The Hotel End

New beginings or same old rubbish? Hopefully the shackles are off and they get off to a great start. We'll soon see if the players are on board with the new management team.

Here's a suggestion for the team selection:

             Mitchell
Kioso  Jones  Bolger      Mills
    McWilliams    Sowerby
Korboa     Morris        Hoskins
               Rose

Subs: Arnold, Harriman, Horsfall, Watson, Marshall, Edmondson, Ashley-Seal

If Miller and/or Sheehan are available, then Sheehan would replace Bolger, and Miller would replace Korboa, and both would drop to the bench.

Lets all hope for the best and for some entertainment at last!!  Good luck to Brady, Sammo, and Richards.

Would be quite happy with that especially if Miller is fit, would probably have Morris alongside McWilliams with either Sowerby or Watson as the more attacking central midfielder.

here’s my go

                  Mitchell

Kioso.     Jones.    Bolger.      Mills.

Marshall.   McWilliams.  Morris.    Miller.

                Edmundson.  Rose.   


Keep it simple.

Quite like the look of that side. Not sure about Edmundson just, i guess you must have forgot to select Sam?  :o

Funnily enough he was the first name in my head and his was the first ar5e on the bench. 😄
I know what you mean about Edmundson but we really don’t have an alternative as BAS is about as much use as a wheelchair with pedals

I appreciate your good intentions but for me a win(s) for the Cobblers at the moment is top of the list; leave the entertainment factor for later. Also I am not convinced at all that we have sufficient players with the quality necessary to play entertaining football. I also believe that most supporters would gladly support a winning side at the expense of some 'entertainment'. Most successful NTFC sides have been built on a hard unforgiving defence allied with a decent winger and two good strikers. Carrs side was an exception. Of course the Midfield has to be fit for purpose. The trouble is that goalscorers like Yates don't come cheap; same with flair players.                                                                                        

At least I'm looking forward to it now and not from behind the sofa.

Well we don’t have any of those 3.

Not too excited about who starts except:
1) must have a back 4 - let wing backs go back up the Motorway with KC
2) must include McWilliams
3) should try something different upfront. I’m afraid the young lad from Leeds needs to be benched

defence isn't too bad but other depts are looking bit thin on  minimum quality.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Chuck over Edmundson surely?

Our strength in my opinion by a distance is the central midfield while we are very weak in attack, so almost counter intuitively I think playing an extra CM and one less CF would actually make us more attacking, forcing us to play through the midfield and having a platform in attacking areas rather than being overrun in midfield and resorting to aimless long balls. While last season Oliver and Morton were able to force defenders into mistakes and make things out of hoofs up pitch, we don’t currently have that ability.

Maybe a set of crampons for BAS if he starts from the bench.

Soz to be that guy, but seriously....EdmOndson!

Anyway I think it's too early to change much including formation, but I don't think the formation is the problem over the style:

                      Mitchell
              Kioso Bolger Jones
Hoskins Morris Watson McWilliams Mills
              Rose Chuckwuemeka

I think our best team though could probably be

                      Mitchell
         Kioso Jones Sheehan Mills
               Morris McWilliams
           Hoskins Watson Miller
                       Rose

Surely kiddy stablisers?

How cruel ;D 8)

The new era starts here, and what a way to start....the two teams at the bottom meet each other, and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink makes his Sixfields return! One of those games where you wish fans were allowed in!!

So, The Brewers sit in 24th place in the table, currently 5 points behind us with a game in hand. Jake Buxton managed the team up until New Years Day but he was dismissed having only won 2 of his 27 games in charge. Along came former Cobblers and Brewers manager JFH and all of a sudden they've won 2 in three! New manager bounce there make no mistake.

Jimmy managed 33 wins from 54 games first time round before QPR came knocking for his services. An average spell there (13 wins in 47 games) before he left there and we took him on after 11 months out of the game. Again an average spell with us (10 wins in 42) before he was sacked.....and now he returns to his first employer.

After having a watching brief for the 5-1 home defeat by Oxford he took up the reigns and has overseen three 1-0 scorelines, two wins and a defeat. A win at Gillingham and a last minute win over Hull sandwiched that narrow loss at Ipswich. Seems like things have tightened up at both ends of the pitch as Burton's four previous games before the above sequenced of three yielded 23 goals, six for and 17 against. That win over Gillingham brought about their first clean sheet of the season in any competition.
So away from home that is the only win to date, they have five draws with Peterborough and Sunderland among them, and six league defeats. They also suffered a reverse at non-league Barnet in the FA Cup.

Seven players joined in the transfer window, including Josh Parker from Wycombe, Thomas Hamer from Oldham and the matchwinner against Hull Jonny Smith who has come in on loan from Bristol City. Former Cobbler Neal Eardley has joined Barrow on loan, with Charles Vernam making the switch to Bradford on deadline day.

Earlier in the season the Cobblers claimed a 3-1 win at the Pirelli, that went nicely alongside our 4-2 FA Cup win there last season. Head to Head in Burtons relatively short League career there have been 13 meetings between the sides, Burton have six wins and we have four. At Sixfields they hold the upper hand with 3 wins to two and one draw. Both our wins were by the score of 1-0, they have recorded two 3-2 wins on our patch.
The last meeting at Sixfields was back in October 2014 and resulted in a 2-1 Brewers win, former Cobbler Jacob Blyth scored one of their goals. The Cobblers side that day contained current Premier League player Enda Stephens and we had Ivan Toney up front.
That 3-1 win for us back in November saw Harry Smith score twice for us and Chris Lines came off the bench to score the other....neither of those two will feature this weekend for us! Kane Hemmings leads their scoring charts with eight goals, all in the league and he's followed by the scorer of their consolation that day Lucas Akins who has 7.

Scott Oldham is the whistler appointed for the game, I believe he was due to take charge of one of our two recent postponements.....anyway, he has not reffed us or Burton this season, his 18 games have yielded a relatively low 28 yellow cards and no reds, so on paper at least he looks to be a lenient ref. He oversaw our 2-0 win at Carlisle last season (booking Shaun McWilliams and Billy Waters), and also handled Burtons 4-3 win at Bolton and their 3-2 defeat at Lincoln. This will be his second visit to Sixfields, the other back in November 2018 saw us ease to a 2-0 win over Crewe. He only flashed one yellow that day.....to Shaun McWilliams!

James Oldham was the referee at Blackpool - I wonder if they're related?

Can you imagine two brothers both refs 😂

Brady must know Chuckwuemeka, and how to get the best of him, better than anyone else at the football club. The other options have been tried and haven't cut the mustard. He showed enough against Wigan away IMO to show that he is potentially a very dangerous, composed player. I'd love to see him start.

