Playoffs

Anything yellow and blue
Dr Bob
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Re: Playoffs

Post by Dr Bob »

Kairdiff Exile wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 10:32 am
Dr Bob wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 10:12 am Or simply tune into Talksport 2.
Pfft, away with you and this talk of commercial radio! :lol: I’m combining the trip with a long-awaited, socially-distanced family visit, I should probably clarify!
As I texted a friend at the time - things I never thought I would say.

All this talk of possible Pompey penalties (by Pompey players...) but rather less about the possible red cards that could have seen more than one of them sent off.

And whilst some have criticised Easty for the Pompey goal, check out the Fleetwood goalie's performance. Definitely Wycombe's man of the match.
OtmoorYellow
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Re: Playoffs

Post by OtmoorYellow »

Can't disagree about Woodburn. I don't remember the Sky commentators even mentioning his name until he was subbed. I didn't think James Henry really got into it either, apart from set pieces, where his balls into the box were generally very good (ooh matron!).

Dickie and Elliott were massive for us, against a very tall Pompey side.

Long was giving far too much room to Curtis all through the first half, because he (Long) kept drifting inside and eventually the amount of room he gave was just too much to make up. Eastwood should never be beaten at his near post from that angle though.

Eastwood made up for this with a cracking save from a very well directed downward header later on.

Ruffels looked pretty sharp and Browne was excellent considering the time since our last competitive match, and despite the numerous attempts to fell him by some cynical defending.

The Pompey player who had been booked for having a go at CamBran, should have been sent off for the deliberate handball that prevented a good attacking opportunity.

On their claims for penalties, the only one that might have been given was Dickie manhandling their player, but how many times do (did) we see this from defenders week in and week out without punishment?

Curtis was embarassing when throwing himself to the floor at every opportunity. Shame, because he is a very good footballer, even if a bit gobby.

Matty looked reasonably fit up front, but never really got much service, likewise for Aggeeeyee (Sky commentator's pronunciation) and Mackie.

Overall, to come away from Fratton with a draw for the second leg, given that they have not lost a home match in more than a year, was more than acceptable. We'll get a small home advantage, being able to choose the length of grass that suits our passing game, a nice wide pitch, familiarity with the surroundings and understanding of how the fence end affects play. Perhaps a very minor point, but 1,000 cardboard cut outs in a 12,000 seater stadium, will look much more impressive than 1,000 in a 20,000 seater stadium.

In my view, the winner of this tie will get promotion as neither Fleetwood, nor Wycombe are a patch on us or Pompey.
OtmoorYellow
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Re: Playoffs

Post by OtmoorYellow »

OtmoorYellow wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:03 pm Can't disagree about Woodburn. I don't remember the Sky commentators even mentioning his name until he was subbed. I didn't think James Henry really got into it either, apart from set pieces, where his balls into the box were generally very good (ooh matron!).

Dickie and Elliott were massive for us, against a very tall Pompey side.

Long was giving far too much room to Curtis all through the first half, because he (Long) kept drifting inside and eventually the amount of room he gave was just too much to make up. Eastwood should never be beaten at his near post from that angle though.

Eastwood made up for this with a cracking save from a very well directed downward header later on.

Ruffels looked pretty sharp and Browne was excellent considering the time since our last competitive match, and despite the numerous attempts to fell him by some cynical defending.

The Pompey player who had been booked for having a go at CamBran, should have been sent off for the deliberate handball that prevented a good attacking opportunity.

On their claims for penalties, the only one that might have been given was Dickie manhandling their player, but how many times do (did) we see this from defenders week in and week out without punishment?

Curtis was embarassing when throwing himself to the floor at every opportunity. Shame, because he is a very good footballer, even if a bit gobby.

Matty looked reasonably fit up front, but never really got much service, likewise for Aggeeeyee (Sky commentator's pronunciation) and Mackie.

Overall, to come away from Fratton with a draw for the second leg, given that they have not lost a home match in more than a year, was more than acceptable. We'll get a small home advantage, being able to choose the length of grass that suits our passing game, a nice wide pitch, familiarity with the surroundings and understanding of how the fence end affects play. Perhaps a very minor point, but 1,000 cardboard cut outs in a 12,000 seater stadium, will look much more impressive than 1,000 in a 20,000 seater stadium.

