The nightmare scenario is continuing; Brom at home and Fullham were supposed to be our 'winnable' fixtures. Today the real damage is not only not winning 3 points but also handing 3 to our relegation rivals. Meanwhile Ipswich's play-off push is still just about alive. Fullham have the form and two winnable home games in their run in so we now HAVE to take at least 3, maybe 4 points from those nightmare last 4 games.
Did we deserve to win today? Yes, I would say we did and I don't have a clue how we didn't. We dominated the first half, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Fer and Johnson all coming close in that frantic flurry which an inspired Stockdale kept out. Snodgrass hit the bar also. But in the end, as has been the case so many times this season we conceded against the run of play and our opponents had something to defend and duly saw it through. So now we find ourselves in the situation were yet again we deserved 3 points and our opponents got them. Cardiff mark 2.
So who was good and bad? Olsson, Fer, Turner (as he has been every time he has played) and Snodgrass were excellent all game.Rusty, Ruddy Howson and Redmond were decent enough. van Wolfswinkel, Whittaker and Johnson weren't bad but made some mistakes.
The most disappointing thing is that the second half we didn't really look that close to scoring. Turner had a header blocked on the line and Snodgrass was very close to getting a tap in. Adam's substitutions were completely ineffective; Hooper was anonymous, Hoolahan lost the ball far too often (especially dangerous considering the danger of the counter-attack) and Murphy didn't make much impact either. Had Hughton presided over these substitutes he would have been slated for losing the game.
We got the ball around Fullham's area but they defended solidly until we gave them the ball and counter-attacked; they were very dangerous on the break which is why it was such a shame that they got a goal out of nothing. Fullham had zero threat from open play and wouldn't have defended as they did (with three holding mids for most of the second half) and I really feel we could have won.
Fullham have been so poor defensivley this season too but they were impeccable today. Why does this keep happening to us? Why do our opponent's goalkeepers always have a blinder and their defenders all manage to concentrate 100% of the time when they are so bad against everybody else?
So now, with relegation looming in the background, once again we our left to rue our mist chances, inability to keep the ball when it matters most, lack of final ball and bad luck. Just like so was often the case under Hughton!
Did we deserve to win today? Yes, I would say we did and I don't have a clue how we didn't. We dominated the first half, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Fer and Johnson all coming close in that frantic flurry which an inspired Stockdale kept out. Snodgrass hit the bar also. But in the end, as has been the case so many times this season we conceded against the run of play and our opponents had something to defend and duly saw it through. So now we find ourselves in the situation were yet again we deserved 3 points and our opponents got them. Cardiff mark 2.
So who was good and bad? Olsson, Fer, Turner (as he has been every time he has played) and Snodgrass were excellent all game.Rusty, Ruddy Howson and Redmond were decent enough. van Wolfswinkel, Whittaker and Johnson weren't bad but made some mistakes.
The most disappointing thing is that the second half we didn't really look that close to scoring. Turner had a header blocked on the line and Snodgrass was very close to getting a tap in. Adam's substitutions were completely ineffective; Hooper was anonymous, Hoolahan lost the ball far too often (especially dangerous considering the danger of the counter-attack) and Murphy didn't make much impact either. Had Hughton presided over these substitutes he would have been slated for losing the game.
We got the ball around Fullham's area but they defended solidly until we gave them the ball and counter-attacked; they were very dangerous on the break which is why it was such a shame that they got a goal out of nothing. Fullham had zero threat from open play and wouldn't have defended as they did (with three holding mids for most of the second half) and I really feel we could have won.
Fullham have been so poor defensivley this season too but they were impeccable today. Why does this keep happening to us? Why do our opponent's goalkeepers always have a blinder and their defenders all manage to concentrate 100% of the time when they are so bad against everybody else?
So now, with relegation looming in the background, once again we our left to rue our mist chances, inability to keep the ball when it matters most, lack of final ball and bad luck. Just like so was often the case under Hughton!
