Far from the Madding Crowd. Away at Shrewsbury, Sat 15th Feb,3-0'clock

[TANGODANCER]

Not too far actually, at about 75 miles, but with a ground capacity of just less than 10,000 "New Meadow" will seem a bit sparse compared to the Unibol. Shrewsbury too have a new manager/ Head Coach in highly rated Gareth Ainsworth and will be looking to prove points. Hope they've spent a few bob on grass seed!

Lying well down the pecking order re-League positions, on paper, it looks a banker bet (I know, we don't play on paper) We need to tame the Shrews and the game needs to be the turning of the Schu( macher) as regards form for The Whites. Can our new leader set us off on an upward climb to fame and will the team respond with renewed enthusiasm? We'll soon find out no doubt....Onwards and upwards...

[BWFC_Insane]

Really really tough game this one. And a really important one.

With Schuey you feel still sizing things up it feels a bit pressured this one looking at the games to come after.

Might need a bit of luck on the day tbh.

[GhostoftheBok]

I'm really looking forward to this one. Day out at the Roman ruins with the family and a footy match.

Another full away end. It'll be grand.

[Bijou Bob]

I think this season has gone. I’m predicting us finishing 8th, which is where I had us pre season. I just don’t think we have enough goals in us and we’re just a Collins injury away from not winning many more games at all. I’m looking forward to the big rebuild in summer (Ish - I don’t think we have anything like the right transfer strategy under Markham) but in the meantime, I can enjoy the rest of the season free from any angst.

Tough game this. I see a scoreless draw against a team who will look to try and dominate us physically. One of the three centre backs to be man of the match, dealing with endless balls into the box from every angle.

[Bertie Wooster]

2-2

[The_Gun]

I don’t know what formation we play these days, but I’m going with a back 4 for my projected lineup.

Southwood

JDC Toal Forrester Johnston

Sheehan Matete

Tutu Morley Schön

Collins


My thinking is to go with a very solid lineup, rather than playing into Ainsworth’s hands by going more open.

I also wonder whether it might be worth trying Collins on the left with Vic up top, but on balance I probably prefer Aaron through the middle with Schön and Tutu tasked with getting high and wide.

[Harry Genshaw]

Hope I'm wrong but I can only see a defeat this weekend. 0-1 or 1-2

[The_Gun]

Hope I'm wrong but I can only see a defeat this weekend. 0-1 or 1-2

We are better than Shrewsbury.

[Harry Genshaw]

Hope I'm wrong but I can only see a defeat this weekend. 0-1 or 1-2

We are better than Shrewsbury.

Yep, no arguments here with that statement. It just feels to me at the moment that we're (players & coaching staff) still finding our feet at the moment. They seem to have found a way under Ainsworth to start picking much needed points up.

[dave the minion]

Nah. You know what, It'll be reet & we'll shit 'em.....

I'm going with

Southwood

Jones
Forrester
Johnston
Toal

JDC
Sheehan
Morley
Murphy

Vic
Collins

We'll be 2-1 up at half time (Vic & Morley)

60 mins, bring on Tutu / Schon / Matete
70 mins, bring on Randall / Mcatee

Randall to score the 3rd.......

[Prufrock]

Have you got your gaps wrong there Dave or you having Toal at LB and JDC at RW? Today Bolton Wanderers will be playing 4-4-f*cking-2!

I think we'll see a 343.

Southwood

Toal Forrester Johnstone

JDC - Morley -Sheehan- Murphy/Schon

Schon/Randell/Matete/McAtee - Collins -Desmond

That RW is the one I don't think he's figured out yet.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Some interesting selection decisions to be made, again. Not least as we have a quartet in Murphy, Morley, Randall and Schon who all have good claims to start.

We'll have to consider the opposition. It's a Gareth Ainsworth side so they'll be 3-5-2, direct, disruptive. Schuey knows this ("really well-organised, who put you under pressure, they're aggressive with their press, especially at home, and the game rarely gets any rhythm") and has warned his side to keep calm.

Ainsworth may have sucked absolute ass at QPR (5 wins in 28) but he knows this division and has improved Shrews, who were rock-bottom when he joined in the November international break. They're now within 3pts of safety (and Peterborough, tee-hee) after gaining 16pts in his 14 games - 17th in that timeframe (we're 9th, for reference).

Drill down a bit and they're now even better than that. After an opening 3-2 home win over Birmingham (20% possession, 4 efforts on target, classic Gaz), Shrews lost three on the bounce climaxing in a 4-1 home schooling by his old side Wycombe in mid-December. That was the last Shrewsbury game involving a two-goal difference - they've gone DWDDLWLLWWD. Furthermore, the three defeats were all 1-0 at the teams currently 4th, 5th and 6th; at home they've beaten Birmingham, Lincoln, Wrexham and Mansfield under Ainsworth. And now they host us - and then on Tuesday, Huddersfield. You can't get out of this league without dealing with teams like this...

They are captained and led by John Marquis, closing in on 33 but still effective - 4 goals in the last 6. As if he's not enough to worry about, last month they hired Vadaine Oliver, already 33 but perfect for an AInsworth team judging by his success spearheading the Steve Evans-era Gillingham team. Oliver has yet to start but came on at half-time in the midweek draw at Reading so this might be his full debut.

Does that mean we'll match their formation, and retain the back three-formation of both Schuey's away games so far? I would suspect so, probably with Toal-Forrester-Johnston and Murphy/Cogs at wing-backs, for extra height and strength defending set-pieces. Morley should return and there's an argument that Sheehan, who tired badly at Wrexham, could rotate out for Matete, although I think we may just ask the Welshman to play again and maybe come off after an hour.

