Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 27 Administrator Share Posted March 27 all kick-offs 15.00 (GMT) unless stated Friday 29th March, 2024 Bristol City vs Leicester, 12.30 Millwall vs West Brom, 13.00 Cardiff vs Sunderland Huddersfield vs Coventry Hull vs Stoke Norwich vs Plymouth Preston vs Rotherham QPR vs Birmingham Sheff Weds vs Swansea Southampton vs Middlesbrough Blackburn vs Ipswich, 17.30 Watford vs Leeds, 20.00 Friday 29th March, 2024 Barnsley vs Cambridge Derby vs Blackpool Exeter vs Charlton Fleetwood vs Cheltenham Lincoln vs Leyton Orient Peterborough vs Carlisle Port Vale vs Bristol Rovers Reading vs Northampton Shrewsbury vs Oxford Stevenage vs Bolton Wigan vs Burton Wycombe vs Portsmouth Friday 29th March, 2024 Accrington Stanley vs Morecambe AFC Wimbledon vs Harrogate Barrow vs Grimsby Bradford vs Tranmere Colchester vs Newport Crawley vs Doncaster Forest Green vs Stockport Gillingham vs Crewe MK Dons vs Walsall Salford vs Sutton Swindon vs Notts County Wrexham vs Mansfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Dan+ 1,918 Posted March 27 Subscriber Share Posted March 27 I consider the March international break to be the dividing line and the first games back afterwards to be the official "business end" of the season, so hold tight this does not go our way in recent years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 28 Author Administrator Share Posted March 28 We're not keeping a clean sheet, but I can't work out if we'll score more than them or not Time to see what the teams mettle and mental fortitude is like. About time some players start performing again too. Most of our squad didn't play so would have been well rested over the internationals. No excuses for fatigue or tiredness from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Hewitt 1,282 Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Hoping we can get back on track after the Swansea shambles. Will be a tough game regardless of what has happened to Sunderland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Dan+ 1,918 Posted March 29 Subscriber Share Posted March 29 6 hours ago, Stan said: We're not keeping a clean sheet, but I can't work out if we'll score more than them or not Time to see what the teams mettle and mental fortitude is like. About time some players start performing again too. Most of our squad didn't play so would have been well rested over the internationals. No excuses for fatigue or tiredness from them. Somebody on a pod I listened to reeled off our players who played over the internationals and quite a few featured on Tuesday I think. I've been clinging onto the idea we're a bit jaded but I'm less sure that this time is going to have helped than I was. We have come back from every break under Maresca very strongly to be fair. September - Won all 6 games until the next break October - Won the next 3 games after the break November - Beat Watford, drew with Sheff Weds (that was a disgusting game mind) and then won 5 in a row Could mean nothing but we have tended to have our best runs after them. Bristol City are a bit tricky because they seem to raise their game against better teams. Nobody in the top four has beaten them by more than a goal this season, Southampton lost their unbeaten run there, they beat West Ham at home, held Forest to two draws. Their fans are really down about things and they think that Manning has lost large parts of the fanbase and dressing room already, so we may have caught them at a good time, but they do seem to be able to raise their game a bit for an occasion and I would say in my humble opinion tomorrow is classed as one. Everything to me points to unconvincing 0-1 win, which I will take but I do think we'll pay if we don't lift our performances. We've been massively off it since the Boro game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 29 Author Administrator Share Posted March 29 Vardy having a bad day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 29 Author Administrator Share Posted March 29 We're rubbish. Only got ourselves to blame. Missed so many. Hamza can't defend yet Enzo won't take him off. Had to make changes much earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Palace Fan 3,402 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Jesus, Leicester look like they're going to blow this. With all the off field misdemeanours, you have to wonder if they don't go up this season with this group of players they'll get sucked in to The Championship black hole for a couple of seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 29 Author Administrator Share Posted March 29 Shite. Too many players need to give their heads a wobble. Stupidly casual and lazy and just downright pathetic attitude. Dewsbury-Hall looks like he's mentally checked out. Crap from him today. Choudhury can fuck off too. Useless sack of shit. Miss too many chances, get punished. Don't make changes to impact the game, get punished. Drop into the playoffs at this rate and we don't stand a chance of winning them either. Players don't have it in them mentally to get through it. What a sad way to end the season. It was all going so well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 29 Author Administrator Share Posted March 29 20 minutes ago, The Palace Fan said: Jesus, Leicester look like they're going to blow this. With all the off field misdemeanours, you have to wonder if they don't go up this season with this group of players they'll get sucked in to The Championship black hole for a couple of seasons. Yep, would even say League One beckons within 4-5 years at this rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Dan+ 1,918 Posted March 29 Subscriber Share Posted March 29 Utter disgrace. We're not going up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 29 Author Administrator Share Posted March 29 Jimmy Dunne scoring a cracker for QPR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,663 Posted March 29 Subscriber Share Posted March 29 Winning a league title should instil a winning mentality at a football club. They won the FA Cup a bit later on but apart from that, it seems to have had the opposite effect on Leicester. Bottled top four twice in a row not long after their title challenge, bottled a relegation fight they should have easily got out of last season. Not going to be pretty if they bottle promotion as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 29 Author Administrator Share Posted March 29 Blackburn's keeper. Jeez. What is that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 29 Author Administrator Share Posted March 29 13 minutes ago, RandoEFC said: Winning a league title should instil