17 hours ago, JoeB2 said:

You would agree Dave that sides that regularly create good chances and don't allow the opposition to create good chances will, in the long run, score more goals than they concede?

I would.

For me, a midfield of Byers, Croasdale and Walters is superior to most in this league. We need to start with this on Saturday.

Ojo has done well but I'm not sure he's as good as these 3 and I think his performance will tail off as pitches get heavier.

What I think is an interesting decision know is whether we stick with 343. We know Moore prefers it - it was his first choice last season until Christmas, and then 352 got the best out of Tolaj. He's then reverted to it pretty much immediately after Tolaj goes.

It would probably suit the likes of Curtis, Richards, Waine, and Headley to play with 'wide forwards'. It would then leave (currently) Faal, Paton, and Stockley as your 'out and out' strikers, obviously to be added to in the next few days.

Perhaps the only concern is it makes the midfield very crowded - only two of Croasdale, Byers, Walters, Garrity, Ojo, and Shipley would be playing. You'd be leaving 2-3 very decent midfielders on the bench every week. With Garrity and Byers' recent injury history, though, is this a bad thing?

With the rumour around Scarlett, he strikes me as a player who would probably thrive in one of the wide forward roles - absolutely rapid, cutting in on his weaker foot, playing off Faal/Stockley/another striker.

1 minute ago, JoeB2 said:

What I think is an interesting decision know is whether we stick with 343. We know Moore prefers it - it was his first choice last season until Christmas, and then 352 got the best out of Tolaj. He's then reverted to it pretty much immediately after Tolaj goes.

It would probably suit the likes of Curtis, Richards, Waine, and Headley to play with 'wide forwards'. It would then leave (currently) Faal, Paton, and Stockley as your 'out and out' strikers, obviously to be added to in the next few days.

Perhaps the only concern is it makes the midfield very crowded - only two of Croasdale, Byers, Walters, Garrity, Ojo, and Shipley would be playing. You'd be leaving 2-3 very decent midfielders on the bench every week. With Garrity and Byers' recent injury history, though, is this a bad thing?

With the rumour around Scarlett, he strikes me as a player who would probably thrive in one of the wide forward roles - absolutely rapid, cutting in on his weaker foot, playing off Faal/Stockley/another striker.

We'd slow him down after two matchs!😁

Anyone mentioned that these have signed Marriott?

6 hours ago, JoeB2 said:

What I think is an interesting decision know is whether we stick with 343. We know Moore prefers it - it was his first choice last season until Christmas, and then 352 got the best out of Tolaj. He's then reverted to it pretty much immediately after Tolaj goes.

It would probably suit the likes of Curtis, Richards, Waine, and Headley to play with 'wide forwards'. It would then leave (currently) Faal, Paton, and Stockley as your 'out and out' strikers, obviously to be added to in the next few days.

Perhaps the only concern is it makes the midfield very crowded - only two of Croasdale, Byers, Walters, Garrity, Ojo, and Shipley would be playing. You'd be leaving 2-3 very decent midfielders on the bench every week. With Garrity and Byers' recent injury history, though, is this a bad thing?

With the rumour around Scarlett, he strikes me as a player who would probably thrive in one of the wide forward roles - absolutely rapid, cutting in on his weaker foot, playing off Faal/Stockley/another striker.

Funny enough I thought about 343 last night after the game how literally nobody is complaining we played it even though time and again fans keep saying it will never work and it doesn't suit us.

The players put an awful lot of effort into last night, I fully expect DM to shuffle the pack.

I was very impressed by our left side last night, Humphreys, Gordon & Headley I thought they had really good combination play and movement of each other. That could be a blueprint moving forward when we are not playing Tuesday,Saturday every week in a 343.

For Reading I would go with a solid team. I watched the 1st half against Wimbeldon last night and they look extremely vulnerable with balls in the box. Could be an area to exploit or may have just been the changes made by the manager for the game which unsettled the defence.

Gaucci

Humphreys Henegahn Hall

Clarke  Byers Ojo Headley

           Garrity

 Faal Waine

 

Edited August 27, 2025Aug 27 by MBE

I think Ruari will start this game. 

5 minutes ago, ValiantHan said:

I think Ruari will start this game. 

I think Walters should 

2 minutes ago, Phantom Lord said:

I think Walters should 

Well, the Birmingham game has certainly left DM with a selection headache.

Even though we played really well, I would go back to 352 now Byers is back:

                              Gauci

            Debrah.   Heneghan.  Humphreys

Gabriel.                                                  Headley

                     Croasdale.    Walters

                                 Byers

                  Faal.                    Paton

4 hours ago, ValiantHan said:

Well, the Birmingham game has certainly left DM with a selection headache.

It’s a cliche but it’s a good problem to have.

1 minute ago, Bobnewtonian said:

It’s a cliche but it’s a good problem to have.

Yep, it's a good problem to have when you have a good squad of players to choose from.

Lets hope for a good performance and a positive result. We are setting some good standards we need to maintain them I feel sure the results will come. 

I'm going to be controversial here,but I think Humphreys should start over Hall at LCB. I think his passing is better and despite Halls height,there are a lot of times he flicks the ball on into dangerous areas in our penalty area.

Just an opinion