A very warm welcome everyone, A 3-1 away victory against a local rival in the same division as us. I'd settle for that.... I get the impression that some of us were a bit disappointed by the result that night. That's have a look at the facts. I) Wootton scored on his debut. If he played for Millwall, he'd be their joint leading scorer for the season... II) Drury, Tonge, Smith and Poleon got a lot of game time III) Mowatt was given his debut IV) We won Here's a few questions for anyone who went to the game, or saw the highlights. What was Paynters goal like? How did Mowatt get on? Are any of the non regulars knocking on the door of the first team? Not long til the transfer window slams shut, are we going to sign anyone? Are we going to keep hold of both McCormack and Byram???
From what I'm hearing this wasn't a lucky win for us and yet again deserved it, so well done. Smith had a good game and could have scored more I believe?, so who was pretending to be a winger last night, as Smith got his head on a great cross to power home a header, he also made Wootons goal as well. Could Smith be the answer is we had some decent flank play?
Morning Doc, You never know... Tell yer what. I've been impressed with Varney this season. Although not technically brilliant, always puts in a shift, and is consistent this season so far. How did Wootton play?
Morning all - Pleased with the result and glad we managed to score three. Would like to keep a few more clean sheets if I were being critical.
Lets hope this goal last night gives Smith the platform to go on and prove the many doubters wrong .I have always said give him the proper service and he will be awesome so please buy borrow or steal a winger BM AND good morning to all
I think its time somone asked if we are a bit better than we think we are. Last season, I used to say that actually our team of "journeymen" was not that bad, just needed a few extra players. To a certain extent we've got those, albeit we are still short, notably on the wings. We've also got a team that seems fitter and does not wilt in the final quarter, and with what is starting to appear to be a very good manager. Last season, I also used to say, when we started to get carried away because we had actually won a game, that you have to look at the hard facts. Well, the hard facts now are we have played 6 competitive games, scored 10, conceded 5, won 4, drawn 2, lost none. Thats good, the weakness is the defensive stat, but we have recruited Wootton, maybe he's the answer. Another good result (hopefully also good performance) against QPR and it will start to look like we ought to be ...... I am trying very hard not to say "daring to dream" here..... but, arrrggghh, no, I can't help myself............ daring to dream. Incidentally, another thought: BM appears to be such a nice chap - but I wonder if Readings 6-0 defeat made him grin, last night? And we play at Reading in a couple of weeks time, I can't believe he does not want to get something special out of that game I would really like feedback on the new(er) players from anyone at last nights game - please!
Morning all. Song of the day: "We must be sh&t, 'coz Paynter scored, we must be sh&t 'coz Paynter scored...." I have to say when he scored, I was getting ready to gloat this morning something rotten. However, glad we won & glad that both Smith scored and we may have good cover for Murphy long term in the form of Mowett. All in all, a good day at the Office. This weekend I think will show whether or not we really have progressed. QPR will definitely be a stiff challenge. Even though we're at home and I think the crowd will be in excess of 30k, I'd probably take a draw. The bench is now really starting to take shape. Mowett in one slot for midfield, Brown as DM, perm one from Pearce, Lees, or Wooten as CB. perm 2 from Diouf, Smith, Hunt, Poleon, or Varney up top. All of a sudden, our team suddenly doesn''t seem too bad. Would like to see us sign a genuine winger, or get Hall to show why we signed him. Then I think we'll compete for both top 6 and possibly even top 2, although this might be a bit of a push. All in all, a good night.
Listening to the game on the radio, Donny were all over us in the first ten mins, which is to be expected, but unlike in recent times we didn't collapse and concede a goal, we went on to play well and win the game. Thought Wootten, Mowatt played well. I would like to see Smith play more game time because the time I saw him he won nearly every ball in the air but looked slow on the ground. I still think he is more effective coming off the bench than starting a game. But as has been mentioned before, a good winger could obviously help him more. Brilliant result, now for QPR....
It's been a good start and our manager is proving himself to be a top manager, but let's not get carried away. We're still 3 or 4 players short of a top quality side, and to bring them in we'll have to offload some of the dross nobody wants. I'm just glad we're playing better football with some actual pace
Not sure we're 3 or 4 players short of eing a top quality side. To get auto promoted from this league, we maybe short of a winger if Hall isn't going to feature. To make it to top 6 and playoffs, I am beginning to get the feeling that we may already have just enough. However, QPR on Saturday will show us whether or not we're in for a good season. If we play well and maybe lose 2-1, it'll confirm that we're still a work in progress but that top 6 is a reasonable ambition for this season. If, however, we get turned over 3 or 4 nil or worse, BMD may have to re-think his formation, style of pay etc. Personally I think it might just be a draw, which wouldn't be too bad a result.
