Biggest negative point - Jenas and Faurlin were the weak links. Can't believe I now prefer a midfield pairing of Barton and Henry. Crazy. Biggest plus point - Mo Shariff looked pretty good!
Fact is Nuts we need quite a few more players regardless of tonight (didn't see it, can't comment) - the squad is very thin, when injuries and suspensions kick in, it"ll be threadbare. Still a chunk of window and longer for loans to go, it would be nice to get quality, but half decent numbers is a must.
Just got back, Had to show the lass in acton Mcdonalds how to use the ****ing latte machine after it ran out of milk half way through filling, silly thing just topped with cold milk. ffs! Which was a bit like us really, we ran out of ideas and threw the kids to the wolves. Shame on you Harry. Points of note: Murphy - is not up to the job of a football player, If he must play then floppy shoes and a flower that squirts water would have given us a ****ing clue. Gave away a corner because he dropped the ball out of play under no pressure, he takes to many touches when the ball is played back and cant decide where to pass it when the crowd are shouting route 1 mate. Clown, a spell on loan or replace. This should of been his level and was found wanting. Suk Young - Backed away from making challanges in the first half. when I arrived (late!) I asked the guy behind who was actually playing and he said "just SWP" who promptly ran back and cleaned up a Suk Youngs mess. Better second half but couldn't see very well from R block. But why no Traore? Hmmmm. Hill - Looked pissed off at being resticted to CB he looked like he wanted to get forward and make something happen but instead did some hands on hips and sad faces. Felt for him here. Ned - Was the person most found by Murphy. when losing with 10 minutes on the board.... Austin - Can't buy a goal atm. Zamora - Think the PFA should have a word with the club, did the limp thing just after half time, Harry noticed 15 mins later.....Don't want to see a player being made to play when he should be in ****ing hospital. ....Samba Diakite..... - I thought he would be worth the ticket fee alone, but after a challange late in the first half for which he got a cheer he barely touched the ball again. Worringly at the start of the second half a bloke in front of me shouted "come on samba" for the player to leave his position (we'll come back to this in a minute) on the right of midfield and jog back towards the goal as a goal kick was being taken, he demanded the ball only to be told to piss off. Comical. Worse though is that as he ran back on for that second half I thought our state of the art new sprinkler system had been left running, he was sweating like Dick Cheney's Hunting partner, this is after a 15 minute rest? I had visions of harry doing the triffic team talk while Diakite runs around the changing rooms trying to catch a chicken. The Position Diakite plays is DM, Never winger or wide. So why send him out so unfit and in the wrong position? Harry was that a chance or a rope you handed him? Either way stupid management that. More to follow.....
To add - Suk Yun - bottled it right on front of me several (at least 4) challenges - not up for it - has skill - some pace, good control - passing not so good - but scared to commit - cant play in that position and be scared of getting hurt. Can we shoot Zamora? Think of all the donkey strikers we have had over the years who have become heroes - would rather any of them to him.
......... Jenas & Faurlin - Ale went MIA in the first half, Jenas the second. Ale is still looking a little light weight ended up on the floor after a shoulder to shoulder when he should have done better, next time he lost it he won it back himself. Looks like he needs games. Jenas doesn't look interested, started telling Mo sharif what to do when Mo had more oringinal ideas in 15 minutes than Jenas had all game. Heard a couple of "how did he get an england cap" comments and on the back of tonights show it is hard not to disagree. Lacks passion imo. SWP - As stated earlier, ran the show and was involed in everything untill AJ came on. Tracked back well, could have had a penalty but still produced little end results. His effort and application cannot be doubted though. Our best player today. Simpson - Wouldn't pass to Diakite for most of the game or Sharif for his first ten minutes which was funny but quite annoying when you want to see what they can do. Put in a good shift with few mistakes. AJ - An assured presence on the pitch, clearly rated by his team mates. Started to make things happen & linked well with everyone but drifted to the left and kept being in the wrong place at the wrong time tonight. Miles better than Zamora who will be playing in a mobility scooter soon. Mo Sharif - Looks like a clever player, annoyed the crap out of the guy marking him by running just behind him out of sight, traps the ball better than many, dummied the defender once or twice and got off a half decent shoot on target. A skill player, one to watch. Like SWP but with added ball control. Hitchcock - N/A as fifa would say. Notes - The half time subs kick about was distracted by a bloke in a bib that ran onto the pitch and got in the way of the kids half time challange. It turned out to be none other than Luke Young, the club & Guinness missed the oppertunity to present him with all time Hide&Seek Cup & Certificate. I wondered why a clearly fit right sided attacking full back would be allow to ruin the kids fun while the previous record holder had to play well out of his comfort zone? I can only conclude that Harry is being a bit of a Knob about one or two things, and while footballers & club owners may not always be the sharpist of folk they will suss eventually. Morale is not best served by mindfucking the naive to often. Why????? Did the club sell the whole ground tonight? it resulted in 8,000 odd fans scattered around the 3 sides while swindon almost filled their allocation. Maddness. Plus the family area behind the home end is still costing us at home. Tin Hat on. Amateurish performance from most areas really tonight, several seniors were left to carry the lame & disinterested.
Fantastic write up Rhino, some very astute points! I'm glad i'm not the only one who thought SWP had a good game. Some people on twitter were slagging him at half time, unbelievable :S
Those who were there - do you think there is a possibility of the team having been told to avoid injury at all costs? From Rhino's report and other comments it seems a few were obviously not fully committed.
Why waste time going on about a nothing game? Anyone with half a brain would realise Harry has thrown this one and conveniently hung a few underperforming players out to dry. We know players like Diakite have no future at the club and Harry can use last night as an excuse to see them off. Warnock did much the same in 2010-11 so if we get the same end product no-one will give a toss...
