menzinho

Middlesbrough 2-1 Norwich City Preston North End 0-1 Lincoln City Cambridge United 1-1 Reading 🃏 Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Barnsley Colchester United 0-1 Crewe Alexandra York City 1-3 Swindon Town Halifax Town 1-2 Hornchurch Yeovil Town 1-1 Fylde

Considering some of the teams last season I still thought we were one of the better footballing sides, but the difference was we were more flexible. Take the play-offs, we were kind of happy to let Chesterfield have the ball because we’d worked on the out of possession shape and we knew we could create chances from pressing. Then in the final, given it was 30°+ it’s virtually impossible to play an effective press so we switched back to a more possession-based style. Salford were very much an up and at you team under Robinson and they didn’t adapt. Now we aren’t side the is 100% committed to trying to always have possession of the ball, we can be just as effective without it. It’s a double edge sword, but in a good way for us! Against Huddersfield we were more focused in our out of possession play and we came away with a point. Against Burton home (second half) we showed we are still capable of dominating the ball and creating chances through good passing play. It’s the best of both worlds right now and I think it’s going to serve us well this season.

PONdle #8 — 4/6 — 7 letters 🟨🟨⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛ 🟨⬛🟨🟨🟩🟨⬛ ⬛⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Play PONdle

PONdle #7 — X/6 — 8 letters ⬛🟨🟩🟨🟨⬛🟨🟨 🟨🟨⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩⬛ 🟨⬛🟨⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬛🟨⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬛🟨⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 Play PONdle Once I got the ending, I just could not think of any other player that fit. How do I see who it was supposed to be?

5 goals in 7 matches, if he carries on in that sort of form he'll be the leagues top scorer! Clearly been a great start for him there, let's hope it continues.

I think he's more suited to the matches where we have less of the ball and our out of possession play and press is more important. That said he wasn't too shabby in possession either, but he seems to thrive more when he's chasing down and getting stuck into opposition players. I know it's early days but they are the best side we've faced this season, they edged it terms of play and chances, not saying we didn’t deserve the draw because I think it was a fair result, but they have a lot of top-level League 1 players and at times it really showed. We got a tad lucky with the double goal-bound blocks first half, but credit to Ness and then Gibbons for being alert and stopping what looked a certain goal. In that middle period of the second half, we were under a lot of pressure and struggled to get out and I just thought there’s a goal coming for them here, but credit to the lads we defended really well and the subs of Smyth, Mustapha, Grant and Ishe helped us re-energise and relieve a bit of the pressure. To still be unbeaten is really impressive, we've adjusted to life in League 1 better than I imagined!

If Gibbons hadn't gone off injured he'd have probably been my choice as he was having a great game. I am going to follow the crowd and vote for Ness, they made me worry with their long throw but I think Ness repelled nearly every one!

Burnley 2-1 Bristol City Millwall 2-0 Bolton Wanderers Barnsley 1-1 Stevenage 🃏 Burton Albion 1-1 Cambridge United Accrington Stanley 0-2 Crawley Town Bristol Rovers 3-1 Rotherham United Fylde 1-2 Worthing Wealdstone 1-0 Kidderminster Harriers

Roos had a bad first match against Newport that basically showed up his biggest flaw from the off, dealing with crosses and balls into his box. Commanding his 6 yard box was a monumental struggle and he was just terrified of coming off his line. It put the onus on the defenders to deal with a lot more and that was relieved when Belshaw joined. I felt bad for Roos in the end, we had no real other option so we soldiered on with him even when his confidence was shot. The decision for him to go is best for both parties, especially as he had no real future here.

The defensive area hasn't seen too many changes, Gibbons looks solid from his initial appearances, Baker will likely get his chance at some point, I think he's likely to be either LCB or RCB. In the wingbacks we've only really seen Lipsuic, he certainly doesn't lack in terms of effort of fitness but he does look a tad awkward at times (understandable as he is right-footed playing on the left). I have got high hopes for Ishe, because he looks super athletic and comes with lots of good reviews. We've really shaken-up the midfield, it's just such a shame we've had a bit of injury crisis here. I think the new players all bring something different, but they all seem to be lively and capable of pressing which is a big positive. On the more attacking side Cooper looks fantastic, I've been surprised how nicely Roberts has slotted in and Mustapha has impressed me too. As for the new forwards I think Smyth and Kanu will be fighting to lead the line, but I think they could form a good partnership too if we decide to play more of a 3-5-2 over a 3-4-2-1. It's a real shame Acquah suffered a bad injury, because he had a great pre-season and again in the little I've seen of him he certainly can be of use to the team.

Birmingham City 1-3 Southampton Swansea City 2-0 Watford 🃏 Bromley 1-1 Leyton Orient Huddersfield Town 2-1 Oxford United Wycombe Wanderers 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday Chesterfield 0-1 Gillingham Exeter City 1-3 Barnet Northampton Town 1-1 Crawley Town

I think because Doncaster are yet to win this season they'll have targeted this match as a one to win, it might put a bit more pressure on them which isn't always a bad thing. I suspect the little experiment of not playing a recognised No.9 will need some more tweaks, luckily Smyth will be super confident and fresh to start. I'm hopeful we'll have another new forward on the bench too.

