Harry

Is it on Teletext? 

Radio saying we’re playing a back 3 with Roberts as LCB and Mehmeti as wing back. 
Can anyone confirm? 

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Would not surprise me if we had less than that.

Of Saturday’s subs, Roberts will likely replace Pring, TGH is suspended and Nelson may stay with the u18s for their FAYC 5th round match with Burnley.

So we might go with 6, that assumes Matty James fit.  Tommy Backwell might come in.

Yep. I think we are ‘Bare Bones FC’ again tonight. 
If James isn’t fit we’ve only really got 14 players with first team experience. That includes 1 OAP in King and 2 full backs who are only just recovering from long term injuries (McCrorie & Roberts). 
So really only 11 players who have been ‘regular’ starters this season. 
 

I hear Courtney Sweetman Kirk on Talksport hasn’t done her research. 
Just on H&J show and she said “Forest may want to rest players so this gives Bristol City an advantage as they’ll be able to play a full strength team”. 
Not very likely!! 

16 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

Can I ask we put more detail in the thread title, like “Not Dead” - my heart skipped a beat for a moment!

15 hours ago, Back of the Dolman said:

I had the same thought 

15 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

100%. 

20 minutes ago, Lorenzos Only Goal said:

Me too

I had the same thought. And then I remembered ……

3 hours ago, Sir Geoff said:

You, as much as anyone should know that Nigel didn't actually sign the large majority of those players. They would have been ones the club had been watching for a while and who's names would have been put forward to Nigel as possible signings if he wanted them. No way did he personally scout them and insist on signing them.

In the same way the Manning was brought in as Head Coach so should have even less of a say over players brought in. Surely his remit is to coach the players presented to him and pick the team on a match day. In the same way that Swansea worked for years, the Head Coach is only there to maintain the style of play adopted by the club and improve players within that framework.

That wasn’t the point I was making. 
The point I was making was that, no matter who is the manager/head coach, a football club will always sign players and not rely solely on players from their academy that they have to ‘coach up’. 

50 minutes ago, Bob Turnip said:

Sorry, are you saying you disagree with the concept of bringing in players that improve us? And that if we do that we don't bother coaching? It's not one or the other!

The Seagull is blinded by his love for Nige. 
He thinks that because we now have Liam in that we don’t need to sign any more players and that the academy kids should all be ‘coached up’ to top level championship players. 
 

He conveniently forgets that Nigel signed the following players :

Danny Simpson, Matty James, Andy King, Rob Atkinson, Timm Klose, Duncan Idehen, George Tanner, Tim ApSion, Ben Acey, Ewan Clark, Kane Wilson, Kal Naismith, Mark Sykes, Stefan Bajic, Nikita Haikin, Anis Mehmeti, Harry Cornick, Rob Dickie, Ross McCrorie, Haydon Roberts, Jason Knight, Taylor GardnerHickman & Lewis Thomas. 
 

I can only assume that he thinks that none of those players should have been signed because we should have ‘coached up’ the academy lads and that we should now be starting with Zac Bell, Araoye, KnightLebel, Kadji, Casa Grande, Leeson, Rose, Yeboah, Joseph James, Nelson etc etc. 

So yeah, I’m pretty sure the Seagull thinks that having hired Manning we shouldn’t have to sign any more players ever again. 

2 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Can you not see that there is a feeling of mistrust about the club? It's only people like you that considers it point scoring. 

We've brought in a player that can play in positions that we are already very well stocked in. 

We have -

Conway

Wells

Cornick

Bell

Mehmeti

Sykes

Twine

Yeboah

And now Mebude. 

I'm excited to see this lad play. However isn't it legitimate to question why we've brought him in when we are already well stocked in the positions he plays? 

 

 

The only first team player who you’ve listed who plays the same position as Medube is Sykes. 
Medube is a right winger. 
Twine is a 10. 
Mehmeti is a left winger. 
Yeboah is a youth player. 
The rest are strikers. 

9 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Definitely not.

We were building but NP was starved of funds somewhat...We cut the wage and amortisation, stayed up, style had 3-4 phases of team tactics which finally finished with a 4-3-3 and over the last year especially improving baseline stats. 

Scott sadly had to go but things were definitely until the Autumn injury crisis trending in the right direction, injuries stalled us somewhat.

I was only quoting what the seagull said was the plan. 
He said the plan was to not get relegated and that it was clear for all of us to see. 
Yet by the same token he thought that under Pearson we could make the playoffs? 
So I’m unsure exactly what the plan was that he is referring to. Was it to avoid relegation or was it to make playoffs? 

But I believe he also refers to the plan as being a team set up to counter attack and win through grit and determination (and all those intangibles). 
 

