New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by Worthy4England » Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:22 am

The second goal - that little close control and dink through from Charles back to Dapo isn't getting any worse on the replay. 4 good goals.

On a side note, listening to their post match from manager and player, they're going to give the Wimbledon fans their money back. Apparently a bit like us in November, they had one fit midfielder yesterday. Surely they'd be better off keeping the money to invest in more midfielders! Don't really like this "give the fans the money back", malarky - I can sort of see it at Prem level if they've put the under 17's out to save everyone for an important league game.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by GhostoftheBok » Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:26 am

I said at the start of the season that is transfers went well for us we could win the league. I realise (and realised at the time) that that seems like a stupid thing to say, but we are getting closer and closer to where I could see us going.

This was the 11 I thought we'd be aiming towards and I think we're beginning to see that Evatt and Markham have built a squad that can produce a number of well-balanced and effective teams, of which yesterday's may be the best.

The mobility of Dempsey in the middle gave so much licence to the defenders to bomb on without worrying about the usual issue of players running off Williams. We will face much tougher tests, but Dempsey and Morley looks like it could potentially be a Championship pairing in those deeper positions.

The front three were still getting used to one another, but again you could see how they should be able to grow together and cause any team issues. The work rate throughout the team, but especially in attack, is fantastic to watch.

We're on this run despite not playing at our top level. It's not that there's stuff you'd like to be done better, it's that a lot of our players are currently at a high yet sustainable level and a number of others can go a couple of levels higher without asking much of them.

You then look at the average age and you have to think we can really build something here over the summer.

I think we will make the play-offs this season, even though it's a huge ask. If not we will be right in the mix next season.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by Worthy4England » Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:42 am

Bit about the front three, there were a few times in the first half, they were sorta tripping over each other on occasion, as they hadn't quite worked out the edge of the area bits and who was creating space v who was running in. Probably a good job for Wimbledon tbf.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by The_Gun » Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:12 am

I would love us to make the playoffs, Ghost, but I do think we’ve given ourselves too much to do. I could see us catching Wycombe, but I worry about Ipswich, and especially Sheffield Wednesday.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by BWFC_Insane » Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:58 am

GhostoftheBok wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:26 am
I said at the start of the season that is transfers went well for us we could win the league. I realise (and realised at the time) that that seems like a stupid thing to say, but we are getting closer and closer to where I could see us going.

This was the 11 I thought we'd be aiming towards and I think we're beginning to see that Evatt and Markham have built a squad that can produce a number of well-balanced and effective teams, of which yesterday's may be the best.

The mobility of Dempsey in the middle gave so much licence to the defenders to bomb on without worrying about the usual issue of players running off Williams. We will face much tougher tests, but Dempsey and Morley looks like it could potentially be a Championship pairing in those deeper positions.

The front three were still getting used to one another, but again you could see how they should be able to grow together and cause any team issues. The work rate throughout the team, but especially in attack, is fantastic to watch.

We're on this run despite not playing at our top level. It's not that there's stuff you'd like to be done better, it's that a lot of our players are currently at a high yet sustainable level and a number of others can go a couple of levels higher without asking much of them.

You then look at the average age and you have to think we can really build something here over the summer.

I think we will make the play-offs this season, even though it's a huge ask. If not we will be right in the mix next season.
It’s looking very good for next season. I wouldn’t be shocked if we lost Dapo in the summer. But hopefully that would offer up cash for a replacement and mean that we kept everyone else.

If we get Fossey done and can add a better centre half, another dominant midfield player and if necessary a Dapo replacement we will be good. Still issues with wingback cover and that’s something we might need to do some shuffling with.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by Abdoulaye's Twin » Sun Feb 20, 2022 11:19 am

Gooner Girl wrote:
Sat Feb 19, 2022 10:20 pm
Abdoulaye's Twin wrote:
Sat Feb 19, 2022 9:44 pm
Gooner Girl wrote:
Sat Feb 19, 2022 8:39 pm
Abdoulaye's Twin wrote:
Sat Feb 19, 2022 8:05 pm
Gooner Girl wrote:
Sat Feb 19, 2022 8:03 pm
Harry Genshaw wrote:
Sat Feb 19, 2022 5:43 pm
Well that were very enjoyable. Some great footy at times. Several good openings that we couldn't quite turn into gilt edge chances but 4 did not flatter us.

