We are back! And how lovely it will be to be surrounded by Millers in our lovely Ground with a pie and cuppa watching those red and white shirts play the beautiful game.
PW, thinks we will have more of the ball this year.
He is sounding as confident as he was at the beginning of the last L1 campaign when he implemented a very attacking start to the season. That did not go to plan if my aging memory serves me.
Plymouth are starting their campaign with a lot of belief and ate expecting a top 6 finish . First game of the season and the pilgrims are as excited as anyone selling over 1k for the long, long trip. I hope they don't get stuck in the holiday traffic.
Result
It's good to get off to a great start but it's a long season and not a sprint. That being said as a relegated club a win would sow confidence and signal our pedigree to others in what looks like a very strong L1.
Great to be back at NYS for the start of a new season. I really think we should be beating Plymouth on Saturday if we are to feature in the top half of this division. Plymouth conceded 80 goals last season and they lost eleven of their last fifteen games. In fairness to Lowe he has recruited heavily in defence with a view to stop the defensive headaches.
I think we have a good squad when all fit. I am worried about our defence with Wood the only left sided central defender on the books. I think the side on Saturday will all depend on whether Ihiekwe is fit or not. If he is fit i expect a 5.3.2 formation with
Viktor
Harding Wood Ihiekwe.
Ogbene Lindsay Barlaser Rathbone or Wiles Ferguson.
Smith Ladapo.
If Ihiekwe is out i have a feeling we might play 4;4;2. with Green (lad from Huddersfield) playing central defence and either Mattock(if fit) or Ferguson at left back. I know Warne wants to play Ferguson in a forward left position but i can see him covering at left back if Ihiekwe and Mattock cannot make the line up. It will be tough on Miller who i think has done well in the friendlies but just see Ogbene and Miller in the same team as a bit of a liability defending in both wide positions. It sounds like Odoffin is a bit behind the rest fitness wise so expect to see him on Tuesday. Warne has spoken about a player going out. I have a feeling that will be Sadlier. I had big hopes for sadlier when we signed him but i believe we are not a good fit for him for some reason. My prediction 1-0 millers.
I thought Sadlier was a good signing. Having seen him I just think that although he is a good player, whatever you are looking for we have someone a bit better at it. If you want a ball winner Lindsay is better at it. If you want someone to get on the ball and pass it, Barlaser is better at it. If you want a box to box midfielder Wiles is more athletic. Sadlier isnt the biggest, and he isnt the quickest. I couldnt put him in the starting eleven ahead of any of the above, and now we have Ferguson and Miller who are genuinely left sided and Ogbene who is our main threat on the right. Not to mention Rathbone and Odoffin who hopefully have their own qualities. To be fair to Sadlier he got injured at a bad time and he hasnt had a run of games so maybe we havent seen his best form, but as things stand we look strong and have other options across midfield. I suspect he might be a bit part utility player for us whereas he would start in many league one sides. For those reasons it wouldnt surprise me if he moved on, particularly if it releases funds to help us strengthen in other areas e.g. up front. If he stays he needs to turn up when the opportunity arises because competition for a place in midfield will be strong.
Looking forward to this first game at the New York Stadium, aren't we all? Just hoping that Central Government doesn't mess up and orders supporters to leave at half time having added New York to the Red List and we're all sent home to quarantine!!
That aside looks like we've got this one in the bag. Argyle shipped 80 goals last season so they'll want to make amends for several dismal performances and losing their last few games. Some of their supporters want another striker and midfielder adding to their current squad. Sounds familiar. Maybe they need a decent keeper? Who knows?
Argyle will threaten us from set pieces. PW and colleagues should have done their homework. If not we could be punished.
Forecast; Sunshine and showers during the day. Going; Good.
Undecided about how we'll be set up at the start of the match. It will be hard work to see off The Pilgrims.
Prediction; A very cautious start to the season with a 1-1 full time score.