Here's my team in a 4-3-1-2 with full backs encouraged to bomb forward on the overlap:

                          Mitchell

       Kioso        Bolger.  Jones.   Mills

           Sowerby   McWilliams. Morris
                             
                           Hoskins

                    Rose      Chuckwuemka
                   

       If and when Miller gets fit I would go for the 4-3-3 again.

I can’t find any family connection between the two of them, ones from Lancashire and the other from Derbyshire.
Teachers Pet did at least answer my belief that we’d had an ‘Oldham’ recently!!

Good shout Bungle.
I’ll go with that!

Burton's only away win, 1-0 at Gillingham, is the only away clean sheet they have on their travels but on the other hand they have only failed to score twice in 12 away games and twice have scored more than 1. We have only kept 3 home clean sheets so we may need to score more than once to win.
It is now the middle of February can we finally get our first Saturday home win of the season?.
On the subject of referees Graham Salisbury and Michael Salisbury are father and son, we have had both several times.

I would put McWilliams in the Hoskins position and Watson in the midfield three. Mcwilliams to press Burton higher up the pitch.

Brady added: "One thing is for sure is that we'll be really on the front foot, we'll be getting bodies into the box and putting crosses in and getting shots off and it won't be through for the want of trying in terms of scoring goals.

"Without giving too much away, it's about the freedom for players to get into the box and the freedom for players to express themselves in the final third.

"We need to move the ball quickly and keep our ball speed high and a lot of that we went through on Thursday and we really enjoyed seeing the players express themselves."


How refreshing!!   :)

Let’s hope so - Sat will give us a clue!

Just wondering what the reaction would be if they played 5 at the back with the same starting 11 as against Wigan but they dropped McWilliams? Would it be the equivalent faux pas of Fenwicks “stepping stone to the Prem” comment? I’m expecting pretty good things from Brady tbh, so I hope not? I have a fuzzy warm glow about the dynamic trio, I really do.

The dreaded 5 and drop McW! The reaction would be an overload on here! Unless we win :o ! Not so sure about the JB/triumvirate. Didn’t work for Pompey!

Caretaker manager Jon Brady says he is not looking ahead any further than Saturday’s game with Burton Albion.

“It’s been a whirlwind couple of days but my only focus right now is on trying to get results to help the club move up the league.

“Sammo has a vast amount of experience as does Marc Richards, and they both know the football club. I’m really happy and comfortable to have them around me and I know they will both push me as well.

“Saturday is a big game in terms of we know that a win could potentially see us pop out of the bottom four but I don’t want to put too much pressure on one game.

“In terms of the team we will put round pegs in round holes and we will pick what we believe are the best players to try and win us the game.

“The players we pick will have the freedom to go out and express themselves. We want them to get forward and they also have to have the attitude and belief that they will get on the end of things.

“I’ve seen that in training but we have to take it into Saturday now.”

How refreshing, finally the end of Hoskins at wing back!  ;D

First time in a while i have been looking forward to a game

Me too! I've had one of those weeks where you are somehow a day out and keep thinking it's the wrong day so I woke up this morning thinking "Cobblers v Burton later!" until a moment or so later I realised it was actually Friday and I had another day to wait.

I was really disappointed...

Probably unlikely that we come up against JJO'T tomorrow as he was not in their 18 man squad for their last game due to injury. I have never been convinced by him playing at centre back.

Might be some interesting selections for both sides tomorrow with as you mention JJOT for Burton, for us Hoskins, Bolger, Horsfall,Sheehan,Marshall and last not least Holmes (if a place in the squad still exists) My money is on Hoskins in the starting line up; joint leasing leading scorer ?

Hopefully the end to wing backs all together as we haven't got a sole fit for the task. 

I would class Kioso and Mills as wing backs rather than full backs.

                             Mitchell
       Kioso        Bolger.       Jones.   Mills
                             
                            McWilliams
                      Watson         Morris
                              Hoskins
                       Rose       Chuckwuemka


I would be asking the forwards to run them selves into the ground with one eye on swapping both. We are top heavy squad wise and we need to start utilizing that like Wilder does. They should be starting knowing they are going to be on for 45/60 mins and leave everything on the pitch.

As far as I can remember Hoskins has rarely been selected as an outright wingback; admittedly he ends up there after some of Curles substitutions.

To be a wingback you need to have certain strengths.

Mills cannot physically cross a ball from a wide position, so I would not class him as a wing back.

Kioso I agree partly, although I'm not convinced he has the defensive attributes to be a wing back.

I'd like to see Chukwuemeka start tomorrow, and given Brady brought him through the u18's I wouldn't be at all surprised if he does

Mills does not have the pace to be a wing back.

Mills greatest strength for FGR was his goal ratio... he ended up top scorer from left back. How do you utilise that strength I wonder, because you're right, his crossing isn't doing the business at the moment.

If pace is the pre-requisite for a wing back then we only have Kioso and Hoskins and they both generally play on the right. Although Korboa has played wing back at times I don't think that fits with Brady's statement of round pegs in round holes.
If Mills is attacking up the left flank and we lose possession and the opposition break forward up his side I believe the 3 centre back formation is designed to deal with this. The left sided centre back comes accross to cover leaving 2 centre backs in the middle while the right wing back gets back on the other side thus completing a back 4.
I don't know why anybody thinks Kioso is not good enough defensively as he came in as a wing/full back who could also play further forward if needed. He has made several vital defensive contributions starting in the 2nd minute of his first game when he was injured doing so. He was highly rated by Bolton who were desperate to have him back.
Our new manager says we need to nullify Burton's strengths while exploiting their weaknesses, sounds familiar.

Now that we can celebrate Seollal, we should say a prayer for the discarded.

Oh discarded,
We think of thee,
You've been red-carded,
and now we're free,
Of those who've departed,
We, I, Us, Me
Can truly worship
Jon Brady.

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/sport/football/revealed-cobblers-team-you-want-see-take-burton-albion-weekend-3133885

I'm not sure who and where the supporters were asked but do you agree?

There was a link on James Heneghans Twitter Page. It took you to options on formation then player choices

Pitch inspection at 11-30.

Muddy pitch, high water table, temperatures below freezing all day....not much hope of it being Ono don’t think.

Eugh, I'm so fed up of postponements.

Thank you. That has probably limited the demographic of the voters then...

This will not suit our silky passing game. I do hope its called off.

I hope if the referee postpones the match they try again tomorrow (2pm 5 degrees).

Probably some on here did which is why Hoskins was voted in by 60% of support. Probably very accurate too ;D
The people speak!

Well done SOG true poet

I don't! Let's get this on, I'm really looking forward to it!!

We can't have Benny slipping over, can we?

Its still freezing so would doubt the game will get the go ahead.

Covers on until today, suns out and windy too so all good drying day. Be surprised if off!

