Back From The Game Watford Away

[Simon's Church]

Theirs was never a penalty, neither was our first. I think the second was but Hunt was already going down before the contact so I probably wouldn't have given it if I was the ref.

[Ian Royal]

that hand in the back from pearce is never ever a penalty

if it was every game would end up called off

But it was so obvious and lacking subtlety it almost deserved to be given for sheer ineptness. And if every slight shove like Hunt got for our first shout was a penalty, there'd be a penalty every time a corner was taken.

[melonhead]

the player backed into him, and pearce put his hand on the blokes back, then thge player cynically pretended hed been shoved

get out of it!

[FiNeRaIn]

The only pen of the day was noel hunts second one, the other two were laughable and don't even know why they are being talked about in a serious context.

[JC]

They had 8 shots on goal.

I have no idea where you got that stat. Never in a million years did they have 8 shots on target. I would be surprised if they had 8 shots of any kind

Ideal didn't say anything about shots on target.

Unless that what he means by 'on goal'.

I can't think of any other meaning

[floyd__streete]

Ruddy awful game of football but we won, I got pissed and I got some random bird's number on the train home so it can only be seen as a successful day.

[Hoop Blah]

Well 3 points is 3 points apparently so we should all be thankfull for that I suppose.

Yet again though we looked a pretty poor side with very little creativity or invention to our play. Watford unfortunately were very similar and unsuprisingly it made for pretty dull viewing. It sums us up that Karacan and Hunt were our two better players. Two players who's game is largely built on work rate and hustling as opposed to technique and vision which pretty much reflects the team as a whole.

I didn't think anyone really had a good or bad game as such. Tabb went about his work in typical fashion but was largely anonymous. Church chased hard, but always half a yard behind the game so with very little effect apart from keeping his miles ran stats up. The centre backs coped without too much trouble and Federici did all that was asked of him (what the hell the dive was for with the shot straight at him though I don't know). Neither fullback really got too troubled and neither winger really threatened Watford in return. Great that Kebe scored another towering header though, shame he didn't look quite as dominant in the air with the earlier far post header when he bottled really challenging the fullback.

All in a totally functional and boring performance from us.

I think the ref got most of the decisions right too, even the 2nd penalty shout for us and the potential red for Robson-Kanu.

[southbank1871]

I’m not sure what people hope or expect from a tough away match at a place where we never win? We certainly weren’t as poor as some people have indicated, we defended well and we came away with three points.

2nd penalty shout for us was a penalty IMO as you could see Hunt was clearly clipped. Also, he would have a decent opportunity on goal if he hadn’t gone down, so I don’t see how it would have been in his interests to dive.

[Snowball]

Away from Home

Against a club we rarely do well against

Against a club currently known for "spoiling"

Against a club on a good run and not easy to beat

After a weak win and two poor performances

Two excellent goals

A thoroughly entertaining last five minutes



I call that pretty focking good

[Hoop Blah]

It was a good result, absolutely no doubting that.

Did we play well to get it though? No, not in my book. Was it unexpected? No, not for one minute.

What do I expect or hope? I hope that we can build a side that shows the current resilience but also some passing ability and creativity so that we become a little more enjoyable to watch. I expect that we'll continue this season with the functional setup we have. We'll continue to be difficult to score against, for the most part, but struggle to create much in the way of goal scoring chances.

[Snowball]

I think, first thing, it will all depend on whether Kebe stays/goes
and whether if he stays he just goes through the motions until May
or has signed again and perks up.

Without wingers on fire we are pretty lame, and then desperately need a Long, Holt, Graham type.

If Kebe goes and we go with HRK or Antonio, MAYBE one will step up, improve
and replace the Kebs, not the BEST Kebs, but averaging it out. Not sure tho.
Me, I'd be tempted to play Hunt wide. I like a wide man who can get ten goals a season.

Swansea tend to bring their one wide man in when the other is out. We tend to keep
both wide meaning Karacan-Elwood (Tabb) have to work their nuts off.

Maybe we could try something like that. We often seen over-run or outplayed in midfield.

The other possibility would be 4-5-1 where the extra midfielder is a striker

[loyalroyal4life]

who cares if we look shit and still get 3 points, ain't that what promotion candidates need to be doing?

