We bottled it tonight...

[JonnoTown]

So just got home,

Granted I've been at the pub for a few hours.

It was a poor performance tonight. We haven't played well since Charlton though. I'm not sure MM starting 11 was the right choice but we wouldn't have expected Brighton to play as well as they did.

It's a difficult game to summarise:

1. Brighton played very well and scored 2 brilliant goals. The 2nd of those should have been defended by 1 of the 5 itfc players around him and the third was awful. Chambers had a chance to head the ball out for a throw, but headed it in play. They crossed the ball and scored deep into injury time. I love Chambo, great skipper, but his performances have been poor of late.

2. We were pretty bad again. My Brighton friends all text to say we were rubbish and made them look good. We seem to be a bit clueless with what to do with the ball in possession. Second half we did nothing apart from Sears good finish and Murphy missing an absolute sitter.

3. We always looked like we could move up a gear, especially after Brighton's first goal we up'd the pace a bit, but we were never better than Brighton. We didn't stamp our authority and we didn't play with the arrogance we should have at the top of the league. We bottled it and the players looked nervous and cautious.

4. Freddie Sears looks very good indeed. Skuse was desperately out of knick, so many wayward passes. The defence needs to get solid again, too many mistakes of late have cost us. We need to believe we are the best in the league, but I don't think the players believe they are.

We will get through our blip I believe, but how many times does a town team miss an opportunity?

This is a bad result and even after a poor first half (which were were okay in, but Brighton scored 2 wonder goals) we should have equalised in the 2nd. February will be a big month in our season and there is a long way to go.

We are still performing way above our expectancy for this season though.

It's all about the play offs anyway

TITS on tour...

[Bluemike]

Thanks for the report, always good to hear from someone who was actually there.

One thing I would disagree with without even seeing the game is that the words "Bottled it" wont be the correct words because this Town team and manager will never bottle anything. We m,ay have been poor on the night and not lived up to recent standards, but bottled it ? Not for me.

[hallamblue]

Thnaks Jonno for the report. Id agree we havent been firing on all cylinders for a while now . In short our squad is running out juice... Players have been unwell. And although back in the side , yo dotn just get over a virus in 20 days , sorry but it aint gonna happen. Hence the lack lustre perfromance by Skuse IMO.

We need IMO and other couple of players. Murphy IMO is also running on empty .

[ashfordblue]

well I just read Micks report in the EADT and he said the players are knackered, I'm sorry but if our players cant play 2 games in one week, with 4 days in between, then there is something wrong with their attitude or training, this is not just a one off situation either, I cant remember a game where we have been excellent in both halves, its either p*ss poor first or second, we cant seem to get any consistency throughout the whole game, its games like this we need to roll the sleeves up and get in where it hurts.

[number 9]

Don't forget, Brighton recently beat Brentford in the FA Cup. Hughton will probably turn the Seagulls around...he's a decent manager. I agree the players are knackered. I think it's a result of illness in the camp, and of course the extra Southampton match which most of us feared would result in extra stress on the players. We're still 3rd though after bad run, except for the Millwall result. My concern is our goal difference...it's getting tight at the top, and we really need to add a few more goals to our tally.

[derick_ipsw]

Don't forget, Brighton recently beat Brentford in the FA Cup. Hughton will probably turn the Seagulls around...he's a decent manager. I agree the players are knackered. I think it's a result of illness in the camp, and of course the extra Southampton match which most of us feared would result in extra stress on the players. We're still 3rd though after bad run, except for the Millwall result. My concern is our goal difference...it's getting tight at the top, and we really need to add a few more goals to our tally.

They also got beat by Brentford at home last Saturday so that is hardly a good analogy!!

[derick_ipsw]

So just got home,

Granted I've been at the pub for a few hours.

It was a poor performance tonight. We haven't played well since Charlton though. I'm not sure MM starting 11 was the right choice but we wouldn't have expected Brighton to play as well as they did.

It's a difficult game to summarise:

1. Brighton played very well and scored 2 brilliant goals. The 2nd of those should have been defended by 1 of the 5 itfc players around him and the third was awful. Chambers had a chance to head the ball out for a throw, but headed it in play. They crossed the ball and scored deep into injury time. I love Chambo, great skipper, but his performances have been poor of late.

2. We were pretty bad again. My Brighton friends all text to say we were rubbish and made them look good. We seem to be a bit clueless with what to do with the ball in possession. Second half we did nothing apart from Sears good finish and Murphy missing an absolute sitter.

3. We always looked like we could move up a gear, especially after Brighton's first goal we up'd the pace a bit, but we were never better than Brighton. We didn't stamp our authority and we didn't play with the arrogance we should have at the top of the league. We bottled it and the players looked nervous and cautious.

4. Freddie Sears looks very good indeed. Skuse was desperately out of knick, so many wayward passes. The defence needs to get solid again, too many mistakes of late have cost us. We need to believe we are the best in the league, but I don't think the players believe they are.

