No Shoot Sherlock..Home to Portsmouth 14th Jan. 3-o'clock.

[GhostoftheBok]

It's always a relief to win a must win match so comfortably.

Even if we did barely turn up and lacked any energy.

God help any side we actually try against.

[nicholaldo]

I hope someone pulls Dion to one side and tells him that attempting a knee slide on our shit tip of a pitch is a f*cking terrible idea.

[GhostoftheBok]

He’s becoming a real player.

He's not even 23 yet. He's the sort who will perform better the more we improve the side. He will find better runs.

[nicholaldo]

He’s becoming a real player.

He's not even 23 yet. He's the sort who will perform better the more we improve the side. He will find better runs.

I'd really like him to work on improving his weaker foot. If only because it's such an obviously easy aspect of his game to develop and I'd hate it if that kind of thing held him back.

[GhostoftheBok]

I'd really like him to work on improving his weaker foot. If only because it's such an obviously easy aspect of his game to develop and I'd hate it if that kind of thing held him back.

Being pressed onto his weak foot was one of the major issues he had early doors (pretty sure I brought it up on here). The adjustment he's made has been about body position in receipt, plus his increasing athleticism. Like you say, it's striking; but you can see the coaching of both him and the other players (where they play the ball to him).

Some players just can't develop their other foot beyond standing on it (Adriano, Quaresma, etc). Trickier in a central midfielder, but at the minute he's making the best of it and he's not quite as one-footed as he was when he rocked up.

Certainly something that you'd note if you were profiling him, though.

[BWFC_Insane]

Glad we stepped it up second half.

Second half on Tuesday we’d gone ahead but then let them grow into the game in the second half. This time we scored a really good goal in the first half but then seemed to think we’d got the job done and took our foot off the gas. At half time I asked the players to keep the intensity in the game, keep moving the ball, keep asking them questions and they did exactly what I asked for.

Ian Evatt, who obviously pays some attention at games….unlike some it seems.

[GhostoftheBok]

Ian Evatt, who obviously pays some attention at games….unlike some it seems.

He's talking about after the goal, where Pompey had about a 10-15 minute spell - hence my saying we dominated for about 80 minutes.

The idea that we generally lacked energy in the first half remains absolute nonsense and isn't what Evatt said.

[BorsdaneWhite]

Johnston and Toal today. My word. Trafford, too, made a few tricky saves, which he made look very easy, without spilling.

Nlundulu had a great effort saved for a goal on his debut and looked a handful. He shoulder-barged a Pompey lad into meringue. Hopefully, once he gets up to speed with ‘the patterns’, he’ll fit right in.

Williams, as per Plymouth, looked rigor mortis at 55 mins. But plenty good before that.

Charles, who needs two to score one, got two and scored one. Fast and fierce, again.

Lovely to win comfortably at home. I only had one sweat patch. So.

[truewhite15]

Glad we stepped it up second half.

Second half on Tuesday we’d gone ahead but then let them grow into the game in the second half. This time we scored a really good goal in the first half but then seemed to think we’d got the job done and took our foot off the gas. At half time I asked the players to keep the intensity in the game, keep moving the ball, keep asking them questions and they did exactly what I asked for.

Ian Evatt, who obviously pays some attention at games….unlike some it seems.

Interesting how you choose to use Evatt as a source when it suits your point of view, but the rest of the time he's a charlatan.

[BWFC_Insane]

Ian Evatt, who obviously pays some attention at games….unlike some it seems.

He's talking about after the goal, where Pompey had about a 10-15 minute spell - hence my saying we dominated for about 80 minutes.

The idea that we generally lacked energy in the first half remains absolute nonsense and isn't what Evatt said.

It’s literally exactly what he said. I heard the interview on the radio live where he said exactly what I did. We played well for the first 20 minutes then slacked off. It was blindingly obvious to anyone who watched the game. Second half we played much better.

I was never particularly worried as Portsmouth were rubbish. But we stepped it up to play much better second half.

[officer_dibble]

Johnston, Aimson and Toal
Every flipping week!

[BWFC_Insane]

Johnston, Aimson and Toal
Every flipping week!

They’re a unit. It’s reminiscent of our promotion from league two. Where we suddenly started grinding out clean sheets.

[GhostoftheBok]

Not enthused thus far. Ok for twenty minutes. Then let them back in the game. We lack energy and drive all over the park. And Pompey are rubbish.

With Dapo going and Baka gone and Bod maybe injured for a while (he didn’t look happy at all) it leaves us with a significant volume of recruitment. Number ten. Two strikers (one if Bod is a minor short term thing).