I don’t think that sort of plan will get you promoted from this league.
A counter attacking team will get you some great results away from home but it won’t make your home form any sort of fortress (and its home form that will carry you the most points and be the base from which a promotion push is built). As I’ve always said, the home form needs to improve and without that we won’t go anywhere. So that plan doesn’t work.
Yes, it’s great that under Pearson’s tenure he established a gritty, determined team ethic. But if that was the only plan then it won’t work without increased confidence in possession and the sprinkling of some stardust too. And I firmly believe that Manning is in the process of creating that extra something that we’d need to marry up with the grit and determination. 

20 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

In what world is this a lie? 

The plan was to get rid of the wasters such as Palmer etc, high earners off the wage bill and to cut costs so we could comply with ffp whilst bringing through young players and building a culture within the club all whilst not getting relegated. 

I don't know how you didn't see how that didn't work. 

So the plan was to not get relegated. 
What was the next bit? 

On 12/01/2024 at 09:09, Laner said:

EFL boss sacked TWICE already this season offers to help coaches on LinkedIn (msn.com)

Now offering his knowledge to potential coaches. Bet 'I beat Man Utd' comes up a lot.

Well he’s updated his LinkedIn and has had over 700 responses from coaches interested in hearing him out. 
 

I see they managed to get rid of Teddy Jenks today - loaned to Ross County. 
Possibly the worst player I’ve seen at league 2 level. Really really bad! 
 

Should be a great appointment for FGR. But he really does have his work cut out. They’ve been terrible all season. 
Unless he can very quickly get 2 or 3 of his own signings in, it’s gonna be very tough. 
But I certainly hope he can do it - as my local club and pretty much my 2nd team really, as I tend to get to around 10-15 games a season up there. 

On 21/01/2024 at 07:11, Silvio Dante said:

H - watching with naked eye (and again I think/hope it’s a wavelength thing), I do struggle to remember what from open play could be classed as a key pass (and my determination of that is that it’s either an assist to a chance or an “assist to an assist”) - therefore the number here does surprise me.

Im not doubting its providence, but is it a case that it includes key passes from set pieces and is therefore a bit of the same angle on what’s being said (ie as a minimum McCrorie should have scored from a corner - key pass - from Twine and Dickie nearly did). If it’s fully open play, I didn’t see that volume of key passes.

Sorry Silvio I completely missed this reply. 
Yes, I certainly acknowledge that the key passes referenced were from set pieces. 
My initial response where I mentioned this was to the poster who basically said “oh, he gave it away every time”. I was simply saying “well his performance was good enough for me”. 

My main point in my first post on this thread was that he allowed us to play differently. He offered a pass to feet in central areas. Thats the big thing that’s been missing from our game for a long long time. 
I wouldn’t say my praise of Twine was overly gushing - it was just that I saw his ability to offer something different.  
Yes, he did give the ball away a number of times - actually more than he normally would to be fair, and about 8 of those were in the first 20 minutes, so perhaps he can be excused for having only had 1 training session with the team prior to going straight into the lineup. 
 

I’ve watched the game back now and I counted 13 times where Twine was able to receive a ball to feet, facing his own goal. Thats the missing link. Thats what will allow us to play quicker from the back. We haven’t seen those sort of numbers in years! Once he gets familiar with his teammates he should be able to succeed in a few more passes. 

14 hours ago, Harry said:

Mmmmm…. Is this one looking like a “job for Cotts”. 
 

He’s now the favourite and rumours up FGR way are that it’s likely 

 Should be confirmed soon. 
 

Wonder if Cotts might tap up his old mate Keith Burt. Because the recruitment at FGR over the last 18 months has been shocking. 

1 hour ago, RedRoss said:

Don't think it's a one off either. The commentators for the match were wax lyrical about Tolaj who's scored a decent amount this season, Tetek and Stokes and how they've been playing. Jamie Hedges who is Aldershot head of recruitment has done a brilliant job so far recruiting players that haven't quite made it with academies or the lower leagues. He went with Widdrington to Kings Lynn initially from the gas voluntarily helping with recruitment as a fan.

Indeee he did. After leaving the gas due to Barton humiliating him and no one else at the club willing to stand up for him. 

2 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Was quite surprised to see both of them playing non-league as they've made a few league appearances and our both youth internationals. Obviously best to get consistent game time and impress to get a perm move back into league football.

Yep. I think Tetek has played for Serbia u21’s, so they’ll no doubt have some decent standard of players at that level. 
I’ll be keeping my eye on these 2 (Tolaj & Tetek). Both can definitely play higher. 

How could the away numbers have only been 512 when they’d sold 803 2 days before the game? 
 

Mmmmm…. Is this one looking like a “job for Cotts”. 
 