That leaves the front three, and I think we can assume it's 2 behind 1. Who they are is up for grabs. Collins will be somewhere, with two from Vic, McAtee, Lolos (again, tall), Randall, Schon and Tutu. We're learning about Schuey all the time and perhaps the makeup of that front three will give us a hint as to his piano players/carriers ratio...

[boltonboris]

Hope I'm wrong but I can only see a defeat this weekend. 0-1 or 1-2

We are better than Shrewsbury.

So are Wrexham, Reading, Rotherham and Birmingham

[Mar]

Not too sure I can get myself worked up to give too much of a toss about this one. Still sore over Tuesday's lacklustre performance.

In order to get promoted we need to be in the play offs come the end of the season and then the playoffs. We can't put a three game winning streak together, so no doubt even if we got into the play offs there's a good chance we'll be knocked out.

So yeah, i'm pretty much ready to call it a day for this season and hope Schumacher can build toward next season. What a noticeable difference from last season where we looked a good shout for promotion and chucked it away.

Given we've got 9 away games and 7 home games its gonna be extra difficult. We've got a crap month coming up next month too so it's not going to get easier. A Shrewsbury win, may be all for naught.

Shrewsbury A
Leyton Orient H
Wrexham A
Birmingham H
Burton A
Bristol Rovers A
Stockport H
Rotherham H
Blackpool A
Wigan A
Bristol Rovers H
Barnsley A
Wycombe H
Lincoln A
Peterborough A
Stevenage H

There's nothing there that makes me think we'll get a winning run going. I fully expect Leyton Orient, Wrexham and Birmingham to upset our apple cart, and even after that we may get some reprieve and beat Burton and Bristol, but then get humbled by Stockport prior to balancing it out with a Rotherham win and some crap performances against Blackpool and Wigan.

We may win some games as the season wraps up, but that's not a fixture list i'll be happy with.

Lose to Shrewsbury, beat Orient, Wrexham and Birmingham and maybe i'll start believing we can do it.

[TANGODANCER]

I'm still seeing Schon as essential for most of the game. He seems a hardy lad and and more needed in defence first half. If he's not showing signs of tiring, leave him on. If not, replace him with Jones. Let's not make the mistake of having to come from behind; we've done that too often in the past.

How far is Santos off yet, by the way?

[dave the minion]

I really like Schon. He rarely shows signs of tiring, but trouble is he usually shows signs of a sending off after picking up his inevitable yellow card.......

[BWFC_Insane]

I think Schon is a left sided midfield player. Not convinced he’s a wide forward and not a right sided one either. Certainly not a left back for me.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

How far is Santos off yet, by the way?

He "has done some light jogging with the medical team this week."

I think Schon is a left sided midfield player. Not convinced he’s a wide forward and not a right sided one either. Certainly not a left back for me.

He's a real puzzle of a player. Keen but sometimes overkeen; happy to receive the ball but often dribbles blindly backwards. He didn't look an easy fit as the right-hand of the two 10s; while I understand the tactical reasons for that inversion I wonder whether he'd be better on the left of those two, or in a 4231. But then I suspect that may also be Collins' best position... hopefully with some time on the grass he can learn or rather relearn, as he's worked hard to become a LWB...

[BWFC_Insane]

Not too sure I can get myself worked up to give too much of a toss about this one. Still sore over Tuesday's lacklustre performance.

In order to get promoted we need to be in the play offs come the end of the season and then the playoffs. We can't put a three game winning streak together, so no doubt even if we got into the play offs there's a good chance we'll be knocked out.

So yeah, i'm pretty much ready to call it a day for this season and hope Schumacher can build toward next season. What a noticeable difference from last season where we looked a good shout for promotion and chucked it away.

Given we've got 9 away games and 7 home games its gonna be extra difficult. We've got a crap month coming up next month too so it's not going to get easier. A Shrewsbury win, may be all for naught.

Shrewsbury A
Leyton Orient H
Wrexham A
Birmingham H
Burton A
Bristol Rovers A
Stockport H
Rotherham H
Blackpool A
Wigan A
Bristol Rovers H
Barnsley A
Wycombe H
Lincoln A
Peterborough A
Stevenage H

There's nothing there that makes me think we'll get a winning run going. I fully expect Leyton Orient, Wrexham and Birmingham to upset our apple cart, and even after that we may get some reprieve and beat Burton and Bristol, but then get humbled by Stockport prior to balancing it out with a Rotherham win and some crap performances against Blackpool and Wigan.

We may win some games as the season wraps up, but that's not a fixture list i'll be happy with.

Lose to Shrewsbury, beat Orient, Wrexham and Birmingham and maybe i'll start believing we can do it.

It’s a long shot this season but has been all the way because the wrong decisions were made in May and June last year.

But if we don’t make it it means Schuey has seen where our issues are.

If we do make it then great.

Tuesday was not really a big deal and I don’t think we can be accused of not trying. We had a good go. Weren’t good enough.

I’m less despondent now than at any point in months. Yes it’s likely we have another league one season. But that means we can fix the squad. Hopefully. We need Schumacher to be supported by the board in the same way Evatt was. If they don’t then that’s an issue. But till then - think we should just keep hoping for a minor miracle.

[irie Cee Bee]

Schon did not look comfortable on the right, and the opposing defenders, in short order, showed him the right and had reinforcement to cover him coming inside which made him ineffective. Unlike Tutu who is more two-footed. Schon has been good for us on the left and I agree with Insane, he is no defender. Best in the left midfield position.

Schuey wants pace on the wings so will want to play his 2 fastest there. The question is why play Tutu and Schon inverted? Must have spotted a weakness he wanted to exploit. I would want to think that he can't wait to have Carlos-Mendes back who is a more natural winger.