We will get through our blip I believe, but how many times does a town team miss an opportunity?

This is a bad result and even after a poor first half (which were were okay in, but Brighton scored 2 wonder goals) we should have equalised in the 2nd. February will be a big month in our season and there is a long way to go.

We are still performing way above our expectancy for this season though.

It's all about the play offs anyway

TITS on tour...

I must admit we have had two opportunities this month to put some distance between ourselves and the chasing pack. Could of gone 5 points ahead of Derby in third place but lost 0-1 and last night could of gone 2 points clear at the top. I hope come the end of season we don't look back at this month.

[number 9]

Don't forget, Brighton recently beat Brentford in the FA Cup. Hughton will probably turn the Seagulls around...he's a decent manager. I agree the players are knackered. I think it's a result of illness in the camp, and of course the extra Southampton match which most of us feared would result in extra stress on the players. We're still 3rd though after bad run, except for the Millwall result. My concern is our goal difference...it's getting tight at the top, and we really need to add a few more goals to our tally.

They also got beat by Brentford at home last Saturday so that is hardly a good analogy!!

Regardless, you can't argue Brighton are improving. Don't get me wrong, I'm just as frustrated as everyone...but we are still third with hope.

[BLUEBLOOD]

When was the last time we lost away...? Oh yes back on the 21st OCTOBER .
We went 12 games unbeaten the last time who says we cannot do it again .
How many have we lost away from home so far 3 and 2 at home .
Lets be honest if someone had said come the end of January you will only lose 5 games who would have been happy ?
The players have got 10 days now to rest up and regroup for the Wigan game then another 7 days till Rotherham away.
At least Freddie Sears scored with Murphy so if those 2 can keep scoring we stand a chance of promotion which has been along way off in recent years.
Who was it said DONT PANIC MM and TC of course.....

[Magicmark]

Mick has said to the players they should get away for a week,hope they all book a nice holiday in the sun,that`s what i could do with,sick of all these cold viruses going about,read somewhere over 6 million people in this country have a cold at the moment

[Bluemike]

When was the last time we lost away...? Oh yes back on the 21st OCTOBER .
We went 12 games unbeaten the last time who says we cannot do it again .
How many have we lost away from home so far 3 and 2 at home .
Lets be honest if someone had said come the end of January you will only lose 5 games who would have been happy ?
The players have got 10 days now to rest up and regroup for the Wigan game then another 7 days till Rotherham away.
At least Freddie Sears scored with Murphy so if those 2 can keep scoring we stand a chance of promotion which has been along way off in recent years.
Who was it said DONT PANIC MM and TC of course.....

Absolutely spot on Blueblood, well said.

I mean we are in crisis, 5 defeats now which is joint best in the division, 3rd in the table and 1 point off top spot, now that really is to be upset about given that back in August we were no hopers. But that is enouigh of my sarcasm, I get to expect knee jerk talk after every defeat.

On a seriois note we are in a great position, yes we are tired and yes we need a break but we have had a tough time with injuries and viruses etc, it isnt even a blip, it is a couple of defeats, I keep saying it but forget the Southampton game, it doesnt matter losing to one of the teams contending the Champions League places. We lost at home to Derby thanks to Two big refereeing decisions, big deal, it had defeat written all over it, last night was always a tricky game too, a point would have been nice but we failed to get it,just !!

I look at it in a completely different way to most, not what happened last night but the great position we are still in and the Three games coming up that are all winnable, seven points at the very least and we will almost certainly be top Two again. We are right in the thick of it and competing with teams that have spent bloody millions and who were fancied far more than we ever were, now is not the time for faint hearts and panicking, we have only lost Five games !!! The best in the Division, it isnt about to collapse and there is no crisis, well in my opinion anyway. And no I dont believe we need anymore players coming in, certainly not defensively or in Midfield, I wouldnt be bothered if we didnt get another striker either but could understand it if we did.

As for bemoaning this month, if we do fall just short then dont look at this month, look back at October when we drew with Forest, Huddersfield and Blackburn, all Three games we led going in to the dying seconds and those Six points would see us laughing now, defeats to Derby and a improving Brighton are not a disaster and I still believe we are bang on course. Should the next Three games go belly up then yes lets talk in depth about what is going wrong cus at the moment nothing is going wrong, we lost a game of football.

[arana peligrosa]

Mick has said to the players they should get away for a week,hope they all book a nice holiday in the sun,that`s what i could do with,sick of all these cold viruses going about,read somewhere over 6 million people in this country have a cold at the moment

Why not do what Robson did in '81 and take them away to an amusement park, it worked then. Players were rejuvenated and full of vigor. With regard to what the author mentioned in the opening post : It's all about the play-offs anyway - seemed to indicate that an automatic promotion is beyond the club and let's settle on a third to sixth position. I'm not prepared to give up at such a premature stage, we're still every bit as involved as before.

