JoeAman08

YES BOYS!!!

Yes Flint!!! What's he up to 5 now? Gonna be hard to keep him in this goal scoring form. 

Elliott Bennett putting Blackburn up but putting MK dons down. 

Wes Burns puts Fleetwood up 1!!

MK Dons up as well. One of those days?

3 minutes ago, Bullbag said:

Marlon.

Thanks to those who answered. 

Apologies if I missed it but who is our Captain today? No smith or Wilbs. 

Had a similar feel to last years away match there despite being on the opposite side of the table this time. Two teams that do not want to lose. A loss for either team could be quite damaging and I can see both teams setting up defensively. I think our safest lineup and maybe most likely to net would be the same as last week but with Tomlin behind Kodjia in a 4-5-1. I know Kodjia has been struggling but he gave their defenders problems at our place and is still our best chance of making something happen. Anyway, think this has 0-0 written all over it but it'll be 3-2 to someone now I've said 0-0. 

Well it's more of the same. Listened on the Leeds link posted earlier(thank you by the way) and they weren't too impressed with Leeds either. They also noted we had failed to score in 7 of our last 8 away matches(now 8 of 9). Sounded like Kodjia was lively but he can't do it on his own. They stated as much that he's got something about him but has the look of a frustrated player and he should be. We've wasted a season and wasted a good player. We will make money on him in the summer but not nearly as much as we could have of we had added some quality around him. I don't think many are frustrated just because we are poor. Think we are frustrated because we are poor and it's still as if we are ok. Not many convincing reinforcements. Sounded as if Gladwin was poor. They scored with a new CB on the pitch(have no clue if it mattered but all there is to go on). Kodjia is asked to do everything to score. Didn't even need a bunch of talent in every spot. Leeds bought Dallas and he's a constant threat. Didn't sound as if they had one on the other side. Not a surprising result and you can magnify a mistake by Ayling but you have to look at the midfield because they don't create or score and they often lose the ball making it harder for the defense. 

I would like to see Freeman on the left as well but he's played in the middle twice for us and Wagstaff on the left once with JB in the other. Quite clear he's seen as a central midfielder in an attacking role. I'm sure he'll roam a bit and he and Gladwin will interchange but Freeman is very much seen as a central player.

I'm done. I don't expect to stay up one bit anymore. It's not even that hard of a division. Outside the top 8, no one is consistent. We've caught some teams at bad times but we've also caught struggling teams and didn't do ourselves any favors. Reading lost 5 of their last 6 but we have been so poor everyone is thinking 3 points. It's so easy for them as well. How easy for managers preparing for us. It's a joke and I don't even want to go down anymore to watch. It is pointless. The scripts are written already. How many times have we given up these last minute goals? The entire club is out of their depth and SL can **** off next season with his new stadium because I won't be supporting a club that has no clue how to run itself.

0-0 is a fine result if we can hang on but other results making 1 point not good enough. 

I said it in another thread, I have a good feeling about today. Similar to how I felt before the Forest game which is probably our best performance of the season. 2-0 or 3-1. Reading has so much quality but seem to have hit a mid season block. It doesn't make any sense to fancy us but I do. COYR

Despite what good or bad it may do, how do you keep a manager that has won 4 games in 25 with the worst goals scored record after giving up 4 goals in 20% of those games? 

A loss wouldn't have made me want him gone but the manner of it changes my mind. The club will go no further under the man. Thanks for the good times but we need more flexibility in every facet of the club. 

Another frustration is the subs. You can bet Burnley will use all their subs to rest some of their players where we will run ours ragged for 90 minutes and expect points on Saturday.

Not helping out recruitment pitch in January either. Looking very grim. Yes there are still 22 games left after today but there aren't many weeks when I feel very optimistic and on the ones I am we give away leads to poor sides. 24 games in and the same mistakes and lack of concentration are there. Think that is the frustrating part for us. Don't seem to have complete improvement. Good against QPR, dominant for 70 minutes against Charlton then the last 20 of Charlton and today. It's play well, get nothing, play poor, get nothing and repeat. 

Saw the goal and it's the kind of chance Kodjia gets and puts wide or over. You can see why we were after Gray. Not worth 9m but certainly a better striker than Kodjia. Would've been a deadly pairing and we wouldn't be down at the bottom with both. 

Was always coming. Why 3 was more important on Boxing Day. Today was always a likely 0 points. 

7 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Fair play to you for reasoned debate.

For what it is worth from (as my post history will show) from about two weeks before the season started I've believed we were in a relegation battle and still do.

Talk of a mid table finish (or 10th) is fanciful.

I don't think we'll finish any higher than 18th and it could well be very tight.

However just because (for reasons none of us know) our summer transfer strategy was a shambles that doesn't mean that January's will be, does it?

Last summer went pretty well.

Some of the stuff posted on this thread is ridiculous and to also reply to the thread above I'm actually pleased Cotterill is going ballistic at the players after the game..

