Man of the match for me was TC. Not only did he manage the squad exceptionally well, he also made sure the new players got as much game time as possible at ER. For Preston the team sort of picks itself other than who plays left back but the Fulham game will give him a real headache with so many players chomping at the bit.
Good win and a lot to get excited about. Saiz seems to have a good footballing brain, some good runs through midfield, can pass and knows when to leave or flick it, seems very good at losing his man. I suspect there'll be more edge of box shots to come from him, was rewarded for his work effort with a hat trick.....couldn't have scripted that one. Alioski for me is the right winger, I think this lad will get better and better, and will see more shots from him as time goes on. Ekuban's goal will have given him confidence and got rid of butterflies, needs to do a bit more though, but it was his debut. Thought Dallas did a good job on left, very lively and got some good crosses in, is it me or does Dallas look fitter with more pace and speed? Klich did a good job, could see how he likes to split defences with his passes, will get better and more confident. We seemed to do a better job in controlling midfield than last season, which, I believe was a big contributing factor to our win. First half saw Saiz having lots of space a few times to run through. Considering we had 3 major defenders out, we did a good job at back. Anita had a good game imo, Shaughnessy stopped the shirt pulling and did a good job. Not so sure about Bridcutt being a regular first teamer. We saw we had a good second 11 so to speak, which contained future regular first teamers and good back up and replacements, the season is looking good. It was only Port Vale, but the players still had to get around their opponents and score goals. 7 goals in 2 matches, we'll be tested against the stronger teams but I can see a top 6 finish at least...... I'm so excited, I just can't hide it, we're going to score lots of goals and I think I like it. That was 3 degrees by the way....
