11 hours ago, Birches Head Fred said:

Sorry Darren, I forgot to add that I would expect the Wimbledon v Crewe game to end in a draw and Wimbledon to win their other game in hand.

Hope that clears it up for you 😉

And in this modern world of ours, can you be sure your aunty hasn't got balls ?

Rule Salford out of your equation mate.

Remember our win against them didn't really count as they were going down I seem to recall lots on here saying. 

Terrible side, winning there was no achievement apparently. 

So scrub them off your contenders list. 

2 hours ago, valeparklife said:

If Moore can get us playing the same attacking and aggressive way in the 2nd half every game, I would be back onside with him.

If he gets the team selection so wrong in the first half every game it maybe game over come second half. 

9 hours ago, Granville said:

Stockley and Tolaj should start. Hackford and Umolu off the bench. Paton hasn't scored in open play in the league. I'm not sure why people are so keen on him. If he wasn't a character no one would be bothered. 

How many times have you seen Umolu play to make that assumption?

6 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

If he gets the team selection so wrong in the first half every game it maybe game over come second half. 

This is the thing, he gets it wrong too many times.

Possibly due to his bizarre rotation policy.

Surely you'd keep a core group of players to play every week, stay match sharp and build understanding is the way forward?

12 minutes ago, valeparklife said:

This is the thing, he gets it wrong too many times.

Possibly due to his bizarre rotation policy.

Surely you'd keep a core group of players to play every week, stay match sharp and build understanding is the way forward?

99% agree Hackford should not be ahead of Stockley or even Paton, nearly everyone agree Lowe should not be starting. Playing Smith, our only recognised central defender alongside 2 players who are not usually central defenders was a bit crazy. Yet in his head Moore thinks this was the right starting line up!. We were lucky not be at least 2 behind at half time. The subs changed the game at half time and then Sang coming on a bit later. Simple changes which nearly everyone on here can call meant we were by far the better team in the second half. Moore keeps saying they will learn yet he doesn’t. Very difficult to predict the starting line up for the next game cause you just don’t know what goes through his head!. 

4 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

99% agree Hackford should not be ahead of Stockley or even Paton, nearly everyone agree Lowe should not be starting. Playing Smith, our only recognised central defender alongside 2 players who are not usually central defenders was a bit crazy. Yet in his head Moore thinks this was the right starting line up!. We were lucky not be at least 2 behind at half time. The subs changed the game at half time and then Sang coming on a bit later. Simple changes which nearly everyone on here can call meant we were by far the better team in the second half. Moore keeps saying they will learn yet he doesn’t. Very difficult to predict the starting line up for the next game cause you just don’t know what goes through his head!. 

I'm convinced the lineups are pulled out of a hat.

"Let's see who is playing CB today...ah it's Kyle John, a WB"

24 minutes ago, valeparklife said:

This is the thing, he gets it wrong too many times.

Possibly due to his bizarre rotation policy.

Surely you'd keep a core group of players to play every week, stay match sharp and build understanding is the way forward?

But wasn’t there only one unenforced change yesterday in Heneghan?

So we all ask him to keep a core group of players to play every week, abandoning his bizarre rotation policy, we play poorly, so at half-time he makes the changes we all didn’t want him to make pre-game and we play well?

If he’d started Stockley, Sang, and Harper (with Hall injured), we’d all be on here decrying four changes after a good away win.

He can’t win. I have been clear that I worry about us with Moore but some are now so locked into the idea that ‘he has to go’ they’re just doing mental gymnastics to justify it, often contradicting themselves in the process.

KEEP A SETTLED SIDE MOORE FFS BOOOOO

*keeps settled side, play badly, makes changes and turns the game around*

THAT’S MOORE’S FAULT FOR PICKING A SETTLED SIDE HE SHOULD HABE PLAYED DIFFERENT PLAYERS AND MAKE LOADS OF CHANGES BOOOOOO

*third goal goes in*

OHHHH WHEN THE WHIIIIIIITEE

8 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

99% agree Hackford should not be ahead of Stockley or even Paton, nearly everyone agree Lowe should not be starting. Playing Smith, our only recognised central defender alongside 2 players who are not usually central defenders was a bit crazy. Yet in his head Moore thinks this was the right starting line up!. We were lucky not be at least 2 behind at half time. The subs changed the game at half time and then Sang coming on a bit later. Simple changes which nearly everyone on here can call meant we were by far the better team in the second half. Moore keeps saying they will learn yet he doesn’t. Very difficult to predict the starting line up for the next game cause you just don’t know what goes through his head!. 

Neither Stockley nor Harper could play 90 minutes. That is why they didn’t start. 

Hackford is absolutely not above Stockley in the pecking order. And he’s only been playing because Stockley is unfit / injured. 
 

baffled at you comment about Sang. Whilst I agree he was excellent (up there for player of the season for me) but some would argue he’s a right footed wing back / midfielder so how is that a “simple change that nearly everyone could call”. 
 

the days of always starting with your strongest 11 are long gone. As you can now change 50% of your outfield players during every game, it’s as important to end games with your strongest team now otherwise you’ll constantly throw games away at the death. 

I think some of us who are baffled at team selection, subs etc should actually listen to the manager's team news and post match interviews both with the club and radio stoke. He actually addresses a lot of the stuff people talk about.

