De_La_Vega

Oh aye, and he has no left foot either. Had to go for the tackle, but the punch was fair enough - three guys cannot go grabbing a lad like they did and get away with it. The Scunthorpe lad in the middle should have had a straight red. The daft thing was it was a pretty mild two-footer really. He didn't seem to fly over the top of the ball, or catch their lad around the knees. Ref was on top of the incident, rightly goes for a red and then their bell-end players had to get involved. If he gets charged for the punch it would be a joke - well warranted I'd say. Anyone else see the blatant push on the back for Lee in the first half too? Definite penalty.

Marsh-Brown is a good footballer but a :censored: football player. Good skills and technique, but totally clueless when he has a decision to make - I can think of at least 4 occasions where he totally undid good work from himself, and wasted good positions, by not releasing the ball. Utterly wank finisher too, that's two shockingly bad misses now from him. Also, I have a slight worry that too much of his best skill comes when he is under pressure. Give him time and he tackles himself, knock him off-balance and stick a foot in and he flashes his feet and makes you look foolish. Needs to work hard like Morais has, and work out how to deploy his skills when he is on the front foot. Thought he did pretty well though last night, all the above aside. Worked pretty hard and was a constant threat. If he could pass and shoot he'd be a legend already.

Tom Adayemi is frustrating to watch at times, but you can't argue that he loves it! Great celebration!

Given that Latics are one of the few teams in this division who look better keeping the ball on the floor, it amazes me that people accuse us of being :censored:. Granted Charlton were missing Stephens, but they don't play through the midfield and neither do Sheff Weds or Huddersfield, against both of them I felt we were the better footballing side. Typical drivel from bent Yorkshire wankers.

I made the point earlier that we have been unlucky with injuries, and made the point elsewhere that with the way that we play it is uniquely difficult for us to succeed when confidence is low and we lose key players. All true. That is why I am broadly supportive of Dickov, I like the style of the team and I like the fact that he's brought back some pride after the last half of Shez and Penney threatened to kill it. It does have to be said though, worse teams than us who don't have better squads are higher. And ultimately as a manager is it not his choice to go with quality over quantity? Other managers in our league would kill to have Simpson, Lee and Furman in their sides.

Amusingly I am a massive advocate of the Latics youth system, who was deeply critical of the :censored: that people give to Taylor and Eardley. The reason I think that this bears mentioning is that already Tarkowski is being set up as the next great white hope of Boundary Park. That's a position that Captain Eardley was in not too long ago, before people decided he's :censored:. It's about managing expectation, and Tarkowski needs to learn to defend before we get too up his arse.

We could lay claim to having the best right back in the league, Cisak impresses me hugely, Mvoto has stepped out of a Premier League side to come here, Simpson is a player, Taylor is clearly one of the better footballers in this league, Furman is a quality player, Morais has an attacking talent that few teams can boast, Wes was a League Team of the Year player, Kuqi comes with pedigree. Enough reasons that we should be capable of being much higher than we are. If Stevenage can be where they are then we should be up there too, and I think anyone who says otherwise is looking for excuses for Dickov. The football this team can play when going well can be high calibre, but we are too prone to conceding soft goals and don't score half as many as we should.

So that's settled then? We all like Dickov and the way he tries to set up his teams to play, we respect that his job isn't the easiest in the world but we also all acknowledge that the team is punching below its weight and that the messiah still has a lot to learn. Simples

Look I like Tarkowski, he strikes me as a promising player with some excellent qualities - not the least of which seems to be that he's a decent guy. However first rule of Defend Club has to be to defend, and before we get carried away with his promise he needs to shore that up. In a couple of years I'd like to see a much more powerful and dominate centre-half, who defends with a bit more nous.

That last post from Lee Sinnott is about right. We are punching below the level that we should be given some of the players we have, and we have chucked in some awful performances in key games. I am also suspicious about the comments on our budget. But what you would say is that Dickov has brought a bit of pride back to the club which isn't a small achievement. Plus he is stuck with a small squad and we've been unlucky with some injuries to key personnel. Happy with what he's done thus far, but not unequivocal in praise for everything he's achieved.

He's playing outstanding at the moment? He constantly attacks beneath the ball and gets out of position. Mvoto has awful distribution, but he was excellent on Tuesday. Instead of praising him as man of the match, someone on here is talking about dropping him and going for Diamond and Tarkowski. Typical Latics, a kid of potential comes through and all of a sudden we turn a blind-eye to the fact that he is too soft at the back. Which is his principal role in the team...

Wildly over the top some of the hype about this kid. He's promising don't get me wrong, and his distribution and touch are much better than most defenders at this level. But he is shaky in defence, and nowhere near commanding enough yet. He's young, so there's plenty of potential, but has a lot to learn and we need to stop making him out to be Beckenbauer the second.

Always wants the ball even when we're struggling, our only man who can cross, hit a ball cleanly, beat a man etc... Plus you get to quote the film; I Love You Philip Morris. Champion of the world. If only we still had Paul Murray.

Strange hype this one. Latics have some pretty decent players and yet have conspicuously failed to challenge the top half of the table, while regularly throwing in :censored:e performances in key games. If they go down that route I'll be astonished.

