Brighton 2-1 Bolton.

Not a lot of fans confident about this one, me included, I can only see a heavy defeat, 3-1 to Brighton, with Freedman spouting his usual bollocks, could this be an even worse start to a season than last? quite possibly.

We live in hope but as always no evidence has been provided that we will even be in the game.  3-1 for me too.

We need at least one miracle, possibly more.

It will be miraculous if we stop shipping stupid goals. We have a hard enough time competing already without the extraordinary generosity of our defence. They are that generous if the opposition fail to score by conventional means there is apparently a free penalty scheme just to get them started.

No chance of having a striker in time for Saturday so it's looking like Mason plus donkey up front again.

wanderlust wrote:

No chance of having a striker in time for Saturday so it's looking like Mason plus donkey up front again.

Craig Davies + donkey would be more apt after Tuesday.

This will be another defeat.

3-0 loss. Every season I donate 50p per wanderers goal to a charity we support at work. I might be well in pocket this season.

I fancy a 4 or 5 nil defeat. No quality, no heart, no points.

Fully expect to be rock bottom of the Championship by the end of the weekend.

Freedman out.

Natasha Whittam wrote:I fancy a 4 or 5 nil defeat. No quality, no heart, no points.

Fully expect to be rock bottom of the Championship by the end of the weekend.

Freedman out.

If your predicted score actually happens then your final wish might just come true.

Even Gartside and Eddie Davies must at some stage begin to wonder

Will it take another Reading before the team wakes up?
I was amazed how the team that got so battered at Reading suddenly started to play last season and TBF they put a decent run of results together after that.

But why wait until you get battered to show you can do it? I'm sure the manager exhorts them to work harder every week so it is surely something in the players' collective psyche that changed.

Was it something as simple as guilt or professional pride?

Does professional pride even exist in modern football?

It strikes me that they're all too busy launching chavy clothing lines and Tweeting links to obscure R&B acts to be bothered about seriously making it to the top as a footballer.

In the old days, to earn the big money you had to get to the top, so you tried your bollocks off to get there.

Nowadays, you can earn 15k a week playing in the second or third tier of English football, you get your first Bentley as soon as you pass your test and you can retire at 30, having banked £7.8M during your career.

I really don't think the majority give a shit about trying too hard anymore.

They don't need to.......

Breadman wrote:Does professional pride even exist in modern football?

It strikes me that they're all too busy launching chavy clothing lines and Tweeting links to obscure R&B acts to be bothered about seriously making it to the top as a footballer.

In the old days, to earn the big money you had to get to the top, so you tried your bollocks off to get there.

Nowadays, you can earn 15k a week playing in the second or third tier of English football, you get your first Bentley as soon as you pass your test and you can retire at 30, having banked £7.8M during your career.

I really don't think the majority give a shit about trying too hard anymore.

They don't need to.......

But they seemed to last season after the Reading match.
Maybe they just drift along in the happy bubble of their own hype until reality bites and bursts it. Then they work as hard as they can to create a new bubble.

Nat will tell you at length that the ability to motivate players is a key managerial characteristic and quality - and often uses it to justify sacking the manager as opposed to berating the ponces.
It does make you think how much more difficult that aspect of the managers job has become in recent years now that salaries are astronomical.
Once upon a time, managers with "character" could motivate players, often by bullying or shouting but nowadays they'd probably laugh in the faces of the likes of Ferguson, Shankly, Revie and Clough.

A heavy loss... 

DF is too stubborn/stupid to try and change the team to go and get the win, we will set up all defensive. 

We cant defend. 

We cant score unless its from the spot or against a league 2 team that is fucked after having us under the cosh for 100mins+.

I honestly think a lot of what has been said is true to a certain extent, but how can you expect players to be motivated, and pumped up, if one week you are man of the match, then a week later you're dropped? happened too many times under Freedman, his man management skills seem to be ONE  of his downfalls, how do you expect to get any continuity throughout the team, when he changes the system week on week? it confuses the fans, fuck knows how the players can get their head around all these systems.

If we had a manager who could recognise, and stick to one system, with players playing in their more conventional positions, I honestly think that this group of players are more than capable of a top ten finish, unfortunately we don't have said manager.

Could be the first battering of the season for us, we'll lose , but lets just hope its not too embarrassing .

MartinBWFC wrote:I honestly think a lot of what has been said is true to a certain extent, but how can you expect players to be motivated, and pumped up, if one week you are man of the match, then a week later you're dropped?

True, it would not surprise me one bit if Craig Davies was sub at Brighton.

It will be the same old story - another 4/5 changes and 451 away from home. 

No rational thinking manager would do this but I am expecting Beckford to start on his own up front on Saturday, with Pratley and Trotter in a 5 man midfield.

4-1 Brighton.

we weren't able to do much (by all accounts) against boro in a 4-4-2. 

the formation isn't the issue.

aaron_bwfc wrote:It will be the same old story - another 4/5 changes and 451 away from home. 

No rational thinking manager would do this but I am expecting Beckford to start on his own up front on Saturday, with Pratley and Trotter in a 5 man midfield.

4-1 Brighton.

This is the underlying problem with Freedman, in his own mind he thinks he can outwit the opposition, problem is he is only a good manager in his own mind.

Look to other seasons, the most successful teams have had a system, played more or less the same players week in week out, and if a player loses form he gets benched, that's what a decent manager does, Freedman is the antithesis of this, play well get dropped, you're far too clever for us Freedman, fuck off to La Liga.

he wont go gung-ho away from home thats for sure, expect to see Spearing, Trotter and Pratley huffing and puffing 2 millimetres in front of the back four for 90 minutes.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:we weren't able to do much (by all accounts) against boro in a 4-4-2. 

the formation isn't the issue.

Freedman changes formations at nearly every corner, so your point is moot.