Whatever floats your boat.. V Oxford United, Tuesday 28th Nov.7-45.

[BWFC_Insane]

Evatt post match....

“The players are really down in there and I’ve said to them they need to sort their lives out and start being positive again, stop the body language and get back with the vibrant energy because there is nothing negative about that performance. It shows the standards that they are keeping at the moment,”

I agree with him. Its my concern about the group. Don't let stuff affect you. It wasn't our absolute best but still could have won it. Didn't lose. Point away to third placed side. Nothing to be down about.

[The_Gun]

Evatt post match....

“The players are really down in there and I’ve said to them they need to sort their lives out and start being positive again, stop the body language and get back with the vibrant energy because there is nothing negative about that performance. It shows the standards that they are keeping at the moment,”

I agree with him. Its my concern about the group. Don't let stuff affect you. It wasn't our absolute best but still could have won it. Didn't lose. Point away to third placed side. Nothing to be down about.

I mean, after losing 1-3 at home to Carlisle we then came out and won eight on the spin, so I think your concern's over the group's mentality might be a little misplaced.

[BWFC_Insane]

Evatt post match....

“The players are really down in there and I’ve said to them they need to sort their lives out and start being positive again, stop the body language and get back with the vibrant energy because there is nothing negative about that performance. It shows the standards that they are keeping at the moment,”

I agree with him. Its my concern about the group. Don't let stuff affect you. It wasn't our absolute best but still could have won it. Didn't lose. Point away to third placed side. Nothing to be down about.

I mean, after losing 1-3 at home to Carlisle we then came out and won eight on the spin, so I think your concern's over the group's mentality might be a little misplaced.

Well sure. That’s fair. But responding after a poor game or two is a bit different to being knocked off course by the odd result when we are going well.

I think we should have that swagger week in week out that says we are the best side in the league and are here to prove it. Regardless we will lose some games but I’d like us to have that air of confidence (not overconfidence) about us regardless of the last result.

[boltonboris]

First half, a little passive and whilst we weren't helped by a referee hell bent on disrupting the game whenever he could, we never really found any passing rhythm. We weren't the only team on the pitch though, so fair play to Oxford who broke well and had the better of the 1st half

Second half, a different beast. Camped in their half, continuous probing and moving the ball (and the opposition) around. Bod misses an open net FGS! Hit it with the wrong part of his foot and I'm still not sure how.

Iredale is a strange one. People say he's defensively better than Williams, but not as good going forward. I think it's the opposite. Was given a tough game by their winger last night who tied him in knots a few times. DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON THE BALL!! But going the other way, he's a huge threat. Should've scored at least once and unlucky not to get a couple of assists.

I'd have taken a 0-0 before the match, certainly would have at HT, but overall think that it's a bit of a missed opportunity to extend the lead over them in the end, with a dominant 2nd half.

Plenty of positives to take out of it though, fo sho

[boltonboris]

Anyone wondering why the ref was so keen on giving cards...

Maybe something went to his head: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64282042

F'kin knocked his fringe off!!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Evatt post match....

“The players are really down in there and I’ve said to them they need to sort their lives out and start being positive again, stop the body language and get back with the vibrant energy because there is nothing negative about that performance. It shows the standards that they are keeping at the moment,”

I agree with him. Its my concern about the group. Don't let stuff affect you. It wasn't our absolute best but still could have won it. Didn't lose. Point away to third placed side. Nothing to be down about.

I like that they're disappointed with not winning away to a team who are still on 2ppg. I don't think they will now tailspin into quoting Schopenhaeur, wearing black eyeliner and listening to Funeral for a Friend.

I think we should have that swagger week in week out that says we are the best side in the league and are here to prove it. Regardless we will lose some games but I’d like us to have that air of confidence (not overconfidence) about us regardless of the last result.

That swagger doesn't necessarily come in the five minutes after a match. It comes on the coach home, the training ground. And I dare say it will come in the two cup games before Pompey...

Bod misses an open net FGS! Hit it with the wrong part of his foot and I'm still not sure how.

Slightly harsh on Bod – from what I saw, he was off the side at a fairly acute angle with a fast-moving ball. Maybe it wasn't that hard. But it did still feel like Dion was easily our best chance of a goal, and he was back in his "first chance wildly over, second chance narrowly over, will he get a third chance" mode... which when coupled with BWFCi's "it’s firstly not really Iredales position. Secondly too big to ask wing backs to play 90 minutes twice in a short space of time. We needed to change them" makes yesterday's conversation about depth more piquant. We've got very good depth in central midfield and centre-back - less so elsewhere.

Iredale is a strange one. People say he's defensively better than Williams, but not as good going forward. I think it's the opposite. Was given a tough game by their winger last night who tied him in knots a few times. DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON THE BALL!! But going the other way, he's a huge threat. Should've scored at least once and unlucky not to get a couple of assists.

