Quite right mate, Hume knew exactly what he was doing and happily took the consequences ... ... it let Bacuna, and Rooney, know we were quite happy to break their legs if they didn't reign it in. It's been a while since we were able and wiling to do that.
He is sounding a lot more mature. A proud day for him and his family. I think you might be right there, maybe it was the weight of the captaincy or he just got a bit overawed by the occasion. For him it was definitely an off day, I just had a look at his stats and he was ranked lower than anyone on our side including the subs. His worst of the season apart from the Boro game. Ekwah seemed to get the wrath of our angry fans on X/Twitter for some of his stray passes but he was more involved in the game.
I get your point about the other CB’s having to do something to shift O’nien out of the team but he was thrown into our team last season because there was nobody else due to injuries not because of how good he is. The start of last season we were conceding goals for fun with him in the team and only won 5 in his first 15 or so games at CB so I think it’s only fair that the others are judged on the same level. If we were top of the league with an impeccable defensive record then I’d agree it’s his spot to lose.
Sorry I haven't really read any of previous comments but my observations from yesterday are...Rusyan had a much better game and Mayenda looks a lot bigger than I imagined. I have e a good vibe about him and Aouiche. The only negative for me is that Ekwah (who I rate massively) gives the ball away far too easily in midfield. The game before at home v Norwich he was to blame imo for their goal as he should have whacked the ball out of play. He's still one of my favourite players for us tho as his passing is top tier! But overall I think we will have an even better 2nd half to the season!
i think the important point about the CB's is that they both improved dramatically in the 2nd half, we also have to remember that they are both young lads making their debut starts in front of a 40k crowd having just been 'thrown together' and could have gone all to feck after brum scored...when in fact it was the midfield that had a bad day. the onien debate will continue for a while i feel and i know i have brought his name up over the past couple of weeks but i also think he is a player who literally throws his body full on into the game just defence is not always the best place to do that plus the 'officials' we seem to be getting stuck with are watching him more now (maybe a reputation passed among the officials?)...i also think he is right for a CDM because he is not afraid of a tackle and i would be happier if he gave away a free kick 25 yards out rather than giving a penalty but the lad bleeds safc and while he has done a decent job at the back he is simply not a CD.
Last thought on the weekend... last week we were bemoaning our lack of accuracy in front of the Swansea goal with 3 on target out of 30 odd shots, so what does uncle Tony get the lads to do. He gets them to shoot from within the six yard box, lessening the chances of missing the target and he comes up with three goals. Our manager is a sheer genius
The yellow was a joke but there is no overturning yellows is there? To book the lad for not being happy that you have bot given a yellow for two fouls that were blatant yellows is a joke. But to make it even worse I don't think Roberts reaction was even that bad?
Well it was his fault . . . . if he hadn't been booked last week Obviously the same could be said for Dan Ballard . . . . but it never would 'cos he's not a 'target'
WTF was the ref thinking? What did he think had happened to not give a booking for either of those lunges?
Ekwah just had a poor game that's all. But you have to play through it, and I was very eased TM left him on to do that. His passing was just a little heavy, probably a sign of trying too hard with the ball. But when its right he plays some killer balls. Teams will close us down. They don't want the micky taken out of them, and Birmingham did that very well after 25 mins and early second half. We have to deal with it and did. We still broke through and caused enough problems. Young players learning on the job!
Great points. I totally agree with hindsight. But I wanted him subbed at the match!!! Good job I’m not a manager eh?!!
Aye, it’s a puzzler. It’s a struggle to think of a reason why the refs don’t see the severity of the fouls properly. Maybe Roberts’s footwork and skill is too quick for average refs and it takes the better ones to spot how badly he gets caught.
Just watched the sky highlights. He says “4 points in 5 games” which was technically true. But we’ve also got 4 points in the 2 games before the weekend. m Why say that? Refs cost us points in all of the 3 previous games as well. Why try to iut a negative spin on a couple of good results?
Sky are reputed to love having us on as we’re probably on the box more than any other championship club (I haven’t checked the figures) In the pre match build up they big us up as young,exciting, and flamboyant with an experienced manager guiding his young charges. All going well so far then come the digs as you’ve mentioned, finding fault we’re there isn’t any, putting a negative spin on our recent points tally is just one, why not say we’ve taken 7 out if 9 after a blip which as you say was referee influenced in some games. They seem to want to love us but can’t help themselves just to fill in air time, it really is annoying. Criticise us by all means when we deserve it otherwise keep your traps shut.
