M42Owl

Isn’t the fan zone “limited capacity”? With one of the Wednesday pubs being boycotted (hopefully) and the others not so big, I’m wondering if there’s a chance you get to the fans zone, it’s full, and the only realistic option is inside the ground. Central London until as late as practicable seems the best option to me.

E-mail confirmation took about two minutes to arrive. Ticket was attached.

You could have me as your neighbour.

More to the point, why for Coventry is a senior over 60, but for us it’s over 65? Half price for a senior…bargain.

My preference is for West Ham, Everton and Leicester. My expectation is Southampton, Bournemouth plus one, possibly Leeds. Actually, my preference is for Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, but that seems unlikely.

What’s happening with tickets for the rearranged game? I can’t find anything on the club site other than the initial sales details. I’m assuming that the original ticket will be valid next week, but I’d like some official confirmation as reassurance. And surely there must have been a few returns that need to be resold, so there ought to be a ticket update of some sort.

One game at a time and all that, but I see it that the away games following Barnsley as key to our promotion push. At home, Lincoln and Bolton might present difficulties, but should, with Accrington and Exeter, be home wins. Those 12 points puts us on 89 points. Away games at FG, Cheltenham, Oxford, Burton, Bristol R: all games we should look to be winning to nil. But all are potential banana skins. All are likely to have deep sitting defence and play on the break. But five games, five wins, puts us on 92 points, 104 with the (hoped for) home wins and guaranteed promotion as champions (unless Plymouth go unbeaten and transform their GD). It’s these games that we need to concentrate on: no unnecessary team or tactical changes, full strength team to minimise risk of stupid dropped points. Do this and anything from Barnsley is a bonus. And Shrewsbury(a) and Derby (h) become celebration matches.

And Vaulks injury.

It’s Quentin.

I don’t wish to detract from the main issue, but aren’t road closures a good thing? Getting out along Penistone Rd is much safer than it was before they closed half of it at FT. And I’m sure the road by the away end at BL been closed our last few visits, at least.

Three match ban for Gregory?

Another “game of two halves”. Should have been out of sight at half time. They didn’t have a shot, off or on target. Second half was more even, but I thought they had the better chances. Again, they came from our mistakes rather than the opposition’s skill. But the defence was resolute, Flint and Iorfa outstanding. The late free kick on the edge of our area was a worry. Fortunately we dealt with it easily. No one had a poor game today, but credit to Brown who did a lot better than most expected from him. I thought the ref was a bit card happy and was looking to send someone off, he seemed less picky in the second half.

650 points won’t get me a ticket for Portsmouth will it? So let me be the first to ask, any spares please? @Reesh?

I thought World of Sport was rubbish. ITV Seven, I hated horse racing, and wrestling (which my Dad liked, but I didn’t). Something squeezed in the middle for an hour was worth watching some weeks, not others. But I did like Dickie’s presentation style. Better than Frank Bough.

Is Wilks’ injury still undiagnosed, other than “a limp”? If it is, then his absence could be one of these forever expanding short-terms.

That game couldn’t have gone much better… …all our forwards scored. Gregory’s first for a while. Great confidence booster. …Famewo and Flint get a rest. Possibly our best two defenders at their best for the next few games. …Players having poor first 45 going on to have a good second half (Smith, Iorfa, Johnson). Had they been subbed it could have dampened confidence. They stayed on, turned it round: confidence booster. …we went behind. Twice. It hasn’t happened much lately, so to turn it round must give the whole team (and fans) belief that going behind is no longer “game over”. And what impact could it have on other teams seeing us behind at HT but coming through to end with a comprehensive three goal margin? …subs actually looked good: fit, energetic, and enthusiastic, Adeniran especially. He looked a bit lost at RWB v Morecambe, but yesterday it looked like he could be playing there more frequently.

We should just continue to call it the Reebok and save the hassle.

Ozzie Owl as the mascot.

Bob Bolder Ken Knighton, Mark McGuiness, Chris Carr, Jermaine Johnson, Almen Abdi, Barry Bannan, Marco Matias Simon Stainrod, Derek Dooley, Fernando Forestieri

Jeff Johnson Jermaine Johnson Simon Stewart(?) Chris Carr Alman Abdi (?)

If all the teams behind us win all their games, which is a bit unlikely, we can afford two defeats and one draw to be guaranteed second. The sooner it gets to more defeats allowed than games left the better. I can’t say I’m enjoying this run as much as I should be.

Anyone think McKenna could be next to go? Decent team, plenty of quality in the squad, expectations high and being met until… Underperforming, fans a bit restless, are the players happy? Are the bosses? Has the owner the balls to do a Milan Mandaric and bring in a new man for a late unbeaten promotion run in?

Flint was rested last midweek. Could he be given another break, perhaps as sub? What about Iorfa? Seen a few comments that he was struggling at Ipswich. If both are out, the defence is looking weak. Without risking players that are carrying a minor issue, I think we should play our best 11. We don’t want to risk dropping stupid points against Morecambe or MK.

Wasn't that where their keeper got injured?

If it's passing from full back to centre back to full back and repeat and repeat, or keeping it in the corner: it's game management. As is kicking it into row Z. If it's feigning injury or taking 30 seconds over a goal kick: that's time wasting. I don't think we do a lot of the later, especially in the absence of Stockdale and Paterson.