Too early to judge yet surely? Give it 10 games and then see. So if Wednesday are champions elect then that makes us a close second!! Fitness levels are nowhere near 100% yet as Brownie alluded to on coms. Yeah we need some more incoming to be competitive but early days yet. Wholeheartedly agree with Jams comments the spine is there a bit more speed and width from marauding fullbacks would be useful. Early days as I say!
Sheff Wed are nowhere near being in the top 6. Mid table finish at best.
Too early to judge yet surely? Give it 10 games and then see. So if Wednesday are champions elect then that makes us a close second!! Fitness levels are nowhere near 100% yet as Brownie alluded to on coms. Yeah we need some more incoming to be competitive but early days yet. Wholeheartedly agree with Jams comments the spine is there a bit more speed and width from marauding fullbacks would be useful. Early days as I say!
Sheff Wed are nowhere near being in the top 6. Mid table finish at best.
Not according to betting odds - however subjective they may be
Apologies, but I wanted to accentuate that he is nowhere near as good. Not on his showings to date anyway. He gives energy which we lacked last year and if we had a proper number 10 or Morgan becomes that, it could work.
How good did you think Aribo was when you’d only seen him play one competitive match?
That is not a great point with apologies as Aribo had offensive quality from his first match. With Clare he ran about a lot and was involved but his touch was poor and I thought he was a bit headless. It is fair to say we need to see more of him but we can make judgements on what we have seen.
That is not a great point with apologies. We either need to see more of him or we don’t.
;-)
Muttley, with respect I think we must have been watching a different player today, he wasn’t fantastic but I certainly saw some promise in his play.🤷🏻♂️
Promise of goal threat, goal creation? Energy, yes I saw that and we were missing it last season. If we want energy above the first two, he was a success. Ideally, we can find somebody with both or indeed Clare can step up. As I hope Morgan can. My point isn't that they can't, more that to date I haven't seen the evidence that they can.
Not sure if said already, but Stockley won every single header in our own box. And the majority in the offensive box (whether effective or not). Really useful player beyond his role as a striker!
Agree we need more goal threat from midfield. Connor Gallagher liked to shoot from outside the box. Holmes did too. Shinnie also. But can’t see any of these guys doing that.
They’re not those sort of players. But Clare and Dobson weren’t brought in for their goals. Aribo is a far better player, but also a very different type of player. Can’t really compare them. A fairer comparison would be with Pratley or Watson. That’s really what I’m saying.
Not sure if said already, but Stockley won every single header in our own box. And the majority in the offensive box (whether effective or not). Really useful player beyond his role as a striker!
Good point. He was unbelievable defending corners and free kicks.
Pleased I missed the first half after reading through the comments. When watching the highlights at HT, i realised it must've been a carbon copy of the home game against Sunderland last season when the only shot at goal was by Aneke which went into Row Z.
Without a goal scoring midfielder in the team ( Gilbey TBF scored a couple of decent goals last season) Washington has to play closer to Stockley. Poor attempts by both Morgan and DJ; At least make the keeper work.
A low key start, but saw some good things from Dobson and Clare and if Morgan can fine some shooting boots could still be a player.
I feel we might draw all our league games in August.
Not sure if said already, but Stockley won every single header in our own box. And the majority in the offensive box (whether effective or not). Really useful player beyond his role as a striker!
He did some great work defensively, indeed the ball seemed magnetically attracted to his head at set pieces
I thought the team grafted really well today and if Inniss and Stockley stay fit we’ll be in with a chance against most teams. We clearly need creativity and a CAM and LW are priorities in my opinion. I thought we’d lose so I was pleased with the point and think we’ll strengthen and improve in the coming weeks. I really like Dobson and think he’ll do plenty for us in coming games. Our midfield are very ‘samey’ but I think this will change when we get reinforcements and then NA will have options that were clearly lacking today.
Our fans often talk about cringey things that have happened like the song and TS playing on the pitch but I thought the singing by many in the North Upper while Curbs was still speaking, while TS was still playing and NU sung a different song and worst of all singing while a Sheff Weds player was clearly seriously injured was far far poorer by our fans. That’s even ignoring the clowns who booed the knee!
Thought the Sheff Weds fans were very quiet which surprised me considering their numbers.
You couldnt hear a word of what Curbs or TS were saying in the NU. The sound system is so bad. Expecting a crowd to stay completely silent 20 mins before kick off on their first game back at the valley seems unfair to me.
How does that excuse singing both when something else was being performed/said and when a player was in a bad condition? ‘We can’t hear so fuck it, we’ll chant something’. It was a big moment for Curbs that won’t be repeated. Classless in my opinion.
Looked off the pace yet again on the right flank. Coughed up possession cheaply at times as Charlton easily stifled his attacking threat. Is he fully-fit after his injury in pre-season or is it a confidence issue?
Apologies, but I wanted to accentuate that he is nowhere near as good. Not on his showings to date anyway. He gives energy which we lacked last year and if we had a proper number 10 or Morgan becomes that, it could work.
How good did you think Aribo was when you’d only seen him play one competitive match?
That is not a great point with apologies as Aribo had offensive quality from his first match. With Clare he ran about a lot and was involved but his touch was poor and I thought he was a bit headless. It is fair to say we need to see more of him but we can make judgements on what we have seen.
That is not a great point with apologies. We either need to see more of him or we don’t.