Semi at Accrington can’t be played with Kachunga and Charles up top and no strikers on the bench.

Evatt needs to rethink January plans here.

Honestly if you think this chimes with "took our foot off the gas" then fair play to you.

"Lack energy and drive all over the pitch" and "needs to rethink January" = "took our foot of the gas"...Jesus wept.

[BWFC_Insane]

Not enthused thus far. Ok for twenty minutes. Then let them back in the game. We lack energy and drive all over the park. And Pompey are rubbish.

With Dapo going and Baka gone and Bod maybe injured for a while (he didn’t look happy at all) it leaves us with a significant volume of recruitment. Number ten. Two strikers (one if Bod is a minor short term thing).

Semi at Accrington can’t be played with Kachunga and Charles up top and no strikers on the bench.

Evatt needs to rethink January plans here.

Honestly if you think this chimes with "took our foot off the gas" then fair play to you.

"Lack energy and drive all over the pitch" and "needs to rethink January" = "took our foot of the gas"...Jesus wept.

Yes it’s exactly what he said. We slacked off. That was the last 25 minutes of the first half. We looked flat. Pompey were never a threat.

And rethinking was about the Bod injury. Baka gone, Dapo going, if Bod is out a while that’s 3 of 4 strikers out. We still would need 4 strikers and that hasn’t changed because we won the game. Hopefully Bod isn’t a bad one. If it is it needs addressing.

[nicholaldo]

Johnston, Aimson and Toal
Every flipping week!

They’re a unit. It’s reminiscent of our promotion from league two. Where we suddenly started grinding out clean sheets.

Do we know why Santos replaced Johnston late on?

I'm concerned Evatt's itching to bring him back in unnecessarily.

[GhostoftheBok]

Do we know why Santos replaced Johnston late on?

I'm concerned Evatt's itching to bring him back in unnecessarily.

We were winning easily and he badly needs the minutes.

Evatt might want to bring him back in, but given the amount of football Johnston has played it might not be entirely unnecessary at some stage. The current back three deserve to keep starting games, but we need everyone fit and that'll mean giving Santos games at some stage (including starts). I'm not sure we need to see it as favouritism if he comes in for the FGR game, for example.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Johnston, Aimson and Toal
Every flipping week!

Do we know why Santos replaced Johnston late on?

I'm concerned Evatt's itching to bring him back in unnecessarily.

Can't find any quotes on it with quick look.

I understand the concern but I wouldn't panic. Santos needs some game time to get back up to speed. 3-0 in a must-win is a great time to do it. I'm sure he'll get time in the Bs as well but facing third-tier strikers will also be a benefit.

Also, Johnston has played every league minute since the start of December. Nice to be able to give him a breather.

[nicholaldo]

Fair enough, and it does make sense to rest players if we can.

It just feels quite strange given it's so rare for a centre-half to be substituted for reasons other than injury or incompetence, although it's particularly useful when playing a formation that's so aerobically demanding on the wide centre-halves.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Fair enough, and it does make sense to rest players if we can.

It just feels quite strange given it's so rare for a centre-half to be substituted for reasons other than injury or incompetence, although it's particularly useful when playing a formation that's so aerobically demanding on the wide centre-halves.

Yeah, the latter is a particularly interesting point. I mean we saw what Toal did for his goal. This job ain't standing at the back pointing.

It could also be just a little nudge. You're doing well. Keep doing well. If not, the club f**king captain is waiting.

Every other position has rotation and resting. I wouldn't rotate, not just yet, but Santos is quite the sub to bring on - especially if, say, an opponent brings on a sub striker who's notably speedy, strong or both. Again, Aimson is doing very well and deserves his starting place, but Rico's a very strong reserve. Gethin, too, when he recovers from getting in the way of an Nlundulu shot...

[BWFC_Insane]

Evatt said we made the subs to give players a rest and I think it was entirely sensible to make those changes. Johnston has been superb and given our lack of cover down the left it was a good idea to let him have a break and give Santos minutes. It also let us look at a configuration we might need in event of an injury though Aimson is no more a wide centre back than Santos is.

This Toal chap reminds me of Gary Cahill. Superb all over but calm with it. Excellent start to his career here.

And I will also say that Morley is exceeding in his role. What a superb position he’s found and really is making it his own. It’s working beautifully with Aimson in there.

Really hope we find the magic ingredient in the forward areas because I think we’d be very hard work to play against then. Our only weakness is bagging enough goals. Now we are very hard to score against.