theAnticlough

That puzzles me as well @menzinho. He seemed to get nervy during those bad games and things went from bad to worse. Hopefully,that's easily fixable for him. .

Aljofree has gone back to Man Utd. It was a weird loan. He actually did well in most of the games he played. But he had absolute disasters in two, at Barrow and V Gills I think. One of those is bad, but two means MP cannot trust you as he's terrified of it happening again. A striker having an absolute mare is one thing, but a defending having one means defeat usefully. I hope his next loan is a happier one. Good luck to him for the future.

Great points @Robbie, and it's good to see someone back up the most pressing issue I also agree with the point you make about tactics and the solution being more quality rather than becoming like Accrington or Harrogate. Yeah, if we want to play like we do, positively and with skill, then we need the quality to pull it off. Back to the AMs, Luker isn't the answer either as we just can't afford to give a player a run to get up to match speed. We have to get this particular bit of January business right to have any chance of promotion.

It was such a poor performance yesterday, I think it's fair to truthfully examine where this team and this set of players stand. Based on the Accy game, I'll divide the starting XI into 3 groups 1) Still pieces to build a promotion team/squad around - Macari, Bedeau, Tsaroulla, Iorpenda, Dennis 2) Not so bad yesterday and probably best regarded as squad back-ups anyway - Roos, Norburn 3) Players that might need to be re-evaluated in terms of how far they can take us - Platt, Hall, Kouhyar, Jatta Platt - Rod McDonald better be injured or there's been some cowardly team management going on. Montague recruited Platt as a starter and RodMac as a back up in summer '24, but this season's evidence should throw that out of the window and the team should be picked on merit. Maybe Monty missed Sept/Oct when RM was a revelation. Platt is a fine L2 defender, but is prone to poor runs of form, is a below average distributor, can't use the space ahead of him and has stopped contributing as a goal threat, so the jury's out on him being a promotion level L2 defender. All I'm saying is that if there's someone who's been playing better this season in his position, they should have the shirt instead. Let's see if they can defend it and Platt/Ness can earn it on performances. Hall - We've seen so may Charlie Whitakeresque games from Hall by now - largely anonymous and ineffectual, and way too easily dispossessed and knocked off the ball. I speculated before that Hall was probably a schoolboy level striker that Spurs coaxed into becoming a midfielder when he didn't turn out to be big, strong or fast enough. He's still got great skill, composure in the box and an eye for goal, but 3 out of 5 of your performances in midfield can't be like yesterday's Kouhyar - was hoping he could force his way into the team but instead he shows like a natural sub, blazing brightly for 10mins and then dropping off a cliff. MP doesn't give too many chances but he does give them and you have to be ready to take them. He didn't Jatta - the big one, where to start? He has too many games like yesterday. English pro football isn't like the Danish league, you just don't get the time and space. You have to try to win your individual battles with the opponent. Does he try enough? Probably. But that doesn't change the fact that he loses 80-90% of his tussles and challenges. I wish he was regarded as someone who still had to prove himself rather than a surefire sell-on asset and then maybe him and his agent would see it that way too. I get it, we want (big) money for him so have to talk him up. But how nice would it be to tell him you have to do better, take a seat on the bench. The subs are a whole other story, so won't get started on that. Comments? Is most of that the usual over-reaction (probably is ;) ) or does any of it ring true.

I'd say Dennis was the pick of the few 6/10s today - decent effort from him

There's been very little talk about McDonald, a star performer earlier in the season but interviewers don't even ask about him. He came back to the bench then disappeared again as Ness took the back up CB role. If Platt is picked ahead of RodMac it can only be based on the previous season. i hope there wasn't anything daft happen like giving him Christmas off :) ! Because he should've been back in the team by now and we wouldn't have had to see that Platt horror show today.

As we enter the Jan window, the message form the players is "I'm not good enough, please replace me' Many players low quality was cruelly exposed today. Instructive for the club though, we don't have enough quality as it is to sustain a promotion challenge.

Really bad Our best two players at MK, Iorpenda and Tsaroulla, have been OK, but that's about it. Platt has been ragged, Bedeau asleep, Hall anonymous and Jatta's lost most of his tussles. Koukyar started like on of his sub performances but then fell off a cliff. I think MP has to find a way to get Jones on at HT To add to the frustration, Stall's 'absolutely' habit has spiralled out of control

With names like Big Tone, Super Ram and Dangerous Sausage I do feel there's a lost consonant there

Pleased for Kouhyar That's a team that should give Accy a tonne of problems. COYP

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Wishing all PONsters (got to be careful how you say that) the very best for 2026. Happy and prosperous new year to everyone!!

It didn't look good for Kouhyar on Monday, so it has to be doubtful he'll be fine for Thursday. How immensely frustrating, his first start and he goes off injured. As it's a home game I'd go with JJ at RWB as a replacement. Tsaroulla looked liberated on the left at MK so it'd be wrong to send him back to the right. We need more creativity. JJ has said before the right's his best position (if so, he's probably wrong :) ) so Accrington might be the right game for him and he can help us break them down.

