Is football not a man's field? Away @ the Stags 26th Jan 2021

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Tomorrow at 5pm, notably. I've managed to change my shift to finish at 5.30pm but many others will miss out. Per BN the early start is to let us get back home early before packing our knapsacks for Southend. We'd wanted to play on Tuesday but Stags played Colchester on Sunday (3pm), delayed by a day to allow for more thawing time - so at least we've had an extra day's rest. Their game also went the distance - they went 2-1 up in the 81st then conceded in the 89th.

[TANGODANCER]

We will, of course, win handsomely and continue climbing . COME ON YOU WHITES...

[irie Cee Bee]

Just was able to see the replay. Glad to have 3 pts but not gushing over the performance. Baptiste, Santos and Thomasson really put in a shift. The others had individual moments but we are far from being in a place where we can win 12 of 19. We are not controlling the game outside of those mini 10 mins bursts. Maybe Lee and Sarce are the missing pillars. I am concerned if Santos can play every game as we have no visible back-up for him. Hope the new players bed in quickly because they will need to. Otherwise we will fall just short of the play-of spots, no fault of them, but due to the horrid start we had.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Just was able to see the replay. Glad to have 3 pts but not gushing over the performance. Baptiste, Santos and Thomasson really put in a shift. The others had individual moments but we are far from being in a place where we can win 12 of 19. We are not controlling the game outside of those mini 10 mins bursts. Maybe Lee and Sarce are the missing pillars. I am concerned if Santos can play every game as we have no visible back-up for him. Hope the new players bed in quickly because they will need to. Otherwise we will fall just short of the play-of spots, no fault of them, but due to the horrid start we had.

Huge if true – Mansfield game held on soundstage and footage released later. WAKE UP SHEEPLE

[officer_dibble]

Sounds like Lee was left out as he hadn’t trained Saturday. Is playing on the Mansfield swamp the right game to return? Sarce back next week as well. I am intrigued to see where he fits in - Lee/Sarce in centre mid behind Dapo/Mad dog/Delf?!

[Harry Genshaw]

Lee was self isolating wasnt he?

A heavy pitch against opponents on a decent run, us with a lot of new recruits bedding in and no Sarc. I'd take a point now.

[The_Gun]

So Michael Jordan will be available tomorrow, which is, erm...good?

[Bruce Rioja]

So, with Williams having his red card chalked off and therefore assuming that he is available tomorrow, given that he seemed to divide opinion on Saturday (I thought he did quite well breaking stuff up in defensive midfield) would people have him walk straight back in or maybe put Fred Tuttle in instead?

[Harry Genshaw]

So, with Williams having his red card chalked off and therefore assuming that he is available tomorrow, given that he seemed to divide opinion on Saturday (I thought he did quite well breaking stuff up in defensive midfield) would people have him walk straight back in or maybe put Fred Tuttle in instead?

I'd keep him in. He's unspectacular, for sure, and one of those who could play until the end of next season and I'd have forgotten about him within a fortnight but he does a valuable job. An impoverished mans Deschamps.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Good news on Williams – to me he seems the most defensively organised of our midfield options, and hopefully his distribution will sharpen as he knocks off the rust and gets to know his team-mates. If we're playing what amounts to a 4-2-4 we'll more often than not need two solid sorts in the middle and I'd certainly pick MJ and Lee tomorrow, er, teatime for the Stags do. I've nothing against Tutte and I think Tomo could be a very good player but right now and for that game, I'd go with those two.

Also good to hear Sarce (who could play in the 2 or the 4 depending on opponent and circumstance) is back on the grass and ready for "next week", because by then I dare say we'll have another red card to appeal or injury to bewail – although soft-tissue stuff should be less of a problem with a deeper squad as we could now be substituting five of the front six positions during the same game if we need or want to.

[brommers95]

Not convinced by what I've seen from Williams so far. He seems slow, not only in a movement sense but also in the time it takes for him to react to danger. I could forgive that if he was strong and a good tackler but I've not really seen that from him either.

Tutte and Lee in central midfield for me.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Nice to have options better than "Comley or White?"

[brommers95]

Nice to have options better than "Comley or White?"

Aye

There really has been quite a dramatic shift in squad quality over the past month or so.

[Bertie Wooster]

So, with Williams having his red card chalked off and therefore assuming that he is available tomorrow, given that he seemed to divide opinion on Saturday (I thought he did quite well breaking stuff up in defensive midfield) would people have him walk straight back in or maybe put Fred Tuttle in instead?

For me Williams should stay in the side, as a defensive midfielder he's there to do exactly what you said he did quite well on Saturday and I agree, all he needs to do is tackle & break up play and play a simple pass to the other midfielders, also he's taller than Tutte so he should be better defending high balls & corners etc.

[Bertie Wooster]

Thomason should be the one making way for Lee IMO.

[Prufrock]

Evatt said something in an Iles piece today about the quality in the pitch at home allowing us to play that front 4 so I wouldn't be surprised to see Lee come in for Delf especially given he seemed to tweak something on sat

[The_Gun]

I’ve had my say on Williams and suffice to say I’m not a fan. If he gets picked then I of course hope he does well, but doesn’t look much of a player to me.

[irie Cee Bee]

MJ did his job well on Saturday. He broke up numerous plays and was one of the main reasons why nothing was coming through the middle from our opponents. Unspectacular but effective is what I would say.

[officer_dibble]

Thomason was in with a shout for MotM Saturday. He’s certainly upped his defensive game. However I would be tempted with MJ/Lee or even MJ/Tutte tomorrow. Wouldn’t be worried about Thomason playing though - his long passing game may well be useful on what I’m guessing is going to be a sticky pitch.

Wonder if there’s any danger of it being postponed again?

[Prufrock]

Good to see that on Saturday we've got the lunatic ref who squared up to an Ipswich player last night. Wouldn't surprise me if he got "rested" but if not what odds another red card?