We play again Tuesday so doubt that will be possible.

Lots of games off already today due to a frozen pitch...

Another inspection at 12:30. Bit ambigiously worded tweet, seems to suggest maybe a few problem patches on the pitch that would need to be solved before that point.

Get the hairdryers out!😉

Todays Oxford v Wigan game has been put back until tomorrow and they both play again on Tuesday so if we can't get it played today play it tomorrow.

Wimbledon Rochdale has gone....

Bristol Rovers v Swindon off. Game at Lincoln off and now being played tomorrow.

Its on!

Yes!! Let's hope I'm still as pleased it went ahead at 5 o'clock!! ;D

Re cancelled games in L1 so many tinpot clubs!
Message to Coolie will you admonish your Oxford ‘pal’ for his jibe? Irrespective if they play tomorrow or not! ;D

I said in my preview that we had a lenient ref....perhaps refs have differing ideas about conditions too! It seems we’ve got one who just gets on with things!

Supposed to be staying below freezing for the rest of the day, now it is on let's hope we can complete the game.

We've got this game in the bag!!!

If we win today, we go up to 18th!

Get into em...!

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So much to read in our ᴍᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ its bigger than ever this week, make sure you give it a read.


https://cobblerspast.com/preview-burton-h120221/

If we lose we are 2 points off bottom, with Burton having a game in hand.

Here's Brady's first team:

Mitchell; Kioso, Jones, Bolger, Mills; Hoskins, McWilliams, Watson, Morris, Marshall; Rose.

Subs: Arnold, Harriman, Sowerby, Horsfall, Korboa, Edmondson, Chukwuemeka.

Who knows the formation, I'm struggling  ::)

4-4-2 or 4-4-3.

Other than Sheehan for Bolger and Hoskins for Edmunson, that was the team I voted for in that Chron poll, so if it goes wrong, blame me.

Edit: i'd guess flat back 4, midfield 3 of McWilliams and Morris with watson at the front of it, and then Marshall and Hoskin wide in a front three with Rose in the middle.

Can I go for the 4-4-3 please  ;D

Maybe 4-5-1 though I guess there isn’t a huge difference between that and 4-3-3

If we are losing and you want to moan it's 451 and 'why are we bloody playing 1 up front at home'

and if we are winning it's 433 and 'what great pace we have on the wings and good support from midfield'

I’m glad Sowerby and Edmondson have been dropped to the bench, both have been very poor recently.

Nice to see The Marshall back,  hope he can stand up.
Where's BAS, is he injured or surplus to requirements?
4-5-1

Looks like 4-3-3 with the ball and 4-5-1 without.

Great to see my man Marshall in the team, let’s get behind the lads.

UTC

Let’s hope he’s got the correct kit on this time!

Hope you haven't put too much pressure on him or he'll be pants again!! ;D ;D ;D

You’ve just saved me 90 minutes of viewing. The amount you’ve been talking about MM it’s a nailed on win now he is starting.

I’m expecting at least a goal and a couple of assists.

I’m feeling the pressure now  ;D

First game I've looked forward to in many many weeks. Good luck Jon and co!

Bugger.

I truly believe theres a goal in us

Unlucky Sam bit lower.

We’ve created more in the first 15 minutes than the last 4 or 5 games combined

Playing better already! Pity the 3rd opportunity fell to Hoskins

I don't

What’s immediately apparent is that we are trying to get the ball forward quickly

Surprised Mitchell got the nod ahead of Arnold.

Well played CJ

same as under curle then?

This best chance of the half, you just have to hit the target.

No, we are trying to PASS it forward quickly rather than just hoofing it. Football better but still lacking the cutting edge up front.

Still missing that goalscorer.
Get Baldy on !!!

Yes, but we all know Hoskins might hit the target in 1 in 10 shots.

A much better watch. Rose working well up top on his own.

I can smell a goal is coming.

I think someone forgot to tell Bolger we stopped playing long ball. The rest are doing ok though without scoring.
Just how decisive was Mr Curle?
Aside from Sean Mac, who else did his style of play suit?

So much better in the first 15 minutes and unlucky not to be one or two up. Burton have got back into it now though but we're still looking quite dangerous in our build up play. It's nice to see the ball being worked through midfield at times too.

It's certainly a better watch than anything we've seen in the last few weeks.

Actually think Edmundson might do ok with the better approach play

Think Hoskins has at occasion looked like a proper footballer today. Some good control and touches... we still cant cross though and nobody out of Marshall, Rose or Hoskins is going to win a header, best chance really is getting it to the edge of the box and let a runner take a long shot.

Back of the Net, absolutely correct, actually feels I’m watching football. Pity Miller not fit, I would have him in ahead of Hoskins

Last few years*

Here's a challenge for you and Manwork. Try to write 3 consecutive posts without mentioning Hoskins. We know he's your favourite, but just try it.

That’s just the thing, Hoskins isn’t a footballer, nothing is instinctive with him, he’s improved his first touch and he runs around a lot but his passing and especially his shooting is w@nk.
As for Bolger words fail me.

It’s in the context of the thread pal, keep up.

i want my centre halves to defend first and foremost - not fussed how much football they play.

i want my attacking players to play the football.

we just dont seem to have that quality in the attacking third - mainly coz curle wanted runners not footballers

FFS Hoskins

He couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo

No shot has been on target yet, not Rose, not Watson not anyone. But nothings mentioned until Hoskins misses.  Give it a break FFS

Hoskins crap ball again almost causes a pen

What a cross by Marshall.

Marshall and Rose have just combined well.

Marshall is doing what we need Hoskins to do as well

🎶 All we are saying is give us a goal🎶

I'd prefer my centre halves to use midfield if possible. Bolger launched a few time too many for me

Get that utter donkey Bolger out of our club... liability, never mind captain!

Hoskins and Marshall link well, but poor from Morris

Are you from Madrid?

Well it’s just the same old cr@p.......you can certainly see why these 2 are holding up the league.

We're actually leading in the possession stakes...53-47.... when was the last time that happened?

Lack of quality up front is holding us back today.....

Not a lot going on elsewhere....MK Dons still goalless with Hull, Fleetwood trail at Plymouth, all the other games are off. The point has us back out of the bottom four at least.

I don’t want to bang Mannys drum too much but Marshall playing in his natural position gives us a bit of class going forward .

spot on

Why the fcuk did he catch the pass back?

Brady/Sammo/Rico out......

FFS.

and why wasnt he closest to the ball when he scored - stood still a yard out - clown

curle in

That’s why I’ve always said that Arnold is the better Keeper, Mitchell always has a mistake in him.

Why did he not think that it wasn't a back pass?

What a F>CKING SHAMBLES...what was the Keeper thinking of ???

