Wycombe 1-0 Bolton

Both teams in good form.

Home advantage will probably count. 2-1 to Wycombe.

We are full of confidence so i'm expecting a draw at least, i'll go 1-1. It would be a big statement to pick up another away win and would have the top two looking over the shoulders.

Well I’m confident the way we’re playing that we’ll win this today. I don’t think in their recent run they’ve come up against a team as good as we now are, including Derby who I think they were a bit fortunate against, so I think like Posh they’re in for a shock. A win today and other than a total collapse there’s nobody chasing the top six who I think will get above us so at least a play off place if we do. I agree a draw wouldn’t be a bad result and I’d settle for that but only if we have to. A win would be as you say a statement piggy and have the top two really looking over their shoulder. Call me crazy but I still expect for some reason Plymouth to fall back!!

I absolutely cannot believe he's left Declan John out. He'd have been one of the first names on my teamsheet.

Natasha Whittam wrote:I absolutely cannot believe he's left Declan John out. He'd have been one of the first names on my teamsheet.

Mine too Nat but I suppose we have to accept that Evatt knows best? Personally I wouldn’t have made any changes but we’ll see and at least we can change it if it’s not working and bring Kachunga on!! 🥴

A big statement today these lot are on a good run, only Sheff Wed and Plymouth beat them, so a win  today puts us in the top company, a defeat puts us back with Deby etc. We couldn't be in better form so fingers crossed, first goal important as always.

Well it just proves again that if you don’t take your chances when they come this can happen and both Santos and Jones could/should have scored. Once again it seems to prove that you don’t change a winning team as we just don’t look the same at all. I think I’d take Victor off for Lee and I’d also swop John for Bradley and put Jones back at RWB. Mind you I’d never have moved him in the first place personally but Evatt knows best?

EVANS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just four days after we all started to eye up the automatic promotion spots, 7th place is giving us a very flirtatious wink.

I'm not stupid enough to think that I can pick a better team than the manager but starting today's game with Lee on the bench was a mistake.

The manager appears to love making things difficult for us.

I thought he might bring Bradley back, although I would have kept the same defence as Tuesday, but to leave John out was simply ridiculous. Even more ridiculous was Morley taking corners when John came on as sub.

Same goes for Lee being on the bench. Leave him out against lowly opposition if you must, but he absolutely has to play in games like this.

As for Victor, he looks like £500k down the drain. Slow, poor first touch, not great in the air - he looks as poor a signing as Randell Williams.

Credit to Kachunga though, he was our best player. I didn't think I'd ever write that.

I've never really fancied us for the play-offs, but even I was beginning to hope after the last few games. But once again we're beaten by a top 7 side, and once again a team of cloggers gets one over us. It feels like last season all over again.

Not that I am in the loop of Evatt's team selections, I have half an idea that he had an eye on Wednesday's semi AND keeping players as fresh as he can with the non stop run of Tuesday/Saturday games we currently are in the middle of.

I'm also unaware if one of the loan conditions attached to signing players like Bradley is if they 'have' to play them when fit and available?

What I thought for this match was that Bradley would have started, Jones played in his normal right side of the three at the back, Toal going over the the left of the three and Mbete going to the bench, leaving John as left wing back.

I could understand Lee being saved for next weeks semi but it made no sense to me, Jones playing left wing back with Williams who allegedly was brought in to play there (as a straight replacement for Sadlier) being left as a substitute.

Maybe John was also being saved for the semi?

Maybe a day out at Wembley is deemed more attainable than promotion this season possibly and todays selection based on that line of thought?

You might be right Sluffy, Evatt may well have his eye on the Accy match but I agree with Nat that this one was a bigger game and I’d have started with both Lee in the 10 role and kept the defence unchanged. I think Evatt realised his mistake not starting John and quickly changed it at half time but the damage was done then. Also like Nat I can’t understand why Morley continued taking corners when frankly he’s hopeless and John proved over the last two games how much better he is. I don’t know whether Bradley’s contract insists he plays but if it doesn’t I’d have stuck with Jones because for all Bradley’s undoubted skill and pace I’m afraid little ever seems to result from it unlike Jones who’s final ball is generally better. I fear for us now, yesterday was a critical game and we came up short. We may not like Ainsworths type of football but he knows how to win and with they and others having so many games in hand on us I fear we’re now just fighting for 6th spot for the season now.

I think most of us had a feeling we would blow this one. Still no need to panic - we have a six-point cushion for that 6th playoff spot.  Although getting an automatic seems a long shot right now.

Hmmm.....

Looks a clear penalty to me!