;-)
Muttley, with respect I think we must have been watching a different player today, he wasn’t fantastic but I certainly saw some promise in his play.🤷🏻♂️
Promise of goal threat, goal creation? Energy, yes I saw that and we were missing it last season. If we want energy above the first two, he was a success. Ideally, we can find somebody with both or indeed Clare can step up. As I hope Morgan can. My point isn't that they can't, more that to date I haven't seen the evidence that they can.
I think your basically saying another Conor Gallagher, I agree if a Conor type was there instead of Morgan, ( I’ve made it clear I’m not the biggest fan of Morgan in the past)😬.we’d be very good. Let’s see what we get.
Solid start, even first half and shaded the second.
The game as a spectacle wasn’t great but not nearly as bad as some are making out. Lots of positives to build on especially with some added quality and competition. Nice to see Clayden get a few minutes.
Anyone saying Bannan was poor is going on pure dislike of the man. Annoying as he is he was excellent and is a level above most midfielders in the division.
Agree we need more goal threat from midfield. Connor Gallagher liked to shoot from outside the box. Holmes did too. Shinnie also. But can’t see any of these guys doing that.
They’re not those sort of players. But Clare and Dobson weren’t brought in for their goals. Aribo is a far better player, but also a very different type of player. Can’t really compare them. A fairer comparison would be with Pratley or Watson. That’s really what I’m saying.
Good point, but if we are going to rely on Morgan as the midfield goal threat, he is currently a one goal in 50plus appearances merchant. If he can improve on that, is he going to improve to a point where we can afford two non scoring midfielders alongside him? Dobson is playing a position where you don't expect goals. Something has to give. We will not be getting promoted without goals from midfield.
Not sure if said already, but Stockley won every single header in our own box. And the majority in the offensive box (whether effective or not). Really useful player beyond his role as a striker!
He was unreal today! Proper leader. Has the potential to go down as a real fans favourite.
Not sure if said already, but Stockley won every single header in our own box. And the majority in the offensive box (whether effective or not). Really useful player beyond his role as a striker!
He was unreal today! Proper leader. Has the potential to go down as a real fans favourite.
I do think it's a fantastic move by Adkins to make him skipper (though suppose you could argue there's not necessarily many other candidates out there).
No-one has any idea what will happen this season but some are so keen to write off any possibility of success I wonder wtf you actually want. Just an opportunity to express your own misery. We got a point against a team that apparently has championship quality and that brought in a lot of players.
Awful 1st half. Much better 2nd half. Spine of the team with Innis Clare Stockley looks good. Was not to sure about Dobson today but only 1st game so we will see.
Looked off the pace yet again on the right flank. Coughed up possession cheaply at times as Charlton easily stifled his attacking threat. Is he fully-fit after his injury in pre-season or is it a confidence issue?
No-one has any idea what will happen this season but some are so keen to write off any possibility of success I wonder wtf you actually want. Just an opportunity to express your own misery.
We are at a point where we could see success, but some can see that we need some additions to achieve it. Happy clapping is all well and good and you can do it as much as you like, but honesty shouldn't be criticised.
Thought it was an OK first game and quite content with the point. Defensively I think we were solid enough and the midfield was fair, with Dobson and Clare doing ok. I do have a lot of time for Morgan and think he grew into the game, just wish he had shown a bit more composure when his two chances came. Hopefully Adkins will put some work in with him to improve that part of his game. DJ could be a handful this season, he showed some potential for being a big player for us over the next few months. Stockley put in a good shift, put himself about a bit and helped out the defence well when needed but I am concerned that if he gets injured our Plan B, or lack of, could cause problems for us.
It goes without saying that we still still desperately need to strengthen before the window shuts if we want to stand any chance of gaining promotion because being good enough to grind out draws week in, week out just won’t cut it.
I do agree that Aneke comes on and we have a real chance of winning that game. It is what you get when you take his goals out of the team. We had the second best goals from the bench record last season, behind Man Utd. There was a reason for that.
Comments
Without a goal scoring midfielder in the team ( Gilbey TBF scored a couple of decent goals last season) Washington has to play closer to Stockley. Poor attempts by both Morgan and DJ; At least make the keeper work.
A low key start, but saw some good things from Dobson and Clare and if Morgan can fine some shooting boots could still be a player.
I feel we might draw all our league games in August.
The game as a spectacle wasn’t great but not nearly as bad as some are making out. Lots of positives to build on especially with some added quality and competition. Nice to see Clayden get a few minutes.
Anyone saying Bannan was poor is going on pure dislike of the man. Annoying as he is he was excellent and is a level above most midfielders in the division.
I think I need a little break.
Moaners can moan we would have won if we'd have more players.
Realists can say we held our own with a top team and will only get better when we sign a few more.
Last season Aneke comes on and we win that.
Last season we don't have Innis and Famewo most of the time and now Dobson and Clare and we lose.
Thought it was an enjoyable day if not a great game.
Place was rocking and the roof would have come off if Albie takes his chances.
Stockley should have scored from the early free kick.
Neither keeper had a real save to make.
There is a team there. Need to build a squad around it.
Great to see the old stars turn up for Curbs.
Also I'm awaiting my royalties as my VFR lyrics were used.
Drop Addicks for Victory, bring back the Red, Red, Robin
It goes without saying that we still still desperately need to strengthen before the window shuts if we want to stand any chance of gaining promotion because being good enough to grind out draws week in, week out just won’t cut it.