GrahamC

Done incredibly well at Swansea so far, one start, was taken off at HT when they were 3-0 down, one sub appearance as well. Huge loss.

That’s a very strange thing to say. Maybe they weren’t close? Maybe Martin was sensible enough not to get hammered?Maybe his partner picked him up from this event, if he was even there? Martin played virtually every game in the season before he joined us (38, scoring 12) so this incident certainly didn’t impact upon his season. Not sure this sort of supposition is wise.

Really is incredible that Derby thought they could get away with sacking a passenger in the incident but not either of the drivers. No surprise they are in such a financial mess either, with him on £24k a week basic salary..

Said before I think the fact that he got our equaliser v Fulham influenced that. Dealt a rough hand with 2 injuries & a precautionary sub of Williams forcing our changes, but if we had our time again probably Pring is the only one of the 3 who came on who would do so again.

Got to be realistic though. Last season he faced Cardiff then Sheff U a few days later & was then out for months. If he’s only right to play say half an hour start Andy King who won’t let us down & we can use him late on if needed.

Did he ever mention to you how much work he does for charity? I only ask because if he didn’t, you must be the only person in Western Europe that he didn’t.

Yes, looking at it again it appears Scott is fit & they seem ideal opponents for him. Can’t see us gambling on Williams from the start, especially if we do so with Wells, can’t have too many who you aren’t confident will play the 90.

@Mr Popodopolous Pulis did **** all at Boro, not just us. His record at Wednesday was awful too & West Brom fans hate him just as much as we do. His success at Stoke (built on Neanderthal football & thuggery) is pretty much his peak but even they got bored of smashing the ball down the pitch & kicking the opposition off the park eventually.

He really is a *****, isn’t he?

Good shout, I did wonder if we had fewer injuries whether Tanner might have got a breather tomorrow. They didn’t but not sure who else we have, Martin badly needs a rest, Bakinson doesn’t deserve to stay in the side, so not too many options.

If we are to believe James Piercy then Semenyo isn’t available for tomorrow & we know HNM isn’t either. After midweek with Dasilva injuring his ankle (again) & Baker his knee, I can’t see either of them being fit for selection, either. No indication as to whether Wells is fit & rumours that Scott has picked up a knock, as well as whether we are prepared to start Williams again so soon after Wednesday. Whatever happens it looks like a much changed side to me with Vyner & possibly one of the younger strikers like Bell or Janneh involved in the squad. Probably something like: Bentley, Tanner, Kalas, Atkinson, Pring, Weimann, King, James, O’Dowda, Palmer, Wells.

To be fair he could probably face them now & still make their rabble look piss poor. Let’s face it, when Biff made connection with the ball it went off like a rocket, he scored some crackers for us.

Going to struggle big time if Niall Quinn goes, I reckon.

I know someone who spoke to him, he was going to Barcelona one week, Paris the next.. When you add what Man City can pay we would have had absolutely no chance of employing him.

Great bloke, great player. Remember one of those legends events & it was hilarious to see virtually everyone of my vintage (Biff & I were born in the same year) was crowding around him, he made the absolute most of everything he had as a player to have a brilliant career & still looks in pretty good shape for his late 50s.

Thanks mate, respect your views. For me, as someone who thinks we are on the right track, like you I think we just need a wildcard on the bench because whilst I get how we are now in every game & battle harder, we look pretty goal shy & lacking width & pace. This lad is raw but we can’t score less than nil so if we are behind late on in games, if Semenyo isn’t available, what have we got to lose? A subs bench with Palmer, Scott & O’Dowda on it is really highly unlikely to see all 3 come in, (in fact the chances of both Scott & Palmer must be virtually nil) so I’d rather this lad than one of them if Antoine is out. Wonder what would have happened if this had been a home game?

Interesting. Can’t make these games these days, so what do you make of Janneh? We seem to be playing him as a wing back at times but in addition to the 2 he got at Forest Green, he scored a cracker for the 23s at Sheff U, he certainly has pace (which we lack), not worth having on the bench in the absence of Semenyo?

I have been impressed by him. Obviously Nige is an experienced manager & certainly makes everyone aware who is boss, but his interviews so far have been decent. He has coached at a few clubs & is no fool, his observations about last night were definitely spot on. We are bound to miss Pearson but CF looks a smart arrival to me.

Yep, though how confident I’d be that Williams is going to play enough to be a first pick I’ll tell you in 10 more games.. King for him if not.

This, every day of the week. Anyone can misplace a pass or look fatigued, simply not doing the hard yards isn’t acceptable. As someone else pointed out, he managed to find the energy late on to sprint forward but frequently not to track his man.

Good summary. Think Rob’s marks in an excellent report are very harsh on Pring, by the way. Was amazed afterwards that Fleming said Baker had an injection (possibly 2?) to play but we still went with no CB on the bench, surely Vyner’s versatility there would have been ideal? Also Wells’ last minute withdrawal meant with Semenyo also out the bench was a lot of midfielders. After seemingly doing well with injuries we have suddenly got a lot, it doesn’t sound like either Dasilva or Baker will be fit for Peterborough, nor HNM & Semenyo’s absence seems to have come out of the blue, who knows about Wells, either? We do need to give Martin a rest on Saturday though, even if Wells is missing.

Name him then. I think it is ridiculous we aren’t learning from last season, him starting every game simply produces the law of diminishing returns, but if used sensibly, as the Reading & Cardiff wins showed, he is useful. He was dreadful last night but with Wells unavailable we have backed ourselves into a corner by not signing anyone. I would look at Bell for the odd game myself (such a shame Conway is injured) but presuming Wells is available on Saturday he is a no brainer to replace him.

I would pick any of our other midfielders (James, Williams, King, HNM) before him, myself. Think he has had his opportunity with HNM out, King missing at QPR & nervousness over starting Williams but he’s blown it for me & would only be a sub now if we had no other option.

Said on Twitter on Saturday, 10 of them did..

Thanks. Obvious something happened, let’s hope he’s ok for Saturday we need to freshen it up in attack.