whitey1980

I wish he would leave the McGuiness tweet alone in truth. The rest of the article presents him excellently - and clearly shows the commitment to the role that got him the job. Now as he himself says, it is time to prove himself - but I think he is spot on about pace in the side which bodes well!!

Was told yesterday by a close friend of his that he still has a contract offer from them, but would imagine it is on reduced terms from the £10,000 a week he has been on. He does want to return to the club after another deal as the poster above has suggested on Championship wages elsewhere. The feelings he has for the club are genuine by all accounts......which for a cynical fan like myself left me amazed!!

I am neither his biggest fan not his fiercest critic and can see both sides of the argument. Any player who carries the torch for his club through some of the darker times that they have had deserves respect however. A player who has unarguably provided some truly great moments for his team. His greatness as a player is impossible to definitively argue either way!!

For all the off field candidates - it can't get worse than the 7-0 drubbing at MK Dons! I managed to drink my way through the first 20 minutes of the second half, so only had to stomach the 5 goals conceded!

Apologies, but I agree that it seems very odd to me too. To go with LJ was odd at the time, but as made clear elsewhere, this is a jump even further from the mainstream. My gut feeling is there must be a link? a source? somewhere that links the appointments. God knows who and what though!!!!!

Has anybody else noticed his retweeting of an article (I think!) proclaiming Lee Johnson's attendance as a speaker at a coaching clinic on Feb 13th? A strange appointment that has come with similar links to the LJ appointment. Somebody has the chairmans ear - who is the question? I am all for left field thinking - and the bloke deserves an opportunity and our support whilst in charge - but this is a massively risky appointment with a huge potential downside. Very concerned!!

Had just come on to see if anybody else had commented on the guardian story - truly horrific and highly plausible. As one of the title pieces asks about the chairman - 'could somebody be so unlucky?' History would say probably not.

For family reasons I wasn't present yesterday...... but if it was that c#$t who stood in the middle at Rotherham last year, I'm not surprised he was crap!!! The only decision he got 'right' was sending Mellor off..... but if he had given the clear foul 5 seconds previous it wouldn't have got to that. He was a prize knob from start to finish!!

An excellent result that as said by many was deserved by the intensity of the performance. I kind of get where SC is coming from regarding the quality of much of the football on show, but it was compelling viewing nonetheless! It is clearly becoming increasingly difficult to pass the ball through the middle third as the pitch deteriorates - and the quality of both teams passing reflected that. Set against that though, there was total commitment from 2 sides who wanted the points. They are big, strong and efficient, and they rely on Freeman to provide the craft to unlock the game. Their wide players constantly look to stretch the game, and I thought that our wide players deserved a lot of credit for forcing them deeper in possession. Some have commented on Poleon, but I thought if nothing else, the pace and threat that both he and Forte possessed kept both fullbacks occupied - even if his end product was lacking. The players are clearly playing for DH and TP, and that is massively to the managements credit. The only frustration is that if we had shown that level of commitment against the weaker sides in the division we could be as many as 10 points better off!! Well done to all tonight though - good game and a cracking point!!

They do, but regardless I feel they have great support. IMHO the best support we have had at BP in the past decade was Bradford in the JPT Northern Semi. They were there en masse, loud, passionate, and right behind a team that were about 20th in League 2!! Oh....and they are still trying to locate Craig Fagans penalty from its lunar orbit as we speak!!