Got to be happy with that, deserved mom for that, worth 5mil on that part. New players look ok from what little we saw. Nice to be optimistic, plenty of seasons we've looked poor at start. Great stuff.. UTM
Really solid back 3 and Victor had nothing to do. Wiles had a couple of sublime moments and a couple of nightmares. Ogbene getting back to his best and I think Miller has potential if he works on that final ball. Some encouraging touches from the new guys. Decent performance against a good possession side with no cutting edge. Highlight of the day - being back at the NYS with a good sized crowd. It's good to be back!!
Result was never in doubt. An easier first day win I cannot remember.
Dominant throughout.
I liked the game management that the team showed. Maintained their discipline bar 2 tackles near our area. Good to see we didn't have a head rush and lose our composure. All too often we have shown indiscipline when ahead but not today. Great line in defence and pretty much controlled the while game
The wingers did well and performed much better in defensive roles that expected. However, we weren't really put under pressure.
Ogbene and Miller had better 2nd halves although they weren't shabby in the first. Final ball from Miller was bad at times.
Agreed Harding was mom . Barlasar was top notch in first half-what a pairing he and wing would have made for us...just lamenting. Sorry.
Freddie perhaps could have had a couple and the amount of time we got behind them suggests how comfy we were.
Wiles was good and a great finish. Made a few errors that weren't punished.
Read the " code of conduct" on the website, recipe for carnage I'd say. Power mad stewards dishing orders out on minimum wage, should be interesting.
Brad, absolute joke the stewards on Saturday.
I sit in NS6 and all they were doing is looking up just in NS6 and no where else, easy pickings.
Lets see them start on anyone up top in NS3 or 4.
Turnstiles: i said when the video came out this week of how to enter the stadium, that there would be problems, and guess what...problems, but in all fairness there were problems before on the old system at the beginning, but have we learnt anything...NO, why did we have to change ?
And finally Catering..... or the distinct lack of and if ever there was a petri dish required for covid cases it was right there under every stand, nothing and i mean nothing on offer, queue for a drink i dont have a problem with this, but no lager on tap!!!! running the catering on an even tighter budget, whats next ...bring your own.
Three things changed pre-season.... Stewarding / Catering / Ticketing and all three failed on Saturday
TS pulling the purse strings in again...and its not working, why have they had to change anything.
Why do you think T.S has pulled in the purse strings re: catering. The catering has never been in house to my knowledge. Centerplate had the original contract and Elior UK have just got a three year deal to provide all catering and hospitality. It might not be any good but T.S cannot be blamed in anyway for this. Bring back the old kiosk we had at Millmoor with hot pork pies and bovril.
I know some people had real frustrations on Saturday. I'm in East stand and the stewarding and catering were same as previous seasons ...pretty good. They noted the turnstile issue as we cam in at 2.10pm and were just letting everyone in who flashed a ticket or card at them which seemed very sensible to me.
Hopefully, it's put through its paces for next home game and sorted...and yes, a few more pies needed at halftime
Why do you think T.S has pulled in the purse strings re: catering. The catering has never been in house to my knowledge. Centerplate had the original contract and Elior UK have just got a three year deal to provide all catering and hospitality. It might not be any good but T.S cannot be blamed in anyway for this. Bring back the old kiosk we had at Millmoor with hot pork pies and bovril.
Whiston, i mean putting it out to tender, i thought centerplate were getting better at it, and the amount of pies available did get better as the season wore on in 19/20, TS will always look at the bottomline first.
In regard to Millmoor, i lost count of the amount of times i had a hot pork pie to only get it down my ben sherman, cursing it and then still going out on the town, and will never forget the kiosk under the Tivoli near the toilets, mmm PIE and PEE what a combo :)
Good effort Brad. I often wondered how people managed to film the game and watch it at the same time! Request for the future, could we have the goals, replays in slow-motion and expert analysis from some has-been footballer please? For the Wednesday game, make sure you keep the camera running for the 11 minutes of injury time - that's when the majority of action happens!!
