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GREAT EFFORT TODAY.......
at 17:16 12 Jan 2026

If true, that would be a huge mistake,

Brilliant CDM, decent left sided CB and can cover Left Back,

Been a great signing for us & I would argue we will see the real potential in this squad when he's back in the Starting XI,

This club still needs players who care & who are nearly always available & give 100%, we're along way from being out of the woods as a club & Field is one of the good guys.
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Dunne
at 17:10 12 Jan 2026

Cook was immense & got turned for the 1st goal by quality from a premier league level player,

Dunne got similarly turned for the 1st when the forward very cutely blocked him off, then got done by an outrageous piece of skill for the 2nd, these thing happen when you play against £10-30m opposition players

Walsh was superb and I would argue was unfortunate not to save the 1st goal with how quickly he came off his line & bravely tried to make the save,

All 3 were immense yesterday & we are very fortunate to have them play for our club.

If you want to watch players who never make a mistake or get beaten by a better quality player, you're surely better off being a fan of a club with an unlimited budget like Real Madrid.
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GREAT EFFORT TODAY.......
at 19:19 11 Jan 2026

Walsh realised catching corners in a congested 6 yard box was too risky,

After that punched superbly maybe 3 more corners, on top of that 2 superb & 2 very good saves, new No 1 after today.
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Who Knew Walsh Was So Good?
at 19:12 11 Jan 2026

Their corners were on the button, erred in trying to catch the first one in a crowd,

But what I liked he learnt from that one & punched clear the following corners,

That and those saves edges MOTM above a few other worthy candidates.
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Kolli rescues Rangers, but injuries mount – Report
at 00:03 6 Jan 2026

Varane seems to in danger of becoming the new Jimmy Dunne, the cause of all our failings

Two players, imo, we are very fortunate wear our colours,

Varane imo had a good 1st Half yesterday & it was noticeable we lost control of the Midfield when he went off as we lost our energy & intensity in the middle of the park,
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Morgan.
at 14:59 5 Jan 2026

Nail on head in that last sentence....that he can (or least tries to) make things happen,

That's exactly what he did when he came on against Norwich, others seem to settle for a 0-1 defeat, Morgan didn't.

Morgan has what you can't coach into a player, desire & a will to win.

Not quick over 5 yards which is why he was likely released from Spurs, but when he gets balance right in playing high risk defence splitting passes or playing safe, he could be the man we need.
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Morgan.
at 12:42 5 Jan 2026

Probably b'cos he tries to open teams up by playing 20 & 30 yards passes in behind,

We needed this against Norwich as we won't be playing a team of U21s like Wednesday again this season,

If we are to get the best out of Saito, Poku, Dembele, Burrell and increase their value to sell-on, we need an ambitious passer in the middle of the pitch to give them passes to run on to,

Our current 4-4-2 Starting XI is a 12th to 16th placed team at best.
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Morgan.
at 20:41 4 Jan 2026

Agree, in the absence of Chair I'd like to see Morgan start in that attacking midfield role in front of the two CDMs,

Thought he was very good in that role last year before he ran out of gas.
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The Barry Bannan Master Class Match Thread
at 20:19 4 Jan 2026

I thought Varane had a good 1st Half & not surprised Wednesday dominated the Midfield once he left the field.

Varane is quick over 5 Yards & tenacious and not a player you want to play against.

Us sleepwalking for much of that 2nd Half shows the limitations of some of our players and this team.

I'd go 4-3-3 with Field & Hadyn @ West Ham & either Morgan or Madsen in front of them, otherwise they'll walk through us.
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The Barry Bannan Master Class Match Thread
at 00:30 4 Jan 2026

Didn't he beat us on his own at ours last year?

Gerard Houllier who knows a thing or too about football when describing him said he played football like Xavi & Iniesta apparently.

Seems a long long time since we've had a dominant Central Midfielder.
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The Barry Bannan Master Class Match Thread
at 22:56 3 Jan 2026

Given the space we gave Dozzell in the 1st Half at Pompey, we must closedown this space against Bannan.

Field & Varane have the legs to do this, but most Managers these days are too arrogant to man-mark an opposition player.

I'd rather play Field & Varane in the 2 tomorrow with Morgan ahead of them as the CAM.

If Madsen does start, it will be an interesting watch to compare & contrast with Bannon.

Madsen showed for about 1 in 5 of the balls I thought he should have against Norwich,

It will be interesting to compare how often these two are aggressively running into space & demanding the ball as I think this is the root cause of our recent poor performances,

Also once they receive the ball how ambitious are they with it, are they content to be neat & tidy or do they show aggression & ambition to effect the game,

Hopefully Madsen can extend his good spells in games into a full 90 minutes & can put together some balls in behind for our Wingers & Forwards, we need more than being neat & tidy and to create real chances for our forwards and turn this mini slump around.
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Norwich Reflection
at 11:49 2 Jan 2026

Dunne has personal pride and always gives his best, its why I've always been such a supporter of his, as when others hide or start pointing the fingers at others, you know with him the team comes first, Bannan seems to have these same traits,

If Bannan plays on Sunday, watch how throughout the game he is looking and wanting to receive the ball,

I'm not just digging out Nicholas here (as he has no doubt improved significantly) but if this team is to progress, being involved in the game for 10 minutes and a spectator for the following 20 minutes will not do,

For those who have been totally won over by Nicolas, watch these two closely on Sunday, see who drifts out of the game for long periods and seems to lack the desire to show for the ball consistently over 90 minutes, this is'nt about ability, its about desire,

Hopefully you can tell me I've got this wrong.
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Norwich Reflection
at 10:14 2 Jan 2026

Creating chances is our problem, how many decent chances did we create for Kone & Burrell yesterday? So you think why? And you look at the Wings or Centre of Midfield......

