BFT well I don’t know what to call it without resorting to a lot of naughty words

[royalp-we]

Pele.Usually our best player.Bad day at the office last night though.

Mainly because he shouldn't be played in a midfield 4. He's been our best player when sitting just in front of defence. What the thinking is here God only knows

Pele was sitting just in front of the defence

In the first half when the opposition had the ball we dropped and had Pelé at CDM. Then when we were in possession, he would push up alongside Araruna - which should have allowed Swift some freedom.

It didn’t work and Pelé was a complete donkey on Wednesday night. Couldn’t complete a simple pass, weak in the tackle and gave no outlet to Morro or Moore thus resulting in the fans on their backs for going long. It was a piss poor day at the office for Pelé and I guess that’s why many are baffled Rino wasn’t brought on.

[bcubed]

Pele.Usually our best player.Bad day at the office last night though.

Mainly because he shouldn't be played in a midfield 4. He's been our best player when sitting just in front of defence. What the thinking is here God only knows

Pele was sitting just in front of the defence

In the first half when the opposition had the ball we dropped and had Pelé at CDM. Then when we were in possession, he would push up alongside Araruna - which should have allowed Swift some freedom.

It didn’t work and Pelé was a complete donkey on Wednesday night. Couldn’t complete a simple pass, weak in the tackle and gave no outlet to Morro or Moore thus resulting in the fans on their backs for going long. It was a piss poor day at the office for Pelé and I guess that’s why many are baffled Rino wasn’t brought on.

I wasn't there so I'll take your word for it. Didn't look like it to me from my (increasingly sporadic) views from tv.

[JR]

No it isnt. Only Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season, in the top 2 leagues. We needed changes and out of those changes Olise has emerged. The highlight of our poor period. Rinomhota and Richards too came back due to those changes. The slump is down to tactical tweaks. Bowen is having problems right now that he doesnt have the experience to deal with. I'm not in any sort of Bowen out camp but he needs to show why he can be our manager going forward now. This is his big test.

Where on earth did you get this stat from?! Prior to the 3rd round weekend how had we played more games than the other championship teams???

Eh? What's that? What did I say? Dont recall saying that. Maybe check the old reading glasses. The Blackpool game was 3 days after Fulham, which itself was 2 days after Preston. You seriously suggesting playing the same team 3 times in that short a period??

You stated that only Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Didn’t seem likely to be a correct statement, but feel free to explain why it was.

[NewCorkSeth]

Where on earth did you get this stat from?! Prior to the 3rd round weekend how had we played more games than the other championship teams???

Eh? What's that? What did I say? Dont recall saying that. Maybe check the old reading glasses. The Blackpool game was 3 days after Fulham, which itself was 2 days after Preston. You seriously suggesting playing the same team 3 times in that short a period??

You stated that only Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Didn’t seem likely to be a correct statement, but feel free to explain why it was.

Simple. No championship or Premier league team other than Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Some had played the same amount of games as us. None had played more. Other than Wolves.

[JR]

Eh? What's that? What did I say? Dont recall saying that. Maybe check the old reading glasses. The Blackpool game was 3 days after Fulham, which itself was 2 days after Preston. You seriously suggesting playing the same team 3 times in that short a period??

You stated that only Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Didn’t seem likely to be a correct statement, but feel free to explain why it was.

Simple. No championship or Premier league team other than Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Some had played the same amount of games as us. None had played more. Other than Wolves.

Don’t believe that is correct - for example Arsenal had played two more I believe.

[NewCorkSeth]

You stated that only Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Didn’t seem likely to be a correct statement, but feel free to explain why it was.

Simple. No championship or Premier league team other than Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Some had played the same amount of games as us. None had played more. Other than Wolves.

Don’t believe that is correct - for example Arsenal had played two more I believe.

Had played less league games and same cup games. The extra 2 games from europe are taken out of league games.

[JR]

Simple. No championship or Premier league team other than Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Some had played the same amount of games as us. None had played more. Other than Wolves.

Don’t believe that is correct - for example Arsenal had played two more I believe.

Had played less league games and same cup games. The extra 2 games from europe are taken out of league games.

Now I’m more confused! Prior to the Blackpool game, Arsenal had played 29 games, Reading has played 27 games. So pretty sure that disproves your statement?

[URZZZZ]

Eh? What's that? What did I say? Dont recall saying that. Maybe check the old reading glasses. The Blackpool game was 3 days after Fulham, which itself was 2 days after Preston. You seriously suggesting playing the same team 3 times in that short a period??

You stated that only Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Didn’t seem likely to be a correct statement, but feel free to explain why it was.

Simple. No championship or Premier league team other than Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Some had played the same amount of games as us. None had played more. Other than Wolves.