Whitesince63 wrote:You might be right Sluffy, Evatt may well have his eye on the Accy match but I agree with Nat that this one was a bigger game and I’d have started with both Lee in the 10 role and kept the defence unchanged. I think Evatt realised his mistake not starting John and quickly changed it at half time but the damage was done then. Also like Nat I can’t understand why Morley continued taking corners when frankly he’s hopeless and John proved over the last two games how much better he is. I don’t know whether Bradley’s contract insists he plays but if it doesn’t I’d have stuck with Jones because for all Bradley’s undoubted skill and pace I’m afraid little ever seems to result from it unlike Jones who’s final ball is generally better. I fear for us now, yesterday was a critical game and we came up short. We may not like Ainsworths type of football but he knows how to win and with they and others having so many games in hand on us I fear we’re now just fighting for 6th spot for the season now.

A hypothetical question, but if you are the manager and are just ONE game away from Wembley and being realistic the club ISN'T going to go up automatically this season and PROBABLY will finish in a play-off place, would you not only have that thought in the back of your mind but also try tinkering with the team that plays just a few days before that semi, in order to get a result in BOTH games - but in particular the Semi one against Accrington?

I would.

If I was indifferent about the semi and prioritised the league then there is no question I would play my best team against Wycombe and the 'B' team against Accrington and allow the first team a weeks rest before the next league game next Saturday (because we are in the middle of a long run of playing games each Saturday and Tuesday)

My strongest team would then have been, brining back Bradley, Jones to the right of the back three, Toal over to the left, Mbete to the bench, keep John as left wing back.  I would also play Lee at number 10, and have Shoretire up front with Charles and drop Adeboyejo to the bench.

To my mind the fact that he played Jones at left wing back suggests to me that he thinks Bradley has no problem playing both games but he wanted to give John a break (he's only just come back in the team and would have played 4 games in two weeks if he hadn't been 'rested' yesterday - and Evatt doesn't rate the new boy Williams to be good enough at LWB - hence the mystery of playing Jones there and keeping Mbete in the team.

Lee seems not to be able to play all the games now, so he was being rested for the semi - and if you've just blown all the transfer budget on a forward then I guess you feel the need to play him if Lee is being rested (Lee plays, Shoretire partners Charles, Lee doesn't Adeboyejo starts).

That's my thinking as to why Evatt chose the starting line up he did yesterday - he had his eyes on both games and if anything prioritised the semi - on the basis we will get in the playoffs anyway but a Wembley final doesn't come around much for the likes of us - and probably will end up the highlight of our season if we do get there - and I expect (injury's from yesterdays game permitting) we will.


PS 63, I've been reading the thread on ww today, you don't half get a lot of stick and it didn't surprise me in the least that your bff was nowhere to be seen giving you much if any support at all.

One day you will learn...

Looks likely that we’ll be Ainsworths last game in charge of Wycombe if rumours about him going to QPR are true? I have to say that could be a huge stroke of luck for us if it happens because the last thing you want at this stage is disruption within the team. He’s been at Wycombe for over ten years now so surely nobody there could begrudge him the chance to move up and on to a bigger club, especially one where he was so popular as a player. Let’s hope it happens then.

Whitesince63 wrote:Looks likely that we’ll be Ainsworths last game in charge of Wycombe if rumours about him going to QPR are true? I have to say that could be a huge stroke of luck for us if it happens because the last thing you want at this stage is disruption within the team. He’s been at Wycombe for over ten years now so surely nobody there could begrudge him the chance to move up and on to a bigger club, especially one where he was so popular as a player. Let’s hope it happens then.

Gareth Ainsworth: Queens Park Rangers appoint Wycombe boss as head coach; Matt Bloomfield to be Wanderers boss

Gareth Ainsworth has left Wycombe Wanderers after more than a decade in charge to become head coach of Championship club Queens Park Rangers.

The 49-year-old has agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract and replaces Neil Critchley, who was sacked after just 12 games in charge.

He will be replaced at Wycombe by Colchester boss Matt Bloomfield, who has "agreed in principle" to return.

Bloomfield, 39, left Adams Park in September to take charge of the U's.

Ainsworth spent almost seven years as a QPR player before joining Wycombe in 2010, becoming their manager two years later.

Before his exit from Wycombe, he was second in the list of longest-serving managers in England's top four divisions.

'Absolutely rocking'

Only Harrogate's Simon Weaver had been at the helm for a longer period than Ainsworth, who leaves the Chairboys seventh in League One, just three points outside the play-off places.

"This is all a little bit surreal. It has been a whirlwind two days and leaving Wycombe Wanderers was very tough because of the connection there," he said.

"But this is QPR and when I spoke about something special forcing me away from Wycombe, this was pretty special.

"This is going to be a real challenge because the club is so special to me, and so huge as well. I want to get Loftus Road absolutely rocking again."

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