That's fine for you. Probably makes the results easier to take expecting a lower table finish. Maybe more of us should've been more realistic. Before the deadline came and past, it was trust the club. I did and even though we only signed one player, I bought into the hype. I thought we could build on last season and finish mid table to build again. It's why I'm disappointed. 

The thing with January is, well either have to throw money at someone to convince them to come to a struggling side or take chances on lower league talent. It's not the best time to be completing your squad but more to add a bit of fresh quality to almost complete side. 

1 minute ago, NickJ said:

Cotterill's record:

Year One - took us from bottom to comfortable safety.

Year Two - won the league with a record (for us) points total.

Year Three so far - not in the relegation zone which most would have taken before the season started.

That's fact and IMO the football this season is far from shite.

Your comment is so far from reality.

I think Cotterhill is great but why does his past success matter? All the hard work he's done the last 18 months before August has almost been entirely erased. Yes it's still early and it can turn around but he shouldn't safe from criticism because of last year. I don't think sacking him is the solution but he's certainly earned a raised eyebrow or two. 

2 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

But not that long ago you were posting about us having enough quality with last season's players (plus Kodjia) to finish half way..

This league is tough, we are usually competing (though admittedly not today) with teams who have better players on far more money and with much greater budgets.

I also don't believe for a minute Cotterill expected us to make just two permanent signings this summer.

Face the facts we are a small fish and are in a real fight to stay up and that nonsense from Freeman midweek (perhaps he should concentrate on making a greater contribution to games once in a while?) is best ignored.

That having said we aren't rock bottom, either and so need to stay in the game until the window opens and we can evaluate what we can get and afford.

I did believe that. Now I think SC is just a good coach. Think he sets us up right most of the time. Today maybe he thought we had the quality to beat Rotherham by going at them. We are higher in the table, he probably should. Talent wise we have to be close to bottom. 

It may not come across like this but I'm ok with being small fish. Bidding 6-9m on players isn't what a small fish does. The club said we don't want to be a poor side then didn't get the job done. When they failed, the didn't take action. It went from bidding on players, to our squad from last year is good enough to compete, to we need 15 or so games to settle, and now we are at 18 games and getting throttled by Rotherham. 

My optimism is gone. We are a poor side and will do well to stay up. I want you faithful to say you told me so on game 46 and we are sitting 10th or something but I simply can't expect that from this team now. Before today I thought we could get 7 from our next 9 points. Now I think we'll do well to get 2. 

Ar least this time next week I could be sitting smug and satisfied we got a point against Blackburn. Whereas I would've been expecting 3 and disappointed. I want to stay up but feel like we will only because other teams could be poorer. I expect more of the same. A point here, an away win there but for the most part a struggle to get anything most weeks. Only positive I have is that we will play most of the teams around us at home later in the season. 

Just now, BCFC Jordan said:

 

It's not Cotterill fault. It's the club as a whole.

 

Managers come and go but the shambles behind the scenes continues. Last season was seemingly an anomaly because we did the exact opposite of that this year. No surprise we're getting the exact opposite type of results on the pitch!

Agree with this. I like Cotterhill and think he does a good job. The club failed in the summer. Cotterhill can keep us up but it'll be close and the club will have similar problems next summer recruiting unless we open up the check book a bit more often. 

1 minute ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Don't think anyone wants to see us 3-0 down at Rotherham Fordy

Be honest if you had to stick a months wages on us winning a particular game what game remaining would you stick it on ????

I can't say hand on heart I'm confident of 3 points against any side home or away and today reinforces that worry

A freak result? Maybe. At this point the freak results are our positive ones. Boro and Hull results were quite long odds. What is it about us and big score lines though? 15 goals scored against us by 4 teams. Every 4 or so games we have one like this. Why? Progress then a setback. Progress then a setback. Why? It's baffling to me and hard to keep the faith when we get embarrassed every third or fourth game. This talk of unbeaten in 3 when its 3 draws. Or unbeaten in 4 of 6 with 1 win 3 draws and 2 embarrassments just isn't cutting it anymore. They aren't fooling me. We play pretty football at times but never for a full 90 and never in either end third of the pitch. 

3 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

For all the stick JoeAman has had for his posts I'm waiting for those bashing him to put a positive spin on the season so far.............

I want to be happy and positive. Looking forward to the spins of positivity. It'll take a lot of it to soothe the sting of losing by 3 to a "poor" team.

Well I've made it clear how I feel. 3 down to second bottom but yea we are good enough to stay up. Blackburn won't be much different next week. New manager, playing well and have a lot more class in most spots on the pitch. 

Just now, Major Isewater said:

I know I'm all doom and gloom. Just want us to do well. The summer bids told us we were here to take the league by storm. It's taken us by storm instead. I'm ok with a dogfight. The disheartening part is the at the start it was clear the club thought higher of itself and I believed it. Can't help but be a bit gutted.