Hoolahan wouldn't have had any affect on the game. He would've spent the whole time looking up as the ball passed over his head and Nolan/Noble would've kicked lumps out of him. Foy made the right decision in not giving a pen if he wasn't sure, but Collins should have been red carded as he was denying a goal scoring opportunity. Holt looks like he's being asked to hold his position instead of chasing down every ball and thats why he seems to be a bit out of sorts. We're one point better off that we were this time last season, we've already kept a clean sheet and we're still in the League cup. They're my contributions for today.
Personally, I think with the chances we created and the number of shots on target (especially when compared to West Ham), we haven't exactly sacrificed our attacking potency for defensive stability. It looks to me as though Hughton has got us defending and attacking as a team, as one unit, rather than the more gung-ho style we had last season. I personally think the improvement we have seen each week is very encouraging.
Was I the only one to quickly get bored with the West Ham "you're all shagging you sister" chant? Ironic when their only other chant boasts of the amount of time they spend giving oral relief to the late Michael Jackson's pet chimp. Strange people these folk from the East End.
the greatest irony (no pun intended) of it being that inbreeding is most common in the uk in east london, normally amongst pakistani families, so in fact, the west ham fans should be the target for that vile and idiotic song
just on the atmosphere, it was so muted! both sets of fans were very quiet. i personally blame the lunchtime kick off - its not the first time we've had a game at that time and the atmosphere been totally dead. i must confess i wasn't in my finest voice on the day, though the game didn't exactly help lift the fans!
Firstly supers, I look at it that Ruddy done outstanding because when he had to do anything he done it fantastically well, if he had little to do but when called upon makes the save, that isn't to be underestimated. plus also he now gives that air of confidence that it will take some special to beat him which can only be good for you guys. Regards Snodgrass, if he was so 2 footed why did he decide to take that chance in the first half with his left foot instead of his right? he made a chance that should have been 70/30 on him scoring to 20/80 against. He also did it in the second half for something, that smacks of somebody who only has one foot. why were your fans booing Morison?
Read the post again Guru. There was no complaint about the decision in not awarding a pen. The comment was made to highlight the point that Hoy had no idea if it was or was not a pen.He called it correctly,but I still say that if it was at certain other grounds,the decision could and probably would have gone the other way.
The fact of of he guessed or not is irrelevent, It was a mark of his experience to go that way, most decisions are on guess work/opinion its just a matter of experience will normally drive you the right direction. As for at other grounds it would be different, i disagree, your lot will claim for more than the average supporter (i believe there was a laughable handball that norwich supporters claimed early in the first half) if you were the away team i might agree a bit more with you but not on your home patch.
as usual guru, you are looking for things which don't exist. you simply cannot say someone is outstanding and 'man of the match' based solely on that though. you've massively exaggerated his performance in order to make it look like we were under the cosh, when at no point were we. had you stated 'he did everything that was asked of him' then nobody would bring it up. he gave a solid 6 or 7 out of 10 game, just as most of the team did. i don't know why snodgrass took that chance with his left but i do know that in the previous two matches he's been pinging balls in with both feet. you've taken one incident, maybe two, and removed the context. i think it was the west ham fans booing morison cos he's ex-millwall. nobody around me booed, that's for sure, though some were a little miffed that it was jackson being subbed rather than holt, myself included, though the fact he travelled halfway round the globe two days prior to the match may have had something to do with it.
OK then, say it, but why not check your facts first? Last season, after 4 games, we had scored 3 goals as against 2 this season. The scorers last season were Hoolahan, De Laet and Holt. This season they have been Jackson and Snodgrass. If you honestly think this shows that we are in a significantly worse situation this season from the goal scoring point of view, please explain why you think it. Furthermore, as those stats show, Morison had not contributed any goals to our tally at this stage. As for the question "Who would I have preferred to be presented with that late chance on Saturday?", I would have preferred Snodgrass, but of your two options I don't believe there is any real reason to have preferred Vaughan to Kane. From what I have seen of Kane, he is a natural goal scorer, who I would describe as a more talented Chris Martin. Rather than that final scuffed effort, look again at his earlier right foot shot from the left side of the box towards the top right corner. That was a bit of class and I'm sure we'll see a lot more of it this season.
what a ridiculous comment of course it matters. he could easily have got it wrong but there was only ever going to be fractions in it. either way, he couldn't really be criticised because it was almost impossible to call. it was pure luck that he guessed correctly. it had nothing to do with experience - how the hell could it?! just a note about the 'laughable' handball early in the first half... it happened directly in front of me and it was handball. ref got it right though, cos it hit his arm, it was totally accidental.
I cannot believe that any logical person doesn't think that a professional footballer in his third season in the Premier league, less than 18 yards from goal wouldn't have had a goalscoring chance by putting his foot through the ball. Bullshine. But I reiterate, Grant Holt was seen as having a real goalscoring chance when nearer the halfway line against Ipswich than Andrew Surman was on Saturday. Bullshine.
Am I not right in thinking that "deliberateness" or "intention" is no longer a requirement for penalising handball? If the ball strikes the arm and in doing so significantly affects the play, it is handball and should be penalised. However, the ref is required to judge whether the player whose arm is struck could reasonably have been expected to avoid contact between ball and arm. Isn't that the call he made on Saturday?
