menzinho

I’m probably 60/40 in favour of Salford @theAnticlough , the weather is going to have a big impact and having watched the Championship PO today (well as much as I could it wasn’t exactly a thriller) it only makes me feel a tad more nervous. It was a really slow paced game of few chances where the difference maker was one mistake. It’s no easy job picking the squad, I think there’s a possibility Palmer starts (we have kept how fit he is pretty quiet) so then it would be either Norburn or Robertson on the bench. Assuming Browne is fit he has to be a sub, if one of the defenders did get injured we would be in trouble. I would prefer Bennetts over Kouhyar in attacking sense because he’s got the ability to beat players and I think after 70 minutes when players are starting to tire he could be a real outlet for us. But then all our wingbacks would be left-footed, so we’ve got no-one who can cross a ball with their right foot… Assuming everyone is more or less 100% fit; Griffiths, Browne, Norburn, Bennetts, Tangen, Dennis, Ndlovu. I just think someone like Tangen can get his foot on the ball and help bring even more control, this might be crucial last 20. Purely because of the heat I’d go for technically better players over your willing runners because I think they are just going to be less effective.

Yeah I almost certain they'll target Jatta to get another reaction (with VAR this won't be missed this time) and Jodi can get wound up pretty easily too, I suspect Mnoga (if he starts) will go in hard on JJ from the off to see how the ref reacts and what he can potentially get away with. In the two matches this season 4 of the 3 goals they scored against us were from corners, so they'll be quite happy just playing balls into the channels in the hope they can win more corners! Then of course we have the current 5 losses in a row against Karl Robinson's Salford, and in the 15 matches we've faced him he has only lost 1 against us! For me it's going to feel monumental if we win on Monday.

Yeah definitely makes for interesting reading but not a massive surprise that Iorpenda had the most MotM awards! I think the fact Macari never won and Bedeau only won twice (despite being in a lot of fans thoughts for player of the season) shows they are underrated and sometimes it's easier for the middle of the back 3 to shine because they always have these two players surporting them.

John Stones getting picked having barely played any matches this season is very disappointing for me. No idea why Lewis Hall isn’t in the squad either, seems Tuchel would rather have a right-footer in Djed Spence playing at left-back. 🤷‍♂️ Not super keen on Henderson and Mainoo, I would’ve picked Adam Wharton and Alex Scott at Bournemouth. The attacking positions were always going to be the trickiest part, I’m not that surprised both Foden and Palmer missed out because we are stacked with lots of good players here. I agree MGW can count himself a tad unlucky here. Toney is a strange one too, the only reasoning I can think of is that he’s spent a whole season playing football in an extremely hot climate, so the conditions will suit him. But yeah, he wouldn’t have been my choice.

I'll have a listen to that later, thanks for posting. Just on the omen point; Grimbsy beat Salford twice in the regular season but lost in their PO Semi-final... It would keep with the trends of these Play-offs so far!

I think this match is going to be completely different to the ones we've seen earlier this season and that's down to one key factor; the heat. It’s going to be potentially 32° on Monday, so running around in those temperatures will be hell (it'll be unbearable just sitting in it!). I would usually be all for trying to press relentlessly but in heat like that it’s just not possible, I think conserving energy will be key here. We’d also be mad if we didn’t make all 5 subs, I think fresh legs will be the deciding factor in this one. You don’t want to complain about the weather but it really isn’t ideal for football, I think it’ll have a massive impact the match. I can see it being a really slow tempo match, especially by the end I expect some players to really be flagging. Extra-time would just be a killer if it happens (I would probably shake hands and go straight to pens!)

I think the back 3 are most deserving here, not much between them all really. Bedeau had to deal with Markanday who was Chesterfield's most lively player and McDonald has really stepped up again after Platt's injury. I went for Ness too though, I thought he'd be the player who could be 'got-at' but to be fair he was excellent.

That was tense, particularly that last 20 minutes I agree we could’ve probably managed that last period better, especially with the space Chesterfield left for us to exploit. I’m sure MP and the coaches will point this out in the debriefing. Can’t fault any of the effort and the sheer determination when it came to defending our box though. We basically did what Wimbledon did to us last season in the play-offs. You can’t say we aren’t learning and it definitely worked. Yeah the scenes at the end were embarrassing really, typical minority spoiling it for the majority. Don’t even think anyone should’ve been on the pitch, a bit tin-pot for me, we haven’t actually won anything yet! Really don’t know how to feel about playing Salford at Wembley though, we are going to have to break a shocking winless streak to get into League 1.