Giving good possession & key passes to our Wingers was a problem, again why.....

We struggled to transition the ball from defence as the Midfielders, paticularly Madsen didn't show for the ball and in the absence of JCS or Morrison as Left Sided Centre Half, the only option to move the ball forward was via Dunne & Mbengue,

Cook (like Harry Maguire) is very very limited when playing as a a Left Sided Centre Back and cannot bring the ball out, Madsen ( & Hadyn) didn't show for the ball and as a result we never had any control in the game.

And Mbengue is a liability at Right Back as too impulsive and buys the dummy & feint every time.

And although it didn't work out for him Morgan again showed he could with time be the future as showed the courage others lacked in wanting the ball, which was why Cufuentes rightly backed him.

Id revert to Field & Varane (or Hadyn) as the holding two & play Morgan in an advanced Central Midfield role in front of them as he played to good effect before tiring last year.

We need to freshen things up and we need more characters like Dunne who don't hide.
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Norwich Reflection
at 22:04 1 Jan 2026

Sounds like the ambition for the club is limited to massaging a couple of very fragile ego's,

Even so this does look like a decent Squad and we're half way through the season without a clear style of play or consistency in selection.
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Norwich Reflection
at 19:24 1 Jan 2026

Morgan may have looked like a pub footballer but I'd counter the reason you noticed him was that he wanted the ball the whole time, always running into space, always giving an option,

Morgan was very good in first 10 minutes on pitch then lost may three if not four 50 50 balls, albeit one was a hospital pass from Dunne,

Morgan could have come on and hid behind his man and disappeared into The Bermuda Triangle in the middle of the pitch, but he didn't, as he has courage,

Probably best if only forward pass of the game, unlucky with deflection in defending 2nd goal but let's dig out the one player who showed some bottle today.
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Norwich Reflection
at 17:55 1 Jan 2026

Thought Hadyn was decent & Morgan showed in first 5 minutes of coming on what we'd been missing the previous 65 minutes, a Central Midfielder showing for the ball and trying to make things happen,

Unfortunately Morgan then made a few mistakes in possession but I'll always credit a player who shows for the ball & doesn't hide,

Without a Central Midfielder who has the desire to want the ball & run the game, or legs to run into space with the ball, we'll continue to play as we did today.
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Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 18:55 30 Dec 2025

Dunne has played the same amount of games & minutes as Madsen,

Varane maybe two games less,

Dunne, like Chair, like Field has desire & a will to win which means we don't feel sorry for them after playing 20 consecutive games, let alone Barbet playing 100,

Without Madsen, maybe Stephen changes formation & goes with 3 in Midfield which might be the change we need.
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Dunne rescues QPR from more Boxing Day blues – Report
at 22:49 28 Dec 2025

No one was doubling up on Madsen in the 1st Half @ Portsmouth and he contributed very very little.

Showing for the ball, demanding the ball and having the courage to do something really postive with it is more important than being comfortable on the ball.

Those two are key to our season imo, with one needing to be a bit more gung ho and one a bit less so.

In the likely ongoing absence of JCS, surprised Morrison is out of favour as steps up with the ball really well, hopefully he gets his chance again soon.
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Dunne rescues QPR from more Boxing Day blues – Report
at 19:38 28 Dec 2025

I watched the two Midfielders very closely in the first half and they seemed to be in two minds as to whether to stick to the more defensive minded game plan or push up and press more aggressively,

A few times I saw Madsen give out instructions & they pressed Dozzell more aggressively to some effect, we seemed content mostly to sit deeper & play on the break,

So I think without the ball they followed the gameplan & bar Kone's mistake they would have gone in at HT at nil nil,

Where they didn't follow the gameplan was what to do when in possession with the ball, particularly playing out fro⁷m the back, where with Madsen & Varane not showing we resorted to long balls down the flanks to Burrell, giving Saito & Dembele no service,

Stephens saw this & fixed it at Half Time, if he can encourage Madsen in particular to do what he did in the 3rd quarter for the full 90, this team can push on, but they cant just wait unti HT for the Managers instructions, they need to see this for themselves and adapt their tactics during games, as good players and teams do.
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Pompey match thread
at 11:15 27 Dec 2025

I agree, Mbengue in particular had a very poor 1st Half but would counter both he & Cook stood out for their poor contributions, wheras Madsen just did not contribute

We were fortunate Portsmouth were so poor in the final third & Murphy was out injured otherwise we could have been further behind,

The Manager saw what was wrong & Madsen started the 2nd Half by demanding the ball rather than leaving it to Dunne to transition the ball & we were a different team.
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