Because he's a muppet?

Shocking schoolboy goalkeeping error!

MK Dons one up...

We needed to win these last 2 games.....a costly mistake in both of them.

Substitutions too late...we will see....Where is a goal coming from ?

What a joke, another match we totally gift a goal, awful defending, awful goalkeeping

Just seen it on SSN, comedy goal....one of those brainfarts....no need to catch that! Defending for the freekick was suspect too, players not willing to get hurt by jumping and turning their backs on the ball.

I couldn't understand why the ref didnt have us all back in the line. We were 8 yards away at most.
Not that it did us any favours.

JFH back in  ::)

Really poor decision by the keeper

We need a goal out of nothing and we take off our one player who can get a goal out of nothing...

You’ll have to watch a lot of professional football to see another one of those. Professional goalkeepers tend to err on the side of caution in those situations.
McWilliams off! Where’s this Fcukin equaliser coming from?

... and (yet) another false dawn is just about to break over PTS Stadium.

Why take Danny Rose off ?

I should think after this display KT will expedite the recruitment process.

why would anyone want to come in a manage this group - absolutely lacking in every single department..................

Whoever we get in has no chance of getting goals out of this team.

Agreed, we need an experienced man as well if we are to have any hope.

Where is the reaction to going behind.......

A very League Two game between two very League Two teams. Next season it will be. It's a massive g amble entirely changing the system / shape at this point of the season, especially as we've got square pegs in round holes. If we were going to get rid of Curle the time to do it was ahead of the transfer window, not straight after it. This relegation's on KT I'm afraid.

Best interests of the Club to bring somebody in who is completely new to the Club. New man ,new ideas, looks like it will be in League two though.

This season is done. Stick with Brady to keep the costs manageable. What KC has assembled is awful. KT to late to react. Should have gone before the window.

Mitchell- Utterly Awful
Bolger-worse

Blimey...I read in more than one place “give them until the end of season” I did point out that’s a long time. I didn’t think it would be until 4:55pm. I’m sure they’ll get a few games to see if they can rinse anything out of this unfortunate bunch.

exactly this - no point in getting anyone in now - we are down.

at least marshall showed how much he cares about losing, just letting that bloke to run 90 yards to score instead of fouling him

You F>king shower of SH1TE

We need an experienced Manager & Quick !

How the f*** is he allowed to walk that around Marshall and Morris and into the net? None of these lot give a s*** any more.

A perfect of a loan player not giving a toss.....where was the effort by Morris?? Half hearted running alongside their player, no tackle, turned inside out and laboured back.....

If you bought someone else in and they didn’t keep us up, they’d be shown the door too.

Agree, KC has left us with a very poor side, there were signs earlier in the game but Michelle mistake has cost us dearly. Get Arnold back in.

Awful by Morris

Mitchell at fault for the first and made it easy for them with the second.

Why wait until the end of the season ? Why not bring somebody in now so they can start building for next season, needs somebody with fresh ideas, but KT is not known to act quickly though is he. As mentioned i think KT can take the blame for any relegation.

Marshall just gave up!!!

What are they going to build and how outside of the window out of interest?

Get a new broom in asap.

Send Mitchell and Morris back packing tonight. Both truly disgraceful.

I think you mean Morris?

Leave him alone you.

It was going ok until that ridiculous decision from Mitchell to pick up an obvious back pass. Once they'd scored we went into our shells and the second goal was deserved.

I'd get them in for training tomorrow to give the maximum amount of time for some new ideas to take root ahead of Tuesday's game.

 ;D He did and that is unacceptable. ;)

Didn't think we ever looked like losing (or winning) until the back pass, how many Refs ever give those as free kicks? After that Burton had too much know how for us.

Is it too late to get the game called off?

We are never going to score again. Will be playing Burton again next year though, didnt have an attack until we gave them a free kick from closer to the goalline than the penalty spot.

We must win less than 10% of balls in the air in the oppositions box. Whats the point in crossing it to the back post?

When they are that obvious, all of them... 8)

Agreed, he also turned his back on the free kick as well.

Mitchell & Bolger should be ashamed, utterly pathetic amateur performance

It can't have been a pass back to the keeper coz Bolger would have missed him! :) :)

We had two massive chances and simply have to score, 1st one Hoskins shot over, second Roses header they have to go in!

Agreed, Mitchell nowhere near good enough for this level.

I’ve watched football for long enough to know that we’re not dead and buried yet. Get a new manager in who has some experience and we have a chance. Burton hadn’t kept a clean sheet for 36 games before JFH returned. They’ve now kept 3 in 4 games and picked up 9 points from 12 since JFH returned.

Agree with all of that.

As do I, all is not lost yet....

Probably not possible to have someone new in before Ipswich, after that its MK Dons away, then another double header against lowly teams. Having just been beaten at home by Wigan and Burton, we just can not afford for the same thing to happen when we take on Rochdale and Swindon in a couple of weeks time.

We started ok, we tried to play football and created more chances than we had in the past 2/3 games. I would drop Mitchell and think seriously about Hoskins in the team. If we do bring in a new Manager he is going to be stuck with Curles team. However, think we need to persevere with the tactics we started with today and give it another chance.

Thoughts:

1. Neither Brady nor any manager could legislate for the mistakes by Bolger and Mitchell for the first. Bolger had other options other than a risky chest-height back pass, but he probably would have got away with it if Mitchell had had his wits about him and chested it before booting it away.

2. Brady's primary remit was to create more chances. I would say he just about achieved that (relative to the Wigan game at least). I would say he picked the most creative line up possible with Marshall and Watson both having decent games from an offensive point of view.

Up until the sloppy goals I would say that we didn't look any less defensively solid with 4 at the back and the full-backs got forward on the overlap very effectively. There were some signs of some promising interplay

On the negative side I thought Morris had a very poor game and should be swapped for Sowerby next time out. I also think that we need someone with some more physical presence up front - we put in some reasonable crosses today (for the first time in ages) but there wasn't enough in the box to get on the end of them. Edmondson was **** poor again - I would far rather Chucks or Seal were given a go up there.

Overall, I think it's too early to judge the 'Brady bunch'. There were improvements in some areas; there were the same old personal mistakes (largely outside of the manager's control) in others. I think the one area to criticise might be the use of the substitutes, neither of which improved us.

Apparently Jimmy was yelling at their player to run to the corner flag before they scored the second. While im so frustrated about the goals, and despondent about how long its been since we've hit rhe back of the net, it was so refreshing to want to play short passes and try to attack rhe opposition. Think i'd stop watching if we appoint a defensive firefighter, even if it means going down, I just can't stomach hoofball anymore.

