Bury(home)predictions

[AucklandRover]

Just got home after watching at a friend's house.
I have to say, Bury looked better than a relegation team.
All the same, we made hard work of it. Worst game I've seen Smallwood have, and Bell was a disappointment. I wonder if he's going to be one of those hot-and-cold players.
Odd to play Evans instead of Payne. I can see what the plan was. Hold the central midfield and use the wing-backs to support the attackers. Those wing-backs have to play well, though!
Actually, Evans didn't do much wrong, but he is a bit of a Jason Lowe, in that you don't get much positive from him.
To be honest, I think that Travis would have been there if the suspension hadn't happened.
(That Ripley is a lot bigger than his dad!)
Anyway, job done. Strange that we continue to play better against the stronger teams.

[champs95]

*Payne!! Im doing a 'champs'

Haha ....I was going to say I put that in your head!
I agree btw, not sure why he messed around, I guess he thought Bury would play 5 across the middle. Not sure why he played Evans (as you say Auks, I saw the game exactly how you did) Bell isn't a winger like that, pointless playing him in that position. And play Payne (Byrne ) ....still performances are irrelevant now. It's simply about 3 points. If we carrying on doing so from now on, we'll go up. And the significance of Wigan beating City and us getting promotion is massive this evening, coupled with us going top for the first time. They now have a winnable game in the 1/4's, so long may it continue. It plays exactly into our hands.

[Acido]

I was talking with a Bradford fan last week after their 2-2 home draw with the bottom of the table Bury side. He said they looked like a more than handy side who do tend to go route one etc, but they shouldn't be a relegation side.
Ohh and we also didn't know which of our clubs would end up hiring Larry Grayson, and as it turned out, his team did a few days later.

[AucklandRover]

I was talking with a Bradford fan last week after their 2-2 home draw with the bottom of the table Bury side. He said they looked like a more than handy side who do tend to go route one etc, but they shouldn't be a relegation side.
Ohh and we also didn't know which of our clubs would end up hiring Larry Grayson, and as it turned out, his team did a few days later.

Bury counter-attacked quite well. They got a lot of shots away too. Not many of them were that threatening, but they certainly didn't play like Northampton.

[Despair]

I've said it before over Cory, for an international he's pretty 'unconvincing' for me. He only offers very marginally extra what Lowe did.
First time I've seen Payne and yes he looks a good acquisition. So yes Evans needs to be mindful in order to maintain his place, as for me Payne offers more.
As for Dack, he's got plenty in his locker, I'm struggling to find any weakness in his game. How the hell have we managed to grab him.
Agree, for a club very much adrift they didn't look like it. Not that the result was ever in doubt. But, if they had had anyone with shooting boots it would have been tighter. There were times in second where we were a tad complacent possibly brought on by seeing the major percentage of possession.

[AucklandRover]

Haha ....I was going to say I put that in your head!
I agree btw, not sure why he messed around, I guess he thought Bury would play 5 across the middle. Not sure why he played Evans (as you say Auks, I saw the game exactly how you did) Bell isn't a winger like that, pointless playing him in that position. And play Payne (Byrne ) ....still performances are irrelevant now. It's simply about 3 points. If we carrying on doing so from now on, we'll go up. And the significance of Wigan beating City and us getting promotion is massive this evening, coupled with us going top for the first time. They now have a winnable game in the 1/4's, so long may it continue. It plays exactly into our hands.

The thing is, Champs, it would be hard to drop Williams, so TM has this extra puzzle with what to do about Bell. In his first couple of games, he DID look as if he had a winger's attributes, but since being pushed forward, he has struggled. Weird!
Our best eleven probably has one too many attackers in it, so the policy of having two holding players may have to continue. The only difficulty is, who goes wide?
Conway is better in a formation where the full-back remains as a defender, and he (Conway) stays a bit deeper. On the other hand, Chapman is still out, while Antonsson, Samuel and Armstrong can all do the job without looking entirely comfortable.
If we play only ONE holding midfielder, a bit more room is created, but Mowbray - like it or not - prefers that safety-net - certainly at the start of a game.
Even if Bennett does keep the deeper role, that still leaves Payne, Armstrong, Dack, Graham, Antonsson, Samuel and Nuttall to fit into what are, basically, four places. If we add Chapman, Conway, Whittingham, Gladwin and Tomlinson, you can see what I meant the other day about two teams.

[AucklandRover]

I've said it before over Cory, for an international he's pretty 'unconvincing' for me. He only offers very marginally extra what Lowe did.
First time I've seen Payne and yes he looks a good acquisition. So yes Evans needs to be mindful in order to maintain his place, as for me Payne offers more.
As for Dack, he's got plenty in his locker, I'm struggling to find any weakness in his game. How the hell have we managed to grab him.
Agree, for a club very much adrift they didn't look like it. Not that the result was ever in doubt. But, if they had had anyone with shooting boots it would have been tighter. There were times in second where we were a tad complacent possibly brought on by seeing the major percentage of possession.

It's a strange one for me, Despair. Players like Lowe and Evans look as if they are DELIBERATELY playing a limited game. Smallwood is looking a bit jaded at the moment, but one reason he has been popular and successful is his enthusiasm. I think Travis brings the same quality.
As my reply to Champs suggests, I don't think it is as straightforward as "Attack, attack, attack" - which you see on the Telegraph site all the time.
This is still not a settled team, and piecing the best XI together for each game is an interesting task - for us as well as Mowbray!

[Saxo1man41]

Nobody's mentioned it, but keeping a clean sheet was nice. Seen the highlights and it didn't appear Rays was seriously threatened at any time.

[Saxo1man41]

*Raya

[robinrover]

Raya tends to get a lot of stick but I thought he looked composed and caught well and his distribution was ok
He is only in his early
on last night it wasn't pretty but at the end of the day 3 points is all that matters we did that and we sit proudly on top even if it's only for 24 hours
As for Evans I think time is running out Tomlinson and Travis are snapping at his heels
So onwards and upwards Walsall away as long as we don't become complacent we should continue with another 3 points.