At lunch time Slavi echoed a beautiful spring day with a bright and breezy press conference. "No need to panic, no need to be scared" he said, "it's not a race between us and MK Dons. There are many teams in this battle." Ah well, it is April 1st. And apparently the team have had a good break - "we've rested well but done good work." - encouraged by the presence of Mr Khan at Motspur Park. In the real world however, sounds as though Nando just might be okay after injuring his ankle ahead of the B'ham game. Unfortunately though LVC and more importantly, Chris Baird are still out. Pretty sure we'll see the boss going back to 3-4-1-2 and even if that means yet again tinkering with the line up. From what I gather Stearman showed something of his true form at B'ham and Ince put in a decent shift so both deserve a place. Dan Burn has to hold up his hands for poor marking in recent games an almost certainly will make way for Nando. Tim Ream will probably also be sacrificed to give us (some) width on the left and Emerson Hyndman is also likely to sit this one out - having only just got back from his USA trip late last night. So, the starting Xl - ......................Bettinelli......... ......Stearman..Madl...Amorebieta... ..Fredericks.....Ince...Parker...Garbutt.. ..........................Cairney....... ............Dembele.......McCormack....
For me Madl has been the culprit who has lost us points in at least 3 games recently. I haven't seen any reason why Ince should play in front of O'Hara,Tunnicliffe or Hyndman. Still don't think Jokanovic likes Stearman in a back 3 so I think Burn will play. Against Birmingham we played 442 think he'll do that again, but he's getting a bit like Mad Magath you can't predict his lineup or tactics.
The man in the middle, Tim Robinson, is in his 5th season so guess that could put in the 'experienced' camp. Certainly compared to some we've had this year. But boy does he like it to be known he's around. In 31 games last season he dished out 120 yellows and 3 reds, while this year he's already over his target with 123 yellows and 7 reds in 35 games. The only time we've seen him though was our 3-1 win at Loftus Road in February and he was quite modest that day, with only 2 yellows to each side (Burn and O'Hara for us). Not counting my chickens for today however - on any front!
I think Madl has been one of our good players since coming here. I think he should certainly start. It's a must win game and certainly a must not lose game. I've been nervous for the last couple of weeks thinking about this game but now I have my usual optimism as I leave the house.
I'm normally reluctant to use the phrase 'must-win game', but given the recent form of other teams around us and the remaining fixtures... this is a must-win game. Come on you whites.
But where would we have been without the Clappers? Like them or loathe them they made a difference today with a very decent sized crowd keeping the racket going for the full 95 minutes. Seriously though, it wasn't always pretty but you couldn't fault the effort and really should have been more comfortable than the result suggests. Two missed chances, absolute sitters at that, inside the first two minutes and then McCormack thumping the post after 20 had me fearing it might be one of those days. However, the lads stuck to it, and for full marks to Captain Scotty who had one of his best games for us. As predicted by SuperBri, Slavi stuck with 4-4-2 and it kind of worked - Cairney and Tunnicliffe struggled to make an impact in the first half out wide(ish) right and left respectively. Also, the gangly Stearman looked a wee bit uncomfortable at RB on occasion and quicker opposition could have given us problems. But hey, let's stick to the positives - and there were plenty - 58% possession; 22 shots and 9 on target for starters. Best though was the way the players worked for each other. While our play wasn't always that cohesive at times, the team were united for the first time in a while. As well as Parker, I'd pick out Ryan Ince in this. Not always obvious and not hitting you between the eyes as a MOTM, he did an enormous amount of spoiling work and disrupting MK Dons play. Can't finish without praising the two goals - so similar in getting behind them and providing cut backs - and the two involved please log in to view this image So it was a happy clappy "Yeeeeeeessss!" at the end but there were a few nervous stutters on the way.
Good atmosphere today - Someone at the Club had the right idea with the clappers. 2 good goals, but we had some good chances not taken in both halves. Really poor defending to concede the goal - Frustrating. But Betts was sound in goal - good to see him back. Scott Parker made some good tackles; Scott & Ross both showed off their great footballing brains. Dembele had was involved in both goals, but could have done so much more. Right move to bring on Matt Smith for the hard-working Tom Cairney to change the balance. Does not quite make up for the disappointment of Bristol City - but 3 really big points to push away from the bottom three. Onwards and upwards - COYW!!
Relief more than anything after today, bit of breathing space for us. Hopefully we can go on now and get some more points on the board in the coming games, can do without a nervy end of the season.
Bit of a strange game, Fulham dominated the play in the first half and did everything well up until the final shot, could have been 3-0 but went in 0-0. Got a bit of luck for our first goal as Demebele mis-controlled the ball, would have had a shot but had to chase it and push it back into the danger area. They didn't appear to be a real threat until the mix up between Ream and Amorebieta (wonder if Betts gave them a shout to leave it ?). That gave the Dons a boost, and their manager is crying about the disallowed goal, but again if it wasn't for their keeper we'd have gone on to score more than just the second. Thought Ince and Parker had good games breaking up the attacks, but Cairney was in and out and there was no real flow to our play, no creativity, Tunnicliffe was probably the best in midfielder, as usual we laboured to get quick attacks going and break down a packed defense. Not sure I like Stearman and Ream playing Fullbacks, but I guess a settled back 4 may work, think a better team will exploit this lack of pace. With Burn absent corners were a problem again as Dons were able to ping them across the six yard box, luckily most of them flew way past without their players getting a touch. The Clappers did their job, after the Dons goal there was a positive surge rather than the moans that would normally be heard, so I think that gave the players a boost. Still a lot of nervous games to get through.
We are probably looking at least 7 points from the last 7 games to stay up, that means two more wins and we only have 3 more home games! You would look at Bolton at home for a win but you don't really want to go down to the last day of the season, we really could do with an unexpected win to calm the nerves someone like Preston away will do, though a win from either of our next two games would do! For 6 weeks now I have been wanting Rotherham to lose and they keep winning so next weekend when I want them to win they are bound to lose against the MK Dons.