Bit of both with Jack in the final third. He's getting increasingly good at getting into position (and unlike Declan John - remember him? - is willing to get back, at least until he runs out of steam)... but our wingbacks are effectively forwards and he's really not that, as shown by his two wild hacks in the box. He's a funny old box of contradictions, is Jack, but I'm glad he's around, he seems a good type and is flexible.

[TANGODANCER]

I think it's pretty plain that the lads being down is more due to a winning run record ending than just getting an away point to a top side. All good things come to an end, as the saying goes, and thus it came to pass. Now we can look at winning individual games and seeing such a result as a plus rather than a minus. More relevant is not letting the Cup results affect our League games. We have enough quality players to see off giant killers and winning the F.A.Cup is hardly odds on, so onwards and upwards and back into the Valley of Death. Six hundred..? We've go twenty thousand,,.

[BWFC_Insane]

First half, a little passive and whilst we weren't helped by a referee hell bent on disrupting the game whenever he could, we never really found any passing rhythm. We weren't the only team on the pitch though, so fair play to Oxford who broke well and had the better of the 1st half

Second half, a different beast. Camped in their half, continuous probing and moving the ball (and the opposition) around. Bod misses an open net FGS! Hit it with the wrong part of his foot and I'm still not sure how.

Iredale is a strange one. People say he's defensively better than Williams, but not as good going forward. I think it's the opposite. Was given a tough game by their winger last night who tied him in knots a few times. DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON THE BALL!! But going the other way, he's a huge threat. Should've scored at least once and unlucky not to get a couple of assists.

I'd have taken a 0-0 before the match, certainly would have at HT, but overall think that it's a bit of a missed opportunity to extend the lead over them in the end, with a dominant 2nd half.

Plenty of positives to take out of it though, fo sho

Iredale isn't really a wing back. And for me its his lack of pace. He struggles both ways - forward and backwards because he lacks the engine and pace to be up and down the line in the way Randell does.

He's quality on the ball though Jack. Which is why he can be a threat going forward but he needs the team to create his space. And when they did last night he really could have driven on and scored at least on one occasion - and I think Williams may well have done. Again comes down to a bit of pace.....

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Iredale isn't really a wing back. And for me its his lack of pace. He struggles both ways - forward and backwards because he lacks the engine and pace to be up and down the line in the way Randell does.

He's quality on the ball though Jack. Which is why he can be a threat going forward but he needs the team to create his space. And when they did last night he really could have driven on and scored at least on one occasion - and I think Williams may well have done. Again comes down to a bit of pace.....

It's partly pace. Randell has better pace and dribbling - traditional winger skills – because Randell is a winger, and Jack is a centre-back/left-back. Jack's crossing can be good (but, like everybody's, is variable) but what's notably good IMO is his positional awareness in possession – he understands team shape and helps us with the overloads.

They're both doing very well to widen their skillset into what's needed to play wingback for us – a very demanding role. I do wonder if Evatt would have 'gone for it' last night had Randell been fit - thrown him on for the last 20, when we were well on top and Jack was visibly tiring. Whether Randell would have finished a chance Jack didn't is somewhat unknowable - he's hardly Gerd Muller himself, though he has been 'getting his eye in' more of late – but it would certainly have offered Oxford a different problem, and sometimes it's asking new questions that gets the answer you want.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Baxter's two big saves...

...and some lovely quotes from him.

For me, my job is more than just the saves. Yes, it is important I step up with them when needed and I think there has been huge improvement on that since I came in. I have to thank the gaffer for that because he spends a lot of time going over videos with me, working on the training ground, and I feel like I have learned a lot, which I wasn’t really expecting.
This is a huge club in League One and my mindset was just to get promoted and get the club back to where it belongs. I almost thought it would be a season we’d have to ‘get through’ but I am so happy with how much I have developed and improved. I have to thank the gaffer and Gillo my goalkeeper coach, particularly on the playing out from the back and there is more to come from everyone...
...That sort of save, the first one, I have to give some credit to Gillo because we have been working really hard on some technical aspects and decision-making. His experience has been invaluable and, honestly, I am so lucky to have a goalie coach like that. Some of the saves I feel have been made because of the work we have done...
...I probably play more of a role than fans realise at times with the way we play out from the back.

Much more at https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... -progress/ but that last quote is telling. Baxter seems a very intelligent fella – not just because he has a history degree, although pursuing academic qualifications is not something that many footballers do, but he defuiniutely gets involved tactically. At Wycombe he was absolutely raging when Toal, boxed into a corner on the left, seeingly didn't want to pass back to his goalie – Baxter was infuriated, hand-signalling wildly "give it to me, I turn and give it Rico and we build". As Evatt said a while back:

“I spend a lot of time with him going through clips and talking about his decision making, the progressions, almost like a quarter-back – where is their press, where is the space, where is the right pass? That all has to happen within seconds and he is still learning it because it is very detailed but there has been huge improvement. We spoke in the summer and I told him upfront that I would be extremely demanding of him. The things I wanted him to do were elite, and he has been extremely receptive. He takes things on board, he learns every day, he wants to work and learn, ask questions, he likes to challenge – and I love being challenged – so it fantastic that we are seeing some really good performances.”