The only issue with having centre forwards who play for....and indeed move for their own goal return around the pitch, is that its misguided to suggest there is not a negative impact of that selfishness. I actually felt that Turner didn't see Winchesters run on Tuesday....or at the very least, didn't control the ball into a position from which he felt that he could have released it at the time required. Consequently he checked inside and the space opened from there!! In turn, for Winchesters brilliant strike at Scunny, the pace with which he carried the ball.....and the position of the defender relative to the run of Murphy, opened up the space to allow his run and finish. However in both goals, the third man runner from midfield (Winchester on Tuesday and Murphy at Scunny) helped to open the space for the strike at goal. If the player in possession of the ball NEVER releases the ball however, how long will those runs continue to be made? One of the many qualities that distinguish Luis Suarez as an attacking player rather than simply a striker is his willingness to create chances for others through his movement and creation of space. It means the partnerships with those playing alongside and around him are significantly strengthened, and often lead to both arriving on the scoresheet. There are occasions when goalscorers can harm their teams if they unbalance them. Didn't Ravenelli score 20 goals plus in a 'Boro team who got relegated? Likewise, Lukas Podolski did similar at Koln, and the selfishness in his game has led to his failings at Bayern and Arsenal? Ultimately it is a team game, and although I am not convinced that it is relevant for Winchester or Turner.....there are times when any striker should release the ball - and there is a cost (20 goals or otherwise) if they don't!!

Couldn't agree more with the assessment of Jones.......but would probably still go with Turner on Tuesday, ha ha!!

Its great until it costs us a key game!!!

I'll go in and say (as on a thread earlier) that he did. Granted I didn't see the original incident (I'm not convinced there was one in truth!) but I would question why after scoring a key goal, any of our players were turning 3 or 4 times to an opponent rather than celebrating! I thought it lacked class - and was so apparant I noticed it whilst in the euphoria of celebration! On a more serious note..... it ended up causing him to be taken off, and I saw far more evidence that it had affected his game than Hendersons. His previously decent defending was getting more haphazard by the minute and as said elsewhere, he was a red card waiting to happen. Holden had to take him off by the finish. I would like to think our players would have more about them in truth, and IMHO he let himself down - I hope he learns from it!!

I'll stick my head above the parapet and say I thought even in the midst of euphoria that I thought it was pretty average from Brown. Granted, despite it being pretty much right in front of me, I didn't see the incident that left him on the deck but having three or four seperate digs at Henderson after the goal lacked a bit of class. As said elsewhere, it ultimately cost him his place on the pitch - a shame as he was having one of his better games for the club until that point. On a fantastic night for the club, I would expect our players to be looking upwards and beyond a win against Rochdale. I would fully expect the manager feels the same way!!

Totally agree. Anybody who follows Rochdale, does so for much the same reasons that we love our own club. Fair play to any of them who are enjoying one of their clubs best ever seasons - however few in number they may be!! That said, we desperately need another result on Tuesday to stabilise our season, and I wish them nothing but bad luck on the night!

It could just be a case of the penny dropping for Johnson. Whilst on loan he always had the safety blanket of being an Aston Villa player. He now represents Preston in League 1..... the only way he gets back up is playing himself out either with or without PNE. Certainly is a talented footballer, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him return up the ladder!!

The only time I have felt lower at BP than tonight was a home defeat against Brentford under Penny where our fans were literally swinging punches at each other in frustration. I didn't want to go....but did so out of blind loyalty to a club that I know needs my support now more than ever (however little they deserve it!!) What concerns me most from a playing perspective is the breakdown of our basic structures and disciplines defensively that are just killing us. We refuse to track runners into the channels, as our centre halves (who are already to wide!) pass them onto full backs who just aren't there. The third against Preston and second tonight were just shambolically bad defending, from a team who have given up on the basics of shape and structure. Our full backs just don't seem to know whether they should be sitting or pushing on.....and when they do go, nobody drops in from midfield to allow one of the centre halves to close down the space. We are just wide open to simple, straight balls that expose us horribly. Jake Kean is just not good enough. I have sympathy as he is clearly bereft of confidence - and his defence have no confidence in him either. He can neither clear his lines or organise those in front of him. Hence, every backpass is a potential crisis and a cross leads to panic. Coleman is not ready.....but I would start him on Saturday as I feel the body language of the defenders suggested they would start anybody but Kean when he came on. Going forward, we still have our moments, and do demonstrate quality. One of those players a'la Jones vs Port Vale needs to take responsibility and take an opportunity. We could and should have scored while the game was still live last night.....and ridiculous as it sounds, they minus Ali had huge potential to implode. We just weren't good enough to expose it. We need to forget about Lee Johnson....and so do the players. Saturday is a massive game for the club, and even a point might stop the rot. We are far from the flowing force of November, but neither should we be the shambles of tonight. The players are professionals and need to remember that responsibility. Holden isn't upto it - but it is neither his fault or responsibility. TP needs to take control and demonstrate the leadership and values we know he possesses. The players need to take responsibility for the basics of their performance and show a pride in themselves. They are good enough to win on Saturday....and Crewe are plum average - but somebody needs to step up, and soon!! To blame the world and refuse to defend as either a team or individuals is pathetic....and even with all that has happened - they are better than that!!

