To be fair to him, a draw wouldn't have been undeserved, however, to say they should have won it is a little bit short sighted given they didn't muster a shot on target until about 65 minutes I think.... and let's face it, they were battered in the 1st half... we were mauled in the 2nd half... difference being, we were (just) able to prevent them from scoring more than 2!!
I guess it's the sort of thing he has to say to keep up morale and to try and keep his job safe. We were first class for 45 and although some credit is due to Boro for their efforts in the second period, I thought it had as much to do with us taking our foot off the pedal and the changes we made. I'm sure none of this will be lost on SM and he'll continue to learn about his players and progress.
That was key for me Clingo. I don't think SM got his bench right last night. When we started making changes we needed to go 4231 with the personel available. Watters and Bagan might have been better options on the bench last night. I dont think they would have helped add to the goal tally but would have given us a better structure. As you rightly say, learning for SM. Another 3 points on the weekend will ease a lot of pressure.
We'll done Bluebirds. Watched it all on hesgoals. A great performance. Good luck for the rest of the season. ( Except at Carrot Rd Obs)
Just watched the game on the city website. All that was good about the first half was poor in the 2nd. A definite 352 in the first, 532 in the second. At times the lines were so close it was hard to tell who was in the 5 and who in the 3. We didnt get any 2nd ball and didnt keep it more than a couple passes when we did get it. 1st goal was poor defending by Nkounkou and sloppy keeping by Allsop. Couldnt tell originally how the ball went past him, more through him. 2nd goal was a good header by their guy, but we had 3 or 4 chances to get the ball clear before that. From 60 mins on, when we did clear the ball it just came straight back at us. On the plus, Kipre is a great aquisition. Good defender and a good ball player. Simpson is a solid defender if not as good a ball player. Robinson could be the missing piece. Drifted about, came deep, ball sticks to him, good vision. As I said up thread, I think SM got his bench wrong last night as we lost shape when he started making changes. A good result, nearly doubled our goals scored in one game, more to work on. As fir Ng's goal. Great composure, good skills, but what the hell was he doing there?
Hudson really needs to work on Ng's defensive headwork at the far post. Is that the 3rd time he has been done there this season? Too much ball watching and not enough awareness of where the attackers are. If I can see that then opposition managers will and he will be targeted even more.
Watched the game live on CCTV and haven't replayed it since. Can't remember when I've seen City outplay a side so much and go in 3 goals up at the break. Just why were were as bad in the second half as we were good in the first is a mystery - you don't change that much unless it's as a result of tactical switch. They obviously had nothing to lose and went for it - that's the time when they are at their most vulnerable. They played so high up the pitch that they were wide open at the back. If only we could have got the ball out of defence and held on to it. That wasn't the case and back they came time and again to put our box under pressure. The squad is missing that holdup player option who can bring others into it. Watters, Harris, Robinson are not in that mould but being able to bring someone off the bench (like Hughill) would have taken the pressure off our back line. Not saying Hugill for any reason other than "that type of player" is what I mean. Too late now and we go with what we've got until January at least. Enough there at the moment to see us safe and even for a top half finish, but some variation and avoiding the "hold on to what we've got "approach could push us up even further than that.
Best 45 of football from a Bluebirds team in ages. Second half speaks for itself and as we've done since the beginning of our new era, we'll learn, adapt and improve. I'm loving the journey so far.
Sometimes, when there are big changes, as we've seen this summer, learning what does work is as important as learning what doesn't. The 2nd half yesterday showed what doesn't. As you say, enough to keep us safe, and maybe more.
Seems to me Morison made 2 tactical errors in the second half. Firstly, he didn't expect to be 3-0 up in the first and ,surprisingly, this led to him panicking a little which led to us becoming defensive minded and hoofing the ball anywhere to get it clear, our defense isn't really up to constant attack, hence the 2 goals against, lucky it wasn't more, always looked likely once we changed our style of play. Second tactical mistake was to do this on the hoof, He has been building this team to play a certain way and then sends them out the second half to play totally differently. Hopefully he will see the folly of this and next time keep the pressure up by threatening a 4th goal.
You don`t need to change a side that is 3-0 up, you make changes when its a draw or you are losing. Allsop was told to kick every ball long while we have no one who can win the ball in the air. The players looked totally confused in the 2nd half because they were told to kick the ball anywhere and not to make any tackles in and around the penalty area. Still we were long odds to win this and we certainly played like Liverpool and Man City who by the way never dominate for the full 90 mins.
