I firstly have to give full respect to chesterfield,they came,they played and were very unlucky not to get a point come the end. Yes we had the better chances,the game again should have been put to bed. We looked good until the injury,the sub decision in bringing wes burns on was wrong in my opinion,Pack was the man for that position. Burns was a passenger during the game,was at fault for their second goal not dealing with the player,apart from the winner he brought nothing to the table. He needs to go out on lone,and get game time,experiance and improve his game. Cotts summed it up on the radio driving home,he was glad he got his goal,but was not to complimentary of young Burns. Jet was the man for the job especially after his display midweek. When he took agard off,he then brought the wrong sub on again in pack,it should have been Jet. Still we got out of jail with Burns very late winner,that did go some way to cushioning his poor performance. For me Jet brings so much more to the table,but cotts seems reluctant to use him, this tells me something is not right between them,and his time here is limited.
How quickly we forget that last season, and the one before that, these were the kind of matches we always lost in the last few minutes. Maybe we are riding our luck but nonetheless look where we are in the table and I don't really care too much how we win but am just enjoying the long lost art of winning scrappy games. Whatever we think about the boss and his substitutions the end game is we are still undefeated and top of the table, and whether we think mistakes were made against a seemingly good Chesterfield outfit is irrelevant when you look at the overall picture compared to this time last year. Clearly there is some kind of background issue with JET and his worth will not increase if he is not played more regularly and quite frankly bringing on a player of his potential for 3 minutes seems a bit beyond a joke and in fact could be deemed quite insulting. We just have to let the boys play their game and we'll see who throws their toys out of the pram first, but don't expect it to be S.C. because for once I think we have someone in charge who knows what they are doing and that has been a non-existent commodity down in BS3 for many years. Long may it continue.
Chesterfield were definitely very unlucky to lose. Couldn't understand the Burns substitution for Korey. He also changed the formation and moved Ayling to midfield, it didn't make sense - Pack has to be better midfielder than Ayling. Still, we won and we've had enough bad luck these last few years so let's enjoy it.
Yes, we were lucky. Chesterfield deserved a point and might have even won it themselves. I thought it was a strange sub- Burns was out of his depth on the left, but by bringing on Pack, it allowed him to play a more natural role on the right up front and that's where the goal came from. So, credit to Cotterill for that one. Maybe it was too early on in the game to use JET, but I agree that Burns isn't at the same standard and a loan move would have been of benefit. On a separate note, that was the worst ref I have seen for a long while.
That referee was non league standard,needs dropping,both sides were hit by his antics,cotts was not impressed by him at all.
We were a little slow to start off with but the goal got us going. Smiths injury changed the game completely. Another good attacking display. However once again we have proof that we should never sit back on the ball or else we will be punished.
I liked it when Flint protected Fielding by shoving their player into the net, and when their player came to his rescue Flint just pushed him away
'I liked it when Flint protected Fielding by shoving their player into the net' I had a laugh as well, but only after the ref didn't take action against Flint. Flint needs to engage his brain and show restraint. Players have been sent off for less.
Yeah true, but it was just funny when the other came charging in and got told politely to **** off Back to the game, it wasn't the best display think we realised how much Smith is worth, but champions are made of not playing great but getting results.
For the first time it is difficult to defend Cotts subs today, bringing on Burns for Smith was silly when Pack who is a natural replacement was left sat on the bench, it also changed our shape with Burns on his unnatural left side and also negating our best first half attacking threat of Joe Bryan by pushing him backwards.? That shape did not work.! Ayling has been fantastic this season and I thought he did a good job when pushed in to midfield but the Pack option would have been better. Hey ho we got the result, We will play better and lose.
last few games I said it, we are the best of an average bunch so far in an average league teams now have 2 games in hand although we have scraped the points on the board gdknac comments on Pack pretty close to the mark we will of course never know the other outcome had brought on Pack then Burns later
Another very welcome 3 points despite the fact we probably only deserved one. The more worrying trend is the amount of goals we're now suddenly conceding. We only let in 4 during the first 8 games and have now shipped 8 in the last 4 games, albeit without a defeat...
You could argue that MK Dons highest scorers in the league and Chesterfield with a player on form. Walsall was one fantastic strike conceded but Fleetwood albeit good goals was concerning.
Agree with ROD. We've conceded goals against MK Dons, 1 of which was a gift, they are also the top scorers in the league and the 2 we let in yesterday was against the most in form and highest scoring striker in England. Our last 2 home games were our hardest so far, we've scored 6 and got 6 points. Our positives far outweigh the very few negatives. Coventry away without Smith is going to be a big ask. First loss of the season could be on the cards...
There is no background. It is tactical. Emmanulle Thomas plas his best football dropping off into midfield. Assists v Cheltenham he was floating out wide or had players beyond him which is being allowed to play his game. Mr Cotterill has wanted him to lead the line or pin him into a shape on the right which 100% is not his game.
THATS THE WORRYING THING 7 against 3 teams that were at or near top of the division 1-1 against Walsall nearer the bottom 2 wins and 2 draws conceding goals..... Fantastic, we are doing the job necessary to get out of a VERY weak first division, BUT as the season is unfurling certain teams will now get stronger, whilst others weaker lets hope the ones we have played get stronger and the ones to play weaker!!!!!! levelled table at 12 games gives us POTENTIALLY 1 point over Swindon 3 over MKD 3 PNE 7 Chstrfld and Bradford ..... bY THE END OF November ALL SHOULD BE ALL LEVEL PEGGING and we play Swindon and PNE whilst MKD and Swindon play each other...19 played and 4 to half way point