Match thread 1st-5th February

[T.A]

Millwall v Walsall (Wednesday 1st Feb, 19:45)
Bradford v Gillingham
Charlton v Fleetwood
Chesterfield v Oldham
Coventry v Millwall
MK Dons v Bolton
Port Vale v Peterborough
Rochdale v Bristol Rovers
Sheff Utd v Wimbledon
Shrewsbury v Bury
Southend v Scunthorpe
Walsall v Northampton
Swindon v Oxford (Sunday 5th Feb, 12:00)

Match chat.

 

[Spirederman]

Massive game for us next Saturday and the return of Shez and an in form Oldham. We SHOULD have some new heads in place by then and hoping Martinez is about ready for a return for the 1st team which will basically be another new signing as he barely featured before his injury. A MUST win game against one of the teams in the dogfight.

I'll go 2-1 Spireites

 

[MJA]

Peterborough are just drifting out of form, and despite Vale not picking results up still I am assured that there are clear improvements in performance levels. This is one I think we need to win, not only to keep our noses above relegation, but also to give that confidence that Brown can see us over the line and potentially move us forward in years to come. The fact that Smurf hasn't rushed in and announced him as new manager on a 25 year contract would suggest that Brown is very much still going through a real world job interview

 

[valefan16]

Peterborough are just drifting out of form, and despite Vale not picking results up still I am assured that there are clear improvements in performance levels. This is one I think we need to win, not only to keep our noses above relegation, but also to give that confidence that Brown can see us over the line and potentially move us forward in years to come. The fact that Smurf hasn't rushed in and announced him as new manager on a 25 year contract would suggest that Brown is very much still going through a real world job interview

Must win really, especially with the way they are haemorrhaging goals at the moment. See who comes and who goes but the improvements especially going forward are encouraging. 3-1 Vale - Tyler Walker, JJ and Guy.

 

[T.A]

Must not lose for us v Shrewsbury especially after the collapse on Saturday. We don't have the best record at their place we've been thumped a few times over the years. The midfield needs sorting out after what I saw at the weekend, we need proper wingers on and not Hope out there.

 

[joethegill]

Bradford away, which on paper looks like a home win. However, we do have a decent record against Bradford over the last decade or so, and it's normally been Hanson in the past that has proven the irritant against us so I'm glad he's gone. Still think a point would be a decent result, same as the Sheff Utd draw. After this we have 2 home games against teams around us (Chesterfield and Port Vale), before a trip to Coventry so this game could set us up nicely with a touch of momentum going into those 3 big games.

1-1.

 

[1976Bantam]

Bradford away, which on paper looks like a home win. However, we do have a decent record against Bradford over the last decade or so, and it's normally been Hanson in the past that has proven the irritant against us so I'm glad he's gone. Still think a point would be a decent result, same as the Sheff Utd draw. After this we have 2 home games against teams around us (Chesterfield and Port Vale), before a trip to Coventry so this game could set us up nicely with a touch of momentum going into those 3 big games.

1-1.

You can say that again - only beaten you once in our last 12 meetings!!

That said - and whilst you got a great result at Sheff Utd recently - I'd be disappointed not to win given your recent away form.

Everyone knows we draw too much, but we've only conceded 10 at home in 15 games so far (3 of which were in 1 game) - if we can get at least one 'starting' striker in before the window shuts I'd like to think we can win this.

1-0.

 

[bantamigo]

We play a different style this year and it's probably why we sold Hanson, he wasn't getting in the side enough for the wage he picked up so it was inevitable he was going to leave in the summer when we offered him reduced terms, we might as well have taken the money now. If you're turning up expecting us to play like we have in previous seasons then you'll be disappointed I guess, given your record against us.

Not saying Gillingham haven't got some decent players on their day and they've got no chance but I've got to agree I'll be disappointed with anything less than 3 points on Saturday, we looked good against Oldham with Clarke back in the side and we seem to be building a bit of momentum after the Shrewsbury away debacle.

 

[RobboPOSH]

After the shambles of saturday, we need a minor miracle to get anything against Vale. The players look uninspired, uninterested and confused regarding the tactics. We're notoriously bad in these sort of games up north in the cold and I can't see us getting anything. We'll have to see if we sign anyone before the window closes. I expect Vale to score at least three.

 

[Hairy Otter]

I'm hoping the ten days without a game will help Wilder and the squad get things back on track for the visit of AFCW. Fleetwood and a mad 20 minutes against Walsall apart, they've not been playing badly so it's no time to panic. Sadly, that isn't in our fans nature...

I'd expect Wimbledon to look to frustrate, and I don't expect it will take much for some of our fans to start getting impatient given the fatalism caused by the last three results. But patience is key and we must make sure that we don't over-commit and leave the defence exposed. Do that and keep the ball and chances will come.

