Liverpool lost last night though, despite playing well for long periods of the game. So I assume they are ****, their manager is useless, and their owners are a disaster for the club.
Well played Ross - two good goals, two headers well saved, almost scored by pressing the keeper, another shot blocked, and his overall play was good. Keep it up!
Indeed - a clear indicator that there's a player in there. His confidence must be nice and high this morning, so I'll keep everything crossed that he builds on it. Really good performance from him over all.
Morning. Nice to wake up with that winning feeling Walked in front door around 2:15 which not bad at all in the end. Thought we started the game well yesterday but our intensity dropped somewhat after about 15 minutes and we became rather passive for the rest of the first half. Quarshie got done far too easily for their goal and was a poor one to give away. Tidy finish though. Thought Fellows looked bright and was surprised he came off. Azaz had a few touches of class but once again the game passed him by for large periods, really need to find a way to get him involved more as feels vital to making us more creative. Stewart was a real handful as he was on Saturday and also took his goals really well. The second was even better then it looked in the ground and actually looks better every time I see it. Did think he should have come off earlier though as looked absolutely ****ed. Can't see him starting Saturday after the shifts he's put in the last two. Thought we rode our luck a bit towards the end and should have tried harder for the third but ultimately teams do have to ride their luck at times and it'll do our confidence good to see a narrow win out. It was frustrating to watch us playing long balls after to Archer when he came on as it just cheaply gave up possession again and again. We need to find ways of getting up the pitch whilst under pressure without a target man up top as it'll cost us at some point. Overall, great away day. The coach was spot on and we did both journeys in decent time. Matt and Reuben were both proper sound and happy to chat for much of both journeys. Had decent chats with Franny and Beatts at the pub pre game too - nice touch for midnite to buy everyone a drink as well imo and want expecting that. I hadn't realised that they sponsor Sheffield United too which is why they did it and are doing the same for their fans in the return. Good on them.
Blimey were some unhappy people in here yesterday, I didn't see it anywhere near as bad. I'm supposed to be being productive today with my day off but might have to go and give Saintsweb a read.
I read the half-time posts again and I think I can hold my head up high (for once). Basically I said the performance was quality and that Stewart is a monster. I'm meltdown-proof at the moment.
That's putting it mildly, the tea lady can't make a good cuppa and the car park attendant is selling crack to the academy players.
Stewart was clearly the standout player last night. Could have scored 3 or 4 and won the penalty. He looks like someone who's a nightmare to play against and so far he's the only forward we have who looks able to play the sort of role Che Adams used to. A quick mention for McCarthy. That save early in the second half was absolutely vital. If we'd gone 2 down at that point I don't think we'd have come back. Credit to Still for making such huge changes at the back. Charles and Jander look a very good pairing in midfield. Azaz hasn't done that much yet but Middlesbrough fans did seem to think he goes missing a lot. I'm hoping he may be more of a factor when we need to put away weaker teams. We sat back far too much at the end of the game but hopefully that's just players who were nervous after not winning for a while and the win gives the team some confidence. The performances have improved recently and with a bit of luck the results will start to come as well. I'm fine with the current set up for now but we've pretty much built a squad for 4-2-3-1 so I'll be interested to see what happens there. I assume Still's being pragmatic and may try to switch formation again when and if we put some results together.
Just watched highlights and ****ing hell Quarshie's effort for the goal was utterly appalling. It looked bad in real time but seeing it again it's genuinelynon league standard.
Yep. That's a droppable mistake imo, seeing as we have two first-teamers sitting out for him. Didn't even need to lunge in, and why did he do it with the wrong foot? Hope he puts in some tackling practice.
Yeah, as others have said, I think his pace tends to paper over some cracks in his game. Would be OK with Jack taking his place if Still stays with a 3.
I think this is what people are missing with Quarshie as he does it so easily. Whenever the ball squeaks through he runs back and wins it. Before he was in the side, we were getting beaten like that very regularly. It doesn’t look flashy as he gets there so much earlier, and it also doesn’t paper over the cracks of the mistakes he makes, but our defence is incredibly slow without him.
Me too, I really didn't see we were that bad and were unfortunate not to be in front, let alone behind.
With Quarshie you can coach out most of the mistakes with time but you can't coach in a level of speed and physique that a player just doesn't have, so him being a raw but tall, pacy defender is only going to improve.
As has been said a few times, it's a good job fans don't run football clubs or Still would have been sacked for subbing Fellows off and Stewart would have been hung!
