Was a massive risk going into the season with only two on the books. We've done fantastic so far, but for me, it's bittin us on the arse. Not being greedy or unrealistic, but we genuinely could've be top at this point. So far I've seen nothing to fear in this league. The team at the top up until tonight couldn't string two wins together. madness. FTM
You are right of course, any team would miss a forward like Stewart with his work rate and goals he scores but if I can play devil's advocate, people are saying we scored goal of the season when Simms was injured against Reading. It's swings and roundabouts for me but having someone to put the ball away after the fantastic football we play at times would help enormously
You really won't ever be critical of anything of safc will you ? Fair play mate. Look past the red and white glasses once in a while though. We are doing great and we have stepped up but it's a frustrating one that we don't have the resource needed to capitalise on our excellent start. That's not unlucky. Its poor planning.
Any team would, none of us know how we would be doing now with a striker, all i know is i f**king miss Stewart
I've took a lot from tonight. We didn't get a stone wall penalty to go 1-0 up. They scored from that. They scored again after the break but were offside. I was bouncing. But the players dug in, despite missing Simms and Stewart. Two big misses. Mowbray was gracious in defeat and after being critical when Niel went I have to say "well done Speakman". I think we've moved up a level with TM and the future looks bright. Yes it was a bad day but a lot of positives. @monty987 I like you fella, mackem wind up or mag coont ?
Mate you have been whining we didn't have an academy manager or u23 manager or u18 manager. Yet now as if by magic we them. Every game you piss and moan about not having a striker. I'm as critical of SAFC as the next man when they deserve it, but even having 400 strikers Stewart is still injured and we have played bloody well without him.
For all of our lovely play today, it was a striker that put us to the sword with the 1 half chance of the game that he had. That's the difference. He is a special striker mind, possibly the only one in the league better than Stewart.
where to start... i think (unfortunately) it has to be the officials again, how in fecks name he did not give a penalty with the view he had i will never know, even if we missed the penalty that first goal would not have happened, second goal the lad was stood in a clear offside position, he did not get back onside and there was no 'second stage of play' crap..pretty sure on one of the replays the linesman can clearly be seen leaning to his right for a better view in which case his initial position was not down the line as it should be, once again cards were shown quickly to our players but not for theirs for similar/worse tackles. however much the commentators 'bigged blackburn up' they even had to admit we were the better team and really deserved something from the game, how about a fair set of officials Mr Hendry, they would do for a start. the players, patto has never been that nervous, hope he can put it behind him, bit of a worry seeing him hold his shoulder at the end after colliding with the post. the defence was pretty solid again i would say, couple of nervy moments but they are all part of the game, onien with an excellent header to clear almost on the line or it would have been a goal for them. don't know what to say about embo and neil, i honestly want them showing what they can do and control games and get involved, take the game by the scruff of the neck and make things happen..but the truth is they are contributing very little to the overall game with a lot of misplaced/wasted passes and we looked so much more of an attacking threat when the subs came on, evans did pretty much what evans does, keeps the ball moving without ever being 'spectacular or stand out', clarke and roberts as i have said previously, can be as frustrating as they can be excellent, too many times trying to go past several players and leaving the ball behind or being shrugged off the ball too easy, when gooch did the same he got pelters...pritchard needs a break or a different style of play to suit him but despite some good touches seems to be lacking a wee bit right now. these are my own observations from watching each game, others may well see things differently to me and i welcome other views (my mind has been changed before with some very good replies) but i get the feeling from reading through posts that many will be similar...we play some damn good stuff at times but we are letting ourselves down badly with some absolute rubbish final balls and decisions. we were the better team against blackburn as we have been against most we have played, am i the only one who also feels we really never get the 'rub of the green'? ...it seems to me that every loose ball in the opponents box falls right at the feet/head of a defender who can clear it with ease, a crowd of players tackling and the ball breaks free 9 times out of ten 10 falls to an opposition player, a wild shot hits some player and bounces to an opposition team mate...at least with that we cannot lay blame at the officials door.
I’m not even sure its a missing a striker problem, we didn’t exactly look great with just Simms up top, it’s a missing Stewart problem
Hes class, i would still have stewart just because of his work rate etc but diaz is the best finisher in the division. That goal was unreal
Exactly, same for me as in my last post agreeing with smug mate. We've turned a corner and cracked on along the way. Some mistakes but mostly getting it right with hungry young players.
it's all about opinions mate. I said two weeks ago that the club and team aren't above criticism. As someone like many others that renewed during a double dip relegation, took the "f**kin daft you" comments for going over when it was "cool" not to go, I'm loving what I'm seeing over there. one criticism for me tonight was leaving Diaz unmarked on the edge of the box, other than that, spot on. I don't think we're getting enough credit from the media to be where we're at in the league for playing with no strikers. Most other teams would be near the bottom
I thought Hume looked good when he came on, honestly think theres a real quality player there so hope he gets a wee run of games. Would like to see Ba start soon as he has real moments of magic. Dont think we will see the best of a lot of these lads until after the world cup n they are more settled
bit of luck and the tight final ball or shot. Too many touches in the box at times. Hey ho, should never have been 2-0 down but for some ****e officiating. Look forward to having Simms & Stewart back, but not expecting we’ll then bang 5 goals in each match.
Has to be Saturday for Ba. Burnley will try and pass us to death and his work rate and energy will be needed