Good choices @Robbie and good way of approaching it. The only other ever-present has been Roos but I note he doesn't make either of our lists! I've got a feeling the team and the main players carrying it will take more twists and turns than usual this season. We've lost star power, but this is probably the deepest squad we've had in our 3 seasons back in L2, with more options and movement to come very soon

One day after, and you can better appreciate the achievement of outplaying MK at their own stadium. The effort in the first half was incredible.

23 games gone, so half way through the season. Who are your players of the season so far? Here are my top five as it stands (playing in at least half the games to qualify) 5) Tom Iorpenda (23 league appearances) Being allowed to settle in CM, then getting his first senior goal has pushed him to a higher level. After a great start to the season, his form dipped but he's definitely shaken that off now. I don't see how the skipper and Robbo get straight back in. 4) Matty Palmer (16 league apperances) Unrecognisable from last season's player. He's recovered his energy, positivity and consistency. Always looking for the ball and using it consistently well. Before his unfortunate injury, he got back to being the midfield general we all know 3) Lewis Macari (15 league appearances) I think it's gone unnoticed how consistently well Macari has been playing. A solid defender and a composed, tidy passer of the ball. 2) Jacob Bedeau (23 league appearances) An ever-present and another really consistent performer, especially defensively as a one-on-one defender. He's come in second for me and I still think he was marginally better last season under Maynard than this season. 1) Rod McDonald (12 league appearances) IMO, nobody else has reached the level of consistent excellence as McDonald did in that dozen-game run of his. He was MoM or a strong contender for it every week. A great pity for him that he went out with the injury, and obviously he'll lose this standing to others playing now. But not yet, for me. Who do other PON members have on their lists. I would've included Robbo but put in Iorpenda after tonight. Despite the goals I have Jatta and Dennis behind these 5, maybe because of a lack of consistency but I imagine most would have them in.

I'd say Iorpenda and Tsaroulla were clearly the stand-out players, Tom Iorpenda as MoM

Pity we couldn't hang on but still a highly commendable performance and bounceback. Great effort from all the lads. I think Tsaroulla sent a message there, whether he knew it or not - play me on the left. That was by far his best showing for weeks. I hope MP keeps him there. I'd say only Iorpenda bested him today.

That's a magnificent reaction after Chesterfield. MK haven't been allowed to settle at all, the press that half was everything it wasn't on Friday. Iorpenda the pick of the team, even before his great goal. He's playing with real confidence. Shout out too to the WBs.Tsaroulla and Kouhyar have offered more from that position than we've seen recently.

Kouhyar - Hallelujah. But RWB and Tsaroulla comes over to the left? Dennis stays in and is joined by a similar player Hall in the No 10 positions. If they're both at it tonight, it's a pair with a lot of goal threat. lets hope they've both got the bit between the teeth.

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Switching formations or systems mid season is a bigger deal than it was in decades past, and needs a strong motivating reason. We actually have one right now, the title of the post 'Getting your best players on the pitch' Under LW, our best performers were attackers. That hasn't been the case this season (the last one too, although there was a fair bit balance Bass/ Platt/Bedeau v Didzy/Jatta) This season though? Haven't our better players been McDonald, Platt since he came back, Macari's been super-steady and Bedeau is one of our best players period? A back 4 of Macari-Platt-McDonald-Bedeau looks pretty strong to me. Palmer and Robbo in front of them is fine. We could surprise teams with 3 behind Jatta. Can't believe I'm suggesting going from 3 to 4 defenders when chasing promotion but there is a justification based on performance quality of the players I think.

A quick AI search suggests they were offered contracts but couldn't agree terms so they moved on, joined a bigger club and avoided a relegation season. Tsaroulla's done pretty well and maybe there's more from him to come. Gordon is up and down (less up than down) and fits into my growing pet hate watching Notts - players who often look the part but can't deliver and lose their heads and make bad decisions in the final third. Players who can produce, but sometimes don't look the part (i.e. Jarvis) don't get a look in.

I'm sure MP and the team will treat the game with the utmost importance, but I don't think us fans should build it up too much. Memories of how they ripped us open time after time a couple of weeks ago are still fresh. Roos has the shakes again and we're still without our first choice central midfield pairing. If offered a point right now, I'd snatch their hands off. MK are a robust unit so it's also a bad game to turn to lighter, creative players who might not be at their most confident. At home to Accrington might be a better time to see Jones, Hall, Palmer start. Changes? It seems that Bennetts might be out. So let's see what the Crawley promotion pairing Tsaroulla and Gordon can do. Deep into the season now with the January window looming, selections now are akin to tests. Can these players really help us get to where we want to go? Other than that, I'd say it's time Kouhyar got a start - as a 10, for either Dennis or Grant. Dennis because he was so atrocious at Chesterfield or Grant because as we've always known 2 goals from 20 games in a forward position is never going to cut it for a promotion aspiring team.

The 5th tier was never his level, so top marks to Montague on that one. He was a regular in a L1 promotion team and then played in the Championship. He was probably desperate to have a go at top tier football, but Brazil was probably too ambitious. I'd guess he could play top tier in places like Chile, Scotland, Scandinavia, maybe places like Switzerland or even MLS, dunno. There's no shame though in plying your trade in English L1. But at 29 who can blame him for taking the highest wage, wherever that might be. Maybe a few months with us might put himself in the shop window for another Championship team to take a punt. Oxford even, De Buckingham liked him but Rowett didn't pick him, but he's just been sacked.