Right then, here you are Eamon................we were pretty awful tbh.
Firstly. Harry must take responsibility for the very poor first half showing. We played 4-4-2 with Carroll and Barton in the centre. Neither is a holding player and their 5 always outnumbered us. Oneill clearly doesn't like playing on the right as he continuously moved in field, leaving us even more unbalanced. Carroll looked very nervous in that first half, although it's obvious that he is a talented lad. Hoilett looked our biggest threat till he was injured!!
Brum should have been 2 up at the break after hitting the bar and then blazing a sitter over the bar.
Harry at least sorted out the formation at half time, taking off the poor Zamora and switching to a central midfield 3 with SWP on the right and Phillips on the left, after replacing the injured (again!!) Hoilett. Austin was the lone striker now. This looked so much better and more balanced and SWP made a positive impact imo. Even so, after taking the lead we never really looked like getting a 2nd till Barton's excellent free kick struck the post right at the end.
We look solid and hard to beat, but there's a long way to go if we're to win this league!!
Player ratings:
Green - 8 - Did nothing wrong and came for crosses well.
Simpson - 8 - Solid and dependable.
Dunne - 7 - Mistimed a couple of headers but looked solid apart from that.
Onuoha - 7 - A couple of dodgy passes out but still very reliable.
Hill - 6 - Looked a bit exposed when they ran at him, but gave everything as usual.
Hoilett - 7 - Would have had an 8 as he was very good in the first 30 mins, but he's always fecking injured!
Barton - 7 - Won a lot of headers and made good interceptions in front of the back 4. Gave the ball away too much. Very unlucky with a superb free kick that struck the post.
Carroll - 6 - Looked very nervous. Harry's 1st half formation really did him no favours. Improved as the game went on. Looks a talent though.
Oneill - 7 - Ran, ran and ran. Clearly doesn't like it on the right though. Not sure he has a lot of quality but he certainly gives it his all.
Zamora - 5 - Actually laid off a couple of balls but the crowd have clearly turned on him and he mustn't start again!
Austin - 8 - Great that he got his goal and he looks the real deal. Won some good headers against their giant centre backs and ran all game long.
Subs:
SWP - 7 - Made a real difference, although that was also down to Harry getting the formation right in the 2nd half. Worked hard and ran at them at times.
Phillips - 6 - Clearly not match fit, but showed some promise.
Jenas - 7 - Looked assured when he came on and helped us retain possession.