theAnticlough

Me too. He's done so much to correct our flaws from last season. The pressure cranks up at this time of year, and I keep returning to the fateful decision to pick Platt out wide for the Chesterfield game, leading to his gym-style 'suicides' running on the 57min when he did his ACL. Macari had done nothing wrong and should've started that game. Did he consult his boss on this pick, our Director of Football, who does have a promotion behind him? It's impossible to please everyone, it's all about opinions, but he's been doing my head in with too much Norburn and too little Iorpenda in centre midfield. I doubt anyone will like this post and it won't get any thumbs up. I am happy overall with Martin Paterson, but he's still an inexperienced 38-year old coach and we shouldn't expect him to be perfect or expect him to run the whole club, god forbid.

Good summary Chris, Our odds must be at something like 20% auto, 75% play-offs 5% nothing. 20 might be generous considering the McDonald news. In other posts I mentioned what the only formula might be. All I ask is that the run-in/play-offs have a different character to last year's.... ...Losing vital, clutch games because of a lack of bottle and fight ...Going out with a pathetic whimper I don't think MP's team will behave the same way. Hope not, anyway.

I don't think the Bros were ready for Montague leaving. I'm glad we didn't have more than one transfer window with Gagliardi. There's Iorpenda, but Cotter, Roos, Aljofree, Norburn were also his work. I want to see what Montague does with a summer window, combining his knowledge of L2 now with whatever he picked up at Swansea

Hope she can shake it off quickly@Fan of Big Tone now she's back home

Good morning all, We've taken some heavy blows, but it's a great opportunity to go back to what we did at Accrington. I hope MP remains super positive and there's no hint of using the injuries and the suspensions as an excuse. He's lost the extra insurance options he tends to edge towards (mistakes anyway, IMO) - extra height, an extra CM pivot, more experience/nastiness... None of those help the football you play...you can still try to do what you practiced all year on the training ground, pass and move, create overloads, continue the better final 1/3 execution we've seen recently, key passes for assists, cool and accurate finishing. Dunno about the team, but it could be something like... Belshaw Macari, Bedeau, Bennetts, Tsaroulla, Palmer, Iorpenda, Jones Grant, Dennis Jatta No problem at all with Ness though. He's at least as good a passer as Platt (but not as nice as McDonald). If the focus is on playing positively and fluently, as it always should be IMO, then we'll be OK in games like this.

I was posting to do this on the match thread 😎 @menzinho I saw it a mile off. It would have occurred to MP too, he botched that one. Norburn wasn't playing well either and we weren't making an impact either, despite chasing the game from very early on. Two other reasons to make that particular change. Palmer was superb against Accy and Cheltenham. Let him run the show and put a true box-to-box player next to him (we certainly have one)

It's a terrible blow. Ness is a decent footballer though - he needs confidence and to find the leader inside of him. MP likes his extra insurance, but without Norburn for the next two games (could be a blessing) he has no other option but to copy what he did at Accy. Palmer running the show, the threat of Iorpenda surging from deep, 2 dangerous WBs, 2 players around Jatta. Let's take it to the opposition starting at Harrogate. It's the only way now, we don't want to invite teams on to us.

It is a great opportunity, Stark. And we have no option but to trust in him. But maybe it'll need a quick adjustment of his attitude and demeanour. He's got to be a leader now. If ever he gets crocked, Macari-Bedeau-Bennetts might be another backline we can throw out there in an emergency

My take away is a question... How do we unlock Ness? Lucas did Ok last night but has got to step up as a leader now he's our CB for the run-in. And we've got to hope MP can inspire him to do it.

Iorpenda again for me, best of a bad bunch. Macari OK, Ness Ok apart from the terrible mistake, Dennis the best of the subs I thought

I'll be honest then Robbie, that's enough of a blow to say, that's it we're done and let's hope for better injury luck next year. At least we'll have another year of winning loads of matches.... Of course MP and the boys will soldier on. But Belshaw, Macari, Ness, Browne etc. are strangers to each other in football terms. It's such a massive ask for them to keep it together for this run-in - you never know though i just hope for a quick couple of wins to secure that play-off place. With our attacking players, we'd still be a scary team for others to face.

Haven't heard that yet @Robbie - a massive setback if true.

Hopefully, they can just bin that - we don't need soul-searching or a crisis of confidence at this point. It was a diificult game even before a ball was kicked, but the foul, anti-football conditions and Norburn being a liability are 2 big reasons for that result (I wonder if MP thought about subbing Norburn at HT, but found it too hard to do). I think the key now is MP believing in the attacking, ball-playing abilities of the squad (like at Accy) and seeing if this can take us where we want to go. We don't need journeymen or players picked for physical tussles, it only drags us down to a bog-standard L2 level, which is where we'll stay with that approach.

