Obvs massively great to get 3 points but honestly how poor were we after going 1 up. Best form of defence is possession in the opponents half not just letting the opponents have all the ball in our half. Fortunately tonight Hull weren’t on it up top - just 1 effort on target- and Ng & Fish were excellent. With Stoke losing at home and given we have Burnley & Sunderland next up those 3 points were massive. Well done City
Phew, just got home from squeaky bum City. To answer previous comments, I think selection was dictated by who was available not by rotation. However, the starting 11, in particular, put in a real shift with special mention to Ng, Fish and Salech who were excellent. The subbing off of Robo and Salech meant it was inevitable that we would have trouble holding on to the ball especially when our front 3 was Davies, Robertson and Ashford. Where were Snow Whites other 4 friends? No criticism of them intended but they had little chance of winning anything above their head height against their 4 big defenders. We actually did a bit better when El Ghazi came on. Bottom line, it was an invaluable 3 points and gives us some breathing space over the bottom 3 with Sundeland and Burnley up shortly. Isn't it ironic, don't ya think (credits to Alanis Morissette) that we keep a clean sheet with our regular keeper and 2 first choice centre backs absent? Hull were so poor up front though. Only 1 free header on target straight at Horvath and no goal bound shots, at all.
Just read Riza's post match comments. Alnwick could be out for the rest of the season, Ralls for 2 to 3 weeks, Rambo not fit for tonight, maybe okay Friday or Tuesday, Alves took a knock to his knee at Plymouth.
Cheers BfB. That certainly deals with my earlier concern about rotation. Still a bit worried about starting selections and about the propensity to try and sit on one goal leads. Still, we got the job done tonight.
Cheers BfB. That certainly deals with my earlier concern about rotation. Still a bit worried about starting selections and about the propensity to try and sit on one goal leads. Still, we got the job done tonight.
I just read the BBC match report - talk about 'damning with his praise' from old Dafydd Pritchard - you'd swear no-one ventured over the halfway line in the first half from his report! Despite there being no seriously dangerous attempts at goal in the first 45+ (Salech's attempt right at the dead accepting perhaps) I actually thought we looked in control for the most part and actually had a few very good sweeping moves to get into attacking positions... To my mind (and I'd never compare us in terms of actual skill sets and level) but the job we did on Hull last night wasn't too different to the way Liverpool beat Man City on the weekend... the opponent totally dominated the ball and looked the more 'accomplished' side with it but we (and Liverpool) looked to make the most of our attacking moves when opportunity arose and actually, overall were the more threatening despite the 'sitting in' tactics. Go figure eh... everyone praises the 'incredible' job Liverpool did and we (us and Hull) get slagged off for producing an apparently boring game! I know even Riza said it wasn't pretty (it wasn't), but it was effective in the end and literally we reduced our opponent to 1 decent chance on goal and a couple of half chances - not bad when we've struggled for defensive solidity in recent weeks again. Table looking a fair bit healthier this morning and now only 2 defeats in our last 14 in all competitions (2 in 12 in the league). We're clearly harder to beat than it feels
Not pretty but Chambers and Mannsverk were the dogs of war in front of that back 4. Those two and unlikely central pairing of Fish and Ng behind them were magnificent. Either side of them, Rinomohta probably had his poorest game for a long time but you have to admire his tenacity whilst O'Dowda is better at carrying the ball than winning it. If anything, the side lacked creativity through the middle once again. Robbo is not a No.10. Salech didn't get the service through the middle though we've seen what he can do when that service come from pace out wide - Ashford, Alves and Davies hold his key. 3 points from a scrappy win is far better than going toe to toe in the quality stakes and dropping one of them or even all three. Stopping other teams from playing is never pretty, but it's part of the game. Dig in and get out of this **** any way we can.
Disappointing for Alnwick but Horvarth is slightly the better of two average keepers IMO. His distribution was much better last night. Positives to the injured you mentioned have been the returns of Chambers, Robertson, Robinson and Davies. Not sure why Hull were so poor, maybe they’d thought they’d just turn up and get the points as they did at Sunderland?
Agree on Chambers and Robinson. Robertson looked far from fit but made a nuisance of himself. We have the makings of a very good midfield when Riza has Mannswerk, Robertson, Ramsey, Turnbull and Chambers all fit. It is unfortunate for Davies that his job last night was chasing and harrying. He got in one good run down the right using his speed effectively. However good news that he is fit and giving Riza another selection headache. Mannsverk looks a great signing now he has settled in. I thought he looked a bit lightweight when I first saw him a month ago. Not last night. He really got stuck in while still showing his passing skills. He got booked for the little skirmish in front of us. First of all taking out one of their players then going nose to nose with another and also having a "friendly" word with 6ft 4ins Crooks.
Worth repeating there are big matches coming up this weekend for some of those listed in those odds whilst we’re off embarking on our next step to Wembley Luton v Pompey, Boro v Derby, Stoke v Watford and Oxford v Coventry. There’s a few clubs there chasing the 5th & 6th spots so hope they’ll do the business to give City a bit more of a cushion before our difficult 2 fixtures v Burnley and Sunderland which is then quickly followed by another 6 pointer v Luton.
We've also got Stoke and Oxford at home...............there you go, that's our 9 points to safety...........
Brizzle has posted the run in for the relegation spots on the Championship thread. It’ll be fascinating to see how it all unravels but hopefully we’ll be on the beach come our final game at Norwich
Just noticed this post of yours Brizzo - must have missed it earlier. You're right about that BBC reporter's views. Complete rubbish and demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of how we'd set up and what we were trying to do.
If that free header had gone in there would be yet another inquest on tactics and home performance. Our lack of composure on the ball was really poor as was the attempt to press. What we did have were 3 brilliant performances from Fish , Ng , and O Dowda in particular and another impressive display from Ashford. Our midfield was dominated though so much so our tactics were to put everyone behind the ball. Part of it is due to lack of availability and fitness. Chambers was a passenger long before half time. All that matters though was the 3 points but let's not kid ourselves it was an ugly win and we need another 4 in all probability.
Have to disagree with you I'm afraid Hilts.. I really thought the BBC report was quite disingenuous and totally ignored what was actually a decent tactical performance in many ways. I note you mention their header they missed. I can't disagree, it WAS a massive opportunity and one that should have been buried, however we were never going to keep Hull so much at bay that they created nothing. Some of the players they have would walk into a top half side or even top 6 in some instances (the one guy was playing in and scoring in the Champions League only a few months back for Monaco). They were also the team that hammered Sheffield Utd on their own patch, so are no mugs. The fact we held them at bay enough to limit them to one good chance and the odd half chance says to me we defended well and were also decent enough to create more chances than they did whilst managing to take one of them (we should perhaps have gotten at least 1 more too). It wasn't always pretty but for my money we were very good value for the win against a side that are very capable of beaten better teams than us. All opinions though I know and I am by nature an optimistic kind of guy
