Desert Fox

What a game of two halves.   In the first half both sides were poor. We were trying to pass the ball too quickly and not keep hold of possession, but equally although Yeovil were marginally the better side, they carried little threat.   The second half was a revelation. From the outset we looked a lot sharper. The key was that Hoolihan was keeping possession and looking threatening and Holt was winning everything in the air – something he didn’t do in the first half. After the penalty the confidence in the team visibly improved by the minute. We could have won by six or seven.   Major plus points:   Spillane clearly needs to be our first choice right back. He has physicality and gets forward with decent pace. End of contest unless Fester is stupid enough to drop him.   Holt will score plenty of goals in this division. Although Yeovil were poor and stood off him too much, he knows where the goal is and his hat trick goal was classy.   McDonald will also score plenty of goals. He has real pace combined with a work ethic. He assisted Holts first goal, hit the bar and missed a one and one. With better composure, he will net regularly.   Holt and McDonald clearly have a real understanding with each other and have to be our first choice strike force barring injury. Importantly both work their socks off and harry the opposition back four and look hungry.   Askou is real class and he makes Docherty look better. He brough real confidence to the back four and again must be first choice pick ahead of Docherty and Nelson   Alnwick looked very comfortable and made several good saves, although I would liked him to be more vocal – if he keeps this up is difficult to see Theo returning.   Adyemi still looks raw and is clearly going to be a class player, but still needs to develop his confidence – I would suggest that he is belnded in and not overplayed.   Hughes came on for Gill (who did quite well defensively in midfield) and immediately the team looked more comfortable in possession and less rushed. I think he will take some pressure off Hoolihan in terms of creativity.   Gunn is learning to use substitutes.   Drury looks a much better player with a more solid back four. 11.  Maric looks very physical and reminds of Dean Ashton in build. He didnt have lomg to impress, but thank god we now have cover for Holt in the big centre half department.     Some downsides:   Whaley looks shakey. Although he made a goal for Holt with a peach of a cross, he looks like a headless chicken at times and does not look an attacking threat. Worryingly, he does not look to have real pace or the ability to beat his man. Hoolihan drits inside a lot and this will expose our left back a lot this season. With Whaley looking dubious this season, we will struggle against sides with pacy wingers. We are very dependent upon Hoolihan for creativity (much like Hucks) and will struggle to make use of possession when he is absent. Hughes may vill this void, but we look much mre threatening with him playing in the hole rather than the wing. I think playing too defensive midned central midfileders may stifle our creativity and I would hope that Hughes can command a starting place, even if this means we ship a few goals.   Overall   Very encouraging bet lets not get carried away. Yeovil carried liitle threat and we wont know where we sit until we play a few of the better teams, but on tonights performance we look top six material. My main concern is keeping Hoolihan fit for 46 matches as he takes a lot fo kicks and we look very ordinary without him. But with better solidity at the back and a twin goal scoring threat, things are looking up - especially if we can keep a settled side.

Tim, Dont be a tease - is there any information which updates our position or is someone planing a fuller update in the morning?

Mr Bump - perhaps you can supply the lottery numbers instead!!

Not a bad call Mr Bump - only one more to go!!

Gangmower, What do you think tonights lottery numbers will be?

1984/85 vs Everton (who were in their prime at the time). I remember that we won and I think it was Disco who scored the winner. This was in the days when we had a three sided ground. Unfortunately, we got relegated at the end of the season after winning the Milk Cup.

[quote user="Ole"]No way that I would drive in UK - as they drive on the wrong side of the road [:D [/quote] Ole, It is virtually all dual carriageway or motorway all the way - so it doesnt matter so much

Bury Yellow, "Finally, it is obvious that Delia/MWJ are simply holding out until property prices regain some value. Once that happens they will be off - I hope" This is the guts of the issue, but unfortunately, may take some time and in the meantime more interest will need to be paid upon dead land.

