mozo

I think Usyk could win this. AJ needs to relax and be his devastating self but I worry that he is prone to overthinking and losing his way.

It might be worth scheduling some virtual runs first and get us in the swing of OTIB RC participation? Make the first one very loose and free. We all run on the same day and try to clock up a combined milage which we can try to beat next year. See how much traction we get and build a variety of events as we go?

What was he actually doing on the pitch? Does he sit on the bench?

I completely agree with your summary as of now but a couple of defeats could change my mind and two tough games coming up now. I actually disagree with that and thought we won lots of second balls. I just thought Luton were better than us when they did have possession, just like I thought Preston showed more quality than us with the ball. Be interesting to see which opinion the stats back up.

By the way RedM, how busy is our woodwork this season?! I think Bentley's bar has had some action in at least three games so far.

I actually thought we were much better tonight in attack than vs Preston, but much worse in defence. That said, the squad clearly has its limitations and maybe we should all be chuffed that we've only lost twice this season out of 7 games. I'm guessing Pearson's comments will be that we're a work in progress.

And Jon Lansdown had his eye on a nice holiday home in the Bahamas...

I think the performance (forget results) was much better vs Cardiff than vs Preston so it's natural to be a little disappointed. Equally, I'd be happy if we see an improved performance on Wednesday, irrespective of the result.

I didn't see the whole game but that's the impression I got too, especially regards those persistent floaty long balls down the centre and left. Pearson was positively glowing with praise after the game which I can only assume is to preserve the positive mentality in the camp.

It's no surprise that Baker looked ponderous. We all know that he's not comfortable on the ball and won't cause the opposing full back problems. So from that perspective he's the defensive option and we suffer going forward when he's at left back. I'm surprised he started and got 90 minutes. I think Pearson picked the wrong horse for this course. You also mention that 3 forwards doesn't equal more goals, well we ended with 4! I don't get the substitutions tbh.

From the little that my Robins TV connection let me see, we played pretty agricultural football and underperformed across the park. People talking about whether it's a good result, but performance wise, was it not the first game that we were clearly second best in this season?

I saw them at Glastonbury (presume there is only one Smiths tribute band) and they sounded just like the real thing.

Nice one Fevs. I just had a read. One comment that resonated is "perhaps 19 signings was a bit excessive..." Yes! How many of those signings were recruited because they fit very specific requirements? Is it possible that a load of them will soon become surplus to requirements and have fans scratching their heads wondering why they signed them, even if they were good players on paper? Will it be a squad or a team? We shall see...

Yeah again he was mainly out wide and didn't have much opportunity to influence the game, much like when Conway came on at fGR

I think there are morsels of positives to be taken from the two league games. We've dominated the play and got the ball in attacking areas. We're a competitive team but getting edged out of the outcomes we have worked for. Fitness and concentration still an issue and a lack of killer instinct at both ends but we're not rubbish. So, in summary, the positive is that we're not completely shit!

Massive confirmation bias game for me... I've said Vyner's not a full back. Weimann, Wells and Palmer are so lacking in quality in the final 3rd.

It was nice to be at an away game again though ?

I was at the game... It was like watching a mid-table league one match with some neat stuff but also plenty of agricultural football from both sides. Janneh was the only City player who looked sharp and he's got to feature on Saturday. He played mostly wide left but swapped with Bell at times. Personally, I'd prefer to see him central where Wells was. I also thought Nagy looked pretty lively while he was on. Quite a few have asked about Massengo. Not great, in my opinion. It was one of those games he sometimes has where everything bounces off him. He did come close to scoring his first goal when the ball was smashed against him and rebounded just wide of the far post. He also had a shot blocked. Bell looked put of his depth to me. He did have some nice touches here and there but didn't look like a threat to the defence. Pring was steady. He went on one good run late on. Moore was left CB and also looked pretty reliable. Not sure what the injury was that ended the night for Williams. He went in for a challenge and then hobbled a bit and signalled to come off. He looked gutted as we walked to the tunnel which was just as Janneh bagged the equaliser. Williams politely clapped but still looked pretty miserable. I was hoping Scott would come on but I guess Nige wanted to give everyone a run out. In summary, we had a makeshift line up so understandable lack of cohesion, but we didn't look like a team made up of Championship players. I worry that a poor result at Boro will see morale back where it was last season.

Definitely better in most departments. Perhaps losing the lead highlights, however, that we still have issues with our fitness or our mindset or both.

Yeah I think the Weimann one had an xG of 8...

Does anyone know the xG for yesterday? I would have thought that it was notably higher than 1?

(Understrength) Blackpool were one of the weaker teams we will face and we didn't convert dominance into points. I think the 'where will the goals come from?' question remains unanswered. That was a reasonable performance but it needs to improve as time goes by. We definitely can't afford for performances to decline.

Good half with a general dominance. It did feel like we're lacking a goalscoring striker, but then a striker scored! Palmer and Weimann have shown both the good and bad of their play. Scott has had a very encouraging game so far.

I see that HMHB are playing Frome this year. Not an easy place to watch a gig for anyone other than the inhabitants of Frome! Got fam in Sheffield so might try to see them there in Feb 22

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