Dion obviously MotM closely followed by Johnston for me but each man played their part today.

I was glad of the yob hotline. Some mum sat in front of us who couldn't keep her kids under control. Neil Hart knows who Gooner Girl is now :D
:shock: Funny, I phoned him too, to complain about the tall bespectacled hooligan behind us who was teaching my children all kind of new rude words! 🤬 :wink:
Still, at least you got to watch some proper footie and a win :P
Missed the first goal. Too busy checking my phone for the Arsenal score! :lol:

Good game though. Been to quite a few away games over the years and that’s the best I’ve ever seen you play!
Bloomin youngsters glued to their phone :roll: :lol:
I’ll take being called a youngster at 41!
Relative to me :P

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by GhostoftheBok » Sun Feb 20, 2022 12:49 pm

BWFC_Insane wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:58 am
It’s looking very good for next season. I wouldn’t be shocked if we lost Dapo in the summer. But hopefully that would offer up cash for a replacement and mean that we kept everyone else.

If we get Fossey done and can add a better centre half, another dominant midfield player and if necessary a Dapo replacement we will be good. Still issues with wingback cover and that’s something we might need to do some shuffling with.
Which centre back are you replacing?

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by GhostoftheBok » Sun Feb 20, 2022 12:52 pm

The_Gun wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:12 am
I would love us to make the playoffs, Ghost, but I do think we’ve given ourselves too much to do. I could see us catching Wycombe, but I worry about Ipswich, and especially Sheffield Wednesday.
I don't blame anyone for thinking it's too big a step.

I'm bullish about our chances and have been for a while. I can stand being wrong and anyone can beat anyone at this level, so it's a huge ask.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Sun Feb 20, 2022 1:02 pm

GhostoftheBok wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 12:49 pm
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:58 am
It’s looking very good for next season. I wouldn’t be shocked if we lost Dapo in the summer. But hopefully that would offer up cash for a replacement and mean that we kept everyone else.

If we get Fossey done and can add a better centre half, another dominant midfield player and if necessary a Dapo replacement we will be good. Still issues with wingback cover and that’s something we might need to do some shuffling with.
Which centre back are you replacing?
He's repeatedly said he doesn't rate two of them - IIRC one is a non-league donkey and the other is "never a centre-back" – so there are definitely options for him there...

I do think we need better competition back there than a limited Aimson and a nearly-finished Baptiste. Maybe one of those to come in could be better in a back four than I suspect Gethin and George are. This line-up reminds me a little of Wales' Euro 2016 squad in that the chosen back-three formation suits a lot of the players much, much better than a back four would. Good news is that unlike Cookie Coleman, we have the ability to hire the players we need.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by BWFC_Insane » Sun Feb 20, 2022 1:18 pm

GhostoftheBok wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 12:49 pm
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:58 am
It’s looking very good for next season. I wouldn’t be shocked if we lost Dapo in the summer. But hopefully that would offer up cash for a replacement and mean that we kept everyone else.

If we get Fossey done and can add a better centre half, another dominant midfield player and if necessary a Dapo replacement we will be good. Still issues with wingback cover and that’s something we might need to do some shuffling with.
Which centre back are you replacing?
Baptiste.

And if you are asking for where we improve the back three.

I’m not a huge santos fan. As you know. He does a job in this system. So fine - I think that in a four though at this level he’s not there at all. And Johnston for me is nice on the ball but we saw at Burton where his failings are.

So I think there is plenty of scope to replace Baptiste with a first team option and where and when they play we will see.


If we are to challenge next season we need to have options in the squad for Burton away and a barrage of our box to deal with it. You have to be multi faceted to go up and I think we’ve started to address that area with the striking options but midfield and the back three still look a bit too ‘fairweather’ to be ideal.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by GhostoftheBok » Sun Feb 20, 2022 2:15 pm

BWFC_Insane wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 1:18 pm
Baptiste.

And if you are asking for where we improve the back three.

I’m not a huge santos fan. As you know. He does a job in this system. So fine - I think that in a four though at this level he’s not there at all. And Johnston for me is nice on the ball but we saw at Burton where his failings are.