Would love for us to get a clean sheet, so going for a 2-0 Blades win.

 

[Jockney]

I know absolutely nothing about Walsall this season apart from that Oztumer is a player I wanted us to sign when he was at Dulwich Hamlet. Nifty little footballer.

If we don't beat Coventry at the Ricoh it will take a pretty remarkable run of form to reach the play-offs.

 

[T.A]

I know absolutely nothing about Walsall this season apart from that Oztumer is a player I wanted us to sign when he was at Dulwich Hamlet. Nifty little footballer.

If we don't beat Coventry at the Ricoh it will take a pretty remarkable run of form to reach the play-offs.

Decent side, mix long and short balls throughout the game. Put pressure on them and they do seem to make mistakes though.

 

[Shrimpurh]

Decent result for us last night not that we should be looking below us but a win for Millwall would of put them on same points as us, puts them off their home run and we've got them at the Den next weekend

 

[Bobbin']

Fleetwood at home for us and one I think we will win.

Going to be a tough game against an in form side, their winning run came to end at the weekend and we're unbeaten in 6 ourselves.

Saturday was huge for us, showed a grit and desire that we haven't yet seen this season, the players must be buzzing after that. While we still haven't won enough games, performances have definitely improved under Robinson. Tony Watt is looking fit again, Holmes expected to start, Novak back in the squad. We're slowly getting back to full health.

Not to underestimate Fleetwood at all but I fancy a good 3-1 win.

Watt(2), Byrne.

 

[Camdenite]

Bolton at home for us in front of our record league attendance by the looks of it, thanks to the MK50 Birthday celebrations. Looks like 23,000 plus assuming Bolton bring a couple of thousand.

We've started to click and should give them a test. Aneke is looking the real deal and now we have options on the bench to change things then we look a lot better placed to start climbing the table than we did when the window opened.

We'll both have debutants looking to impress and I can see this being tight with a late winner either way.

 

[The Hand of Dom]

I don't even wanna think about it.

 

[DH84]

Don't know who we're playing but we'll probably lose

 

[Sheffsteel]

Some big matches this weekend.

The biggest is probably Southend v Scunthorpe.
This will be a really tough test for the league leaders. If Scunthorpe win it willl send a big message to the clubs at the top that Scunny are the real deal and likely to last the pace.

2 other big mathces are the relegation clashes down at the bottom
Chesterfield v Oldham and
Shrewsbury v Bury will be like cup finals.
Which ever of those clubs win will have a massive morale,booster which could see them go on a run and pull clear. You can bet both wil probably end up draws.

And other interesting matches are
Sheff Utd v AFC Wimbledon and
MK Dons v Bolton

Sheff U and Bolton had been on great run of results but have recently hit some poor form. Both sets of supporters probably think it's a minor blip and expect good results to return.

However both Sheff U and Bolton now come under some pressure.
Fail to win again this weekend and the blip then starts turning into a real concern with a resultant loss of confidence.

 

[Bobbin']

Nope, biggest match for me is Charlton vs Fleetwood.

 

[Third Team Lucky]

Nope, biggest match for me is Charlton vs Fleetwood.

I bet that even 5 years ago you had no inkling that those words could be taken seriously.

 

[Shrimpurh]

Come on Southend a win would be huuuuge this weekend. Let's carry on getting payback on all those who smashed us at the start of the season.

 

[Bobbin']

I bet that even 5 years ago you had no inkling that those words could be taken seriously.

Fair point.

 

[DippyDon]

Can see us beating Bolton, Aneke looks far too good for the league currently and I have a feeling that losing Clough and bringing in ALF will only be alright later on when he bonds with the team, Saturday is too soon for me

3-1 win

 

[Bottega Don]

I'd take a point away at Southend even if it means Sheff United going back above us, Southend is a very difficult place to go and we'll have to be at our best if we to take anything from this game.

 

[Shrimpurh]

Gave away a silly silly goal early since then we have been all over Scunthorpe

 

[Shrimpurh]

Just totally outplayed top of the league. We are gonna be up there come the end of the season

 

[Bottega Don]

Bad day at the office for us. Missing some key players but by the sounds of it we just weren't good enough. Davies and Toney aren't up for it, Hopper and Van Veen need to start now.

Gotta be better next week.

 

[Dale4ever]

Well that was drab! We have numerous injuries, no idea how strong that Bristol Rovers line up was but they were as poor as we were on the day. Nobody would have scored in 180 minutes today never mind 90. Annoyingly these injuries have come at an awful time for us. Full strength we would have walked it today.

 

[joethegill]

Good point for us.

Looking forward to the 'worst team faced all season', 'cheats' and 'we should be beating teams like these' quotes which we normally get when we get points off a team near the top.

 

[T.A]

We're going down.