As above, i'd agree with Edmonson, my patience has run out. Rose isnt the best player for a 4-3-3, he hasnt got the strength to be the focal point, but it was a downgrade when he was replaced. Morris had a poor game, I've liked him previously but the performance would deserve being dropped. Don't know what you do about goalkeeper and cente back, clearly not league standard there.

Of course we are not down yet, it’s ridiculously tight down there. The problem is we are currently in free fall.
Hard to be optimistic but the next 3 or 4 games will give us an idea if there’s any mileage in the three amigos.

Bit of same old same old. Again not looking if we would score in a million years! No Sheehan or Miller so predictable result. Not that impressed with selection and subs.  Well some have prayed for KC dismal and now what?  The side I would have started :
Given our limitation would have played 5 at the back and hope the wingbacks would provide some service?
Mitchell
Mills
Horspath
Bolger
Jones
Peter C
Sowerby
Morris
Watson
Chuck
Rose
Given our limitations would have played
I know Marshall is a must have for some but it didn’t work out.
After the first 35mins we lost momentum and the midfield slowly faded. At half time we should have replaced Morris and Marshall. Be surprised if JB is up to it? Would be delighted if he proves otherwise. The failure to have a goal scorer on the pitch and a commanding defender is proving disastrous. The manner of defeat was very disappointing.


PS Forgot about McW - he would have been in lieu of Sowerby or Morris

Also, was their goalscorer the guy who should have been red carded for sticking his handa around McWilliams neck, or was that someone else?

I've got a very good feeling about next season's 4th division campaign.

Everbrite, you’d drop Marshall after today’s game where he was the outstanding player go8ng forward, nice interplay, some good crosses and looked most likely to create something.

So frustrating. A draw (even 0-0) would have steadied the ship and given us something to build on. After that comedy first goal I’m not really surprised we collapsed and showed all our footballing and emotional frailties- which have been with us for virtually every game since September.

I feel a bit sorry for Mitchell- I bet he’s never done that before in his professional career. The fact he waited until such an important game is typical of the luck you get when you’re in our position.

The obvious elephant in the room is our inability to score. Now with the window shut we need to mix it up. No to Rose. No to Edmundson. No to Sammy. Even try BAS and Chuck up front (be worth it for comedic value alone!) or play with 6 midfielders. We need something to move us on.

It’s not too late. A fit Sheehan makes a huge difference. KC has a very very poor  job in recruitment but I honestly think we’ve got enough to stay up.

However, it’s gunna be a scrap and one thing you don’t want in a relegation scrap to the death is a back bone of on loan players. Brady needs to drop them all to the bench and motivate our signed up squad to give everything to the cause.

Up the Cobblers!

Dunno about that, is a loanee any more or less motivated than someone who's contract ends at the end of the year?

Absolutely right - get an experienced man in; if necessary pay big bucks for the right man! Just don't throw JB to the Lions at a another predictable defeat as this  will encourage some on here calling for his head.

I think Brady should be given a couple of games, Curle has left us with a poor team, 2 days is no sufficient time to even begin to improve the team. I must my Pompey buddies all felt that Morris would be poor for us. He has been ok up until today. If he could shoot and if Hoskins wasn’t so wasteful the board might indeed have had a different feel this evening. We played more football today than I’ve seen in the last 10 games.

Bring in a manager that can rebuild us to a competitive standard?

I was a big advocate of Curle after last season. I thought he'd instilled a very clear gameplan that made us horrible to play against, with exactly the right personnel to execute it well. (Oliver, Adams, Morton)

I don't know if it was lack of money, missing out on key targets, but the players he's brought just aren't suited to playing that way, and aren't up to scratch in other areas. Quite simply, we don't have good enough players to be in this division, and lack any form of cohesive gameplan to obfuscate that.

While I'd like to see us put up a fight, this season is more or less a write-off now.

Wish you would think before you hit the keyboard as I would not have selected him. He is a valuable player to bring off the bench where he is likely to have an impact. He has proved that in the past.

I just think we need fresh coaching staff in with some experience. I have nothing against Brady, Sammo and Rico but if it was a situation where we had 5/6 games to go then I would absolutely say let’s give them until the end of the season and hope the feel good factor would result in a boost in performance. I’m not a fan of hanging around with caretaker managers as it results in too much uncertainty around who will be in charge in the long term. As I said, in a situation where there’s only a handful of games left then fair enough, but we still have a large chunk of games to play. Get a new man in fairly quickly I say, to give him time to get his ideas across. The games are coming thick and fast. It may feel unfair on the Brady Bunch but there’s no time to ‘wait and see’ how they get on I’m afraid.

Agree with you except for the last sentence where we still have enough games left to crawl out of this mess. Mission impossible for the right man?

Everything that we did going forward came through Marshall, the cross for the disallowed goal, the cross for Rose.
To drop him we wouldn’t have a single spark going forward.
We need an experienced manager e.g. Cowley or Cook, an inexperienced manager would be a disaster.
BTW Toggle Tim talks utter nonsense.

100% we need experience, Cook though, I can't see it.

I guess it’s all down to KT, if we got the Cowleys  of Cook I think we would stay up, I really do.
If we go cheap with an inexperienced man it would not only gets us relegated but would destroy their career in the process.
John Brady is a good guy but we need someone who can grab this lot assemble them and hopefully bring in a few out of contract players, for me a Center half and a striker.

Agreed

I wont watch us if we get the Cowleys, honestly after Boothroyd, Hasselbaink and Curle I've just had enough of that s***.

Everbrite, no need to consider my response, Marshall was the best player in our side today.

With you on this Manny - all the way 8)

Chins up boys. 3 reasons to be cheerful on this chilly Saturday night.
1) We moved the ball around better than I’ve seen us do for weeks
2) A good post match interview from JB. An honest view on what we did and failed to do and that he knows what he wants to do to make things better
3) 8 wins in our last 19 games and we’ll stay up!

Agreed. Marshall is our most creative player. He has to start IMO.

I thought they were very strange substitutions. He talked in his pre-match preview about playing players in the correct positions, then puts Harriman on at left back, he’s played there before but that isn’t his position! Then Rose off for Edmundson? We needed goals why not gamble and get more forwards on.. not really on the front foot as he suggested!

Apparently you can’t say g a m b l e

I had the same problem last week. Mods ... what’s the problem with the g word??

We started in the front foot which was exactly what he said he wanted in his pre-match interview.

Just reading the post match interview though.....he's "only had two one hour sessions with the boys".....?????? So he got the caretaker role on Wednesday afternoon, and we only trained for an hour on Thursday and an hour on Friday? An hour a day?

We moved it better against Lincoln and Accrington? I have had enough of smooth post match assessments by Managers. Still think we are paying for the loss of Sheehan and Miller.

Agree 100% Evers.
Any news on their return? Tuesday evening would be nice!

