[St Charles Owl]

THE MATCH - WED 19th AUGUST 2015 7.45PM UK TIME

 V

One of those rare occasions this week, Wednesday playing a midweek game on Wednesday!!!   This is due to Reading playing Sunday rather than Saturday.

So how do we view the defeat at Ipswich??  Thurnscoe's late in the evening, stuck on a train response was "We were WANK!!!"   Other attendees Consilio and Madsteve were a bit more positive but it was still a defeat!  Always disappointing to lose any game but this defeat has the feeling of being a good early wake up call to the whole team and will hopefully reduce some of the unrealistic expectations of the fans!!  It was always going to be a tough game and in reality we ended up being in it right up to the end with their keeper making a great save from Joao in the final minute to deny us getting a point.  In the end too many players didn't have good games, the likes of Westwood (due probably to injury), Loovens and McGugan, essentially the spine of the team, did not have the level of performance we expect from them.  I am also hoping that CC and his team also learnt from this, which from what I have seen and heard from him so far I have no doubt he looks to learn from every situation!!




OUR TEAM

I get the impression from what CC says in his interviews that he will not be shy in changing the team around from game to game.  Not wholesale changes but definitely tinkering with the line-up here and there.  

Goalkeeper - Not sure what the status of Westwood is, who ended up in hospital with a kidney problem after taking a kick to the back but I expect Wildsmith to be playing anyway.

Left Back - Will we see Helan or Wiggins at LB??  If Matias is not going to be providing a ton of support then I would be inclined to play Wiggins.  

Center Half - Will Loovens be given a day off?  Sasso could replace him?  

Midfield - Hutchinson will probably be rested, so I expect to see Semedo back in for this one, and will Lee be given a shot ahead of the ineffective McGugan in midfield.  

Striker - Up front, it seems to be a straight choice between Nuhiu and Joao and for me Joao offers far more to the team and even if he is still settling in it appears on the two performances so far that he is simply a better player than Nuhiu, so for me I would play him.  I would add if we play Joao theen I would prefer to see May or Bus on the bench to offer something different if we want to change it later in the game. 

The following is my prediction for the opening line-up:

Wildsmith

Hunt  Loovens  Lees  Wiggins

Lee  Semedo  Lopez

Wallace  Joao  Matias

THE OPPOSITION - READING

Relegated from the Prem in 2013 they flirted with the playoffs the following season but last season struggled for most of the season ending up 19th in the end.  This season they have started with at least one defeat, 2-1 at Brum and as I type this are drawing at home against L**ds, so they look like last seasons team rather than the one from the season before.  This is a game we should be winning!!!

We have only played Reading 18 times before with 2 of those games being in the FA Cup.  We didn't play them in the League until 1976 when we made our first trip into the third tier and prior to that season Reading had spent most of their life in the bottom two divisions. Our complete record against them is P18, W8, D2, L8, so honors even, at home we fare a little better with a W4, D2, L2 record.  We lost 6-0 to them back in 2008 at their place but our best win came a couple of seasons ago when we beat them 5-2 at home with Matty Fryatt (2), Antonio, Wickham and an OG for us.  




WHO'S THE BASTARD IN THE BLACK

Ref - Paul Tierney
Assts - Darren Strain and Richard Wild
Fourth Official - Matthew Bristow

MS will hopefully give us the skinny on this guy in previous Owls games!!


CURRENT FORM

Will return once a few games have been played.


OTHER RESULTS TO PREDICT

Bristol City v L**ds
Hull v Fulham
Wolves v QPR
Celtic v Malmo
Valencia v Monaco

A couple of guest games included so that all games take place on the same night as ours.


THE BIG MANS LEAGUE

Current Table
OwlKev
Consilio
Wereham
Maddix
Thurnscoe

For this week here is what you need to predict:

ATTENDANCE (No copying)

18,222 - Imre
18,444 - Owlshighgreen
19,001 - Wellowlbe
19,692 - Wereham
20,004 - Thurnscoe
20,247 - Actual Attendance
20,567 - OwlKev
20,999 - Consilio
21,000 - Southey
21,350 - Stateside
21,500 - Pei
21,900 - A57
22,138 - St Charles
22,772 - Maddix
23,210 - Washington
23,456 - Madsteve

SCORE AND SCORER (SWFC score first please, no copying, correct for both only will win)

1-1 Matias - Imre
1-1 Sougou - Actual Score and Scorer
2-0 Matias - Madsteve
2-0 Nuhiu - Owlshighgreen
2-0 Wallace - Thurnscoe
2-0 Joao - Washington
2-0 Lopez - A57
2-1 Matias - St Charles
2-1 Joao - Pei
2-1 Wallace - OwlKev
2-2 Lee - Wellowlbe
3-1 Lopez - Southey
3-2 Matias - Stateside
4-1 Lopez - Wereham
4-1 McGugan - Maddix
5-0 Matias - Consilio


OTHER RESULTS TO PREDICT (Copying is allowed, all 5 correct will win)

AHHDD - Wellowlbe
AHHDH - Consilio
DDDDD - Thurnscoe
DDHHH - Washington
DHAAH - Stateside
DHAHH - Actual Results
DHDDA - Owlshighgreen
DHDHD - A57
DHHHA - St Charles
DHHHH - Southey
HHDAD - Wereham
HHDHH - Madsteve
HHHHH - Imre, Pei, Maddix, OwlKev



THE MUPPET LEAGUE

No entries yet this week, I am sure someone will screw up and end up in here before kick-off though!!

Here is the ML Table so far this season:

Thurnscoe 
Imre 






KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

The nice little video version is back, so hopefully she can writhe in ecstasy watching us win this one!!  Suggestions for other writhing "mascots" will be considered!!  Maddix please note, not suggesting this should go away, just looking for other suitable alternatives!!




This thread awaits the Meggo of Statesides choice