We are (hopefully) staying up: the opposition

[Athertonian]

Struggle to kill teams off may well be our downfall. Ipswich in my opinion were poor but, in patches they were made to look better than they were. They also could have won it at the end. Some may settle for a point but that was two dropped.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Madine just needs to factor in the 8k a week he stole for a year or so, add it to your 6k and hey presto 14k a week.

[BWFC_Insane]

Says a lot about the modern game really. Most sides play with just one up top these days and sadly the strike duo's of yesteryear are consigned to history.

I don't blame Madine asking for a pay rise while he's in the form of his life. Pity we can't ask for his first year's wages back though when he was next to useless. Giving him an extra say 250,000 a year makes financial sense if we can flog him off for £7m or so in the summer

If he signs a deal I want far more than that. Assombalonga money. He scored 14 for Forest last time. Boro paid £15M.

I'm sure you do! Not going to happen though is it? Madines in good form right now. I don't think anyone thinks he's comparable to Assombalonga though. Come summer time, Ken will snatch the hand off anyone offering north of 7m for Gaz

If he maintains this form teams would choose Madine over Assombalonba as big Gaz is going to fit into far more systems.

[boltonboris]

Nah. Assombalonga can do more than Madine can. Come on BWFCI - I appreciate the guy, but Britt would command a spot at any team in this division

[BWFC_Insane]

Nah. Assombalonga can do more than Madine can. Come on BWFCI - I appreciate the guy, but Britt would command a spot at any team in this division

He can't lead a line like Madine. Which is the "in vogue" trend nowadays. Assombalonga can play on his own up front but in a very different way.

I'd argue on the current form of Madine (were he 20 and playing like this he'd be premiership bound IMHO) you've a player who fits into a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2 or mostly any system and you can use effectively for most styles of play. Assombalonga needs a certain type of service. He's undoubtedly quicker and a better finisher. But so are loads and loads who can't get into championship sides because they cannot do the stuff most managers require these days.

[boltonboris]

What you actually mean is, you can't tw@t long balls from the back at Assombalonga and expect him to win them

Most managers don't do that

[BWFC_Insane]

What you actually mean is, you can't tw@t long balls from the back at Assombalonga and expect him to win them

Most managers don't do that

Most managers, how many managers in this league don't want a target man in their squad?

[Armchair Wanderer]

What you actually mean is, you can't tw@t long balls from the back at Assombalonga and expect him to win them

If he played for Bolton he'd have to learn!

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

What you actually mean is, you can't tw@t long balls from the back at Assombalonga and expect him to win them

Most managers don't do that

Most managers, how many managers in this league don't want a target man in their squad?

There's a difference between wanting a target man and having your team hoof the ball in 99% of instances. Not everything is 100% one thing or another*

* except parky and hoof ball

[TANGODANCER]

Is it worthwhile pointing out there is a difference when the word "hopeful" is inserted before long balls?

[BWFC_Insane]

What you actually mean is, you can't tw@t long balls from the back at Assombalonga and expect him to win them

Most managers don't do that

Most managers, how many managers in this league don't want a target man in their squad?

There's a difference between wanting a target man and having your team hoof the ball in 99% of instances. Not everything is 100% one thing or another*

* except parky and hoof ball

There is also a difference between that and what we and most other teams in this league do. We have two basic attacking plays, 1) get it wide, and work a crossing position (see goal vs Ipswich). 2) Get it to Madine and have runners off him.

Its limited out of necessity because we don't have the technical players to play neat one two's in and around the box. Its also what a lot of teams in this league do. It has (and since we stopped pretending we can play football and 3-5-2) been broadly successful. Our form after the opening 12 games is mid table is it not?

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

So most teams hoof it to their version of Madine 90% of the time. Yeah right...

[BWFC_Insane]

So most teams hoof it to their version of Madine 90% of the time. Yeah right...

Even we don't do that. But most teams in this division rely on either pace on the break or the ability to get the ball into the box.

You either need pace or a target.

Most teams want both.

We patently lack pace throughout our side and therefore our play revolves around working it through midfield with the ultimate aim of getting a cross in OR getting runners off Madine and going long. We have played some nice stuff box to box in recent weeks, but we lack the technical quality around the box to then really make it count short of putting a cross in.

[TANGODANCER]

We patently lack pace throughout our side and therefore our play revolves around working it through midfield with the ultimate aim of getting a cross in OR getting runners off Madine and going long. We have played some nice stuff box to box in recent weeks, but we lack the technical quality around the box to then really make it count short of putting a cross in.

Delete "technical quality" and substitute "attack and shoot". Who knows, it may just work. Literary jargon loses out to a deflected shot that goes in the net every single time, even with Harlem Globe Trotters and Barcalona.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Delete "technical quality" and substitute "attack and shoot". Who knows, it may just work. Literary jargon loses out to a deflected shot that goes in the net every single time, even with Harlem Globe Trotters and Barcalona.

Or indeed the Arsenal-Chelsea Milk Cup semi last night.

[BWFC_Insane]

We patently lack pace throughout our side and therefore our play revolves around working it through midfield with the ultimate aim of getting a cross in OR getting runners off Madine and going long. We have played some nice stuff box to box in recent weeks, but we lack the technical quality around the box to then really make it count short of putting a cross in.

Delete "technical quality" and substitute "attack and shoot". Who knows, it may just work. Literary jargon loses out to a deflected shot that goes in the net every single time, even with Harlem Globe Trotters and Barcalona.

Yeah, I don't mean we become "pass, pass pass" and never shoot. I just mean having players more able around the box to create space and chances with their technical ability.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

So most teams hoof it to their version of Madine 90% of the time. Yeah right...

Even we don't do that. But most teams in this division rely on either pace on the break or the ability to get the ball into the box.

You either need pace or a target.

Most teams want both.

We patently lack pace throughout our side and therefore our play revolves around working it through midfield with the ultimate aim of getting a cross in OR getting runners off Madine and going long. We have played some nice stuff box to box in recent weeks, but we lack the technical quality around the box to then really make it count short of putting a cross in.

Ah, so not every team plays the same. We're getting somewhere...

[BWFC_Insane]

So most teams hoof it to their version of Madine 90% of the time. Yeah right...

Even we don't do that. But most teams in this division rely on either pace on the break or the ability to get the ball into the box.

You either need pace or a target.

Most teams want both.

We patently lack pace throughout our side and therefore our play revolves around working it through midfield with the ultimate aim of getting a cross in OR getting runners off Madine and going long. We have played some nice stuff box to box in recent weeks, but we lack the technical quality around the box to then really make it count short of putting a cross in.

Ah, so not every team plays the same. We're getting somewhere...

Watching the games, I'm not seeing huge divergence, especially at the bottom end of the table. Ipswich spent the second half on Saturday pumping long diagonal balls towards their right wing (because Robinson is not much cop aerially) and playing off that. Essentially identical to our first half which was hitting long diagonal balls into Ameobi/Madine on our right hand side.

[TonyDomingos]

Some games of interest for us this evening:

Birmingham v Sunderland
Burton v Reading
Hull v Leeds

If I’ve got it right, we need Hull to lose to stay out of the bottom three.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Birmingham 3-1 Sunderland
Burton 1-3 Reading
Hull 0-0 Leeds

Coulda been a lot worse - but yeah we're below the dots for the first time in a month?

18 Reading 32
19 Barnsley 27
20 Birmingham 27
21 Hull 26
----
22 Bolton 26 (game in hand)
23 Sunderland 25
24 Burton 24