So I think there is plenty of scope to replace Baptiste with a first team option and where and when they play we will see.


If we are to challenge next season we need to have options in the squad for Burton away and a barrage of our box to deal with it. You have to be multi faceted to go up and I think we’ve started to address that area with the striking options but midfield and the back three still look a bit too ‘fairweather’ to be ideal.
I'm not trying to pick a fight, I was asking out of genuine interest.

Of course we'll be replacing Baps (and possibly adding another, or at least I'd hope so if we stick with a 3).

If you had to upgrade one of the current back 3 you're saying it would be Santos over the other two? Again, genuine question and not leading anywhere.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by GhostoftheBok » Sun Feb 20, 2022 2:18 pm

Dave Sutton's barnet wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 1:02 pm
He's repeatedly said he doesn't rate two of them - IIRC one is a non-league donkey and the other is "never a centre-back" – so there are definitely options for him there...

I do think we need better competition back there than a limited Aimson and a nearly-finished Baptiste. Maybe one of those to come in could be better in a back four than I suspect Gethin and George are. This line-up reminds me a little of Wales' Euro 2016 squad in that the chosen back-three formation suits a lot of the players much, much better than a back four would. Good news is that unlike Cookie Coleman, we have the ability to hire the players we need.
Well I think he's had issues with all three of them as centre backs, which is why I was wondering which he thinks it is pressing to replace in order to push for promotion. I think it's an interesting shout tactically. Santos seems to be very good at that "covering one-on-one" job and the other two have done really well as overlapping wide centre backs. No League One side is perfect though, so I'm interested to hear Insano's view of it.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by BWFC_Insane » Sun Feb 20, 2022 3:12 pm

GhostoftheBok wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 2:15 pm
BWFC_Insane wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 1:18 pm
Baptiste.

And if you are asking for where we improve the back three.

I’m not a huge santos fan. As you know. He does a job in this system. So fine - I think that in a four though at this level he’s not there at all. And Johnston for me is nice on the ball but we saw at Burton where his failings are.

So I think there is plenty of scope to replace Baptiste with a first team option and where and when they play we will see.


If we are to challenge next season we need to have options in the squad for Burton away and a barrage of our box to deal with it. You have to be multi faceted to go up and I think we’ve started to address that area with the striking options but midfield and the back three still look a bit too ‘fairweather’ to be ideal.
I'm not trying to pick a fight, I was asking out of genuine interest.

Of course we'll be replacing Baps (and possibly adding another, or at least I'd hope so if we stick with a 3).

If you had to upgrade one of the current back 3 you're saying it would be Santos over the other two? Again, genuine question and not leading anywhere.
The most obvious upgrade would be a more physically capable left sided centre back. For me. Because in games where teams test that side of the game we do look light.

And I mean whatever you think of santos we don’t have another proper big commanding option so I’d absolutely like someone else who can fill that job.

Aimson is solid enough and good back up but questionable which role he’d excel at in this team.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by Worthy4England » Sun Feb 20, 2022 3:19 pm

No doubt we'll head back to "we can't afford anyone any better" but.

When we're in control and in possession there isn't a defensive problem. But that's probably true of any system...

Before Christmas we were leaking goals for shitz and giggles. Not just down to the CDs, it was an all over problem. As last line of defence, in a back 4 they still retained their abilities going forwards but looked godawful as last line of defence. Big Ric wins headers, but they were often going straight up and landing in the penalty area or just on the edge outside of it.

For me looking poor at what a defender is supposed to do is mentally hardwired. First and foremost they have to be able to clear the lines.

That said, I often sit in front of the TV bemoaning how Stones and Maguire are never fooking CDs. Because a CD would NEVER lose it on the edge of the box. EVER. Nor would they attempt to play it across the box upon pain of a bollocking. This is why, sat in NSL, 4-0 up v Sunderland, a risky ball from Santos to John still gets a muttered "fcuk me" :-)

This is probably (for Ghosty's benefit) why you see a decent Johnston (fnarr) and I don't. I'd be wanting to upgrade the defensive side of Johnston whereas you don't see it as a problem....and when we're all over them an in command, it isn't....