Are you sure Stoke/Luton/Preston/Wednesday/Swansea haven't?

Far as I can see, all the teams above mentioned got to the same round of the EFL cup as we had and we had played a game less than every other Champ club (bar Forest) by the time of the FA Cup 3rd round because of the Forest game being postponed? They were the only two competitions weren't they?

[JR]

You stated that only Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Didn’t seem likely to be a correct statement, but feel free to explain why it was.

Simple. No championship or Premier league team other than Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Some had played the same amount of games as us. None had played more. Other than Wolves.

Are you sure Stoke/Luton/Preston/Wednesday/Swansea haven't?

Far as I can see, all the teams above mentioned got to the same round of the EFL cup as we had and we had played a game less than every other Champ club (bar Forest) by the time of the FA Cup 3rd round because of the Forest game being postponed? They were the only two competitions weren't they?

Excellent point URZZZZ! I had forgotten the Forest postponement.

[NewCorkSeth]

Simple. No championship or Premier league team other than Wolves had played more games than us at that point in the season. Some had played the same amount of games as us. None had played more. Other than Wolves.

Are you sure Stoke/Luton/Preston/Wednesday/Swansea haven't?

Far as I can see, all the teams above mentioned got to the same round of the EFL cup as we had and we had played a game less than every other Champ club (bar Forest) by the time of the FA Cup 3rd round because of the Forest game being postponed? They were the only two competitions weren't they?

Excellent point URZZZZ! I had forgotten the Forest postponement.

Ah I see I am out by 10 days. It was by the point of the Blackpool replay. My apologies.

Now, do me a favour and explain why you think playing the same team with some "gentle tinkering" for the games on the 26th December, 29th of December, 1st of January and 4th of January would have been a good idea.

Or perhaps the similarly compact schedule of the 18th, 22nd, 25th, 28th and 31st of January would have been a good time to play more or less the same team?

[JR]

Are you sure Stoke/Luton/Preston/Wednesday/Swansea haven't?

Far as I can see, all the teams above mentioned got to the same round of the EFL cup as we had and we had played a game less than every other Champ club (bar Forest) by the time of the FA Cup 3rd round because of the Forest game being postponed? They were the only two competitions weren't they?

Excellent point URZZZZ! I had forgotten the Forest postponement.

Ah I see I am out by 10 days. It was by the point of the Blackpool replay. My apologies.

Now, do me a favour and explain why you think playing the same team with some "gentle tinkering" for the games on the 26th December, 29th of December, 1st of January and 4th of January would have been a good idea.

Or perhaps the similarly compact schedule of the 18th, 22nd, 25th, 28th and 31st of January would have been a good time to play more or less the same team?

So your point is that by the point of the Blackpool game we had played the same number of games as 5 other championship teams and less games than a number of Premiership teams - powerful point you are making there!

On your further narrative on tinkering, I have no issue on 4-6 changes - my big concern is when you go all 11, then you create two separate teams and lose momentum on both fronts.

From an FA Cup perspective it worked out just fine - but it feels like we lost some league momentum through the extent of the changes.

[NewCorkSeth]

Excellent point URZZZZ! I had forgotten the Forest postponement.

Ah I see I am out by 10 days. It was by the point of the Blackpool replay. My apologies.

Now, do me a favour and explain why you think playing the same team with some "gentle tinkering" for the games on the 26th December, 29th of December, 1st of January and 4th of January would have been a good idea.

Or perhaps the similarly compact schedule of the 18th, 22nd, 25th, 28th and 31st of January would have been a good time to play more or less the same team?

So your point is that by the point of the Blackpool game we had played the same number of games as 5 other championship teams and less games than a number of Premiership teams - powerful point you are making there!

On your further narrative on tinkering, I have no issue on 4-6 changes - my big concern is when you go all 11, then you create two separate teams and lose momentum on both fronts.

From an FA Cup perspective it worked out just fine - but it feels like we lost some league momentum through the extent of the changes.

Very good. The point is, and would have stood if I didnt mistake 1 Blackpool game for the other, we had played a huge amount of games. Including 2 periods, highlighted above, that show just how many games we had to play in a short period of time.

Your original comment was that Bowen changing the team drastically for the cup is what has sucked away our league form. I think that is the stupidest oxf*rd thing I have read on this site in the many years I have been posting here. For many reasons, not just the fact we had to rest players due to the schedule. How does resting 11 players for a cup game, the 3rd game in 9 days in Cardiffs case, make those 11 players play shit 3 days later against Bristol? The first 11 get 6 days without a match and that signals to you "yep, it was the cup changes that did it. They should have played another 90 minutes on the weekend. That would have solved this issue".