Brave of you to mention this; apart from intricate passing in the first 35 mins it was a similar game to Wigan and only lost 0-1!

It's from the American Service Provider, there are a number of other words that are also surprising to be included in that filter.

Sheehan instead of Bolger and Miller instead of Hoskins would be ideal but I’m not sure either will be fit. We moved the ball far better today than most games this year and we’re very unlucky not to get 2 or 3 goals. That is far more than we have achieved recently.

Everbrite I detect sour grapes from you because KC has gone, would have thought you would get behind the new trio and give them a little more than 35 minutes!

It was difficult to tell which team was 23rd in the league and which was 24th in a scrappy game poor in quality that had 0-0 written all over it. Then, like Tuesday, we make a stupid mistake and gift the opposition a goal. I cannot believe that Brady backs Mitchell and didn't think it was a back pass. We line up across the goal line with no space between our players so if we stay there and Burton blast the free kick chances are it will hit one of our players unless they manage to hit the roof of the net. But everbody rushes out towards the ball leaving a huge gap by the post which they exploit. Then we let a player run from well within his own half unchallenged for the second.
There was a marginal improvement on Tuesday but nothing to give confidence of escaping the drop. Apart from saving Roses header the Burton 'keeper was untroubled which says a lot when you are playing the bottom team at home. We did not get enough men forward to support Rose and the formation always looked more 451 than 433. An early goal in those first fifteen minutes could have made a lot of difference. Again when we went forward we chose the wrong option at times with Hoskins and Morris shooting from distance when there were better options. Frankly if we were still in division 2 I doubt that we would be pushing for promotion.
If a new manager is appointed  he is not going to know a lot of the players and will take time to assess what he has and we do not have that much time. We now need to pick up points from games where we previously thought we had little chance of doing so and it appears there is trouble in the camp with Brady saying players are blaming each other.

Lincoln and Accrington?

I thought we looked better today, just thought it was a pretty negative change to make

I prefer an experienced Manager like Cook; I think giving the Brady team time is disastrous. If he gets 3 points at Ipswich will reserve judgement. JB is good at coaching the under 18's but not a struggling L1 side. Stand bye my comment on Marshall; very good impact sub  who has proved his worth in the past in that role..

Agree with the Sheehan and Miller point but I think you’re overstating today’s performance a little bit. We played well for about 20 mins today which is barely a quarter of the game. After that we were poor with very little creativity and yet more defensive lapses. Let’s also remember that this was all against the team bottom of the league, who granted have improved under JFH but looked extremely average today. Had KC still been in charge today we’d all be saying it was quite a poor performance I think.

I agree that you'd probably have seen that as ineffective even before the goal was conceded if Curle was in charge, and judging it more harshly, but the possession stat and succesful pass percentage was wildly different, and much easier on the eye.

Well spotted 8)

I thought this as well. Seemed a short amount of time given he got the caretaker role on Wednesday.

Easier on the eye but same result. We did also have some ‘easier on the eye’ performances under Curle. Definitely better possession stats but did we really look any more threatening after the first 20 mins? I’d say no.

I understand that point of view completely, but for me, I actually wanted to watch the game, which I hadn't wanted to do for the last month or so. I would even choose that over horrible hoofball that lets us win 1 - 0, but I understand that wouldn't be everyones view.

Welly I agree, we tried to play football today and could have won the game, haven’t seen that for a long time. We have a great performance from Marshall who was frozen out by KC. Yet still we have sour grapes from those who wanted Curle to stay. I’ve had enough of this board especially certain characters who don’t wish to see anyone else’s opinion or views. EB just crawl back under your Lotus cap. Goodbye from me.

You’d rather watch us lose than watch us win  ???

Yeah, and I get that isnt a priority for everyone, but after Boothroyd and Curle and even Calderwood, i'm just burnt out of it having to watch hoofball. If you told me today that the Cowleys would come in today, and we'd be guaranteed League 1 football next year, but in return every game would be just pumping the ball long, I would not take that deal.

If we're staring at the trapdoor to the conference, i'd be willing to reconsider, but for me now, enough is enough.

It does seem, especially on social media, that those who have wanted Curle out for months (years) on end, thought today was better. Whilst those of us who tipped on Tuesday, but prior to that appreciated what Curle had achieved, didn't...

For me, today we started off well. 15 minutes, we were the better team. Then it was hoof. hoof. hoof. Better than Tuesday? Yeah for sure. Better than Accrington last Saturday? Not a chance...

Today we were awful. 83 minutes before a change? Then we brought on a defender and played him out of position. In the managers interview, the comments I've read are that he was honest, came across well. I thought he spoke a load of crap!! He spent about 2 minutes waffling on about how the free kick wasn't a free kick and Mitchell made the right decision to claim the ball. Oh well, we all see things differently I guess!

In summary. It was time for Curle to go. We've got caretaker(s) who have never managed above step6. And that showed today. Or at least it did for me.

We need a proper manager, asap. One with next season (and beyond) in mind. Brady...give me strength. My Wife would have made a better fist of it today...she certainly wouldn't have waited 83 minutes before making a change and then bringing a defender on. Well she might have done. But you get my point!

Well I for one thought that Curles position as Manager was somewhat shaky after Wigan and so it proved. Its just ironic that JB failed in similar fashion.

A little bit harsh, Curle has about 500 League games as a manager under his belt, it was Brady's FIRST game !

It baffles me that you and others are talking as if Brady has been in charge for a couple of years and has assembled a squad that he is happy with.

The fact of the matter is he has been in charge of a squad for a couple of days that have scored 1 in 8 and haven’t won in 7.

Did we give it a go, yes. Did we at least try to play a bit, yes. Did we finally have a couple of shots, yes.

What were you all expecting, Hoskins to notch 7 and Cobblers to run riot with a 15-0 win?

The squad is just as s***e now as it was this time last week.

What I did expect, at half time, was to go a little more attacking, Rose was isolated, and to give him a partner in crime. 83 minutes into the game, we made our first change. Rose and McWilliams came off, Edmonson and Harriman came on. So we replaced a midfielder and a striker with a defender and a striker (whose never scored in league1).

Thats how I saw today. Negative. From 15 minutes in, too finish. We got away with a nailed on penalty around an hour in, and waited...waited...waited...until they scored...and then a few minutes more still....to make a change.

If thats what you want to see, fair game. Its not what I expect a football manager to do. Any football manager. I was upbeat before the game, but having seen what I saw, Im struggling.

Its a shame that in the 2 hours of training (in 3 days) he didn't work out that we possibly need to play with more than 1 up front, against the worst team in the division, that perhaps we need to 'play on the front foot'...

