Well, well, well, not a bad half of football. Collins makes the game look easy, always got time on the ball, takes time to make decisions and doesn't treat the ball like a hot potato. Skuse has been good in the middle and the front four have been lively. More of the same please, the new look team has some strength about it now.
We didn't get more of the same, that second half was stressful to watch. Never mind though, we bloody won!
but we won. **** me, we won a game of football. we have new players, winning is everything. players not playing will want to play. their careers aren't looking great leaving a ****e, relegated side so if you're a competitive, professional sportsman which id hope anyone who has a professional football contract is its now time to give everything you've got because it could be Crawley after this and then puling pints...we have to believe.
A win is a win. If Millwall win tonight it looks like a mini-League between four teams. Clinging on by a thread, but still just about clinging on. We have managed to win two of the three vital 6 pointers to just about stay in the hunt. Bolton look in desperate trouble so it looks as though we could be off the bottom soon. Blackburn Rovers: beatable.
God that second half was painful.90 minutes in the tank for Collins, Skuse,etc making us look a bit more difficult to beat.Can't say Quaner looks significantly better than what we've already got,particularly bearing in mind he had support from Keane playing much further up than previously.We'll see though.Elder looks no worse than Knudsen.
I don’t think we’ve ever needed anything significantly better. We’ve not created a lot of chances today but we had the right man in the right place and that’s because we’re playing more than one up. Early on in the season the cross would have come in the same but there would have been five defending bodies against one attacker and for some reason Lambert persisted with that. Spence is an absolute liability, you really can’t underestimate that. So if we can just do the basics right, which we’ve failed to do for large parts of the season under both managers, we’ll always give ourselves a chance in games. The supporters deserve great credit if we do manage to pull ourselves out of it. Rotherham must have been unsettled by this supposedly down and out side miles adrift having an atmosphere like that.
I cannot comment on anything as been out / busy all day however I will always take 3 points. Quick observation - No Spence + Pennington = clean sheet......
Sorry folks long day my end, absolutely shattered just moved house from Kharkiv to Kiev. Laaaaaaaanggggg day to say the least!
That was tense! A win is a win, and I’d take results over performances at the best of times (let alone in a relegation dogfight). It’s been mentioned above, but Collins played brilliantly today. Marshalled the defence (something we’ve been missing since Steven Taylor and Christophe Berra left), my man of the match. Chambers, to be fair to him, also had a very good game. I thought Lankester showed some good moments and glimpses, got the ball forwards and looked comfortable on the ball. Chalobah had a decent game. I thought Quaner held the ball up well, not a bad debut. Keane took his goal well but did little aside. We looked weak down the flanks. Sears had a poor game and fluffed his lines when through on goal late on. Elder and Pennington struggled, particularly Elder who was targeted and we conceded numerous chances down his flank. Good atmosphere in the ground, which is always helped when the Fortuna boys come over. Rotherham arguably deserved something from the game, at least a point, but I’ll take the win.
Just got back from he game. Collins had a v.good debut and I also thought Quaner had a good game. However, the balance of the midfield is not right. If we are going to continue with Quaner & Keane, then I believe Sears must be sacrificed. He is not a left midfielder and with playing 4 rather than 5, we can’t afford passengers which I think he was today. Personally, I would have no problem playing Kenlock at lm.
We had a good first half and deserved our lead, but the second half! Completely overrun in midfield and hardly got out of our half, but we defended well with Collins being immense but we also rode our luck giving away a succession of free kicks and hanging on for the 3 points. Gerken is still a worry despite bringing off a fine save and stopping a certain goal, several times defenders were waiting for him to come and collect but he stood rooted to his line resulting in a panic clearance, he still doesn't command his area and is slow to assess dangerous situations. Although we got the 3 points as are still not right but it's looking a lot better.
Well that was a bloody awful game to watch (for the most part) but I'll put some of my thoughts to you. (hopefully not too longwinded) We looked like a team that hadn't ever played together before (understandably) and all the new signings looked rusty and lacking match sharpness to varying degrees, Quaner in particular seemed furthest off the pace and his game is based mainly on physicality and pace. Less said about Dawkins 'contribution' the better A couple of patterns stood out with both Quaner and Keane dropping and wanting the ball to feet (often stood next to each other) so we didn't really move the ball quick or effectively enough without get behind Rotherham all game. Naturally we lost the ball a lot with some terrible first touches and miscontrolled passes (Keane, Quaner & Sears the most guilty) or with balls over the top that no one was able/willing to compete for. Elder in particular was guilty of this as I questioned his decision making.. though if there isn't anything on then a ball into the channels is the best option. I'd like to think the 60 or so minutes Quaner got will do him wonders as there were flashes of a decent player under all that rust.. Hopefully we'll see a more athletic and physical performances & willing to work the channels more as dropping deep made us far too one dimensional and easy to defend against.. whilst nullifying Keane, Lankester and Sears. Also, we seemed to be lumping diagonal balls for Sears to contest, which naturally he lost every single time. The one time we seemed to get Freddie attacking their full back we got the ball in the box and scored. After the goal you felt/hoped we'd settle into the game and start to take the game to them more, but what really happened was the complete opposite. We got overrun in midfield and struggled to string 3 passes together after that. Chalobah in particular seemed to be a passenger whose occasional contributions were mostly negative including glancing a header to the back post when defending when Chambers clearly called for it behind him (I heard it as well) The ball fell to their striker who was all on his own but luckily he skied the ball when he should have scored. The lambasting from Chambers & Collins (and even Pennington) afterwards was interesting to see. Collins and Pennington were probably my standout players.. Collins was the wily old war horse you'd expect and you knew he was leaving something on this opponent with every challenge but the most pleasing was seeing his communication (positive encouragement as well as a few rockets) to those around him certainly helped keep us organized at the back. Pennington also did a terrific job at stopping crosses coming in (I hope Spence was watching) as he stopped pretty much everything most importantly being a towering presence at the back post as they got the better of Elder a few times and stuck some crosses in which Pennington did brilliantly to get something on which would have ended in goals based on every other game this season. Pennington was also half decent in possession and 1st half probably as many touches as anyone on the pitch. The main positive was obviously the result, but the fact our new players got a good run out and will hopefully begin to develop a better understanding of the players around them can only be a positive as we've started to see what the players can do. Quaner and Keane in particular if used properly could be a real threat as you saw a few times Keane was making some great third man runs, beyond Quaner but his one touch pass didn't come off. I would question the system with 2 in midfield, especially Skuse & Chalobah as we were so easily overran and a better side would have beaten us easily, but it's 3 points gained and some learning for players and staff so hopefully we can build on that and put together a decent run until the end of the season.
Watching him he looks shot to bits, in fact I'm struggling to remember seeing a confident looking Dean Gerken. Even when he claims the ball unopposed he looks like he's not convinced and the times he let the ball go past his post in the 1st half whilst awkwardly stumbling to his side gave the impression he wasn't completely sure he was making the right decision even if it was going 5 meters wide. I've always liked Gerken, he's a decent keeper but my god he doesn't instill a lot of confidence in even the most simple of tasks
