 | Forum
Reply | Madsen
at 13:07 1 Feb 2026
It was a perfect cross in that it went to his feet with pace, he had to adapt with a brilliant piece of skill, but Kones point was that he played the ball as he wanted it, just as he went across his man.
If you remember in the first half RND fizzed a cross for Kone and it was more of a typical placement, in front of him, but with the angle he could only direct it near post and it went into the side netting.
Not only is it about the finish, but I love from the interview that Kone said they've been working on that run across and in front of the CB. It shows clear development for a young striker with lots still to learn - something a few of his recent critics will do well to remember! |
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Reply | Possession stat
at 12:14 1 Feb 2026
It's the passing along their backline that skews the stats so much. Possession isn't dictated by how long you have the ball, it's done on successful passes completed, so them passing along their defence 10 times before losing it vs us knocking it up to Kone early will always have the same possession stats.
Ultimately it's a nonsense stat and I'd rather play direct, although I do think not having the ball for the majority of the game does have an effect on our conditioning towards the end of matches. Watch Kone and Vale yesterday shuffling left to right and back again every time Coventry had the ball - no surprise they were the ones that looked most gassed by the end. |
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Reply | Coventry Reflection
at 12:08 1 Feb 2026
A definite stonewall penalty, but I think there's also an element of Smyths decision to constantly look for the foul and throw himself to the floor that will put doubt in the refs mind.
A few minutes before he chucked himself across his man and bought a free kick, which is always his first choice over retaining possession. Eventually if you cry wolf enough the ref won't give the blatant stuff... |
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Reply | Coventry Reflection
at 09:54 1 Feb 2026
I thought Hayden was great, personally, and only a shade behind Kone and Madsen as MoM. He's also the much better option in CM to be paired with Madsen, and I would be having him over Varane as a first choice. Varane has good traits but dallies too much in possession and doesn't focus exclusively on the basics in the way Hayden does.
Also agree with the posters here, a real nourishing performance and win that you need occasionally to remind you why you bother! Even more acute after last weeks gut / bollock / back to the gut again punch. The switch to an extra midfielder over a 442 has really helped with performances, and brought the best out of Kone and Madsen especially - so credit where it's due.
One *small* ongoing criticism is once again the subs. I know the Dembele forced withdrawal gave us less options, but we once again only used 3/5 subs and Field for Hayden was also due to him going down. He seems slow to make them and changes are limited and often like for like... Especially odd given the conditioning of the players.
Anyway, a 9/10 day so let's roll into Charlton and win that please |
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Reply | RIP Catherine O'Hara
at 00:32 31 Jan 2026
Between Home Alone and Beetlejuice, I've been a fan pretty much my whole life. The more recent resurgence in things like Schitts Creek and The Studio showed how talented she remained, right until the end.
Her eulogy / speech for John Candy always makes me tear up too... V sad when news like this comes out of the blue... RIP |
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Reply | Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary
at 00:28 31 Jan 2026
That's fair enough, except I reckon we're in the top 5 for net spend this year, and have spent a relative fortune in the last 18 months in comparison to the previous few years.
We were around this level of points at this time last year with a strike force of Frey, Celar, Kolli and Lloyd. I'm the meantime we've retained or brought in senior pros like Cook, Dunne and Hayden, and have all the benefits of Madsen and Varane going through their growing pains. Decent money was spent on Saito, Kone, Poku, and now Edwards, the kind of money that shouldn't bring as much risk, and we've had the options of Vale and Dembele who were not available most or all of last season.
In the context of last season's squad to this, we're massively underachieving, and for once I don't think transfer spend is an excuse. |
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Reply | Title procession or Covvy wobble? – Oppo Focus
at 01:05 30 Jan 2026
I can't quite get up for this one yet, I'm still empty from the Wrexham ending...
At least I can justifiably expect the worst here, although it's often these kind of games we do well in.... |
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Reply | Christian Nourry - Two Year Anniversary
at 01:03 30 Jan 2026
As far as Nourry is concerned they say the end justifies the means, and I'm not a big fan of the means so far, but it's too early to know the end.