Agree with most of those posts to be fair - we have to acknowledge weaknesses and unfortunate set backs, but the current side is capable of much better. Clearly the loss of Furman and Wes in the middle of the park is pretty devastating, but too many games have been lost through sloppy defending. Totally agree too about Taylor being required to cover his full-back, especially if we're playing lads who aren't specialist in the position like Mellor. Ultimately though I think the biggest issue is Kuqi and his total inability to score. He looks like he could fail to score with 90 minutes and no opposition. So many close games have swung on our missing big chances, it is killing us. Also though a little bit of luck wouldn't go amiss, such as a penalty at Huddersfield when Diamond was fouled late on, no deflected equalisers at Anfield and less dodgy penalties at Chesterfield... We desperately need something to break our way, because at the minute we seem incapable of making it happen. Dickov under the spotlight too, because ultimately we have some pretty decent players regardless of budget and we should not be where we are in the league. Too many really poor games chucked away.

Nobody should be immune to being subbed, but Taylor's consistent ability to get the ball down and play on the edge of the opposition area is what keeps him in the team in my eyes. Also, what has KMB done to warrant Taylor's place? One and a half games, the first appearance of which he was pretty average and lightweight? Finally I think some on here overlook the work Taylor puts in defensively, which considering that Black is no superstar should not be ignored.

Chris Taylor what have you done to deserve the utter :censored:e that gets written about you? When Latics play badly you see a very small number of players always looking to play the ball consistently. Taylor is one of them - his performance away against Sheffield Wednesday last year being one of the finest performances I can remember. To those sad nobs who think he needs dropping - you are pathetic.

I thought you did most things alone, on account of having no friends.

Cisak made some good saves, but no mention for Taylor? Playing out of position he continually offered himself for the ball, tracked back, got forward when he could and in general played very well. Tarkowski's alright, but he needs to keep improving as a defender. Still looks a bit too much like a mistake is just around the corner at times. Mvoto played well.

Missing Reid, Furman, Wesolowski and Simpson is a dire problem for a team of limited means, but the problem is confidence. We are smaller and less physical than most teams in this division, but conversely we have individuals of far greater ability than almost any. You can see that in good performances against Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday; both games where we were the better FOOTBALLING side. The issue is to win games using that method you have to be willing to take on quick, short passes in the final third of the pitch. You have to trust your touch, run off the ball and commit running midfielders and full-backs past the ball. It is hard to do, and when confidence drops players don't offer themselves for the ball in the same way, their touch gets away from them and the way of playing starts to fail. You can see the quality of Taylor, Furman, Morais, Lee and Simpson because they don't shy away from the responsibility of playing, whereas lads like Adayemi, Parker and Scapuzzi have a habit of doing just that. Allied to this, by committing men beyond the ball you expose your centre-halves, and by playing three interchangeable forwards behind Kuqi you leave full-backs exposed even when they aren't attacking - the result of which is that we are always liable to leak a goal. You could see it all day today; they played no football but had four great chances, whereas we held the ball and created two or three. I don't think we are having any luck at the moment either (the ball never falling for us) and referees seem to have decided against giving us penalties too. From the RRE that tackle in the second half on Kuqi looked like the defender played his standing leg, and we should have had one at Huddersfield when Clarke jumped all over the back of Diamond and yet somehow got a freekick... In short, we are in dire need of a boost. Kuqi is a real problem with his lack of form, but as a team the ability is there; we just need that mystical "boost" that can start us playing again. A big crowd getting behind the team against Chesterfield would be a massive start.

Ha! What a surprise that mention of the Greganator stirred you to respond!

I recall nothing but pain and despair from Leyton. Oh, and some gob:censored:e arguing with the stewards... ring any bells? Ha! Good times ahead this year - delighted at what happened to Huddersfield.

Pretty sure that Philip Morris, who I do love, is gone at the end of the year. Which doesn't surprise because he's shown flashes of "x factor" that would make scouts sit up and take note. Also I am under the impression that Taylor may go too. On the plus side, I think Alessandra has done enough to warrant a deal; I like the balance we have when he plays because he holds the ball up and allows those around him to run off their markers. Massive improvement on previous years too, which should be rewarded.

Things just get worse and worse... Not that it is the club's fault to be fair; I'm guessing that this is the last thing they'd want to be doing and it probably says more about the state of our finances than our sanity or ambition. God it sucks being us though...

Harsh on Trotman boys, way too harsh! He defended pretty well from where I was sat, and between him and Hazell we looked very solid. Great work defensively from the full-backs made for a good day of defending all round. Think you are giving Taylor a bit too much kudos too. Not that he played poorly, but I thought at times that he could have been better served giving us som more width - not meant as a stinging criticism though because he had a pretty good evening. Signing Morais should be a priority, we need to keep as much of this team together as possible because they have a real spark. Thought the midfield two were excellent despite it being pretty congested in the middle of the park and relatively little movement in front of them when they had it deep - but conditions were tough and they were athletic and big across the pitch. All in all this is a great side to watch, I'm loving the committment that each and every one of them shows every week. Reid looked very sharp, Evina is a proper footballer and a great addition too. Really like the whole team celebrations and was loving Hazell's enthusiasm after Reid got his goal - maligned for being a bit of a stump but he loves it and that counts for an awful lot. This division is there for the taking, and our squad looks as strong as any I've seen at the club for ages. Bringing on Reid, Jones and Feeney? That says to me that we have options, and we have so much pace and skill in this team that we really could beat anyone. Overall a really good night, and a massively impressive win against a team who are difficult to look good against. First half here and the performance at Brentford suggests that we are toughening up a little, so hopefully Carlisle was a blip. If we had another couple of thousand through the gates things would be rosy!