In today's press conference the Gaffer passed on the unhappy news that Tomas Kalas and Floyd Ayite are very, very unlikely to be fit for the game [Know about Ayite's injury but anybody know what's up with Kalas - that's a good 4 weeks plus now?] Jokanovic also said that while Ryan Fredericks is back in full training, he's a week or more before being ready for consideration and of course Kevin McDonald is still suspended. Cuts down the choices then. Starting at the front, Fab Fabio was in good company saying Martin just isn't capable of being the lone front man; Paul Lambert agreed with him. Just can't see Jokanovic changing his formation though. Martin has got to be low in confidence (even lower?) after the QPR and Scotland games and if he's left out on Saturday that won't help. But I suspect the boss will do exactly that; leave him out and play Smith - who has done well away from home, where we are of course unbeaten this far (curses!!) The three midfielders of Cairney, Aluko and Kebano is simply the usual debate of where to play them. Behind them the birthday boy and the naughty boy (who looked really up for it in the training ground clip earlier in the week) should get the nod. And so to the back four. Assuming those on International duty are fit and well (nothing mentioned in the Jokanovic press thing), the only quandry is probably Sessegnon or Malone. The starting line-up I'm guessing he'll go for is: ...........................Button.................... ....Odoi....Sigurdsson....Madl.....Malone... .................Parker.........Tunnicliffe.... ......Aluko......Cairney.......Kebano.. ..........................Smith........ As ever, feel free to debate the midfield trio. My only case today is Aluko has shown he's more effective running at people out wide.
The man in charge today is Keith Stroud We've only seen him once before - the 2-0 defeat away to Bournemouth back in December 2014, when he booked wee Georgie Williams allegedly for diving. Kind of weird he got that match given that he hails from Bournemouth. An experienced chap is Mr Stroud though. He had a couple of years in the Premiership before re-joining the Championship ranks in season 2009/10, since when he has racked up 300 games. This season already he has 14 under his belt, managing 61 yellows and 5 red cards; his best in one game was 8 yellows and 1 red. Last season he covered 45 matches and dished out 191 yellows and 11 reds. His career best, and perhaps even some kind of a record, was in a Sheffied United v Brentford game in 2013 which saw him deal out 11 yellows, 3 reds and still had time to give 4 penalties. A few clues in there about Mr Stroud's attitude to football. Would hesitate to suggest he has a chip on his shoulder about being dumped from the Premiership but, when you add in his little Napoleon stature and his affection for disciplinary cards, it mightn't be unreasonable to say that he does like to be the centre of attention.
Just what we needed - and a goal for Martin !! Seemed like we played very well. Hope the injury to Cairney isn't too bad if that is why he went off.
Great result and good to Martin score was shocked he didn't take the penalty against QPR, what better chance for a new big name striker to get off the mark than a 4th minute penalty at home. That day light QPR result is now bugging me even more despite our poor recent run after today's result we would be top 6 had we beaten Rangers
Maybe the international break has done us good this time, last time it seemed to stop our momentum (we played 7 games in between the two breaks and won 0), so hopefully now we can get back to our early season form. Its just good to see us get some goals for a change, we always create enough chances in games but the problem was scoring them, 4 goals today will hopefully give them confidence now
Indeed. You could say it's not International breaks that are the problem but the bit in between them. But hey, that's us still unbeaten on the road with 12 points from the 6 away games. Pretty much got my team selection wrong since the Gaffer started with - Button, Odoi, Sigurdsson, Ream, Malone, Parker, Johansen, Piazon, Cairney, Aluko and Martin. The used subs were - Tunnicliffe who came on for Johansen after 70 minutes, Kebano for Cairney (he did go off injured) and Smith for Martin late on. And the unused subs - Bettinelli, Sessegnon, Madl and, a great welcome back, Ryan Fredericks. Mr Stroud was on form, booking 6 (four of ours; Button, Johansen, Cairney and Martin) and handing out 1 red. The important stats however, suggest we were back to the August form with 69% possession and by all accounts Scotty Parker ran the show. Also we had a reasonably impressive 14 shots on goal, albeit only 6 were on target so that's still a wee bit of an issue. Nonetheless, we were much more composed in front of goal - see for youself in this link: http://www.skysports.com/watch/vide...-fulham#ooid=9hd2JyNjE6ihnUkkYuV-Vl7Ltuo9bGk0 As well as Scotty, Piazon and Malone have been getting good write ups on social media. One thing that had struck me in recent matches was that Malone was so desperate to get his first goal for us that he'd often have a shot when there were other, better options open to him. Well, he's got the elusive goal now but anyone else having watched that clip just wonder whether he really meant that shot today?
Unbelievably we're still unbeaten away from home, only team in the league that can say that. On the flip side we have the worst home record in the league, how times have changed. If the home form had been better we may well be sitting near the top of the league!
Player ratings from someone at the game: Button - 5. Little to do, could have done better with first, and kicking was poor.also bizaarely time wasting from the 50th minute, getting himself booked with over 30 minutes to play. Odoi - 6. Inconsistent, looked good going forward despite blasting one great opportunity over the bar first half, but gave the ball away a few times in our own half. Malone - 9.Great display, scored one setup two and involved in the third.super stuff. Siggurdsson- 7 - hardest one for me to rate as he didn't do anything wrong individually except for a comedic shank into the crowd second half, but he didn't have much to do yet we conceded twice. Ream 3 - gave away the first, gap in our defence for the second was where he was,and he left a back pass really short which could have given them a third late on. We really need Kalas back. Parker -8 - solid, dependable, did that job well Johansen - 8 - one of the real encouraging points for me, looked a box to box midfielder, and gave an energetic, busy display,capped with that clever flick for Alukos goal. Jokanovic has a real selection decision with MacDonald available again. Cairney - 6 - disappointing for me, took the wrong choice regularly,and slowed the game down. Not awful,but we need better - for us to score 4 and him not be involved in any of them speaks volumes Piazon -8 cracking first half, his off the ball work was as good as I've seen for a long time and he looked lively and creative. Stroke of luck with his goal, but about time!Faded a little in the second. Aluko - 7. Aaargh!! Such a frustrating player. Has bags of skill and his pace terrified Barnsley, but afraid to shoot for long periods, and often took the wrong decision after his pace and skill had created an opening. Took his goal really well though. Martin - 7 - getting better every game and his goal was a thumping, frustrated bullet of a header. All the sub's came on with the game done, and didn't do a lot so not bothering to rate them.