[marko69]

Tell you what, my brother fkn bottled it last night. A gorgeous Plum wine. Not quite to die for, but certainly to get completely rat arsed for.

[Magicmark]

Mick has said to the players they should get away for a week,hope they all book a nice holiday in the sun,that`s what i could do with,sick of all these cold viruses going about,read somewhere over 6 million people in this country have a cold at the moment

Why not do what Robson did in '81 and take them away to an amusement park, it worked then. Players were rejuvenated and full of vigor. With regard to what the author mentioned in the opening post : It's all about the play-offs anyway - seemed to indicate that an automatic promotion is beyond the club and let's settle on a third to sixth position. I'm not prepared to give up at such a premature stage, we're still every bit as involved as before.

I think they should do any Holiday/activity that rejuvenates them, they are limited to things like golf & crown bowls though,no skiing or hang gliding allowed.
As for the play offs i`d rather not see us in that lottery.

[herforder]

Tell you what, my brother fkn bottled it last night. A gorgeous Plum wine. Not quite to die for, but certainly to get completely rat arsed for.

That's the spirit, buddy!

[Magicmark]

Tell you what, my brother fkn bottled it last night. A gorgeous Plum wine. Not quite to die for, but certainly to get completely rat arsed for.

That's the spirit, buddy!

As long as the players don`t drink it we should be fine

[marko69]

On the contrary, Magic, it could be a good thing. It could sort some little problems. Get the team in a room, and put a couple of crates of my brothers "Blonde beer" in there. A few home truths night come out.

After an hour, with some slurred speech:

Chambo: Hey Tommy. What the f*ck were you thinking in the derby game?
Tommy: Was thinking, nachos and cheese, or nachos and salsa.
Berra: Cheese everytime Smithy.
Mings: HAHAHAHA, no way you jock tit, gotta be salsa.
Chambo: I'm being serious here ya cnts. TOMMY? That header? My sister could head it harder.
Gerken: Yeah, we've heard about your sister, chambo.
Chambo: WHAT?
Murphy: GUYS! Calm the fk down, Chambos sister gives crap head anyway.
Chambo: FKN WHAT?
Murphy: I thought we were talking about your sis......
Berra: OI MINGS? Who you callin a jock tit ?
Chambo: LISTEN TO ME YOU TWATS. IM CAPTAIN.
Tabby: Shut the f*ck up Luke. Go fist pump yer knob.
Mings: YOU, Christophe! You wanna piece of me? ME? I'm 6'3" and worth 18 million!
Tommy: I reckon cheese. Gotta be cheese.
Chambo: My sister is a nice girl. And you all suck!
Murphy: Well, speaking of sucking. Your sister.....
Chambo: Just shut the fk up, Daryl. What sort of a fkn name is Daryl anyway?
Murphy: Getting personal now eh?
Tommy: cheese on my nachos, and salt on my popcorn? Hmmm. Decisions.
Berra : you like crepes with syrup, tommy?
Tommy: Went to Paris once. Once was enough.
Nouble: Why you say that?
Sears: He says that because......
Chambo: OI! You are new.... You are not allowed to speak. Noubs, why are you here?
Nouble: Kicked out of the loan club for being sh.....
Gerken: So, Chambo. Your sister. Any chance of.....
Chambo: No chance ok. Shut it.
Bailkowski: Any you guys seen my razor?
Gerken: Yeah, here it is. (Throws it) catch.
Bailkowski: (fumbles, juggles, fumbles some more, catches it)
(Loud cheer in the room and high fives all round.)
Tabby: what you needing it for ?
Bailkowski: I have date with Chambos sis......
Chambo: NO!
Tommy: Mustard or ketchup on my hot dog.
Gerken: Chambos sister will be on my hot dog......
Chambo: NO! No no no no NO!
Mick McCarthy: What the fkn hell is going on in here?
Skuse: Just having a quiet chat boss.
Mick: Let's get a few things straight here. Tommy.....
Tommy: aw no. I've said sorry for the header boss....
Mick: Its, cheese or yer nachos. It's sweet popcorn. And it's mustard on your dog ok.
Tommy: Thanks boss.
Mick : And your header was sh*t..... Chambos sister could've headed it harder. Right, get me a Markos brother blonde beer please.

[Jamma123]

Haha! Brilliant, altho your more 'rambling' posts should come with a warning, Marko: I'm finding it hard to keep a straight face while reading this at work!

[Magicmark]

Marko you have identified what is wrong with the players they are all a bunch of p*ss heads..Rehab for them all otherwise we can kiss good bye to the playoffs.

[Bluemike]

F*****G Brilliant PMSL...I actually laughed out loud at Tabby...."Go fist pump yer Knob !!!!!"