Dear Welly
You see to be edging towards the dark side 8) I would have been delighted with a point today. Incidentally and particularly during the second half we began to hoof it, I counted at least 7 times but gave up. All this crap about fancy dan play(no pun intended Dan - true supporter) and neat passing; the Kettering Guy said we are taking 2 or 3 passes to get get the ball into the box when one would do! The best Cobbler's sides have always been direct with two decent fwds! I am not ashamed to say am not particularly concerned about style of play provided we get something from a game. In fact if somebody says 'pleasing on the eye ' again will make indecent gestures at the comment!

I thought that some on here said KC's tactics were stifling the players of which a few had a bit of quality. Now you are contradicting those punters in saying the squad is rubbish. Did we give it a go - about 20mins and then faded. Play a bit - ok if you feel a bit of tippy tappy gains you el dorado. I expected a draw at least to get JB off to half decent start. So you think a couple shots is fair! I think you need a dose of realism; we are in a relegation scrap and we have to do better to survive.

So he should have selected a more prolific League 1 striker from the bench?

He has been given a dud hand and you honestly expected him to turn it into gold in the space of 3 days. That really is crazy.

There is no scrap to be had. KC has assembled a squad worthy of non league. KT gave him the transfer window as the last throw of the dice, we need to take stock and plan for next season.

If you ask me Thomas fcuked up not getting rid of Curle before the window, he stuck with him for a couple of games after the window closed and then sacked him, I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions?

What with 19/20 games to come ::) - we need to scrap and fight for every point for remainder of season. It appears at least to me you are at odds with the opinion of some on here! I hope as a true fan you are not throwing in the towel just to take stock ;D

The Curle haters will be using the next 2 years of potential failure as an excuse. They are similar to those who voted for Labour - blame everything on cons. For ever!  ;D

True 'Drilling' response - actually I blame the Remainers. I hope some on here hold their nerve and support the team to the bitter end!   

You do know if you didn’t do it it’s not your fault eh Drilling?
The worst GDP slump in Europe and one of the worst death rates in the world is down to who? Keith Curle?
Me? You? Or someone else?
There’s too much politics on this bloody forum. Some of your blokes just can’t help yourself can you?

After just 3 days a new manager can give new instructions but it amazes me that posters are critical that the players, with fragile confidence, do not impliment it for the full 90 munutes.
It takes a long time to stop and then turn the oil tanker around.

Please get realistic, especially when we do not have the quality of last season in the squad!

Exactly. Yet people are genuinely surprised Brady hasn’t turned the same set of players into a decent side in 3 days.

Absolute madness.

The difference between this season and last is that last year we played bad football well and this year we've been playing bad football badly. As you'd expect, this has bought with it bad results which in turn lead to a team bereft of confidence and with a losing mindset.

The first 20 minutes yesterday showed a massive improvement. Massive. Not just in style of play but in chances created. When those chances didn't get put away though I think the players started to think "here we go again" and we faded a little. I actually thought we were still ok until the first goal went in, at which point our mental fragility was exposed and we reverted to type.

Yes, it was a game we really needed to get something out of but after the initial disappointment of not seeing an instant upturn in fortune is out of the way, I think I'm actually quite encouraged by what I saw because there were a few proverbial green shoots of recovery to be seen.

Got to enjoy the attempted wind up comments from Drilling last night  ;D good try Shane.

Back Of The Net.
Agree Completely

Everbrite.
Your comments would try the patience of a Saint

not sure why anyone is complaining about the referee .
That was a back pass and the keeper should not have picked it up .
Poor football from Bolger and Mitchell .
I am not sure why the management team only had 2 hours with the players before the game .
There’s 16 working hours on a thursday and friday last time i looked .
Nothing can be judged on this game and i would like this management team to be given until the end of the season

Maybe you are having  ‘sour grapes’ with those who thought you exaggerated the performance yesterday. What I don’t get is to criticise certain characters who have different opinions it’s a football forum not a Sunday School session. Please come back and defend your opinions vigorously.

I've seen more blatant back passes got away with but, the point I would make about the ref is, if EVER we are winning a game, I'd like him to be the ref because there was some shockingly bad time wasting by Burton but he never said a word or added the time on. Maybe he knew, like the rest of us, that we weren't going to score !

I don't know the ins and outs of a football managers day to day, but if you're the head of the academy on Wednesday and on Thursday you're the first team coach with a game to prepare for on the Saturday, with a remit to try and build your own plan, come up with your own tactics and analyse the opposition, deal with the press and organise who is doing your own job at the same time, I don't think you're left with hours and hours left over to be able to lead coaching sessions.

 ;D

Not on a wind up son, I was semi p1ssed but hey ho...that was intended after watching that shower!!

Think about this for a minute. Brady spent 2 minutes roughly moaning about the  back pass decision. EVERYBODY could see it was a back pass, apart from one person. Our 'manager'. If that had been Curle he'd have been absolutely battered for that opinion, alone! His biggest critics have spent months (years) saying he speaks jibberish and in riddles, yet didn't pick up on Brady's absurd view point point. Not one tweet, not one mention on here, nothing...

They all say 'he's only had 3 days', not one of them picked him up for not making a single change for 83 minutes. Yet when Curle took 60 minutes to make a change 'it was always too late'. 'Cant utilise his subs' etc.

All I would like to see is a balance of view points. Thats it. You cant have it both ways. I tipped over on Tuesday night, and felt it the right time to make a change. I also supported the caretaker team who were put in charge, and still do...but on the basis that they are a caretaker team and we do not consider them for the job beyond the next week or so.

I also do not buy into writing this season off. We are one bloody point from safety. ONE. With 19 games to go. Yes we are pretty crap, well very crap. But so are 6 other teams. We just need to be slightly less crap than 4 of them between now and May, to stay in this division. Its a tough ask, a very tough ask, I accept that. The players we've brought in are not good enough for this division, but Im pretty certain if KC had had more money to spend he'd have brought in someone like Will Grigg (MK Dons) rather than Edmunson. Thats just logical. He has had to take punts across the board. That doesn't necessarily justify the ultra negative football we've played at times this season, and after 26 games Curle fell on his sword because that football will only be put up with if results are favourable.

People are suggesting that yesterday we showed green shoots of recovery, and had some good passages of play. Id argue that we played much much better only a week ago at one of the best sides in the division, created more chances as well as keeping a clean sheet. Wigan was the worst performance of the season, and to compare yesterdays performance with that one is utterly stupid. I compare yesterdays performance versus the 'general performance' I've seen this season, and my conclusion was it was no better, in fact (15 minutes aside) it was worse than the average fair. Do I blame Brady for that? No I don't. But I also will not credit him for 'trying to play on the front foot' because we spent 97 minutes or whatever it was with only one striker on the pitch, and only managed to have two shots on target, one of which was powder puff.  Ill be fair as well; we hit the bar from distance, so lets say 3 decent efforts...