[melonhead]

no one plays brilliantly every game, especially away from home

for me its enough that we have started with a solid base, worked from there, trying to bring in more attacking threat and balance along the way, and are looking good bets for the playoffs-

looking at the run of games coming up,and the confidence and belief that could bring- even better is a possibility
if we can bring in an attacking nmidfielder,other winger or better striker while we are at it, who knows what could happen
i just think people are looking for another 05/06 team or something

the demands for brilliant passing football in a swansea style is also very strange to me, its hardly as style weve ever had, so im not sur4 why is suddenly necessary for people to get behind the team

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

the demands for brilliant passing football in a swansea style is also very strange to me, its hardly as style weve ever had, so im not sur4 why is suddenly necessary for people to get behind the team

I think we were close to this style under McGhee. We used to play lovely nice neat triangles that was very easy on the eye, although we often lacked a cutting edge.

I'd like to see us try to mix styles a little, although the position that McD has gotten us into given the constraints is nothing short of remarkable.

[Hoop Blah]

no one plays brilliantly every game, especially away from home

for me its enough that we have started with a solid base, worked from there, trying to bring in more attacking threat and balance along the way, and are looking good bets for the playoffs-

Aren't we hearing the same 'it's just one game' week after week with the odd exception where we look quite good and worth watching (West Ham - where we didn't actually create much 11 v 11 either)?

the demands for brilliant passing football in a swansea style is also very strange to me, its hardly as style weve ever had, so im not sur4 why is suddenly necessary for people to get behind the team

I'm not speaking for anyone else, but I don't expect us to be at that level of passing, just a bit more composure and guile than the current team. I don't mean being direct as such, but it's how you're doing it. Under Pardew and Coppell we were reasonably direct but we passed the ball much much better than we do now. We were a much better side to watch and it was more interesting watching us win lose or draw.

[Hoop Blah]

who cares if we look shit and still get 3 points, ain't that what promotion candidates need to be doing?

I care. I go to football to watch the game not see the result and the league table. The outcome is obviously important but so is how it comes about.

I also firmly believe that the better you play, and the more capable you are of playing football as opposed to the percentages, the better your results will be over time and especially when you're playing those better teams who can play football (who we actually have a much better record against than the weaker teams).

[Ian Royal]

Thoroughly agree with Hoop's last two posts.

[Woodcote Royal]

In this league, where the rewards for promotion are simply huge, it is unrealistic to expect every game to be highly entertaining.

Whilst there's no doubting our need for more fire power, our opponents on the day have a long track record for putting a spanner in our works and producing some of the most tedious affairs of the season. Am I right in saying that even our 106 team failed to beat them?

These are the matches we lose when things are not going well and, especially when our injury list is taken into account, this was a day to be grateful for 3 very good points whilst consigning the performance to history PDQ.

[FiNeRaIn]

Thoroughly agree with Hoop's last two posts.

Yes, but you forgot who you are arguing with...

Reading could play 11 one legged giants and park them in front of the goal allowing no scientific method in which the ball could cross the goal line...melon would still back this approach from the club/team as this is what he does.

[melonhead]

no one plays brilliantly every game, especially away from home

for me its enough that we have started with a solid base, worked from there, trying to bring in more attacking threat and balance along the way, and are looking good bets for the playoffs-

Aren't we hearing the same 'it's just one game' week after week with the odd exception where we look quite good and worth watching (West Ham - where we didn't actually create much 11 v 11 either)?

the demands for brilliant passing football in a swansea style is also very strange to me, its hardly as style weve ever had, so im not sur4 why is suddenly necessary for people to get behind the team

I'm not speaking for anyone else, but I don't expect us to be at that level of passing, just a bit more composure and guile than the current team. I don't mean being direct as such, but it's how you're doing it. Under Pardew and Coppell we were reasonably direct but we passed the ball much much better than we do now. We were a much better side to watch and it was more interesting watching us win lose or draw.

im just happy to be playing winning football tbf, with exciting games in terms of late winners, and turnarounds

ill take that over rodgers era passing for no reason losing football any day.

is it better than under coppell. lol. no.obviously.
but brian is building something, like coppell did, and with a bit more time, and confidence and belief, i believe this team can achieve decent football to watch as well as winning football.

you are welcome to your view though, thats fine.