In my view, the winner of this tie will get promotion as neither Fleetwood, nor Wycombe are a patch on us or Pompey.

How great to be able to discuss matches again.
Radley Rambler
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Re: Playoffs

Post by Radley Rambler »

OtmoorYellow wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:03 pm Can't disagree about Woodburn. I don't remember the Sky commentators even mentioning his name until he was subbed. I didn't think James Henry really got into it either, apart from set pieces, where his balls into the box were generally very good (ooh matron!).

Dickie and Elliott were massive for us, against a very tall Pompey side.

Long was giving far too much room to Curtis all through the first half, because he (Long) kept drifting inside and eventually the amount of room he gave was just too much to make up. Eastwood should never be beaten at his near post from that angle though.

Eastwood made up for this with a cracking save from a very well directed downward header later on.

Ruffels looked pretty sharp and Browne was excellent considering the time since our last competitive match, and despite the numerous attempts to fell him by some cynical defending.

The Pompey player who had been booked for having a go at CamBran, should have been sent off for the deliberate handball that prevented a good attacking opportunity.

On their claims for penalties, the only one that might have been given was Dickie manhandling their player, but how many times do (did) we see this from defenders week in and week out without punishment?

Curtis was embarassing when throwing himself to the floor at every opportunity. Shame, because he is a very good footballer, even if a bit gobby.

Matty looked reasonably fit up front, but never really got much service, likewise for Aggeeeyee (Sky commentator's pronunciation) and Mackie.

Overall, to come away from Fratton with a draw for the second leg, given that they have not lost a home match in more than a year, was more than acceptable. We'll get a small home advantage, being able to choose the length of grass that suits our passing game, a nice wide pitch, familiarity with the surroundings and understanding of how the fence end affects play. Perhaps a very minor point, but 1,000 cardboard cut outs in a 12,000 seater stadium, will look much more impressive than 1,000 in a 20,000 seater stadium.

In my view, the winner of this tie will get promotion as neither Fleetwood, nor Wycombe are a patch on us or Pompey.
There's a lot of this talk on the other side as well. Wycombe have just gone and won 4-1 away to a very much in-form Fleetwood side and missed a penalty to boot. They may not be pretty but they are effective. The final is also a one-off game and there's a lot of luck in football.
Werthers Original
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Re: Playoffs

Post by Werthers Original »

Why on earth is Burgess going to Belgian second division? He looked a real presence. I think a lot hinges on Taylor now, we are so dangerous once we get hold of the ball and start passing but we need someone to stick it away!
OtmoorYellow
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Re: Playoffs

Post by OtmoorYellow »

Radley Rambler wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:59 pm
There's a lot of this talk on the other side as well. Wycombe have just gone and won 4-1 away to a very much in-form Fleetwood side and missed a penalty to boot. They may not be pretty but they are effective. The final is also a one-off game and there's a lot of luck in football.
Form from 3 months ago is irrelevant. Didn’t Fleetwood have 2 men sent off? And the opening 10 minutes of that game was bonkers football.
recordmeister
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Re: Playoffs

Post by recordmeister »

recordmeister wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2020 9:42 pm So my take on it - and this is interesting for the way Oxford play - is that it’s much better to run at rusty teams and get free kicks and pens, and possible cards, than it is to ‘shoot on sight’
Just saying...
ty cobb
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Re: Playoffs

Post by ty cobb »

Well it was good to have football back, albeit it was very odd with no crowd and we were very rusty. Didn't stop me feeling very nervy throughout - this game def mattered to me!

Utterly bizarre that Woodburn started, not least because he had played no part in our 5 game winning run but also because he not played for months. A play off semi final away to Pompy was not the time or place to see how ready he was. He is clearly a talented player but I can barely remember him touching the ball and it really cost us for the first 30m and it led to Long being left 1 on 1 against their best player. For me the one thing Long needs to work on is the amount of space he gives to people running at him - Newcastles winner was another case in point. That said, he was left exposed for the goal, the player with the ball was running towards him and he had Curtis on the overlap - Woodburn was not even in the picture. Sykes and Long had built up a really good understanding over the course of the season and we looked a lot better and more solid when he came on and Long, as he always does, stuck to his task really well and kept Curtis pretty quiet from there on in.

