That sums up yesterday, not a great performance, especially the first half, but we continue to grind out the results. Before I speak about the game, it was great to meet so many of the guys (and girls!) at the Crown and Sceptre yesterday, some I met again, others for the first time. It was brilliant to meet so many new faces, we do have a great bunch of people on here. Special mention to Roller for organising the whole thing, sorry we couldn't make the meet up after the game. Also spoke to Deon who was a very down to earth guy. The lads on the pitch did it for Brix yesterday. THE GAME Well I wad pretty unhappy to see Zamora starting again, surely he has had enough chances I thought. But it goes to show just how short we are up front, which I am glad Harry has said he is trying to resolve. I think Birmingham were the much better side in the first half, they had several good opportunities, hitting the post with a header that everyone in the lower loft thought was in (i sure did), and also missing the target when one on one after a Barton poor pass. We just didnt get going in the first half, and couldnt cope with their formation. We were being closed down very quickly and some of our passing was very poor. Second half began in the same fashion and Birmingham had a goal disallowed for offside, but Green was saved there as he should never have let that in from such an angle. Then shortly after we got a free kick and Barton put the ball into the far post where Onuoha reacted quickly after a header to keep the ball in and rattle the crossbar. Then, finally the moment we had all waited for, Austin in the right place at the right time to nod home on the line. Birmingham continued to press, but the goal did give us a boost and our performance did improve. They also had a penalty claim but the guy got booked for diving, I havent seen it since as the football league show failed to show it so no idea if it was a penalty! But as has been the case this season we closed up, and got the win. Other than the penalty they didnt have a clear cut chance after our goal which is credit to our defence. THE RATINGS GREEN - 8 - bar the shot that he let in (but got ruled out for offside) I thought he was brilliant. They had a lot of free kicks which we gave away easily, but he claimed many of the balls and was not afraid to come off his line. HILL - 5.5 - got ripped apart by Burke in the first half, but was better as the game went on. His lack of pace did not help at times, and often free kicks were given away on this side of the pitch. But wasnt protected or helped enough by Hoilett for me. ONUOHA - 8 - a rock once again in the defence, had a tough job marking some big players and did well. Him an Dunne were working well together. DUNNE - 8.5 - MOM - brilliant I thought. Was always in the right place, won loads of headers v a big team and also cleared well after they hit the post in the first half. Marshalled the defence well and was always there to clear the ball. SIMPSON - 7 - did well enough, got forwards well and also defended well. Nothing spectacular but solid. BARTON - 6.5 - first half he had several passes that were poor and one led to a great chance for them which they thankfully didnt take. Didnt really control the midfield as well as he has done which allowed them to put pressure on the defence too often. CARROLL - 6.5 - same as Barton really, gave away possession early on, but did get better as the game went on. Always looking for the positive ball, but often nobody up front in space to pass to. HOILETT - 7 - was our most attacking threat until he went off, but didnt give Hill enough help at left back for me, often left him with two men to make his job even harder. O'NEIL - 7.5 - probably our best midfield player in the first half, doing the simple things, and making intelligent runs. I think he is a but underrated by some, but does the simple stuff well. AUSTIN - 7.5 - once again worked very hard but I think he was much better once Zamora went off and we put five in midfield. There was no spark between them as a partnership and both struggled to create anything. Delighted to see him get his goal though, that should be great for his confidence. ZAMORA - 4.5 - bar a couple of decent touches and moves, he was pretty poor once again. No movement which meant we had nobody to pass to up front which put the midfield under pressure as they were being closed down very quickly. That was our main problem tbh, not enough intelligence up front. SUBS: SWP - 7 - made a good impact when he came on but his decision making is terrible for a pro footballer. He runs into areas with 3 defenders and when he has the chance for a cross he takes too long and gets tackled. Whilst he did help us to run the game down, he cannot make good decisions which is very infuriating. PHILLIPS - 6.5 - I think he will turn out to be crucial for us but struggled to get into the game and when he got the ball he struggled to keep it. But did have a couple of nice runs into the box. JENAS - 6.5 - came on to help us close the game out and he did that for us. Regained a bit of control in the middle of the park which was crucial. FINAL WORD As I said above, I think our major issue yesterday was the lack of movement up front, which meant the midfield had nobody to pass to. Carroll always looked up for the pass, only to see nothing in front of him. The major culprit of this is Zamora imo. He looks unfit still and just cant seem to have any prolonged impact on the game. As a team our passing was generally poor, and we gave the ball away too easily and gave free kicks away a lot. Not a great performance but we continue to grind the results out which is the mark of champions. However, against better sides (Birmingham were a good side tbh!) we will get punished though. Our attacking play needs to click soon, and I hope Kranjcar can help this. But, that win yesterday was for Brix in my eyes, such a good turnout to raise a glass to him.