I seem to remember Jonathon Forte scoring a hat-trick on his debut and I thought we'd got prime Ronaldo in League 2! Back to Finneran, it was really impressive debut. I think the biggest compliment you can give him is he doesn't play like an 18 y/o, he looked like he'd been playing for years! He seems to be really highly rated at Newcastle and he's already played for Ireland that tells me a lot. Really pleased he's here for the season, especially with our injury prone midfielders, he's probably going to have a big part to play.

18 y/o Scutt upfront for Burton & Mustapha likely playing upfront for us today! Not something I'd have expected. Has Ndlovu rejoined the walking wounded? It does look like 4 injured CMs for us now @Sheffield Pie , never seen that before.

Blackburn Rovers 2-1 QPR Watford 1-3 West Ham Leyton Orient 1-0 Barnsley Stevenage 1-1 Doncaster Rovers Stockport County 3-2 Wycombe Wanderers Colchester United 2-0 Rochdale 🃏 Grimsby Town 2-1 Fleetwood Town Newport County 0-1 Tranmere Rovers

That massive datagum duck has to be one of the worst looking sponsors we’ve ever had. I didn’t realise it was on all the shirts this season, that does spoils it for me. It makes the shirt look a bit comical. It’s not terrible but it’s just another bland strip that looked like Puma spent all of 5 minutes on. All one shade of pink and no real design to the shirt, well apart from the completely unnecessary button at the top to support the non-existent collar!

I think this match will have quite a different feel to the Luton and Leicester matches, I think we’ll probably have a bit more of the ball and control and it’ll be Burton wanting to keep it as tight as possible. Again, in terms of our starting 11 I can’t see any major changes, but that is mostly dictated by the current injuries. I’ve got a feeling Dennis will score against us, he scored a great goal from just outside the box against Leicester and it just feels typical that former players come back to haunt us. Fingers crossed one of our strikers gets off the mark though, that still seems to be the one lingering issue most have with the squad so it would be nice if one of Smyth or Ndlovu gets a goal. Another draw wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m hopeful we can get our first win of the season this Saturday.

From the post-match interview after Luton Martin pretty much confirmed Acquah is months not weeks, another freak injury in training which isn't a first for us. No idea about Dean Campbell or Matt Palmer, we've been pretty vague about them which makes me think they are hopefully more short-term. I think Rod and Beck-Ray should be back soon(ish) though, so hopefully that long-list will become a short one.

I can vouch for this, I went to a wedding the weekend before last and there were arguments because the bride was adamant about having a fire-work display at the end of the night... I didn't go ahead, thankfully! I do think the siren-alert was a bit OTT, but I do think the message needed to be shared.

My current thoughts are that I hope the recent reports about Jodi going to Bromley are unfounded.

You never know with long-term injuries how much of an impact they can have, especially with ACL injuries, I think it'll be hard for Platt and Macari because they'll be coming back in middle to back end of the season when there's no friendlies (EFL Trophy) to build up match fitness. They'll basically go from training to being thrown straight back in having not played for months. I have been impressed with Ness and I think he is more suited to playing in the middle of the back three, if he stays fit he's got the potential to really make that spot his own. A bit like with Bedeau at left centre-back, which feels like the one issue for me, who is Bedeau's main competition? Is it McDonald by default as he is the only other left-footed defender? I still see him more as being the central centre-back. To me it feels to me we’ve got Browne, Macari, Gibbons and Baker all competing for the RCB spot. Ness, McDonald and Platt for the CB spot and Bedeau is just chilling!

It was an almost an surreal feeling yesterday, and I'm not talking about seeing green grass for the first time in months, but to be in league with a team like Leicester and go toe-to-two with them was awesome to watch. Can't add much more than what has already been said, everyone played well it was a really hard-working and organised performance. I liked how we set-traps to rob Leicester of possession and were committed and aggressive with our pressing. Cooper was super unlucky and Ness must of thought he was in his own box clearing the ball! Even when we went 1-0 down I thought we'd get a chance and it seemed the rest of Meadow Lane did too because the atmosphere was great and kept pushing the team on. Subs were perfect, it meant we kept that intensity at the top end of the pitch and that was crucial to getting our equaliser. But who had Grant to down to finish like that though? Calmness personified, more of that this season please!

Everyone contributed in their own way yesterday so they are all worthy of praise. I'm torn between Cooper and Tsaroulla, I thought you could tell Cooper had played at a higher level, he really impressed me. There were moments when he set us on the attack by playing some lovely passes quickly into great spaces too. However I think because he crossed for the goal and earlier saved us from conceding Tsaroulla edges it for me!

Really good move, I thought he'd go out to a National League side, so to get potentially a good number of matches in League 2 for a side hopeful of pay-offs is great. I saw he came of the bench for them yesterday, so he's already involved. Let's hope Grimsby fans talk about him the way we talked about Iorpenda last season!

Jodi is still injured according to Martin Paterson's pre-match chat, no updates on the Palmer or Robertson injuries, it would be nice to have one them back though. I suspect we’ll see a similar side to the one that played against Burnley. Maybe even the same team, I haven’t seen enough of Acquah or Smyth to know who is the best centre forward at the club right now. Going off the pre-season and the fact he was our top scorer I’d probably pick Acquah. I’ve no idea how impressive Mustapha would have looked in training; suspect he’d at least be on the bench because prior to his arrival we were lacking attacking options. Really looking forward too it, fingers crossed for a positive result!