The other Dons.....Oxford away Tues 21-03-17...7.45

[BWFC_Insane]

No you're not, you're at the opposite end of the same spectrum. Every fecking match ends with you praising him to high heaven. Quite often as "the best player on the pitch" when he's been nowhere near.

I've also been critical of him at times too. But lets forget that and go binary.

Also he was voted on twitter by Bolton fans as MoTM last game. I said Vela was my personal choice. Again the analysis of what was said becomes very binary.

[TANGODANCER]

Accepting I will be classed as armchair opinion, nevertheless, all that binary stuff aside, do we accept Phil Parky knows what he's doing? I mean, he's getting results somewhat against the odds (which have been a little mighty of late), choosing the team he thinks best suited to do the job, uniting the players (some of whom can be a little knobbish at times) and has us in second spot in the league despite injuries and bannings. Worth keeping in mind that at this time in the season tanks are a bit less full than earlier and just a few teams are as determined as us that they deserve promotion, so maybe more than one choice per teamsheet needs consideration. What are we going to do if we miss promotion, tar and feather Parky, run him out of town on a rail? Madine, Long, Henry, Alf, Clayton etc...might all be asked for a big effort to get us past the post. Winning is the only target know no matter who the marksman are and if Madine can do it, well, que sera....

[Peter Thompson]

Accepting I will be classed as armchair opinion, nevertheless, all that binary stuff aside, do we accept Phil Parky knows what he's doing? I mean, he's getting results somewhat against the odds (which have been a little mighty of late), choosing the team he thinks best suited to do the job, uniting the players (some of whom can be a little knobbish at times) and has us in second spot in the league despite injuries and bannings. Worth keeping in mind that at this time in the season tanks are a bit less full than earlier and just a few teams are as determined as us that they deserve promotion, so maybe more than one choice per teamsheet needs consideration. What are we going to do if we miss promotion, tar and feather Parky, run him out of town on a rail? Madine, Long, Henry, Alf, Clayton etc...might all be asked for a big effort to get us past the post. Winning is the only target know no matter who the marksman are and if Madine can do it, well, que sera....

TD I've given PP stick for being negative, no plan B etc....but at the moment I'm being proved wrong (and delighted to be so), and these past 4 results have shown that with the right players at his disposal he can make us more attacking with more energy & pressing in midfield - so at the moment I'd say that he certainly knows what he's doing.

Lose tomorrow though and it'll be back to 'not knowing what he's doing' from black & white PT !!

However, I don't know what you mean about against the odds - we still have a better squad of players then perhaps every other team in the league (possibly bar Sheff Utd) - most teams in this league would have our subs bench in their 1st team.

From this position (4 points clear with a better GD), with only 8 games left and with the players / squad we now have anything other than automatic promotion (as Bruce said on another thread) is a failure.

[jmjhb]

Harsh and untrue to call him one-dimensional. He's changed the formation at least 3 times this season.

[TANGODANCER]

However, I don't know what you mean about against the odds - we still have a better squad of players then perhaps every other team in the league (possibly bar Sheff Utd) - most teams in this league would have our subs bench in their 1st team.
From this position (4 points clear with a better GD), with only 8 games left and with the players / squad we now have anything other than automatic promotion (as Bruce said on another thread) is a failure.

Wouldn't you call the club being player embargoed, deep in debt, Claims we couldn't get Ameobi back because we couldn't pay for his loan, staff not being paid, in lumber with F.I.F.A over late account submissal, injuries, sending offs and literally walking a financial tightrope for months being against the odds? I think I would, that's why I said it.

[BWFC_Insane]

However, I don't know what you mean about against the odds - we still have a better squad of players then perhaps every other team in the league (possibly bar Sheff Utd) - most teams in this league would have our subs bench in their 1st team.
From this position (4 points clear with a better GD), with only 8 games left and with the players / squad we now have anything other than automatic promotion (as Bruce said on another thread) is a failure.

Wouldn't you call the club being player embargoed, deep in debt, Claims we couldn't get Ameobi back because we couldn't pay for his loan, staff not being paid, in lumber with F.I.F.A over late account submissal, injuries, sending offs and literally walking a financial tightrope for months being against the odds? I think I would, that's why I said it.

Oh indeed. Most fans felt we'd do well to stay up this year.

To turn a club around that was not only on its knees, but actively accepting the impending axe and rolling over for a tummy tickle in the process, is testament to Parky's ability.

Remember prior to the season the players who are now 'best in the division' were 'spineless charlatans who should be removed at all costs'.

Reason that has changed is purely down to the manager and his staff.

[Prufrock]

You're fecking mad! Most fans did not at all think we'd "do well to stay up". It's also true that most didn't have us down for auto promotion but:

If we call automatic promotion "1"; and doing well to stay up "0"... I think there's this bit in between.

[Rjs37]

As long as we're not down by Christmas

I was trying to find a pre-season prediction thread, but instead I came across this.

EDIT:
Ah here we go, pretty balanced really:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26260

29% Expected Promotion
29% Expected us to be around the playoffs
20% Just wanted us to be in the top half
22% Wanted us to avoid relegation (I know it's a push grouping low mid table but meh)

[Prufrock]

The question in that poll btw was what was an acceptable position for this year and 10% voted for avoid relegation. So 10% thought that was the somewhat lower standard of acceptable rather than "done well to".

Just for Captain Balanced View, you understand.