Wycombe Away 2nd February 2019

There’s obviously different takes on this - mine is that based on the 90 odd minutes on the pitch yesterday, we were the better team, should have won and therefore it’s 2 points dropped. That is my rationale.

 

The improvement in position, as in out of the bottom four with a bit of daylight, was always going to be realistically end of March at best

Several reasons for this;

1. Pressure on the team, means that it's harder to show true form - meaning there's often a step or two back, i.e. Southend
2. We were surrounded by 'decent' teams - I'll be amazed if Bristol Rovers, Oxford or Plymouth get relegated - this meant we were actually closing teams 10 points or more above us
3. After the Luton match, we were 9 off Rochdale, 10 off Shrewsbury and 13 off Walsall. Not forgetting we were 7 behind Scunthorpe, Oxford and Gillingham!!.

If we can keep going at the same rate, inevitably we'll pass most of these - bearing in mind though we need three of these to be behind us!!

 

Once we are mathematically safe I might stop worry so much Jon!

 

Fair dos. Makes sense

 

Hey all - Wycombe fan here. I just wanted to say I thought you were the better side, which has not happened often at our place this season. The fact I am happy with a point says it all. Not the most entertaining game, but after a good start by us, you dominated the rest of the first half, and it wasn't till we brought Cowan-Hall on nearer the end of the game that we had another good spell.

I was tremendously impressed with Payne, and also with your level of commitment and inventiveness. You really went all out for the win for the 90, and showed more spirit that I have seen with a lot of other teams lately.

You seem like a class club with good fans - I really do wish you well for the remainder of the season, and hope you stay up!

 

I am sorry we didn't take the 3 points but would like to mention how friendly and helpful all the staff and stewards at Wycombe were. I hadn't been to Adams Park before but it was one of the more welcoming grounds.

 

Bristol Rovers and Scunny in there as well. We certainly aren’t the only club believing we shouldn’t be down there. The differerenve being those who switch the belief into results.

0-0 before the game on Saturday, I’d have certainly taken in. Given I guess Hopkin didn’t have loads of time with the team in training after Tuesday night and transfer window duties. However based on the game (first 70 mins) there was a slight bit of disappointment.

 

I watched the game that Dmitry sends and thought overall it was a very poor game with regards playing football.
Wycome were quite happy to boot it forward and we weren't much better, you could see Doyles frustration from the poor balls into him.
Happy with a point but we will have to play far better against Fleetwood and Plymouth.

 

It most certainly wasn't a classic Dave.

For the life of me I still cannot understand why O'Donnell persists with the hoofing it up the middle. 9 times out of 10 it hits the CB's head and comes straight back at us. Doyle rarely wins the header and Miller doesn't even try to jump for it.
I'm not advocating that we should always play out from the back like Stuart's 2016/17 team did. But at least look for the quick throw to a full back or get Akpan to drop deep for it sometimes.
I can only hope that if Butterfield slots into central midfield we won't just boot it over his head the whole game.

 

It was pretty nippy, but not as bad as all that. The long Johns worked nicely thank you Rod.

 

I watched it as well. I was surprised how much Wycombe played it safe never thought they came out and gave it a go. That's what spoiled the game

 

We sounded like we were under the cosh for the last 15-20, and really thought we'd lose - could it be they employed those tactics? Jason Thornton isn't the only one that's described them as 'spoilers'.

 

I think they rely on set pieces for most of their goals and they do get plenty of good crosses in. We defended well for once but they weren’t adventurous leaving gaps for our forwards.

 

I’ve wondered this for a while now but what I’ve also noticed is that we are often very good at picking up the 2nd ball after the CB has won the header. Therefore we still end up with possession around the halfway line/just inside the opposition half. So maybe it’s jist a calculated decision to get possession up the pitch without taking the risks of passing it out of the back.

 

Yes, I'd noticed that too. Sometimes it does work, usually if Doyle or Miller are able to exert enough pressure on the CB that they head it upwards or sideways. But sometimes it fails spectacularly - Southend at home being a case in point - where their giant CBs were so dominant that they were able to make firm, controlled headers and the ball just kept coming back at us at pace. But still we kept relentlessly doing it, to zero effect.
I'm not saying we should never hit it long. But with the number of comfortable ball players we now have it ought to be possible, and productive, to mix it up a bit.