The blessing here is Norburn's 2 match suspension and the chance to play to our strengths now It'll force MP, maybe against his instincts but more in line with the club, to play a team based on pass and move, and creative, skillful, attacking play. There's no option now but Palmer and Iorpenda, which is the best midfield pairing anyway.

Oh dear. Difficult game, terrible conditions. You can understand the team selection, but the scoreline tells us it hasn't worked. I think MP should bite the bullet, Norburn or Palmer. As Norburn's on a yellow, and can't be trusted to avoid another, I'd say it has to be him to be subbed. One pass or piece of skill from Tangan might help us get a goal.

Pity about McDonald. Great test for Ness. Looking forward to see him rise to the challenge, hopefully

I already accepted that the No10 conundrum, if it's going to be solved at all, will be solved by committee, and he's one more for the committee! Step by step I guess. As Chris says game time may be limited so he will have to try to shine in sub appearances and take it from there. We absolutely can't take chances or allow someone to rebuild their game in these 8 cup finals we have left .... Autos is one or two slip ups out of our grasp, and play-offs is 75% failure

Great summing up, @Robbie Yeah, tricky place at the best of times, even without them being the form team of the league. And the best defence in the league We've played a lot of matches, have a lot of players returning from injuries and breaks. And we need to steady the defensive line without Platt. If ever there's a case to sacrifice an attacking piece for a bit more control, it's this game (and I don't usually say that!). There's less to gain by blitzing them (their CB Monthe is really good). It's the kind of game we should stay in and look for the quality of players like Jones and Jatta to win it for us. They're obviously a solid team that relies on discipline. But they'll have play-off ambitions and need to win if they're to catch the likes of Grimsby and Chesterfield. An ideal game would be to take the lead either side of HT and then steal a 2nd as they chase.

Amusing reply @YoopEyes It's going to be a gripping end-of season run-in and very interesting from the team selection, tactical angle. MP certainly has options. Look forward to returning to these subjects as it all unfolds.

Yes @Chris I've loved how he's knitted the play together this year. I think the most under-appreciated part of that is showing for the ball all the time. Then comes the accurate, clever and stylish passing. The mystery is, and better to whisper it, what happened last season? We expected him not be himself after the injury and to need a long time to get his level back but the passing was so negative. It couldn't only be the injury. Anyway, this season is another story entirely and he's been a joy to watch.

@Fan of Big Tone a really memorable day with my family was a shortish stay at Reighton Sands and walking the full beach to Filey and back again. Longer that it looks, many steps in it for you, probably 1 hour there, 1 hour back. The Flamborough Head cliff top walks too - we were lucky enough to see seals enjoying the shallows from up there.

I've almost given Matty Palmer MoM so many times @Chris, but he always gets pipped by another. I think it's because he's such a regular 7/10 player. Yesterday though he was 9/10 and still gets pipped by a 10/10!

Fun fact @YoopEyes All of Iorpendas 3 goals this season ( MK away, MK & Cheltm home) and have been in games where he's started in Centre Midfield. So the breakdown will be something like Starting in Centre Midfield - P10 Goals 3 Starting in Attacking Midfield P28 Goals 0 Yes, he scored yesterday when his position was switched, but we still get his goal threat and full-pitch contributions from deeper. Oldham as a one-off away match might be a different matter. But MP faces a big choice in these vital run-in games. Go with the double CM pivot of Norburn and Palmer, or go with a side like the one at Accy or starting yesterday with Iorpenda at CM. Personally, it would drive me nuts if we missed out going for the seemingly safe option of Palmer/Norburn (not enough vertical movement up and down the pitch) & Grant/Iorpenda (not enough end-product, potentially)

Sounds like you're back on track and all's well@Fan of Big Tone enjoy the rest of your holiday

I'd much rather focus on our 5 goals and attacking play.... but about the 2 conceded The first is such a mess involving so many players that it'd take all day to work out. The second though, we were in pretty good shape as the move developed down their right. Macari as RCB is right to slide over and Tsaroulla is there at RWB as he should be. At that point we had a comfortable 3 v 2 at the back stick. Their late movement is clever though. Should Tsaroulla have passed on his player to Macari? Probably, but when he last saw Hutchinson it might have seemed Grant was with him. That flick of Grant's left arm to say 'here, you have him' isn't good enough really. If you read that situation correctly you keep with the man you're tracking. Ultimately though, if we have a back line of 5 including WBs, there's no way the far end of that line, Tsaroulla in this case, should be that far over. I'd imagine there's a zonal principle there. Just guessing, but maybe 2 communication issues there....Tsaroulla to Macari saying he's yours and Grant screaming 'player' if he's going to stop tracking him as he enters the box