Mr Khan says Jokanovic will be in London tomorrow. However, it’s pretty certain “Stu” will be the man making team decisions and, with no new injuries reported, he should have a full squad to select from. Mind you “full” might be an unfortunate choice of word since, having watched the Derby match replay, a few of them (especially Ross) looked as though they’d had an extra helping of plum duff on Christmas Day. Needless to say this is a ‘must win’ game and you’d expect “Stu” to go for it, opting for a formation that can press high up the pitch. And have some pace, together with creativity. My starting line-up would be: ………………………Lonergan………………….. ………Stearman….Hutchinson…..Ream…. …Fredericks.…Matilla…Hyndman……Kaca…… …………….…………Cairney……………. ……………..McCormack….Dembele…. Might seem harsh on Dan Burn who did okay against Derby, but to be honest he was all over the place and I think Stearman’s poor performance was, in a big part, because he hadn’t a clue where Dan would be next. Hutchinson, although not without his flaws, is very much a straight up and down player who will enable the back three to be much more disciplined. For a similar reason I'm going for Matilla to partner Hyndman rather than O'Hara, whose strength is cross field passes but, certainly of late, goes missing in central midfield. Have a feeling that “Stu” will see it differently though and that he'll stick with not only 4-4-2, but also with pretty much the same players as started at Derby – maybe with a wee bit of rotational tinkering to bring in fresh legs, but I suspect not a lot.
I also think Gray will stick with the starting lineup that was at Derby unless there are injuries. Pringle against his old club might be a change. But I'd like to see us kick towards the Hammersmith in the first half.
Well, it seems as if that went well. Can anyone who was there tell the rest of us whether the performance was as good as the result?
I feel a bit weird, almost like a kind of happiness mixed with cautious optimism... is this what it feels like when we win? I'd almost forgotten...
Always play Mr Blue Sky when we win, which, as I am sure we will all agree, is the greatest song known to man. Haven't heard it for so long I had almost forgotten the lyrics but it's belting out now. Altogether now, Sun is shining in the sky....
9 games without win - such a poor period comes to an end with a good 4-1 performance, although not in control as the 1-4 win at Bristol. Really pleased for Cauley, who appears to have worked hard to earn a starting place, nearly got the hatrick. Ross pulling the strings - fluffed his best chance, but still scored one and made one. Cairney, Kaka, Parker (reliable), Hyndman (showing some class) linked well in midfield. If only Cairney/Kaka would used their right foot more. Defensively, it is amazing how shaky we are at corners!Lonergan made a couple of fine saves. That said, Rotherham were not tough opposition; if we can beat The Owls on Saturday then that would be a better indicator. COYW!
That's a yes and a no Captain. Before explaining, I'll quickly say something about the forerunner to the game. A combination of Jokanovic, Jimmy Hill and a jolly pleasant evening for December encouraged quite a few to turn up – about 16,000 I believe. And what a good send off to Jimmy from the Club and all those fans, admirably led by ‘Diddy’ David Hamilton. But what a contradictory team we are. That score flattered us, yet we could have scored as many again if we had taken our one on one chances. I guess the plus side is that we performed the same in both halves rather than the one good, one bad too often experienced previously. The trouble tonight was that in each half we had moments of pure brilliance smattered with periods of mediocrity and shoddy play. Won’t dwell too much on the frailties since they are the usual; inability to defend corners and no real link/cover between midfield and the defence. Add to that Kaca, McCormack and especially Cairney only appearing in flashes and you get the mediocre bits. Oh, might as well throw in Ream’s reluctance to tackle anyone. However .. however, over-riding all that there were some terrific passages of play, players working the oft talked about triangle and players making runs into space. And when the three I've criticised - Kaca, McCormack and Cairney - did their 'flashes' they were very, very good. But above all else there was the clinical finishing. Woodrow will inevitably draw MOTM for his two goals and one assist plus a lot of endeavour. For me though, over the full 95 minutes, Hyndman was the standout player – covering acres and his forward passes were a pure delight. So a good result, which in the main should please the new boss and was a fitting farewell to Jimmy Hill
I think the timing of our second goal was important. I didn't think we played that much better of worse than other games but today it came off. Our frailties were all still there and a better team may have punished us. It's great to win however - onwards and upwards. It was so important to win tonight and we did it. COYW !
Nice confidence boost, but we've had them before, and not taken advantage. C58 was right, it was a game when we had periods of dominance and missed 2 or 3 1-on-1 chances with the keeper, and others periods when we went back to the old ways putting ourselves under pressure by giving the ball away trying to pass it to death getting nowhere quick.
