A professional performance against a surprisingly poor Middlesbrough. Central midfield of Giedioura (excellent today) and Toczer (better than of late) was strong and Anya and Paredes got forward more effectively than they have been. Defensively we weren't under much pressure and while looking inelegant at. times there weren't too many scares. Pressing high up the field won us the ball back and I'd like to see Ighalo and Vydra when he came on a bit more committed to this role. The two finishes were classy and are a reminder how how important taking chances will be in the final run in. Finally, a marvellous atmosphere, even in the Upper GT stand, today...it must help to lift the players.
I did research. Bournemouth have scored 10 penalty kicks this season, and won nine matches with them in.
Agree - worried me everytime he got close to a Boro player - not sure why he looked so dodgy unless he is not quite match fit.
He did a wild tackle just after coming on, I honestly thought he'd get a red card for it... Then he wrestled one of their strikers to the ground in the penalty area... Hopefully it was just an off-game... COYH!
What did those at the game make of the incident when Bamford caught Gomes in the neck? Another referee, or even the same one with a different view, may have sent Bamford off for dangerous play.
Great team performance. Excellent atmosphere in the Rookery today, many many thanks to Roy and the rest of the 1881.
I thought the same Barry - that foot was very high. No problem for me as he was challenging for the ball but it does beg a question about consistency.
I thought the ref let the game flow. He seemed to realise that it is a contact sport, though I thought Layún's booking was rather harsh.
The attendance: 19,656 (1,916 away) seems odd as the ground capacity is now 20,877. From what I could see there didn't seem to be 1,200 empty seats.
Yes - but why on earth did he let them get away with blocking our free kick from two yards just before half time? Found this Boro fan's view on the game... .
Re attendance ..there did seem to be a fair number of empty seats scattered in the SEJ stand and Family end . ..plus the block of empty seats separating the away fans . Anyone know if there are any plans / scope to develop the corners of the ground ? Also in the event of Watford going up , are the club likely to increase the away allocation ?
Made me think - if Bournemouth go up, with such a small capacity, would their ground meet PL regulations? Just gone to the PL website and looked at the handbook for this season, and a quick glance at the section regarding stadia it doesn't mention a minimum capacity.
I suspect they would be given a season or two to sort their ground out like Fulham were allowed. The biggest issues for them (and us) would be stopping local supporters of the big teams getting tickets ahead of loyal supporters. I remember for one of our seasons in the Premier league my Mum had an Arsenal supporting work friend who got a season ticket - he even got tickets for the away games ahead of real fans! Soon as we went down he was back off to the Arsenal (or pub/Sky at home)
Almost certainly back to the sky couch. I can assure you that Arsenal season tickets are not easy to come by with a seven year waiting list and away tix are more rare than rocking horse poo. Mrs HF is going to her first ever away game at Burnley this Saturday and as she unfortunately has to give up her season ticket at the end of this season, it may well be her only one. I shall, of course, be at the New Den.
Today was just perfect, btw. Absolutely superb. Even the ref had a decent game! Congratulations to Troy for making history. The Rookery was a sight to behold coming in through the UGT turnstiles. Brilliant effort.