Agree with most of that, Burke was skinning Hill every which way. Dunne's distribution had a lot of heart-in-mouth moments but he does a superb marshalling job in the style of Nelsen. I won't be surprised if Assou-Ekotto starts on Wednesday...
Excellent appraisal, Judo. The Zamora situation is a worry. He needed that op in the preseason, and from my perspective, it was a mistake to have him soldier on carrying the injury. Perhaps the fact that Harry is reported looking for the loan of Adebayor indicates that he is at last recognising this.
Agreed, it's all positives isn't it, we played badly and still won, the sign of a team that's going somewhere. We are second from top have, clean sheets flowing out of our ears and we haven't even starting playing well. We have exciting players to come and great looking squad, it's all positive from where I'm sat.
Hopefully the half-time formation change signals the end of 442, which means we are not in such desperate need of another front man. Carroll will be good for us, but needs to play in a five-man midfield.
Thanks a lot Judo. The strength of the team is down the spine of the team, Dunne & Onouha CB, Barton in the middle and Austin up front. We missed Hoilett badly when he went off injured. The fact we have only conceded 2 goals in 6 games is a big plus. That is how you win this league. Our crowd need to liven up and give the team encouragement when we go through a sticky patch like yesterday. It's like we were waiting till we scored 2 or 3 goals before singing. Onouha was my man of the match.
Fing - we're yet to have a proper beer -my next match is Donny away, are you planning on going to that one son?
Whats a proper beer Wubba? Like the 20 pints we had yesterday lol. Sorry I didn't get a chance to have a proper chat yesterday. I had family there from Newcastle who I hadn't seen for nearly 1.5 years. Which airport is best for Donny, Leeds/Bradford or East Midlands. The flights are 60 euro return to either for the day trip. Not sure what the travel from either is to Doncaster. Your local advice would be appreciated. My next games are Barnsley and Charlton. I also booked a ticket bundle yesterday for 6 home games. I think they are Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Leeds, Forest, Watford & Millwall.
Thanks sooper. Is that East Midlands? I know that one is handy for Nottingham, Leicester, Derby & Sheffield.
The East Midlands Airport is further south, Kegworth I think. Robin Hood is actually Doncaster/Sheffield and is further north. With a name like that you'd expect it to be in Nottingham... Here's a link: http://www.robinhoodairport.com/airport-information/getting-to-and-from-airport
OK Sooper, thanks again. Checked the Ryanair website. They used to fly there from Dublin but don't anymore. Thanks for letting me know.
Agreed Judo. I think you're the first person I have seen to give Dunne MOTM. I don't think it is a case of Irish green tinted glasses, but I really thought he did an excellent job yesterday. By the way, God bless your eyesight, because I thought Green did awfully for that offside goal (he was right in front of me and you n the other side of the stadium).
We have been "winning ugly", but we have been winning. Most of the teams in the division have a large number of players who played together last season. We have made wholesale changes and several new players who have only just arrived since our last match. I am excited and very hopeful that once this lot have been playing and training together for a few more weeks things will become a little easier and, hopefully, less ugly.
Judo good to meet you and Sussex yesterday......TBH there are times when you have to win ugly and this league is so difficult that ugly is good!!! Brum set themselves up to make it difficult to play through but i thought we looked so much better in 2nd half after BZ departed playing 1 up front and our possession is so much better than last year......Austin is a cracking centre forward he works tirelessly for the side.....the back 4 look solid although there was i occassion when Clint almost finished in South Africa Road after being turned by the Brum right winger......and I do like Green in goal he commands the area and looks full of confidence which helps the back 4. Expect another tight game on Wednesday, Brighton are no mugs....would take another ugly 1-0 here and now....
Good to meet you also. Cant disagree there, I will take any sort of win after last season, as long as we go back up I dont really care how we do it! Brighton will be another tough test, but they will be missing their top scorer as he got sent off today v Reading. The standard so far has been poor, i will agree there, but the teams are all tough to beat. Most are solid, but unspectacular, and tough to break down. Games are often tight, which makes putting a winning run together very hard indeed.
