Match Day Thread versus Burnley

We started poorly and got a thumping from Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day. Rooney has recently said that there were too many “new” players in that team. That’s perhaps another way of saying he didn’t at first recognise the quality of some of the players who’d been here a while.

Since then, I’ve watched all but the few away games played at 3pm on Saturday. Those rarities aren’t on TV!

In recent weeks, our performances have been better than our results but it’s starting to come together and beating Sunderland has seemed to be a watershed moment. I watched the game between Derby and Norwich at the weekend, both in the top half of the table. Neither looked as good as we have lately.

It’s a tough game but we can certainly get a result if we just maintain recent form. I’ll say in advance though that even if we do get beaten, it’s no reason to put on the sackcloth and ashes. Our season won’t be defined by Burnley away. We’ve got Blackburn at home after that, which will be another tough one, but after that, it’s Cardiff, Millwall and Preston. They say there are no easy games in the Championship and that’s true but given a choice……..

I was just checking where the game was being shown and came across the Sky form guide:

Burnley: L-D-W-W-D
Argyle: D-L-W-L-W

Not a foregone conclusion....

Grimshaw, Ogbeta, Szucs, Cissoko, Hardie, Whittaker, Gibson, Gyabi, Randell, Al Hajj, Palsson.

Subs.
Marosi, Mumba, Houghton, Pleguezuelo, Wright, Bundu, Galloway, Sorinola, Hatch.

1-0...H/T

Brownhill...26mins...pen.

A very poor game decided by a very soft penalty decision by a FIFA badged ref. Perhaps he’s used to having VAR to correct weak decisions. Not here unfortunately.

I didn’t fancy the look of the line-up. In my opinion, Ogbeta isn’t one of our better summer signings. Mumba is great going forward but not the world’s greatest defender. 1-0 Mumba then.

Presumably Joe Edwards has an injury. How we missed his leadership. If he’s unavailable, then Galloway is a reasonable stand-in. He was on the bench but is he fully fit? I’ve seen Palsson twice and as I say, Galloway is a reasonable stand-in for Edwards.

We started the better and for the first 15 minutes or so, you wouldn’t have known which side had Premier League credentials. Burnley got on top though and we were never able to regain control of the game.

Half chances came and went with Bundu missing the best near the end.

Burnley really didn’t impress and these were points dropped.

1-0...F/T

Well whether there was contact or not, surely you’re allowed to challenge for the ball in the penalty box?

All he did really was to do a weird little bunny-hop in front of their guy. It wasn’t a trip or a lunge or a push. What did he actually do that was wrong? Just because their guy fell down doesn’t make it a penalty.

There were other non game changing decisions that had a strong whiff of Premier League ref thinking he’s refereeing a Premier League team versus the Dog & Duck. Got to protect the Premier League stars from the country bumpkins. Burnley had one season in the EPL and failed miserably. That doesn’t entitle them to special measures. Good job Joe Edwards didn’t play in a way. God knows what that ref would have made of his lack of respect for his supposed betters.

Well done to Joe Hatch for his first team debut and to Wayne Rooney for picking him. I can’t see what Rooney sees in him mind you, apart from scoring 7 goals in his last two games for the youth team. Yes, I thought it was a mistake when I read it too. Seven in two games. If that doesn’t get you a run-out in the Big League, I don’t know what will.

Only one goal scored away from home leaves you thinking how much we need to be totally dominate at home to survive relegation in May.

Last night against an average looking Burnley...who needed a soft penalty to win all three points....we managed not one shot on target all evening.

We seem to have tightened the defence up since game one...but are unable to score enough away goals to make a match of it.

Pasoti keep crying out why isn't Hardie being picked for Scotland.....there is a reason.....he isn't good enough....in fact he isn't scoring often enough in the Championship....he runs and runs and works his socks off but the end result is lacking at the moment.

Whittaker's value is going down at the moment because he's lost that golden goal touch of a year back......they've sussed out his cutting in from the right wing to get the ball on his left foot and he hasn't adapted his play to compensate for that situation yet.

No other forward is showing that they can help fill that gap....Rooney gave youngster Joe Hatch a few seconds last night....but scoring seven goals in two games for the U18's is light years away from play against Championship defences.....good to blood him for his success.....but coming on in the 89th minute does no more than give him one first team notch on his belt.......I can only assume that Issaka wasn't available last night and Edwards as well.

Misery guts.

Football is a team game: scoring goals is not all about the strikers. Cissoko has 3 in 8 games played in a much revised team that's still finding its way and despite not starting every game. Up until recently anyway, Whittaker was in P1 in the Championship for shots on target. If his value is declining, I'm all for it. It's less likely then that he'll move in the January window. He's a quality player and sooner or later, they'll start to go in.

It wasn't a good night last night but I don't think it was our strongest side. In particular, not only did we miss Joe Edwards phenomenal work-rate but he'd have been counselling one or two other players I think.

If Pasoti members are moaning about Whittaker, they have the wrong target. To me, the one who hasn't contributed a lot is Obafemi.

We have had a blow as it seems Tijani could be out until the New Year, that's true. On the other hand, Issaka is on the way back. Yes, he's inexperienced but he has the pace to cause havoc, especially against tiring legs in the last 30 minutes.

I watched the game and i though the secondf half we were better . not great , but a 1 nil loss to the favourites to win the title. not to bad. i will still be there staurday no matter what along with most of the others from here who go

And let’s not forget it was an extremely soft penalty.