Well I never thought I would get that adrenalin buzz again but I did yesterday and to tell you the truth I had tears of joy for Billy Sharp .None of us except the ones who have actually lost there children can begin to comprehend the void it leaves so when Billy scored it would have brought his mind back to his lost child especially as it was against the Boro 3 days after losing Louis he scored that goal .Well done Billy I'M sure that all important goal will do wonders for your confidence and will embrace you into the hearts of our fans your star has been rekindled Now for the star that was born yesterday .Stand up Liam Cooper you were absolutely brilliant after a shaky start your confidence grew your anticipation was a revilelation .It was without doubt one of the best debuts I have witneesed in a long time .This boy will play at the highest level provided he keeps his feet on the ground what worries me is that scouts throughout the country will be high tailing it to ER that's the power of communication these day.If we paid Chesterfield 600k for this lad they have been utterly robbed my valuation already is well into 7 figures and when one compares to Smalling who went for 10m the figure becomes mind boggling Now for the rest of the team Silvestri your distribution has improved no end but he still is not communicating enough with his back 4 should learn the word MINE.however I like the way he catches rather than punches the ball a refreshing change Carry on son Byram first half he was very poor too many times beaten by pace and trickery he had obviously been spotted as our weakest link thanks to his team mates they helped regain his composure and he was different again in the second half.I do think all this speculation is getting to him so lets hope its resolved soon Pearce I think his days are numbered once the beast arrives clearly not happy at playing on the right hand side and he was also slow to get back really shown up by Cooper Warnock well I would have picked Taylor so that shows how much I know worked his socks off yesterday and was courageous in his tackling and put his body on the line well done son Austin I wish he could pass a ball 100% effort and never shrinks a tackle but one dimensional Murphy given A Much more free role I thought he did quite well but he is sometimes gung ho needs to kerb thaand save his energy Ajose missed a really good chance in the very early stages I think he need to bulk up got disposed to easily for me Doukara still settling into this robust league but will improve and his aerial power was much improved Bianchi I thought played well but this was a first rate well organised team they were playing against will improveas he has class Poleon sub sorry poor should have put Smith on he would have battered there defence bad mistake by Hock TONGE did the simple things well and was responsible for the goal good substitution Cook the lad looks like he will become a very good player I would use him sparingly MOM I could give this to either Sharp or Cooper but by a narrow margin it must be COOPER Finally I would like to thank Whitejock for giving me a day to remember and the warm welcome I received from Glory Shako and Andy I hope I see you all again Hock well done it must have been a great relief and a fantastic result mike
Glad you enjoyed it. I am still reflecting on the whole team performance yesterday rather than the individuals. There were some good signs such as a willingness to try and play our way out, only the occasional hoofed ball! But worried about the right side of defence and two left footed centre backs. But the biggest problem is the failure to try and exploit opportunities when we are breaking forward. Does the diamond formation mean the ball always has to come backwards before going into the box? If so we will get found out by the better teams. Hope as players get used to each other we can play with more fluidity and freedom. 60 this is your fault. I dont do analysis as it makes my head hurt.
Morning Mike, really glad you had a great time yesterday. Hope you can make Dec 13, when I am down. I worry for Pearce as well. No good enough on yesterdays performance to be on the pitch. Did not look comfortable on the ball, whereas although Cooper had made the mistake of flicking on the corner instead of clearing it, leading to the disallowed goal, he made some great passes and surging runs. I also fear for Austin, he gives the ball away more then to manages to get it to a teammate . We ned composure in the midfield, who will keep the ball and marshall it around the pitch. I don't know how many were at Elland Road today, but hope, with this much improved performance, the crowd will come back
I really thought they worked hard for each other but as you quite rightly state the balance isn't right having 2 left footed centre backsand we need more penetration on the wings
I can guarantee at least one of the centre backs won't be regulars, surely, all Pearce had to do is be more composed, take a touch and play it on his better peg. He looked awkward playing it on his non trusty foot
More performances like that it should be an average of 35k, with 5k less for sky covered games. Mate, if I were closer, I'd be there every week.
Do you see us dropping our captain? Can't see it this side of a proper humongous beating/Christmas myself.
Bellusci is nailed on to be our best defender. The other slot will go to either Cooper or Pearce. By yesterdays performance, I'd pick Cooper
He's played 1 game out of position give him chance to get used to it.But he may be out if the other new centre is as good as people expect but ay a back four with Pearce not good enough to be in it is one hell of a back four.
Nice post Leeds60 and I have to agree with LCW in that Warnock was my MOM and with Glory in his concerns over the formation. We did have the better chances and they did have a perfectly good goal disallowed and I do feel they were the slightly better team. I know with more time playing together they will get better, Austin gives the ball away far too much but who would have believed 12 months ago that he would be our weakest player, we have come a long way in 12 months but we do still have quite a journey ahead. Ajose is not going to make it at this level, an okay squad player but it would have been exciting to see him replaced with Agard. When we signed Pearce they did say he could play LB I just hope that isn't the plan to play him there when the other guy receives his papers. Cellino will almost demand Bellusci in the squad as he was our prime target at the start of the window.