If we start the match like we did against Chesterfield (penalty aside) it will give us a good chance of getting that crucial first goal again. If Dobra has properly injured himself (you never know with his antics just how bad it really is) it would aid us if he was out. Ness probably had an easier match first leg after he went off. I get that with injuries our back 3 is self-selection right now but I think this is the area of the pitch that looks the most vulnerable. I think Ness is just too clunky with his movement to deal with the quick tricky wingers, the penalty was a shining example of this. I can’t really see a reason to change the first 11, maybe Palmer starts if he’s properly fit, I think that’s about the only real change I would expect. I’d hope Dennis is back in the squad, he might be a touch out of form but he’s still our 2nd top goalscorer and he’s capable of scoring from outside the box too. I think it would be daft to not have him on the bench.

I think McDonald takes it for me too, he barely put a foot wrong all match.

And breath! I believe that is the definition of doing a job of a team (with an added slice of good fortune after their missed penalty). First half we looked dangerous, we pressed pretty well and caused them to play their way into trouble. Not going to lie it was nervous watch second half, seeing as most of the time the ball was in our own half but we managed it well in the end. A very strong start for the Ollie Norburn redemption arc, he was super calm by his standards. When I saw him and Robbo as the starting CMs I did think there’s a potential red card in waiting… But I needn’t have worried, it was Tsaroulla who walked the tight-rope after his yellow, I was so sure he was going to get a second yellow when he just grabbed that Chesterfield player. Yeah, it made me laugh how Paul Cook was getting so worked up over the smallest things, how is actually able to think properly when he’s so enraged all the time? Martin Paterson just looked super calm all night, I loved it!

This is a tough one, especially as we’ve only seen Dennis and Jodi (I think) take penalties for us. I’d imagine in training Conor Grant probably takes a great penalty, but you could just feel the nervous energy of inevitability if was walking up to take one. Jatta did a challenge video with McGoldrick last year for one of these youtube channels, I seem to remember one being penalties and he was absolutely terrible. Tsaroulla doesn’t seem to always strike the ball well either when he cuts inside and he’s had quite a number of decent shooting opportunities this season. I can see him hitting a pen that the keeper saves if he goes the right way. So for me just based on a vibes and who I think is pretty good technically when it comes to striking a ball my 5 would be: Jones, Dennis, Luker, Norburn and Robertson. I actually really struggled to pick the last one, that was harder than it should’ve been. Thanks for refreshing my nerves @theAnticlough! If it went to penalties, I wouldn’t feel confident about our chances.

Now is the time clubs start to announce who is leaving and which players they have re-offered contracts too. The latter is usually a good sign, I expect we'll be in for a few players in this situation. I would go for Mark Helm 100%, a really good attacking midfielder who is more than accustomed to the hustle and bustle of League 2 football. Fleetwood are skint, losing tons of money and he only has 1 year left on his contract, so if we can offer a decent fee it might well be worth it before the out of contract scramble. I wonder if we’ll be back in for Charlie McCann, he’s a player we’ve tried to sign before and I always thought he could be the potential successor to Palmer. He could be cursed though because every time he plays in League 2 he gets relegated. Jordan Thomas who I really rate will be leaving Cheltenham, but he’s a winger and unless we are planning on changing formation I can't see how he fits in here.

If we do get past Chesterfield I think I’m going to be in meltdown if it’s us v Salford at Wembley! I’m in a kind of hopeful phase, I think it’ll be close over the two legs, I can see it being decided by a goal. I think we played ok against them even though we lost twice, the home match was more impressive when you consider we played with 10 for nearly 75 and had them worried. We can potentially surprise them a bit, we are pretty healthy in terms of attackers and midfielders now but I just hope Browne isn’t injured because if we are going into the play-offs with just the three fit defenders it’s tight-rope walking stuff. For the players who haven’t played against Dobra before, they will now be fully aware of his antics, he wants a reaction and in the last match we gave it to him. He totally did Norburn. The players have to just ignore him, no matter how much he irritates them, just leave him to be his whinging baby self.

I’m probably in a very small minority of fans who share my opinion but I actually think our stadium is too big, or you could say equally it’s arranged badly. For the majority of the season, it’s basically a 3 stand stadium, so we never get that cauldron of noise or atmosphere like you do at smaller grounds when it’s close to a sell-out. We get a handful of teams that bring 1,500-2000 fans but the majority of the time the Jimmy Sirrel Stand is basically empty. Yesterday the turnout was impressive but it was more of a one-of, I think our average attendance has hovered around 10,000 (which is great) but it also means we’ve still got 7000/8000 empty seats most weeks.