He’s now the favourite and rumours up FGR way are that it’s likely 

Although I would add, given the incredibly windy and wet conditions it was a very decent game. 
Shots deserved to win it I thought. 
Stokes was decent - I’ve seen him play better a couple of times. I was very impressed by the big number 9 Lorent Tolaj. Again, seen him a couple of times now and he’s definitely not gonna be playing non league next season. 
Dejan Tetek in CM was also impressive for Shots. 
Interstingly, Krauhaus played for Bromley (rumoured to be signing for Brentford). He had a nice left foot on him and was quite silky, but the best players on the night were Tolaj & Tetek for me. 

23 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Scouting report incoming from @Harry 

Ha ha. No need, Red Ross has said it all above. 
How was Taunton v Weymouth? 

11 hours ago, Sheltons Army said:

 

You don’t strike me as someone that sees marginal fractions in stats as significant but primarily rely on what you are seeing , watching , over a gradual unraveling and period of games

Btw I didn’t reply/ quote in my first post about this to anyone , but , being honest , your repeated ‘ I liked Nige’ whilst constantly overtly promoting LM v NP I thought was disingenuous 

 

Correct Shelts. I don’t tend to rely purely on stats and like to trust my instinct. 
I’ve had this conversation with Fevs - where I initially felt as if we were getting into attacking areas better, where I felt we were creating better chances etc. and then Fevs would provide me with the data and the changes were basically neutral. So the stats didn’t back up my eyes, but I still firmly believe my eyes and I think we are a different proposition now than what we were 2 months ago. 
 

So yes, I’m not someone who will rely on stats too deeply, but when people come up with one stat that says our PPG is down, it’s very easy to respond and say “but the PPG at home is up”. 
 

I’m not anti Nige and nor am I pro Liam. I’m just trying to be fair to Liam and give him plenty of time. But there are quite a few posters who are firmly pro Nige and are coming up with ever more inventive ways to start threads that show Nige in a good light and Liam in a bad light. 
I’m not firmly in either camp but I do find myself defending Liam, mainly because I think the comparisons and attempts to judge him too early are a bit stupid to be honest! 

50 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

You are absolutely right albeit if the worst happened and we were to obtain less than four points in the next four league games it would not be unreasonable to suggest that Manning has made a very mediocre (2-3 points in those four games) if not poor (less than two points) start. I don't "think" that will happen tbh but it is not a totally mental suggestion when you look at the fixtures.

The fact that are our hierarchy bullshitted and blustered their way through and did not have the ability to present a united and sensible message around the sacking of the previous manager that would have prevented direct comparisons such as this and people boring us to death on the forum with "a top 6 side should be getting a better result there" should be the bigger concern. You don't need experience in billion dollar corporations to get something as straightforward as that delivered in a better manner.

I look forward to the apologies from Jon, Sid and some footballing non-entity called Gavin apparently should Liam be put under unnecessary pressure by fans................

100%. 
And that’s always been my stance. And I made it clear from day 1. 
The reasons the board gave for sacking Nige were an incredible amount of bollox. We all know it. 
But that’s not to say that it wasn’t necessarily the correct decision. I’ve said myself that I’d have happily let him see the season out but I didn’t think we’d renew him after the 3 years, so I think they went earlier than I thought they would. But would I say I was angered or disappointed - not really. 
Come the end, I did like Nige, I’d no doubt enjoy a beer or a ramble with him, but ultimately I don’t think he would have taken is to the next level (he’s stabilised us brilliantly but I don’t think was ever gonna be the guy to progress following that stabilisation).

I’ve said all along that the dumbass comments from the board have heaped unnecessary pressure on Manning. 
But I can see beyond that. I am more than happy with Manning so far and I am willing to give him plenty of time. 
Of course, if we don’t finish top 6 then the responsibility for that lies squarely at the doors of Jon & Brian. 

As I always said, I will judge Jon and Brian on whether we make top 6, but I will not be judging Liam by the same expectations - we’re a mid table team under Nige and we’ll be a mid table team under Liam. But I do genuinely feel that Nige wasn’t gonna be the man to take us to the next level and I do genuinely feel that Liam has chance to do so. 
 

I’m not anti Nige nor pro Liam. I was the first person on this forum to proclaim that I didn’t think our playing squad was a good fit for Liam. But I think he can progress us. 
 

My conclusion is the same as it was the day they appointed Liam. The board are bunch of idiots, they dealt with the Nige sacking in an appalling fashion, but I’m happy with Liam’s appointment. 

1 minute ago, FNQ said:

Our form’s too patchy to draw meaningful conclusions even considering the facts of Liam’s results to date.. In our recent home match on New Year’s Day against Millwall we only managed 5 shots with 1 on target.. can’t talk that up too much.

I’m not talking it up. I’m just presenting a fact. As said earlier, this thread was started by someone quoting PPG after 14 games. I agree with you that it’s way to early to be forming opinions.