I'm not a doom merchant, nor a all will be well when they click happy chappy. The good last night was better than I expected. The worst, oh dear.
Craic.... Unless you really mean it was about the Crack...in which case don't over do illegal drugs at your age!
Considering the place was half empty, it was indeed a decent atmosphere. I figure if I go in the west, I can just slide across and sit in my old seats, everyone will think I'm supposed to be there anyway.
The Irish do tend to misspell “crack” as “craic”. Although “crack” in the above context did refer to crack cocaine, the recreational drug of choice for many of us young upwardly mobile entrepreneurs.
You’d only get them if you arrive before Chazz. He’s made free seat upgrades an art form. I’m looking forward to the free upgrade to first class he’s gonna sort us on the Scarborough train
They're always there, you just normally don't see them as they're all busy trying to catch my eye in the lounge.
fwiw, on Marshall I think a lot of us are being overly harsh, my initial reaction last night was to call him a useless ****, using his prior form to nail him up after last night's game. For me, the goal kick was a **** up on his part, but I wouldn't say he was culpable for any of the 3 efforts going past him, no chance on the corner, on Elmo's that's gone right inside the post and could have been defended better it'd have taken a cracking save to stop it from there and on Hutton's it's one again where the defence should've done a lot better and one that looks a hell of a lot worse than it actually was, he's hit it from 5 yards away from him across his body, he was never getting to it with his hands, he maybe could have gone with his feet instead but I wouldn't call it **** keeping. His confidence is obviously on its arse and he knows as well as we do that the clearance was a big turning point. Adkins has to back him publicly he'll get a few more matches fingers crossed he finds some form
Lets hope the Sheff Wed manager was not watching last night or we will get tonked on Saturday. Elmo's first goal for Villa and Hutton's second in 7 years both up our left side. Don't get me started on Marshall, he didn't even move for the free kick that hit the bar apart from falling backwards. Poor from Kingsley and De Wijs a decent team will tears us to ribbons
A decent team just played us and we did really well. A few mistakes is what cost us. They will be rectified. The players will improve.
I'd stick with Marshall for the first half a dozen to a dozen league games (give Long a go at his old club in the League Cup) and try and build his confidence. Support De Wijs like good fans should. The team should draw a lot from that performance. Hopefully they'll use that and not be downbeat.
I agree, just hasn't worked for him since he arrived, sometimes happens, everything conspires against him it seems. I'm sure he will play Saturday, but if he has a poor game then Long will be in the next time.
That's what should happen when any player makes a mistake, it is up to his fellow teammates to try and rectify the problem, but that appears not to have happened.
My brother and I both said at half time that they'll probably go on and win, it's what we've become accustomed to. Marshall was indeed at fault for one of the goals, but the free kick was really good, you'd have to be a top keeper to have kept it out had it been on target. The two goals were into the far corner, how on Earth a 33 year old Alan Hutton was allowed to dance through our midfield and score is beyond me, but it showed the lack of quality we have. I'd have brought Irvine on for Batty to give us legs in the midfield, but I guess he's not fully over his bug. The defence looked capable in the first half, dare I say it, comfortable, until De Wijs had a moment of madness. He never really settled after that, which was a shame because until that point he'd done ok. After that he looked really nervous, but he's young and he'll grow into the side. His passing also looks pretty good (mistake aside), his first cross field ball was Maguire-esque. Burke also looked the part, but he had a lot of covering to do and his positioning for the third goal showed all the signs of inexperience. Kingsley looked great until Kane went off. The pair of them marshalled that left side brilliantly; Kane has looked a really good player and if we can tie him down to a longer term deal in January, we should. It was no coincidence that him coming off made us less assured as Kane was brimming with confidence. The midfield for me did ok until we fell behind. Henriksen looked desperate to be a tough tackling midfielder and while some of the fouls were indeed soft (how is Grealish worth what he is?), he was lucky not to be booked and he had a total brain prolapse when turning and running into our own area, before the free kick was given away. Batty seemed to enjoy himself, he's a tidy little player, but he's there because of a lack of depth. He looks ready to be involved, but I'd like to see him coming off the bench. Nige can sing praises about bringing youth through, but he also needs to be aware that we're going to be going up against an awful lot of seasoned professionals and there's a time and a place for youth to be in the side. Perhaps the lack of depth gave him no choice, but Stewart for me would have been better with Batty coming on with 20 mins to go. I know, I know. Stewart = **** and all that. Just, pipe down. Fresh slate, new season. Evandro was the best player on the pitch, bar none. For ****'s sake, keep him fit. His goal might have been a fluke, but he deserved it and for me he edged MoTM ahead of Kane. Bowen looked incredibly leggy and you can tell he hasn't had a full pre season, he wasn't anywhere near as sharp as he was last season and should've buried a chance to make it 2-1 to us after some great interplay. Kane on the left was brilliant, hopefully he can last the 90. Interestingly, I thought Milinkovic looked great, which having seen him in pre-season was a pleasant surprise. I thought he'd find the rigours of the Championship too much, but he looked the part and really should have finished to make it 3-2. Henriksen should have definitely scored from the lay off. Keane actually didn't look too bad playing the number 10 role, maybe he's better suited to that. Campbell huffed and puffed. I still don't think he's a lone striker, nobody we seem to sign ever is, yet we persist with it and have done for the better part of five years. Nige obviously has a game plan, great, but get the players to suit the system, don't have a system and force players into it. Dicko looked full of energy, but he finds himself in the wide areas too much and in a formation where crossing is key, the striker should be in the middle on the end of it, not crossing it in hoping somebody is breaking from midfield. Are we going to see any strikers join before Thursday? I don't think so. They cost money, we aren't going to spend it. That's just the way it is. Loaning them is cheaper and it also means there's no rush on Ehab's side of things. We obviously need at least 2, preferably one permanent, but unless the Maguire deal goes through and Ehab changes his mind, I imagine they'll both be loans. The result was disappointing (possibly more so given we went deservedly ahead), but I've seen enough to think we can get mid-table, which is obviously what we want. I think we'll get a point at Sheffield Wednesday, but honestly I think it'll be a slow start.
I can’t see how anyone thought De Wijs performance was anything other than utterly terrible. Here’s his highlights... Negatives He tried on a few occasions so launch cross field balls ala Dawson but they were wayward & often put Villa on the attack. He misplaced a 5 yard pass straight to a Villa player which the broke & should have scored if it wasn’t for a poor piece of decision making by Kodjia or was it Adomah?? His marking at he corner for their goal was suspect. He recklessly lunged into a challenge at the edge of our own box - Hoorahan? Clipped the bar with the resulting free kick He backed of Hazard...Bale...I mean Hutton to gift them their second goal. He looked terrified in possession. Positives He won a few headers
