Sorry, couldn't get there in the end. From what I heard we were not that good and Birmingham played with real flare. Would appreciate some input/thoughts etc.
Scrappy win, couldnt get decent passing so therefore birmingham had alot of the ball but still didnt trouble green, zamora was missing again, 10 men when hes on, barton motm again, was part of nearly all out attacks and hit the poat from a free kick, swp coming on made us look alot better as he was running foward with the ball when ever he got it, mat phillips wasnt match fit, tom carrol seemed very week and lightweight but i spose needs time, onoua is now looking like a very confident ball playing defender
I thought Onouha dithered on the ball and put the midfield/fullbacks under pressure by playing slow, telegraphed passes to them. Our build-up from the back was often lethargic and put too many of our players under unnecessary pressure. Joey Barton was nowhere near MOTM, that would've been Austin/O'niel or someone.
Brum played a very high line and shut out all space in midfield. Look better in 2nd half when BZ was replaced by SWP. We stayed patient and took our chance. Back 4 looked solid although Chris Burke made Clint look pedestrian at times. Carroll - bit disappointing but was 1st game Phillips - not match fit but got through 50 minutes MOTM - O'Neil for me. Don't really know where he's supposed to play but he seems to be everywhere.
I thought he made some great tackles then passes forward, o'neil wasnt great to day, he lost the ball abit and didnt do much when he had it, barton made alot more important passes and tackles than him, granted austin played well, battled hard
Well that's all very clear then! Barton is/not MOTM. O'Neil did/didn't have a good game. Onouha was/wasn't good today. I've got a much clearer picture of how the game went now
Funny how people see things different. I thought ONeil was superb today and did everything that was asked of him.
Twitter was very complimentary about O'Neill - Barton was adjudged to have had a poor first half, but much better in the second. Phillips was evidently not match fit (something he acknowledged in his post match interview), and the jury was out on Carroll and how he fits into a 442. SWP was clearly up for impressing the Twitterati, so much so that his introduction was suggested as the turning point of the game. The Birmingham fans were observed coining our fans - let off a flare, and one of them got clobbered on the Uxbridge Road after a group of then (in hindsight unwisely) decided to ignore Police advice not to go that way. It almost felt as though I was there... even though I was at an 8yr old's kids disco party!
Shaun Derry must wish he could come home from his loan spell - Millwall hammered 5-1 at home to Derby - a case of the B's for them (goal scorers) - at least Derry was only on the field for the first couple of goals before being withdrawn. Big Danny ****tu not able to hold back the flood - glad we're not in their boat, even though we're winning ugly right now.
We still need to work hard on the training field. We just cannot click in the attacking third. One goal has been enough to pick up the points up to now but it will not last. I am obviously pleased with the points but disappointed with performances over all.
Look we're winning and I know i should be grateful/thankful etc., and I am, but I'm also uncomfortable. The Manager needs a pair of cojones. We have talent everywhere in regard to this league. 1-0 wins don't sit well with me. We have had a fair bit of luck so far. Get these new guys in quickly. Amen.
Right then, here you are Eamon................we were pretty awful tbh. Firstly. Harry must take responsibility for the very poor first half showing. We played 4-4-2 with Carroll and Barton in the centre. Neither is a holding player and their 5 always outnumbered us. Oneill clearly doesn't like playing on the right as he continuously moved in field, leaving us even more unbalanced. Carroll looked very nervous in that first half, although it's obvious that he is a talented lad. Hoilett looked our biggest threat till he was injured!! Brum should have been 2 up at the break after hitting the bar and then blazing a sitter over the bar. Harry at least sorted out the formation at half time, taking off the poor Zamora and switching to a central midfield 3 with SWP on the right and Phillips on the left, after replacing the injured (again!!) Hoilett. Austin was the lone striker now. This looked so much better and more balanced and SWP made a positive impact imo. Even so, after taking the lead we never really looked like getting a 2nd till Barton's excellent free kick struck the post right at the end. We look solid and hard to beat, but there's a long way to go if we're to win this league!! Player ratings: Green - 8 - Did nothing wrong and came for crosses well. Simpson - 8 - Solid and dependable. Dunne - 7 - Mistimed a couple of headers but looked solid apart from that. Onuoha - 7 - A couple of dodgy passes out but still very reliable. Hill - 6 - Looked a bit exposed when they ran at him, but gave everything as usual. Hoilett - 7 - Would have had an 8 as he was very good in the first 30 mins, but he's always fecking injured! Barton - 7 - Won a lot of headers and made good interceptions in front of the back 4. Gave the ball away too much. Very unlucky with a superb free kick that struck the post. Carroll - 6 - Looked very nervous. Harry's 1st half formation really did him no favours. Improved as the game went on. Looks a talent though. Oneill - 7 - Ran, ran and ran. Clearly doesn't like it on the right though. Not sure he has a lot of quality but he certainly gives it his all. Zamora - 5 - Actually laid off a couple of balls but the crowd have clearly turned on him and he mustn't start again! Austin - 8 - Great that he got his goal and he looks the real deal. Won some good headers against their giant centre backs and ran all game long. Subs: SWP - 7 - Made a real difference, although that was also down to Harry getting the formation right in the 2nd half. Worked hard and ran at them at times. Phillips - 6 - Clearly not match fit, but showed some promise. Jenas - 7 - Looked assured when he came on and helped us retain possession.
we had no one else with johnson injured, would have played shariff instead, harry loan striker please. Thought o'neil was motm today covered alot of the pitch, poor game by Rssss but at present picking up points without playing full potential but it will come & hope its wedneday, passing was agian bad & if brum had taken there chances that could have easily been our first defeat thank christ they were poor in front of goal, what did anyone reckon about penalty shout where there bloke got booked for diving i was in upper loft & didn't really see it.
We didn't have to start with two up front - the second half formation is the way forward. I thought Barton was MOM.
No thats right stroller i was suprised when i saw zamora out there & did look better when swp came on.
All I got from Brummie Independant Radio was that we were hugely overated. Feck that when we are crep and keep winning one nil we will win the whole kebab.... no scrub that but great that Austin broke his zero and SWP is suddenly the Man. Skål for 3 points, SWP and Charlie!
Col's observations are spot on. That's exactly how the game went. We really do need to improve in the final third though, but hopefully that will improve...sooner rather than later though....please. It was a blatant dive Jeff. We all called it straight away.