Taylor was clearly struggling, won nothing all game and rather than compete for the ball kept looking to spin round the defender so it didn't stick with him - usually he is really good a this. Our TikTok star didn't improve when he came on - Taylor at least may always pop up with a goal like in the away game earlier in the season. If tonight Taylor comes off I would settle for pens.

Fingers also crossed for Cam - had a really good game and we missed his snap when he came off.

Overall I thought we were well below the high standard we had set ourselves. Understandable given the lay off but Pompey looked sharper and controlled the game up to the goal, after which they sat back and let us back into it. If our key players such as Henry and Taylor can get firing again we are in with a shout, especially if the ref does something about Browne getting kicked everytime he gets the ball.

Shout out to Moore, Dickie and Ruffs - all immense at the back.
Dr Bob
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Re: Playoffs

Post by Dr Bob »

ty cobb wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 8:26 am Taylor was clearly struggling, won nothing all game and rather than compete for the ball kept looking to spin round the defender so it didn't stick with him - usually he is really good a this. Our TikTok star didn't improve when he came on - Taylor at least may always pop up with a goal like in the away game earlier in the season. If tonight Taylor comes off I would settle for pens.
Rumour is he has had a hamstring problem. Maybe the approach is to give him game time until he can cope no longer.
Radley Rambler
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Re: Playoffs

Post by Radley Rambler »

OtmoorYellow wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2020 2:08 pm
Radley Rambler wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:59 pm
There's a lot of this talk on the other side as well. Wycombe have just gone and won 4-1 away to a very much in-form Fleetwood side and missed a penalty to boot. They may not be pretty but they are effective. The final is also a one-off game and there's a lot of luck in football.
Form from 3 months ago is irrelevant. Didn’t Fleetwood have 2 men sent off? And the opening 10 minutes of that game was bonkers football.
Fleetwood did have two men sent off but one was when Wycombe were already 2-1 up and the other was right at the end. Bonkers football or not, it was a 4-1 away win at a team we have never beaten (iirc), I just don't believe they should be taken lightly, they finished above us in the table whether we like it or not. The dismissal of their chances by a lot of our fans because they play agricultural football is a mistake imho.
Isaac
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Re: Playoffs

Post by Isaac »

I think Agricultural football is probably better suited to the play-offs in these circumstances - playing the high pressure, fast football we attempt to play is harder to get right from cold, as we saw on Friday. I saw bit of the league 2 play-off final and Northampton bullied Exeter. I can see Wycombe doing the same thing in League 1.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Playoffs

Post by Kernow Yellow »

I can't believe the second leg has come around so soon - I've barely recovered from the first match so I don't know how the players must be feeling. I don't know whether it's the time of year or because we haven't had any football for so long but the whole thing feels a bit like a World Cup campaign to me - get through the group games and into the knock-outs without picking up too many yellow cards and injuries. I hope the players don't approach it like that though - they need to give everything tonight and see whether it's enough to get through.

The worst thing is that I've got a long pre-arranged meeting that will see me miss at least the first half tonight. Might just have to pretend my internet connection fails if it drags on much longer than that...

COYY!
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Playoffs

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Just flicking through the digital programme for tonight's game I came across this gem:

"If Oxford or Portsmouth win promotion this season then it will be a first because to date neither has ever gone up via the end-of-season play-offs.

United's only experience of play-offs came in the Blue Square Premier where a certain Jamie Mackie was part of the Exeter City side that knocked us out on penalties in the semi-final. Pompey meanwhile have been involved in three play-off campaigns without success"

Er, shome mishtake shurely? Pretty poor for our own programme!
OtmoorYellow
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Re: Playoffs

Post by OtmoorYellow »

😁⚽️

Wemberlee!
slappy
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Re: Playoffs

Post by slappy »

I think Dan Agyei could have a big part to play at Wembley. Nice to see someone attacking and running at the opposition. I'm sure he'll have it coached out of him at some point, but if he'd gone to the ground with that shirt pulling, surely a penalty?

Both legs were fairly cagey affairs, neither side looked like they outclassed the other and deserved to win. Pompey quite rightly upset about a few penalty claims, but normally we don't get to see them on tv from several different angles.

Anyway, has anybody got a flat bed truck in the North London area with a big pile of pallets to sit on next Monday?
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