[jmjhb]

I'm more interested in the fact he calls Matt Gilks Gillo. Really?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I'm more interested in the fact he calls Matt Gilks Gillo. Really?

They all do, it seems.

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... UTF-8#ip=1

Trafford https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... wanderers/
Evatt https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... by-defeat/
Gethin https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... -contract/
Baptiste https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... ng-career/
Brockbank https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... ront-goal/
MJ https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... wanderers/
Doyle https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... omparison/
Delfouneso https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... ity-clash/

[truewhite15]

Baxter's two big saves...

...and some lovely quotes from him.

For me, my job is more than just the saves. Yes, it is important I step up with them when needed and I think there has been huge improvement on that since I came in. I have to thank the gaffer for that because he spends a lot of time going over videos with me, working on the training ground, and I feel like I have learned a lot, which I wasn’t really expecting.
This is a huge club in League One and my mindset was just to get promoted and get the club back to where it belongs. I almost thought it would be a season we’d have to ‘get through’ but I am so happy with how much I have developed and improved. I have to thank the gaffer and Gillo my goalkeeper coach, particularly on the playing out from the back and there is more to come from everyone...
...That sort of save, the first one, I have to give some credit to Gillo because we have been working really hard on some technical aspects and decision-making. His experience has been invaluable and, honestly, I am so lucky to have a goalie coach like that. Some of the saves I feel have been made because of the work we have done...
...I probably play more of a role than fans realise at times with the way we play out from the back.

Much more at https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... -progress/ but that last quote is telling. Baxter seems a very intelligent fella – not just because he has a history degree, although pursuing academic qualifications is not something that many footballers do, but he defuiniutely gets involved tactically. At Wycombe he was absolutely raging when Toal, boxed into a corner on the left, seeingly didn't want to pass back to his goalie – Baxter was infuriated, hand-signalling wildly "give it to me, I turn and give it Rico and we build". As Evatt said a while back:

“I spend a lot of time with him going through clips and talking about his decision making, the progressions, almost like a quarter-back – where is their press, where is the space, where is the right pass? That all has to happen within seconds and he is still learning it because it is very detailed but there has been huge improvement. We spoke in the summer and I told him upfront that I would be extremely demanding of him. The things I wanted him to do were elite, and he has been extremely receptive. He takes things on board, he learns every day, he wants to work and learn, ask questions, he likes to challenge – and I love being challenged – so it fantastic that we are seeing some really good performances.”

Talked to a couple of insiders on Saturday. Apparently Baxter is the ultimate in professionalism. Last on the training ground sorta bloke. He does so much research into the opponents - which foot is stronger, where are they likely to try and place it etc - and he's constantly working. Whereas Traff, for all his skill, was much more laidback, relying on natural talent to get him where he needed to be.

I know which I'd rather have.

[The_Gun]

I'd probably rather have Traff, tbh, but Nathan has been a great signing and looks well capable of performing at Championship level.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Good to hear, TW15.

And Bax is also a third of the answer to the question I posed yesterday - players who've been in every matchday 18 this season.... it was four until yesterday, when Jerome was stood down for the first time...

[truewhite15]

I'd probably rather have Traff, tbh, but Nathan has been a great signing and looks well capable of performing at Championship level.

Just for clarity (because I can see where this could very quickly end up) I'm not saying I'd rather have Baxter over Trafford right now. I just meant in terms of the type of player - I'd rather have one that's putting in all the hard yards than one who's coasting.

[Mar]

I'd probably rather have Traff, tbh, but Nathan has been a great signing and looks well capable of performing at Championship level.

There comes a point where that changes to favour Baxter surely. Especially if he keeps breaking these clean sheet records

[Prufrock]

Traff is a future England keeper, if not #1. If you could have either on a permanent it's always, always Traff. But we obviously couldn't. Whereas Baxter is ours, still very good and a great attitude. I'd say, so far, and you never know with keepers, but he's pretty much as good as we couldn't expected.

[Mar]

Traff is a future England keeper, if not #1. If you could have either on a permanent it's always, always Traff. But we obviously couldn't. Whereas Baxter is ours, still very good and a great attitude. I'd say, so far, and you never know with keepers, but he's pretty much as good as we couldn't expected.

I understand where you're coming from, but I'd imagine it's really hard to gauge given the squads they're playing with.

For instance, the squad we had last season was far less dominant than this one and as such wouldn't have been put under the same pressures. Baxter hasn't had the chance to impress due to the stalwart nature of our defending, had most games required the Oxford esque saves and we may be thinking differently. Add to that the call up for the u21s and its highlighting Trafford in a much better light.

Baxters been great so far, but it's hard to gauge the level of difference when under different threats.

[knobpolisher]

Traff has had nothing but success, he is currently on a minus 32 goal difference. I wonder how this will affect his development