On the flip side, against the worst placed team in the division managed by the ever excellent JFH, we conceded two goals, should have had a penalty awarded against us, and also had our own goal protected by the woodwork.

Anyway; thats my view. I've got the day off tomorrow so Ill have a few more beers later, some decent food and a bit of a jolly in my living room. Enjoy the day, hope to see you and the rest of us some time soon so we can all moan and debate in the flesh rather than being internet warriors!!!  ;D

I don't think it was a clear backpass as Bolger mis*** the ball and may have been trying to put it out of play. Whatever the case, and regardless of what you think of Brady or the overall performance, the truth is that I've seen similar "backpasses" several times this season and that's the only time a ref has blown up. They usually simply don't do it, unless it's absolutely blatant, which this wasn't. So I think Brady was right to complain. The truth is, that, regardless of the performances you need a bit of luck when you're down there and with a disallowed goal, the woodwork and a dodgy decision against us, we're not getting it at the moment. And that goal clearly knocked the stuffing out of the team. Our disallowed goal gets given and the ref doesn't give the backpass decision and we may have won and we'd all be singing Brady's praises today.

We need to be a lot better and I'm as frustrated as anyone by our wretched form but nothing's been going our way either and sometimes (like yesterday) that's the only difference between the two teams.

Drilling, if you look back 2 or 3 pages you will find that I mentioned Brady's ridiculous assertion that Mitchell was not to blame as it was not a back pass. It does not matter if the ball came off Bolger's foot, shin, knee or thigh and I believe most referees would have given it. If it had been the Burton 'keeper and he had not been pulled up for it we would be questioning how it had not been given.
I agree with you that our performance at Accrington was better than yesterday but in both games we rarely troubled the 'keepers. Yesterday was a slight improvement compared to the Wigan game, it could hardly have been worse, but we are going to need to improve considerably to gey out of this mess.

IMO very Claret eyed view.
I always attempt to give the benefit of the doubt to the defending team in situations like that however, even I would have considered that a 100% back pass. It didn't necessarily go where he wanted it to because it was off his shin but the intention was to give it back to his keeper.
If he was intending to put it in Row Z, he would have put his foot through it, not 'guided it' the way he did.

I'd like to see the other "similar 'back-passes' several times this season" that you've seen that haven't been given.

Constant pushes and niggles from Burton all through the game. Whilst many of these resulted in free kicks, nothing else was done in the way of yellow cards to address cumlative fouls. The fouls continually broke up play and momentum - and Burton knew that, getting away with virtual impunity.
Shocking refereeing, it not right up there with the Charlie Brakespear's of the world!

Sorry but that doesn't make any sense to me. You say it didn't go where he wanted it to because it went off his shin and then you say he tried to pass to the keeper. But that would mean the ball went away from the keeper not straight to him, which is what happened. You then say he "guided" it which isn't exactly consistent with not going where he wanted it too either. Were you reffing the game by any chance?

Can't tell you about the other back passes I'm afraid as my memory isn't that good, but when I see them they stand out precisely because the ref never seems to give the free kick.

His intention was to give it to the keeper, the way he presented it to the keeper wasn't the way he intended because it came off of his shin pad.

Haha yeah I did clock you may have us a few.

For the record I’m also with you about the lack of substitutions until the 83rd minute. I think playing style was clearly better with players seemingly enjoying themselves more, but this is definitely not the answer long term.

I'm with Drilling, Brady was very quick to blame the referee ,it was a defensive error, from both players, the defender who could have cleared it, and the goal keeper who could have done exactly the same without picking the ball up. Also why not change the game with substitutes ? We were at home and needed the 3 points, but happy not to change the game. I know the recruitment at the Club has left a lot to be desired over the past few seasons, but to not utilise subs is a basic error.
Hopefully  KT can sort out a decent up and coming manager and finally sort out the recruitment problems this Club has.

Bradys first game in charge and maybe his last.
I'm going to assume he picked his strongest starting eleven and put whoever else was left and fit on the bench.
That's Edmondson, Chuk, Horsefall, Arnold, Harriman, Sowerby, Korboa.
With the exception of Chuks who Brady knows more about than any of us, which of those other does anyone think might have made a positive impact if bought on, be it at halftime or 83 mins?
Maybe if Adams or Holmes or even Smith had still been at the club he might have made changes earlier?

Both recruitment manager Simon Tracy & Dan Watson signed new two year contracts last Summer so looks like they ain't going anywhere anytime soon, unless KC gets another gig and takes them with him...

No idea why it wasn't stipulated in their contracts that if KC is sacked then their contracts become null & void as new managers usually want to bring in their own coaches/scouts

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/20202/july/back_room_staff/ (https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/20202/july/back_room_staff/)

So did Colin West but he's gone.

Yes, hence why I didn't mention Colin West

The team selected and formation started the game well, there was a lot more pass and move than we are used to seeing. For 25 minutes we were as JFH said much the better team and with just a little luck could have been winning.
Unfortunately this is exactly what relegation candidates often do, when there is no reward for their efforts or they concede then their heads drop, along with the energy levels.
A goal or two in that early spell would have made such a difference to the confidence of the side. Instead Burton slowly gained the upper hand without threatening our goal. The Cobblers did improve again in the middle of the second half but were killed off by Burton scoring.
Free kicks are rarely given for passes back to the keeper these days so we may have been unlucky even if it was a deliberate pass. Every other time Bolger had the ball he launched it seventy yards up field, if he did delicately lob it into Mitchell's hands with his shin then he's a much better player than I thought he was!

I think Brady came out and defended Bolger and Mitchell was to not throw them under the bus, their confidence must be shot to pieces as it is without their new boss slating them on the radio , anything like that should be kept in house for the bollokings

bless 'em x

I tell you what I don’t get is how Thomas gets away with little or no criticism, he’s the man in charge, I’m not say it’s all his fault but some of the blame HAS to lie with him.

Yeah, but he didn't though, did he?

KT is like a poor salesman. He thinks he is the bee's knees but, in actuality, he lacks a sting and should buzz off.

Just double checking you mean Edmondson here?

The guy that KC confirmed as his first choice target, a striker that he has been tracking for over two years and tried to sign in the summer...

He is no improvement on Smith and possibly even BAS, which says a lot.

BAS only for comedy value, Smith is more of a goal threat but has serious motivation problems, it all boils down to budget in the summer or lack of it and then panic loans in the Jan window, I’ll say one thing for KT he’s consistent.

i agree - i think he was fuming with them both and deflected it to the ref .

I'd disagree. It comes down to poor recruitment. Lets not forget, KC paid good money to get Smith in the door.

There's been Goode and a lot of bad !