[quote user="blahblahblah"]I also find it incredible that they didn''t know about the deterioration on the playing side under Roeder, they were at the games after all.  Do the board actually speak to the players or player reps at all ?  Given that they threw 2 million into the pot last season, you would have thought that they might have a little more interest in what was going on.  That said, I suppose there is a fine line between keeping an eye on things and interference.  Maybe the CEO could have been doing that for them, but was busy playing email tennis with supporters in his cosy office. Do you know what, I''m starting to become a little bit cynical in my old age.  I hope that McNally will do what needs to be done - he''s had a good start if the transfers in are anything to go by. [/quote] BBB, Are you thinking of joining us over on the ''dark side''?

The Pink Un aricle hints at a move to the South Coast - this could mean Brighton or Southampton and playing against us.

Til, In that case McNally has got a couple of months notice to get better prepared!!

Tim, Thanks for this.

Tim/Daphne/LQ, What was Peter Wolsey''s question about finance (see Tim''s post above point 5) that McNally struggled with? "McNally was impressive and only fell short of a decent response to Peter Wolsey’s detailed first question regarding the finances. Overall McNally spoke impressively and with purpose and in a way that I would expect of a CEO of a decent size business."

And of course no rebate!!

LQ, I am really not sure we are talking about the same thing ... there you go.

Pete, Avoid the M11 and use the A1M via Baldock - this will cut out a lot of the roadworks. As for the M3/A303, an alternative route is to go M4/M5 to Taunton which is only about 25 minutes away from the ground.

LQ, We will not agree on this issue. What I call ''glossing over the past'' you call ''lets focus on the future''. Time will tell and the AGM this year will be interesting - particulalry given the revelation last year by MWJ that the Board did not have a clue about which strategy to pursue. They will not get away with this 12 months down the line and this will force some discussion about the financial mess we have got into - unless of course the shareholders again tolerate being treated like idiots.

Mr C, I would say quite a bit higher as the TV money alone is worth £2M. When you add commercial income and higher matchday receipts from away fans, I would estimate nearer £5M to £6M. However, this is not like the prem in that it is not new income, but just getting back to where we were. On the downside, wages will rise because many players will have taken a hit in their contracts due to relegation.

LQ, "Thank goodness the focus from pretty much everyone present, fans and Board, was on the future and where we go from here rather than harking back over old ground. Lessons have most certainly been learned" Although the football side of things has progressed better than I had expected, I am far from convinced that lessons have been learned about the non-football side of things and I can fully undertstand why the Board would not want to debate these with the fans. "Lets focus on the future" is the typical rallying cry of a policticians who are desperate to avoid any menaingful debate about their mistakes. Unfortunately, soem transpraency about these is a fundemanetal part of the healing process, however painful this may be, and not something to be swept under the carpet. However, I doubt this will be the case and the Board are desperately hoping that we make a good start to the season so that any interest in this other matters is gradually forgotten about.      

Ole, You want to avoid staying over in Yeovil - it is a fairly souless place. Also the ground is a couple of miles away from the station/town centre on the outkirts of town. Try hiring a car - at that time of night you can do Yeovil to Woking in less than 2 hours as it is largely dual carriageway (A303) or motorway (M3) all the way.

You have forgotten the £100K due from Peterborough due on the Lewis transfer as thye won promotion.

[quote user="I am a Banana"] he has a goals to games ration of 1 goal per every 2.815 321 career games 114 career goals! [/quote] 16 league goals this season (i.e. the 2.815 rate) is still better than anything we had last season. I am not sure whether you think this is good enough or not.

Nutty, If I recall, we were totally outplayed until WLY scored in about the 89 minute or so. The Coventry fans were justifiably pig sick as they should have won a comfortable margin.  

He scored a stunner against us in one of our last ever matches at the old Highfield Road. He tore us apart that night (cant remember the year) and I thought that he would go on to better things, but he never did.

Have heart, I thought that you might like to know that Barbie has already started one. http://new.pinkun.com/cs/forums/1762694/ShowPost.aspx