Full credit to him. It says a lot about his character to pick himself up after the weekend and produce what sounds like an excellent performance. It is a point worth making that there might have been less organisational work for him to do with Lockwood on the pitch, and for those who were there a deeper defensive line? Fair play and I hope he uses the performance as a springboard!!

Stunning result given the recent circumstances - right up there with our recent best. Congratulations to the management and players, they certainly deserve it tonight!!

Its not an issue of blame....ultimately they, and we, are in it together. However on 3 seperate occasions in the opening 25 minutes he was completely out of position and it caused major issues, including the first goal. He wasn't responding to defenders indecision - he set (or indeed didn't set!) the tone. Likewise in the second half, the same thing happened again with the third goal, although on that occasion the defending in front was equally pathetic. I suspect (or hope!) he would be the first to say this himself.....to blame his defenders (bad as some were) would seriously miss the point of analysing his own performance yesterday!!

There are some over the top reactions - and to label any professional footballer a buffoon - plainly fits that description. However based on the early evidence it is plain that despite the upside of his shot stopping (which is decent), he has a number of issues. He is suspect positionally, and doesn't organise the defence properly at corners. When you combine an initial forward movement (as he likes to make), with a starting position that is too far forward because he is concerned about the front post you end up with the mess of the first goal. He ends up punching a lot of balls from what I have seen as he is regularly on the stretch. Indeed he got caught under a corner immediately after the goal that he missed altogether. His kicking has a limited range for a professional goalkeeper which puts his defenders under pressure, and has done in all the games he has played. For all that though, it was his indecision on a through ball after his early errors that concerned me the most. At that level you have to be bulletproof in belief and conviction in your decision making and ability. He lost that for me yesterday, and that must cause concern. It is not Wilson's job to worry about his goalkeepers confidence, and if a serve from his centre half leaves him in bits then we have an issue. He has to call the shots in his area....and unfortunately, despite good aspects of his performance in games, he has not done this yet for me. None of this is particularly unusual in a young goalkeeper - which as with Oxley before him - means it is tough for us as developmental errors cost us points. I certainly am not on his back, but feel he is in a tough position at the moment behind a defence that are used to - and require - organisation.

Without getting into the whole discussion about relative abilities, the bottom line is that it was not a change (whatever 'errors' or not Rachubka had made) that needed to be made. Since then, we have lost 9 of 14 or 15 games after the fantastic run that preceded it. Of all his decisions - be it the removal of Rachubka, or the inablility to find an adequate replacement - Johnson got this one horribly wrong and we have paid for it since. The removal of Rachubka and re-introduction of Elokobi destabalised a unit that had been doing well enough to establish us as a solid contender in the division.

It sounds ridiculous......but the PNE game was also in the cricket season. We have an awful lot of local league players / committee members (and children) who are heavily involved in many of the local leagues. Certainly enough that considering our small support, it could amount to 10/15% of our travelling following at that stage of the season.

Totally agree with all the comments about Poloeon. He was excellent today in a shapeless performance, and was the only player on our side who was capable of carrying a threat. The key for him is to ensure that is a springboard to better things!!