Who could have predicted that Taylor would be alongside Matusiwa with Nunes in the 10. Have injuries actually helped McKenna find his best 11? It’s only 1 game - 2 with West Brom but signs are promising
To be fair, after Walton's idiotic palm away, he made some good saves and redeemed himself. But I have to say I am not a big fan of this tippy tappy passing out that KM instills.
If the alternative is lumping it upfield hopefully (which invariably means it comes straight back)I know which I prefer!
So pleased for Hirst today after the stick last time out. Win the game in hand and we’d be just one win off second spot. Still well in the hunt.
A really big difference to two years ago is that when we do get into our stride this season we are winning games comfortably and managing to go and get more than the single goal ahead. I am enjoying that we have round pegs in round holes at full back for the first time since the Royle era.
Very good result. In-between all the criticism that this group has attracted their quietly building a list of their own good memories. Sheffield at home, Ending the wait for a derby win. Today's potential banana skin. Feeling positive.
Great result and says if we manage to stay in games we have the quality in the end to beat teams at this level. I only managed to see the second half and as ever I think McKenna summed it up well when he said he liked the goals, all of real quality but until we went 3-1 up I thought at times we looked all over the place defensively. Lose the ball too many times playing out from the back and still too easy to break on, so much space. We went 2-1 up, got a corner and suddenly find ourselves 2 vs 4 being broken on, surely after scoring you should to keep it a little tighter, fortunately we recovered well each time and managed to get blocks in. I thought we looked powder puff down the flanks with Philogene looking all over the place. And even in an attacking sense was beaten in terms of pace by Dunne who I didn't think was a fast player. But then we produced a superb team goal for the 3rd where the passing out from the back clicked and from then on we took control. Even the subs many of whom were asked to come on and play out of position looked good. Hopefully its a confidence boost and more of a sign of things to come.
When playing out from the back works like the excellent, fluid, neat quick passing in the 3rd goal, it is wonderful to watch, but when it doesnt it leaves us exposed and in a heap load of trouble!
I don’t think we’ve conceded a single goal this season from a mistake coming from playing out from the back? Balls over the top were much more of a risk.
Gaffer's take. This was an important well deserved win. Most importantly the relationships are starting to build. And clearly our strength lies in depth and bringing on subs of real quality. Ashton spoke about KM not having time to build a team fit for the premier league. All the changes made, albeit expensively, can be moulded in the rugged challenges of Championship. We as fans are getting to know these characters. Maybe we can start to think of Wolfenden , Burgess, Chaplin and Morsy et al as fond memories. And not be looking back to their time. Just the start we dream of! Then after their goal we were in a state of shock and let them take control. Our passing went awol and gave the ball away cheaply a few times in dangerous situations. This was when Capt O'Shea should show his stripes. Second half was much, much better and our third goal as we have commented was beautifully made from deep inside our half to Hirsts finish. We are all delighted for him. A strong feature is how our right side is now a threat with Egeli, rapidly developing into a terrific player, proving a handful and putting across a variety of balls. And Nunez clearly loves playing for us, hope our feathered friends watch the highlights! Finally, what a great away following, chants and cheers all afternoon. That will make KM a happy man.