a winning mentality at a football club. They won the FA Cup a bit later on but apart from that, it seems to have had the opposite effect on Leicester. Bottled top four twice in a row not long after their title challenge, bottled a relegation fight they should have easily got out of last season. Not going to be pretty if they bottle promotion as well. We need new owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Palace Fan 3,402 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 That QPR win is massive for them. What a job Cifuentes is doing. Can certainly see bigger clubs looking at him and Rohl next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,386 Posted March 29 Author Administrator Share Posted March 29 12 mins plus stoppage time to go and you already know Leeds are coming away with 3 points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas 3,827 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 We'll have to take that. It was a 5/10 performance from us. So many issues we had to contend with. Its been a great time for Watford to catch us fixture wise. But as the saying goes, if you can't win, don't lose. Could turn out to be a massive point. Had so many players away on Internationals, the Welsh lads had extra time on Tuesday night too, 3 of our boys come back injured which was also key, especially Gruev and Gnonto. Rutter had his hernia op, Firpo played Wednesday then had a 20 hour flight back, not one session with the team together. Farke's messed with the centre back partnership by breaking up Rodon and Ampadu and bringing in Cooper and we looked all over the place back there. Cooper is finished, a liability, just as Ayling sadly became. When he changed it back 2nd half, we took total control. No shock. Watford were very good first half, they pressed us hard, very athletic side, and went at us and we were miles off it. They deserved to take the lead twice. Unfortunately we came back into it too late. If that game goes on another 5mins, we probably nick it. You could moan the changes were too late. You can't win them all though. It's not Football Manager. Leicester and Saints haven't won so thats a little bit of insurance at least. Fair enough, Ipswich did but they were fortunate to. And they have Saints next. Someone there is dropping points, maybe both. Got to win our game Monday though. Home games are key now. Got 4 of them left and if we can win all of those, we have to be there or thereabouts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Dan+ 1,918 Posted March 29 Subscriber Share Posted March 29 8 hours ago, Stan said: We're rubbish. Only got ourselves to blame. Missed so many. Hamza can't defend yet Enzo won't take him off. Had to make changes much earlier. My opinion of him is below what I thought possible only six weeks ago. He's a complete one trick pony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Dan+ 1,918 Posted March 30 Subscriber Share Posted March 30 12 hours ago, Stan said: Yep, would even say League One beckons within 4-5 years at this rate. People will baulk at this, but I think things are looking so bleak off the pitch if we don't go up this season (and not tonnes better if we do frankly) that this is the likelier route we take. I think perceptions of us are going to change quite substantially. We're going to have to pretty much sell anybody of any value, be able to reinvest virtually nothing of it, all under an owner and board who have absolutely no self-critique, no self-reflection and want to try and point the fingers everywhere but themselves. Today was as red as a flag can get. It was abject. Every single thing you feared it could be. We're mundane, predictable, same system no matter who the opposition, no matter who the personnel we have available. If Maresca is this one-dimensional, which each passing game tells me he is given his persistence despite so much evidence staring him in the face, then I want nothing to do with him. He's being shown as nothing but a fairweather like Rodgers. Absolutely fine when it's all stacked in our favour, but absolutely nothing when facing genuine adversity. Utterly diabolical. That's an absolute disgrace of a result. The Bristol City fans I spoke to after the game weren't even remotely bothered. They largely dislike their new manager. They have zero enthusiasm, probably the least to play for of any of the 24 teams in the division and we go there in such an enormous game and serve that up. I hate to speak in these lazy cliches and buzz words, but I really do think that leadership, grit, determination, bottle - these are absolute fundamentals that we think we're too clever for and this manager despite some of the environments he's spent his years in seems to be one of the biggest culprits. I'm absolutely furious. I think we're absolutely nailed for a play-off loss. I've seen it before and we're going to see it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Dan+ 1,918 Posted March 30 Subscriber Share Posted March 30 10 hours ago, RandoEFC said: Winning a league title should instil a winning mentality at a football club. They won the FA Cup a bit later on but apart from that, it seems to have had the opposite effect on Leicester. Bottled top four twice in a row not long after their title challenge, bottled a relegation fight they should have easily got out of last season. Not going to be pretty if they bottle promotion as well. I can only conclude it comes from the ownership. He ultimately has never had to build anything himself and his shortcomings are being badly shown up now. He has blind faith in those who let him down and when you can't see that in spite of the blindingly obvious you lower the motivation and standards at the club. We got relegated in what I think I have good case to call one of the biggest underperformances in Premier League history and nobody at board level was removed. I was told on fairly good authority earlier that the supposed 'inquest' into last season really was just lip service and it was very much just a case of making it look like something was happening. Our fans will never turn on him because they're too incapable of objectively assessing the difference between him and his father. Now Vichai wasn't perfect by any means, but I think given he'd actually built something and achieved something, he did have that natural knowhow to make a change when they were needed. Top just sadly hasn't got this ability and it's not anymore a case of pushing the bigger teams, it's actually running us into the ground. They won't turn on him, but they have to. It's getting that serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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