Re JG.... in truth he'd been poor of late... BUT... his confidence must be sky high and I'm sure he'll be taking the mick out of his bestie at keeping him out of the starting 11..
Not just aimed at the board, all the boo boys that sit round me. The knee jerkers. I’m not disputing he has been relatively poor for two months, like the rest of the team. But some of the criticism he has gathered on here and in the stadium is from those with very short memories.
Today showed we excel when given lots of time on the ball. Seri and Woods were in their element. However, we struggle when we don’t have as much as the ball in games against possession-based teams like Swansea or QPR or Sheffield United and that’s where our weaknesses are. Today and arguably Wednesday were the first two games this season we dominated for most, if not all, of the 90 minutes. Even our earlier wins against Norwich, Bristol City, Coventry etc. we didn’t necessarily look the better team by much. Today we coasted.
I've had "we've got super Andy Dawson" going round in my head for the last 3 hours! Annoyingly catchy despite it being just one of those generic songs for most clubs at the moment. Would I give him the job? The players certainly seem to be playing for him but can he sustain it medium to long term? Wouldn't like to be making that decision.
Longman was v good today, won more headers from long balls in 90 mins than eaves and Magennis combined in the whole of last season, hold up play is fantastic allowing us to get it forward quickly and ran the channels off the ball superbly, really good lone strikers performance.
There's not a player who has played this season who hasn't been **** at some point or another, but that's not an accusation that can be levied at anyone who's played these past 2 games.
Surely the comparison is with Phelan caretaking after Bruce left and he got manager of the month after we beat Leicester on opening day?
But we’re getting more time on the ball precisely because of the formation we’re playing and pairing Seri and Woods. It gives the pair of them the option to pass to each other, and gives the defence more options for playing out from the back - with less chance of Seri getting isolated and caught in possession. They provide a great pivot, and both have the ability to produce defence-splitting passes which the opposition have to guard against. That creates the extra time on the ball.
Interestingly the Rotherham commentators were saying very similar, very complementary about us, which makes a change.
The comparison between Dawson and Shota is enormous - I don't know what Dawson's done but the whole team now seem to be playing for the shirt for the whole 90 minutes - even in the final minutes they were busting a gut to chase the ball down - the football is pleasing to watch- that said, I still think there's more to come - It's also worth noting just how good the body language and togetherness is - Well Done Daws - so far so good, great job - Acun can't begin to think of changing it now
I posted this on Monday before Blackpool, when most were doom and gloom: —————————— What if… We start the game like we did in the first half against Birmingham. We look the better side and things don’t go against us for once. We actually score goals. We go on to comfortably beat Blackpool. Then we go to Rotherham. Turn them over and suddenly we are mid-table, fearing no one. We go on an incredible run from then on, maybe even a play-offcharge by the end of the season? Anyway I’m off to bed now. Goodnight. —————————— Just saying.
Certainly the last two games will have had the scouting teams of future opponents having to rewrite their notes. They likely thought press them high and watch them fold, now they have a whole new can of worms to deal with...
Its not even just him. Longman, Seri, Tufan, Fig, Ingram all have had turns of been slated and written off during a period the whole team was struggling. Really pleased for Longman in the last couple of games because he is a good player and always tries regardless of wether we are off it or not, but the idea that the same folk abusing him recently are cheering and lauding him at the moment annoys me so much because I know they wont learn.
The thing is with Phelan, it was pretty much a given he’d get the job after Bruce left because Ehab had no clue. With Daws, it’s a bit of both Ole & Phelan.
The key difference is saying “that player is utter ****” when the reality is “that player had a **** game”. It’s very easy to do in the heated emotions of post game defeat. There’s a world of difference between being out of form and not having enough ability. Longman still needs to convince me he can do it long term at this level, but he’s stuck at it and the confidence and support for the lad has pulled him up by his scruff. Woods looks like he’s coming along nicely as well. Greaves for me has all the potential in the world to crack on and be a decent player, but there’s still a lot for him to learn if he’s going to make the Championship his level. People can only go off what they see. My old man is terrible for it, one week he thinks Seri is useless, today he said he’s our best player and first name on the team sheet. Obviously I disagree which has led to many a discussion. People were calling Tufan fat and lazy after Birmingham, despite the fact that in that game he’d sprinted 60 yards back to hassle a winger out of play near our box. It’s frustration 90% of the time, it’s not really worth worrying about.