Still think we need at least one winger, and if Hall really isn't going to feature I'd say two. I'd like another top ball player in the midfield alongside Murphy, although Dawson and Mowatt may be able to take on this role in time. And if we're playing 2 strikers with Rosco in the midfield, I think we need another one. Varney and Hunt are willing runners but neither possess much cutting edge, and Smith and Poleon, although they have potential, have a while to go just now. But hey, McDermott's doing a damn good job with what he's got so far, I just hope he can continue the good form
Morning all. From reading whatever bits I could find, twitter and McD after match comments, Mowatt seems to have been very impressive. Someone described him a cross between Batty and McPhail. If true, that would be some type of find. Hoping for a big name home draw today thatll be televised to add a few quid to McD's coffers. BTW I hope McD is on a top contract because the way things are going, when the first sackings begin in the PL, he'll be on everyones wanted list
I think we are still a few players off. Good results are always nice but I still think we are missing the cutting edge or unpredictability in attack that perhaps wider play provides, bmd is just doing his best with what we have imo. Probably need to sign 2 wingers/wide men. A good result against QPR would do wonders though, what an impressive start that would be then but its hard to imagine at this stage. Having said that QPR haven't looked that good the couple times I've seen em play
Eire/Josh, goods points all round. You have to remember that BMD is building a squad. So as long as we improve greatly on last year, a top 6 finish but a loss in the playoffs would be some sort of success. If Mowett and Dawson periodically play their part, it'll save us a fortune in the long run. It'll also mean we should be better prepared for next season. Finding/developing more of a cutting edge is clearly important. But I think there is potential for us to develop this with the players we have. We could do with getting Ross's contract extended asap. All in all, in BMD I trust and we are soo much better off now than we were at the same stage last season. Let's hope we can loan out/move on those unlikely to feature that much this season, and loan out the likes of Dawson and one or two others for them to get game time before returning to push for a place in the first team.
I think we're all being a bit cagey about our squad as we have lived in too many false dawns in recent years. As everyone else is saying, this weekend will be a good guide to what we have and what we are capable of doing this season. QPR and 'Arry will be right at the top with that squad, so if we get anything out of this game I'm chuffed. What we do know is that we would all like at least another quality signing, probably a winger to supply Smith. Hall needs fooking off because if the manager (Who is crying out for a winger) won't use him in a cup game then he's dead and gone. Our manager just quietley goes about his business, but getting all the players wanting to do the biz for him. He's never had a team of superstars yet was unlucky not to get Reading promoted the a couple of seasons ago, but managed it the following season and not one superstar in the side. So he's capable of doing it on a shoestring, and if we get Byram back and playing in midfield we have enough in defence and the centre of defence with Wootton, Lees, Pelts and Pearce. We have Mowatt and co starting to come through as well to back up Murphy, Rudy etc, we could have a team of contenders? I'm not going to shout about it yet until I see us against QPR.
Morning all. Brown out ... for good!!! At best a bit part player who is eating up wages ... thanks Colin you pr1ck!! Leeds looking better than last season, McD has the boys well organised. Love to see more clean sheets though, that will make a huge difference. Mowatt will be better than Byram as a prospect, keep him in the squad and play him off the bench to bring him along nicely.
Under 21 squad just named and I'm afraid the new idiot hasn't picked Wootten or Lees. Never mind we get them instead of potentially losing them to the squad.
Morning, Very happy how it's gone so far this season. Looking around the league, our defence isn't really doing all that badly at the moment (even with the odd calamity of errors). For what it's worth 4 games in, we've the joint 4th best defensive record in the Championship and have conceeded half the amount of goals we had at this stage last season. Securing a point more in the process. Reading the reports from last nights game it sounds as though the service was coming from around the pitch. Mowatt, Drury, Smith and Peltier all mentioned as providing crosses into the box at some stage. Peltier apparently provided the cross for Smith's goal. Mowatt providing the cross that Smith got on the end of to set up Wootton for his goal. Probably helps that Doncaster are a little more giving in terms of giving away opportunities but at least it shows there are options in the squad. Very pleased we're in the next round. Now we have owners interested in investing in the playing squad, the extra revenue is bound to be a help - especially if we can land a decent tie when the 3rd round is drawn later today.
BMD has stated that Mowatt is now in the squad as he's good enough, and if he's good enough, he's old enough. So great news as we now have Dom and Alex joining Sam in the first team squad. So lets be honest shall we, if we had enough money would you have been happy with BMD going out to buy Sam from somewhere else? I would be chuffed, so to me when he gets back it'll be like having a new player, especially if he goes into midfield and fills that void the manager wanted to fill early in the summer. Mowatt and Poleon again are players we haven't spent a penny on and Mowatt could well be good enough to go high in his career. Could he be the missing winger? This would mean that there are now no openings for new players in midfield or defence, so maybe the new player will be Vaz Te after all as the 'Ammers are going to offload him on loan because they are maxed out on wages under the new rules.
