Absolutely. I think he did give the ball away once in a dangerous area, early in the second half; but redeemed himself almost straight away. Stephens did the same I think. I don't think any of our players were particularly poor yesterday - just collectively not good enough. Of course there were individual errors, but most of those stemmed from the fact that if you dwell on the ball for a fraction of a second against an on song City, you lose it. Then playing long periods without the ball leads to frustration which leads to more errors.
It was really the discipline he showed in playing as a wingback to cover Ramsay. I didn’t see the game, I’m just passing on what was said.
I think that Harry Reed hasn't got the flair and ability of Lemina but at least you would get 100% effort from him in every match.
If anyone knows anything at all about football they would not be critical at all of a manager that thinks about his players. We have a manager that has to make decisions based on what he has which is not necessarily what he wants. It can be argued that Saints were a tad unlucky in that they should possibly had a penalty and also the deflection off of Prowsy was a bit of a fluke. According to commentators that is......... As for the managers later changes it is easy for us to say they were not the right ones as that is a matter of opinion. Going in at half time 3-1 down must have made his mind up for damage limitation. I can't see anyone doing anything different......... As for your criticism Ian Thumwood of both the manager and of posters opinions I think you need to learn a lot more about playing football at a higher level. Also there is nothing wrong with disagreeing with people but there is a way of doing it with out having to get their backs up. Football is an emotive game folks.....but that is what makes it so enjoyable...........
Thought JWP did pretty well for himself considering he was playing up against Sterling. Gave all the effort you would expect, even if it seemed like some of that effort was fueled with frustration. And he put himself about well after moving to CM, couple good slide tackles. Personally thought his penalty appeal should have been given, it was plenty 'soft', but the fact was Zinchenko clearly pushed him in the back. That kind of contact as part of an attempt to play the ball is fair (say shoulder to shoulder), but he was from behind and clearly looking only to impede. When you push with an elbow or fully extend your arm to push a player, that's where jostling turns to pushing. And a push from behind is always a foul regardless of how soft. And back to JWP again, the control in taking that ball down and then bursting on was fantastic. And his set pieces weren't all his best but he created two chances, one tricky one which Charlie almost took, and one easy one which Shane did Shane things with. Personally the only players I was disappointed with (besides Pierre's moment) was Lemina and Austin, and to a lesser extent McCarthy though as discussed he is a dilemma as he giveth but also taketh away. Austin applied himself well in a tough job, but ultimately didn't execute the moments where he was able to operate to his skillset. Lemina unfortunately had one of those days, and dropped Targett in (more) **** for the first goal.
Do they actually write or email these days? I suppose not as bad as much of the NHS still buying fax machines.
Seeing the highlights on MOTD2, it should have been a penalty on JWP in my view. But also, City should have had a penalty too in my view, when Valery tackled Sterling; took nothing of the ball.
As always, it’s always about the incidents. The not given penalties. The freakiest own goal. Overall, one has to admire City’s play. There was always someone giving the player in possession an option, and the way our attacking players were closed down by 2.3 or even 4 at a time made me wonder whether they had more than 11 players in the pitch. In that context, I don’t question RH’s judgement at all. On the other hand there is someone else who’s judgement is usually, and definitely in this case, so wide of the mark I don’t even know where to start. Probably best leave that there. I saw moments of quality from us yesterday. If I look at how many goals and how many shots on target in the last 4 matches, compared to under the previous 3 managers I am sure that things will pick up. Keep the faith.
Two out of those three if grafted into the new regime well, would be a lot cheaper than buying yet more new players, at least he knows about them and what they might contribute in the grand scheme of things. I like Harry but I don’t think he is a PL player at present. It could be argued that Carrillo is of a similar class but I’m not sure we ever saw the best or close best of him. Boufal just needs an attitude refit, get that sorted and then we’ve got a real class player alongside those gradually climbing up the ladder of class!!
Just watched MOTD and cannot understand how Pierre’s card was red when Ashley Young’s was yellow. Yes, I’ve got Saints bias, but the different standard of refereeing is scandalous. And if that push in the back had been on Sterling and not JWP, City would have had a penalty. I think the ref knew that which is why he didn’t give them the clear penalty in the second half. However, if we’d gone in at 2-1 up, it would have been a different game. Sorry, Tom, defend refs as much as you like, that was appalling big team bias and something which I’m totally fed up with. We’re likely to struggle without Pierre’s leadership and passion. I just can keep the momentum we had before the West Ham game and get some results in January.
I've not seen the Ashley Young one, but I thought PEH's foul was definitely worth a red card. It maybe that the ManUtd ref got it wrong rather than our one. PEH was late and high. If you're going to be annoyed at anyone, be annoyed at Hojbjerg for being daft enough to make such a tackle at a point when the game was gone. As for the penalties - I highly doubt any ref in the Premiership would turn down a penalty they thought should be given just to even things up. I actually thought JWP's was not a penalty (although frustratingly we've all seen Salah be given them in the past couple of weeks), he went down so so easily, and that Sterling's should have been one (Valery nowhere near the ball). The one thing I do agree with you on is how much we will miss Hojbjerg - he makes our midfield look so much more dynamic
