millen, McInnes and O'Driscoll all tried various methods and formations to ebb the flow, but with little success.

 

Now it's SC's turn and TBF, the record since he came in is an improvement on SOD's this season. We have only conceded 9 goals in the 8 games since SC took over compared to 37 in 24 games under SOD this season.

 

That stat is actually 1 more than SOD team conceded in his last 8 games. 

 

Goals scored is 14 in SOD last 8 games against 11 scored in Cotterill's 8 games. Over a third of the goals under SC tenure were against the truly woeful Stevenage.

 

From SC's 5 league games we have 8 points. From SOD's last 5 games we got 9 points.

 

I'm sure there will be those that will call me a SOD'ite. The point is that kid in a riot made a valid point about number of goals conceded and people just jumped on it. He was right. I'm optimistic that the true Cotterill bounce will kick in after this transfer window. It really needs to.

I'd never heard of Tyrone Barnett so I can only conclude that the pillar that supports his loan is "experience".

 

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. How many on OTIB have slagged the back out of players who then went on to do quite well.

 

Regarding posh fans not liking him. There may be an element of sour grapes.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20509709

 

Remember also how few JET scored at Ipswich and how he was held in pretty low regard by them.

Is Barnett a Cotterill signing or a Burt signing, or does it depend on how he does?

Or is Taylor on his way out ?

Who is this Taylor you speak of?

Under SOD 16 passes would of been across the defence 4 times.

That's a bit extreme! 16 consecutive passes would have been between just two of our defenders. Across the defence would have been in the low hundreds.

Not just because we won but that was better on every level.

Osborne MOTM for me today. Awesome

Tony Thorpe would have buried both those chances Baldock had and the penalty. We should be three up

Jeez Baldock! Not a game for the footballing connoisseur but the boys are worthy of their lead

Looks like someone collapsed in the Dolman. Sad to see

Have i stumbled on last Saturday's match thread ?

I just looked up at the score board and was surprised we were playing Walsall

Has our luck turned? No way was that a penalty. My view is clear. I'll take it though

Have they kicked off yet?

No. Still waiting

Security just waved everybody through with anything that looked remotely like a season ticket. Just hope the performance on the pitch is not as bad as the overall experience thus far

Massive queue for the EE. Not sure what is going on at the EE

Currently queuing up to get in. Seems the scanner has broken again.

Very quiet in and around the ground. Can't remember a festive game this quiet

I really hope the board have or are starting to think of some form of contingency plan for relegation. Bottom at Christmas is an ominous sight.

I expect the contingency is to sack the manager. It's the usual response.

Cotterill out!