 

10 hours ago, Granville said:

An interesting stat from the radio was that was the first time we've won this season after conceding the first goal.

It’s the first time in a league game since Charlton away in August 2023 and first time at home since Fleetwood July 2022.  A home win on a Tuesday night the only ‘long standing record’ left to break now after this season’s away win on a Tuesday, a win in the blue space kit and Jason Lowe receiving mainly positive comments on here 😉(Donny away).

11 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

99% agree Hackford should not be ahead of Stockley or even Paton, nearly everyone agree Lowe should not be starting. Playing Smith, our only recognised central defender alongside 2 players who are not usually central defenders was a bit crazy. Yet in his head Moore thinks this was the right starting line up!. We were lucky not be at least 2 behind at half time. The subs changed the game at half time and then Sang coming on a bit later. Simple changes which nearly everyone on here can call meant we were by far the better team in the second half. Moore keeps saying they will learn yet he doesn’t. Very difficult to predict the starting line up for the next game cause you just don’t know what goes through his head!. 

He made the changes that won us the game so as far as I’m concerned he learned all the lessons he needed to. It has been stated countless times Hall wasn’t available so a change was enforced there. If he had named Heneghan in that lineup given Ajiboye and Kamwa were out wide that would have exposed him or Smith to their pace and people would be slating him for that then. Hart just didn’t play well, it happens. He also stated that Harper and Stockley were good for 45 minutes coming back from injury so that’s why they didn’t start. Can’t do right for doing wrong.

Just now, JoeB2 said:

KEEP A SETTLED SIDE MOORE FFS BOOOOO

*keeps settled side, play badly, makes changes and turns the game around*

THAT’S MOORE’S FAULT FOR PICKING A SETTLED SIDE HE SHOULD HABE PLAYED DIFFERENT PLAYERS AND MAKE LOADS OF CHANGES BOOOOOO

*third goal goes in*

OHHHH WHEN THE WHIIIIIIITEE

I agree that fans are fickle but would also argue that that was no where near a settled side yesterday. The back was a whole new set of partnerships that have not played much or even at all as a unit. 

Not only did he change 2, one understandably enforced, he changed their positions too which can be just as disruptive. 

Only Moore really knows why he dropped Henegan who was part of a good defensive display at Doncaster where, barring a massive deflection we would have kept a clean sheet. 

Id also question our scouting. Anyone with half decent eyes could see that they were a tiny side (other than Hudlin) so playing Stockley and Henegan as height in both boxes was a bit of a no brainier really imo. But we matched them up with small players across the back…

I feel Moore is almost trying to be too clever and over thinking what the opposition offer rather than what we offer. It’s been like that ever since the Accrington away game. 

1 hour ago, JoeB2 said:

I've been leaning Moore out for a few weeks, but 'if we lose it's on him, when we win it's in spite of him' is proper mental gymnastics lads.

No. He started 4 wing backs and Lowe at home. I don’t rate him as a manager I’ve made that quite clear. We won at Doncaster because of some good tactics in a kind of match he excels in. Yesterday I thought we won in spite of Moore 

1 hour ago, Family Stand Terrier said:

Heneghan wasn't on because he wanted a balanced back 3, with Hart on the left. Makes complete sense. Height had nothing to do with either goal conceded, the first was flicked over Hart at the back post, Heneghan wouldn't have been there, the 2nd was purely down to Hart being weak, falling over and the lad having a free header around waist height.

The problems we faced 1st half yesterday were completely unforeseeable. Moore tried to stick to a winning team as close as possible, which we're all crying out for. Harsh on Heneghan, but his position was taken by Smith, who had a great game. Or he could have put Smith on the right of the back 3...but would anyone say he got the right hand side wrong? John and Clarke were immense. 

Unfortunately some people's minds are made up re Moore. The criticism I've seen of him so far are ridiculously lazy. Cliches, like tinker man, square pegs round holes etc....but no one can back the criticism up with anything of any substance. The changes he made are completely logical if you give it any more than a seconds thought. Square pegs (from a comment I saw on X), who played out of position yesterday in the starting 11? And then to further show how ridiculous that comment is, Sang came on at left side of centre half and was absolutely immense. That's about as squarer peg as you're likely to see.

The only criticism I could throw at Moore would just be how the team seemed so lethargic 1st half, and that's mainly on the players, he wouldn't have told them to play that way. At the same time, the ref played a big part in that. Any time we got close to them, they fell over and he fell for it. So you could say, Moore didn't quite get the best out of them, but that's not all on him. We showed small glimpses in the 1st half of how dangerous we could be when we were aggressive and pressed them hard. 

So that's where you have to give Moore credit, he wasn't standing there watching the game pass us by. He made 3 brilliant changes of personnel that changed the game. Great management. One of our heroes Clarke had a great plan B. But for that to be evident, plan A has to have gone wrong.

Yesterday was a really entertaining game, we had 21 shots, 10 on target. Won, coming from behind for the first time this season. Scored 3 goals. A great day...yet the first thing people think of is, get on the manager's back with lazy ill thought out criticism. Who'd be a football manager eh. About as clear as it gets that you can never win with some people.

You make some perfectly reasonable points and at the end of the day no one can say how an alternative lineup would have performed. Had it lacked the energy of our first half showing yesterday, it probably wouldn’t have made much difference. 
it’s certainly a time now to get behind the team and assess our position in May.