I have to say. Wow. We played well and kept the ball well yesterday. We kept working away and got a well deserved win. The defense were pretty solid and I thought Hobbs in particular was absolutely superb yesterday. Looked like a rock at the back and made some pretty good tackles. The midfield was superb, in particular Robert Koren, who finally looked like an almost complete midfielder. Got back and defended when called upon, made some good tackles when needed, linked up well with both wingers and the strikers and dictated the tempo of the game. McLean and Fryatt really impressed me. McLean kept plugging away and scored a well deserved goal and Fryatt played very well and showed his quality poaching ability to nick our first goal. The one criticism I had with yesterdays performance was our movement off the ball. There were a few times when Koren, Cairney and Rosenior were looking for passes in front of them but due to no movement were forced to go sideways or backwards. Pearsons substitutions, were imo, spot on. Very positive substitutions in bringing on Adebola and going as a 4-3-3 at the end to go for it and the McKenna for evans sub (although should have been made a lot earlier) was exactly what we needed. The main thing I'm most impressed with though was the work rate. To come back from losing positions twice to steal the winner in the last ten seconds shows the makings of a top, top team. You see Man U (well not today) snatch last minute goals all the time which is why they're so successful. More of the same please lads. UTT!
I thought that first paragraph was sarcasm Matt!! We all see things differently i suppose but Fryatt and Mclean were absolute sh1te to me yesterday, and yet both scored. Probably the poorest game Hobbs and Chester has had too. Though as you say to play poorly and win is the mark of a good team.
Agree both Hobbs and Chester off their game yesterday but we got away with it. kept going and had the inner belief to win. Augers well for the future.
Yep me too, Hobbs and Chester were off-ish for me and I also thought Dudgeon looked out of sort very slow off pace. He also struggled to make simple passes and few went straight out in to touch for a throw in.
It really annoyed me that straight after the game which we had showed real character to come back and win (as mentioned by John), some muppet rings up RH.. Gwylum Lloyd asks him, "What did you think of the game?", first thing he says is "I thought Hobbs was rubbish and he isn't good enough.." FFS!! And these people call themselves supporters! defo Hull FC numbskulls..
Yesterday was a great learning experience for our youngsters. Watford were a different type of opposition than we have faced so far this season; big, aggressive, "streetwise" aka cheating gets, direct and desperate. I thought we played poorly for long spell and it was, overall, our worst performance of the season at the KC. HOWEVER, I was pleased we went through the process and came out the other side with three points, that kind of experience will prove vital for our inexperienced squad. That, I think, was why Nige was in a very good mood after the match. Ironically, despite the performance being so poor, it was one of the most exciting games of the season and you really cannot beat scoring the winning goal in injury time to send the punters home happy. Finally, in the interests of laying to rest rumours that James Chester is in fact my love child, I thought he had his least assured game for us on Saturday. Nothing to do with the og. but in his general play. That being said it was probably the first time he has had to deal with an old fashioned bustling, fouling, cheating nasty opponent as Iwelumo........and hopefully it will be the last!!!
Worst game for the back 4 in ages. Their first should have been dealt with, whether it was a free kick or not is another matter. And for their second we should have certainly done better, in not letting Yeates get a cross in. Bloody Iwelumo always scores against us. That Sordell and him did well for them. In midfield, i thought we're a bit lopsided. We were good on Brady's side but poor on the other, what with Cairney not wanting to stay out on the wing. However, his wandering did bring about the first equaliser. The midfield proved the catalyst for the victory and i'm sure the lopsided comment is only a small grumble of mine. I'm loving Koren in the middle and he's justifying being picked there at the minute. Nobody else would have had a shot from that distance. Cairney would have dilly dallied for too long in trying to get it on his left foot and then passed it sideways. The others aren't as technically gifted as Roko. Strikers are a problem still. Might have to strengthen in the transfer window. Both scored but they weren't getting to grips with their markers. A few times we got it in the box and both were on their heels. On other occassions it was lofted in, in the air, which is utterly pointless. It was food and drink for their centre halves. A wins a win though. Loved the celebrations at the end.
Agreed, was not the performance that we had against Cardiff or Brighton and the only positive that can be taken from the result was the fact we have shown that we can come back from behind to win the match. A win is a win but against another team we would of been beaten hands down. More of the Cardiff/Brighton performances please
Glad to see sensible appraisals of the game after the euphoria of winning from behind (twice!). It was another lesson for a young team; an 'old' hand making the final difference. Let us be very clear, we still have a striker problem - the one's we have got do not finish well at all: look at the first two goals and they are not class, the assists were far more accomplished. Rosenoir and Koren were good throughout, but both had to hunt out options all too often; our forwards need to get off their heels (spot on, Golaccio!) and take the ball with intent and movement - any half decent defender will read them quicker than the Hull Daily Fail, and that takes some doing! But a win is a win and well done to the lads for battling to the whistle; it will be difference between top six and automatic! I would love to see Oli playing in the middle with Koren - what a threat they would be, giving hungry forwards a real edge in and around the box!! But have we got those type of forwards?
THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ spot on. 3 points is all that matters, well thats what were all told. its a results business after all.
Although we played poorly in the first half we did try to play football and pass our way around Watford. We did create some good positions but the final ball generally was not good enough. The second half was much better and we retained possession better. The two full backs played well in defence and attacked when the opportunity arose. Despite what was said earlier I though Dudgeon looked a usefull player and on that performance will keep Dawson out of the team. Hobbs was solid and did little wrong against difficult opponents. In midfield Koren kept the ball and linked well but until the 94th minute I thought Cairney was our best player. He kept possession and was often instruemental in the ball going from the left flank to the right where we had an extra player. I took note of his workrate and there were no problems in that area. Brady received plenty of the ball and showed some good touches but needs to do more for me. Despite both scoring I thought the general play of the strikers was poor but the goals should do a lot for their confidence. We were not at our best but we managed to beat two poor teams. How did Eustace stay on the pitch? There were many other strange decisions some in our favour but would he have booked Brady had their player not reacted and from behind the south stand goal it was difficult to see any contact when their keeper dropped the ball.
The back four where fine. Watford created very little. The first goal is almost impossible to defend because the ball in was superb. The second goal was the fault of Koren and Cairney who did a terrible job trying to stop Yeates getting the cross in. Dudgeon is garbage going forward but is improving defensively. The midfield balance wasn't at all right. Cairney was rubbish as a wide player but he isn't suited to playing wide at all. He kept coming off the line to get the ball. To be fair to him, if we had the equivalent of Rosenior on the left, it wouldn't have been a problem. Evans and Koren did OK but there was no out ball on the left and only one striker to hit. Fryatt had a good game, he was involved in the first two goals, got into some good positions and put in a couple of great crosses. McLean was barely involved and when good crosses came in, was nowhere to be found. Gary Lineker, he ain't. Putting Adebola on and taking Brady off seems pointless to me, dunno about everyone else?
I'll watch the full replay on tigersplayer this evening before commenting. Radio commentry is great if you live abroad but doesn't give the big picture..
