Why do we have a midfield that never challenges for the ball. They cover and just wait for the opposition to cough it up. TACKLE ffs. It's not basketball. Pugh and Byram did perform fairly well though. I am still struggling to see what Murphy is brining to the side. Too lightweight for me.
Lots of things to say about the match today. Ref - is this guy the worst ever we've had at Elland Rd? Absolute shocker, and I think the Chicken Murderers will probably think the same thing. For the first time in many years, I saw a ref allowing a player to stay on the field after he had been attended by the physio. This latitude was not extended to us, I might add. Why do refs make up their own rules when we play? Goals against - I have no idea why they scored or who was at fault. Can anyone enlighten me? Goal for - We scored thanks to the determination of Byram. He really should take a bow for this one. Kenny - Hope this injury lasts a while. No humping the ball up the park! What a difference in our play. We had to pass it about (not that it did us any good, at the end of the day!). CBs - Seems like a solid unit to me, and seem to cover each other off quite well. Thought Lees was solid today, and if anyone, it was Pearce who had a few wobbles. (then again, I still have to understand why we lost the goals, so perhaps they're not so solid! ). Wingbacks - Most of our good work came from them. Then .... we brought on the kid on the left wing, and Poleon on the right. Both big mistakes IMO - both 'wingers' offered speed. Full stop. Nothing else. No crosses, no useful interplay, no tracking back. Nowt! And our wingbacks became full backs. What a waste! Midfield - Oh dear. Austin did a lot of running about, tackling & passing with variable levels of success. Didn't exactly set the heather alight. Murphy lasted until half time. He should probably have been hooked before then. Then there's Mowatt. I deliberately tracked him for the whole match, as I feel I must have missed something when he's played before. Even with such close scrutiny, I still fail to see why he keeps receiving rave notices. He was knackered by half time, just like the last time he played. Sure, he screams for the ball a lot, but then passes it 3yds sideways & ambles away. Awful at tracking back after an attack too. Totally lacking in sharpness, especially towards the end when he was cramping up. BM should have taken action sooner. Attack - One word. Starved. Game of 2 halves. 1st half summary - lethargic. 2nd half summary - absolutely average. And bloody Celtic beat Partick Thistle too! Not the best start to a New Year!
Was at the game today and there are some things I was going to say that I think I'll hold my tongue on for now.. .. couple of things though. Both goals conceded were very very sloppy. The first an absolute aberration. why o why would you lose Rhodes. he was miles onside and nobody covered him. That is just inexcusable. Second goal, I think that was the third corner they had in a row and we were looking very shaky defending them. Again, you could see the goal coming a mile off, surely we are not just that bad at defending corners? Again, very avoidable. Before both goals we looked okay going forward, but then when the goals went in our heads just dropped completely. Second half then, we actually looked good and Byram determination to win the goal back was amazing. The defender was trying to block him and let the ball trickle back to the keeper but sam was there to poke it to Smith before it reached the keeper. A lot of attacking players would have given up but luckily Sam didn't. After that we nearly score an equaliser when Mowatt hit the bar. The chance may have been a bit fortunate to fall to him but he was unlucky. Perhaps if he could have hit it a second earlier the gap wouldn't have narrowed so much and he might have been able to steer it slightly lower. After that the game became a bit of a farce, a couple key refereeing decision against us (I'm not necessarily saying incorrect), and injuries, killed the flow of the game and gave Blackburn a chance to regroup and then we were desperately chasing the game in the final quarter. Blackburn did their job well it must be said. I do think that Ariyibi should have had a penalty as he was pulled back, but I guess its hard for a ref to really see a tug like that, and it did look like Ariyibi had over hit his ball to run onto and the ref probably thought that he went down because he knew the chance was dead. I think he would have got to it though as he is quick. Another key chance, Ariyibi gets the ball and crosses for Ross in the middle, but he either trips or was brought down. Either way, Ross would have been in on goal and we would have expected him to score. Blackburn did hit the bar late on themselves and could have had a couple more in the first half so yeah, maybe it was the right result. I think Austin was awful today in particular. I highly doubt he will lose his place (well maybe for Rochdale), but I do think he needs a break. I dont really remember seeing Murphy play much in the first half. Pugh and Byram looked good and the defence in general is good (part from their goals of course). I would also like to add that this Ariyibi lad is quite good from what I have seen. A couple of good step overs and pace and he could well be a big player for us in the coming years. We all know by now where are key failings are so I won't go into any more of them, other than say, it was another great example of them all today! We need to alter things somehow if we are to have any ambitions this season! Over and out