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by BWFC_Insane » Sun Feb 20, 2022 3:54 pm

Worthy4England wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 3:19 pm
No doubt we'll head back to "we can't afford anyone any better" but.

When we're in control and in possession there isn't a defensive problem. But that's probably true of any system...

Before Christmas we were leaking goals for shitz and giggles. Not just down to the CDs, it was an all over problem. As last line of defence, in a back 4 they still retained their abilities going forwards but looked godawful as last line of defence. Big Ric wins headers, but they were often going straight up and landing in the penalty area or just on the edge outside of it.

For me looking poor at what a defender is supposed to do is mentally hardwired. First and foremost they have to be able to clear the lines.

That said, I often sit in front of the TV bemoaning how Stones and Maguire are never fooking CDs. Because a CD would NEVER lose it on the edge of the box. EVER. Nor would they attempt to play it across the box upon pain of a bollocking. This is why, sat in NSL, 4-0 up v Sunderland, a risky ball from Santos to John still gets a muttered "fcuk me" :-)

This is probably (for Ghosty's benefit) why you see a decent Johnston (fnarr) and I don't. I'd be wanting to upgrade the defensive side of Johnston whereas you don't see it as a problem....and when we're all over them an in command, it isn't....
Yeah this. Away at Burton highlighted our deficiencies in some respects. They’ve not gone. We just have better and more attacking options and have bolstered midfield. But the soft back line is still there.

Some games we will need the more fluid type of Johnston. But others I’d like someone who can defend better.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by GhostoftheBok » Sun Feb 20, 2022 4:40 pm

Worthy4England wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 3:19 pm
No doubt we'll head back to "we can't afford anyone any better" but.
We should be able to do work in summer.

Obviously we're not currently in a position to throw money at anything, but we're a League One side and improvement will always be possible with good recruitment.

I'm not sure anyone we get in will be hoofing it into the stands before clearing his nose with a grim look on his face, but Evatt and Markham will be looking to improve the 11 as they have tried to in every window (not to state the obvious too much).

As a few have said, we need to retain Fossey to stand still. The old cliche that any window in which you don't improve is one in which you go backwards remains true.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by sonicthewhite » Sun Feb 20, 2022 4:45 pm

Summer is where I think serious work on either upgrading our first choice defensive players, or at the very least the back-ups, will take place. I think our attack is sorted and midfield will maybe only see 1/2 possible additions/upgrades but defence is where the focus should be. A new GK is a given unless we get Trafford again on a season long. Then back-ups for the WB slots and at least a couple of CB's to challenge our current back 3. We definitely need a challenger for Rico to keep him on his toes.
Last edited by sonicthewhite on Sun Feb 20, 2022 5:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Sun Feb 20, 2022 4:47 pm

I wonder whether Evatt sees Isgrove as back-up RWB. We also don't know if we'll get Fossey, but as you say, that's for summer.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by GhostoftheBok » Sun Feb 20, 2022 5:01 pm

sonicthewhite wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 4:45 pm
I think our attack is sorted and midfield will maybe only see 1/2 possible additions
I suspect we will try to do something in both areas. We are in a really strong position of perhaps not having to do any work in those compartments, but I think Evatt will be looking for a long term partner for Charles and I don't think we have that yet.

I also think we will be looking for athleticism in midfield from a serious player in that are who can push our current options.

It's great to be in a position where we'd only have to consider serious talents and not look at filler.

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Re: New Balls please, but not fifteen Love. V Wimbledon Home,19th Feb.2022 1500 hrs.

Post by Prufrock » Sun Feb 20, 2022 5:14 pm

I'm happy with the back 3. But we need to replace Baptiste and I'd hope a centre back is a big target. Ideally we want a Johnstone/Jones type who has the physicality to play with Santos in a 2. It's a big ask but I think we're in a good place to target it. That gives us the back 4 option. And would push all 3 of the currents. I think Aimson is fine as further cover.

I'd also like an upgrade on Gordon to really push John.

And to retain or replace Fossey and James.

After that we're in the really good place of being pretty well set to add quality where we can but not in "need" territory.

I wonder if, as much as I love him, we might see Sexy Kieran released and another midfielder come in.
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