It was a game of not too many good chances, but Hull took theirs and we didn't. 1st half there were a few spells of possession from both teams but Hull seemed to be more of a threat. The goal for them was the first time they had space to shoot and it hit the post, only for it to be headed in on the rebound. Almunia seemed pretty sluggish.... at first I thought he'd catch it. I was quite bemused to see us not given a goal when their goalie walked backwards with the ball from Yeates cross. I think most of us thought it was over the line but the lino didn't give it. 2nd half Hull started well but we played much better and looked more dangerous. Their 2nd goal came from a freekick, completely gifted to them by Hall losing possession and lunging in. Before that I think we would've gotten back into the game. We were making some good plays and Abdi was unlucky to hit the post. After it was 2-0 Hull sat back and soaked up the pressure. Our midfield was pretty uninspiring. Abdi and Geijo added a good presence but Chalobah was poor and Yeates didn't do much to help either. Deeney had a good game and deserved his goal but ultimately we were a bit unlucky and didn't play as well in midfield as I'd have hoped for. Abdi back in the lineup next week should improve things. We missed the presence of Forestieri for sure. Either as a starter or a sub he does change the game and we missed that today. Against the top sides Yeates, Hogg and Chalobah isn't good enough. I've thought that for a while. Chalobah looks good when the team plays well. He is still young and against challenging sides he falters, especially in the 2nd half where he becomes detrimental. Hull are a good side, their ginger looking player in the midfield(Brady I think?) was a class above... they played better passing football than us for 2/3's of the game and he was always at the centre of it. If we had Forestieri I think it would've been a different game. Just like Brady did for them he makes things happen, pushes us forward and gets us keeping possession. Ultimately we were a bit unlucky I feel, but we also contributed to our downfall and it was too little too late. Hull earned the win.
Well, obviously it was because i wasn't wearing the lucky shirt and wasn't sitting in the Rookery. I won't be doing THAT again in a hurry! We didn't get a look in during the first half, they were by far the stronger team, and were very organised for 45 minutes. We came back into it in the second, and before the second goal we were on top. After that, and with our couple of good changes, we looked like we could get something out of the game, two unlucky shots (one hitting the post and one controversially not given when the keeper seemed to take the ball over the line and the Rookery cheered the goal before the ref denied it - shame we probably won't see if it was or wasn't on the FLS) would have changed the game. Hey ho. We were outsmarted today for 45 minutes and there was no coming back from that. Chabolah had a bad game, inaccurate passing is his downfall at the moment, and Almunia made more mistakes in this one game than he's made all season. Let's hope that's his worst performance by far. We definitely missed FF, and Vydra didn't seem up to it today. It was good to see Abdi coming on and hopefully we'll see more of him now that he's back to playing. All in all, a 'bad day at the office'..hate that phrase! lol... Still, the roast beef and yorkshires were nice...and the red wine certainly went down very well. Oh, and Luther Blissett did a great job up in the President's Lounge, welcoming people, chatting to everyone, running the quiz and being a great host...he even did a sort of interview with John Eustace, who is back to light training and hopes to be joining in on the pitch in 6-8 weeks, though he seems to think that realistically it'll be more like the last couple of months of the season. What a sweet man he is off the pitch
just not at the races today. New GK in Jan please Mr Pozzo. Rumours are that Forestieri broke an ankle ice skating.....!!
Both teams missed a key performer, but we thoroughly deserved the win. Another good day out in Watford: always nice to visit.
Fair play to Watford supporters for actually giving us some credit (both on this board and others), and not telling us they deserved to win because they had a shot from 30-yards in the last minute like most teams' fans in this division do...
What are you talking about. We dominated you. We ran you off the park. The officials were **** and gave you everything. You were lucky, we had an off day. Sorry, just wanted to make you feel at home. In all honestly it was the right result. We were sloppy, and gifted you the ball a lot. You were very organised and hassled us a lot, preventing us from playing our football. Well played, I look forward to future meetings.
Just a couple of things from todays game. Tommie Hoban's signed charity shirt. Program signed by Jon Marks.
Fair play Hull, we were on form and you got a good result away from home. Gutted but we are 6th, need to push on through the winter to make this season good.
Not a result you could argue with unless you were wearing very yellow-tinted specs. Hull played good possession football in the first half and looked a yard quicker than us almost everywhere on the pitch. There was a little more energy in the second half but too many players didn't seem able to raise their game. Perhaps playing Deeney and Vydra leaves us light in midfield - certainly Hogg, Chelaboah and Yeates struggled to make any impact. With Pudil and Cassetti ot getting forward as often as they regularly do, we didn't look too threatening going forward. One to forget about and focus on meeting up with SD next week.
I hope you are taking the p1ss, otherwise (whilst I understand that this is normally a happy, friendly place) you are a moron.
The Hull players seemed to be adept at playing themselves out of tight situations, whereas we were adept at playing ourselves into tight situations---usually by giving the ball away and (from Almunia) poor distribution. The most disappointing aspect was that the combination of Deaney and Vydra just did not work. I had assumed this was our best strike partnership, but on this evidence far from it. I am now a bit confused as to what our best starting eleven is-- or does it depend on home or away, or the opposition, or what?