Well. I suppose it was the romantic outcome. Alexander deserves his moment. We can pass the 100 point barrier next week at home! Wycombe making a complete arse iof it unfortunately. .
Well, it's a point more than I thought we'd get. We cannot overtake Fulham's record of 101 points in the third tier, but we can match it with a win over Hartlepool. I will be interested to learn from Stu and our other travelling fans what, if anything, was learned today. Sounds like Haynes looked lively, but the other "reserves" didn't do much to impress.
Like you Eddie I'll wait for the reports of performances and of the conditions which I suspect were awful before passing judgement. My suspicion though is that we can conclude that: N'guessan has many virtues but is not a 90 minute player. For CP to decide whether that's enough: Haynes is a viable alternative up front; Hayes and Hughes are toast: Green is a a potential asset but needs a lot of work to hone the diamond.CP to decide whether to persevere or not. I would; Evina is a squad player at best. Lee cook is up to the championship level but is made of glass and probably not worth the risk. Sullivan. Probably not up to it. But can we afford to spend much on an alternative reserve keeper who may only get a few games. But I'll wait for reports..........
Evening all those bound for the Championship, you took your foot off the peddle at half time and we got a thoroughly deserved point. You are right about both keeper Sullivan was not good. Enjoyed the Poznan from your fans, great atmosphere at end when Alex curled it in. Played you 3 times this season and scored twice in each game sounds like your ropey at the back(not) Enjoy next week, you never know Norwich and Southampton have done it you next perhaps! I'll stick my full view of the game on the other thread shortly All the best fellas
Agree with everything you write, except to add: As you say, Evina doesn't look up to Championship football. But he is only 20. That's young for a full-back. If he is prepared to stick at it he could yet blossom as he has a lot of natural talent. The good things he does are classy, but he makes two or three errors every game. Good coaching could iron those out. Do we have anyone on the club staff who knows anything about playing left-back? He might choose to stay in the hope that Wiggins gets sold on. Competent and experienced keepers for cover are easy enough to pick up on a free, if they have lost their place to a up-and-coming younger player, or we could sign on loan a good youngster who might be third or fourth choice at a bigger club. No need to fork out much cash. I quite like Sullivan, but he won't improve if he never plays. In his own interests to move on. Odd to select Hayes for the bench, then only give him a few minutes. If CP has already decided to let him go, better to give a youngster a taste. But if CP is still pondering whether to keep him, he won't learn much from that. As it was, it was just insulting to the guy. Kermorgant and Wiggins were given a complete and well-deserved weekend off and Solly would have too if we had another decent full-back. And I suspect Jackson wouldn't have come on without the injury to Cook and Green's silly yellow card. The missing man was Stephens. He needs games to get back to his best, so I suspect he had a slight injury. If not, it could mean he is on his way out too. I said right at the start of the season that I suspected, for no particular reason, that he would be the first one to leave out of CP's new signings (not counting the long-shot speculative signings).
Don't sell you yourself short. Ours was largely a reserve team and you outplayed a very similar selection in the League Cup in September. We included two players with known stamina problems, a couple not up to the standard, and two more who are classy but injury-prone. I am sure there was no easing up but in the second half you showed the quality you have and why you should have been challenging for the play-offs at the very least.
Eddie we took our foot of the pedal in October and that's why we didn't end up challenging for a play off spot
Sullivan 3 - managed one catch all game, fumbled every shot, never once came off his line. Certainly not good enough as a Championship back up. Solly 6 - not his usual self, gave the ball away a hell of a lot. Few good tackles though. Perhaps just got complacent. Cort 8 - solid as usual. One goal line clearance which it would be a crime to ignore. Taylor 6.5 - fairly solid but made a few very risky misplaced passes. Was also so eager to swap shirts with the Preston striker that he tried to do so for the whole of the second half. Evina 6 - every time he did something brilliant he'd follow it up with a critical mistake moments later. Clearly worth keeping though as the good things he did were VERY good. Green 6 - anonymous, few great passes. His yellow was pretty silly on the refs part, keen amateur dramatics from their lad. Pritchard 7 - his usual eager self, very precise in the tackle and at initiating a counter attack, but loses out in the physical battles and in the air. Hollands 6.5 - few 'early-season Hollands' style crunching tackles, but fairly anonymous and misplaced a few passes. Cook 7 - I really like Cook, only problem is he's a crock. Was very dangerous running down that left-wing and showed brilliant close control. Wonder what can be done about his constant fitness issues though. N'Guessan 7 - One of his better games for us. He's slowly winning me over, though naturally I wouldn't dream of having him ahead of Kermorgant or BWP. Decent hold up play and used his pace well. Haynes 9 - MOM for me. His pace caused such problems for the PNE defence and he was pretty faultless. Its a shame he's not such a 'lethal finisher' as he'd be immense if he was. Subs: Waggy 6 - same old Waggy, running into dead ends, poor crossing and choosing the wrong pass. Though he did support Solly well. Jackson 5.5 - did very little other than one very awkward leg-tangling tackle. Hayes - not enough time to judge. But shouldn't have been on the bench, he's not a game changer and its pretty clear he has no future here. Would have been nice to have Sho-Silva or Azeez or someone take his spot on the bench. I was very impressed with their lad Mayor in the first half. Though I found their RB Hunt a disgrace - seemed to intentionally get Green booked with his amateur dramatics, also flung himself to the floor when Haynes ran 20 yards to beat him to a loose ball (no contact whatsoever) Special congratulations to Alexander of course, something for him to tell the Grandchildren (probably already has some, the old bugger ). All in all I was actually very impressed with Preston, seemed to have a very good midfield, a decent attack, but a calamitous defence. Any Preston fans reading, good luck for next year
WW have to agree with your comments about Hunt the extra 10 roll overs on the ground were not required but he has played in the Premier League so it's possibly the norm these days. Credit to to CP and his playing staff for their ovation to Alex at the start and also the fans deserve a pat on the back as well for their applause of the our cup winning Youth team at half time.
Went to the game yesterday and have to admit I was a little disappointed with a draw especially as I thought we pretty much controlled the first half but it seemed as though Westley tore into the Preston players at half time because credit it to them they came out and really closed us down well in the second half. Was extremely impressed with Haynes' pace / Cook's work rate and Hollands seemed to be playing better than he had been before the Suspension - Was worried about Sullivan though as this is the guy everyone wanted to replace Hamer after a few bad games????? I know Sully hasnt had much match practice but really needs work on his catching - Surely this is the basic attribute of being a Goalkeeper and no amount of match practice should be required surely, just training? Preston I think though need a massive overhaul in the summer as there were times in the match when they reminded me of us at the end of last season - Congratulations to Graham Alexander the moment the free-kick was given (would like to know why?) I knew it gonna be him scoring it. Brought back memories of Chris Powell scoring against Coventry. Oh and Chris please stick to Management after your crossbar challenge attempts...