I had a previous post a while back with my thoughts and pros/cons so won't repeat myself, ultimately we'll know more based on where are and what the balance sheets look like in around 2 years.
For now I'd like to see some evidence of year on year learning and tangible changes to address prominent issues directly. Real improvements come from lessons learned, and the best lessons come from mistakes, which are also inevitable in such a difficult role. The issue is that Nourry doesn't want to acknowledge mistakes, at least publicly, so we don't know if or where there's accountability taken.
Let's see what the accounts for this year look like, and then in the summer I want to see some money coming in from player sales, proper changes to the medical side, a commitment to and continuation of Andy Evans work, further improvement on the communication - with less PR and more honesty - and to make sure the pitch never looks like this again...
Hunters point about trust is a good one and the biggest issue for Nourry and the genuine supporter base, imo. The above would go a long way to fixing that. |
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Reply | 'We need to feel the support tomorrow'
at 12:58 24 Jan 2026
Got 20 seconds into it with the first question - the weather was terrible wasn't it, hard for anyone not to be shit isn't it?
Spare me the propaganda, lads. |
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Reply | Player Sales
at 02:49 23 Jan 2026
Madsen 10 million?? Is that in Yen?
I like Madsen and think he's become crucial to our way of playing, largely because we have no natural replacement, but these valuations for him are mental. |
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Reply | Sam field
at 20:53 22 Jan 2026
The younger this squad gets, the more important the likes of Sam Field are to a team. Almost to the point of being invaluable.
Did we learn nothing from Alan Browne? Sunderland with all the trinkets and no substance, a little grit and they turn a corner. Boro doing the same now with him.
I think you'd struggle to get promoted with a team of Sam Fields, but you never will without a couple. |
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Reply | Lather, rinse, repeat – Report
at 20:49 22 Jan 2026
Marti was slow on the uptake occasionally, but he always figured out a rubix cube turn that got the absolute maximum out of what he had available, and I don't recall him egregiously playing people out of position to suit a style.
I thought with the change after Coventry we had something similar with JS, who recognised a way to go back to basics and get the most out of certain players. The move to switch Dunne and Mbengue was also spot on. The frustration comes now as he refuses to not recognise that you can't make something work if you don't have the players for it.
West Brom was a turning point for me with JS and his insistence at 442 regardless, all the personnel changes without adjusting the system, so you play with Sam Field up front... To continue to stick with it even post Burrell is just mind numbing for me.
I like JS generally, and am more on the side of positive overall, but IMO to be only 2 points better off a year on from having a team with Frey as your 'best striker' shows that we're underperforming, in terms of performance if not results. |
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Reply | Lather, rinse, repeat – Report
at 19:40 22 Jan 2026
With JCS playing we also had Burrell.
I'm not advocating we don't bring Edwards in ASAP, but I think without Chair especially, you need another option in the middle to build through |
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Reply | Sam field
at 17:02 22 Jan 2026
As someone said online recently, selling Field feels incredibly hubristic. |
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Reply | Lather, rinse, repeat – Report
at 16:30 22 Jan 2026
I'm missing Marti's pragmatism, tbh. Coventry away was the catalyst for a change this season, and it went well, but it shouldn't take another absolute pumping to start to make obvious adjustments.
I'm not saying a change will instantly work and make us amazing, but I can tell you what isn't working....
Also the call for a return to Edwards because of his forward passing is fine, but you do need someone to show and receive it. Chair will offer that and will be huge for the success of Edwards, but who are we playing through in the meantime? Madsen is the obvious choice in this team, but if he's outnumbered in the middle, the strikers are used to direct / channel balls, and the wingers are sat deep with the rest of the team, then Edwards won't make as much difference while we continue to play this way. |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 21:42 20 Jan 2026
Well Rangers, you won't get many better opportunities than that for 3 points away from home...
Don't give me the injury excuse either, I could make a team of 5 a side ringers that would have given Oxford a game tonight. |
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Reply | The 3 sides of a match thread at Oxford
at 21:24 20 Jan 2026
He completely missed the flight of the cross with his man on his shoulder...
Anyway, let's not fall out about RND, there's enough stress to go around tonight |
| | simmo
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